Sucking Up!

My baby chihuahua Abby is spoiled as bad as any baby could be. She cries when I leave the house and she doesn't get to go with me. So that's at least every weekday morning and when I do run errands on the weekends. I had a wedding to go to today. My best friend, Karen's (who is also my first cousin) son got married today. He's the same age as my son, Adam. And I got a little emotional imagining if that were MY baby boy!

Abby knows a lot of words. Some things we've started spelling so she don't know what we're talking about. One of her favorite words (next to "treat, biscuit, Beanie) is "Kiss!". She loves her belly kisses. And the first thing every morning she wakes me up... crying or barking til I'm sitting upright in bed, she rolls over to assume the Belly Kiss position. The same routine applies when I come home from work... after her excitement has died down a little and the asthma attack is over LOL.

Today when I got home from the wedding, I was expected to suck up and make up for leaving her at home. My hubby thought a couple of pics were in order while I was making it all better.

 

  

We have now earned some lovin' in return from Abby.

 

 

 

And here is just a better shot of the new hair cut/color in better lighting.

And now she's crying by me here again... pacing back and forth and standing at the bedroom door.

It's clearly time for some bedtime Belly Kisses and much needed sleep. G'nite!

Fill In The Blanks

Thanks to all the new followers who've joined and for the comments! 

I found a fun activity by following a link one of you lovely new ladies had on your blog. (Forgive me for forgetting now just who led me here) and I thought it would be fun to fill in the blanks too! Thanks to Lauren at the little things we do for this one.

1.  If I weren't a   Team Coordinator   I'd love to be  a teacher .

2.  When I'm super upset I usually end up in tears… followed by a very nasty headache.

3.  My favorite thing about myself is my eyes and my smile.

4.  If I found a $100 in the pocket of last winter's coat I'd spend it on more than likely (right now) it would be given to a certain someone (SDT) that I know could REALLY use it right now.

5.  Even though some people might consider this a flaw, I love taking care of my hubby and doing things for him (yes, he IS super spoiled!).

6.  I love the way I feel after I’ve gotten all caught up at work and don’t have the stress that comes with never seeing an end to the “to do” pile!

7.  I love my hair most when it's just like it is now… considering I just posted pics of a new – MUCH NEEDED – haircut!!

Friday Follow & Rainy Day Fun

Ever wish you had more followers on your blog?

Friday Follow hosted by Trendy Treehouse can help you do that!

Just click the button above and include your blog 
and follow us along. 

Here is something for kids (of all ages) to try out. I never was very good at drawing and the Etch-A-Sketch was will always be a tremendous challenge for me. Ohio Art has a virtual Etch-A-Sketch you can try. I grabbed a screen shot to show you. All you need is the arrow keys to start drawing. An eraser would be nice too but beggars can't be choosers. :)

Have a great Friday Follow!

New Haircut

I've had LONG and naturally CURLY hair all my life! We're talking 42 years here. About a year ago I relented and let my stylist straighten it. I loved it! Felt and looked better and stayed 'fixed' for 2 or 3 days longer. Here is a before and after then...

very curly in 2005

straight and smooth in 2009 (May)

Straightening it at this length took a while and I always had to rest my arms half way through!

And I couldn't keep it pulled back because Abby thinks all scrunchies in the house belong to her,

and she would take them out of my hair to play with. Yes... even at night while I slept!

So I decided I needed another change.

Today I went to my stylist and put myself in her hands.

I just gave her basic requests, shoulder-length, cute straight style that

wouldn't take me forever to straighten myself and easy to take care of.

Here is what I ended up with today...

 

 

I love the light weight feeling and it even looks TONS healthier.

Jess (my stylist) has curly hair that she straightens too

so I know she understands the challenges.

She's awesome and the only person I like doing my hair!

Thanks Jess!!

Post It Notes Tuesday

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I forgot to deliver any Post-Its today, never fear... there will be more scheduled for next Tuesday. :)

More About Me Monday

Thanks Angela for passing along this fill-in-the-blank. I'm going to play along and share some things about me and my day.

Outside my window... it's been a whirlwind weather-changing day! Cool and clear one minute, then COLD and blustery then next. Then it changes to rain followed by HUGE snowflakes... this was all in just 2-3 hours time this afternoon!

I am thinking.... that my 30 minutes on the treadmill this evening was a great start back on my 'healthy me habits' that I let had get tossed aside when I added full time school to full time work-wife-motherhood.

I am thankful... for my husband and son and a WONDERFUL family! I'm thankful for a God who loves and forgives on a daily basis.


I am praying... for my family - their health, happiness and also for a difficult friendship that is more unhealthy (for me at least) than it is healthy.... and what to do about it :(

I am reading... The Wednesday Letters

I am creating... a valentine's gift for my hubby (ssshhhhh!)

From the kitchen... Dinner is over and the kitchen is all CLEAN!

Around the house... I have done a load of laundry and cleaned the utility room up a bit.

One of my favorite things... waking up slowly and lazily on weekend mornings when I can cuddle with my husband and Abby.

A few plans for the rest of the week... working (each week day), doing some schoolwork a little in the evenings (so my weekend is not filled with it), hopefully staying caught up at work, and getting ready for my best friend's son's wedding on Saturday!

Lids for Laptops Give-Away!

I am excited about this giveaway! I would LOVE to dress up my laptop with one of these "lids". Head over to The Dress-up Drawer for Give-Away instructions!

A Sunday Silly...

...inspired by Shell over at Things I Can't Say. Shell shared a silly picture and post of her 3 year old and reminded me of a funny story of my own son when he was not quite 2 years old yet. When Adam was little my mother was my Nanny. You sometimes miss some important things in your child's life when they are little and changing so fast. It can be bittersweet. And you miss some really funny moments sometimes too. I wasn't able to witness this episode but hearing about still makes me smile today. And I know my mom got a good laugh.

We lived in a three bedroom trailer at the time and always kept all the doors closed to limit areas of curiosity from Adam. He could walk the hallways with no danger of getting into anything he shouldn't. So he usually played with his toys in the open living room/kitchen area. One afternoon my mother was watching TV while he played. Suddenly she heard him laughing... one of those deep belly laughs that is contagious to all who hears it.

Mom said she heard some noises beforehand each time and couldn't tell at first what it was but sounded like splashing water. No water was or had been running so I'm sure she brushed that thought aside. After a few deep rolling belly laughs, she went to check on him. The bathroom door must not have been closed all the way. There he stood at the end of the hallway in the bathroom, cup in hand. He was soaked, and every visible part of the bathroom as well. He was caught, scooping cupfuls of water out of the toilet and throwing it straight up, splashing it on the ceiling and the water fell on him and splattered everywhere. His laughter came after each cup of water splashed onto the ceiling and rained down on him. She couldn't help but laugh too.

I guess being thankful for a CLEAN bathroom is an understatement huh?

You can share your own silly stories too at The Blue Zoo. Share the laughter!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Indulge me for just a moment, would you?

 Okay... I'm through now. :)

Today I woke up one year older. I celebrate 42 years today. I remember well the big 40 being anything but a celebration. It was the worst birthday of my life! But since that day I have chosen to celebrate all the birthdays I continue to have... alive, happy and healthy.

I woke this morning to a shower of birthday kisses from hubby and Abby. Abby's were considerably more aggressive and wetter (naturally since her tongue is at least a foot long lol), but then she was making sure they would wake me from a sound sleep... at 5AM! She is an EARLY riser. I feel like we have an infant all over again. I spent a lazy morning drinking coffee and hopping around to follow up on the Friday Follows I'd acquired. This is a great idea! I found quite a number of blogs to follow and look forward to visiting them again soon. I woke up this morning to a birthday gift of 30+ new followers! Thank you all so much and I hope I got back around to everyone with return Follows and comments. I tried hard to get them all but if you have followed my blog and do not find me following yours, please leave me a comment and I'll get right over to your blog and follow you.

Now I'm going to cuddle with that spoiled little chihuahua with the foot long tongue, and watch a movie before bedtime. :)

Art Give-Away!

Contessa Grigia is giving away Art!

You could win one of the three shown below...

 I'd choose the antique ad at the bottom.

Head over and see what else Contessa Grigia has to share!

Follow her blog... drawing will be Feb 6, 2010.

Broading Readership and Relationships

I'm participating in the 2nd Friday Follow. It's a great way to find new blogs of interest to me, and just maybe someone will find something here to interest them.

Click the button and start following some great blogs today!

Thanks to the generous hosts One 2 Try, Hearts Make Families and Midday Escapades

and welcome to Friday Follow!

Celebrating 7 Years Together!

Today my hubby and I celebrate 7 great years of marriage! We like any couple have had our "for better/for worse, for richer/for poorer, in sickness/in health" moments. But  the good FAR outweighs the bad. I'd do it all again. I didn't wait 10 years for him to let him get away from me. You can read about that 10-year wait  in my post "Our Story", I can't imagine life without him either. Oh I'd be lying if I said he didn't get on my nerves from time to time. Which reminds of a funny line a dear friend, said once (or maybe 2 or 3 times lol).

On one obviously frustrating day upon arriving at the office, she had remarked that she could have killed her husband dead and buried him under the house! She is the closest thing to a Proverbs 31 woman as I've ever seen but it was just one of those days, that we all have.

I do have to brag on my hubby a little though. He makes my coffee every morning, AND brings it to me. A morning person, I am NOT. So he let's me slowly "come around" while he's fixing coffee, then brings it to me in the living room. He even gets my vitamins out sometimes and hands them to me (unless I've beaten him to that while he's making coffee). When I come home from work, he has a bottle of water in the freezer for me, because he knows I like it very cold and icy. It's a small luxury for me since I don't drink pop (soda). On his "good days" (I'll have to tell you about the good and bad days another time) he does so much more too, cook, laundry, clean the bathroom (yes, scrubbing the toilet too!).

So here's to another 7++++++ years together!

Widsom In a Cookie

So I was driving, on my way home from work this evening, trying to decide what to fix for dinner. I made yesterday a frozen pizza night (admit it, you have them too *Smile*) so I felt I needed to make tonight a good homemade dinner night. It was a toss up... Chicken 'n Dumplings or Country Fried Steak. I was playing over the process in my head of what sides to fix with either choice, how much prep time/work would be involved in each and flip through my mental calendar at the same time to think what else I'd need to do this evening. I already knew I'd choose the shortest, easiest route. My thought process was interrupted though, just before I'd reached a final decision. My son called (I've added his pic to the sidebar now to show him off.) and wanted to know if I knew yet what was for dinner. I gave him the choices I'd been mulling over and told him I hadn't made a decision between the two yet. He had another idea. He asked if I could bring Chinese home. Call it coincidence, call it fate, call it an accident... I call it Divine Intervention! lol Nothing like getting out of cooking dinner, without even trying! So anyway...

After my takeout of Chicken 'n Broccoli with Fried Rice and Egg Roll, I had my takeout desert - a fortune cookie. I usually find myself disappointed in the "fortunes" I receive. They are usually just pointless words that never really give you any kind of fortune at all. I did get a great piece of wisdom in my cookie tonight though.

 

I hate to make mistakes. Not because it's foreign to me or embarrassing or humiliating. I hate to make mistakes because I'm a perfectionist! I'm my own worst critic, in all way... at home and work and even in my hobbies - which are supposed to be fun, entertaining and enjoyable. And they are all those things for me but I hate make a mistake on something because I have always felt like my work (my activities of all kinds) are a reflection of who I am. And most of the time I'm too hard on myself. So I take this as a personal message to myself. To view my own mistakes in life as learning experiences. No only was the escape from cooking dinner my own little Divine Intervention, it brought to me a great lesson that I hope is brought back to my memory each time I do make a mistake. Have you ever gotten a "right-on-time" message in such an unusual way?

Busy weekend and work week before Celebration

Remember the Primitive Baby Shoe Ornament Giveaway from and October 2009 post? Well... I WON! (picture at end of this post) I just received it yesterday in the mail. Actually it arrived early last week but I had to wait until Saturday to pick it up at the post office because my work hours prevent me from getting there for inside pickups. I would have received it in plenty of time to add it to my Christmas decorating but I failed to contact Teri @ White Sheep Primitive in a timely manner. Last fall got to be very stressful with the office being understaffed and full time college for me, so I didn't get to check in on the winner announcement. Teri was so wonderful though and held onto my little shoe and the next time I dragged my tired eyes stopped in to visit her blog, she left me a comment here to tell me I'd won and she just needed to know where to send the shoe. I absolutely love and the picture does not do it justice! Thank you so much Teri. I'll have to remember to post pictures with it included in my decorations.

This weekend has been productive for me. After the kitchen and bathroom was thoroughly cleaned (and my lungs only suffering a tad from the bleach), I spent some time redoing my blog. I've changed it around 2 or 3 times trying to find something I was really happy with. I'm sure it will change again at some point in the future too, but for now I'm happy with how it's looking. I went to a 3-column layout because I wanted more room to post some more great Blog Buttons for places I frequent. I googled to find the instructions on how to do some of the changes I wanted. I still plan to create a custom siggy for my posts, but that will just be a simple code insert.

Tomorrow starts a new full week. School is back in session so I am reading all about Coding (CPT and ICD-9-CM), there is lots to catch up on at work with in-house (corporate) auditors coming Tuesday. Their 'mock' audits are preparing us for the "Big Guys", aka Medicare, that will be here soon too. I'll let you know how that goes when it happens. My Anniversary (7 years) will fall in the middle of the week and there won't be time to do anything. Celebration will have to wait until the weekend, when I will be celebrating my 42nd birthday as well. Have a great week!

Isn't this the cutest little baby shoe ornament? :)

Hold to Reset

School is officially back in session for me. I know that means busier evenings/weekends but this semester should be easier than the previous ones. I'm just going part time this go around. I was almost meeting myself coming and going before. Full time work, school and not to mention full time wife and mom. I had a non existent social life (though I enjoy being at home with my family). As I headed into this newest phase I was silently praying and hoping the lighter load would pay off and I wouldn't feel the stress that had been there over the last year. Work is very busy right now too and with audits approaching fast, everyone is feeling the stress and tensions are clearly visible. During my 'quiet time' driving home from work this evening (because that's about the only time I am alone and not needed to go somewhere and/or do something for someone) I was thinking positively and tried to focus on keeping myself focused and not letting things overwhelm me... although I know there will be times when I will feel that way. I got a little encouragement when, at a stop light, my eyes dropped down and I saw on the control panel beside the odometer a little button and the words beside it said 'Hold to Reset'. When things get too tough and I can't see that light at the end of the tunnel, may I be reminded that I am being held and if I close my eyes I can see that all the stress, tension and frustrations can be reset, if I just sit quietly and allow myself to just be held in the arms of the Comforter. When I lay my head on my pillow tonight and close my eyes, I will rest in the arms of the only one who can reset my mind and spirit to start tomorrow fresh and ready to face a new day.

Home of Broken Toys

Abby has set a new destructive record. The snowman she got on Christmas Eve is now part of the Broken Toy Club. We have to take some at some points and put them up until there is time for mending. I had quite a few tucked into the decorative boxes/urns and such on the entertainment center well out of her reach. So as toys are admitted to the wound care center, she gets another one or two, something to entertain her for a little while longer.

I don't have a picture of the snowman 'before' but I'm sure you can imagine. Her "Tweety" bird doesn't seem as worse for the ware but in a second shot you can see the shredded rope legs, which have been trimmed up on a few occasions. The yellow seahorse lost its tail and eyes months ago and had to have a seem sewed back where the tail was once attached. She has what we call a 'broke-eared-dog'. The missing ear is put up in a safe place and will be sewed back on, as soon as I find where I lost it put it. Her crab was repaired recently by my niece during wound care week over the holidays. The missing third rope leg is long gone. It was unrepairable because after the dismemberment, Abby proceeded to chew up and shred the rope leg.

I got her two new toys on New Year's Eve. She has a cute brown/tan moose, who we call Bullwinkle (all of her toys get names) and a blue M & M. I'm not sure but I thought I heard a familiar appedage-ripping sound when she was playing with Bullwinkle earlier today. I'll have to get him out of her bed and see if there are any battle wounds play time markings that need attention.

 

 

 

 

 

Down Abby Road

I had the day off work today so I worked to create my FIRST Digital Scrapbook Mini Kit. I call it Abby Road. I created all the papers and embellishments myself with PSE7. I have been reading and watching tutorials on different websites and some CD's I have with tutorials on how to create a variety of papers and elements. I created this new mini kit, far from the quality of true professionals of the trade (so please be kind with your comments lol). I will provide this as a freebie download to anyone who might want it for their own personal pages. Just as soon as I get the files uploaded, I will post the download links here for you (hopefully tomorrow). I saved the elements with names of "abby lane" and then rememberd the Beatles album Abbey Road, and decided my page title and Mini Kit title would be Abby Road. Below is the page I made with the kit. I can't wait to get busy making another kit and try some new technique.