hoping for a better new year

christmas. the day i was so excited for totally miserable day. why?? the hubby. he hates all holiday not just christmas ALL holidays. he wants to forget they exist and be a bum at home. so he was grouchy and nasty and i ended up going to my family's house with just the dogs. stayed way longer than i was originally going to and came home and went to bed. finally forgave him and we made up monday afternoon. we didn't see his family and didn't speak for 3 days. yeah so not fun. hopefully a little dose of s for new years will make things better. we are baby sitting the 10 month old terror for new years eve. she is walking and in destruction mode already. i am off friday and will be baby proofing my house. watch out dogs she will be in your face. happy new year everyone

ps totally forgot today is my dad's 75th birthday so happy birthday dad love you

it's almost here

17 kinds of cookies done! shopping done ! wrapping almost done ( ran out of paper) yeah. christmas movies watched done! pecan pie for christmas dinner at hubby's aunt's done! decorating done! cat climbing tree and falling on the floor done! dogs stealing there christmas gifts done! i am ready for christmas now it just needs to get here faster. one more day of work and i have 3 days off and lots of partying to do can't wait.
are you ready??

cookies a bazillion down 4 more kinds to go

cookie baking is moving along. i have 4 kinds to go and i will be done. i still need to bake another pecan pie for christmas but that is easy. i have most of my shopping done and so far paid for. left to buy a couple of gift cards and toys for the nieces and nephew. still no list so i am tearing my hair out since i want to be done early this year and enjoy the holidays and not have to deal with traffic. i hate holiday traffic. hopefully i can get done by mid december and really enjoy christmas.

november = cookies

now through mid decmber i will spend my weekends baking cookies and wrapping gifts. i have a huge chunk of shopping done and really only have to buy gifts for the nieces and nephew. 1 is easy this is her first christmas and she will be more interested in the wrapping paper than the gifts. the other 2 are in the picky stage. not everything will be liked. i have some things for b but m is hard this year. she turns 13 in feb and is in between kid and teen. still likes some toys but also wanting some more grown up stuff. where did the time go??

thanksgiving this year will be at my hubby's uncles house. i can't wait. i love the holidays. hubby not so much. he will go and he will have a good time but he goes grudgingly. we agreed this year to go to his family's instead of mine. that is fine with me. my family and holidays have been rough since my brother's marriage ended. i seem to get the short end of the stick if any at all. i try not to be bitter but sometimes that is really hard. so i am looking forward to his crazy family and enjoying the day. i am off on friday so i can really relax and enjoy the weekend as well

25 years

where did the time go . i went to my 25 year class reunion saturday night. it was fun and oh so surreal. same people just older. the women all pretty much looked the same no big changes. the men well the single and more recently married one look the same. the rest who have been married a long time well i would not have recognised them at all. good thing we had name tags. luckily for everyone the venue had tv's near the bar outside our room because that was where everyone ended up watching playoff baseball. our phillies lost but we all partied on. afterward i crashed at my parents house then went home sunday morning. glad i went and maybe i will even go to another one.

it's a phillies phriday

the only good thing about fall is playoff baseball. made even better by your favorite team making the playoffs and history in the first game. i love the phillies. been a fan since childhood and while i don't watch every game i usually know how the phillies are doing each year. most years have been disappointing. even the 10 years i had tickets we never made the playoffs. i gave up my tickets when my dad (and date for the games) took a job with the phillies as an usher. for him this is a dream come true. he gets to go to every home game and all of the playoff games during this magical time. so here's hoping the phillies go all the way and win the world series again in 2010!!!!

barking + snot = miserable

so where have i been lately. mostly trying to sleep with a neighbor who ties his pitbull out all night while he goes to work. the dog barks all night long making my dogs bark as well. if we are lucky the dog stays in it's yard when we are not like this past friday the dog got loose around 7 pm and finally caught and returned home around 8 am sat morning no sleep for us.
also hubby and i babysat our 7 month old niece S. she is cute as a bug and full of them when she was with us. then left many of her bugs behind so hubby and i had a cold for the last week. she also made sure to chase both of my dogs and find every thing possible that was even remotely dangerous in our house. glass top on old navy trunk moved, piggy banks moved, globe of seashells also moved bird in cage all weekend so she wasn't squished and the cat hiding in the basement. i had a blast even if i got sick and had to rearrange my house. now i really really really want a baby. hopefully trying will get back on track now that august and sept are over. (no period in aug and never ending one in sept)

wow it is august

where did july go?? after our anniversary the month flew by. i spent a week preping for vacation at work. then off for a whole week. yes this was exciting not because we went anywhere but because i finally had enough vacation time to take 1 full week off for the first time since starting this job 5 years ago. yes i mean 5 years. i have had long weekends but this was awesome. no place to go hanging out with hubby and the critters. the best part no drive to work. i cried sunday night knowing monday i had to get up for the daily commute.
returning to work was ok. the boss and i spent the week catching me up and preping for his vacation. not that i don't like my boss but his vacation is great for me. while he is gone things are set up for the guys to be busy and gone all day and the very best part .... OVERTIME. 5 hours while he is away. next week is my birthday and i am dreading and excited for it. dreading because i am another year older and no kid and excited beacuse it is my birthday!!!

1 year

hubby and i got married 1 year ago. best day of my life. not much has changed over the last year. we are still happy and so far can pay the bills. my hope for the next year is a job for hubby and a baby on the way or even better a new baby in the house. love you honey happy anniversary.

phish concert awesome

friday however not so good. i took my dog for her shots friday morning and then to the grocery store. trying to leave the parking lot i got in an accident. no one hurt just minor damage to my car and the other one needing a new door. winnie was fine too but grumpy and tired all day from the rabies shot. this week is finally almost over and the 3 day 4th of july holiday is here. yeah!!not much else is going on. my niece and nephew are going on vacation with their mom next week and there dad the week after. i will finally see them the week after that. hopefully they will have a wonderful time in disney with their dad.

phish

concert tonight yeah!!

new plans

here is hoping they don't need to change. vacation july 19th through the 23rd. this is a staycation but much awaited. a whole week with no getting up for work. while i will still be going places i can leave when i am ready and there is no time clock. yeah!!!!!
in other news my blog is 2 years old this week. some how i missed the 1st birthday but caught the second one. lol can't wait to see what the next year brings.

so much for my plans lately

everything i have planned has gotten postponed or changed lately. i don't really make a lot of plans but when i do i prefer a bit of notice to change or any notice. last week i had plans for lunch with a friend and that got canceled when my boss took off instead. over the weekend i had plans to visit with my niece and nephew and thier mom and that got postponed when my hubby forgot i was not going to be home and invited his mom and sister and niece to come to our house for lunch. lastly my nephew got put into a special summer program to help with issues he is having in school and can not miss any days so my brother moved his trip to disney to the week i put in for vacation. i can't afford to go with him right now and planned my vacation so i could spend time with my niece and nephew who will now be in disney so i need to move my vacation. the most annoying thing is that no one in my family even bothered to email or call and give me any kind of update. if my ex-sister in law hadn't said something i would not even have found out yet. now 2 out of 3 plans are rescheduled and vacation is up in the air until my brothers plans are finally set.

my baby is 3

today is winnie's birthday. 3 years old. 8 weeks from now she came into our life and changed everything. she made hubby and i a committed family. since then we have bought a house and gotten married. she was the second huge step in our future together but an important one. the first step could be undone. the second step cemented our life. i love you winnie. happy birthday.

critter update

tigger was a bit under the weather last week but bounced back over the weekend. she decided to join the dogs in their game of tag and wrestle. too funny to see the smallest one beating up the other 2. she also gave me a rare treat. she was resting on the lounge chair and i sat with her waiting for the dogs to decide they wanted to come back inside. she reached over pulled my hand near her and licked my fingers. a very rare thing indeed.

kiwi is doing well and is a very sweet bird in the mornings. she and i hung out sunday moring for about 2 hours while i was on the computer with her cuddling on my shoulder. as the day goes on she tends to get nippy and over excited. this is her best time of day.

winnie was the trouble dog this weekend. saturday i went grocery shopping. we put the cold stuff away and must have left the pack of hotdog rolls where she could reach. after hubby and i ate lunch i noticed a plastic bag on the floor. when i picked it up i realised winnie ate an entire 12 pack of hotdog rolls.

gracie lately has been really playful. she is also learning that barking when we go out front for a run on the hill is not allowed. funny thing is the spray bottle doesn't even need to work just show it to her and instant quiet.

oh the noise noise noise noise

6th grade band concert + woman with sensative ears + wrong notes = noises no human should have to hear. i had forgotten how loud school conerts are and that many of these kids would still be great novices. it was fun however. i did get to see my niece play her flute. wish my ex sister in law happy birthday. tease my nephew and revisit my jr high years when the last song performed was from the 80's. i was going to sneak out when my niece's section was over but had to stay for the final chorus song. don't stop believing by journey. too funny to be standing in a jr high and hearing the kids singing a song popular when i attended jr high.

so how was the wedding you ask??

good i guess. hubby and i ended up staying home. the reception got moved to my uncles house 2 hours north of the wedding and that was way too much driving for one 2 day span. instead we stayed home and vegetated. played with kiwi and did the laundry. hubby tried for 3 days to mow the lawn. it would take him 20 minutes or so to start our mower then mow for about 20 minutes or so and then it would stall out and not restart. at the rate he was going he would have to mow everyday to keep up with our grass. so we broke down and bought a mower. got one on sale and an extra 5% off because we caught a midnight madness weekend sale at sears. not much else is going on. i will be going to see my niece's band concert tomorrow night and finally getting to hear her play her flute. this will be at the jr high that i did not attend so i have no idea were to go or even where the auditorium is in that school should be fun. i will follow my mom and brother since i don't even know where to park.

SUN SUN SUN!!

it is may and the lovely warm temperatures are here. i almost feel human again. a whole week of 80 degree temps i am in heaven. even the predicted cool front coming this weekend will leave the temps in the low 70's or high 60's not bad at all. mothers day lunch with my mom is scheduled and reservations made. yum for p f chang's. the following weekend hubby and i will be going away for the weekend. dog/cat/bird sitter is scheduled and hotel is booked. we will be going to my uncles wedding 5 hours away in NY but i can't wait. hubby and i have never spent a night away together other than my uncle's house at the shore. hubby,a hotel, a wedding and family who live far away and i hardly get to see. i am so excited.

tigger our cat is quite the character. she has the full run of the basement and is in Ecstasy when we enter her lair. sat was hot and muggy and the basement was so much cooler i decided to do some work down there. i took kiwi with me and we spent a couple of hours watching TV, cleaning and doing laundry. tigger was happily playing while i worked. one of the big things i needed to do was mop the basement floor. so i mopped myself to the couch to hang out and watch tv while the floor dried and the laundry finished. tigger had gone upstairs while i mopped and came running down the steps, across the floor and tried to jump on the couch. since her feet slipped on the wet floor no spring happened instead i watched my cat plow face first into the side of the sofa and cling desperately while trying to figure out what happened and get onto the sofa. of course all my hubby hears is me laughing like a crazy person in the basement. tigger is still recovering and tests the floor before leaping on the sofa when in the basement.

an interesting discovery

sunday night while getting ready for bed my hubby calls me out to the living room to watch the cat. tigger was stalking a bug. the bug was just out of her reach hanging on a curtain over the sidelight of my front door. tigger is dancing around and trying to climb up to no avail. then tigger get the bright idea to jump up and snag the curtain i guess hoping to climb up and get the bug. instead the curtain and rod pop off the window and everything falls to the floor. the bug escapes and tigger continues to chase the bug around the entryway. hubby and i look at the curtain and rod and have no idea how it was up on the door. thinking that it was just suction hubby fixes the rod and hangs it back up over the window. that is when we discover the rod is magnetic. duh neither one of us even looked before tigger pulled the curtain off how it was up there. although we did discover we have a steel door frame so that is a plus.

new baby

this is kiwi our newest family member. she is a green cheek conure born 12/25/09. she has already started making heself at home and demanding her share of attention.

easter drama and a new member of the family

i was so excited to have my family and hubs family for easter. planned the food,got stuff for an easter egg hunt, got out the good china was all ready and ended up with inlaws only. brother and ex fighting = no easter at my house for my family. not even speaking for a week. yes major fighting and drama. welcome to the holidays from now on. things are better but i am not sure what has been resolved or if this will happen again.
hubby and i have been talking about getting another animal. choices were another cat or a bird. well monday night we got a new one. what did i get?? well i'm not telling. when we have a name and pictures i will. for now we are talking names and getting settled with the new member of the family

WTF???

sunshine high

well it is monday and raining again but that is ok. after 5 sunshine filled and warm temperature days i am ok with 2 days of rain. more sunshine and warm temps to follow. i would love in so many ways to have this weather for the rest of spring. the dogs and i went for a walk. new lead for gracie was great no pulling and no choking sounds. yeah!! unfortunaly she got a tick Boo!! so far winnie is good and gracie goes in 2 weeks for her lyme disease booster so hopefully she is good.
also i got 12 x 12 pavers to create a walkway in the back yard. got them laid out and trying to decide if we are going to add more pavers down the road or just decorative stone. currently we have mud and a sort of fire pit in the middle level of the backyard. yes levels house is on a hill. right now we may just leave the pavers the way they are and decide later.

rain rain go away, come again another day

first it was the never ending snow piling up 3-4 feet deep now it is the never ending rain. today is day 4 and i am feeling soggy. tomorrow the sun will return and hopefully dry everything out. maybe if the weatherman is right and saturday is as nice as they are saying the doggies and i will go for a walk. i got a new lead for gracie that hopefully will end the choking and stop the pulling. i already adjusted the fit for her so we are ready to go. winnie will be a very happy dog if we return to walking again. i miss our walks almost every night. exercise for us both and lots of fresh air even in winter. since buying the house and getting a second dog i have been lazy.

yum for pf changs

friday night was fun. my nephew had a blast running around with his buddies and playing. my niece and i played games. oh and yes i met the new guy. hi nice to meet you and that was about all. cool for a first meeting and nice because it was some place where there was other people and things going on. picked up dinner and drooled all the way home. monday night my nephew ordered pizza and cake. ate none of it. in fact did not eat at all monday after school. a bit weird he usually graizes all night but monday nothing. he did love the cake though.

saturday since the weather was actually nice i took the dogs for a walk. when winnie was younger and we lived in our apt we walked all the time so i bought a training lead for her. it is great more control for me and no choking for her. she loves to go for walks and gets super excited when she sees the lead. when i pulled the lead out saturday she went nuts jumping around and barking with delight. i tried putting it on and realised i never adjusted it from when i got it and it was now too tight. fixed that got it on her and put on the leash. she was ready to go. then went to put gracie on the leash and she ran away. finally got everyone ready and off we went. winie will pull a bit from excitement at first and then gets into a nice walking rythum for me everytime. gracie chokes herself and tries to pull my arm out of the socket the whole walk. i am now looking for another lead for her. hopefully once we get the new lead we will go for more walks.i miss our walks and am looking for a safer place to walk the dogs than my street which can get busy and people drive fast around the curves. when we got home i checked the mailbox before we climbed the driveway and found the treat i ordered for the dogs in the mail. they love the naturally shed antler chew toys i ordered from the daily coyote's esty store. i even had to take one away from winnie at 11:30 pm so i could go to sleep.

hi

long time no see or write. let's see what has been going on lately?? we had more snow. not a lot just annoying. my sister in law had a baby during the storm. emergency c-section but everyone is OK and home doing well. baby is an adorable little peanut who graced me with burps, a rather large messy poo and several sneezes complete with snot flying everywhere. a newborn trifecta. good thing i have had lots of practice with my brothers 2 kids. my nephew's birthday is Sunday and his party is Friday night. since my brother and soon to be ex are fighting i am the only one from my side going to the party his mom is throwing. it makes me sad they can't work together and have a nice party for my nephew like they did for my niece. i am making him a dexter's laboratory cake for monday and we are having pizza for dinner at his request. yummy!! the party well that may be a story for monday. my soon to be ex sister in law's boyfriend and his kids will be there. i have no idea how that will go. i know she is thrilled i am going to be there and will finally meet the new guy but it will also be weird for me. i hope to enjoy playing with my niece and nephew for a bit and then picking up my dinner. that will be the best part pf chang's for dinner i will be drooling all day. wish me luck

never ending snow

well i have survived 2 20+" snow storms in less than a week and dug out from both. my poor winnie can barely been be seen when running around between snow drifts. the snow piles at the end of the driveway are taller than me and the plow truck hit our mailbox 3' in from the road. worst part it is only the middle of feburary and we are getting more snow tonight. sighhhhh.

6 more weeks of winter

proven correct by 2 inches of snow over night. now there is more snow coming saturday. yuck 45 more days til spring and only 16 weeks until memorial day. can anyone tell i hate the cold and i am longing for warm weather. at least this month will be somewhat busy my niece turns 12 around valentines day, another one is due at the same time and my nephew's birthday will be here before i know it in the begining of march. at least i have things to look forward to doing to get through the worst of winter.

now on to a quick dog story. i few weeks ago i had to go to the shore and pick up more stuff from my uncle's house. i went after work friday night and was home by noon on saturday. while away i slept terrible. uncomfortable bed and no hubby and dogs to keep me warm. hubby slept terrible too. why??? gracie did not have one of her flock home and spent the entire night running back and forth between the front door, computer room window and the bed room frantic and barking at every sound. she was so excited to see me when i got back. more than a normal day coming home from work. it was too cute.

a baby shower first

i got DRUNK. not a little drunk, not dipsy, not even buzzed full on drunk. i blame a bottle of chardany. brought by my hubs uncle. now i am not a big wine drinker but i must say whatever i was drinking was really good. my sister in law got cool stuff and we all had a great time. the cake was adorable. the food yummy and the company even better. hubby drove and after trying the wine he was told that it was my turn to get drunk at the party and i did. i don't even remember the ride home. of course when the baby shower starts at 1pm and you finally beg your hubby to leave at 9pm it is ok to sleep all the way home and then crawl into bed and sleep until 7 am the next day. luckily for me i had the next day to recover.

baby shower blues

on saturday i am going to my sister in law's baby shower. i am still not pregnant so this is not something i am looking forward to.i am excited to have a new niece but would really prefer to be having one of my own. as far as where we stand well we are getting ready to start trying again. in sept i skipped my period and then for oct and most of novemeber flo came with a vengence. hanging around and making me miserable for weeks on end. going to the doctor was no help. since i am over 40 he recomemended seeing a fertility doc. ok for me but hubby is not working and does not have insurance so no tests for him. kind of a catch-22 for us. so i am looking for a new doctor and we are going to try again this month. wish me luck

is it summer yet??

did you know there are 19 weeks until memorial day weekend and the start of summer? yes i am counting. i really hate winter. i don't like being cold. i don't like snow. i hate getting up and driving to work in the dark. even worse also driving home in the dark. during the little bit of sun every day i am at work. i don't like ice. most of all i hate being tired all the time. spring is bad for me i am always tired then as well but that is more physical from the time change and the weather. winter tired is the it is cold and dark lets just hibernate until it is over tired. so how do you cope??