SCORE!!!

I kept seeing an ad in the paper about a new place in town that buys gold jewelry. I had a bunch of unwanted chains, earrings and old rings rolling around in my jewelry drawer that were just collecting dust so I decided to take them in and see if they were worth anything today. Much to my surprise, I came out with a check for $585!!!!

Happy Birthday Baby!!

My baby turned 35 today. Man, I feel old!!

Snow Plows

Out my dining room window. Driving should be a lot easier tomorrow :)

Looking out my front door!

I took these pictures from my front door last night and then this morning. I had to take Stella to the groomer this morning. The main roads are all plowed but some of the side streets were scary. I'm glad I'm done driving for the day. YUCK!

Oh no! Snow!!

It's been snowing all day and we've got 5-1/2 inches so far. The older I get, the more I hate the snow.

Caught up!

Yesterday, I stayed home, washed clothes and made caramels. I cut, wrapped and packaged one batch before I went to bed.

This morning I wiped down the bathrooms, wiped up the kitchen floor, vacuumed and cleaned up some spots on the carpet. I cut, wrapped and packaged my 5th batch of caramels. That's 500 of them :)

I made a couple of appointments and returned a couple of phone calls.
My kitchen is clean and I'm going to veg the rest of the day. I took some BBQ shredded pork and a couple of my Mom's homemade buns out of the freezer for dinner. The end!

Not Red & Green

It always amazes me how long it takes to wrap a few gifts. Even though I don't have a tree set up and don't plan to, I do have a corner with gifts in it.

5:00AM is an ungodly hour!!

I can't figure out why my eyes pop open and I'm wide awake at 5:00AM. This has been happening for about a week now. I hated getting up at 6:00 but 5:00 sucks even worse!

Caramel Countdown

I made my first batch of the season last night and cut and wrapped them today. I also packaged up the ones I have to mail and I'm going to mail them tomorrow. I wonder how many batches I'll end up making this year??

Meatballs and Doorknobs!

I spent a long time at Menards today trying to find the right sized deadbolt for my doors. It seems the ones that are there are a strange size and nobody makes that size. So now I'll probably have to have the holes drilled bigger. Who do you call for that? What a pain in the ass!! I'm just trying to change the metal color in my place :( It shouldn't be this hard!

I came home and took my frustrations out in the kitchen and I now have a big pot of spaghetti sauce with homemade meatballs floating aroud in it simmering on the back burner of my stove :) Ahhhhhh......
Jane and Marty are going to join me... Ahhhhhhhh......

Thanks!

I am so lucky I have brothers, sons-in-law and a brother-in-law!!

Jeff ( my brother-in-law) and Joe (my brother) installed new blinds in all four of my great room windows on Thursday! They look great and have a top down/bottom up feature so now Stella can't see out of the windows, therefore eliminating almost all of her barking :)

I had a baby gate at the bottom of my stairs to prevent Stella from wandering around down there that was a PITA to step over or take down every time I needed to go down there. Paul (my brother) was here the other night and told me he had one with a swinging door on it that I could have. I picked it up today but couldn't get it tight enough to work. Paul came up and fixed it and while he was here, he also installed the new doorbell I bought today :) Unfortunately, Stella still barks when the doorbell rings :)

And finally, I've been wanting to replace the dated light fixtures in my condo and called Karter (my son-in-law) to ask him if he thought he could do it or if I would need to hire an electrician. He assured me he could do it. I found a chandelier I like today and mentioned it to him during a phone conversation. After an hour of just visiting, when he was ready to hang up, he told me to let him know when I get the lights and he'll get them hung :)

Funny thing is that Jim hated doing these kinds of things and wasn't very good at it when he attempted them. (Bless the man, he had many talents but handyman wasn't one of them.) We usually just hired someone to do these jobs and had to wait for the "experts" to fit us into their schedule. I think I get these kinds of things done quicker now and it's sure a lot easier on my pocketbook :) Sometimes I cook dinner in exchange for odd jobs but sometimes I don't. I love the guys in my life!! They're so good to me :)

Sucky Day!

Until Jim died, I had pretty much avoided going to funeral homes. Never had a reason to. Now it seems I'm on a first name basis with them.

My Dad died yesterday morning while my Mom and I were in Connecticut visiting Sarah. We got the call shortly after the fact and Sarah (the best executive secretary out there) was able to get our flights changed from Tuesday to yesterday. And without a charge! The flight from Minneapolis to Minot was totally booked so I don't know how she managed to get two seats on it but am thankful she did. We arrived home at around 7 last night and today we get to go to the funeral home and make the arrangements. And I'm sure they won't be good enough for my sister Carol. She doesn't want to get involved but sure likes to voice her opinions after the fact.

The funeral is on Wednesday and the only good part of that is my sister Mary, her husband Jeff and their doggy, Rico are coming to stay with me.

I'm also thankful my Dad is finally out of the nursing home that he hated. They took very good care of him there but he hated the fact that he had to be there. I did too. I have visions of Jim meeting him at Heaven's gate and giving him the grand tour.

Another State For Stella!!

I told her she was coming with me this time when I brought my big suitcase up out of the basement but I'm not sure she believes me yet.

She's added some states to her ever growing list of states she's been in. I took her carrier out today and tucked into the pocket were the tickets for Alex, Stella and I when he came home from MA with me.

Let's see, she's been in ND, SD, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, New Jersey (although this was just long enough to go outside the airport for a potty break), NH, MA several times, and now Connecticut. Nine states is a lot for a dog! I still wish she could get a frequent flier number and I'm sure glad she's such a good traveler.

Ooh, I forgot, she was born in Florida. That makes it 10 states!

Yikes! I have 5 loads of laundry to do before I even start to think about packing. My plane doesn't leave until 11 AM so I guess I'll have plenty of time to pack before I have to leave here at 10 tomorrow morning.

Poor Ms. Bear!!

Not only did she get her muzzle chewed off, she has a gaping hole in her back with stuffing coming out and had her squeaker removed. And this was within the first hour of her arrival at our house. I think Stella is making it plain that she's the only furry animal that gets to live here.

2 More Sleeps

Jim always counted off how many days until a trip by how many nights we had to sleep until the big day.
We now have 2 more sleeps until we'll be at Sarah's. Although I'm looking forward to spending two weeks with them, I am not looking forward to the trip with my Mom and Stella in tow. Keep your fingers crossed the departure gate at the Minneapolis airport is close to the one we'll be arriving at. Mom is too stubborn to ask for assistance but she can't handle walking very far and I'm going to try to go with no sedation for Stella. Wednesday could be a L-O-N-G ass day!

Welcome to the age of e-readers Mom!

I went with my 83 year old Mother yesterday and she bought a Kindle. I finally convinced her she needed one. I'm tired of her trying to unload her used books at my house! :) She reads about 5 books a week!
We had a short lesson on it yesterday and she can turn it on and read now. I don't know how well she got the ordering of books down but I'll be with her for the next two weeks so by the end, she should be fine. It really is an easy machine to master.
Plus of course I have her account info and can order books for her any time. I got online this morning and bought her 5 books. They were all free so she can't get mad about that :)

OMG!

I have one pair of jeans that I really like the fit on but they're getting old. I always feel good when I wear those jeans so I decided I needed to get online and see if I couldn't find a pair like them.

The ones I had were a size 27, which is pretty foreign to me. I didn't find them but I found a pair that looked like them in a different wash and came in a 27. The brand was AG which I'd never heard of before but I loved that the inseam was 34. They were even on sale for half of what I had paid for the custom clown pants. I ordered them. They came today and I tried them on and they're HEAVEN!!! No wonder they call them the Angel! Best fitting pair of jeans I've had in a long time. They were made for tall skinny girls. And they look good on me!! Well, you know what I mean, as good as I can look for my age, but I've been searching for these jeans for years! I'm so excited!!

I went online to look for more and found out that these jeans are normally priced at $150-175 a pair!! I'd love to have several more pairs and I am thrilled they have them in white too because I've been looking for white jeans for years without any luck. Guess I'll have to start saving my pennies! And why couldn't I have fallen in love with a pair of jeans from Wallyworld?

Jeans

I ordered the custom made jeans and after waiting forever for them to be delivered I got them last week. What a joke!! They looked like clown pants on me so back they went. Hopefully I'll have a little time in Connecticut to shop for some. Ick!

Happy Birthday Pete, Allan and Jason!!

I went to visit my Dad today and he told me that in 14 years he'd be 100 :)

He always makes me smile. Happy birthday Dad, I love you!

Jason turned 40 today, how is that even possible??
Man, I'm old.

See ya next week Allan, what a great birthday gift... two weeks with me, my mother and my dog! You should be nominated for sainthood :)

20/25

I had an appointment with the eye doctor today. Found out I'm not perfect like I originally thought :)
I see 20/25 instead of 20/20. I'll take it!!! :)

Wild Weekend

Or at least Wild Friday night! We danced and partied until 3:30AM up in Mohall and had a blast!
Saturday was a different story, we were showing our age :(
Years ago we'd have been ready to party Saturday night too. However, somewhere along the way, I got old. I was in bed last night at 8:10!! And I'd venture to guess that Deb, Jennifer, Shirley, Linda and Patty were probably in bed early too :) Jury is out on Nancy though, she's the young one and recovers faster than we do :)

Dear Jim,

I miss you in so many ways every day that I can't even count them all. Today I missed you even more because I also missed you when I was wiping out the car. Thank you so much for taking such good care of my cars for all those years. I spent 1/10th the time you used to spend just wiping down the inside and it sure looks like it too. I miss you :(

In the 33 years we were married, I always drove a shiny clean car filled with gas and I never, ever did it myself. Man, I sure need to have my car detailed!

Grandma's Roses

At Grandma's funeral, we had a bouquet of 5 roses representing her 5 grandchildren. White for the 2 boys and cream with rose colored tips for the 3 girls. I took the bouquet home and days later was marveling at how beautiful the girl ones still looked. The boys' unfortunately were dead. I decided to take the remaining 3 and have them freeze dried.

I picked them up today and couldn't be more pleased with the way they turned out. They are very fragile so I just tied a ribbon around them and laid them in my curio cabinet where I put a lot of things that have meaning to me. Because the curio cabinet has a mirror in the back, the picture makes it look like there are 6 roses.

I stood and looked at the finished product and although it needs a good cleaning, I love my curio cabinet!

I have a story for everything in it :)

Why???

Why would men in their early 60's who live in condos that have a snow shoveling service spend time rearranging the snow on their lawns?

The guy across the street spent the better part of yesterday afternoon redistributing the snow on his lawn. The sidewalks and driveway had been done by the service last week and we're going to get a lot of snow before next Spring. Seems like a giant time suck to me.

And then the guy who lives next door to him came home from work and saw what his neighbor did so he did the same thing. Do these guys have that much spare time on their hands or are they just that anal?? And why risk a heart attack from moving all that heavy snow around at their ages??

Grossness!!

I had to use the bathroom at Allison's on Saturday and her main floor bathroom is the one the boys use. I always check the seat before I sit down because Jameson and Gage are gross. Sure enough, I had to clean the seat before I could sit down. I came out to have a talk with them. I told them that they have got to remember to lift the ring seat before peeing. And I also told them that if they don't lift it at my house I was going to cut off their penises. With luck that scared them into at least lifting it at my house!

My New Eyes!!

I now have a card that says I can legally drive without glasses!! And because I've learned that this post would be worthless without pictures, here's the best I could do taking my own picture. And check out my new do, although it needs a tune up :)

Islands

I love my island, I really do but no matter how hard I try, I cannot for the life of me keep it clutter free for long. There's always too many things I need to attend to or remember that I'd ignore if I took them into the computer room where they should belong.

Like the quote for new great room blinds, my reading glasses so I can see the quote, an invitation I need to RSVP to after calling Mom and asking if she'll babysit Stella so I can go, batteries so I remember to ask Karter to change the batteries on the smoke detectors when he's here on Sunday, my phone in case anyone needs me and my list of things I need to do tomorrow. Oh and my passport case and the delivery confirmation receipt for my passport that I sent in for renewal which I'll need when I make my final payment on the Jamaica trip. And the purple lizard from a Lesmann party a couple years ago. He's lived on that saucer ever since I got him.

Ugh, off to whiddle down the pile.

P.S. If you look in the top right hand side of that picture you'll see the color of turquoise I had my great room painted. You definately know a woman lives here when you walk in my door :)

It's Ugly Out There!

I decided to brave the snow and did a couple errands before meeting Joe for lunch. Thankfully I live close to a major road through town. The roads were very icy with some pretty big drifts in them but I made it around and back home. I was very thankful I have a double garage because there was a 2 foot drift in the middle of my driveway when I got home. I put the pedal to the metal and flew into the garage. I'm parked in the other stall but at least I'm home and the car is in the garage.

I took these pictures standing on my front porch looking out.

SNOW!!

We're having a blizzard! I hate snow and am a chicken about driving in it for the first few days. Can't decide if I should just ignore it and get out there anyway or stay home today. UGH! It looks like it's going to be a LONG winter!

YeeHaw!!

I'm leaving for Fargo tomorrow morning and am going to see George Strait tomorrow night!!

Legally Blind

I've been legally blind without glasses for 50 years. I had my second cataract surgery yesterday and the bandages came off this morning. My doctor's goal is for me to be able to pass a driver's test without glasses in two weeks! I am totally thrilled and amazed at how wonderful it is to actually see!! I can get out of bed in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom without putting my glasses on first!! It's like having permanent contact lenses and I am overjoyed!! I think I'm in love with my eye surgeon!! He's my new hero!!

Wonky Eyes

I'm still trying to get used to having one eye see perfectly. The surgery was a success but it's hard to operate with just one eye. I use magnifiers to read, my old prescription glasses to work on the computer and I watch TV without any glasses at all. I can't wait to have my other eye done so I can get by with just readers.

Cataracts

I went to see the eye doctor on Tuesday. He noticed a big change in my cataracts. I didn't even know I had them, however, it would explain my wonky eyesight lately.
The eye doc sent me to the eye surgeon and I'm going to have the left one removed tomorrow. The good news is that they replace the clouded lens with a new lens corrected to your eyes. So if all goes right, in about three weeks after I have my right eye done, I should be able to see without glasses!!! Of course I'll need readers for fine print but being able to see when I wake up in the morning has always been just a dream for me.

Apple Turnovers

It's that time of year again and my friend, Maria gave me a bag of apples yesterday. I chopped and cooked them all and made dough yesterday afternoon. Today I made 50 apple turnovers for my freezer. They're so nice to have on hand and go from frozen to hot and ready to eat in about 20 minutes or so. Yay me!!

Runza

I've heard of them, wondered about them and finally got to taste them when I was in Nebraska. Yummy! I plan to try my hand at making them seeing as how all the recipes I've found so far say they freeze well. Wouldn't these be handy to have in the freezer? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runza

Rico

Stella and Rico got along beautifully. He wanted to play a little more than she did but she ignored him when she wasn't in the mood. Typical female with attitude.

Rico is a one year old Coton de Tulear, the royal dog of Madagascar. He just thinks he's a dog :)

Long Haul!

Mom, Stella and I drove to Fremont, Nebraska on Thursday to visit my sister, Mary and her husband, Jeff. We stopped only for gas and potty breaks and it took 11-1/2 hours.
We drove home yesterday and it took about 12 hours. I am driven out!

Loving My Hair!!

I've been growing my hair forever it seems. I've been trying to get my bangs grown out. I finally reached that point. YAY! And I've found out how to get a kick ass hairdo!!

Just invite your stylist over the day before your appointment and feed her bulldogs. Janice came over and we visited from 3:30 until around 9:00PM on Sunday. We drank a few bulldogs and solved the world's problems. I told her what I wanted my hair to do and we talked about changing the color. My appointment was for yesterday and she changed the color and color of the highlights and cut it short in back but left the sides and bangs long.

I love it! It looked fabulous yesterday but I was sure once I did it myself, I wouldn't love it quite so much. WRONG!! I can even do it! Janice is a genius!! I brought her some hand dipped chocolates today to let her know how happy I am with it :)
It helps that I've been going to her for 20 years and she's not only my stylist, she's my friend. Yay, friends!!

Pooped

I cleaned house and washed 7 loads of clothes today. Getting ready to drive to Nebraska on Thursday. Not looking forward to an eleven hour drive... with Stella and my Mother!!
I told Mary to have vodka waiting for me. Plenty of it. I love my Mother dearly but eleven hours? Lord help me but I've heard those stories twenty billiondy times!!

I can't wait for Allison and Sarah to go through this with me! :)

Stella

Gracyn (Erica, Stella's groomer's 4 year old daughter) picked a multicolored bow for Stella's hair today. You can see the pink part of it in this picture. I really think she looks adorable with bows in her hair and she doesn't mind having them in one bit :)

Stella's eyes are hard to describe and harder yet to photograph but I think I got the best picture I've ever taken of her eyes today. And no, that's not drool, it's the stitching on my sofa.

I think she's got Jim's eyes. Seriously.

Not Fair!

I booked flights yesterday for my Mom, Stella and I to go to Connecticut for Thanksgiving. My flight was $425 which was a pretty good deal. I got my Mom a ninety-nine dollar companion flight I had coming through my American Express card. Stella's flight was $400!!!! They raised it from $150 each way to $200 each way!

Now, I don't mind paying for my dog to fly with me and truth be told, I would've paid the $425 I paid for myself for her IF they would let her have a seat. Or at the very least, let her ride in my lap. But for $400 she has to ride in a closed carrier under the seat in front of me. Totally not fair!

If she were a child under the age of two, she would be allowed to ride for free on my lap. And she is much better behaved on a flight than about 95% of children I see on planes. Not to mention that I also lightly sedate her to make sure she has an uneventful flight, she's never bitten anyone, she's not an agressive dog and she's a seasoned traveler who sleeps for the entire flight.

And the argument about how it wouldn't be fair to people with dog allergies doesn't hold water. Delta allows in cabin pets as long as they fall under the weight limit so if you have allergies, they don't care. There may be dogs or cats in the cabin. Not only that, but the havanese is considered a hypo-allergenic dog and she gets groomed once a week. She smells better than a lot of folks I've had the misfortune to be assigned to sit next to on a flight.

I won't even start on why it upsets me that she also doesn't qualify for a frequent flier number and therefore can't earn any frequent flier perks.

Hmmm, I wonder if American Express would issue her a credit card so that she could charge her flights and at least get frequent flier benefits from them?

5 Years of Hate

I hate this week in August.
Missing Jim today :(
And to add to the hate, my Mother and I drove to Anamoose yesterday and scattered my Grandma's ashes.
Missing my Grandma today :(

Yep, I truly do hate this week.

Ordered

the jeans. I'll be doing back flips if they really fit.

Hmmmmmmm,

is $155 too much for a pair of custom fitted and made jeans?
It's impossible for me to find jeans that actually fit my weird body or are comfortable. I am a jeans person. Like I said, hmmmmmm...

How Is It?

How can one woman have so many expired tubes of lotions and potions in one drawer? A small vanity drawer at that! I had stuff that expired before I moved into this condo 9 years ago for crying out loud!

Note to self:
Check the expiration dates on those tubes before you toss 'em back in.

Laid Off

Looks like Grandma's Day Care is closed. I packed up all the stuff along with the boys and dropped them with their dad after church today. He's going to take over from here.

It was a tough job but the boys were so good. I'm amazed at how well it went and how well the boys listened to me. Not perfect but they are just kids.

Back to being Grandma :)
It's a job I like better anyway :)

Busy July

I am now the full time day care for Allison's boys while their mother works. Don't ask.

I had them from Friday at lunch time until Monday morning. They came back for dinner last night and I have a break now until Thursday. Man, can those kids eat!!

We've been doing lots of things, picnic in the park, a trip to the library, playing at the soccer complex and on the playground at Edison school. We also went to see the "Beezus and Ramona" movie and we all enjoyed it.

Looks like I'm going to be busy for awhile which in itself is not a bad thing. Keeps me hopping but you do what you have to do.

House Guests

Sarah and the boys flew out this morning after a two week visit. Alex got to go birding, David celebrated his 4th birthday (a little early) and Tom -Tom learned how to say Grandma! It comes out Gra-Mum! I love it!

But not only did I get to wake up to three happy, little boys every morning for two weeks, Sarah was excellent at managing the daily clutter. And before she left, she vacuumed my house, swept the kitchen, washed the dirty towels, filled my car with gas, vacuumed it out and took it through the car wash. She even washed the car windows :)

All I had to do after they left was replace all my knick-knacks that were moved out of Thomas' reach and wash the sheets on their beds. What fabulous guests!

It's quiet around here today and I miss them already. I cried on the way home from the airport and Stella's laying at the top of the steps in hopes that one of them will be coming upstairs soon.

I Love You, Grandma!

My Grandma has been my very best friend my entire life. As a toddler, I'd climb onto to her lap and say, "Hold your baby." I was her baby from then on. Her pet. She took me to visit her mother and sisters every chance she got and I have wonderful memories of those weekends.

After I got married and had kids, she transfered the "pet status" to Sarah.

She moved into my house and helped me raise my kids when I was hospitalized during their growing up years. She stayed for months at a time sometimes and was indispensible to our family. We all loved her very much.

After my girls had kids, the "pet satus" once again changed and Gage was the lucky one. How she loved it when he came to the nursing home to visit and would crawl in bed with her to snuggle.

Growing up I always told her she had to live to be one hundred and when she did, she laughed and told me she had kept up her end of the bargain.

Sadly, we lost her last Friday at the age of 102. I take comfort in the fact that I got to spend the afternoon cuddling her and telling her I loved her. She opened her eyes at one point and I saw a flash of recognition. I know without a doubt she knew I was there.

The only good thing is that Sarah was here visiting when she died and was able to change her airline tickets so that she and her boys could attend the memorial service yesterday. Did Grandma wait to die so that she could see Sarah one more time? I'd like to think so because after all, Sarah was one of her "pets."

Not many people can say they had a Grandma for 57 years and even fewer can say they had a Grandma that was as wonderful as mine. I'm really going to miss that special lady!

P.S. The picture was taken on July 4th of this year. Wasn't she beautiful?

Running

Had to run out to the Green Thumb for tomatoes, drive out to Allison's and deliver some pills, pick up cards at the Hallmark store, pick up a gift card, get my oil changed, stop at the post office, stop at the credit union and pick up groceries before I could come home and spend two hours in the kitchen.
I've got groceries put away, fruits all washed, fresh salsa made and a chicken prepped and marinating in the frig for tomorrow night's supper.
I'm going to go to a class reunion planning meeting tonight and then head over to the airport to pick Sarah and the boys up at 10PM.
The next two weeks will be full throttle.
I can't wait and I think I'm really glad tonight's meeting is at a bar ;)

The Lull Before The Storm

The Rockfest was a blast and I'll give the best band award to Blood Sweat and Tears for their fantastic horn section! Camping was fun but the highlight of the Rockfest for me was getting to bungee jump for the first time. I've always wanted to but never had anyone to do it with. Apparently Cindy's husband Ray had always wanted to also but could never find a willing partner. So we hooked up and took the plunge! What a RUSH!!!!!!
Now I can cross one more thing off my bucket list :)

Today I am resting. Sarah and the boys will be here tomorrow night for two weeks. Like I said, today I am resting! :)

Stella News

My sister Mary taught Stella how to shake hands while she was here.
I'm thinking of inviting her back so she'll teach her to roll over :)

Getting Ready

Well, Mary left after a fun packed weekend with family so this week, I'm getting ready to go camping with friends.

We're planning to go to Thunder Mountain Rockfest to see Foghat, The Guess Who, Blood, Sweat and Tears with Chuck Negron from Three Dog Night, Survivor and Night Ranger.
It's being held in a field a few miles from my friend Cindy's farm. A few of us are parking campers at Cindy's and plan to party the weekend away just like we did in the old days :)

My brother Joe pulled their 28 foot fully loaded camper out there for my enjoyment :) Man, I love having a nice brother!

Today I'm going on a hunt and gather excursion to pick up everything I need to bring along.

Midrin

I had a migraine that lasted Wednesday, Thursday and part of Friday. I broke down and went to see a doctor Friday afternoon. He gave me 4 different meds. I started to get another headache this afternoon and took two Midrin. It's a miracle, my headache is gone!

Running On Empty

After 6 fun packed days in Connecticut with Gage Rene as my traveling companion, this Grandma is a little groggy today. I can't say I'm missing the commotion yet but in a day or two I'll probably change my mind :)
Stella was excited to see me and I got tons of kisses when I picked her up from Erica's.

SHIT!!

Jameson spent the night last night. He laid his glasses on the bedside table at bedtime and went to sleep. Stella was nowhere to be found and when I started hunting, I found her under the bed, chewing on Jameson's glasses. She had chewed the plastic off the part of the bows that go around the ears. Now before I take him to Day Care and myself to the beauty shop, we'll be making a trip to the eye glass store to get them fixed. DAMN! Wonder what that little snack is going to set me back.
First my Mom's teeth and now Jameson's glasses. NAUGHTY DOG!

YAY STELLA!!!

Stella's routine is to get me out of bed between 6 and 6:30AM. She doesn't usually ask to go outside until closer to 9:30 however so she's not getting me up because she has to potty. I have decided that for some reason she thinks it's her job to get me out of bed at 6 o'clock. I hate it! I try to make her go back to sleep and leave me alone but most of the time she is relentless until I get up. Then the little shit sleeps until nature calls and she has to go outside. Sometime around 9:30.

I don't know if it's because it's a holiday or what but this morning I told her to go back to sleep and she did!!! She didn't wake me up again until 7:45AM!!! A much more civil waking time if you ask me. How good it felt to be able to sleep in for a change!!

Hmmmmmmmmm......

Does the benefit of eating the skin of a baked potato outweigh the risk of using a half stick of butter to make it taste good?
Man, my dinner was good tonight!

Gray and Overcast

I just downloaded two new books to my Kindle and plan to tackle the laundry today.
If Grandma thought I looked ragged yesterday, she should see me today!!

Thanks Grandma!

My Mom, Allison, the boys and I all went to visit my Grandma today. (Yes, there were five generations of us there.)

Gage was sitting on the bed next to Grandma and she asked him if he didn't think I looked ragged today. He said yes.

I know, she's 102, I should cut her some slack. She usually just tells me I look tired. And Gage didn't know what ragged meant. When we told him he immediately said that no, I didn't look ragged, bless his little heart.

The really sad part is that I'd glanced in my rear view mirror before I got out of the car and thought my hair looked really good today. Either my eyesight is getting worse or hers is and I have a sneaking suspicion it's mine. That old lady doesn't miss a trick!

Unsubscribe

It seems like I get unwanted e-mails every single day. I take the time to unsubscribe myself so I don't get anymore e-mails trying to sell me stuff. Where the heck do all these places get my e-mail address? It's an ongoing battle.

Clean House

I love a clean house. I don't like cleaning house however. I'm always glad when I do though.
Thankfully, I got the urge today and now it's clean. I can watch the grand finale of Survivor tonight and bask in the cleanness.

Alone

The hardest part about being alone... is being alone.

Stella Claims The New Furniture

Finally

I downloaded the pictures from my camera last night for the first time since the beginning of the year. Yeah, I know, right?

This picture was taken at Deb & Jennifer's birthday party in February. I made my famous carrot cake with orange marmalade cream cheese frosting. I was looking at the pictures this morning and the picture of that cake seriously made me drool!

Mother's Day Flowers

I got a bouquet of flowers from Sarah and Allan for Mother's Day on Friday. I took them out of the box and they appeared to be completely dead. The instructions from Proflowers said to put them in water along with a packet of stuff they sent and that they'd be fine the next day. I didn't believe it.

Saturday they still looked dead. Sunday they started to come out of the funk and today they are just gorgeous!

Happy Mother's Day to me! Thanks Sarah and Allan!

My New Love

Allan, I bet you'd love these too! YUM!

Accreditation

There was a man from the state accreditation board visiting the nursing home my 102 year old grandmother is at. He asked her how she was doing and if she liked it there. She told him, "It's none of your damn business!"
Later in the day as she was sitting at dinner, drinking milk from a carton he came up and asked her if she always drinks her milk like that. She said, "Just leave me alone, I don't like you!"
The nurses were thrilled and said she was their hero for the day :)

Brooks & Dunn

I bought tickets this morning to see Brooks & Dunn, Darius Rucker, Eric Church and Sugarland at the fair in July for Allison, Sarah and I. Can't wait!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!!

It's rainy and dreary here today and the winds are supposed to gust up to 50MPH! What a lovely day! (NOT!)
The good news is that I had my carpets cleaned yesterday and they are dry and looking beautiful. The bad news is that the rest of the house needs to be cleaned.

I Love Stella, She's The Best Dog In The Whole World!

When I went to pick up Stella from Erica's (her groomer) yesterday, she was out of the kennel and runnning around with Erica's 3 and 4 year old. The other dogs waiting to be picked up were in kennels. Yeah, she's not only spoiled at home, Erica spoils her too.
The 4 year old, James told me, "I love Stella, she's the best dog in the whole world. Then he quickly added, "We've got a pretty good dog too."
LOL! Their dog is older and doesn't play with them like Stella does but she is a nice dog.
I'm so glad that Erica and her family babysit Stella when I go out of town. I have no doubts that she is well loved and taken care of in my absence.

EVIL!

Yuck!

At age 57 I've finally come to the conclusion I have sinus problems. I had a cold while I was visiting Cleveland and Sharon (the QUEEN of sinus problems) introduced to me to the lovely sinus rinse. Basically, you squirt warm saline water into one nostril while it, along with long ropes of green, slimy snot comes out of the other nostril. It sure relieves the pressure of my sinuses but damn, I hate the feel and taste of that crap trickling down the back of my throat. Sharon says I'll get used to it. I love her but I don't believe it.

I Hate Today!

I should be celebrating my 38th wedding anniversary.
Since Jim died, I've been buying my own anniversary gifts. The first year, I got diamond earrings. The second year I got a new car. The third year I got a new dishwasher and stove. The fourth year I got a Kindle. This year, I got new living room furniture. I'd rather have Jim :(

She's In, She's In, She's In!!!

So proud of my girl, she got into the nurse practitioner's program! Good thing she got her smarts from her Dad!

Cleveland

Had a FABULOUS time visiting my buddy and her family!
Best place EVAH to stay. If you ever get to Cleveland, give me a call, maybe I can hook you up :)

Last Minute Guinea Pig

Allison called at 7:30 this morning. Seems Karter opted out so I'm going along with her to Bismarck this morning to be her "patient" during the physical assessment phase of her application to the U of Mary's FNP program. She's incredibly smart (thankfully she takes after her Dad in that area!) and I have faith but keep your fingers crossed just in case.
I'm hoping to swing through the Big Boy afterwards :) Alpine burger, fries and gravy please!! :)

New Hairdo

After years of wearing my hair the same ugly way, I got a new do yesterday... with bangs!! I hate getting used to have hair hanging on my forehead!

Cool Cones

I saw these at the grocery store today. I thought they looked kind of cool and the boys may get a kick out of them. $4.99 for two which isn't that bad except that I found them at Amazon for $5.71 for six. I had them shipped to Sarah's. It cost me $5.58 for shipping but that's still cheaper than if I had bought them here. Plus then I'd have to mail them myself. Hope the kids like them and if they do, I'll order more for the Lesmann boys.

Barking

Stella is doing very well with the new no barking rule. Yesterday she didn't have to put the bark collar on until 7PM! The amazing thing is that she isn't barking outside either :) It's raining today so I'm guardedly hoping we'll be able to go without the collar today. With the rain, there most likely won't be much foot traffic past my house.

Training continued...

OK, so Stella knows she doesn't like to have the bark collar on. I kept it on her while she was awake for the first 4 days. I would put it on when I opened my shades in the morning, about 10 AM. She wore it non-stop until about 8-9:00PM. Unless I left the house, which in that case, I took the collar off and she goes in the laundry room with her bed.

She doesn't. like. the. collar. She doesn't bark when she has it on though and I praise her lavishly every time she doesn't bark at the things she used to.
She's been following me around much more closely and is also now laying in my lap at times. Amazing. She's never been a lapdog but she's been loving it when I pet and rub her when she does lay in my lap or very close to me.
She used to be so focused on watching out the window that she couldn't be bothered to be cuddled. Now that she isn't allowed to bark at everyone, she's much more interested in the loving.
Can't say I blame her ;)
And, that's my two bit opinion. A dog psychologist, I'm not.

Since yesterday, I have been allowing her to go without the collar until the first time she barks. When she does, I scold her and tell her if she barks, she's going to have to wear it and then I put it on her. She can have it off tonight when I go to a church meeting but she barked, she's wearing it. She had been warned.
I've always been a bitch about consequences, huh Sarah? :)
Anyway, I will continue to do this until she gets it.

My ultimate goal is to get her to not bark without the collar on. She's smart enough to make the leap from "if I have the collar on, I can't bark but I can bark if it's not on" to "If I bark, I have to wear the collar so I won't bark".
The biggest question is WILL SHE???
Lord help me, another headstrong girl. Gotta love 'em!!

(And yes, I know I should have done this 2 years ago. I'm getting soft in my old age, what can I say??)

Ahhhhhhh, Peace and

Quiet!!
The bark collar is working. I hope I'll be able to quit using it and still have her not bark.

Bark Collar Part Deux

Yesterday was day two with the bark collar. Normally when anyone comes to visit, Stella barks and barks and BARKS. If it's Allison or my Mom, she also makes a very high pitched whine. Last night Allison came over and she attempted to bark once or twice but immediately stopped :)

Later, there were kids playing outside and she glanced out the window but didn't even bother getting off the couch to investigate. They played out there for a long time so I am very hopeful this bark collar is going to do the trick.

Bark Collar

Stella's barking has finally gotten to me. She barks when anyone walks by the picture window in the dining room and as the weather gets nicer, we have more and more foot traffic past our house. I got a bark collar yesterday and she wore it all afternoon. The first two times she started barking, she immediately quit. The next time, she was outside and barking at the next door neighbor's company. The collar was working but she continued to bark :(
When she came in the house, she spent the rest of the evening closely following me or sitting on my lap. I'm hoping she'll make the connection today and the barking will stop.

Laundry Is Done!!!

And put away. And it's only 7:30PM. Now I can go back to slug mode.

YAHOO!!!!

I didn't get to go on a cruise so I treated myself this afternoon. I love treating myself!!
I booked tickets to go visit my BFF Sharon in Cleveland April 15-19!! I'm pumped!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My entire house is CLEAN!! Including the rugs, my sheets and the dining room chandelier :) I hesitate to call it a chandelier but after taking down, washing, drying and rehanging all 12 sheets of crystal, it sure seems like a chandelier.
Anyway, I just took a long, hot, bubble bath and have regrouped and started on the dirty clothes.
Thank you Jim for not balking when I insisted we needed a jetted soaker tub for the master bath.

I Do Hereby Solemnly Promise

I will not go to bed tonight until my house is clean and my laundry is done. It may be a L-A-T-E night!

DAMN!

I was able to cancel my flight but Delta charged me $100 to redeposit my SkyMiles. It cost 45,000 miles so it was worth $100 to get them back but DAMN, I think Celebrity should reimburse me for that! It's their fault I wasn't able to take the trip! Stupid noro-virus!

Wasn't Meant To Be :(

Got a call from Celebrity last night. The cruise we were booked for is being delayed by two days because of the huge outbreak of Noro-virus on the ship. We had the choice of going two days later after they clean the ship or canceling altogether with a 100% refund. Because of my compromised immune system, we chose to cancel. No Spring break for me this year! Now if I can only get Delta to reinstate the 45,000 Skymiles I used for my flights, I'll be happy.

Three More Sleeps

and I'll be cruising the beautiful and hopefully sunny Carribean!

I Don't Want To!

I've been putting off cleaning my house for a week now. It needs to be cleaned badly. The simple fact is that I just don't want to. I hate cleaning and really no one cares whether it's clean or not.

No Alpine Burger For Me :(

Joe just called and cancelled. They found another ride. No trip to Bismarck after all.

More Downsizing

My closets and dresser drawers are all cleaned out and I just heard the garbage trucks go by. Good riddance!!!

I had a lunch date with a friend today but Joe just called from Minneapolis. The flights to Minot are cancelled today so they are flying into the Bismarck airport and need a ride to Minot. Guess who's cancelling lunch and driving to Bismarck later this morning? Good thing I adore my brother!

Outdated!

There was a lot of stuff in my pantry that just like me, was outdated. How does that happen? I just finished cleaning it out along with the spice cabinet and hauled it out to the curb for garbage pickup tomorrow morning. Such a nice feeling. Now I'm trying to find the motivation to keep on going and tackle my closet and drawers. UGH!
I also need to deep clean my house, wash the light fixtures and everything in my curio cabinet. I wonder why I insisted I needed the large one? Way too much crystal in that sucker! It'll take me all afternoon to just get it all washed and dried.
My goal is to have all this done before I leave for my cruise on the 17th. I tend to get more things done if I set a goal.

Born Flirt

I took Jameson to basketball practice last night. One of the mothers waiting for her son also brought her kindergarten age daughter with. Gage knew her and flirted with her during the entire practice. It was quite interesting to watch . When practice was out they both rushed outside. When Jameson and I caught up, they were sitting oh so sweet side by side on a bench in front of the building. For a 6 year old, that kid's got game! Lord help us all!

Don't Forget Me!!!

Stella jumped onto Allison's lap and climbed on her back to make sure she wasn't left behind when Allison got her shoes tied and went home.

Wasted Days

and wasted nights! I'm always amazed she doesn't fall off the back of the couch when she sleeps like this!

Great Grandma Reads

And David picks the story... and his nose.

When I Grow Up

... I want to be a fireman like my Uncle Karter.

My Brother's Hat

David made this hat in Pre-School. He called it his Boingo Boingo. I call it silly :)

Buddies

Do you see what I see?

The Burger Queen

Eating Lettuce Wraps at PF Changs! Notice how she has her pinky extended? Just like real royalty!

She Said YES!!!

Erica (Stella's groomer) agreed to keep her for two weeks when I go on my cruise next month!! I am so relieved and to show my appreciation, I have apple turnovers in the oven to bring to her when I pick Stella up later!!! Yay Erica!!

SSDD

It's not like I don't have time to blog everyday. It's just that I have nothing to blog about. Allison and the boys are having dinner here tonight and then I'm taking the boys home and spending the night with them while Allison works. Karter's out of town.

Tomorrow I'm going to the Heritage Singer's Variety Show with Marty & Jane which I love to do. It's dinner and a night of entertainment with two of my favorite people, what's not to love?

Friday night is a Homemaker's Birthday Celebration. This one is for Jen & Deb and I am hosting. We're planning to meet at the Lucky Strike for drinks and then bowl. Should be good for a laugh seeing as how none of us are bowlers :) Then we're coming here for Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Orange Marmalade icing. It's is YUMMY! I don't make it often because it's pretty labor intensive but it's Deb's favorite cake and afterall, we are celebrating her birthday.

Other than that, my life is boring. Boring, I tell you. Even Stella has acted bored since I got back from Connecticut. I think she misses the commotion of Erica's kids at Sheryl's. Pretty sad when you come to pick up your dog after being gone for a week and she could care less. Although that pleased me because it meant she was well taken care of and liked it there. I'm hoping to be able to talk them into keeping her again when I go on my cruise next month. We'll see if Sheryl really meant it when she said, "Any time."
:)

New Goodies

I got a package today that contained the cutest Lego stuff. A tea towel and people magnets that went immediately on my frig and a key chain which went directly onto my key ring. Yay Lego!!

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Holy Moly it's quiet here!! I miss my boys already!
Can't say I miss "yuzic" at 5AM though :)

It IS Tomorrow!

While talking to David on the phone this morning, I told him that when he goes to bed tonight and wakes up tomorrow, I'll be there. He told me, "I already waked up, it is tomorrow!"
Hard to argue that with a three year old :)

Today is the Day!

I'm leaving for Connecticut this afternoon!
I'm a little concerned about Stella. She's going to stay with my groomer's mom. Stella knows her because she comes in most Thursday to see Stella and she jumped at the chance to babysit her. I hope Stella behaves for her because it'd sure be nice to have someone other than my mom and Allison to watch her when I go somewhere. I'm going to try to butter her up by bringing her a nice bottle of wine when I drop Stella off later. Keeping my fingers crossed it works!

Whoops!

I had lab work done yesterday morning. When I went to see the doctor in the afternoon, she said everything looked good except that my fasting blood sugar was 121. Fasting blood sugar should be below 110. Wait. What? I wasn't fasting and not only did I eat breakfast before I had my labs drawn, I washed it down wth a Coke. Yep. So, actually a non-fasting blood sugar of 121 is pretty normal.
And on a good note, my cholestrol was 153, my blood pressure was 107/72 and my B12 level was within normal range. B12 is a biggie for me as the part of my intestine that absorbs B12 is gone and I have to have monthly shots.

Dear Lori,
Next year I promise to fast before getting my labs drawn :)

I Am A Survivor!

At least I survived the weekend with Jameson & Gage. They were unusually good but I was happy to come home to a quiet house last night. I think Stella felt the same as she's been sleeping pretty much non-stop since we got home. It's hard for her to nap when she's around the boys. She needs to be on constant alert in case one of them (Gage) decides he wants to tackle her.
She'll have to go back in full alert mode today when I drop her off on my way to church. I'm going to a Super Bowl party this afternoon and don't want her to be alone too long. She'll spend the night with Allison and come home tomorrow morning.

COOKIES!

I just finished cleaning up after making 8 dozen M&M cookies. I used Valentine's M&Ms and they look very festive :)
I'm hoping they'll be a good bribe for Jameson and Gage. I'm picking them up from Day Care this afternoon, taking them home and spending the night with them tonight. Allison and Karter are going for a short get-away to Bismarck and will be home tomorrow night. I've got our meals planned and everything ready to go.
Stella got upset when she saw my duffle bag come out but after I explained that she's coming with, she settled back down.

The Countdown Begins

Eight more sleeps and I'll be on my way to Connecticut. Can't wait to see my boys again!

Ahhhhhhh....

My new cork screw is here, my new computer is set up and I'm slowly getting used to Windows 7. I think I'm going to like it and if I don't, I'll drink wine until I do :)

YAY!!!!

I'm back in business!! Thank you Erik!!!

Mother Goose's Meandering Mind

Still Waiting

Office Max called yesterday to tell me they're having a hard time finding someone to come out and set up my new computer. If they can't find someone, why did they tell me they have that service? And charge me for it?

Mother Goose's Meandering Mind

Mother Goose's Meandering Mind

Yikes!
I crashed my computer yesterday and can't seem to get it back to how it was. I know I'm an idiot but come on! I finally resorted to buying a new one and am trying to patiently wait for the tech to come and set it up. Until then, if you have anything important to tell me... call, I can't get into my e-mail account.

Damn, That Wine Was Good!!

I broke my cork screw last night opening a bottle of wine Jane brought. I was sad because I had gotten the cork screw from Jane as a gift several years ago and it was a nice cork screw. However, the wine was FABULOUS so it was kind of worth it. Kind of.

I just ordered myself this fancy red one hoping that Jane will bring the same kind of wine again someday :)

Epic Fail

So, I'm at the grocery store wandering around and came across some great looking fresh mozzarella cheese. I wanted to do something else to go with my dinner tonight because it seemed kind of skimpy so I decided I'd make a caprese salad. Always looks easy on TV and everyone seems to like it. I'm at a disadvantage because I don't eat salads... at all.
OK, so I head home with my cheese, tomatoes and fresh basil. I googled caprese salad and every single recipe I found says to start with only the freshest, sun ripened tomatoes and basil... Ahhhh, shit!!
So my lowly cherry tomatoes and hot house basil probably won't win any awards but the cheese tastes great and the cranberry cake is in the oven so we'll still end on a high note.
Hmmmm, maybe if I put the hot butter sauce on the salad, it would be a hit. I swear that sauce would make cardboard taste great and cardboard is probably what my poor tomatoes taste like :(

Lazy Daze!

I never got out of my jammies yesterday. It was blizzardy outside and I had no plans so I didn't bother getting cleaned up, just slouched the day away. Days like that usually just remind me how lonely I am but after the busy weekend I had, it was kind of nice.
Today I'll be out and about and then having Marty and Jane over for dinner. On the menu is Italian Sausage Pasta Soup, Beer Bread and Cranberry Cake with Hot Butter Sauce. OINK!

Happy Birthday to me!!

I've had such a wonderful birthday weekend. Starting with the banquet Friday night, we continued the party yesterday by meeting for lunch at Mi Mexico and coming up here for cake and presents afterwards. The drinking and yukking it up continued until we adjourned to the Lucky Strike to listen to Soul Shine.

This morning, Shirley kicked off the activities with homemade caramel rolls, buttermilk pancakes with homemade chokecherry syrup, bacon, 99s, orange juice and coffee. The girls went to a movie this afternoon and we'll be getting together here afterwards to play Tripoly and watch the big Vikings game. I guess turning 57 isn't so bad when you have friends like mine :)

2010 Homemaker's Banquet

YeeHaw!!!

I just picked Marilyn up at the train station for a fun-filled Homemaker's weekend!!

Let's Vote!

Took some balls to post this picture of themselves so I say we all vote for Tina and Darryl.
http://www.classichits.co.nz/Competitions/CompDetails.aspx?id=14654

Yawn!

Stella's back to her old trick of waking me up around 6AM. Once she succeeds in getting me out of bed, she returns to it and sleeps in while I walk around in a stupor for the next few hours. Damn dog! I'm so glad she's going to spend the weekend with Allison and her gang. Maybe I'll get to sleep in until at least 7AM!

GO VIKINGS!

Stella's watching Jameson watch the big game.

WHEW!

I miss having a cleaning lady but my house is thoroughly cleaned and it didn't cost me a cent.

Calphalon

I make myself an egg, swiss cheese and canadian bacon sandwich on a toasted onion bagel every morning. Occasionally, I'll mix it up and replace the canadian bacon with either sausage or bacon but mostly, it's canadian bacon.

At any rate, when I was at Sarah's for Christmas, I told her I would really like to have some nice cookware and I thought maybe I'd bite the bullet and buy some Calphalon. I just haven't been able to justify spending that much money on cookware when I don't cook that often anymore. The only thing I cook with consistancy is my breakfast sandwich.

So imagine my great surprise when I answered the door the other day and the mailman had a package for me from Sarah. In it was this beautiful 8 inch Calphalon omlette pan. I know I'll think of Sarah every morning when I'm frying the egg for my sandwich. Thank you, Sweetie!

I Feel Pretty!

Stella got a bow at Erica's today.

Gage

Gage left this little note on the dry erase board on my frig. Not bad for a kindergartener! I smile every time I walk past it.

No Vikings Cap Yet

But I did get a gold gift bag and purple tissue to complete the Vikings theme.

Peace Is Seeing A Sunset And Knowing Who To Thank

I LOVE sunsets! And some of the best ones I've ever seen have been from my front door.

Am I Going To Be In Trouble?

For Gage's birthday in November I got him a Green Bay Packers jersey and ball cap. Since then, Jameson has told me many times he wants a Vikings jersey with Favre on it and a Vikings cap for his birthday next week. I was lucky enough to find the jersey on sale before Christmas.

I was at the mall yesterday and decided I'd better pick up the cap as long as I was out there. Easy, right? After all, this is Vikings country. Turns out it wasn't easy at all. They're sold out both at Scheels and the kiosk in the middle of the mall. And not just in the youth sizes but the adult sizes as well. I had to order the stupid thing online from a place in Wisconsin. I paid extra to get it in 1-3 days. So much for saving on the jersey! I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's here by next Monday or this Grandma's name will be mud!

It's a Mother Thing

When Mama's cold, the baby gets bundled up :)

Still Cold Today

But the good news is that it's supposed to warm up into the 20's tomorrow and stay there for the next five days! Poor Stella, she's been going outside but just onto the porch and pees right there :) I really don't care, as long as she pees outside, the porch is fine with me. Besides, peeing on the porch doesn't kill the grass :)

Snow

We set a new snowfall record for the month of December. 30.8 inches. We also got a couple more inches yesterday :(

Last year about this time when it was so cold out, one night I heard water running. I was very sick and weak but investigated the best I could. Couldn't find the source so I went to bed. The next morning, I still heard water running so I called a plumber. It seemed the loudest when I opened the front door.
So, the plumber comes and looks around. He figured out that the outside faucet in front was open. Strange that it would just suddenly start running when it was buried under about a foot of snow. At any rate, he dug out the faucet and sure enough, it was running. Thankfully, I did not get any water in my basement, I just got a big plumbing bill.

So, last night when I was getting ready for bed, I heard water running. SHIT! I was pretty sure what was happening. I don't own boots or snow pants so I just pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a long pair of slippers over the top. I climbed through about 2 feet of snow in the 30 below windchill to get to the outside faucet. I dug through the snow with my gloved hands until I uncovered the faucet and sure enough, it was running. WTF??? How does that happen? Is it the weight of the snow or the incredible cold?
What if this would've happened the week my Mom was here with Stella? Would she have heard the water or figured it was just a neighbor running water? Or what if I had taken Stella with me? Last year the plumber was mystified so I don't think having a plumber look at it again will help anything and it'll just cost me money. I wonder if there's a shut off for that faucet in the house. I know I have the shut off valve for the rest of the building so if I get the wrong one shut off, the other condos won't have water but I will. I think I need to talk to the builder.

Spelling

Ya know, I just learned how to spell Massachusetts and Sarah up and moves to Connecticutt Connecticut!
I'm now praying they don't decide to move to that city in New Mexico that starts with an "A" that I can't spell.

Cold & Snowy

That's what the weather is supposed to be today. Sounds like a good day for homemade soup!

I'm having Marty & Jane over for dinner tonight and am making Smoky Split Pea Soup, Meat and Cheese Stromboli and I'm going to bake some Apple Turnovers because Jane loves them so much. And some Marty Bars because, well, you know, they're Marty Bars! I can't have Marty over without making Marty Bars.

Marty & Jane are the best people to have over for dinner. They're like family and love anything I cook for them. Jane even sometimes comes over in her Jammies. I love Marty & Jane!

Lego Magnets

Allan gave me a set of Lego magnets for Christmas. I promptly put them on my frig when I got home. My Mom took the red one when she left the next day and since then everyone who has come over has either commented on them or tried to steal them!! The would be thieves were Jameson and Gage but it surprised me that as covered with stuff as my frig is that everyone has noticed the magnets. I think I could probably sell a few sets for profit around here. Thanks Allan, love the new conversation starters!

Girls Day In

Yesterday at 10AM I decided to have a girls day in at 2PM. I didn't have much time to prepare so I called all the girls and then pulled two bags of homemade buns from my freezer (thanks Mom!), made a crockpot full of sloppy joes, grabbed a dozen apple turnovers from the freezer and stuck them into the oven and heated up some jalapeno cheese for my little crockpot. I had chips, pickles, Chex Mix and every kind of booze known to man in my pantry. A quick run to the grocery store for ice, Diet Coke and Sprite, made a quick almond glaze for the turnovers and everything was set. Jen brought Buffalo chicken dip, Maria brought spinach dip and we all had a great time. Sometimes spontaneity is a good thing :)