Another Day in "Paradise"

The passing of time

2011-06-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

WOW!!! I cant believe it has been over a year since I posted. I guess a little thing called Facebook has taken some of my time...well all of it really. I have been soooooo addicted!

So much has happened! There was my oldest daughter's wedding...it was beautiful. My youngest went back to school and graduated. My middle daughter moved back home. And now My oldest is expecting twins this summer!!!

I guess I'll have to take some time to keep this blog going. it was nice to look back at a snipit of my life from a few years ago. So much has happened but so much is still the same.

2009...what a year

2010-01-02T09:38:00.000-08:00

2009 has come and gone. It was an eventful year. My oldest daughter got married. My middle daughter moved into her own apartment and my youngest daughter moved to Michigan, came back home, and decided to return to school!

Much more occurred within the confines of the year that was 2009 but to go into detail is not in me right now. I have become a FaceBook addict and I know I have not posted anything here in quite some time. I will have to get back into regular posts to document what is going on.

Sooo for now, lets just welcome 2010 and hope that it brings many new and wonderful things into our lives.

It's been a while

2009-05-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

WOW I guess it has been a while since I have posed anything here. Things have been hectic and we are now getting ready for the wedding!

The shower was last weekend. It went really well. Kristy got a lot of nice gifts and I think everyone had a good time. Here are some pictures from the shower.

Now is the countdown to the wedding....only 19 more days! I'm looking forward to it...kinda. I have mixed feelings but I think that is normal...I'm losing my oldest daughter but an gaining a son.

I'll post more soon.

New Beginings

2009-04-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

When my youngest daughter came back from Michigan, she said she had been going to church and had found God and welcomed him into her life. She did not want to lose what she had found and wanted to find a church here so she could continue her learning. The problem was that I worked on Sundays. She did not want to go to the new church alone for the first time. Well, as of the first of April, my hours changed and I now have Sunday's off.

Last week I did some research and found a Baptist church that was close by and that I thought she would like. We went together and she really liked it! She even went back that evening for the youth group. She came home and said, "Mom, I'm being baptised next Sunday!". My first reaction was that she had been baptised as a baby in the Episcopal Church. But, I thought more about it and recognized that this was something she really wanted so I would stand behind her and encourage her. After all, it was not something bad, but something really good!

Then it hit me......that was Easter Sunday! and I had planned an early brunch for the family. The church service was not going to start until 10:45 and I knew it would run over an hour, so having the family over at 11:30 was out of the question. I called everyone and changed the time to 12:30. This caused a problem for my other 2 daughters. They were meeting with their fiancee' and boyfriend's families at 2. They didn't want to eat so close to when they had to eat again. I had to make a decision...be there for Nicole as she was baptised or stay home and cook for the rest of the family.

I decided that this was such a big day in Nicole's life and that she really wanted to make a change so .... I went to church. Nicole went at 9 and I stayed home and started the cooking. I put everything in a warmer and went to church. My middle daughter and mother-in-law came with us also. They had never been to a baptist church before so it was quite an experience for them. It really meant a lot to Nicole to have them there.

I can only hope that this really will be a new beginning for Nicole. She is much different when she comes home from church. I wish she could go every day! Pray for me and for her and that this really will make a difference in her life.

Happy Easter!!!

Headaches

2009-03-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

So everyone has had a headache sometime in their life. You get them with hangovers, if you bang your head, sometimes with the flu. But when they take over your life, you know you have a problem.

Over the past 10 or 15 years, I have been having horrible headaches. Mostly in the winter. I would go to the doctor and they would ask where it hurts. Usually it felt like the front of my face was going to explode with some pain radiating back into my head. I was all stuffed up with watery eyes and post nasal drip. With these symptoms, the doctor has been treating me for sinus problems. Prescription after prescription of antibiotics and steroids to calm my sinuses down. The headaches and problems would slow down but just a few days after the medicine was done, the headache would come back. It was a vicious circle.

Last year the pain became much worse. But still, the doctor treated it the same way. I had some form of a headache every day for about 18 months. I finally told the doctor that I just couldn't live like this any more so she sent me to an ENT (ear, nose, throat) specialist. My thought was...FINALLY I will get some help! If it included surgery, so be it! I didn't care what I had to do as long as it would stop the pain. So off I went to another doctor. He ordered a MRI of my sinuses. The results....there is nothing wrong! He also used a scope to look at them .... again ...nothing wrong! I was really upset. Not that I wanted something to be wrong, I just wanted to end the pain. He referred me to a neurologist.

So after about 2 years of unbearable pain, I went to yet another doctor. He examined my head and asked me about a million questions and determined that I was having cluster headaches. This type of headache will mirror a sinus headache and causes all of the same symptoms. The runny nose, post nasal drip and front of the face pain. He put me on a medication and had me come back in a month. The medication helped with the pain but made me so sleepy that it was hard to get out of bed. So back I went, because I wasn't taking it, and he changed the prescription.

For the first time in a very long time....I was headache free! So I took the medicine every night and things were good. But I am very bad at remembering to take medicine. So after a few weeks without pain, I would start to forget to take the pill. Well, I have found out that these headaches are not like a flu or other sickness. Just because you are better, you can't stop taking the pills. When I forget for a few days in a row, the headache comes back. It not only comes back, it is worse than ever!

Just this week, the pain started slowly..before I could react, it was so bad I couldn't lift my head off the pillow! It is hard to explain this type of pain but let me try. It felt something like this...Someone was sitting in my head with their feet on my eyes trying to kick them out of my head. They also have hot sharp knives and are slashing wildly all around. To top it all off, there is a vise squeezing my head and getting tighter every second. I could not finish a complete thought or sentence.

I do not call into work but this time I had no choice. I hate that these headaches are taking over my life! I guess I just have to get better about taking those stupid little pills. I hate taking medicine but, well, I just have to take this one.

Here I am 4 days after the pain started and I'm finally starting to feel better. As you can see, I can think again! So wish me luck in keeping the pain away.

Hooked

2009-03-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

So I joined Facebook. I just wanted to keep track of my children and what they were doing online. Then all of a sudden I started finding friends from high school. and further back, that I hadn't seen or talked to in years. Sooooo.....now I'm hooked.

I spend way too many hours on there looking at pictures and talking to friends. Laundry and housework are being put aside. Its terrible! I feel like one of my kids, spending hours on the computer!

I'll try to keep up with this blog better...I just have to walk away from Facebook!

Sleigh

2009-02-23T17:38:00.000-08:00

So, we went to Vermont as I told you. And we got a sleigh. So we have been working on restoring it and I thought I'd share some photos. It isn't quite finished yet but here is where we are so far.

We started by removing the "box" from the skis. We were able to get that into the basement to work on it. The ski's were another story. Even with the door removed, we couldn't get it in. There were just too many quick turns and ti was too long. Of course it was about 10 degrees outside so I didn't try too hard. Once I knew it wouldn't fit, I convinced my husband of that fact. He was pretty bummed because he wanted to get it in to work on it during the winter. He tried a few more times and then finally gave up...well not really but for then. He kept thinking of ways to get it into the house. Next he thought of the front porch until I reminded him that the porch door was not as wide as the one we were trying. Not to be deterred, he is very stubborn after all, he tried one more thing. We carried the ski's onto our back deck, over the hot tub, and it fit through the back door straight into the living room. There was no way to get it into the basement, all of the turns, so he put it into an extra room that we have off of our kitchen. Through the years this room has been used as a bedroom, den, junk room and now it is a "craft/restoration" room.

He sanded the skis down a little bit to get rid of some of the rust and then painted them. He got at them so quickly, I was not able to get any "before" pictures. I just barely got the ones of the box and seat. During the restoration, we found the original manufacturer's tag still stapled to the back of the seat! It was built in 1918.

We painted the whole sleigh and re-upholstered the seat pads. It isn't totally complete but we are pretty close to being done. Some of the paint got scraped off when he brought the seat box upstairs but here is what it looks like now.

It was an adventure but I guess it was worth it.

Adventure in Vermont

2009-02-09T18:16:00.000-08:00

My husband decided to drive to Vermont to look at something he wanted to buy. We both had the day off so we jumped into the car and off we went. It should have been only a 4 hour drive each way so it was really no big deal. We set the necessary address into the GPS and headed east.

It was a rare beautiful sunny winter day and the drive was great. As we crossed into Vermont, we followed the GPS turn by turn. We ended up driving over the mountains and past Killington (the Ski resort). When the GPS told us to turn so we followed it. We drove down a "highway" that twisted and turned around a river. We were amazed that there were no guard rails to keep the cars from sliding off the rode into the river! Soon it told us to take another turn. This was a very narrow road, bearly one car width wide. It was extremely steep with a sheer drop off on the side. It looked like a dirt road but ... the GPS surly knew what it was doing so...up we went! There were deer standing in the middle of the road but a honk of my horn and off they went. And further up the hill I drove. I asked Joe what I would do if a car was coming in the other direction. He said, "just hope it doesn't happen!" I finally made it up to the top of the hill and ..... we were in someones driveway! So much for the GPS knowing where we were going. I made him drive back down. Here is a picture I took on our way back down the hill.

It was really steeper and more narrow than it looks! Well anyway, on our way back down, the inevitable happened. A UPS truck was coming up! how we squeezed by him I really don't know. We made it to the bottom and backtracked trying to see where we went wrong. This was when the GPS went nuts. It couldn't locate our location! The mountains were in the way. We got back to the last town we were in and called the guy who we were going to see. We had gone about 40 miles out of our way but he gave us great directions from where we were.

On our way home, we stopped at some outlets in Lake George, NY and picked up a few things that we needed.

Overall, even with the wrong directions, it was a very nice day and a great trip, just the two of us. The scenery was unbelievable! I love the mountains and miles of absolutely nothing. There are still some untouched areas of this country and I enjoy visiting them. It was almost like when I was in Alaska, only the mountains weren't as high and the towns were closer together. We enjoyed it so much that we have decided to go on these short trips more often. I'd love to see those mountains in the fall.

Good News...Bad News

2009-01-30T13:11:00.000-08:00

Well we finally went to the doctor on Monday. They didn't have all of the paperwork from the hospital so we had to wait for it to be faxed. After about an hour, Nicole, in her usual impatient way, got up and said "If they call one more person before me, I'm out of here!" Luckily, she was the next one called. She had 2 appointments and had already missed one due to the wait.

We went in and saw the doctor. His first name was Thor...I thought that was pretty cool. He was really nice. He spent time talking to her and asking a million questions. From the tests that were done at the hospital along with the questions he determined that her heart problems are not life threatening but he wanted more tests. He did an EKG and put a halter monitor on her. We are waiting for those results. He also wants to do a slant table test. For that one they strap her on a table and tilt it upright. If she passes out again, then the diagnosis is correct. If not...well he still thinks it is this as only 60% actually pass out during this test.

So the good news....not life threatening and can be controlled without medicine.

The bad news.....She didn't want to stick around long enough for the other test. She left the day the halter monitor was taken off. She went back to Michigan. She said she would come back for the test. So, she will be coming back in 2 weeks.

One thing that I have learned through all of this I will pass on...

When your children are reaching 18, don't wait. Find them an adult doctor! This is one thing I did not do and we are running into problems. Specialists want you to follow up with your regular doctor. I called the pediatrician that she had been seeing all of her life. They will not see her any more due to her age. I can't get her an adult doctor here now because she has insisted on staying in Michigan. Our insurance will not cover her there because it is "out of network". Well that is not really true. They will cover her but there is a huge deductible. So please start looking for a doctor that will see your children prior to their 18th birthday. You will be glad you did.

I will add more info as I have it. In the mean time, keep her in your prayers.

She is Home!

2009-01-23T23:47:00.000-08:00

My Daughter came home on Monday!!!!!!!

Only for a visit though. She came to see us for a week. It has been really nice to see her. She has been really good all week. I guess she really has done some soul searching while she has been away and is trying to change. She took this picture as soon as she got off of the train. It's kind of cute.

I have had to work every day but we have spent some time every night together. We have played Guitar Hero World Tour but I'm not very good and she can play every song on expert and not miss very many notes. She is really good! Today we went and had her measured for her dress for Kristy's wedding and I put the down payment down on hers and Amanda's. They are both in the wedding. (maids-of-honor). Then we went to the Patio Drive-In. It is a little diner that we really like but don't go to often. She really likes it so I thought that would be a nice treat. Then she took my car and went to visit her sister.

She passed out on Tuesday at Walmart. I thought that maybe she had been sitting in her car with it running for too long so I just had her eat something and lay down for a while. She seemed better. On Thursday, she called me at work saying she had passed out again. I called her doctor but they would not see her because she is now 18 and has to find an adult doctor now. They suggested we go to urgent care. When we got there, I found out that they no longer take our insurance so, we had to go to the emergency room. 5 hours later, they sent her home with instructions to see a cardiologist the next day. So, today, Friday, I called this doctor and they couldn't get her in. She wanted to leave on Sunday but I talked her into staying until she sees the doctor on Monday. They said she has a very slow heart beat and that could be causing the fainting episodes. The cardiology practice that she is going to is very good. They are right next to another hospital in town and it is one of the state's best heart units. So I know she will be in good hands as soon as we can get her in. I hope they can find out what is wrong with her and I hope it isn't too serious.

I'll let you know as soon as I find out anything.

Another Bridal Show

2009-01-18T18:22:00.000-08:00

Well today I went to another bridal show with my daughter. I'm not really sure why we are still going to them since she already has everything booked!

I work on Sundays so I had to trade a day with someone else. That meant that I had to work yesterday. SATURDAY!!! I hate working Saturdays! In the 14 years that I have been in my department, this was only about the 4th time I have worked on Saturday. Well .... it wasn't too bad. Sunday's are just about as bad.

So anyway...the show. This was one of the best ones we have gone to. It was held at the Turning Stone Casino. It is only about 20 minutes from our home. There were about 80 vendors there. The main reason we went was to win a door prize. They actually gave out $1000 to the grand prize winner. Well out luck was as it usually is....she didn't win anything! I was able to pick up a few brochures for places to hold the shower though. That is really the only thing left to plan.

We are thinking that the shower will be in early May. Soooo...as soon as we book the place, we will have to start getting favors, prizes, etc. ready. My middle daughter, who is one of the Maids of Honor (my youngest daughter is the other one) has started making phone calls but with the information I picked up today, it may make that task a bit easier for her.

More to come soon on the wedding plans...it will be here before we know it!

I have used these colors because they are the colors of the wedding!

Double Burrrrrrrrrr

2009-01-10T20:42:00.001-08:00

It's only the 10th of January and we already have received more than 60 inches of snow, and it's snowing again right now. I just watched the weather on the news and the forecast calls for another 7 inches of snow and the temperature is going down to 15 below! Now that is cold.

I know that I lived through much colder temperatures in Alaska, but that was a dry cold and did not bite right through you. It's kind of like how they say Arizona has a dry heat and it is not as bad as the humid heat we get here on the east coast. When it is cold here, it is really damp as well and well...its just freezing!

I dread even going out to start my car to warm it up. I can't stand walking the dog either. I can't let her go out the back door because there is too much snow and she won't go down the stairs. Joe has to snow blow an area in the yard for her.

I got stuck in a snow bank the other day. I pulled into a parking space and I felt the front of my car sink. Apparently I had driven off of the pavement and there was a dip in the dirt. Just my luck to pick that exact spot to park. It took a bunch of guys to push it out. Boy was I embarrassed! It was the first time I ever got stuck. Of course I have always driven a 4-wheel drive. This car that I have now is not good in the snow but it gets great gas mileage.

I hope everyone is staying warm and making it through this winter in one piece.

Craft Time???

2009-01-09T17:32:00.001-08:00

Well, the holiday's have come and gone but you would never know it looking at my front porch. Let me start by explaining that it is a fully enclosed porch with windows and shades etc. It has become a storage place since we don't really use it.

Since the day after Christmas, my husband has been shopping the sales and picking up all kinds of decorations on sale with huge markdowns. It looks like a Christmas decoration warehouse out there! There are cases of lights, ribbons and bows, garland, and lawn decorations piled to the ceiling! He got some of it for as low as 12 cents each! He wants to really decorate the house next year and this is one way to do it without spending a lot of money. The funny thing is that in the 20 years that we have been in this house, we haven't really decorated for the holidays.

Today he went into the basement (where his workshop is) and welded a double ring. It's about 5 feet in diameter. Then he went out to the "Christmas Store" and came in with 2 cases of garland. He grabbed some wire and started to wire the green garland onto the ring. After a while he had a pretty nice wreath. I watched for a while then, after the 5th time he asked, started to help. When he was finished, the wreath was really full. He then went out and got some plastic flowers, beads, berries, bells and a bow. That is when I really helped and I decorated it. Surprisingly it came out really nice.

I then watched a "how-to" video on YouTube and learned how to make bows. I tried it and well, I guess I'll stick to banking...lol. It came out ok but we used a store purchased one.

It is now hanging out on the porch with the rest of the decorations. It will look really nice hung on the front of our house next year. I guess getting it made now will free us up next fall from having to make it then. What else is the to do on a cold and snowy afternoon in January.

I'm just waiting for him to come up with his next project...just hope it wont create too much of a mess! I'm not much of a crafty person but at least this one was easy and there was no clean up afterward.

It is strange to have no kids in the house but well it is giving us time to spend with each other alone. We have never really been alone. Kristy was 4 when we met so we have always had at least one child with us at home. So far the empty nest has been ok...although I really miss having all of the girls at home.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T20:17:00.001-08:00

As we say goodbye to 2008 and move forward into 2009 it is time to reflect on what has past and what to expect in the future.

This has been a eventful year for us and I see next year as even more eventful!

Kristy got engaged, received her PHD and bought a house. Amanda bought her first brand new car, started a new job, and moved into her first apartment. Nicole turned 18 and also moved out of the house. Joe continues to work for the state and I have been very busy at my job, putting in many hours. (only wish I could get paid overtime...lol)

All in all it has been a good year.

Looking into next year, we will have Kristy's shower and wedding. Amanda will be turning 20! I hope the new year is nice to Nicole.

So far this winter is turning out to be a snowy one. We have over 50 inches already! That is keeping Joe very busy since he plows the roads. He is working nights this year so I am home alone. It's pretty tough, going from a house full of kids to being all alone all at once. I'm starting to get used to it and maybe I'll start some sort of hobby or go back to one of my old hobby's in the new year. The first thing I am going to do is some heavy duty cleaning of the house. Without the kids to pick up after, the house is staying much tidier so I guess it's finally time to do some real cleaning. It's funny. I was always told that once it is really clean, it does not take much to keep it that way. Well it is really true! I cleaned most of our first floor already and just a few minutes (more like an hour) of dusting etc. keeps it really clean! Joe sure is happy as he has been complaining for years about the state of our home.

Well I really hope everyone has a Happy but most of all Healthy New Year.

Funeral

2008-12-30T17:23:00.000-08:00

I had to go to a wake today. My neighbor's father passed away on Sunday. He was much more than that though. He was a good friend and much too young to go. He was only 58.

As my daughter's friend's Papa, he was like a grandfather to her too. She was close to him. He was also a very good friend of my husbands. They spoke on the phone regularly and every time he drove by my house he would stop to say hi.

Many mornings he would be at the local coffee shop when I would stop there. I would always kid with him asking "hey Dad...gonna buy me a coffee???" Many times he would.

I will miss him.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T22:03:00.000-08:00

So another Christmas has come and gone. The presents were opened, dinner cooked and eaten and games played. All in all, it was a good day.

Last night, Joe had to work so I went to my daughter's house for dinner. He got there just as we sat down to eat at around 8. My middle daughter went to dinner with her boyfriend's family and also showed up about that time. Dinner was very good and then we played some games. Pictionary Man first but that was really hard so we played charades. I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time, and I really needed it. It was nice to spend some quality time with my family. I only wish my youngest was there but, we did call her. My girls left to go to midnight mass and Joe and I went home. I would have gone with them but, I was puppy sitting again.

My middle daughter, Amanda came home for the night which was great. This morning, for the first time in forever, I kinda slept in. I got up at 8:30. My youngest usually wakes us up at 5 or 6. She only waits that long because we had to set some limits. When they were young, they would get us up at 4! The kids can only look in their stockings until everyone is up. Kristy and her fiance' got here at 9 and the chaos began. Paper was flying and everyone liked their presents. I got a Roomba Robot. It will vacuum my floor for me! It's really cool.

It was snowing so once again we had to eat early. I splurged for Prime Rib and it was perfect! Joe got called into work and had to be there at 1, so right after we ate, he had to leave. I cleaned up then Amanda, my mother-in-law, and I played Monopoly. It was the new one with the debit cards. It was really fun and for the first time, I think ever, I won! It was still snowing pretty bad and my Mother-in-law was nervous about driving so she went home. Amanda had to go to her boyfriend's parents house and she had to leave too. This left me home alone. :(

We hadn't gone to my father-in-laws last night. (we go there every Christmas Eve) so I went over to his house and brought their gifts. I stayed for a while and got home around 9. A little while after I got home, Joe finally got out of work and came home. He is beat so .... off to bed he went.

So, that is how I spent my Christmas. I hope everyone also had a good day with their family.

I Hope (Explaination)

2008-12-20T20:29:00.000-08:00

OK, so my last post was rather grim. Especially at this time of the year. Well, my daughter had just come to me and told me she was moving. That day!!! Yes, she left one week before Christmas. I gave her her presents and helped her pack and then drove her to the train station. So, she now lives in Michigan. It was one of the hardest things that I have ever done but I had to let her go. In her words, I have to let her make her own mistakes. So, off she went and she thinks she has the world by the tail.

I hope that she makes good decisions and thinks before she acts.
I hope she can find a job before her friend's parents get sick of her living with them.
I hope she is safe.
I hope she makes it.
I hope she remembers how much I love her.
I hope she will continue to call me every day.
I hope she comes home!

Another Day .....

2008-12-16T18:52:00.000-08:00

LIFE SUCKS AND THEN ......

IT SUCKS SOME MORE !!!!!!!!!!!

ENOUGH SAID

Burrrrrr

2008-12-14T16:01:00.001-08:00

I guess winter is here. we have had snow just about every day this week and it has been really cold. We have gotten about 6 or 8 inches of snow so far but I know it is only the beginning. In a typical winter we get around 10 feet of snow. Not all at once but by the time March comes we will have had that much. The snow banks are small right now but they get so high that you can't see around the corner when you are trying to pull out of the street, Your really get used to it but it is not fun.

I know that it sounds like I'm complaining but I really do like the snow. I would not choose to live anywhere else. It is so nice here. I have gotten used to the cold weather (after living all of those years down south). I look at it this way, when you are cold, you can always put on more clothes or blankets to get warm but when you are hot...well there is not much you can do to cool off unless you have an air conditioner or live near the water.

Once we get a little more snow, I'll post some pictures of the snow banks as well as how nice it looks in the yard and on the trees.

This week has been pretty busy. I went back to work and was told that the division of my department where I work was being closed as of the first of the year. Thank god they still need all of us. We will just be doing things a little differently. Then I had to catch up on all of the other things I missed while I was out.

I had a holiday party last night for all of the people that I manage. It was nice to have them all at my house and we had a really good time (no work talk!)

Now I have to finish my shopping and finish getting ready for Christmas. I still don't know what to get 2 of my daughters. I'm sure I'll find something they will like...I always do.

I've been watching the Christmas specials on TV. I really like some of the new ones like Shrek and the Polar Express. I have them on DVD but it's just not the same as watching them on TV. We watched the new Josh and Drake Christmas special too. It was pretty good. On Christmas Day, we will put on the Christmas Story. I don't really like the movie but it is a tradition. They play it for 24 hours straight. I have never seen the whole movie from start to finish even though I have seen every part of it.

I need to start wrapping those gifts that I have purchased so...until next time when I let you know about yet "Another day in Paridise".

Vacation!

2008-12-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

I have all of this week off! It will be good to relax a little. Well, not really relax but at least I won't be at work every day and I can sleep in a little.

I spent the weekend cleaning and then decorating the house. Then we went and bought a new fake Christmas tree. It is one of those pre-lit ones. It seems strange not having a real tree. We usually go out as a family and cut one down. It was a fun family outing, but now that the kids are not home any more, and didn't want to go on the hunt, we decided to scrap the real tree. At least we are able to have it up for a longer time and there will be no mess to clean up when we take it down. We bought some new ornaments too. It is really a beautiful tree. We used to put up 2 trees but not any more. I do miss having all of the old ornaments too. I have lots of ornaments that the kids made while they were in elementary school. My favorites are the ones where the teacher took a picture of each child in the class and then they made a ornament and put the picture on it. I still have every one that they made.

We also decorated our new posts in the front of our house with candy cane stripe lights and a lighted tree. It looks nice.

Today I went shopping with my oldest daughter. We go every year and usually get many great deals but today was really a bust. We went to a huge mall in Syracuse but all I bought there was one stocking stuffer for my youngest daughter. Half way through the day, we decided to leave the mall and go to the outlets. It was about another 45 min. further away. I was already beat but we went anyway. There were some good deals there (up to 70% off at some places) but I was no longer in the mood to shop and it was starting to snow. We each got a few things (I bought the most at Vanity Fare...love that store) and we headed home. We didn't even go to most of the stores. I had a head ache and was really tired and we had a long drive home so we left.

Right now I am looking forward to sitting with my feet up and resting for the rest of the night. I went and got a movie and a game and will spend some time with my youngest daughter.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

OOOOH YEEEAAAAH! It's Thanksgiving! This is my favorite holiday! Family, Food, and no expectations!

We had a great day. I got up really early (about 6) to get the stuffing mixed and the turkey into the oven. We had to eat early so I had to start early. Then I had to wait until the Parade came on. I love watching the parade and all of the Broadway shows numbers. I would really love to go see them in person some day. I remember as a little girl, driving into the city to get my grandmother for Thanksgiving and I would look down the cross streets and could see some of the big balloons. We lived in New Jersey then so it was not a long drive. I always begged my dad to stop so we could watch the parade but we couldn't. :(

My husband in now on what they call "shift" which means he could be called into work as early as noon to be there at 1. Of course it all depends on the weather. You see, he spends the winter plowing the roads for good ol' NY State. It has been snowing for the last few days. Luckily, it was a nice day and he didn't get called in, but once the turkey was cooking I couldn't reschedule dinner so we still ate at around 12:30.

It was great having all of the family here. My oldest daughter and her fiance', my middle daughter and her boyfriend, my youngest daughter and my mother-in-law.

My mother-in-law always comes early to help me peal the potatoes. That is one job I really hate! For the first time, my youngest actually helped by cutting them up. The rest started to arrive at around 11. We just bought a new kitchen table and it was great to "break it in" with such a great meal. We actually have enough chairs for everyone now too!

My oldest and mother-in-law even did the dishes for me! I was pretty exhausted by the time we were finished eating. As soon as everything was clean, we promptly made it dirty again when I broke out the pies. I made Pumpkin and Chocolate and my oldest brought an Apple. Needless to say, we had plenty.

It was sad to see them go but I know how it is to have to go to multiple houses on the holidays. So, by 3, everyone had left the house and my youngest (the only one left living home) went to a friend's house. So, it was just me and my hubby. Oh and my middle daughter's puppy (I'm puppy sitting). I promptly fell asleep. Needed that nap. It had nothing to do with the turkey, just sheer exhaustion.

I am now relaxing watching the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Love those holiday specials. I even did a little early "Black Friday" shopping online. Some stores are offering the Friday early morning prices today only online. It saved me from having to get up early tomorrow too.

I now have all of next week off and will enjoy my time relaxing. I take this week off every year. It gives me time to shop and prepare for Christmas. My oldest daughter and I always take a day and go to one of the outlet malls that are near here. Wish me luck in finding some bargains.

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of fun, food and family!

No More "Children"

2008-11-14T09:51:00.000-08:00

As of today, November 14,2008, I officially have no more children. My youngest daughter turned 18 today so I guess I only have adults. At least that is what they would like for me to think. They will always be my children but they are really growing up! Everyone always said, "enjoy them while they are young" and of course I never listened. It has gone by so quickly. They all just started kindergarten yesterday! Where did the time go?

It really makes me start to think I'm getting old. Two of my daughters are not living home (one has her own house and the other is living at school) and the third (the youngest) is never home. It sure is quieter and the house is not as messy but I'd take all of the mess and noise to have them all be young again.

Time to start with the next phase of life I guess. I'm not sure what that will be but we will just have to live and see.

Another week "in paridise" finally over

2008-11-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

Well another week has gone by.

I keep telling my self that I love my job. I think if I keep telling myself that, possibly I'll start at least liking it. It's not really that I don't like what I do, it's just that it has been so stressful lately and there just aren't enough hours in a day to get everything done. So I spend many hours "after work" to get things done. My husband is starting to get really upset that I haven't been getting home till after 6 (I'm supposed to get out at 4:30). I'm looking for another position with the company...wish me luck!

SO it has been an eventful week. On Halloween, we decided to go to the local casino for dinner. They have a really good buffet and it's very affordable. After dinner, we decided to go blow some money. This is unusual for us. We don't gamble. So we each took $50. and went to the slots. In about 15 minutes, I had won $230.00! I took $200 and put it away and blew the last 30. Then my husband took 100 of that 200 and went to the blackjack table. He had never played before so the dealer was helping him. He wasn't doing very well but then they changed dealers. His luck quickly changed. About a half hour later, we walked out of there with over 200 more ! So I guess it was a lucky night for us. After paying for dinner we still ended up with about 350 in our pockets. It was fun. We don't go out often by ourselves. We really needed it.

Today I made dinner for the whole family. I say it like that because the girls are not around often and the family seems to be growing quickly. My oldest daughter and her fiance' and my middle daughter brought her boyfriend. So we were plus 2. My mother in law was here as well. The occasion??? My youngest daughter's 18th birthday! I can't believe my baby is 18. Her birthday is really next Friday but we celebrated today. She is so excited to finally be an "adult" and able to drive after 9 PM. The law here is that if you are under 18, you can only have a "Junior" licence and it restricts the time you can drive. She can also go to the casino with us now. She has planned to visit friends out of state next weekend.

Tomorrow I get to go back to work and start it all over again. Woo Hoo...lol

Dress Shopping

2008-11-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

I just went with my oldest daughter to pick out the dresses for the bridesmaids for her wedding. They will be a light green with a darker green sash. I think they will look really good on all of the girls. My 2 younger girls are both maids-of-honor in the wedding. Still not sure how that will look or work but she couldn't pick one of her sisters over the other.

Then we went and I finished paying for my dress. This is a picture of it on the right. It looks really good on me! We also took another look at the dress for her and I put more money on it. She is going to be a beautiful bride!

I have so many mixed emotions about the wedding. I am so happy for her but at the same time I feel a sense of loss. She is my first and oldest daughter and I'm not so sure I'm ready for her to be married. She has been off living on her own for a few years now but she could have always just moved home. This is the final step of her growing up and out. She purchased her first house last spring. You would think that my head would have reconciled with the fact that she was not coming home then, but ...no, there was still that chance. I know that she will be happy and I really like the guy she is marrying but it does not change the feeling of loss.

I'll probably be putting in posts throughout the year until the big day. Now we have to start thinking about the bridal shower......more to come.

It's SNOWING!!!

2008-10-28T16:50:00.000-07:00

I was sitting at work today...brain dead and stressed out, when I looked out the windows that are across the room to see that the ever present rain had turned into SNOW!

By the time I got out of work, there was 2 inches on my car. Thank god I never took the snow brush/scraper out. One of my friends, who lives about 10 miles north of here already has 6 inches. It is supposed to snow all night and most of tomorrow. We will just have to wait and see how much we really get.

I got home and.....no snow! I work on a hill and only 5 miles from home but that is how it is here. Snowing on one side of the street and not on the other...lol. It's a lot like when I lived in FL and you could actually drive into a wall of water (rain).

Well needless to say it is really cold and I finally broke down and turned the heat on in the house. I try not to do that until sometime in November but I was freezing and my puppy just sat on me shaking. she couldn't get warm even in my arms. I'm sure not looking forward to the heating costs this winter. We have been told that it will cost about 60% more this year. When the heat bill was around $500 a month last year, I can't imagine what it will be this year!

I'm off to go curl up under a nice warm blanket and watch the fire in the fireplace.

Jury Duty

2008-10-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

So, I had to report for jury duty this morning. It all started with me getting lost. I couldn't find the parking garage that we were supposed to park in so I parked about 4 blocks away from the courthouse, on the street, and walked. Thank god it wasn't raining. Then I, along with 180 others, was shoved into a room built for about 100. We got to watch a movie then they picked 60 people to go to another building for jury selection. Of course I was one of those 60. So we all boarded a bus and moved from the county building to the state building. (3 more blocks further away from my car) This whole process took around 2 hours. Then we went into the courtroom to wait some more. After a lengthy introduction from the judge, they finally picked 8 people to be questioned. The first attorney took over an hour to question them and then we got to break for lunch.I walked that 7 blocks to get my car and move it into the garage that I now knew how to get to. After lunch the second attorney questioned them and then they went out to talk. They only picked 3 for the jury and then they started all over again with another 8 people. These people started to catch on on how to get out of having to serve and they quickly went through about 15 more people and started to question the remaining 8 one by one. It started to look like this was going to take all day and then into the next. But then, surprise surprise, they chose 5 more from that group and we were able to go home! I'm done for another 6 years...hurray! Although I was not chosen, it looked like it would be an interesting case. It was a malpractice suit where a woman was suing the anesthesiologist for not putting her under correctly and she said she was awake during part of her surgery.

Anyway, it was a day away from work that I really could not afford. I have tons of work to do before the end of the week which is Friday. I guess I'll be putting in some long days to get it all done.

Before and After Pics

2008-10-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

It finally stopped raining so I was able to get a picture of the house. So here are the results of my "Summer Project".

Rainy Day :(

2008-10-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

It was a very rainy day. Cold and Wet! It's supposed to rain all week! Well, not exactly. They are calling for snow on Wednesday. and not just any snow....Lake Effect and a possible noreaster!

Lake Effect snow is when the clouds cross over the lakes and pick up extra moisture and then dump it on us as snow. It usually means high totals. A Noreaster is our equivalent of a hurricane I guess. It is usually a very bad snow storm with blizzard conditions and the snow gets measured in feet not inches.

I can't believe that it could happen this early in the season but I spent the day ensuring I had a snow brush/scraper in my car and I found the winter coats and boots. I guess we will have to just wait and see. It sure is cold enough outside!

Finally...time to relax!

2008-10-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

I have finally found some time to relax and I'm doing what I do to wind down....watching a little TV and surfing the web.

It has been a busy summer! My oldest daughter got engaged and bought a house and we have been spending a lot of time helping her fix it up. It wasn't really a "fixer upper" but it was stuck in 1963 (the year it was built). We have painted every room, changed doors and locks, replaced the bathroom fixtures, replaced every plug and light in the house to bring it up to codes etc. and of course since it was so old...as you tried to do anything with the plumbing it would break and then we would have to fix that too. She also needed a new roof! Well that kept us pretty busy.

Above and beyond that, our own house needed some work. It is an old stucco house (built in 1918) and was in dire need of a paint job. So instead of painting it, we decided to stone face the house. That in itself was a big job to take on but to save a little money, we also made all of the stones. We would make a batch of stones every night and on the weekend we would work at putting them on the house. We really wanted to finish at least one wall and the front porch before the cold weather came and we just made it! We will be making more stones all winter so we can just work at finishing the other 2 walls next summer. I'll put in a before and after pic as soon as I take an after pic.

You must think that I'm pretty handy, well I kinda am. My husband seems to be able to do just about anything around the house and I work with him most of the time. Stuff he has never done before, he just says "Let's do it" and goes for it. We have done tons of work to the house over the years but we have had lots of time since we have lived in this house for about 20 years now. This past winter we put a bathroom in upstairs in a small extra space. We ran the plumbing from the basement to the 2nd floor and put in a full bathroom. It is so nice to not have to walk down the stairs. I really wish we had done it years ago when all the kids were still home.

Kids...well I have 3 daughters. My oldest is 26 and a doctor of Physical Therapy. She is also starting to teach at the local college. My middle child (and yes she is definitely a "middle child" with the syndrome and all) is a sophomore in college and is 19. My youngest can't turn 18 soon enough for her..lol. She will be 18 next month. She just wants to be able to drive after 9. She is a senior in high school.

So the fall time is here! This is my favorite season. The trees are so beautiful with all the colors. Warmish days with crisp air and cooler nights. We have a fire in the backyard many nights. Its really nice to sit out in the cool air with a warn fire in front of you. I'm just now waiting for the really cold weather which is only a blink away.

2008-10-24T07:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here I am starting a Blog.

Didn't think I would do this but I enjoyed reading a friends blog so much that I thought .... well why not???

As usual I don't have much time right now but will work on this later and fix it up the way I like it.

I guess this is a start..right?

Anyway....here we go