It's December. Where did the time go?

It's December 31 at 8:28 pm. Almost January. 2008.
I think that I slept through fall.

It is New Year's Eve and we are settled in for the night. Our family tradition is to just be together. We order in (from Harry's this year), get into our jammies and veg until the ball drops. Stu falls asleep on the couch. Michael and I shout Hooray very quietly. It's not a big fancy time ... but I love it just the same.

As per the norm, resolutions are to be made. I'm not so great with the resolutions - I make a list, lose the list, end up finding the list months later, and promptly throw that list away. Not such a useful system. I should post my resolutions here. Let's lose the resolutions word and call it a Deadlines list. I'm good with the Deadlines. Anyway, perhaps putting my deadlines in public (well sorta public ... I'm not certain anyone is still with me!) .. putting my deadlines in sorta-public will have a better effect than a lost list. Like you are all watching me and giving me the evil eye when don't meet the deadlines.

I'll post the list tomorrow. It is a long list. I'll need lots of evil eyes.

In other news ... I am headed to the Big Apple ... the City that Never Sleeps ... NEW YORK CITY! In one week. I am so excited! I love the city - would totally live there if Stu would be willing. I'll see shows ... see some friends ... and attend a work seminar in Audience Development. That's right ... free vacation. With a little seminar thrown in. It's like going to one of those time share condo seminars, but getting to stay at a resort for free.

I bought myself a new coat. It's emerald green. And a hat. It's black. I'm going to throw my hat in the air a la Mary Tyler Moore. Perma-grin the whole week. Any must sees? Must dos? I have a whole day to enjoy! Let me know.

Alright ... deadlines list tomorrow. To be sure blogging will be on the list.
Smooches to all and to all a Happy New Year!

Tag. You're it.

I have been tagged by my friend, Liz. She tagged me a long time ago. I am slow to the posting. Here goes....

Four jobs that I have had:
Soda Jerk at Rockin' Robins
Waffle House waitress in Panama City Beach, FL
Publicity and Education Director (Broadway in Atlanta)
Marketing Manager (School of Theatre)

Four films I could watch over and over:
13 Going on 30
Never Been Kissed
The Princess Bride
Elf

Four places that I have lived:
Grayson, GA
Hazelhurst, WI
Cincinnati, OH
Tallahassee, FL

Four favorite TV shows:
Big Brother
The Hills
Grey's Anatomy
The Class ... but it was cancelled. Now I'll never know how it ends. Cry.

Four favorite foods:
String Cheese
Mom's Shrimp Creole
Mom's spaghetti
McDonald's french fries

Websites I visit everyday:
Two Peas in a Bucket
Joker's Updates (for the latest in Big Brother gossip)
Tons O' Blogs
CNN

Four Places I'd love to be:
New York City
My parent's house
In the car pick-up line with my diet coke and latest read waiting for the bell to ring.
The Beach. Any Beach.

Here is the part where I am supposed to tag other folks. I don't know if anyone reads this blog anymore. So...if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged. That should cover it.

Did you miss me?

Took some unscheduled time off from blogging. Seems like everytime I came here to blog ... I either am called to do something else or I lose my train of thought. But here I am ... ready to catch up again!

Let's see ... in the time since we last spoke ... I have turned 31; went on a week long vacation to the beach with Michael and the folks (it was fabulous ... I'll post pictures soon); scrapbooked with crabby old women ... and Cindy (I'm not including here in the crabby old women part!); painted two and a half rooms in the house; got in touch with my emotions in a team bonding retreat at work; designed t-shirts, banners, posters and wrote a Marketing Manual.

I need another vacation.

I am also starting another blog with my friend Caleb. He just moved to NYC to start his career. We were talking about how we would both like to be better photographers - him for professional reasons and I for scrapbooking reasons. So we decided to do a photography blog. We assign a topic weekly and will each take pictures as to how that topic speaks to us in picture form. Then on Sunday we compile our pictures into a photostrip and upload to the blog. The idea came from this blog - 3191, only they post every day and without a topic. We just started this week. Our topic was HOME. (Because I wanted to see images of Caleb's apartment!) Here is our takes this week (Caleb's on top, mine is on bottom):

I think it is so interesting to see our different perspectives on the same theme. Next week, the topic is windows: real, figurative, imagined, doesn't have to be actual windows. I post here with those film strips as well.

*You can see the new Scrap room color (4th photo) and guest bathroom color (5th photo) in my photo strip.

Beachin' It.

We are headed to the beach this weekend with my parents. So excited! This has become a yearly vacation and I look forward to it all year. We lounge, we sun, we swim ... and not a whole lot else. It is FABULOUS!

I am not a very good tourist at the beach locales. Just give me sun, some form of water, a book and a chair. I don't go see the Forts or the alligator farms or the Ripley's museums. I leave the sightseeing to Stu and Michael. I become a vegetable. It is fabulous.

And I get to eat my momma's cooking. Does it get better? It does. I also get to hang with my friend Cindy. And scrapbook at a fabulous scrapbook store. It's the life, really.

I don't think that I will be able to blog while gone ... we'll see.
Catch y'all on the flip side.

Breaking News...

I just saw a guy get taken down by about 9 police officers with their guns drawn and a very large police dog. Right outside my window. It was awesome.

And one of the police officers waved to me as he was putting away his gun. And the suspect was on the ground being handcuffed.

So friendly around here.

Is it weird for me to wish I had my camera with me?

Home improvement is hard.

Home improvement is hard. And not without peril. And exhausting.
But so fun!

I don't have lovely photos to share just yet. As not a single room is completed.

I painted the cabinet in the bathroom. Then Stu and I were looking at our existing towel bar, and I decided I didn't like it. Too plain. Luckily, in Stu's eBay closet was the perfect towel bar. I knew his eBay closet would come in handy! So Stu set out to take it down. He did. And a large chunk of wall with it. The fixture was drywalled in. Yikes. So Sunday was spent cutting down wall board, joint compounding, sanding ... heavy duty stuff.

So, while waiting for joint compound to dry ... literally, I decided to paint the dining room. Which is soon to be my craft room. I spackled. I primed. I painted. And finished up the painting last night. I love, love the color. It is very bright. It's Martha Stewart. Wading Pool. Think Robin's egg blue. Bright. Tonight I will move in all the furniture. I just need to find a new lighting fixture for the room. I have an idea ... now to just find it.

I'm hoping for photos tomorrow. Hopefully!

When it's time to change You've Got to Rearrange...

Did any of you watch every single episode of The Brady Bunch growing up like me? Even the reunion movies ... like "A Very Brady Christmas" or "Brady Girls Get Married" or the movie spoofs? I was (and I guess one might say still am) a huge fan.

I have the soundtrack. I'm not kidding.

So anyway ... the point of this post is that I have the song lyrics "when it's time to change you've go to rearrange ..." running through my head on repeat. (This was the episode where Peter's voice was going through THE CHANGE and the Brady kids were entering a song competition and reworked the song to include his adorable cracking voice. I think they won. I'm not entirely sure of the ending, but I can tell you it was very feel good).

Again with the digressing ... I am once again rearranging furniture. I do this often. But this time new paint is involved. Yeah for new bright colors! I'll post before and after pictures. I'm hoping to paint the bathroom this Saturday as well as pick out new paint for the living room, dining room and Michael's room. We'll see how it goes. My husband thinks I'm nuts. He might just be right.

Family Photo

We bought Michael one of those disposable cameras while we were at Epcot so that he could record he favorite parts of the day as well (you know there is a scrapbook waiting to hold these photos!). He took what is now my favorite family shot. It's not in focus ... it is a self portrait, but I think it conveys our family in a 4x6 format. Makes me smile to look at it. Certainly not fancy ... but neither is my family. We are just us ... this photo is just us. Love that.

Summer Look.

Thought I would spruce up the blog with a new little summer banner. I needed a new look

Here's the 411 on the specifics of the banner:
Wood Grain - Kit by Jennifer Pebbles, twopeasinabucket.com
Orange Flower - Kit by Jen Lessinger, twopeasinabucket.com
Font - Steak, downloaded from dafont.com

Best Birthday Ever.

We're back!

And we had such a great time. The day was almost perfect ... we could have done without the three hour monsoon, but even that came at a good time and we made the most of it. Fun was had by all and we would have liked to have stayed for another few days. We have already started saving our pennies in hopes of going back to Disney at Christmas time.

Sadly, I am now back to real life and work. Ugh. But I will leave you with a couple of memorable quotes from the days:

Michael: "You guys planned this day. Just for me. And then kept it a secret? I have the best parents" (Melt my heart. You can have anything you want.)

Me (trying to convince Michael that he will love Test Track - the ride at Epcot): "...And the car goes 65 mph around the track!"
Michael: "That is totally fast!"
Me: "It is about as fast as Mommy drives on the highway"
Michael: "Oh ... then you mean really slow?" (Everyone loves a wise guy.)

I'll be back to give a longer synopsis of our weekend shortly. I'll say again ... we had such a great time!

I just can't hide it.

I am so excited about our trip this weekend. I just can't stand it. I couldn't sleep last night. I obviously need to get out more.

Surprises.

I hate surprises. but I love to surprise others though it is so hard for me not to spill the beans. I love to tease and give little hints. Especially to my son, partly because he hates surprises too.

This weekend, Michael is turning the big 8. 8! How is that possible? For his birthday, we are heading down to Orlando to go to Epcot. This trip has evolved from Sea World to the Pirate Adventure Dinner Theatre to Animal Kingdom to now Epcot. And I think we are sticking with it this time.

Michael has no idea where we are going. We started giving hints on Sunday with "we are going somewhere away from Tallahassee". His three guesses were 1. Pa and Nana's house, 2. China and 3. Japan (I think the last two were influenced by where we were at the time - Lucy Ho's).

Last night's clues were "we are staying in a hotel and we are fast tracking our way down there". (Fast Track is a ride at Epcot). He is dying for more clues. Stu thinks I am going to break down and tell him any day now. I'm trying hard not to do that.

I am so excited myself. I'm googling for tidbits of information. I haven't been to the Disney parks since I was 10, so I am assuming a lot has changed. Give me hints for us to have a great time at Epcot. We are only going to be at Epcot for one day ... Sunday and want to make the most of it. Any thoughts on a sit down dinner place in one of the countries? Bring on the 4-1-1!

Guinness Book. Accident Prone.

I have always been fascinated with the Guinness Book of World Records. I wanted to be one of those record holders. Wouldn't it be cool to say that you are so unique that you have your own world record? Like this woman I saw on Ellen yesterday. Longest toe nails in the world. Have no idea how she walks with them, but she has been growing those suckers since 1981. That is dedication.

I think I have found my world record. I am gaining on whomever has had the most windshields replaced in cars. Or for the most freak accidents.

I had my 5th windshield replaced this morning. A rock kicked up and hit my windshield on our drive home from Atlanta yesterday. Call Guinness ... I'm up and coming!

Most of my accidents are not really my fault. Once - I didn't even have to be in the car for the windshield to crack. I'm that good. Here's my list:

1. My first accident happened only 2 months after getting my license. I was in the Upton's parking lot, and backed into someone waiting for a parking space. Obviously, I didn't see her. I cried the whole way home and when I got home, my parents, upon seeing my hysterics, thought something was terribly wrong. Not a scratch on my car. Her car had a little $700 dent. But a few months later, I see her face on TV. Her son had been killed in an accident having to do with the Ford Saddlebag gas tanks and had just won a large settlement from Ford. I hit her probably during her litigation. How terrible!

2. My second accident was on my way to my first (and last!) Judo class. It was the summer of 1996 and I had just been to the Olympics to see Judo. (The Olympics are another thing I have always dreamed of being a part of ... love them! Apparently, I thought Judo might be the answer ... not so much). A woman made a left turn right into my car. I went to Judo anyway. Had my first windshield replaced with that accident.

3. The third accident happened while I was driving home from work in Atlanta. The plan was to meet my parents halfway so that they could take Michael for the night (I was running in a 5K the following day). I was on 75 North and the 18 wheeler in front of me ran over a sheet of metal in the road, kicking it up straight into my car. The auto body shop said that they had never seen a hood look like mine. It also destroyed my windshield ... lots of little glass shards came into the car. Did I stop when I ran into the sheet of metal? Nope. I was afraid that if I stopped, my car wouldn't keep going.

4. The fourth. The summer of 2005. We had a hurricane day, when we probably shouldn't have had one. It wasn't that bad ... just some gusts of wind. Those gusts of wind broke our neighbors tree in half and you guessed it ... the top fell on my car. And my windshield. Another replacement.

5. I have had other minor accidents ... running into things behind me. My dad ran into my car backing out of his driveway and took off the passenger side mirror. I ran into my friend's mailbox in high school and completely knocked it over. I'm not so good with the whole backing up thing.

And that's the reason I never drive. Rocks, metal, crazy left hand turners ... all attracted to me and my car. It is just not safe.

So .. call Guinness. I'm gearing up for my entry in the book of records!

Gas up the plane ... er Rodeo.

Alright, friends ... Michael and I are headed into the wild blue yonder. Or Atlanta whichever comes first. And really not Atlanta, because we are going to the parents house which is decidedly no longer in Atlanta, but two hours away.

Now that we've got that straight...

We'll be back on Wednesday. Michael has a cardiology appointment on Tuesday, and I have an appointment to get some tan on this pasty skin. Here's to floating in the lake ... lounging by the pool...not being at work.

Catch you on the flipside ... Peace out.

(Yes this means no updates until I get back. Unless I brave my parent's dial-up. Shudder. I'll see you on Wednesday. Maybe with pictures.)

Oh ... and I have lost 12 pounds. Holding steady at 1 1/2 inches off the waist. I've logged 16 miles this week. Some of those were running. Everytime I crank up Big Bertha (aka The Treadmill) to running speed .... I recite the line from forrest Gump ... "And I was run-ning..." Should I have not told y'all that?

I'm just not ready.

I'm just not ready to be a fashion maven, apparently. I'm returning the dress. I look quite awful in it. Someday I'll burn my black cardigan...someday.

But I walked almost 18 miles this week (I know that is not a lot for most people...but it's far for me!). And lost another 1/2 inch off my waist. My weigh in is on Monday. Hopefully I'll have lost some poundage. Lots of poundage.

I did it.

I know. I was going to wait to purchase the dress. But I couldn't. See I had a sign. Both Kim and Liz said Dress #2. And I logged back on to the website and Dress #2 went from $128.00 last night to $64.00 today. How could I not purchase? So...I just did and in 5-8 days we have to go out.

Because it's not often that I dress up. That's reason enough.
Now... off to find some shoes and jewelry! Any suggestions?
Apparently, y'all's suggestions automatically take 50% off. Love that!

What to wear.

I need help from the fashionistas. Stu got a bit of bonus money in his paycheck this month (all that hard work is paying off! yeah for Stu!). And while we are being completely responsible with it, I am able to make a little splurge for myself. Isn't that fabulous?

I don't buy clothes for myself very often (anyone who sees me can attest to that ... I wear the same black cardigan for everything. Kind of like a female version of Mr. Rogers, except I don't have more than one. But I digress...)

I'm trying to decide between three dresses. I want a dress that I can wear to work, that I can wear on the weekends, and that I could wear out for a night out with the girls (Hear that girls...if I buy this dress, we need to have a night out - we'll go to Jacksonville).

Anyway - I think I like these three. Vote. Tell me which one you love. And remember it's going on me. Chubby McChubberson.

Music moves me.

I love music. Really. I do.

I think it started in high school. Trying to find that perfect song for any occasion ... for that mixed tape for my best friend, or boyfriend. With my first job (at Rockin' Robins!), I would take my tip money and purchase a new CD. Sometimes, I would just base my decision on the name of the group or the cover art just to expose myself to different tunes. I still do it now. With each paycheck, I log onto iTunes and purchase 5 songs. Every two weeks. I love it.

I used to make mix tapes/CDs for every occasion. Driving Music. Make out music (I mean, I never used it for that purpose. really). Sing out loud music. I think I even had a Bedtime mix. I love song lyrics that I can relate to. Songs that say what I am feeling. Or even songs that I make up my lyrics too, but has a funky beat and I can dance to it.

I thought I would share last Friday's music downloads. I have eclectic taste, but I think I am in my singer/songwriter Indie Rock phase right now. I'm so Emo.

Comfort - Deb Talan
Deb Talan is the lead singer of the band The Weepies. I love that band and I love Deb's voice. This is a great song.

Hey There Delilah - Plain White Ts
This song is just a fun sing along kind of song. It makes you wish that your name is Delilah and this little guy is singing this song to you. "Times Square can't shine as bright as you". Love it.

Extraordinary - Mandy Moore
I know what you are thinking ... what? Mandy Moore. Dude. This is a fabulous song. And it was produced by the aforementioned Weepies. This sounds nothing like her first foray into Pop with the Candy song. This is great. And makes me feel empowered. Well...maybe not ... but it sounded good, right?

Death Came and Got Me - Rosie Thomas
Rosie Thomas is one of my favorites. Her voice grabs you and doesn't let go. And her songwriting? I feel like a lot of her lyrics could have been written by me (if I had a penchant for such a thing ... which I don't). Rosie gets me. and I get her. I think we are meant to be BFFs.

My Beautiful Rescue - This Providence
This was one of those impulse purchases. I have just discovered this band called The Hush Sound and This Providence was discovered by the same person ... who also discovered Panic at the Disco. I wish I could remember the discoverer's name. But it escapes me at this very moment. It might come to me later. Anyway ... another great sing along in the summer kind of song.

That was last Friday's purchase ... and tonight I am searching for next Friday's downloads. I'll probably blog those too. And let me know if any of you have any recommendations. I love most anything ... well except hard core rap. And most country.

Bangs. Or no Bangs.

I am getting my haircut tomorrow. Yes ... for those of you in the know (and I'll have to blog about this later) ... by the same lady. She wore me down. What can I say? I'm a pushover.

So...I am getting my hair cut and highlighted. And once again, I want something new. I like this haircut. It's easy. It's breezy. But now I'm thinking about adding bangs to the cut. Wispy bangs that can be brushed to the side. That look effortless, but will require some maintenance.

Like what about something like Nicole Richie (took picture out. too many hits on that one image. Weird, right?). Now keep in mind I am no where near to her level of skinniness. And when I say no where near ... I'm talking Pluto's distance to the sun.

I know that there are plenty of other people with sideswept bangs, but I can't think of them right now. We'll see how I feel when I wake up in the morning. Maybe I'll get a faux hawk? Or maybe not.

Bentos. Fresh and Full of Life.

I have to admit. I can become completely obsessive about something new. It consumes me. I won't talk about my past obsessions, but let's just say that they could be deemed odd.

My latest? Bentos.

It started out mildly enough. I was looking for a better lunch box. Mine isn't perfect and as I take my lunch everyday, I wanted something that could keep my lunch cold without venturing into the dreaded nasty office kitchen. And I wanted something with compartments, because I am using a lot of gladware (I'm also weird in that I don't want my food to touch - like in salads. I don't want the onion to contaminate the cucumber until just before I eat them).

Anyway, I found Laptop Lunches. I think it might be a good solution. In perusing this site, I stumbled upon a Laptop Lunch flickr group. Thus leading me down the path to the Bento lunch lifestyle.

I am not lying when I tell you that I stayed up until 3:00 in the morning perusing the various Flickr groups dedicated to the Bento lunch. I'm going to need a 12 step program. Stat.

Go here. If you dare. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Whittling away to nothing.

Well not quite nothing ... yet ...
I lost another 4 pounds! AND! An inch off my waist
That is 6 pounds total. And an inch and a half total.
Yeah for Gilmore Girls and my treadmill.
And Michael...my little Drill Sergeant.

New pages.

Just thought I would share my three latest pages. Kinda sappy ... must be my mood lately?

Work Antics

Michael came to work with me today. And he will be coming to work with me all next week as well. Camp doesn't start until June 4th anywhere. Anywhere. Sadly - work does NOT stop and so he goes with me.

We were able to leave early today because it was the day before Memorial Day weekend and no one was around. Tumbleweeds blew by. It was quiet. Except at The Loop. Weird.

Anyway, my boss comes in to tell me to pack it up for the day and Michael is sad. He doesn't want to leave. What? I've already got my bag packed, computer turned off, heading for the door and he is begging to stay.

But then I remember. When I was a kid, I loved loved when my parents would take me to work with them. I would pack a bag of toys and play cards with stuffed animals at my mom's work. My dad worked in a warehouse with all sorts of motorized transportation that if I was lucky, daddy would let me drive. Loved going there.

We had a great day today. I'm thinking, though, that by next Friday Michael will be ready for camp. There is only so much fun in watching Mommy design ads and posters after all. On second thought, can I go to camp with Michael? More fun, me thinks.

PAGG: 42 minutes yesterday to Episode 1 Season 1 of the Gilmore Girls. Tonight, 30 minutes. I was feeling a bit tired.

I just picked Michael up from school. His after school program had a DJ (in the house!) and hosted a dance party. Michael said:

"I danced like my booty fell off."

Should I check lost and found?

Grey's Anatomy Quiz

As seen on Liz's blog, the Which Character are you on Grey's Anatomy quiz..

I am:

You're Meredith

You don't always make the right choices, but you get points for trying, bouncing right back, and starting over. For being so "dark and twisty", you have a surprisingly sunny outlook on life. You're quick to jump into new relationships but just as quick to jump out. After the example your parents set, learning to trust someone else takes just about everything you've got.

Really? Meredith? I didn't think I was so dark and twisty. And I have a great relationship with my parents. Interesting.

Two posts in one day. Rocking.

PAGG: Haven't updated in a while. 35 minutes on Monday. 35 minutes on Tuesday. Just got in Gilmore Girls Season 1 from Blockbuster Online, so expect these numbers to go up tomorrow. I think it is 42 minutes per episode. Hooray!

Kinda Gross But...

I will warn you, dear readers, that I am about to ask the mystery of life. A question that has plagued the world for years....decades...centuries. (See how this is completely hyped up...I'm creating the drama. Hey...I am theatrical after all).

Why is it that when a possum, armadillo, aardvark is hit by a car do they automatically roll over on their backs and stick their four feet straight up to the heavens? Of course this doesn't always happen ... there is a certain amount of *squishiness* that can occur in these instances, but ... I passed two of these creatures on my way in to work on Monday (it's Wednesday and they are still there. Not as pristine as they were on Monday, mind you, but still there). Both with all four legs up. Does gravity reverse when these animals are hurt?

I just don't think that if I was hit by a car that I would raise my arms and legs. I'm just saying.

And so the sneak peek into my inner most thoughts has ended.
(I promise pictures soon. I know...this blog totally needs pictures. I'm working on it.)

Because my last post was a bit of a downer ... I thought I would list 5 things I am loving at this moment.

1. That my scale read two pounds lighter this morning. Despite my failed attempt at healthful eating last night at dinner. There just might be something to this whole exercise thing.

2. The new salad bowl I purchased at Target. It comes with a dressing holder and a fork. With their own little compartments. And it's green. Eating salad has never made me happier.

3. Our little robot vacuum cleaner gizmo. When Stu brought these home to sell on e-Bay, I thought he was crazy. And apparently so did others, because he couldn't sell all of them. I got one. And love it. Gets all of Nellie's yellow dog hair off of my brown rug. I just need a little one to run over the black futon that my yellow haired dog likes to sleep on.

4. Pandora.com - Life saver at work. this is an Internet radio site - you just start with an artist or song that you like, then you can add others to include to that station. Pandora finds other like sounding artists to add to your station. I have a long list of new (to me) artists to download to iTunes.

5. Mechanical pencils. I really feel like they make my handwriting so much better.

Also, I just realized TODAY that Michael is out of school on Thursday. Not Friday. What? I even argued with Michael last night that he was wrong about when the last day of school was. Guess I owe him an apology.

PAG(G) Late Reports...

Oops...just so I can keep up with these PAG reports...I have walked 35 minutes for the past 6 days in a row. I'm the winner.

Keeping up ...

Now that my friends have entered the blog world, I feel a need to keep up with this thing. That included a little banner up top. That thing is huge. Help a girl out ... how do I make that sucker smaller? I also included their links over to the right...I'll keep updating that portion. I visit quite a few blogs ... I'm nerdy like that ... so that list will grow and grow.

I'm going to put a little P.A.G(G) tag at the bottom of all of my posts. It will be my Pansy Ass Girly Girl accountability-keep up with me to see if I am still doing it counter kind of thing. I'll tell you what I did last night. I know you are all so interested! Or not. But I'll just think you are. How's that?

Now I need to plot a power outage at the DOR so that Stu won't work late tonight and I can go watch Grey's at Liz's .... (do you think I am now on the Top Ten Most Wanted list with that last statement? I was just kidding...Mr. FBI officer)

P.A.G(G): 35 minutes on the treadmill last night. Walking. Not running. Remember? I'm still a P.A at this point.

21 Days...

I've heard that it takes 21 days to make a habit...I'm ready to throw in the towel after 2. I'm on another exercise kick.. Started Monday. It's Wednesday. I'm tired, y'all. Michael is my trainer and counts my reps for me. He's hardcore. And takes his role very seriously. I'm thinking a drill sargent in training. I've walked, I've done crunches, back extentions, push-ups, lunges. I'm sore.

I'm pathetic.

But seriously ... I'm keeping up with it this time. And if I don't ... please kick my butt and tell me to stop whining. But do it nicely so I don't get my feelings hurt. Not like Michael who calls me a pansy ass girly girl. Alright he might not say anything remotely like that ... but it was used for effect.

Let the good times roll.

I stink.

No really ... I stink at this whole blog thing.
But now school is out for summer (singing ... School's out forevah...), so I have a ton of time on my hands. Time for backyard raking. And Pirate costume sewing. The fun stuff.

Mother's Day was great. Mom and Daddy surprised me with ROSES on Saturday. They are beautiful. I brought 3 of them to work with me in a mason jar to give me a little pep throughout the day. Love that. Stu and Michael gave me lots of fun ... tulips, a book, a homemade card with my scrapbooking supplies. Michael made a poster in school along with a picture of him holding the poster. So cute. We enjoyed the day together. Stu has been working so much lately so he took Sunday off from work as well. Much fun was had by all.

I'll have more interesting things to say later. I'm certain of it. And hopefully those interestings things will come much sooner than 6 months later. Like my last post!

And so it is February...

It's February. How did that happen? Where does the time go?

a little quiz...

Hi Aunt Joani! I think you might be the only reader left. Thanks for keeping up with us ... Love you!

Now I need to keep this thing up. I'll do my best. So here is a little quiz to keep the blog current. I'm cool like that.

A= Available - for what? cards? sure.
B= Best Friend~ My mom.
C= Cake or pie - I'm a total cake girl. Do not like pie.
D= Drink of choice~ Lately, it's water. and a whole lot of it. And diet coke.
E= Essential item you use everyday~ My Eucerin cream. To keep the itchy psoriasis at bay (How old does that make me sound?)
F= Favorite color~ orange.
G= Gummy bears or worms~ sour patch kids.
H= Hometown~ Grayson, GA
I= Indulgences~ scrapbooking supplies and iTunes music
J= January or February~ February
K= Kids and Names~ Michael and our little dog, Nellie
L= Life is incomplete without?~ my family. They stinkin' crack me up.
M= Marriage date~ April 18
N= Number of siblings~ 0, nada, none.
O= Oranges or apples~I like both. Maybe oranges wins today ... but it might change tomorrow.
P= Phobias or Fears~ snakes, bugs, spiders. Stu's driving.
Q= Favorite Quote~ Right now? They change often ... but I just found this one that I think is appropriate sometimes at work. "I like people until they give me reason not to, she said. Some days they just drop like flies, though, she added." - Brian Andreas
R= Reason to smile~ Michael stinkin' cracks me up.
S= Season~Spring... such promise. Same with Fall.
T= Tag 3 or 4 people~ what?
U= Unknown fact about me~ OJ Simpson told me once that I looked familiar. We were in an elevator. I still don't know how I feel about that.
V= Vegetable you don't like~ not enough room to mention the laundry list of veggies I 'm not keen on.
W= Worst habit~ always having my feet move. I clog in place. And I bite my fingernails.
X= X-rays~ Do all of Michael's count?
Y= Your favorite food~ mom's spaghetti and shrimp creole.
Z= Zodiac Sign~ Leo