it's taken long enough

but i finally made it back to the gym. i only did thirty minutes on the treadmill because i was running late on my lunch break but something is better than nothing, right. every night i toy with the idea of setting my clock much earlier so that i can go jogging in the mornings like i did the other day. it really was a nice and peaceful way to start the day (although an hour or two later i was exhausted and thought my head was going to burst). i just don't know that i can drag myself out of bed any earlier than i already do. i'm just starting to finally get used to the idea of working at 07:00. anyhow, maybe one of these days i'll win over my body and begin a morning jogging regimen. i bet that would actually get some results if i could do it.

too dumb

since i can't figure out how to make the folds only show up on expanded posts, i'm going foldless again. i hate when i'm too dumb to do stuff. there was a time (ever so long ago) that i truly believed i was an intelligent person who could learn anything. granted, that was when i was a stupid teenager who had it all figured out. the cockiness of youth, eh?

only a handful of people will understand the significance of this pic

are you one of them?

easy sunday

yep, it was a nice, take-it-easy kind of day. after sleeping in a bit and a nice breakfast, we went to see the dark knight. phenomenal. truly up to the hype. hubby, who really doesn't get into movies at all, stated that it was the best movie he'd seen in quite some time. we then went to a park, looked at some condos that are going up for auction, and had dinner out. all that adds up to a very nice sunday in my book. shame that it gets followed up by monday.

request for technical assistance

so i was trying to figure out how to create folds in my entries. i think i finally got it working but the fold link now shows up at the end of every entry whether i have an expansion or not. does anyone know what i need to do to get the fold link to only show up when there is a fold?

picked up

after bringing the 'yaks back up and getting cleaned up, we had a bite to eat and walked down to the country bar at the plaza (after 23:00, we're so young!). we were sitting in the back getting cooled off a bit after the walk and the guy at the next table started talking to me. i introduced myself and my husband and then he asked me to dance. he did at least ask hubby if he minded and then he led me to the dance floor. i can't think of what song was playing but it was a semi-slow song so he was very close to me and kept putting my arms around his neck. it was strange. it was really strange. he didn't try anything funny and when the dance was over, i went back to hubby and that was that. i guess it was a flattering experience, but pretty akward too. hubby and i danced for a couple of hours and then walked back home. it was a fun night.

maiden voyage

thursday we purchased a kayak for hubby to go with the one that i won earlier this month. when we brought it home, we put it in the water and took turns trying it out. last night we took both kayaks down to the beach for the official maiden voyage.

they were itching to get in the water

have i mentioned how much i love my backyard?
hubby paddling into the sunset
our kayaks missed each other
you wouldn't believe how long i chased this stupid jelly around trying to get a pic
they're fast little buggers

unfortunately, i didn't find my shark (although hubby finally saw one this morning from the balcony - he said it was right out in front of our building, about twenty feet from swimmers). we didn't paddle far at all (since i spent all that time going in circles chasing jellies). but we stayed out on the water for close to an hour and had a great time. we even found a few waves to surf.

images from fourth of july weekend

driving through centre, al there was a stretch of about three miles or so that was lined with flags and crosses with soldiers names and their war. it was beautiful.

our cabin was designed just for me

there were so many gorgeous ducks

unfortunately, there were also a few that i didn't like at all

i wonder why they call them the smokies?

hungry bird babies

old mill in cades cove

are you looking at me?

chicks dig it when i flex

just so that you know, i felt tremendously guilty seeing these miserable bears but the family wanted to do it, so i was obligated to participate. they were so sad looking.

just look at that tear - heartbreaking

just for my cousin

companionship on a sleepless morning

i woke up just before 0400 because i had to pee. after that, i could not get back to sleep. i woke hubby up for a few minutes but he was able to go right back to sleepi (i hate that about him). i got up and went out to the balcony to watch the moon over the water for a bit. i rummaged in the dark through our closet to find batteries for my camera (both sets of batteries are dead; anyone know where my charger is???) and tried to take pictures of the moon but, as much as i heart my camera, it sucks in low light. it was beautiful though. it was a full, orange moon. it was behind a light cloud so the cloud was glowing orange with just the tip of the moon peeking out over top and then there was a trail of the orange moonlight all the way across the water into the shore. it was wonderous. shame about the lack of good photo. this doesn't do it justice at all. and it was after the clouds moved away.

about 0500 i laid back down and tried to go back to sleep. no such luck. at 0530 i decided to get up and go jogging on the beach. while i am not a morning person or jogger at all, it was very nice and peaceful out. there are no waves so the water just lapped at the shore and my feet a little. it was cool and quiet and relaxing (in a i-am-so-not-a-jogger/morning-person kind of way). my goal was to go to a building that would have made it about three miles round trip. i'd say i was about a quarter-mile from that buildng when i got an unexpected jogging companion. i kid you not, five feet away from me a shark was swimming the shoreline. it was only a baby, three feet from nose to tail, but it was soooo cool! i was very excited and ticked off that i didn't have my camera. it stayed five to eight feet away for probably thirty yards before it finally decided to swim back out to sea. i could have reached out and touched it, it was so close. i'm no shark expert, but i'm pretty sure it was a black tip based on body style. clearly, i need a super tiny, high-tech, spy camera. something tiny that i could carry on me at all times no matter what i'm doing but takes great pix. yes, i did vent to the shark about him having the audacity to show up when i was completely cameraless. maybe he'll come back around while we're kayaking this weekend so that i can get his closeup. we've also had a six foot or so eagle ray passing by the last couple of days. i had no batteries in my camera yesterday. i did get a couple pictures today but he was much farther out and you can't hardly make it out as an eagle ray.

boys just don't get it

every step of the way, my boy has been bewildered by the effort that i am going to for these shower invitations.  everything from "just buy the fill-in-the-blank kind" to "you know these aren't the actual wedding invitations, right?".  i asked him if he thought that people cut corners for our wedding to which he answered that he'd just stay out of it (for the next five seconds anyhow).  as it is, the idea i had in my mind for the invitations was so much nicer than what i ended up with and i actually feel badly about that.  truth be told, the invitations are a bit ugly.  don't get me wrong, i think i did the best that i could, but i ended up having to completely dismiss what i really wanted to do (bad thing about small towns is that it's harder to find specialty stuff) and what i ended up going with is truly a hideous color.  they would actually be very cute if it weren't for the color.  anyhow, i just think it's funny how he doesn't seem to remember all of the hardwork and detail that people put into making every aspect of our wedding wonderful.  i want to do no less for my friend.  i feel very badly that i had no experience with this sort of stuff when i was bridesmaid for my other friends.  i just didn't have a clue what i was supposed to do or how to do it so i was less than helpful to them.  i guess you just learn these things over time.  anyhow, i've got most of the invitations sealed in their envelopes and ready to go to the post office.  i'm still waiting on three addresses and then this phase of the shower will be done.  time to start planning a menu, favors, games, prizes and such. 

HAPPY (one day late) BIRTHDAY, NEPHEW1!!!

hey, i did remember to call and assault the answering machine with my "singing" yesterday afternoon.

have you seen my glue sticks?

geesh, the shower is going to be over before i ever get the invitations sent out. i'm in need of a glue stick. i've got glue sticks. i don't know where my glue sticks might be. i'm certain they're around here somewhere as i remember exactly where that box was when we first moved in but i have no idea what happened to it since. when i get a gluestick, assembly will be completed and i'll be down to envelope stuffing, stamping, and mailing. yay! there are four addresses i'm still waiting on too.

you'll be a dentist! you have a talent for causing things pain...

but at least i can feel my lips again (usta!).  dental visit went smoothly but took way too long.  got bridal shower invitation supplies on the way home and need to get those done and sent out tomorrow.  the mountain of laundry is about to avalanche and i'm pretty sure we'll be goners.  hubby has made a bit of tidying progress around the house but not me.  maybe, just maybe, today's the day to get something done!

nothing to say

i'm sure you've noticed.  or not.  whatever.  i think my mind is still recovering from three weeks of overload.  there may have been a short-circuit or two so rebooting is taking longer than usual.  that and i'm just not feeling right.  i've had heartburn since saturday, which is highly unusual and i've had a mega-headache (though, thankfully, not yet migraine) since yesterday afternoon.  today i was supposed to be back in the gym but i just feel icky.  i know that's a crummy excuse but i really was looking forward to getting back into the gym today (in a i-still-loathe-the-gym-but-am-desperate-to-get-smaller kind of way).  i plan to go back through my pix from pigeon forge and insert a few back into the appropriate entries.  i'll let you know when that gets done.  the little bit of non-work brain time i've had has been going toward bridal shower planning.  and, by the way, have i started on that laundry yet???

update on cam (son of coworker hs)

on our way out of atlanta yesterday, we stopped at the facility to visit with hs a bit. he seemed to be in good spirits and couldn't brag enough on the facility. he said that all of the doctors there are totally johnny-on-the-spot about things and he is astounded with how quickly they get things done when they say they are going to do it. they have also been tirelessly working with him to cut through all of the red-tape of getting ssi and medicaid(?) and how to make their houses accessible. cam is back on a respirator because of some lung problems that went untreated at the other hospital but they are getting them taken care of and he should be breathing on his own again shortly. the good news is that he continues to regain motion in his arms. he still does not have tricep control but he is able to flex his bicep and has figured out how to slowly relax it in order to extend his arm back out again. he is also moving his wrist a little. still no progress on his lower body but since they were originally told that he would be a quadriplegic, they are thrilled with every progress he makes. hs feels that if he can at least get his upper body back, he can still have great quality of life. he also said that cam is very much himself and, though he has moments of despondency, he is overall positive and ready to overcome. what a blessing! amazingly, he remembers the entire incident and, during the few days that he was off the respirator, was able to tell his dad about it all. he said that he was running into the ocean, jumping waves, and on one jump the ocean floor was just closer than he thought. he landed on his head and immediately knew he was dead. he could not feel his body at all and could tell he was laying on the ocean floor being pushed around by the waves. his friend was in the water with him and thought he was playing around (poor friend had a major guilt-breakdown and required medical attention himself to get calmed down). cam said that the waves pushed him toward his friend and he saw his foot and bit down on it. that's when his friend knew something was wrong and dragged him out of the water. amazing. i feel badly for his friend and i pray that he is able to get past this and realize it was not his fault and he did nothing wrong (unrelated but humorous - hs told friend to drive cam's car home and after driving all that way, he got within city limits of home and the car blew up from being low on oil; hs has no idea where it even is). hs had some great stories of cam being cam and it was a really nice visit.

update on bl

my buddy had more tests run yesterday and they were able to determine that it is follicular lymphoma which is an indolent non-hodgkins type. i was not happy to hear this because, from the research i've done, the indolent forms are worse than the aggressive forms but he said that the doctors tell him that this particular type responds very well to chemotherapy. they also say that it has a very high incidence of recurrence so after they put it into remission, chances are very good that it will come back and will be more aggressive when it does. *hold back tears* his next step is to get a full body pet scan and bone marrow biopsy done so that they can find where the cancer has already spread to around the body and what stage he's in so that they can determine what treatment course they need to pursue. it looks like it's such a slow-growing cancer that by the time it's discovered, it's usually already stage three or four because it's been growing for years without symptoms. i think my friend is in the anger stage of grieving. he wants to know how this happened; what caused it. he told the doctor that he's in good shape, exercises, eats right... the doctor told him cancer doesn't care. i think he's very upset that he couldn't have prevented it. several years ago, he had clarks level 3 melanoma because of too much sun-worship in his youth. this is not something that he can look back at and say, "it's because i did this..." he said that his kids are holding strong and that he's trying to keep a positive attitude. the doctor told him that's one of the best indicators for survival. i, myself, will continue to pray for him and tell him that he's going to beat it.

mentally, physically, emotionally... spent

yesterday was a long day, with a long drive, and an unhappy night. at least i'm home. and do you know what's on sci-fi at 03:00? rediculously ginormous mosquitos and spectacularly horrible acting.

heading home

and couldn't be happier about it. we stopped at the spinal center for a couple of hours to visit with hs. I'll have more to say about that when i have an actual computer to type on. we should be home way late but i was able to switch shifts with a coworker tomorrow so i don't have to work until 08:00. the extra hour will be appreciated.

no commutes for me, thanks

after staying up far too late talking without friends, i got a good (though short) night's sleep. we then got up far too early to make the commute into the old office. i had almost forgotten how much commuting sucks. unfortunately, i won't be seeing my favorite buddy as he is off today and tomorrow. however, i did get to go to my favorite mexican place for lunch! it was every bit as yummy as I remember and i truly hurt myself. i just couldn't help it. tomorrow I'll be visiting my favorite italian place around here. yay for yummy visitations!

i think we're alone now

the in-laws left early this morning and we aren't expected at b&j's until 21:30 so we have had a wonderful day of just the two if us. fabulous, it is. we took it easy getting out of the cabin and then stopped on top of the mountain to walk up to clingman's dome. over the mountain, we stopped and wasted a little time around cherokee before continuing south to waste more time in gainesville. we are now headed toward b&t's to continue loafering around until they get home from church. it's been a great day.

here ducky, ducky

i feel much better after a nice, quiet nap. i think all three of us got a bit of rest before deciding to head back to town. the in-laws still haven't returned from their day-tripping and we haven't been able to reach them by phone so i guess their off having a good time. we're at a little pan in town. hubby and nephew played frisbee while i walked some laps around the park (i'd guess two miles). we then walked down to the river together to talk to the ducks. there was a momma with some brand new hatchlings and we had a good time watching them. they even came up on the bank a few feet in front of us several times. the strange part was when the momma flew off above the dam, leaving her babies behind. we watched in bewilderment for several minutes and the babies were frantic for their momma. finally momma came to the edge of the dam and looked down at them for quite a while like she actually expected them to fly up there with her but she knew better than that. she did eventually come back down and they flocked to her anxiously. i was just astounded. i've never seen any of my ducks abandon their chilluns like that. did i mention that my hubby also held up mountain traffic to rescue a turtle in the road. we are now getting ready to play some putt-putt with the group.

sk8r

after finally getting to sleep in this morning (really, all this getting up at 06:00 is just not my idea of vacation) we met up with the cousins for some ice skating fun at ober gatlinburg. hubby, nephew, and i were actually the only ones to get out on the ice but we had a great time. i think we're going to relax a bit this afternoon and then maybe get the group together again when it cools off this evening to play some putt-putt or something. i'd like to get back in the very nice hot tub again but it's much warmer today than it was yesterday so i'm not sure that will be wise. we'll see. oh, i almost forgot about the amazing storm that came through last night. I couldn't tell you what time it was since there is not a clock in our room but it was bigger rain, thunder, and lightening than i've heard in a long time. it woke us up but that was okay because it was so pleasant to listen to. it really was truly impressive.

more prayers needed

a very dear friend of mine found out a couple of weeks ago that he has lymphoma. they found it in his abdomen and say that it has already spread to many lymph nodes around the body. he will be going wednesday for further tests to try to determine a prognosis and course of treatment. it was all i could do to keep it together on the phone with him last night and as soon as I hung up I started bawling. i cried a lot last night because I just can't stand the thought of anything happening to my friend. I told him he needs to come down and spend some time at the beach before they start chemo or anything. I'm worried, folks, but I am praying that they are able to get him into remission and i'll get to have many, many more conversations with my
friend.

we also got an update on hs's son yesterday. the surgery went well on wednesday. he is breathing on his own again and he can flex his arm up towards his body but he cannot straighten it back out yet. apparently, the same nerves that control that extension action also control many
leg movements. he also cannot move his fingers yet. hs is dealing but said that his son isn't talking much and it doesn't seem like it's really hit him yet. they will be flying him back to atlanta monday to a spinal rehabilitation facility. with any hope, he will be able to regain many movements.

ready for home

it took forever, but we finally made it. we've been hanging out at the cousin's cabin playing pool, talking, relaxing, and most importantly cooling off. it's bloody hot out there, folks! our car started
overheating while sitting in traffic in town. it's definitely pretty here (in the mountains) but the general area is far too crowded and touristy for my likes. last time we were here was new year of the millienia. it's even worse now than it was then. i'm much more of a spend the holidays close to home kind of girl, myself.

way too early

got up at 05:13 (well, i've been awake since 02:37). are we there yet?

silence is golden

and i've been soaking it up this morning. of course my poor husband has
been working feverishly all morning to conslidate all of our junk into
one storage building. a task we've been meaning to complete for months
now. he did it too. i tell ya, if there was an olympic event for
packing a lot of stuff into small spaces, my terrifically talented
hubby would win the good hands down! i've been lazily laying around.
i didn't sleep very well because i was so angry at hubby for trying to
get himself killed by a whale in my dream last night. hey, i never
said i was without issues.

five day weekend

we've made it to wedowee so we are officially no longer responsible for
teenage girls. woohoooo! tomorrow we'll spend a little time visiting
gma h and rearranging our storage building. friday, we'll be heading
to tn for a big family weekend (didn't we just do that?). did i
mention that we're teenager-free.

claiming my prize

this is my kayak that i paid for in blood:

ironically enough, it is one of the ones that was in our final cuts from this weekend's shopping. i'm thinking of calling the store (same store we had seen it, skew is still on the kayak) to see whether they will do returns without a "gift receipt". don't get me wrong, i am thrilled to pieces with it. but on the unlikely chance that they will do a return, we can take the money and go get the super nice kayaks that we really want but they're more expensive and we hated to spend so much since we'd need two of them. with what this kayak cost, it would cover most of the better one and we won't feel so bad buying them. but, i'm also a realist and am very doubtful that the store will give us money for it. i figure, if they'll do a return at all, they'll want to give us store credit and there's nothing else in that store we would buy. either way, i've got a kayak and i'm pleased as punch!

luck? what's that???

you'll never guess in a million years what just happened... i won a KAYAK!!! apparently, when we gave blood the other day, they were doing a drawing amongst the donors for a kayak . i recall them mentioning it in passing when we were almost done there but i never thought anymore about it because, let's face it, i'm not a winner. and, actually, while hubby was talking with the woman and said i won a kayak, i was racking my brain to remember where that whole discussion even took place. anyhow, we'll be going to pick it up after work this afternoon and i'm looking forward to seeing it (please, please please, let it be small enough to fit in the elevators!). i'm so excited. i don't win things. especially things i really want. you know, since we've been kayak shopping for the last several weekends and were really close to buying two of them. yay for blood-letting!!!

wii wanna rock and roll all night

and sleep in all day long! oh, to be fifteen again, without a care in the world! (wait, no, i had a job at fifteen and had to work when i wasn't at school)

in one weekend wii have already unlocked 45 of the 63 songs. clearly, wii are going to need more songs.




it's been a great way to pass the time.

prayers needed

a coworker's son is in bad shape. we don't have many details yet. all we know is that he was at the beach, there was some sort of an incident (if skimboarding was involved, any and all guests will be banned from having them here!), he had a fall in the ocean, and has broken three vertebrae in his neck. he is currently on a ventilator in an induced coma but the doctors are telling hs that they believe best case scenario is that he will be paralyzed from the waist down, worst case from the neck down. of course, they won't know for sure the extent of damage until they wake him up. this boy is only 18 (maybe 19 by now) and getting really close to being a father. i cannot express how my heart is breaking right now. i hope and pray that the doctors are wrong and that he is able to make a full recovery.

update: 15:55 - hubby just spoke with hs. his son was just playing in the ocean, jumping waves, when one of them flipped him over and he landed on the ocean floor on his neck. he was instantly paralyzed (which i assume means that he was fortunate enough to have someone really close by that was able to pull him out of the water before drowning). he shattered three cervical vertebrae, including the c1 (at the very top) and c6 (which is around the region of the spinal cord that controls breathing). they are going to do surgery on wednesday to try to repair the c6 vertebra so that he can breathe on his own again. they won't know until after that surgery how extensive the paralysis might be but they are telling hs that there is a very slim chance he will ever walk again. my heart is just full of pain on behalf of the whole family.

monday blues

wherefore does the weekend fly by so quickly?  it was a relatively nice weekend.  we did the cinema under the stars friday night and had a good time.  saturday i got to sleep in a bit and then hold down the couch for a little while watching tv while we waited for the girls to wake up so i could start breakfast (14:00!).  after breakfast (lunch/early dinner), we watched randal's favorite movie with the girls, went to the pool/hot tub, had a yummy dinner, and unlocked some more songs on rock band.  sunday, we dragged the girls out of bed before noon (actually, we had them fed and out of the house before noon).  it was a good rainy day for shopping so we did just that.  we stopped at several boat stores looking for kayaks.  we also stopped at several clothing stores so the girls could shop.  we ended up at the dollar theatre in town for a movie about baby mama drama (i was highly amused on my bro-n-law's behalf since he never heard of baby mamas until he changed professions and had the opportunity to employ young men that bring their baby mama drama to work).  after a very long day of shopping/movieing, we stopped for dinner and then took the girls cruisin' up and down the strip so they could yell out the car windows at boys.  i think that was their favorite activity yet.  we got home just in time for bedtime.  this morning, i'm feeling pretty awful.  i'm sinussy and sick at my stomach.  and, there was a release sent out this weekend so work is full of fallout.  is it friday yet?  ooh, wait... wednesday's our last day this week! 

dreams

i had a strange dream last night about an ex (get your mind out of the gutter!). it was very much unlike my usual ex dreams in that usually when i dream about an ex, i am always conscious of the fact that i am married to hubby. always. but in last night's dream, i was actually with my most recent ex (is eleven years ago recent?) and i had run into my first-love-ex and everything between us just came rushing back. i broke up with recent-ex so that 1st-luv-ex and i could have another try. when we met back up so i could tell him i had ended things, he had his grandmother's ring and proposed to me. there was more to it but it was all emotions and not at all something i could describe. really, the whole dream was extremely emotional and, for some reason, i woke up feeling very disturbed by it.

today's gymming

forty-five minutes on the treadmill, plus i took the seventeen flights of stairs down to the gym and back up. am i dead yet???

two year anniversary

i've thought of her much more in recent weeks. maternal-unit's day, her birthday, and today, of course. overall though, it's been much easier since she moved. at least i know that she's not alone and she's having some good times. do i miss her? like crazy. do i love her? always will. but i guess this is just the way things have to be right now. i wish that she would make a genuine effort. nasty, guilt-ridden cards do not in my book constitute a true desire to begin making repairs. and pretending that two years has not happened -- i just can't do that. anyhow, happy anniversary!

trying to fit in with them young whippersnappers

last night we tried out the concert in the park gig. i was a bit disappointed. it was a great venue filled with groups of people picnicking and having a good social time. it was terrific people-watching. but the band was pretty awful. it was supposed to be classic rock but it was just a bunch of tone-deaf geriatric guys. seriously, it was sad. even the couple of songs that i knew were barely recognizable after being butchered by a tone-deaf singer. of course, the girls were bored out of their minds a quarter of the way through the first song. they immediately asked for the iphone and stared myspacing. we stayed for about an hour, until a break, and then left before they could come back and butcher some more. i'm sure hubby and i will try it again because it really could have been much more fun with slightly better musicians. and a picnic. we should have picnicked. i'm not sure if we'll be doing the cinema under the stars tonight or not. they're doing bee movie which i never really cared much for seeing but i love outside movies and i think we could have a good time if we picnic and do it right. anyhow, after the first set, we put our chairs back in the car and walked around the mall a bit. i ended up getting a new outfit that i was coveting the other day when we were there. i love the shirt. and i love the idea of the shorts but they are outside of my comfort zone so i'm not completely sure yet. i don't think my hubby likes the shorts but they are what all the "kids" are wearing these days and i'm trying to stop looking like the curmudgeonly old woman around here. stop judging me! anyhow, after stopping in a few shops, the girls wanted to go to target so while they were shopping around in there, we headed to the electronics department. kids, i cannot tell you how pained my husband was when he saw rock band for wii sitting right there, just as pretty as could be. he paced back and forth in front of it for a good two minutes. then he put his head in his hands and walked up and down a couple of aisles. then he picked it up - just in case - since it was the only one there. he found a cart to put it in and walked around the store asking what was wrong with him. finally, he ended up at the register with it and told me to do the deed while he went to retrieve the car from the other end of the plaza (honestly, i think he just couldn't bear to witness the purchasing). it was quite amusing. he has been dying to have this game though, so i was glad that he decided to go ahead and get it. it's only money, right? the girls were pretty happy about the purchase, even if a little disappointed that we deemed it far too late on a work night to be opening the box to set it up and play. hey, i said we're trying to be young, i didn't say we were succeeding. so, regardless of whether we make it to a movie in the park tonight or go walking down the strip, there will definitely be some rocking going on around our house!

yesterday's gym update

i got wrapped up in a training class i was presenting yesterday and never got a chance to post my lunch-gymming. i don't care if it is of no interest to you - it helps keep me accountable to have it posted. since i had the training to do, i was short on time. i got down there later than usual and the place was packed. the only thing open was an elliptical so i did ten minutes on it (still doesn't fit me right), then moved to an open bike for two minutes until a treadmill finally opened. i did twenty-three minutes on the treadmill for a total of thirty-five minutes of cardio. better than nothing. to help cool down before coming back up to start my class, i did 150 crunches on the sit-up bench.

weekend plans

we're starting to put some sketchy plans together for the weekend. tonight, we'll be doing concert in the park (free) at the waterford-like plaza. tomorrow, we may be doing cinema under the stars (free) at a different park. at some point, we promised we'd walk the girls down the strip a little (probably to the waterford-like plaza) so that they could experience the cruising and cat-calling that happens on the weekends. we drove them down the strip a little piece tuesday night and they had a good time rolling down their windows and hollering at boys. teenage girls are funny. i think a movie they would like is coming to the $1 theatre in town this weekend so that may be on the agenda as well. hubby and i went to that theatre tuesday night while the girls walked around the mall. it was one of the old theatres sans stadium-seating and it wasn't very comfortable at all but it was a dollar so it was worth it. i haven't been to a dollar theatre in years. anyhow, we're trying to come up with decent activities to keep the girls entertained and out of trouble. although last night we just stayed around here. i had a headache so hubby took the girls down to the beach and pool for a bit. when i was feeling a bit better, i started dinner and went down to join them at the pool. we came back and ate dinner and sat around and looked at pics for a while before going to bed. i hope they're having a good time.

and for today's lunch...

another forty-five minutes on the treadmill! whoohooo! i miss the ellipticals at our old gym. i'd like to mix up my cardio a bit but the ellipticals here just really don't fit me and exercise bikes bore me to tears. all i can do is the treadmill (in the gym). and even that is limited because they're not near as good quality as my treadmill (that i still heart) in storage so i can't really run on them because they feel like they'll fall to pieces. i need to get out and run on the beach some but it's very florida out there.

must... fit... bathing suit...

so we took the girls to the waterford-like mall last night to eat and walk around. while walking through a store, i finally found a bathing suit that i like a lot and is reasonably priced. i hesitantly tried it on, bringing two different sizes into the dressing room with me - the size i wanted to fit and the size i thought would realistically fit. after giving up on my dreams and changing into the more realistic size, i asked my hubby to come into the dressing room to cast his vote. he confirmed my own disappointment that even the more realistic size was too small. it was a devastating blow to the esteem and i refuse to go to a larger size. i knew i shouldn't have tried it on. it was jus so cute. anyhow, that inspired my lunch-gymming today. forty-five minutes on the treadmill. i didn't go yesterday because i was so exhausted (much like today since i couldn't fall asleep untill well after 03:00) but i did go when i got out of bed sunday morning. i did thirty minutes on the treadmill and forty-five minutes on weights then. i'm not doing nearly as well as my cousin, but she is inspiring me to try harder. her and the very cute bathing suit that i want (and need - how can i live at the beach with only one bathing suit?).

bringing people together

i'm always proud when someone from the past finds my website and makes contact. apparently, someone from my dad's past was looking for him, found my site, and was able to find him and get in touch. i think he said it was his God-daughter or something. how nice to bring folks together just by keeping a little home on the interwebs.

am i just strange?

would you go into someone's home and use their razor? would you be okay with someone using yours?

this few hours of quiet brought to you by...

lazy teenagers who sleep till noon. those two are the only ones left and we haven't heard a peep out of them yet. hopefully they're still breathing. apart from some moments of frustration, i honestly enjoyed having the family here this weekend. i'm not sure if we'll try having the entire family at one time again as it was just too many people to agree on stuff but i'm hoping that individual family units will feel welcome to come back and visit again. it was particularly nice to spend time with bro-n-law's family since we don't see them often. unfortunately, yesterday turned into a hellacious day. no guest behavior issues - just a truly unfortunate circumstance that couldn't be helped but wreaked havoc in our home. it was 02:00 before i got to bed and i was not able to rest well after all of the commotion. fortunately, i can thank my sissy for cheering me up with her fun sunday ordeal:

puppy found out the hard way that the tasty looking blue liquid in the pen isn't as yummy as it appears. she said the sofa came clean for the most part. you know, considering she's got three kids, two cats, and a puppy anyhow.

diatribe

i believe that i am an extremely accomodating hostess. i pride myself on it, particularly since it was not necessarily an example that was set for me growing up. i go out of my way to make people feel at home when visiting me and i really and truly hope that they do. there are very few things that i have zero patience for as a hostess but am far too kind to say anything that would make my guests feel unwelcome. for future reference, if you may ever be a guest in my home: DO NOT use my personal items, DO NOT completely snub a meal that i have prepared, and DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES touch my thermostat - my husband isn't even allowed to touch that.

that's really all i care to say about that.

it doesn't feel right

i think the wii has been more popular this weekend than the beach. good investment on our part. the pools have been pretty happening too. other than the headaches of deciding where eleven people want to eat, it's been a good time. we've gotten to spend some quality time with his brother's family that we never really see except on holidays and funerals. speaking of which, his sis-n-law was telling us a cute story about niece (she's about six months younger than my niece). her and her mom were getting a shower yesterday in our bathroom and niece kept saying that "this doesn't feel right; it just doesn't feel right". th asked ag what didn't feel right and ag basically explained that she felt guilty because they don't see us very often and she felt like they shouldn't be in our house and using our stuff. i thought it was very sweet.

wii are family!

well half the family got in a little after lunch and the other half arrived a little after dinner time. unfortunately, my sis-n-law, who got here in the first bunch, is already just about home. not long after getting here, she got a call from her husband (the only family member that was not able to come) stating that he had broken his leg and was on his way to the emergency room. she fretted about it and fretted about it and finally got in the car and headed back north. please think happy thoughts in dw's direction. in the meantime, the rest of us have had a very nice time. we didn't end up going to the concert in the park gig but we did spend some time on the beach and at the pool. this is our youngest (two year old) niece's first time at the beach so it was a momentous occasion. she isn't taking to it quite as quickly as her sister did but she did seem to enjoy digging in the sand (as long as it didn't get on her - ewww). i think she had a better time at the pool though. she laughed and splashed and had a great time. tomorrow should be fun for her. the mushroom fountain will be on for them to play in (it was too late this evening when we were down there). we came back up around sunset and broke out the wii. so far, the nephew, niece, and sis-n-law have created their miis and played around. i boxed the nephew and came close to beating him but alas, ran out of steam. i didn't feel too bad though since hubby got ko'd by him in the first round. i at least made it most of the way through the second round. this is the most fun we've had with the wii yet. it's great for us old folks to be able to play with the youngsters, on the same level, and have a good time.

hey look, easy pic posting!

i guess there really are advantages to this real blog thing. since these rooms may never be the same after this weekend, i figured i'd go ahead and commemorate their current state of completion and tidiness.

this is the bunk room

full on top, full futon on bottom
tv, vcr (what's that?), locker containing stereo, vhs tapes (huh?), and games
this is the guest bath - isn't that stripe perfect?
this is the queen guest room, it's the only traditional styled room we have

so that's the three rooms we've actually completed, aside from wall decor which probably won't much happen until the whole place is painted and ready for it. i'm pretty pleased with things so far.

on the way

at least half the family is on their way. they called a while ago from about two hours away so we're expecting them shortly. which should be interesting since we still have to work for four more hours. i think we've got everything ready for their arrival, including, of course, a freshly baked cake. no word on the other half. they may all be together but we just don't know. it should be much easier to host them this time since we are in our own place with our own stuff. it was pretty difficult hosting in a rental. it's going to be a big crowd this time. the whole immediate family - ten of them - with the exception of the bro-n-law whose spot is being taken by the niece's friend. that's a lot of people for this little condo but i think we should be able to make it work for a few days. tonight if free concert in the park so the first night's entertainment is already lined up (at the right price, no less). i hope that your weekend is as fun-filled an adventure as ours is sure to be.

pardon me miss, but i've never done this with a real, live blog

it had to happen sometime, right? don't think that this will change things. i'll still have nothing interesting to say, it'll just look more interesting around here while i bore you. i did take the time to go back and post all of my rants from 2008. not sure if i'll bother to go back to previous years. we'll just see how it goes from here.

seven letter start

i just got to use all seven letters on my opening move in scrabulous! i've never done that. very exciting to get 74 points right off the bat. i am pleased to say that the house is thoroughly cleaned. as in sanitized and straightened. the guest beds are all made up, the guest bath is fully loaded with towels, toiletries, and sunblocks. our room is presentable and our bathroom is ready for guest overflow use. i need to do a load or two of laundry but that doesn't really matter. we need to have company more often. seems to be the only time that we really, really clean everything. it's so nice to have an immaculate house. and, yes, i am fully aware that it will be a wreck again within five minutes of company arriving. but those five minutes will be glorious. i'm really just so proud of what we've done with this place. i was proud of our house in ga because of the work that we put into building it (built a yard by laying sod and creating landscaped "islands", built a bonus room over the garage from nothing but framing, built a bathroom off the bonus room from scratch by taking in some of the attic space). this place we won't be able to "build" in, but we've decorated everything from scratch which is something neither of us has really done before. i can now say that i fully understand why interior designers get paid big bucks; it is a lot of work. i think that everything has come together quite nicely though. now if i could just get the time and energy to paint the rest of the walls. the bad thing is that it's now down to the bigger areas. our bedroom/bathroom, the living/dining/kitchen, and the entrance/hallway. i'll probably tackle the laundry room next since it's the only small space left and we already have paint for it (leftover from house in ga). maybe i'll do that next month. it certainly won't be over the next few weeks as we are going to have two teenage girls here for two weeks after the rest of the family leaves. God help us!

the sound surrounds us

i'm finally feeling not totally like crap today. it was a rough weekend with me being sick and so much needing to get done. we went shopping and erranding after work friday. i started out feeling not so bad but by the time we got home at 23:00 i felt awful. i did give blood, which may have been a bad thing but it makes me feel better about myself and i needed that. i got hubby to give blood too. i was pleased to set a new personal record for bloodletting of four minutes flat. beat that, cousin! we then went out to town where we bought groceries, window treatments, a home theatre system, a bookcase to house it, and new dinnerware. very exciting (and expensive) purchases. when we got home, hubby immediately started playing with his new toy. there were speakers all over the floor while he got it all hooked up to see how it all would work. i started loading the new dishes (they're so pretty!) and flatware into the dishwasher but didn't make it too far until i collapsed. saturday, i layed on the couch and supervised while hubby assembed the bookcase, put up the window treatments, and hooked up the theater system (on the bookcase). we then had more errands that had to be run. while waiting for the elevator, a little blue fly landed on my foot and i shooed him away. when we got back home, i resumed my couch position and took some more meds to kick the cold. sunday, i woke up to find my ankle swollen to roughly three times it's natural size. yes, that stupid little blue fly! i spent the whole day coating it in hydrocortizone and downing antihistamines. it was swollen so badly i could hardly walk because i couldn't put any weight on that foot. i really don't understand why i'm having such severe bug reactions lately. it wouldn't have anything to do with my thyroid, right? it's so strange. as you'd guess, sunday turned out to be another watch the hubby work kind of day. yesterday, we had dental appointments in the morning and stopped to pick up the sheets which finally came in and get another bottle of antihistamines. the swelling was down to about twice normal size. last night i was able to get some stuff done - general straightening and preparing for company. today, i'm feeling mostly better, no more congestion and swelling is mostly gone (ankle still hurts though), but i'm exhausted. i guess it's just from my body having so much to fight the last few days. it's just worn down. nevertheless, i have to do some more cleaning tonight. i have to finish cleaning our bathroom and clean the floors throughout. if i could just get a bit of a nap first...

paraskavedekatriaphobia

i have never had a boomerang cold before but at 01:12 i woke up feeling worse than i had all week. it was a miserable night of coughing and sniffling and getting up to blow my nose and itchy eyes and congestion headache. how does that happen after feeling mostly fine the last two days? the crummy thing is that i'd like to give blood today but i don't think you're supposed to when you're sick. granted, i can probably mask it for the brief duration of blood-letting, but is that wrong? there's another blood drive going on monday but we've got dentist appointments so i know we're not going to have the time for it. we'll see. maybe, just maybe, i'll get feeling all better by this afternoon.

exercise is a social activity

so my cousin has started training for a 13k run later this year. i wonder if this might be the encouragement i need to start a good routine up again so that we can be accountability buddies. i was talking with another friend about that last week too so maybe the three of us can keep each other going. it's sad because my husband is great about these things but i'm just never going to have the dedication he's got for exercise and he's never going to have the motivation that i need (you would really think that living at the beach and being in a bathing suit 70% of the time would be motivation enough to slim down but i guess i'm just not that easily motivated - i have the tendency to just wallow in depression instead). that's the only thing i don't like about living in orlando because i know if i were there, my cousin and my friend would make great exercise partners and we would really be able to help each other. well, at least i got myself to the gym yesterday. that's a start, right? could even happen again today since i am more rested after getting an extra hour of sleep this morning (no, i wasn't late for work; i switched schedules with a co-worker today so she could get off earlier to celebrate her half-century birthday).

update15:07 - two days of lunch gymming in a row. go me! i did another fifty minutes on the treadmill. can't do a full hour because it takes a few minutes to get down and back up the elevator and my lunch hour is strictly an hour now. maybe if i can keep it up i'll be able to cut back to forty-five minutes on the treadmill and use the stairs to get down there and back up. that would be pretty ambitious though. it's been a while since i've done the stairs but those 18 flights killed me every time i did them.

i'm not dead yet... i feel much better...

indeed, i am feeling much less like the walking undead today.

update17:05 - i was feeling well enough that i did some lunch-gymming today all by myself. go me. 50 minutes on the treadmill. but my most important accomplishment this afternoon was booking a cruise. yay for having a vacation on the books! we'll be cruising for ten days at the end of september. yes, this will be the "killer hurricane season" they've been predicting every year.

nyquil and paint fumes

after taking some nyquil as soon as work was over yesterday, i decided to finish off my paint projects. i am pleased to report that not only did i not pass out while painting, but everything looks great as well. that is it for painting right now. can i get a woooohoooo! and, once i get in there and clean the bathroom so that it can be reassembled, we'll have three rooms completed. YIPPEEE! as for me, i'm very close to calling it a day and going back to bed.

knobs, stripes, and lights

i AM NOT getting sick, thankyouverymuch. it was a tiringly productive weekend. we did go out and have some fun friday night and had a little down time saturday, but mostly the weekend was about getting things done. copious quantities of family coming in t-minus-ten days. saturday we did some shopping. i don't know why the economy is in such poor shape these days, i think we've been spending more than we ever have. when we got back from errands and purchasing, we took a bit of time to check out the upcoming neighbor. there is a 53 acre planned community that is slowly coming in next door. yesterday was the first time that we really got the chance to go over there and get information about the overall plan and progress. we were really impressed and i will be thrilled when the get the next phase done, which should get started late this summer. that phase will be the "main street" area. it should be a great shopping/dining area within a five minute walk of home. after we were through with that, we walked down to the waterford-like plaza a mile away and grabbed some dinner and then walked back home along the beach. when we got back home, we could not actually get home because they had a wedding set up in such a way that they completely blocked off the beach access to the building. i was ticked. i have no problem with people getting married in my back yard but it is unacceptable for them to block public walkways. while i quietly fumed, we took a seat on a beach lounger and watched a wedding. i love weddings. when the ceremony was finally over, the entire wedding moved down to the water's edge where they all lined up with the new mr & mrs to throw pebbles into the surf. that was our chance to use the walkway and head home. i was happy to get back to my air conditioning since it was insanely hot out running errands all day. it's bearable at home because there's usually a gulf-breeze, but if you're not directly on the beach, it's awful. i provided minimal assistance to the hubby as he finished installing the cabinet hardware in the kitchen and bathrooms and we got to bed at a decent hour. yesterday, we lounged around a bit in the morning and then got into full swing just afternoon. i masked and painted the stripe in the bathroom. it was appalling that it took ALL AFTERNOON to get that one little stripe painted but i am very pleased and proud at how it came out. a little touchup around the ceiling in there and the bathroom will be ready to be reassembled. i'm looking forward to getting another room crossed off the list. while i was working on the bathroom, hubby added some shelves to a closet in our room and installed a new light fixture in the kitchen (the old one got fried a couple weeks ago when we had constant power flickers all day long). it looks better than the old one (which just looked like a big hospital light) but i still just don't really care for the look of the big fluorescent ceiling lights. i would have preferred a nice looking fixture or track lights or something but that would have required drilling new holes in the concrete ceiling which would have just been too much work. at least this light has some aesthetic design to it and some satin nickel elements that help it to match with everything else. anyhow, all of the projects kept it from being a very restful weekend and my body thinks that's its queue to get all lousy feeling. it'll be lots of oranges and cranberry juice for me today.

week, end already

is anyone else as ready for the weekend as i am? i don't know if it's the fatigue or the headaches that have both been plaguing me all week but i am ready for a couple of days of rest. relatively speaking. since we'll be going out and having fun tonight and i have to stripe that bathroom to cross it off my list. is it four yet?

duuude

i really am not sure what the deal is but i have been exhausted all week again. it's very frustrating. last week we were actually able to lunch-gym a couple of days. this week i just can't bring myself to do anything more than fail at taking a nap. i've had a hard time getting up in the mornings again - hubby kicked me out of bed this morning when i thought i had another snooze but i was actually late for work. of course, that was after i was wide awake at 05:41 and tried to convince myself to get up and go to the gym instead of trying to go back to sleep. oh well. maybe next week will be better again. however, we did just see our first sea turtle. i'm actually a bit surprised that we haven't seen any before. seems like turtles would be pretty common around here. not sure why it seems that way but it does. anyhow, YAY for another creature sighting!

home work

i've actually been busier this week, off the phones, than i was on them. not complaining though because i will take busy over answering phones any day! i'm still having to make a good bit of customer contact but that will change over time as the people answering the phones learn the type of information to gather before escalating issues to me. i'm so excited to be phoneless. i swore i would never be on the phones. i BEGGED not to be on the phones. my job is once again tolerable. around the home, we did a bunch of shopping over the weekend. bought the futon mattress, ordered the sheets (remember that thing about nothing being easy in this place? the sheets i wanted that i have seen countless times in the store are no longer being carried in the store. we bought the one set they had, went to the other store to get another set and were denied. so i've returned the one we bought and ordered both sets online), and bought a storage box for the balcony which is very helpful. sunday, i painted the bathroom. it looks fabulous. i'm letting it dry a few days and this weekend i'll tape it up and add the stripe i want and it should be complete and ready to reassemble. we also bought some cabinet hardware which hubby has started installing. it's amazing how a little knob and drawer pull can make the plain, ugly, white cabinets look so much nicer.

job relief

HAPPY one day late BIRTHDAY, NEPHEW!!! and if that's not reason enough to celebrate, today is my first day of being off the phones again!!! yay for no phones!!!!

sea cow

my cousin will find this especially interesting in light of her facebook gift to me today... we just had our first manatee sighting! at first, she was just a very large dark figure in the water, not all sleek and angular like the shark i saw. i guessed it might be a manatee because i didn't know of anything else with such a... ahem... rotund body shape but it seems like a strange time of year/day to see a manatee swimming along the beach. hubby broke out the binoculars and i watched her until she came up for a breath - confirmed manatee sighting! i saw her cute little ugly face take a deep breath and then her body arched over the water until her rounded tail waved goodbye. how exciting. that's one i never even expected to see. unfortunately, even though hubby did bring my camera to me, there was just no way to get a good pic of her. it's really tough to focus through the moving water that far out. maybe she'll come around again and be more photogenic next time.

"Barbara Manatee! You are the one for me! Sent from up above, you are the one I love."

bug bites

the bunk room looks great. there's a minor paint correction i want to make. i say minor but since it involves painting back over the red on a small piece of wall, it won't be fun. my wonderful hubby found a great way to overcome the shoe-molding so the bed and other furnishing is in place now. we have both climbed up to the top bunk and it seems stable. this weekend we'll need to get sheets and a futon mattress. other than wall decor, the room will be done. woohooo! i need to get the guest bath painted this weekend too. the shame about that is that it is not spaced out long enough to have forgotten how not fun painting was the other night. in other news, i took some antihistamines last night and went to bed a little after 20:00. other than a bit of tossing and turning around midnight, i slept straight through this morning (and still would have liked several more snoozes before dragging my tired rear out of bed). while i did need the sleep, the antihistamines did not produce their desired results. see, last week i had a bite right below my left knee. it was a very different bite reaction (i won't detail it because it was gross but it was very painful instead of itchy, very hot to the touch, and the pain spread into my knee joints) than i've ever had so i figured it must have been a spider or something that i don't normally get bit by. at the same time, i was overcoming a multitude of mosquito bites on both legs and arms. there was one on my right leg that was remarkably swollen but i see that a lot with mosquito bites. anyhoo, the strange bite on my knee seemed to be healing after a few days so i had no further need for concern. well, after our paint marathon the other night, i noticed that i am biteful again. once again, i have a remarkably swollen mosquito bite on my right calf that is the full size of the calf but it has a really strange looking center. and once again, i have that really strange bite reaction on the side of my left knee. i don't remember getting bit by anything this week but i guess i must have. i've been slathering both sites with antihistamine cream and took two doses of oral antihistamine last night. the one on my right calf is still itchy as all getout, the one on my left knee is still painful and ugly. it is the ones around my knee that concern me. hubby wants me to go to the dr because he thinks it's some sort of infection in my knee causing these reactions, not bug bites. at two, i'm marking it up to coincidence but if i get another one, i'll be getting it checked out.

redrum!

what a night. on the bright side (and i do mean bright), we now have a red room (redrum?). the color is called rum runner - hee hee. i also like that hubby is the one who insisted on red so if he ends up not liking the way the room turns out, i'm not to blame. what i don't like is that red is an extremely crappy color to paint. i painted for 7.5 hours last night; and, folks, this is a tiny, tiny room. the only break i took was 19 minutes to cook and eat dinner. my feet, back, shoulder, neck, and hands were killing me by 00:30 when we finally were able to get a shower. we put three coats on and it probably could have used one or two more to get rid of some of the streakiness but we were out of paint and time and patience. we have very little paint left for touch-ups which makes me a bit uncomfortable since it is a kid's room and will get beat and banged up. such is life. i like the color a lot. i'm not sure if it's too overpowering in such a small room. i think that will be decided after everything is in there and decorated. there are two strange men back there as i type assembling the bed. the bed which we measured several times to verify that it was going to just barely fit but apparently we did not measure the shoe-molding so it does not fit. they are assembling it in the middle of the room and we'll have to figure out the best way to overcome the molding problem to get it in the right place. nothing in this new house has been easy. nothing.

lots of pink does not equal red

last night was supposed to be a productive paint night. furniture to be delivered in forty-eight hours. unfortunately, after a long shopping endeavor that ended in me fighting with the people who mixed the paint that it was not the color on the card and then telling me that it would look right after two or three coats and drying... we got home and immediately (yes, before even putting up the milk and eggs) painted five coats on a small strip of wall and it was PINK. i, for one, was livid. i knew that it was not the right color in the store but even hubby said it would be fine after a couple coats. i called the store to ask about returning it because i know that paint is not an easy thing to return. they said i would be able to but, unfortunately, it was too late last night to return or go somewhere else for paint. long story not-so-short, i'll be returning paint and buying new paint (from a better store) on my lunch break today. woohoo! and then we'll be painting all night to make sure the room is painted and dry-as-possible before the furniture is delivered tomorrow. whooohoooo!

thems not fishes floatin' out thar

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! to the one who denies me. we had a wonderfully relaxing long weekend at home. i cannot even tell you how nice it is to be back. sadly, it was also a very deadly weekend in our backyard. randal was out running last night when he ran up on the police pulling in the first guy mentioned. luckily, they already had him covered so my hubby did not have to see the body but he said it was a ghastly scene, just a ten minute walk down the beach. the second mentioned guy, found sunday, was an army paratrooper who went in to rescue another swimmer. that seems so tragic to me. here's a military kid in presumably great shape who did manage to save another man's life but lost his own in the process. i have not found anything that details how he managed to get the other guy to safety and still get himself pulled out to sea. we were out walking saturday night while the helicopters and boats were doing a grid search for them. very sad. one more reason i don't like to swim in the gulf/ocean. there's dead people out there. and we all know what happens to our bodies after death. yep, that's all out in that water. ick! i'll stick with my pool and hot tub, thankyouverymuch. anyhow, on the less gruesome side of things, we had a great weekend and got rested up. fortunately/unfortunately we did not get any painting done. we decided to wait for the bedding to come in so that we could really decide on color. since i was watching the tracking, i'm almost certain the bedding was there sunday since it was "in transit to store" from a town less than three hours away but i called the store sunday and yesterday and they insisted that the order number was not checked in. my guess is that it was there but they didn't bother to scan the shipment until this morning. so we'll be going to pick the bedding up this afternoon and buy paint. there will very likely be paint on the walls tonight but you can never tell these things for sure. although i would like for the walls to be dry when the furniture gets delivered and set up thursday. call me kooky like that. really, there was no excuse for me not masking and painting the bathroom over the weekend. it's emptied out and the paint is sitting there. i guess i just didn't want to ruin the quality time with my hubby who i have missed oh so much this past month.

headed home

yay, i get to see my hubby again today and he's taking me home! i've missed him so much this month. this week he's been at a conference at disney. it's been very sad for me to know that he's so close but not with me. i've gotten to do some extra visiting with my cousin, which has been very nice. and i finally got to see katie for the first time in the four weeks i've been here. but i'm ready for my hubby to take me home. it's really just time to go home. and i really hope he'll stay with me for a while.

almost home

i've got to say, as much as i enjoy visiting with friends and family and miss having people around to socialize with on a daily basis, i am so excited that we are going home tomorrow. i cannot wait to take a walk around my backyard! and sleep in my great, big, latex foam bed. it's going to be a wonderful three-day weekend.

disney and kids and us, oh my!

we decided to give my sissy and bro-n-law a day off so we asked my dad and his wife to get us and the chilluns into disney yesterday. we packed up the kids and left the house right before 10:00, met up with my dad, and were in the park by 11:00. we did the muppets at mgm (it will forever be mgm, i don't care what they say) with the grandparents and that was enough for them so we parted ways back at the park exit and we five headed over to animal kingdom, which has become my favorite park. we immediately headed over to expedition everest to get our fast passes and were pleased to discover that the girl child is tall enough to ride. we did the asian jungle trail, ate lunch, watched the bug show (which was some welcome a/c and misting effects on such a bloody hot day), and then went to ride everest. the kids had a blast on it. next was the african safari and a parade before we left to go back to mgm. at mgm, we got our fast passes to tower of terror. while waiting for our time, we watched about half of the beauty and the beast stage show. when it was time for terror, the younger nephew was disinclined to do any dropping so hubby took him for a nap on the great movie ride while i took the oldest and youngest to the tower. though the girl child squeezed my hand ferociously throughout the line and during the ride, she proclaimed afterward that it was not even scary. we grabbed five fast passes for rockin' rollercoaster before going to meet up with the other boys. we walked around a bit, did the backlot tour, and made our way back for our scheduled aerosmith limo ride. the was the first time for both younger children and they were both a bit dubious about wanting to ride something that went upside down. when it was all over, they both loved it. they didn't even notice the upside down loop. *sob* my chilluns is all grown up *sob*. we had a snack outside the coaster and decided on the animation class to kill time before the big fantasmic show. we were only able to do the first little movie before making our way to the show to ensure we got seats so we figured we'd go back and do the actual drawing class after the show. fantasmic was fun and we headed back to draw as planned when a cast member stopped us and told us to go try out the not-yet-opened toy story ride. we did as told and i am so glad because it was the perfect end to the day. it is like the buzz lightyear ride/game at mk but much more fun, imho. of course, it does help that i totally whooped the kids and randal. both times through (since it's not "open" yet, there was no line at all). the second time, i heard randal proudly proclaiming his score of 147,500 from his car, which was a significant increase over my first score (132,200) when i beat them all. however, he was not happy to hear that my score the second time around was 158,700. yep, i creamed them. i may have even gloated... just a smidgen, of course. throughout the day we took iphone pix of the kids in front of their various conquests and emailed them to the parents and gparents so that they knew could be jealous of what a fantastic time we were having. after toy story, we left the park and went in search of a quick, light dinner (yes, at 22:30 - the parents would kill us). we successfully made it home, ordered showers, allowed each child a two-minute visitation with the dog, and had them in bed by 23:30. it was a long, tiring day but worth it. i think the kids had a great time too. and they were absolutely wonderful the whole day, no attitude or sniping at each other. which i found impressive because as hot as it was, it could have been ugly; i can't be the only person who's temper increases with the temperature. in the meantime, my sissy didn't get home until after 01:00. they had a nice day sans les enfants. and they used the blue man tickets we got them for Christmas. naturally, today is going to be a very lazy day for all of us.

homesick

my most fabulous husband surprised me with a trip to the beach last night for our anniversary (apparently him coming home early wasn't enough). we dined, we walked, we reminisced, we enjoyed each other. it was very nice. although, while cocoa is "our beach", it made me more homesick. i can't wait to get back to my home with my stuff and my backyard. i miss my backyard tremendously. i'm looking forward to us having some good quality us time over the long weekend. of course, unfortunately, some of that "us" time is going to include paint brushes and rollers.

love my husband!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, HUSBAND!!!! he gave me the most fabulous gift, too. he called last night and said he was at the airport on his way home to me! that's a whole forty-eight hours sooner than i expected him!! i was so excited, i completely drove past the mall i was headed to and had to u-turn several miles later when i realized that i wasn't paying any attention to where i was going. when i asked if something was going wrong with work he said no, he just told the customer that he wanted to be with his wife on our anniversary. what a wondereful boy i've got! after getting this terrific news, i finished my shopping and headed over to my cousin's for friendly poker and guitar hero night. i then less-than-patiently waited around for my hubby to call requesting his airport pickup. he called just after midnight and he was in my arms by 00:30. it is so, so nice to have my hubby back. he snuggles so much better than a pillow.

aggravation, they name is IT

the only thing more aggravating than having to work is not being able to. yesterday was one of those days. on the bright side, i wasn't on the phones (have i mentioned how much i abhor the phones?!) because my phone software was playing dead all day. unfortunately, instead of enjoying the respite from the phones, i was stressed and frustrated all day trying to troubleshoot my computer and software. after working almost all night on it, i finally uninstalled and reinstalled just about every program i use for work and finally got my phones working again. whoo. hoo. clearly, no fun visiting last night. sunday was nice though. i went to church with my sissy's family to see the kids do their special mom's day celebration. i spent the afternoon with jenny and did end up ordering my dress. i was then invited to my cousin's for dinner and spent the night having quality time with her. a good, busy day to distract me from thoughts of extreme sadness. and tonight i'm getting together with jenny and some of her friends for a free dinner. yummy!

happy mother's day!

even if you don't want to be a mother anymore.

driving across greater orlando

mental note: do not plan to visit dad and brudder in the same day. i was already sleepy when i left my dad's this afternoon so the hour and fifteen minute drive across central florida to see my brother was a bad call. it was an exhausting day, although i did have great visits with both family members. last night i had dinner with an old friend i haven't seen in a couple years. funny thing about her is that we met playing softball for one season when we were nine years old, we never went to the same schools, and yet we're still friends all these years later. isn't that nice? tomorrow i'll be spending most of the day with jenny and hopefully purchase my moh dress.

no comforting me

why do i always put things off until it's too late? we finally found a comforter set for the bunk room that we can agree on and we both like very much. i gave it a few days to look back a few times and make sure that i still liked it. this morning, i went to buy it and they only have twin and king sizes now. aaargh! any chance that i'll look back in the next few days and the full size will be back again? yeh, i doubt it. stupid, stupid, stupid me. such is life, right? on a brighter note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENNY! i'm looking forward to celebrating with her and her friends/family tonight.

i am iron man

i miss my hubby so much already. i got up at 0400 to take him to the airport this morning. that was painful, especially after not being able to sleep much last night. i want him back and am very bummed that he's going to be gone for two weeks straight. the weekend was spent mostly spending all the time i could with him. my dad and his wife came over saturday for grilling and swimming but that was the only visiting that went on outside my sissy's family. yesterday we went to church with them and then made a day of shopping and movie. one of my bro-n-law's relatives told him that iron man would be good for the kids so we went to see that yesterday. the previews were bad enough but it was probably twenty minutes into the not-kid-friendly movie when they left the theatre. my hubby and i stayed to watch it while they exchanged their ticket for a more appropriate movie. it was a good movie... for adults. i am appalled that his relative thought it was one for the kids. he also checked a movie review website for kids (i don't recall which one) that made it sound like it wasn't bad. i really couldn't believe all of the little kids that were watching it with parents that didn't seem to care what they were being exposed to. my parents never restricted what we watched. i watched cujo when i was four, child's play when i was eight. i remember seeing s3xu@l situations in movies before i was in gradeschool. and i think it was all extremely inappropriate for me to have been exposed to so early. i remember twisting my teddy bear up and stabbing it with a pencil before bed every night to make sure that chucky was not in there. not a positive behavior for a kid. i'm not saying that iron man was that bad but it did have several moments that were not suitable for chilluns. /tangent. have i mentioned i miss my hubby?

moving in...

last night was another late night jam session on rock band. maybe one of these days we'll be good enough to play with the kids! so, of course, i'm dead tired again today. and it's just been a very tiring work day anyhow. we found out yesterday that my boy is actually going to be leaving me for two weeks instead of one and then he's got a conference at disney the week after that so, basically, that boils down to me being here for may. i feel a little like the baby in the basket on the doorstep. i really hope that my sissy and bro-n-law honestly don't mind and aren't just saying that. i know that it's one of those situations where, really, what else are you gonna say? you can't really say "no, go find a hotel." oh well. in any case, though i don't like being gone from my new home so long, i will get to do lots of visiting that i have been desperately missing. i should also be able to do plenty of weddinging with jenny, which i've felt bad about not being able to do. i already called and rescheduled our furniture delivery for the end of the month (making sure to give myself plenty of time to get home and get the room painted before it comes) and i need to call and reschedule our dental appointments. i guess going to the dentist with my hubby on our anniversary was a better plan than him being two thousand miles away on our anniversary. that'll teach me to sarcastically complain. so who wants to take me out for my anniversary?