Auntie Em!!

I need a pair of ruby slippers so I can click my heels 3 times and make this storm disappear!  Sandy is fast approaching and they are saying the worst of it will start in about 4 hours from now!  Right now the wind is howling and it is raining!

It doesn't look too bad yet!

I live in the direct path of the hurricane which is very scary as you really don't know what to expect no matter what the newscasters say.  Schools are cancelled today and tomorrow and work was closed today and will probably be tomorrow as well.  Joe left for work this morning and gets off work right when it is supposed to be really bad out!  Grande and Tall where home for the weekend and left last night and right as they were getting in the car they got the call that their University cancelled classes today.  They decided to go back anyhow since they thought if they stayed that they wouldn't be able to get back until after the storm!

See the eye of the hurricane at 2am?  That is exactly where I live!

They are calling for winds up to 50mph and wind gusts up to 80mph!  Yikes!  I'm just praying that everything will be okay!

Venti's sister-in-law got married on Saturday and it was a really get wedding! It was extra special because the bride was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma 2 years ago and has since received a bone marrow transplant and is now doing extremely well!

It was the first wedding that I have been to since Venti & Mocha's!  I found this plain black dress that I loved but it needed some bling added to it!

I found just what I needed at the fabric store!  A couple of buttons and some rhinestone rope which I sewed until my plain black dress was all blinged out!!

Then I decided to do my own hair and thought it turned out fabulous!

And here we are all ready to go!

I had to laugh at Joe in this picture!

Venti, Joe and I at the reception.

Don't you just love Venti's bow tie??  The reception was at an Antique Automobile Museum!  Very unique!

Thank goodness trick or treat in our neighborhood was last Thursday or it would probably be cancelled with the storm!

Short all ready to go!

Joe dressed up to scare the big kids!

I wanted to make sure my post was completed before we are supposed to lose power!  They say we could lose it up to a week!  I sure hope they are wrong!

Hope everyone has a great week and Happy Halloween!!  I hope everyone keeps safe during this storm!

October Happeneings!

As you know we put in an offer on another house and they accepted it!  Our house is now for sale and we haven't had one single showing yet!  Hmmm...I know the market is slow but not one showing in 2 weeks!  I guess we will sit and wait patiently (or impatiently)....we have to sell this one in order to buy the new one so someone else could still come in and buy the other one before we sell ours.  Let's just hope that doesn't happen!

It was a sad day here at our house on Wednesday.  Our beloved Brody had to be put to sleep.  He has been sick since Labor Day and nothing has been helping.  He was on his third medication and he seemed to be getting worse.  He was urinating all over the house, he could hardly walk and he just looked ill.  The vet said that was the best thing to do.  He was only 3!

RIP Brody!

I took some funny pictures (at least to me) while I was out running errands.

She clearly doesn't understand the concept of "drive-up ATM's!"

And this one:  "Why get it fixed when you have duct tape and trash bags!!"

I have a new co-worker!  This is Sara!  :)

And yes that is pretty much my view every time I turn around.....so I try not to turn around much!  lol

Joe and I had a ball the other night at the Halloween Store with the "babies!"

Grande and Tall are on their way home from college and Tall requested ham, greens and potatoes so I guess I better get cooking!!

I love this saying:

Happy Fall everyone!!

A New Beginning!!

Boy does it feel good to be back and in full swing!!  I have had so much going on and feel like I am finally able to dedicate time back to blogging which I have missed very much!  I miss you guys and catching up with everyone!!

You are going to start seeing a lot more of me so I hope you don't mind! I am going to post more like a Diary entry so that you get a lot more blogging and updating from me!

So now on to what's been going on!!

The last I blogged I had just started my new job and I hated it and wanted to go back to my old job but I was unsure if i should or not.  I really appreciated all your advice and most of you said to go back to my old job so after thinking long and hard about it, I decided that I would do just that!!  So I emailed my old boss and told her that I wanted to come back!  She was all excited and said she would get right back to me.  So not too long after that I got an email from her and she said that Human Resources would be calling me!!  Later that day HR called me and burst my bubble.....she said that I could not go back to my old job because someone else bid on it within that agency and so they would get it over me....sniff!!!!  I couldn't believe it!  I finally made peace with going back and now I find out that I can't!!  My old boss was just as devastated.  She emailed me 2 weeks ago to tell me that someone just retired and she was going to check to see if I could get that job but I haven't heard anything more.  So now it is almost 2 months at my new job and I am slooooowly starting to like it....and I mean slowly!  It has its advantages (especially the free parking) and some other things so maybe its meant to be that I couldn't go back.  I honestly don't know!!  I guess time will tell but for now I am sticking it out where I'm at and letting each day run its course!!

The boys are all doing good.  Venti and Mocha have been looking for a place to buy in Maryland but haven't found anything yet.  They put bids in 3 different houses but lost each one.  They are now looking into renting since they can't find anything and are really getting tired of the 2 hour commute each day!  I can't even imagine what that is like to drive in the car 4 hours each day!
Grande and Tall only have a little over a month left of college and then the fun begins when everyone is here!  Short got all A's on his report card and his team won their last tournament!!  So proud!!

I had also told you that we are thinking about building a new house and on Friday we put an offer in and we are supposed to hear back tomorrow so I'll let you know!  We have the lot reserved but haven't listed our house yet until we get the offer signed back!  We have been doing MAJOR decluttering and have gotten rid of tons of bags of trash and donated lots to charity.  It feels so good to walk into a room and there's hardly and stuff around.  It's amazing the things you don't need!

 

Joe works night shift (8:30pm-5am) and has been for about 3 years.  He used to work daylight but they did away with all the daylight jobs which is why he works night shift.  Well he is first on the list to go back to daylight when a job becomes available and he got a call on Tuesday to go back!!  He starts May 5th an will be working 6am-2:30pm.  We will finally have a normal life again!

For those of you that have asked to be added to the "Over 40" list, I will be updating that as well so that it will be current!!

That's the low down for now.  I'm sure you noticed my blog background changed...how do you like it? 


Ozzie...relaxing!

Where'd She Go?

I know you are all probably wondering where I went!!  Here I am!!  I am sorry to abandon you like that and I certainly didn't mean to!  I'm not quite sure why I wasn't blogging.....I think I felt a little overwhelmed with the blog hops and the fact that I had to have them done...when instead I would have liked to have just blogged about myself!  I'm not sure if that makes any sense.  I do love the hops and maybe I'll start them again but for right now, when I blog, its because I want to....not because I have to!

So what's been going on in my little world?  Well I did get that job that I told you about.  I started February 6th.  Can you not hear the enthusiasm in my voice?  That's because there isn't any.  As you know I work for the State and you can bid on varies jobs that are posted.  I bid on a job with the State Police because it offered free parking (I was paying $155 month!) and it wasn't downtown.  Well I left a job that I LOVED and went to a job that I HATE!  I am so sad every day that I am there.  Plus I sit...and sit...and sit...and I can't stand it.  My butt hurts by 11am!  I know you can find some humor in that but I am being serious!  I at least got up and down in my other job...but no..not this one.  Plus the people that I work with are very different then the people that I left.  Not very friendly or helpful.....no one blesses me when I sneeze....and the work that I do is very boring!  Sigh....so I should have left well enough alone...but I thought it was a good opportunity.  It is very hard to get in there and they had to do an extensive background check and everything.  My old boss emails me everyday begging me to come back!!  I want to but going back almost seems like I failed at my new job if I go back...but I was happy there!  I don't know what to do!!  What are some of your thoughts?

The boys are all doing good.  Venti got a promotion and him and Mocha will be moving to Maryland which is where he's been working but he's been commuting from here everyday and its a 2 hour drive!  Maryland is the next closest location that he could get besides his hometown and he was hoping to get it and he did.  Otherwise he would have had to move to either California, Florida or Wisconsin.  He has to stay there a couple of years and then he can work in the office here.  The Government is confusing!  But he is very happy and they are going to look at houses this weekend.  They have been living at her parents house so it will be great for them!  Mocha applied for a job down there and got it so they are all set!


Mocha and Venti

 Grande and Tall are doing well at college.  They come home every weekend so I can wash their clothes and buy them food....lol.....Short is doing well too.  He has one more basketball tournament on March 3rd and then he will be done for the year.


Short - #21

Some other news is that we may be buying a new house!  We just started looking and think we found one but we are still deciding.  We are taking the boys on Saturday to see what they think.  We have been in this house for 19 years and it will be very hard to go.  Plus we live next door to my parents and the same neighborhood as my sisters.  My parents are going to be very upset when they hear.  We want to downsize and Joe is tired of mowing and shoveling.  Our house is soon going to need all kinds of new things...roof...furnace...central air unit....so we are taking all that into consideration.  I'll let you know!!

Well that's a quick run down on me and I promise to blog way more often!  I love and appreciate you for sticking in there with me and waiting patiently for me to return!  I am still redesigning my blog and those changes will be here soon!

Hope everyone is doing well!  I love all your comments!!!

Hugs!!!


Grande, Tall, Short and Venti

How do you know?

.....that you are making the right decision? What do you base your decision making on? Yes...I'm having second thoughts...about the job. I was fine and happy about my decision until Joe was leaving for work last night and I was kissing him goodbye and I always tear up when he leaves because I miss him so much (you would think that after 30 years of being together that I would be kicking him out the door instead right?)..and Joe said, "we have to enjoy this week because you start your job next week and we won't see each other very much"....

That got me thinking. The job that I have now I have 100% flexibility...I work whenever I want. I am home ALOT...and I'm salaried so I don't even have to worry about how many hours I work. My boss lives 2 hours away and I hardly ever report in!

So what is there not to like?

I hate it.

I really hate the job.

So much that when my cell phone rings and I see its work related I get all tensed up.

So is it worth it for all the perks to put up with a job that you hate?

My new job will be working M-F 8:30am-5pm......ZERO flexibility + hourly wage.

But I think I will like the job.

I think.

Not sure...but I think.

So is it worth giving up all that just because you hate it?

The flexibility is the thing that bothers me the most.

I LOVE being home. I wish I could be a SAHM (stay at home mom) or even a WAHM (work at home mom)...but I can't...we need my paycheck.

I wish I could sell things on Etsy and make that my career!

I just don't know what to do. I don't want to regret leaving..but then if I pass up this opportunity I might regret that too.

So how do you know??

A Skunk!

That's what my house smells like right now! I woke up last night to the most awful smell ever! A Skunk!! I thought he was at the foot of my bed and had just let loose his skunky skunk! I swear I woke up and saw clouds of skunky smoke! I even had to sleep with the covers over my nose! He's out there somewhere really close...like maybe even under my back porch or something! When I came home from work tonight I had forgotten about it...that is until I opened the door and it smelled like there were 10 Beauticians giving perms in my kitchen! It smells that bad!

I had remembered a tip for when one of my sons burnt a bag of popcorn in the microwave and the horrible smell that it left. You take coffee grounds in a bowl...add water (make sure you use enough water that the grounds don't dry up), mircrowave the grounds for 2 minutes (longer if necessary). I tried that and it did work...at least I think so! You know how when you smell something bad you can still smell it later?? Well I still think I smell it! If you have any tips to get rid of it, please let me know!!

Venti is coming home for the weekend, so that means cook..cook and more cooking! Little does he know that Joe took Saturday off and we are going out for dinner! Woohoo! Joe is switching to night shift starting next week. He was on night shift back in September and then switched to 1pm-9:30pm and he feels like he is missing out on the whole day and with Summer coming he doesn't want to work that shift...so back to night shift it is. That means keeping the boys quite all morning while he sleeps...not an easy task!

Tall turn 17 on Saturday! I can't believe it! He doesn't even have his drivers license yet! He got his permit last March and didn't even get to drive when he fell playing basketball and broke his wrist.






Ozzie cuddling up to Tall:


He had to have surgery and now has pins in his wrist. He was in a cast until July and then physical therapy after that. He drove twice in September and then the weather got bad and he hasn't driven since! We told him to let us know when he wants to drive. He obviously isn't ready to or he would ask! He was very nervous the 2 times he went so its probably better that he waits until he really wants to drive...plus we already have 4 of us on our car insurance which is practically as much as our mortgage! :)

Short is having a sleepover tonight..just one boy but it sounds like 15 of them downstairs...I am not a fan of sleepovers!

And why isn't Survivor on?? Who likes basketball anyway? :)

My hair.....

We just joined a fitness club on Sunday. They were having a one month special for a family for $40! What a great deal huh? Plus the main reason we wanted to join there was because they have a large pool with a curvy slide AND a lap pool. As you know, Short has a bit of a weight issue and he loves to swim so what better exercise in the middle of winter then swimming! Plus I thought we could all use some exercise...including me!!!



Well yesterday myself, Joe, Grande & Short decided to go after dinner for an hour to try it out.....when we got there they were having water aerobics in 2 of the 6 lane lap pool. I decided to grab the first lane as it was empty. Up and down I went...doggy paddle...leg lifts...but never going under. I wouldn't want to get my hair wet now would I? After all its not like I'm in the pool or anything!! Well we had a great time...Short loved the slide...Grande did several laps in my lane and said that he feels out of shape! He is 19 and feels out of shape?? I didn't feel so bad when I got home and realized that every muscle in my body hurt!

So then comes tonight. Joe and Tall were working and Grande didn't want to go. So Short and I get in the car and head over. When we got there the water aerobics was being held in the leisure pool so the entire lap pool was free except for 1 or 2 lanes.


I decided to get into lane 3 because it was open. I got in from the side. Little did I know that the dividers between the lanes were super heavy which meant that you had to go UNDER water to get to the next lane...and then the next...and then to the ladder. The sides are way too tall to lift yourself out...so I realized that I was stuck in there....in the middle of the lap pool! Not wanting to get my hair wet! I'm such a girlie girl! When I go swimming I don't go under! So there I was...doing my laps and the whole time wondering how I was going to get out of there. Short was busy on the slide the whole time and finally came over to me after an hour. I said, "can you lift the rope enough for me to go under without getting my hair wet?"....well poor Short lifted with all his might and the rope only lifted about 2 inches!! OMG...I'm stuck here in the pool! Glancing over at the clock and noticing that it was inching towards the time when we had to leave to pick up Tall! I contemplate this and boy did I contemplate....I know you are thinking whats the big deal...just go under and get out...but I can't!!! Well time got the best of me and I knew we had to leave...I said to Short, "lift up as high as you can and I'll go under"....one...two...three....and he lifts...and I go under....and I come up...and I'm all wet except the very top of my head!! Now realizing that I have 2 more lane to go under! Ugh! Standing in the 2nd lane a Michael Phelps wanna be is barreling down the lane at us...I didn't have alot of time to think about it and so Short lifts again...and under I go...well by the time I got to the ladder I looked like a drowned rat! Stop laughing! I know your getting a visual!! That was traumatizing! lol...I was so worried about my hair that I didn't realize how much I worked my body! Oh the pain! lol..

So here is my hair after it dried on the way home...time to hit the shower!!

Magical Fairy

Venti came home today for the weekend. He was just home last weekend and brought 2 of his roommates! Boy was that interesting! My house is always full of boys, but boy oh boy..add 2 more to the mix! I sure hope that doesn't happen too often!

Venti is home again this weekend mostly because of Latte. I asked him last night about the wedding and he said that Mocha's Dad told them that he is probably giving Latte the money needed to harvest her eggs....the same money that was to be giving to Venti & Mocha for the Wedding. Venti say that they are most likely going to post-phone the wedding date. They will know more in the next couple of weeks.

I just feel so badly for Latte. I am hoping and praying that she can beat this! She is such a nice girl and has her whole life ahead of her.

Other happenings in our household are that Joe is feeling much better and isn't depressed any more! I am still trying to figure out what I want to do in life! I do not like the career that I am in now and feel like I am just wasting my life away..they years go by so quickly and I don't ever want to look back and regret that I didn't do something! I wish a magical fairy would help guide me to doing something that I love....I just wish I knew what that was!