Into the Wild

Yesterday I happened to catch some of a documentary on Chris McCandless and was reminded of Jon Krakauer's retelling of his story in the book Into the Wild, and of course, watching the subsequent movie. I'm a huge Krakauer fan, having loved Into Thin Air about his own Mount Everest climb and would consider myself a fan of Kerouac-esque books in general. I can quote Kerouac all day long. There was a deep desire inside of me to just leave it all behind and head myself into the wild, or even on the road. That desire was always my plan B, if and when I really and truly wanted this life behind me. Just me and my dog, Sierra, and an old truck hitting the dusty road. Enter reality. Sierra has since passed on. I'm married with dependents. The IRS needs me. I am such a different person than I was when I first read Into the Wild about eight years ago. Chris McCandless is no longer a person I admire, as much as I feel great sadness for him. Sadness because he was so ill-prepared. Maybe it is because my husband and I watch every reality show about surviving in Alaska but I couldn't help but watch the documentary yesterday and think about how incredibly naive he was. WHY would you not learn how to properly maintain your food supply. WHY would you not be aware of your caloric needs and how many more calories you will burn off just trying to stay warm, let alone all of the calories you are using, hunting and gathering. Maybe it's because I grew up in Maine, surrounded by family members who, when they were younger, hunted and grew large gardens and raised chickens, turkeys and livestock to support their large families and knew how hard living off the land really is and made sure to enlighten me as to how easy I had it. Maybe it's because my kids are going off into the world on their own now that I find what he did as so selfish, immature and the exact opposite of what he was trying to achieve. WHY would you do that to your parents? I've since discovered that my own desire to leave the world behind really isn't about leaving the world behind. It's about slowing down, about hearing a voice inside of me that I have successfully managed to drown out by the hustle and bustle of every day living, about facing my fears. The truth is, I have no desire to leave the world behind. I love technology. I LOVE the library. I love laying on the beach. I love swimming in a pool. I love ice cream. So yes, I feel great sadness for Chris McCandless now. I don't feel one can "figure it all out" by age 24. I don't think one ever figures it all out and because of some foolish errors on his part, he wasn't able to survive long enough to live long enough to reconcile all the parts of himself. "My fault, my failure, is not in the passions I have, but in my lack of control of them." ~ Kerouac

It's Friday!

Friday usually means date night in this house. This Friday will include a date, but we also have to cram in errands because it's going to be a busy weekend. Saturday will be spent on the road. We are buying some new chairs for our dining room table and we will be celebrating my grandmother's 85th birthday on Sunday.  Today? I'm going to get some work done. By work, I mean non-housework (it's done) and focus on the book and other business tasks.  It's been feeling like Spring is finally here so I've spent my free moments outside and I'm slacking on the book. I'm hoping to get some good adventure pics tomorrow and I have a book review of sorts scheduled for the blog this weekend.

 It's not my usual style of review because it's a book I read about 8 years ago, and has since been made into a movie. I watched a documentary about it this morning and was reminded of the book/movie and how moved I was THEN. I'm also very surprised at my perspective on it now. Hence the upcoming review. 

Our Walk

What a fun morning Desmond and I had yesterday. It was nice to get out into the fresh air with no purse or car keys. 

Let's talk about this weather, shall we? Winter is finally over. The warm sun has never felt so good! I'm going to try and enjoy the day...seems hard to believe one would have to try, but it is tax day. Worst day of the year, in my opinion. It should be called, let's take money from the people with work ethics, who bust their asses every day and let's use it to support people who do not bust their asses at all, or to bail the government out, or to continue to pay our politicians ridiculous amounts of money to push paper around. While I may have a live and let live attitude as far as government involvement in one's life is concerned, I AM most certainly fiscally conservative. I'm not the first of middle class America to have these sentiments and I'm in good company. Oh well, I have THE cutest dog in the world, and really, what's better than that?

My Morning

I got a good amount accomplished on this gorgeous spring morning. Tidied the house, made beds, vacuumed, planted some chives, rosemary and basil, and sat in the sun to read for a bit. Not a bad day as far as Mondays go. Took some sweet pics of Desmond waking up Bella with doggie kisses.

Cold and Rainy Day Comfort

Rainy Days

Rainy days are for knitting. This what I'm currently working on. Sleeve one of two (obviously) to a fabulous sweater. The pattern can be found for free at purlbee.com. It's their sweatshirt sweater. I'm knitting it up in a worsted wool. I'm tweaking the pattern to meet my needs and can't wait to share the finished project. For some reason the link isn't posting here. Just do a search on their blog for the sweatshirt sweater. Comes right up and you CAN print the pattern for free. If you don't want to print all of the pictures, and I don't to save on ink, you can scoot on over to printfriendly.com I like to print patterns and put them into page protectors and put them into a binder. It's handy when I want to keep things pertaining to a pattern (notes, swatches, yarn colors and brands, etc) all in one spot. I also have the binder broken up into categories, i.e. hats, mittens, sweaters, slippers, etc. I also do not like a million pages of pictures of the pattern, which is where printfriendly.com comes in handy. It converts the pattern and saves on valuable ink! Awesome site!

Sierra: Rescue and Rescuer 2002-2014

I have two topics close to my heart and those are pitbulls and rescue dogs. I often avoid conversations with people on these two topics, as I can get most heated and I have a hard time dealing with ignorance. ESPECIALLY when it comes to talking about my dog. I always have said, it isn't my dog you need to worry about. I lost Sierra right before Christmas 2014. She succumbed to kidney failure and it truly was the worst time in my entire life. It is four months into the new year, and I still struggle with her loss on a daily basis. Not to say we aren't enjoying our newest addition, because Desmond has blended seamlessly into our lives. As a tribute to Sierra, I plan on occasionally featuring dogs, those rescued and those available for rescue, to bring light upon her breed, breed restrictions and bans, rescues in general, and spaying/neutering your pets. I'm also a HUGE fan of Cesar Milan and Rachael Ray, both of whom have pitbulls and are strong supporters of all of the above. In fact, all of the proceeds from Rachael Ray's dog food goes to support pitbull rescues. When my kids and I were at the Bangor Humane Society looking for a dog, I never thought in a million years I would be bringing home a pitbull, though thankfully all of her papers said lab mix, which would prove beneficial when relocating. All of the other dogs were barking and some were growling. Sierra was just sitting there. She wasn't terribly pretty that day. She had been found wandering the streets, her body out of shape, having just had puppies and after being vetted, it was deemed that she had been used as a breeder. She was used and abused and just trying to stay alive. Enter this single (at the time) mom and we locked eyes and I just knew she was mine. I filled out the paperwork (Saturday), and brought her home that Monday. I promised her she would never be mistreated again. Up till this point, dogs in my life had just been dogs, pets for my kids, or pets for me and my siblings when we were kids. I had never known the loyalty and true devotion of a shelter dog. Sierra was grateful and devoted to me every single day of her life. She was always by my side. Always on command. Always on alert. Everyone she encountered was won over by her kind and sweet disposition. If only love could have kept her alive, she would be here forever. Even though we have a new boy, and we love Desmond dearly, he isn't a rescue and I know my rescuing days are not over. I'm not sure when or where Sierra will find me again, but I do believe it'll be in another rescue. I will lock eyes and I will just know. I'm happy that Desmond has only known love and joy in his short one year on earth. I would love for every dog to have his kind of life and never know the kind of life Sierra had to live before me. So I urge anyone in the position to own a dog, to give a shelter dog a chance. I would also encourage fostering and/or volunteering at your local shelter if you aren't in a position to own a dog at this time.

Rocket

When we moved into the new house, after leaving one with just hardwood floors and tile, we realized we were going to need a vacuum. This house also has hardwood floors and tile, but has plush carpeting in Bella's bedroom and running up the stairs and both landings, and wall to wall in the upstairs hallway. I had such good luck with my Shark steam mop, we decided to give their new Rocket vacuum a try.

The two reasons I need to vacuum daily...Bella and Desmond! It's been about two weeks since I've owned the Rocket. I have collected enough dog hair to make another dog. I love how the Rocket propels forward. It does go very fast, so you need to be prepared for that. I love dumping the container at the end of vacuuming. I also love how it came with its own hanger for the broom closet. It has its own spot and I'm not tripping over it or trying to maneuver around it in the closet.

Night Circus

I'm currently reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern on my Kindle.

The reading is going a bit slow for me right now, but I've also had little time to just sit and read. There seems to always be something else that needs to be organized, or cleaned, or bought for the house. I think we've officially been in the house for three weeks or so. Last Friday, the weather was gorgeous and I was able to sit outside and read for about an hour. I've heard fabulous things about the book, and the imagery is amazing, but I'm still kind of waiting for the story to happen. Not very often, I will be so excited to finally get my hands on a book that everyone seems to love, and then it just kind of falls flat. I'm about halfway through the novel, so I'm hoping things in the story start coming together. Rarely do I give up on books. So far, we have two dueling magicians, their two "children" and a circus which appears and disappears rather quickly. I've read an awful lot of words to only be at this point in the story. While knitting, I've been listening to Pride and Prejudice in audiobook format on my iPad. Listening to audiobooks is a true talent. If I'm distracted at all, it is a no go. I'm trying to work through the classics, revisiting some and reading some for the very first time, and since I can't spend my whole day reading, I can listen to a book while cleaning, or running, or even while driving. Big plans for today consist of laundry, going for a run, working on character sketches for my book, trying to figure out why Adsense used to work on my blog, but has stopped doing so, and CLEANING OUT MY CAR!

Major Update

So HELLO everyone! Do I even have any readers anymore? I left the blogging world last July, I believe, for a number of reasons, the main one being working 60ish hours per week. Football season at URI was also starting up in full and being married to the former Director of Football Operations (more on that) left me quite busy on my days off. I promised a major update so here goes: I'm no longer working. WHAT?! I know, crazy. What these last few weeks of not working has proven to me is that I've been exhausted. Exhausted for a really long time. I like to keep busy so I don't have to deal with stuff and well, I've been dealing with said "stuff". Funny how you can only escape for so long. Will I go back to work? Yes. I am feeling the urge to write again which is huge for me. I'm feeling the urge to blog again (more on that too). I'm also going to entertain the thought of teaching again. I know for sure that I'm not sure what I want to do yet. My husband (and sometimes blog contributer) got a fancy new job and so we've relocated back to the state of Maine. I can't say I'm pleased with being back, as I loved living on the ocean in Narragansett, Rhode Island. I worked hard to make that area feel like our home for the last 8 years. What I am feeling is committed to making this part of our journey, however long it lasts, fun and adventurous. My beloved Sierra passed away this December. You can read my archives from 2006 thru last summer about her. We added a new wonderful addition to our family. Our fabulous Desmond is now ONE! He is taking over right where Sierra left off and we couldn't be more pleased with his demeanor and funny antics. And yes, I named him after the character Desmond on Lost. Apparently, when my husband was a little boy, he wanted a dog so his parents gave him a stuffed dog, which he carried around and had named Desmond. SO we deemed it another instance of fate, like most of our relationship, and Desmond was to be our next dog's name. He loves my husband like Sierra loved me. It is so sweet to watch, but makes my heart so heavy at times because I miss my girl more than I could have ever imagined. We have a new house. We have spent the last few weeks living in a Pinterest world. Everything from window treatments, window hardware, paint colors, bed designs, you name it, it ALL came from Pinterest ideas. That's it about major updates...I'm the new secretary of Some Theatre Company and also on their board of directors. I've also joined Central Maine Roller Derby! I have a 5K color run coming up in early May. Moving forward with this blog is something I've been contemplating for about 9 months. I stopped altogether last summer and have since been overwhelmed with all of the "pro bloggers" out there in huge numbers, and I just didn't have the time or creativity to be competitive. I've been blogging since 2003 and at one time, this blog was kind of a big deal. :) I'm not sure of the direction I would like to take the blog, but I have decided to not start over with it. I'm just going to leave the good, bad and ugly in my archives and try hard to not look back and cringe. I hope to showcase our Pinterest attempts, whether successful or not, what I'm knitting or crafting now, books I'm loving or hating and document every bump, bruise and (hopefully not) broken bone on my Derby journey. Look for Bella and Desmond anecdotes and the occasional meal in pictures. It's good to be back in Blogland!

View this Morning

View this Morning

Only 5!

Only five posts in six months! I guess I've gotten over it. I can probably blame Facebook. It's so much easier to document life events that way with anecdotes and pictures and then share with family. My reading is SOLID right now. Got lots of good books in my July queue. Tonight's book is The Round House by Louise Erdrich. Also reading Sophie's Choice and The Bridge of Sighs.

I went to Roger Williams Zoo today. Had a good time. Wish I had had longer to hang and explore. I am so looking forward to the weekend and the sun and the pool.

6/13/14

Happy Friday the 13th!
I woke up this morning (again 4:45) and felt fine. When I finally got up and got the coffee going, the room was literally spinning. I'm going to blame the barometer and the humidity and living on the ocean, combined with my extra long run yesterday, plus allergies, all affecting my inner ear. It settled down enough for me to run 40 minutes today, because I refuse to let this set me back. Zach treated me to dinner at Chen's late last night. He knows I've been stressed out as of late. Not sure what I'm going to do about it all yet. I've turned into the Gump of the running world and still haven't been able to outrun this shitstorm. I'm doing a ton of reading lately. My current read is John Irving's Last Night in Twisted River. I've spent the last two weekends sitting in the sun, reading and trying to relax. This weekend I will be getting the pool ready for summer. Bella and I are super excited to go swimming!! I'm hoping my summer schedule is pretty lax so she and I can get some weekdays in at the beach. I leave the weekends at the beach to the tourists. Man, they drive me crazy. You'd think after 7 summers in Narragansett, I'd be used to it all.

5/7/14

Sooooo, totally skipped the blog in April. Bella turned 4 the day after Easter! Time flies!!! A student of mine passed away suddenly in April. It's just been full of ups and downs. Yesterday though, my husband looked at a new house for us and texted me the pics and I finally felt peaceful about it all. Not sure if that'll be the one, but I feel like things are definitely good. I feel ready for the change and the challenge. Plus what's not exciting about decorating a new place together?

3/13/14

Apparently I can only blog once per month these days. Just so busy with work, and the regular day to day and on top of that I've been sick at least every other week since sometime in December. I'm going to make this a positive post so I'm going to write a list about what I'm grateful for...

1. My husband
2. Bella
3. The rest of the family
4. SIERRA
5. No snow with this storm that seems to have dropped close to 2 feet in all the states north of us.
6. My treadmill
7. Netflix
8. My Kindle
9. Knitting
10. Yummy adult beverages


Tomorrow night, I'm going on a date with my husband. The last two weeks we've had plans but I was sick both weekends. Even if it's just a drive thru. We are getting in the same car together.

2/15/14

Oh my word. We've had at least one snow day per week from school since my last post. Another 8-12 inches is expected today. At least the last storm was only rain for us here on the RI coast while the rest of the east, Georgia-Maine got snow and ice. We won't be so lucky with this next one. It's coming in off the water, in true Nor Eastern style. Puke, right? The good news is that I have no where to be until the 24th of February. So let it freaking snow, if it must. I had better have a spectacular spring/summer/fall after this.

Valentines was nice. I had a great dinner and yummy drinks with my fabulous, sexy husband. He bought me a new North Face Denali jacket. Time to retire my pink one. This new one is all black. I love it. Makes the weather a little more bearable. He's getting a good watch per his request, assuming the weather lets up so we can go pick it up. And we're making plans for our next vacation...Vegas!! I've never been. He's been several times. I'm so excited.

I finished Zach's wool hat. He's worn it all day, every day since I've made it. Haha. I'm finishing up a bulky alpaca cowl for myself. Not sure why exactly, but this yarn is a giant pain in the butt to knit with. Maybe it's the color...charcoal-ish...maybe it's the weight...could be my needles...size 15 bamboo circular. Could be me. Unlikely. I've finished Bella's knit cotton bunny. Just have to sew it together and stuff it. I'm going to cast on my husband's hat now that Zach's is off my needles.

So today is Saturday. I'm having a pajama-Lost marathon-knitting day to ride out the storm.

1/13/14

It's been a strange start to the new year. Not bad, just strange. The weather for instance. Yes, it's winter, but no it is never really really cold where we live. It typically hovers in the 30s-50s December through February. In these first weeks of January, we've had a snowstorm, followed by 60 degree weather and rain to melt it all immediately, then freezing weather between 0-30 degrees for almost 10 days and now we've been in the 50s for a five day stretch. My sinuses are really struggling to keep up with the temp/humidity changes. Other things are strange. Bella's behaving. My husband is organizing. I'm caught up on all in services at both of my jobs. Paperwork is complete and turned in on time. I know! Strange. My knitting has turned a huge corner. I will be finished with my husband's hat by tomorrow or Wednesday. I can knit socks, mittens, scarves, cozies, cables...but I'm finding hats to be my zen knitting. As much as I love my Addi Turbos, I really love my bamboo 16-inch circular. Thank you goes to my husband for accompanying me to the yarn store. I'm sure it was the least fun he's had in a while but he and Bella were good sports while I decided on the right wool for the project. I totally want to raise my own sheep. I'm running at a pretty good rate these days. Tried on one of my bikinis and can't say I had that mid-winter "oh my god" shock. Actually looked pretty darn good so this summer will be an awesome one, especially since Bella is more agreeable these days. I plan on being at the beach in all of my spare time and I will even try to tolerate the tourists. Try. I will try.

Happy Snow Day!

Happy New Year too. I got my eight point five hours in last night. Awake by 7:30. Second cup of coffee down the hatch. Listening to Pandora. House cleaned. Gonna go for my three mile run here in a bit and shower up. My crazy busy work schedule restarts full force on Monday. Totally need to get my head in the game. I think that was a High School Musical reference. Should finish up my second knitting project of the year this weekend. These are going to be cute little gifts. Birthdays probably. Goals for this month...clean out my closet. Get paperwork caught up for job number 2. Register for some races.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

I love Christmas! I start listening to the music while floating in my pool around July! Why? It helps ease the sadness of knowing you'll be saying goodbye to summer all too soon. I like my tree up the day after Thanksgiving by the latest. People complain daily about "It's too soon. It's too soon. The stores have stuff out too soon.". These same people then bitch about the Season going by too fast. Enjoy it then idiots! Stop being stingy. Stop being depressed. Enjoy. It. Stop comparing yourself with others. Christmas for me is quiet time. I slow down. I eat what I want. I read. I play games. I SMILE. I knit. I take a few days off. My husband and I like to gift each other items throughout the year and we rarely wait for Christmas, so by the time the big day arrives, neither of us really need or want anything. We had fun shopping this weekend for Bella because she's three and toys are fun to shop for! Yesterday she and I both got our nails done. She was so cute getting her first professional manicure! Hopefully a fun holiday tradition I can share with my best girl. Of course it was in the 60s this weekend, so I have more spring fever in me now than Christmas spirit! Bring on the beach days! Okay, bring on the WARM beach days! I live on the ocean, so every day is a beach day.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

I dare say we're a bit ahead of the game this year! Most of the food prep done. Kitchen cleaned and floor mopped. Bathroom semi-cleaned. Plans for tomorrow?? Just enjoy ourselves. Hopefully play some video games and board games and enjoy our yummy food.

11/15/13

I'm up early. Wanted to sleep in since I could but I'm up an hour earlier than my alarm. I slept hard last night so maybe what I needed was a few hours of good, solid sleep instead of more hours of tossing and turning. So I am a regular reader of a blog and she's nice, so I won't call her out, and on her recommendation started reading Edenbrooke. I got about 25 pages into it in THREE weeks time and finally just brought it back to the library. How this book got 4 stars on Goodreads is beyond me. I started thinking maybe there was something wrong with me...I started Jeremy Robinson's Island 731 yesterday and am half way through, so yeah, the problem is not on my end. Can I just say how relieved I am to just get that book out of here? I have this problem about finishing books even if I can't stand them and this book has been cramping my reading style, constantly reminding me of its horrid presence, silently berating me for not picking it up. But I DID pick it up, and it was so bad, I would abandon it to clean my house. It's been three weeks of sad Hell. I handed it back to the librarian and I swear, it seemed like she sniffed it and touched it and was like, you didn't finish this. I simply averted my eyes and asked to check out Island 731 please and thank you. I half-ran/half-skipped out of there. I'm still a bit giddy with glee of having the book gone and on a high after having pulled a fast one on the librarian. The author of the blog,who recommended Edenbrooke didn't enjoy Gone Girl. I know, right??? That should have been my first clue we weren't on the same level. I don't enjoy poorly written romance. I like adventure, distant lands, strong heroines, uplifting or powerful stories of beating the odds. You get the idea. I live my life like I'm training for The Hunger Games. I want my books to match. The thought of sitting back and waiting for a man to come in and save the day...seriously, WHAT IS THAT??? I love my husband so very much and he has saved many a day but I'm proud of saving many a day myself!! Okay, long rant over. Sort of. I'm proof a woman can raise kids, work, and take care of a home, which includes cooking and cleaning, AND workout and look awesome. Arrogant? No. Confident. I've gotten here myself, with the help of God. Now my rant is over. Blog time is over. I have to pack and drive to Maine. My husband's team is playing against my college team. Can't wait to visit with family and friends!! Should be a fantastic weekend!

Great Weekend

Most weekends are good because hello, it's the weekend, but sometimes you just get an extra special one and this weekend was one of those. My husband and I went to see Elton John in concert. We figured it'd be a good night because it's Elton John and he's had huge hits in every decade our (mine and my husband's) lives and sometimes it's nice to go to a show where you know all the songs but I don't think we were expecting such a fantastic night. This man was so incredibly generous with his time, playing for three solid hours, singing all of his crowd pleasers plus some new ones. He signed autographs, played around with the audience, and just enjoyed himself. He had the 2Cellos playing with him this evening and if you don't know who they are, YouTube them right this minute. Fantastic guys. Plus my husband and I just had fun making fun of some of our surrounding seat mates. He had the very robust gay married couple next to him and to my left, I had a singing Scotsman who clearly and loudly sang along with Sir Elton. We had some drunk douches behind us and some big hair in front of us but it was so much fun. It was nice to just laugh with my husband. We don't do that enough sometimes. And then last night, after Bella went home, we had a few hours to drink some wine, break my iPhone, listen to music and watch some tv before bed. And we went to bed early. Amazing how exhausted two people can be. So yes, this weekend was perfect. It'll go down in the history books as one of my favorites.

11/6/13

So apparently my new trend is blogging only once a month. All is well just busy busy. Huge breakthroughs in my running recently. I'm beating my mile times daily and I finally got my 5K under 30 minutes. Not the 21 minute 5K of my youth, but getting there. I'm also doing circuit training 3 days a week or so and toning and lifting weights. This week, I've begun cleaning up my eating. It wasn't bad to begin with but I am really trying to cut out as much processed food as I can and I'm cutting down on my added sugar. One teaspoon at a time. Honestly though, what is the point of living if I can't have sugar in my coffee??? My body is changing daily. I'm loving it! I've certainly weighed less but this time, I'm really focusing on fitness and endurance and challenging myself and not so much on what the scale says. I've finally plowed through the worst plateau ever though, so now the scale is moving down again. I think what was happening, since I'm by no means overweight, was that I was gaining muscle at almost the same rate as I was losing fat, so while my clothes were getting looser and my body getting better looking, the scale wasn't really moving. Basically what I did was take a few days off and just eat what I wanted, within reason, then jumped right back in. Seemed to do the trick. I'm also making the effort to eat more protein after a long run...so I always have some hardboiled eggs on hand in the fridge. Also eating an apple a day. And finally, I'm sinking a lot more water and green tea.

10/10/13

Well hello!  

I've been so stinking crazy busy. Seems like I'm always on the go!  Work is busy. Working out is keeping me busy. I'm running about 21 miles per week. I need to step it up though if I want to shoot for a 10k, followed by a 1/2 marathon. 

In other news, I'm headed to Maine this weekend. Visiting family and hopefully some friends. I need some social time. I don't have any of that around here because I'm so busy working all the time. Then hopefully the movies Sunday night with my husband!  I want to see Gravity. On November 6th, we're going to see Elton John in Providence and on November 16th, back in Maine for a fun match up between my husband's football team URI and my alma mater UMaine. Not sure which side I will sit on. :)

November 16th is also my love's birthday!!  

It's Been A Long time...

I realized that it has been a long time since you have heard from Mr. Jennifer and because the public outcry has been so loud, I decided to post something.

In reality I have never posted on here for any other reason than to let you all know how awesome my wife is and to hopefully make her smile and feel loved. The past couple of months have been tough as I have started the hectic part of the year for my new job. Working close to 100 hours a week, doesn't leave much time for anything let alone being a great husband and that is something I have always prided myself on. Not being able to be there to take care of everything and just spending time doing little things like listening to 80's music on Pandora or holding hands, stinks! On top of me working all the time, she is working two jobs, watching Bella at least four days a week and driving the rest of the family all over the place. She is truly amazing. Because she is so amazing I thought I would write her a love letter...

Dear My Darling Angel Daisy,

I am the luckiest man alive. After so many wrong turns and stupid mistakes, God has for some reason blessed me with you. Who would have know that my angel was in the next town over my whole childhood and I never knew. God certainly does work in mysterious ways, and He clearly had a plan for us. Like all of Gods gifts, I am undeserving of you. I work everyday to overcome my short comings so that my gift is not your purgatory. You are the most intelligent, fun, attractive, sexy and loving person I know. The thought of getting to see you, talk to you and have you fall asleep in my arms is what keeps me going everyday. I know I fall short everyday of the greatness that I expect of myself when it comes to being your husband and I am truly sorry. There is no excuses for that and I am committed to being what you deserve.

You are my Daisy. The flower that makes the sun hesitate when it rises to take an extra look at your beauty. You are my Athena. The one that everyone turns to for the correct answer. You are my Jester. The one that makes me laugh so that any worries disappear. You are my Aphrodite. The one that everyone can't take there eyes off. You are my answer. The answer to all my prayers, questions and happiness.

I LOVE YOU MY PERFECT DARLING ANGEL DAISY!!!!

Love,
Me

9/10/13

I had such a yucky day yesterday! What was supposed to be a day when I caught up on all of my own things and got myself prepared for my week, turned into getting woken up by my boss, a schedule change and with that, all of the free time in which I was going to get things in place, disappearing before I had the chance to wipe the sleep out of my eyes. So that just set the tone for the day, to say the least. Work itself is rarely painful, and I enjoy my work, I just like more than 2 seconds notice is all, so I can cancel obligations I may have made thinking I had the day off. I'm glad days like yesterday do not happen often, but I can't help but feel there is something in the air? I just can't seem to shake it off. ALL of my enthusiasm and energy has disappeared. Let's see, it's 9:15...I need to workout because I had zero time to do so yesterday. This means I have to workout and manage to keep Bella out of trouble at the same time. I need to get my shower in there somewhere. It's going to be 90 degrees tomorrow. Hello Autumn?? I love the heat, but once school is in session, professional attire is required. Super suck, right there. Okay, I feel better venting. Bella woke up and took her adorably pajama clad body into my room for morning cuddles. We watched Lilo and Stitch, while I caught up on paperwork, and now she's eating her breakfast, painting and playing with Play-doh. Once required work is turned in via email, I'm going offline and am going to remain that way until after dinner. Tomorrow is another busy day and it will remain busy right through until Thursday night at 6. Actually, to get technical, it starts at 8 pm tonight. I work the overnight, get home at 7, turn around and be at job 2 for 9 am until 2 pm. Home at 2:30. Meeting 3:30-5:30. Pick up Zach, pick up Bella, home for dinner, back at job 1 for another overnight, home at 7 am, work at job number 2, 9 am until 2 pm and then at job number one, 3-6. CONFUSED? It's not usually this hectic. I rarely have meetings and I picked up an additional overnight so another person could take their vacation. Needless to say however, this was NOT the week to mess with my schedule.

8/27/13

I ended up working last week and have this week off instead. Geez Luis. Glad I don't actually plan on going anywhere in August. I finally got some writing done on Friday. Hallelujah! My running is going ok. Lots of different issues creeping up. My feet and knees are great, though Trouble with my lower back and inside thigh/hip joint area last week and yesterday, my asthma was giving me some trouble. The issues only appear when I increase my time/distance. I typically just run through the pain but I did take some time off last week. I AM getting older and at some point I'm probably going to just have to accept that and the pain that comes with it.

Soooooooo

So much for my vacation. My boss called Sunday in a bind and asked if I could work Monday thru Thursday. Of course, I said. I've had a backache for three days and I blame my week off last week for it. I over did it working out and spent a lot of downtime relaxing in my bedroom catching up on television.

Day 3

This is definitely harder than it looks. I know, oh, poor me, I get time off from work...mind you, this is time off from one full-time job only, as I'm not taking time off from my other job, OR time off from watching Bella 45 hours per week. I don't really know what I'd do with myself with even 24 hours of me time, let alone a whole week of it. I'm not a stay-cation kind of person. If I'm on vacation, I want a VACATION. Hotels, meals out, sightseeing. The whole 9. It rained all day yesterday so any outside activity wasn't happening for Bella and me. Plus, she had a very cranky day, after a cranky night...runny nose, congestion, CRANKINESS...not sure if it's her big teeth coming in or just a cold but HOLY!! Finally after resting and watching movies all day, she turned back into her sweet self around dinner time. I'm going to try and get some reading done today. I've totally been sucked into catching up on my favorite tv shows. Errands to run today with Zach, for Zach. I will be finished just in time to pick up Bella for our 7 hours of fun time. Aside from 3 hours, tomorrow is mine. Same goes for Friday as well.

Day 1

I'd say this morning was a good start to my 3 weeks of slower pace life, that is, 3 weeks before life gets all crazy busy again. I like the busy because it keeps my mind occupied but I recognize that I need to do some healthy things for me and I need to learn to be able to enjoy the slow, so I can continue at high speed without burning out. I thought that might mean sleeping in this morning. My body had other ideas. I've been up since 6:30. I slept in on Saturday so maybe that was all I needed. I took a 1/2 hour run, followed by a nice shower. I will workout my abs and arms later. I've decided I'm going to treat these three weeks almost like a rehab, except I can drink and eat what I want! Three weeks to focus on eating, exercising, experimenting with different teas, coffees and wine, reading, writing and meditating. Good plan!

Finally...I get some time off. I do not have to be anywhere till 3pm on Monday. I do not even have to talk to one person today until around 4, when I pick up Bella for the weekend. I slept until 8:30 this morning. I finished two books last week. I finally saw The Conjuring last night. I did manage to squeeze my workouts in last week, but I'm definitely looking forward to being able to spend a few weeks getting my healthy ways back on track. Pre-football season has started, which means 16 hour days for my husband and means more often than not, I'm dining alone, which also means I'm not dining. I do not eat when I'm alone. I will graze. A few slices of cheese. A handful of crackers. Occasionally a bowl of cereal. I will cook Monday night because Kayla, Bella and Zach will be here for dinner, but I'm foreseeing a lot of lean cuisines in my future for the next few weeks. So big plans for my day today...whatever the Hell I want to do!!! I think I'm going to organize my closet because school will be starting after Labor day, and it'll be back to over full-time work for me. I also think I will sit in the sun for a bit and read. Maybe I will clean out the fridge and scrub it down. Gosh, I live a thrilling life!

8/4/13

Spending the day with a wild child named Annabella. Not sure what we're going to do today. Quite possibly we will just hang out here, in the back yard, swimming in the pool. The weather is quite nice for today. High 70/low 80 as a temp with little humidity, so it'd be nice to have an adventure. Then again, managing Bella alone is always an adventure. Almost done reading In Cold Blood. It was a fast read for me. I have enjoyed the writing. Gearing up for our last week of summer programming at work and finally, finally, I should have a few weeks off to do absolutely nothing but work out, read, tan...of course, I will still have work at my other job and I will have Bella 4 days a week per usual, but a break from our summer programming is huge. School starts around here after Labor Day and then it's the countdown to our first holiday break! :)

8/3/13

Happy (?) August. July is a frenzy in this beach town in the summer. Come August, most of us who live here year round have the same grimace and attitude. Things do slow down in August, as it appears most folks take their vacas in July, but come September, the beaches are empty, except for us locals and we LOVE it!!! And I do get lots of beach time September till December. I'm having a relaxing day today. It's overcast and I don't have Bella until around 4 so I'm just hanging out, watching some old Shark Week episodes, contemplating getting my workout in and getting my nails done. Wonderfully boring.

7/20/13

Eight days till my birthday. I have most of next week off. I slept for about 12 hours last night. I think I am more exhausted as a result of my summer schedule as opposed to the regular school year. I'm enjoying our heat wave. In all of my years living in Rhode Island, I have never felt the ocean as warm as it was on Wednesday. If I wanted bath water, I guess I'd move down south. Even our pool is at 95 degrees. That's more than the temp of a therapeutic pool. I'm trying to get through From a Buick 8 by Stephen King. Not his best. My least favorite book of his, I suspect. Or maybe I'm just not as into it after reading 11/23/63 and Under the Dome...both books I finished in about 2 days. Bag of Bones was my favorite, followed closely by Tommyknockers. It is chilling to realize he started writing the book (Buick) right before he was almost killed in a car/pedestrian accident...he being the pedestrian. A classic life imitating art imitating life conundrum. I just finished JK Rowling's A Casual Vacancy. It took about 100 pages for me to get into it simply because there were so many characters, and it took at least that many pages to get to know them and want to stick with them till the end of the story. I also feel like she would throw in some random vulgarity to remind readers that this was not your Harry Potter and for someone who professed to want this book to NOT be compared to Harry Potter, I think she was better off letting readers get lost in the story and not constantly remind them of what she didn't want us to do. She could have possibly benefited from a better editor. All in all, it makes you wonder why some authors can go on and create wonderful stories and characters time and time again (Stephen King) to great reviews and some who seem to struggle after their "swan song"...then again, Stephen King didn't create Harry Potter.

7/8/13

Well last week was a blur. I'm almost ready for the more tranquil days of early fall. Empty beaches, water warmed by the heat of the summer and glorious sunsets. I enjoyed six days off from work. I don't think I've driven anywhere since last Tuesday! I'm not really a stay cation kind of person. I do love a long weekend at home but anything longer than that and I begin feeling a bit bored and resentful and a whole list of other thoughts and feelings that being busy at work keeps at bay. My house is freezing. I have to go outside to warm up. I think I'm colder in the summer than winter with all the ACs running everywhere I go. I love the heat. The hotter the better. I love hot and humid weather. It feels like you're always covered with a nice warm blanket. We had quite a few friends and family over for the 4th. It was a lot of fun but I was glad to have the quiet back when everyone left. We had a cookout, fire, fireworks, lots and lots of alcohol, swimming in the pool and some good laughs. Next Monday is Hayley's birthday but it is also the middle of July!!! Crazy to realize that.

6/26/13

This summer has just started and I am so busy it already feels like it is flying by! Life is excellent though. Work is pretty great these days. Even on my busiest days, I'm usually smiling. That is huge for me. I'm reading like a fiend. Bella is starting to be more fun than she is work. We had so much fun in the pool together yesterday. She was laying on a float and I was on another and we were throwing a sponge around and splashing each other with it. We bought a new car. A Nissan Maxima. Totally loving it more and more. The first two days were spent getting used to everything. It's finally feeling familiar. My treadmill is amazing!!! Totally had a great workout this morning and for 12 minutes straight was able to keep up at my old (fast) pace before I had to slow down for the remainder of the workout. Next week, I'm going to increase my distance and take it slow. Once I acclimate to the new distance, I will work on speed again. I'm also running at an incline of 5. On a regular road, there will of course be hills and valleys, as well as good flat stretches, but the temp has to cool down before I take it outdoors. Next week is the FOURTH!!! Excited to spend a long hot day bickering with my perfect husband! ;)

6/22/13

So I'm running again. Two weeks in. Feeling pretty good. I'm definitely one of those people whose body responds quickly to the activity. That's a good thing. I tone up quick. I'm also doing ab work, using hand weights and doing squats, as well as push ups and jumping jacks. Right now I'm doing this to help maintain a healthy lifestyle, but I may look into a few 5Ks this summer/fall and *maybe* I will entertain the thought of a 1/2 marathon. I mean I used to run at least 3 5Ks a year and do two triathlons a year when I lived in Maine, so this isn't foreign for my body. I just need to get back in the saddle again. My treadmill is awesome. Still prefer the outdoors. I will probably incorporate some outdoor runs in another week or two. I'm also trying to maintain 1200 calories per day. I never consume 1200 and at the very least, I should be because of the running. I also need to get my water intake back up. I was doing so well and then work got busy and I didn't want to run to the bathroom every 20 minutes. Ah well. It'll work itself out with a little effort.

June 15, 2013

Hello there!!
I haven't blogged since Zach's birthday! Rest assured we've just been busy with work and with Bella and that i haven't quit blogging. We have the pool already and I enjoyed a couple of hours in it this morning. The first pool day of the year for me! This is just one of those months where I have too much to say so I end up saying nothing. Oh well. Hubby and I enjoyed a nice dinner out at one of our favorite restaurants last night. I got a new treadmill and have been racking up the miles this week. Loving it! We took a not relaxing mini trip to Maine last weekend. This is our first Saturday in a few weeks in which we've been alone and so we are simply enjoying being together. Bella will be here for the night very soon, so back to the grind for us, even if it is a good grind. I have a ton of pics but I'm just not in the mood to do a phone dump sooooo till next time...

5/12/13

Happy Birthday to Zach!!! We're going out to eat tomorrow night to celebrate. 19 years old! I swear, it seems like I just had him. Gosh I miss those "easy" days sometimes. I didn't have to work. Just stayed home and took care of my babies. This weekend was super busy. Quick trip to Maine. Took my niece Lexi out for lunch. Bella had a ball playing with my nieces. She was pretty funny on the drive back to Rhode Island. I will post pics sometime when work slows down. Looks like that won't be till summer. I was able to see my mom and grandmother for Mother's Day, so that was nice and special that Bella got to spend some time with them both.

5/7/13

I'm working too much to post regularly these days. Summer is coming. Summer is coming. Summer is coming. 

4/23/13

Bella went to the doctor's today and she has double ear infections...poor baby girl. She started her antibiotics today. A little different than the norm, as she's allergic to penicillin and amoxicillin. Around dinnertime, she started to finally play! She hasn't really played much at all this past week. Yesterday was THE worst Monday that I've had in a long time and I'm so grateful for good friends at work that helped me out. Today was a pretty nice day, and rightly deserved I think. Looking forward to another chill day tomorrow and Thursday/Friday will be their usual super busy selves BUT hey, it also means it's the weekend! Tomorrow is supposed to be gorgeous as is Saturday and Sunday! I'm spending the weekend laying out and reading. I have three library books to finish. I'm almost done Ape House by Sara Gruen of Water for Elephants fame, and I have Flight Behavior by one of my personal favorite authors, Barbara Kingsolver and I can't think of the other book I got, and I'm too lazy to get up to go look on the counter. I'm also surprisingly loving The Host by Stephanie Meyer. Who knew. I got it on sale for my Kindle and I forgot to bring Ape House the other night, so I decided to start it and it's great. Well the writing could be better but the plot is excellent and I'm sucked into the story at this point so I'm happy with it. Sometimes you just want a story...not a life changer...in a novel. Tonight we're having BLTs for dinner. I'm excited. For some reason I'm craving them tonight. After dinner, we're going to bed early to finish Django. We both fell asleep watching it last night, not because it wasn't one of the best movies I've ever seen, but because we were exhausted! It is a fabulous movie. I'm a huge Quentin T. fan anyway, but wow, I really wasn't expecting to love this movie this much. This was a great year for movies for me...Django, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, Rock of Ages, Here Comes the Boom...also a great year of shows...The Walking Dead, Supernatural, Dr. Who, Game of Thrones, American Horror Story, Downton Abbey, Parks and Rec, catching up on Weeds, Arrested Development, Ugly Betty and Parental Guidance on Netflix. Life is good!

Happy 3rd Birthday Bella!!!

We are having her party tomorrow night at her house, and I hope the poor girl is feeling better soon! She has some kind of nasty virus (cold or flu) although I think she got her flu shot so it is probably a cold. Yucky nose, fever, achy. I'm not feeling terribly great since I sent her home, so that's exciting news to start off the new week! I'm so glad for a regular work week! Vacation is over thank the freaking lord! I've never worked so much during a vacation week! I'm feeling cranky. I don't mean to be. It was just a crazy week and the weekend went by too fast

4/18/13

So it's been a very crazy week. Boston got bombed. I had friends there and it was heart wrenching to watch the events unfold and having to wait to hear from them. Boston is a huge part of our life. We celebrate our 4th of July every year in this great city. I briefly thought of canceling our celebration this year, but I think this is the year we will make our celebration the best ever! I refuse to let terror win. In better news, Bella is THREE on Sunday!!! THREE! Totally crazy how quickly three years have raced by. Her birthday party will be Monday night. One more day to get through and finally it'll be the weekend! I am so ready for it!

4/14/13

I'm having a super crappy day. Bella was awake till 2 am last night and when she did sleep, it wasn't well. Her little nose was stuffy and she was restless. I'm also irritated because I had hoped for some time off this week and found out Friday that I will only have Tuesday off now. I'm trying to stay in a positive mood about everything and try to keep things in perspective but seriously, I feel like crying. My friend Sara's son and his girlfriend had their baby yesterday morning and the baby died minutes after. It's just been a yucky day and it isn't even MONDAY yet! And of course, my car is on empty, so I get to leave for work even earlier than I have to leave, which was already earlier than my regularly scheduled work week and I get to drive the flipping wheelchair van at work tomorrow and I KNOW that needs gas first thing. See what I mean about perspective??? It's just an inconvenience for me, nobody has died, I really shouldn't be so upset. Hormonal I think. Last week it was my anxiety. So I guess I'm just going to watch some Nick at Nite, read a little and pray a lot and hopefully get to sleep early. Here's to a good week!

4/13/13

This has been an incredibly busy busy 2013 for me. Work has been wonderful but I'm definitely ready for a vacation. The weekends fly right by but the work weeks are going by even faster! So Miss Annabella's birthday is coming up next Sunday! I already ordered her American Girl doll. I think we're doing her family party either on the 22nd or the 29th, at her house at 7pm, so we can all be there. It depends on if her doll arrives on time or not. I should have ordered it last week, but I'm a procrastinator. I'm waiting for my new glasses and new contacts to come in. Love when I get new ones. My doctor loves when I get new ones too! :) My blood pressure was taken last week and it's 124/80, so that has me feeling pretty good. I figured it'd be sky high because of all of the changes that have taken place recently, but my body's handling it well it seems. We all know that even positive changes can be stressful. I'd like it a little lower but what can you do? I have always had myself on a low/no sodium diet since around age 19. I don't eat a ton of red meat or processed foods and when I do, it's a burger out or in some kind of pasta dish because I can not stand the taste of turkey burger anymore... or a steak about once a year. I exercise regularly, at least 30-60 minutes per day. I sleep fairly well...at least 8 hours a night. If anything can be said about my diet, it's that I usually consume less than the recommended daily allowance. I usually top out around 900-1000 per day and I should be at 1200-1500 per day. My point is, I appear to be doing all of the recommended things to keep blood pressure low, and it's still 124/80. It isn't high enough to treat with medication, but any reading over 120 and under 130 is considered a pre-high blood pressure reading. BUT then I find out that that is the number only in America. In Europe, anything under 130 is perfect and considered low. America leads the world in heart disease and that is why we're stricter with our numbers. What exactly is America doing wrong? I'd check on the pesticides and additives in your foods and lack of exercise. America also leads the world in obesity and in diabetes. Sad way to live ones life don't you think? For me, I can't imagine not having been able to play with my children (tag, baseball, skiing, swimming, hiking) and I certainly would hate not being able to play with Bella. Being a sideline parent or grandparent is not for me and the thought of that is all the motivation I need.

One Week

It's been one week since the girls have moved into their new place. I've had one week of a clean house. I've had a week of quiet zen-like moments. I've had a week of being able to pick things up and have them stay that way and a week of getting used to being able to put my iPhone or iPad down without a sweet two year old picking it up and adding/deleting apps. I'm really liking visiting her and seeing her so excited when I knock on her door. She comes racing around the corner yelling, "is it Nana, is it Nana? It IS Nana!!!" We will pick her up at 5 today and keep her until tomorrow afternoon. I will be able to get my hugs and kisses in and it'll give Kayla a little break. Mitch and I do have to remember that she is doing this alone (with lots of help from her family of course) but that is certainly different than having the other parent helping out. Even when I was doing it "alone" with my kids, I received child support and got a break on the weekends, with the kids going with their dad or with my parents. I do want to mention that as they got older and turned into really really cool kids, they spent most weekends with me by their choice, and we spent those weekends swimming, hiking, skiing, traveling, and making lots of fun memories. I was speaking more of when they were Bella's age and I remember loving those little breaks I'd get when I didn't have to get up every two seconds to get someone a drink or put a movie in or clean a mess or wrangle the kids and our very bad puppy. Having survived it all, I'm able to understand just how short of a time it is in the big scheme of things and yeah, Bella can be a handful, but she's our handful and she will be going off to college before we all know it!

4/4/13

And we're back to another weekend! My husband and I are both feeling yucky. Head colds from HELL. Mine has moved to my chest though and my husband's is bothering his throat. We're a pair, we are! Date night tomorrow and we're probably going to spend it drugged up on Nyquil! I have so many things to get to that I don't want to be sick! I need to see Lincoln. We're totally hooked on the show Parenthood. I also want to see OZ, in the theater. I have books up the wazoo that I need to read. Tons of home decor/improvement projects. Oh my! I will not be bored for a long long time! I was reading a blog and in this particular post, the lady was talking about things she wished she knew before she got married and I'm guessing they waited to have sex on the honeymoon. Anyway...I'm SO glad that is not a problem we have! I feel bad for women who allow themselves to feel unsatisfied in the bedroom. My husband IS a rockstar in the bedroom, of course, DUH, but I'm also not the type of person to ever fake anything and if something isn't working, oh, we will change it. Anyway...I'm just grateful we don't have "issues". So things I wish I knew before I got married...income taxes SUCK when you both make middle class salaries. I wish I knew how many arguments we would have that have NOT ONE thing to do with us and our relationship. Every argument seems to revolve around kids and/or family or work infringing upon our "us" time. We are very jealous of our time together and that's actually a good thing, I think. Couples who don't put each other first, will often end up divorced. I wish I knew how hard of a time I'd have giving up my independence. I love having a husband who loves to do everything for me but it is important for me to feel like he knows I CAN and have taken care of myself, and I think sometimes I beat him over the head with that. All in all, there is no other person I'd rather be with. He's funny, normal, considerate, smart, clean, HANDSOME, good in bed and a wonderful provider who rarely puts his needs before mine, and incredibly romantic. I am such a lucky lucky woman!

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter!

What a crazy weekend! Oh my! We moved the girls into their new apartment and we bought a new living room set, a nice leather sectional, and we cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. I also managed to squeeze in Easter dinner. The girls spent last night in their new place and it was so nice having the house to ourselves. Zach was out with friends and I can't remember when my husband and I spent a night alone in our own home. It was divine. I will still have Bella a couple days/night's per week, but it is also nice to be able to get a break, because let's be honest, even when it is my "day off" from Bella, I would literally have to seclude myself in my bedroom because she would want me for something. I finally think I will find the perfect balance for this situation. Right now, I'm enjoying the quiet. And the clean house.

3/22/13

In exactly one month from yesterday, Bella will be THREE! Oh my! It's been an exciting three years with our little stinker. We all love her very much. I've been incredibly busy with work all week and I started the week out under the weather for two days so maybe that's why the week seems longer than usual. I didn't quite have my usual energy. I'm enjoying a quiet house this morning and spending it cleaning, listening to Pandora, and then tanning, nails and work for a few and then DATE NIGHT!

3/15/13

I'm incredibly tired today. My morning started at 6. I had a meeting in North Kingstown, I dropped off paperwork in Jamestown, and I came home, ate some breakfast and worked out. I could literally just go to bed right now. That is how tired I feel. Unfortunately my day isn't quite over. My husband and I will probably go out to dinner tonight and I really want to go to the movies but I don't know if I will be able to make it. I have a new opportunity at work and I'm pretty excited about the change. Excited about the extra money too! Zach is loving his new job. My husband and I can't believe how much money he's making. And he's only 18! We are always amazed at how things seem to fall into his lap. I have middle aged friends not even making that much. I suggest it's because positivity attracts positivity. He's a hard worker, good looking and always has a firm handshake and big smile on his face. I really think he would make a fine politician. Amazon Kindle asked a question on their facebook today...Which three authors would you most like to have dinner with? My answer came easily to me, but I could also list a hundred other authors I'd love to dine with. Judy Blume, Stephen King, and Diana Gabaldon would be my top three, and then another dinner with perhaps JK Rowling, John Irving and Wally Lamb. Fun to think about. L.M. Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, Laura Inglalls Wilder, Charles Dickens, and Edgar Allen Poe would be on my dead authors list. I can't fail to name Barbara Kingsolver. She would probably need a dinner all to herself because I would need to discuss her every novel. You'll have noticed I've left out George R.R. Martin because even though I'm a huge fan, I feel like he's probably a bit too odd and the dinner would likely be served with a huge side of awkward moments. Time's a wasting. I need to go tanning and get on with the rest of my day.

3/13/13

I have a ton of pics to load...maybe I will get to that tomorrow. What do we think of today's gorgeous weather on the East Coast??? Hello SPRING! I've been sneezing for two days straight so methinks it is arriving on all fronts. I've been incredibly busy with work, with Bella and with life in general. I did manage a nice brisk walk after work this afternoon to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of spring. Quite rejuvenating. Tonight I'm going to watch Life of Pi and relax in as many ways possible.

At Build A Bear

3/7/13

The wind is crazy right now! This is the fifth windstorm we've had since fall, including Sandy. Come Monday, we're looking at spring temps all week long. Actually Saturday's not looking bad in the 50s. I love light sweater weather! My tan is coming along nicely. That's my favorite summer accessory! I really try to keep it at a healthy level and I've given tanning a lot of thought. I'm forty. I look way younger. I inherited some excellent genes. To the people who obey EVERY health commandment...news flash...you are going to die anyway! So I refuse to be miserable and not enjoy a night out drinking too much, a day in the sun, a donut, a day in bed with no cardio, etc occasionally. I have faith that when it is my time, little intervention will keep me here. I honestly believe STRESS is the MOST damaging to your health and longevity of all indulgences. And stress is an indulgence because ultimately you decide what you let bother you. Obviously, too much of anything can hurt or kill you. Sooooo, moderation in all things. Which means I will not play Candy Crush for the rest of this day. It currently is my favorite way to wait in line or for the tea kettle to boil, but not exactly the answer you want to have when someone asks what you did today. I also enjoy watching Facebook meltdowns. I have several "friends" who take turns flipping out and all I can say is WOW. I'm hesitant to delete because like I said, it's highly entertaining. Then again, I can't stand people who are like Facebook isn't a forum for personal rants, blah, blah, blah...excuse me? I will say whatever the F-$& I want thank you very much. I'd have a very small friends list if I deleted all annoying people and that would mean my family would have to be deleted. I also can't stand the daily posts from people that read: time for housecleaning my friends list, I guess. How old are you? I love Facebook because I'm incredibly close to my large, albeit annoying family, and we're all spread out these days and I love talking to them every day, and sharing pics and jokes and memories. I have been considering deleting a few friends who do nothing but post porn pics or overly political or religious pics or pics of animal/people abuse because it's like, really? Who has time to look at this stuff all day and then decide it's a good idea to post it? Others work and may be checking their page on a lunch break and that shit pops up, or my granddaughter might be playing on my iPhone and looking at pictures of her cousins. You used to be able to filter posts from individuals and click the Show only Status Updates from said individual but I only seem to be able to hide posts now...why do I have to see it first??? Oh well...on to happier subjects...Zach has a new job! He's excited and we're pretty happy for him. The girls are looking at new apartments and should be on their own by April 1st. I will still have Bella a couple nights/days per week but it'll be nice to have some quiet time!

3/2/13

I'm sitting here wondering why I'm feeling so exhausted and I happened to check the clock and it's almost 5 PM on a busy Saturday. I've been up since 6! I got up and went pee, worked out, enjoyed a cup of coffee and just enjoyed the quiet for a little over an hour because everyone was still asleep. Last night we (I) watched Sinister and last weekend I watched The House on the End of the Street. Both of them are pretty good movies. The Perks of Being a Wallflower was ok. I'm reading Life of Pi FINALLY. It's been on my Books to Read list for several years and I've owned the copy of it for several years, but there just always seemed to be other books or series that would grab my attention. I finally started it because I want to read it before I watch the movie. I've been pinning lots of Home Decor ideas...mostly to narrow down my next color schemes and living room set purchase. We currently own a brown microfiber couch and matching loveseat that are about 5 years old I guess. We bought them when we moved into the house we're in right now. They're comfy but Mitch and I are leaning towards a more quality leather set. I think. I keep pinning the same Pottery Barn couch and I just love it so much. I hate decisions but I'm sure I will be happy with either purchase. We're also investing in some GOOD Calphalon pots and pans...I'm pretty sure I want the stainless steel version...on the Calphalon website, they're normally $800 or more but right now they're $399! Our silverware is in good shape. I will be getting some new drinking glasses too but our barware is in great shape. Then I guess I will need to learn how to cook for just two people! I guess I can cook the same amount and we will just have leftovers to take to work. Of course I will still have Bella a couple days/nights per week but she's not a big eater. Lots of fun stuff to think about the rest of the weekend. It's looking like a fairly easy week next week for me at work, so that is a relief.

2/26/13

Still in this blah land. I want a new hobby. I haven't decided what yet. My second meal with my newest crock pot has been a success. It was kind of a "challenge" as my husband wanted me to only use things we already had in the cupboard/fridge/freezer. Mission accomplished. Chicken breast, potatoes, gravy, broccoli, cauliflower in the crock and stuffing as a side, along with awesome sourdough bread with coffee liqueur glaze...and chocolate cupcakes with coffee liqueur frosting. Tonight I'm making orange glazed chicken to put on cellophane noodles, lo mein, or brown rice. I'm using the cellophane but everyone else can try what they like. I'm thinking it would probably be good atop some Boston head lettuce as well. Easter is coming. I ordered a sweet little pair of Toms for Bella, and Mitch is getting a pair too, his being not sweet at all. Now I'm just waiting for them to get here. I have new pictures to be delivered tomorrow. If you haven't signed up for PhotoAffections.com do so NOW! They have a perfect iPhone app, which links to your photostream, iCloud, Flickr account, etc., etc...best part? The free 85 prints a month that you get. The worst part? When I find a worst part, I will let you know. Shipping for me was $6.99...so cost wise, it is probably the same as going to a CVS or Walmart and load your camera card into a gross, germ laden machine that's been touched by gross people-who-don't-wash-their-hands-after-using-the-bathroom but I chose to avoid those machines, save a little gas, and have them delivered to my door with one or two touches of a button on my iPhone. Now I need to put them in my photo albums. Bella loves to look at pictures. I'm definitely over scrapbooking and "stamping"...no thanks. I want a new hobby, I said. Bella is finally at the age where we can let the good times roll! Discovery museum, the zoo, the ocean, the aquarium in Mystic, Launch trampoline park, the pet store, the toy store, basketball games, hockey games...I think Mitch and I enjoy watching her do new things more than she actually enjoys new things...such is the life of smitten grandparents.

2/25/13

I'm a sucker for the Oscars. I stayed up way too late. I have to go back to work today after vacation last week. Who's idea is it to pick a Sunday night for the Oscars? I think this year was full of good movies, so the competition was stiff. Argo, Lincoln, Les Mis, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi...and a performance by Barbra Streisand. Going to bed early tonight!

I got a new, bigger Crock Pot this weekend. The one I already have is really too small for a family and I feel it is better for sides or for two or three people at best. I now have the 7 qt version and the chicken enchilada soup that I made came out pretty well. I want to get to know it before I trust setting it in the morning and coming home to it, but I really think this will help on the days I'm working late.

The weather is slowly warming up. It is supposed to be in the 40s and will hit 50 two days this week. I hope the snow is behind us. We turn the clocks ahead on Sunday and Easter is at the end of the month. I can not wait for that first beach day.

2/22/13

It may not look like spring outside but it sure sounded like it with all the birds chirping. I'm making some banana muffins from scratch. I have a couple overripe bananas that I was saving for banana bread but I cant seem to locate my loaf pan, so muffins it is! I also want to check out a knitting store in town going out of business this week. I want to see how good their 1/2 off yarn is. I might get some deals on some good wool. We will see. Other than that, I want to enjoy the weekend with my husband.

Cool

When I downloaded the Blogger app onto my iPhone, it automatically downloaded onto my iPad. Neat-o. And easy peasy. My whining rants are over. God gives us gifts and I really think mine are strength, attitude and tenacity. I don't stay down for long. He's also given me my husband. Neither one of us are perfect but we're perfect together. I don't need to be taken care of but it is nice to have someone who does such a good job of taking care of me.

Ok, new topic...I'm watching American Idol and just now noticing Ryan Seachrest's hair...it's brown and no longer blond. Date night tomorrow. I don't think it'll top last Friday's date night when I got my diamond ring! I think that was the happiest date of my life! Maybe only topped by one time when he surprised me by showing up a day earlier than expected. And my cousin Kristen who is a fantastic masseuse and award winning freelance photographer, has been invited to massage The Who before their show tomorrow. How freaking cool is that?!?! So proud of my little cousin! Moving forward, I'm focusing on the good in my life, and there is so much of it, despite the crappy parts.

Facts

My daughters' friends on Facebook, who find themselves with small children have themselves listed as Proud Stay at Home Mommies. What the HELL is there to be proud of??? Fact...one daughter's friend posted on Facebook just today that she's pregnant again by father number 3. Yeah. I work in the human service field and I help children every day and often times purchase lunch for said children. I help. I help write non-profit grants and I also pay an enormous amount of income tax. Unlike our wealthier friends, this has been difficult at times BUT we do it. So to be told that my father, who up till the time of his stroke was a well paid truck driver can not get Medicaid because he makes too much money on social security makes me sick and angry, while this 24 year old woman can happily make public on Facebook just today that she's adding to the burden of this government. I'm not a Republican. Neither am I a democrat. Spare me the working poor speech. My husband and I EACH work 2 jobs just so we can maybe enjoy our lives because that is how we were raised. Our grandfathers provided their families with a very strong work ethic and would be disappointed if we gave up. We (combined) owe over $100,000 in educational loans. It is what it is. I have really rich friends and I have really poor ones. Neither set has a clue.

Things That Make Me Happy

- my husband
- playing with Bella
- my dog
- reading in libraries
- book shopping
- clothes shopping
- reading at the beach
- laying in the sun
- exercising
- television marathons
- playing games
- doing the cross word
- knitting/crocheting
- picnics
- hiking
- going to concerts

2/21/13

Vacation week is more than half over. It's been full of extreme highs and lows. Highs---my wonderful iPhone 5, a nice visit with my niece Gabby AND my beautiful new diamond solitaire. Yes it's BIG. How big? Full insurance and appraisal big. Lows---my Dad being so sick and basically unable and unwilling to help himself. And the fact that he can't qualify for Medicaid because he makes too much in social security ($800 a month) but yet I have to continually pay large amounts of taxes in for fuckers to keep having more kids so they don't lose their Mainecare and pretend they can't work because they have "anxiety." Get a fucking job. You'd be surprised how little time you have to worry about nonsense. So yeah, I'm in a great mood. And the biggest kicker? Because my husband and I choose to help our daughter and grand-daughter and refuse to let them live in unsafe conditions (low income housing), she doesn't qualify for assistance because my husband and I make too much money. Seriously? A GIANT FUCK you to all drains on society. You are an embarrassment and burden for all middle class Americans. BUT I have a wonderful husband and we are both hard workers and we take care of our own, so ultimately, life is good and will continue to be good. I refuse to let this world's psycho drama bring us down.

Fun Times in Maine

Fun Times in Maine

Reading her new book from my Mom

Bella, my niece Gabby and Brother

Going to the annual Father/Daughter dance

This Morning

Merry Christmas...Happy Valentine's

Blogging on my new iPhone 5 using my new blogger app. It'll be handy when I'm traveling or on the go and want to share something.

2/13/13

Crazy how quickly time can fly right by. In case you haven't heard, we had a little storm this past weekend, going by the name of Nemo, in true blizzard fashion. Yes, here in RI/Mass area, it was indeed a blizzard, not just a snowstorm, as 50-75 mile per hour winds were recorded in our area. We lost power for less than 45 minutes which was amazing because as of yesterday, there were still about 150 customers without. We did lose Internet/cable around here till yesterday, but at least we had coffee and the ability to make it and HEAT of course! Plenty of food and snacks too! Lots of alcohol even. This storm, while a bit inconvenient, will go down in our memory book as a great 4 day weekend that we all spent together. Bella had the flu during this storm. Her first real viral illness. It went exactly by the med book. She acts like she's possessed by Satan when she's that ill, but we love her anyway! She was back to herself yesterday, so thankfully no real complications. The flu makes me nervous with little kids but I'm still a believer that healthy kids become healthy adults by building up natural immunity. The human body is designed to recover on its own, unless the person is NOT healthy, in which case, I am 100% for flu shots. I'm still not buying the chicken pox vaccine. All three of my children had chicken pox. I've had chicken pox. My parents and grand parents had chicken pox. Anyway, prevention is key. Wash wash wash. Eat healthily. Maintain proper hydration. It's truly amazing that some people take better care of their cars than themselves. A car does not run without food (gas) and water (fluids). I will get around to posting some pics one of these days. I've been busy with work. Vacation is coming up on Friday. I desperately need it!