Christmas Spirit

It is almost here and I can hardly wait! Our plans involve no major modes of transportation this year and I am thrilled about it.

Tomorrow I will work a half of day (I had only enough vacation for the 25th through the 5th of January and my sister will be here all that time) and then M and I are off to Crisis Assistance Ministry for an afternoon of volunteering. This is the first Christmas eve we have done this sort of thing, but I would like to make it a tradition. I am excited to bring the cookies I made on Sunday night too (minus the ones that I messed up). I figure I surely do not need cookies and others may not have the luxury of baking them at home this season. Anyway, that is our Christmas Eve Day and then Christmas Eve night we will go to Midnight Mass with M's family. Our church had their Christmas service on Sunday that will also be on Christmas Eve, so we will not be going to our usual Church.
Christmas morning M and I will exchange gifts and then head to his parents to meet up with my mom and his sister. We will spend the afternoon there and Christmas Night M and I are going to see Marley and Me. I can't wait to see this movie. I read the book a few years ago and LOVED it. I hope the movie does not disappoint.

Merry Christmas to all!

still here

I have not had photos, so have in turn not blogged. Sorry to all of those out there who check in on me and have come to "expect" updates. In one word we are: Well. We have nothing to complain about and everything to be thankful for. We are healthy and are blessed with having our family come to us this season.

I have one more week of work before a week of vacation. I can hardly wait. Since I don't have any new photos I am going to post a few older ones just for the sake of it. For no particular reason:

Everyone loves a rainbow and this photo does not do this one any justice. It was over the summer and a hot hot day- we had some quick rain and then this beautiful image appeared in the sky.

Who am I kidding- we do have BIG news. My sister is moving 5 miles away from me early next year into this beautiful home! EXCITED does not even begin to describe it.
This beautiful family will soon be close by - right where they belong.
And Romeo too! Of course my favorite nephew.
This is an Army vs. Eastern Michigan game photo from October. Army won!!!!

Enough randomness for one day. I will get some photos of our Christmas decorations and post those soon-- and of Mark's surprise birthday party!

Great thanksgiving

Could this years Thanksgiving have been the best ever? Absolutely! And there is one little reason why:

One word: LOVE!!!!

Do they get any cuter than this?

Hey all you Vets!

Check out this free offer in honor of your service!

Applebee's salute to the Military this Veterans Day

Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar restaurants invite all active duty and veterans to one of 164 participating restaurants nationwide to pull up a chair for a delicious meal and heartfelt thanks this Veterans Day. With gratitude for their service and sacrifice, active duty and veterans will eat free at participating locations on Veterans Day (November 11, 2008) during regular business hours.

Veterans and active duty with proof of United States military service will be able to go to one of the participating Applebee's and select one complimentary entrée from a selection of delicious favorites: a savory House Sirloin, hearty Riblet Basket, zesty Fiesta Lime Chicken®, a juicy Quesadilla Burger or fresh Oriental Chicken Salad. All the traditional sides are included.

"It's an honor to host an event that helps the neighborhood come together and say thanks to our veterans and active servicemen and women," said Mike Archer, President, Applebee's Services, Inc..

Proof of military service includes:
* U.S. Uniform Services Identification Card
* U.S. Uniform Services Retired Identification Card
* DD214
* LES
* Citation or Commendation
* Photograph in uniform
* Veterans Organization Card

So relieved... and tagged?

I am so relieved my week of training is over and I passed my test!
I am so relieved that the election is over and I don't have to hear anymore political ads on the radio and TV!

Aside from the above note not a whole lot is new with the exception of having been "tagged." I'll admit it took me a little while to figure out what that meant, but it appears I am to list 7 things that you may not know about me. Hmmmm.

1. I am registered as an independent and strongly believe that I am for the right person not the right party.
2. I am about to become Six Sigma Green Belt Certified! (Hence the training)
3. I remind myself daily that I am a Christian first. When people act inappropriate or anger me in the office my technique before reacting is to remind myself to act Christian like regardless of how the other person is acting. I find this very helpful and comforting and I am able to be kinder to people who don't necessarily deserve it, but the kindness is often returned with something positive and then I can feel good that I am leading by example.
4. I have always wanted to be a nurse and wonder why in college I did not go that route. I have still not ruled out the possibility of going to nursing school one day.
5. I can't stand clutter. I become slightly OCD around lots of "stuff." I can deal with messy or dirty, but clutter gets me!
6. My sister and I shared a room for our entire childhood.
7. I find this task much more difficult than I expected. I am relatively private.

How about seven things you probably know about me?
1. I love dogs
2. I like to decorate and sew
3. my sister is my best friend (next to Mark)
4. I cut off all of my hair to donate to locks of love
5. I love the beach! and dream of a beach house someday.
6. Sam and Bailey are our kids
7. I am from Massachusetts originally

Details

Our trip to the Bahamas was very relaxing and the beaches were absolutely gorgeous, BUT the hotel / TimeShare that we stayed at was a dive! We did not let it affect our trip and most days we enjoyed relaxing at the on-site beach. We did snorkel one day at a beautiful cove and it was incredible. I forgot how much I love to snorkel- but also forgot the MW does not so much love it. He was a good sport though.
Back to the hotel- the rooms were decent size and relatively clean- the dilemma we faced was that the furniture / appliances were old. Our shower actually screamed like an airplane taking off when we used it. It made for quick showers since the noise was barely tolerable. I overlooked it and continued enjoying my vacation until one day I was in the shower and water stopped coming out of the faucet! Soap in hair I began to pitch a fit. Our sinks were dry and the shower was too. So, this went on for TWO days before we were moved to a new room (our last night). Well our new room's shower did not scream at all and I had wished I pitched a fit days earlier. I just did not want to have to get worked up while on vacation.
All in all it was a great trip- and now we laugh about not having running water- and to top it off- the day the water ran out MW had been at Happy Hour and thought it was very funny we had no water- then he preceded to shower at the beach shower (shorts on) with shampoo and all. Meanwhile I made a point of speaking very loudly to hotel workers about not having ANY water in my room so other guests could hear.
The island itself has very little to see, but the beaches are great. It is not a place I would visit twice, but it was nice to get away!

Finally photos

West Point Trip:

Group photo on campus
Bus ride to the game

At the game- Army WON!!!!

Anne's wedding:

I have this photo from 6 years ago for my wedding, 1 year ago for Alicia's and now for Annes! I love it. I don't have them electronically or I would post all for comparison.

Bahamas:

Are only photo of us! How pathetic.

No words to express it...

While we are all overwhelmed with love and joy....

Little Romeo is going through an adjustment phase.

She is here!

I have some catching up to do from all of our recent travels, but first and foremost, Gabriella Grace has arrived!

I missed her arrival during my recent travels by a mere 4 days, so I am anxious to meet my newest little family member. She was born October 16th and is a healthy GOOD baby. She likes to sleep which pleases her mommy and daddy very much. Without further ado I present my niece:

Already Daddy's little girl.
These photos were taken when she was just hours old. She is now rounding out her first week and I am anxious to see more pictures. You can be certain that in the coming weeks there will be many photos of her!

Vacation is almost here!

I have not been in the blogging mood for sometime now. I still have photos on my camera from a wedding I went to a month ago and have not downloaded. Terrible.
Anyway, we are more than busy here- but we are getting ready to take a nice long break! We are going to MW's reunion this weekend and a football game. I will be sure to get photos there-

We are also visiting my sister- who is due Sunday! I will see her Thursday and Sunday- and hopefully, the little one will make her appearance sometime before Sunday.

Finally, we are going to the Bahamas! I can not wait to get away and just relax.

Work has been wearing me out to say the least, so this vacation is much needed.

Finally, a quick update on my grandfather- He is currently in the hospital and is fighting an infection. They admitted him last Thursday and he is not sure when he will be released. His next chemo treatment was supposed to be this Thursday, but now is uncertain. Please pray for him.

I probably will not blog until after I return - in two weeks!

Negative emotions

I may be the most negative person this Monday morning. I know I have not taken to the blog lately, but I have been incredibly busy.

Today is one of those days where I know I am in a "funk" and just can't shake it. Many of you know MW and I move to Charlotte a year and a half ago when Wachovia relocated us here. We love Charlotte and hope to stay a very long time. With all that is spiraling out of control in the US Economy I am starting to just feel crippled. The office does me no favors since I work at a Bank! With Wachovia being sold to Citi it is bound to significantly impact my city and the landscape in which we live. With last week's purchase of Merrill Lynch my company now has a significant amount of real estate in NY and NJ- mind you this is where we moved from. Does anyone see where this is heading- I don't want to move again and although I probably will not have to I fear for my little city, my neighbors and the community as a whole. My neighbor has worked for Wachovia for 33 years. I am sure his day is a lot harder than mine.
Of course while all of this is happening we have zero gasoline in this city and as with the rest of the country everything has gotten SO expensive! I just feel as though we are spiraling out of control- and I am much safer in my own little world somewhere where I do not have to deal with this- unfortunately, none of us our exempt and we are all trying to see this through to the other side. I know that MW and I are much better off than most during this trying time for our country, but I want to put it out there that the fear is in me and I sweat over this every day....I pray for all of my friends and family and that we will all come out of this as better stronger human beings.

Off Again

I am heading on a last minute trip to the fine state of Delaware. Work has been nuts, so the posting has gone to the wayside.

As a quick update- the 1/2 marathon is in Charlotte and anyone who is interested in joining can stay at my house for the weekend. We have plenty of spare space!!!!

More updates soon.

Running

Maybe if I blog about running it will make my commitment that much more real. I have signed up for a half marathon on December 13th. I know I mentioned it before and then the crazy summer heat set in and I hid from the outdoors. I set September 1st as my benchmark of when I had to get my act together.
So, sure enough September 1st I set out for an easy, but hilly 3 mile run. It was still HOT out, but the breeze made the 88 degrees more bearable (I don't know how so many people do it- running in the extreme heat).
Tuesday I spent some time looking at various training plans and then yesterday I absolutely forced myself out the door. I DID NOT want to run- it was 6:30 when we got home and I was starving- running did not sound too exciting. It must have been the mentality because the entire run was painful. It was hotter than Monday and there were people BBQ'ing along the entire run. I probably ran just shy of three miles, but the run was just not a good one. I had cramping and muscle pain. Either way, I did it and accomplished my goal: Run 2 work nights a week- the next goal: Begin longer weekend runs on Saturday or Sunday.
I read blogs like Fresh Toth and am so inspired and I only hope that I can be that strong. I remind myself of my competing priorities and am going to try and make running more of one. MW is not overly supportive of this initiative because he wants me to get a road bike to ride with him (ever since his knee surgery in January running is not comfortable). I am all for biking, just not spending the money on a road bike. I also really want to accomplish this goal. I do not desire a full marathon, but a 1/2 is something I have been wanting to do for years. December is the perfect time for me to run it since I am not a great warm weather runner.

I will keep everyone posted on my progress as I begin to dive into training. If anyone has any plans or advice I welcome it. I did find some great info online, but there is nothing like advice from a friend.

Next post will be photos from last weekend's wedding in Hartford. Anne was the most beautiful bride!

Update

My grandfather successfully completed round one of therapy. And in true fashion to his personality he says, "I feel fine." So, we are all praying that he continues to "feel fine." He felt so well, that he received the full dose of chemo. He had half of dose the first day and the second half before he left the hospital. His next treatment will be in three weeks and he will continue treatments for three months. The next dose is supposed to be a bit stronger or different and that is when they caution extreme fatigue, but for now my grandfather is proving to us how strong he really is.

As a side note, his doctor told him she is a bit concerned for him because the oldest patient she has ever treated was 86. He is 89. Imagine being the oldest patient a doctor has ever treated? It is almost an honor if it wasn't for such a lousy illness. He is blessed to have lived to 89 and to be strong enough to fight this cancer.

Prayer Request

I wasn't sure I was going to share this on the blog, but then I considered the power or prayer and all of my amazing family and friends.



My grandfather is having her first treatment of Chemotherapy today at 89 years old. He was diagnosed about three weeks ago with lymphoma. At this time it is confined to his throat area, but it is an aggressive form of cancer that is growing. He is adamant that he can do this and he would like to take a full dose of chemotherapy as any other healthy person would, but his doctors are having him try a half of dose today to see how he does. He is also going to spend the night at the hospital tonight for observation. His loving wife of over 65 years will be by his side.

The Rains Came

We received so much rain over that 48 hours. It is incredible. Just a week ago the news was reporting will we or won't we get rain from Hurricane Fay? It was thought it could go either way and at most we would get a couple of inches of much needed rain. Now, 48 hours after Fay initially travelled over Charlotte, we have a good 10 plus inches of rain in our soil. We are one of the lucky ones, who aside from some giant puddles and some mushy grass do not have severe flooding. Many local areas went from being in extreme drought one day to a flood the next. The concept is still amazing to me. I don't think I have ever heard it rain as hard as it did two nights ago. That coupled with extreme thunder and lightning made it impossible to know if the much threatened tornadoes were coming. Fortunately, for this area no tornadoes appeared, but north a couple of hours was not so lucky. The weather has been volatile, but the rain in my yard is still much appreciated.

This weekend we are travelling north and going to a dear friend's wedding. I can hardly wait to see "the girls" from college. I will be sure to take and post photos.

Beautiful San Diego

Breathtaking...

The happy couple at the end of the night.

The nuptials were supposed to take place at 6:30- but at nearly 8pm the sun had mostly set. It was still a beautiful wedding.

This may be the prettiest little girl I have ever seen.

Temecula county vineyards.

Stay tuned there will be more updates soon.

Back from San Diego

More photos are sure to follow, but this one was just sent to me. It has been a long time since a photo of M and I appeared on this blog. In case you forget what we look like- here we are! : - )

Finally a photo or two.

After more than two weeks I finally got a few photos from my sisters shower.

Not sure why this one came with the bunch, but here is her first child- Romeo. Romeo is going to have to get used to a little sister very soon.

Tomorrow night we are off to San Diego- and I will not forget my camera this time!

Funny Story

So, I got a call from my sister today who said she had a funny story for me. Usually, I find them funny, but not laugh out loud funny! This one was different. See for yourself. It goes something like this:

"So, you know my cleaning lady who I love, right? Well she hadn't cleaned my house for a while and she came back today with her young daughter. They were cleaning and kept looking at the photos in my house and speaking in Spanish. I couldn't quite understand what they were saying, and finally my cleaning lady asked me if the man in the photos with me was my husband. I said yes and then they discussed a while longer. Finally, her daughter said my mom is afraid to ask you this, but is your husband a twin? I said yes. Then the girl told her mother (in Spanish) and she said, 'thank God. He looks just like another person's husband whose house I clean for and I thought he may have two wives. The cleaning lady went on to say that she told her husband about it and he told her not to say anything, but it was really bothering me."

How sweet she was concerned for my sister and the other lady.

And there you have it. Something we could never understand not being a twin. I guess being an identical twin this sort of thing happens a lot, but this is all new to my sister since she has only been engaged to a twin for a short while.

I hope you enjoyed the story as much as me.

why so long?

Besides being swamped at work, I am embarrassed to admit that I travelled north for my sister's baby shower and engagement party and forgot my camera! I am at the mercy of friends and family to send photos and a week and a half later I have none! I am still so upset over this!!!!

We are getting ready to travel to San Diego next week for a quick three day trip. M's cousin is getting married. I think while we are there we will check out the San Diego zoo.

Then we have plans to continue the party train and head to Hartford for another wedding labor day and finally a last stop in NY in October for a college reunion. Someone in my household (not me) is having a TEN YEAR reunion. Crazy. After all of the traveling we will probably take a vacation to rest from all of our "vacations." I am currently exploring the option of the Bahamas. A beach and a drink with an umbrella in it sounds just about right.

Once I get photos from the party in NJ I will post.

priceless!!!!

I couldn't resist posting this. This was forwarded to me and I loved it!

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard; I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of. He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head; he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep. An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks. Curious I pinned a note to his collar: 'I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.' The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar: 'He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?'

Puppy update

So, to make a long story short Bailey is doing better- with medication. After longer observation it became evident that Bailey could not comfortably lay down- hence the pacing and he was in pain- the panting. We began giving him pain medication on Friday night and he has been much better ever since. He is on a ten day supply of dog ibuprofen. We have our fingers crossed that he pulled a muscle or did something minor that will heal while he is resting on medication. Unfortunately, we have no idea what happened to cause this and hope there is a reason and not just that his hip displaysia or spinal chord injury is acting up. The thought of him being in pain and needing medicine indefinitely is not a good one- so we are praying he gets back to his usual - mostly healthy - self soon.

Sick pup

Our little problem child seems to have received another dose of bad luck. He is at the Vet right now waiting to be seen. There is a slight bit of humor in the story- I called this morning a different pet smart vet that we had not yet been to. It recently opened and many of the same people who worked at our primary vet moved to the new one. I decided to move to this new one since it is closer to the house- Anyway, I called and asked to drop Bailey off and they said we couldn't because we had not been seen there before- OK. Well, when I got there they immediately recognized me and Bailey and said it was ok to drop him off! Not good they recognize us, but good I could drop him off and head into the office. Not sure if this is humorous or sad, but I did get a slight laugh thinking about how well all of the local vets know us : (

Anyway, back to the problem- our boy had shots on Tuesday morning- many shots. We do this every year, so I thought nothing of it- until Wednesday night when he started pacing and panting and acting very odd- best description "beside himself." He kept us up in the night and then in the morning he seemed somewhat better. We went to work- and then last night we got home and had a repeat, only it seemed to be getting worse. I tried to give him water and food, but he would not eat. He is out of his head- it is so sad and strange all at the same time. So, this morning he was dropped off for a check up and now I am concerned that the panting and pacing is coupled with no food or water for I don't know how long- we feed the dogs together and we don't monitor too closely. Last night is when I realized the eating problem.

To top it all off he has not responded to what we call "the magic treat machine" aka the ice-maker. He loves ice cubes and if you go to the ice machine he is instantly standing there looking up at you waiting for a treat- no interest! That is how we know he is sick

Being the stressed mom that I am I decided to post about this- I will update when I know what is ailing him...keep him in your puppy prayers.

Coming soon...

My sister would probably kill me if she knew I posted these, but since she does not read my blog I think I am safe! Isn't she the cutest pregnant woman you have ever seen? !!! I can't wait to spoil this little girl!

Don't mind my chubby face (not sure what happened in that shot), but here is a photo from our visit with Jill in Nashville on Thursday evening. You can also note the short, but not too short hair.

photos

The other night we had the most unique experience- We were driving in the sunshine while the rain poured down on the car. It was difficult to see since it was close to sunset, but the glare was amazing. The result was this rainbow. I can not tell you what this plant is, but it has some of the most unique flowers that I have ever seen. It looks to me somewhat like a parrot.

So, I said a while ago I would post some photos...this is what we do- we garden, clean, work, and exercise...so there are not always the most exciting photos, but we do take pride in our hard work. I purchased two urns this past spring to fill with flowers and place outside the front door.

These are the fruits of our labor : ) Blackberries! And we have many of them right now.

Our lovely home office....

Quick question: Do I bring back the short do? I will get a photo of the current cut up, but have been contemplating reverting back to the shorter hair style. Thoughts? I am not sure this is the cut / photo to best represent the shorter hair, but am curious for those of you who know me with such long hair what your thoughts are.

Not a pity party

The previous post was not intended for anyone to say how great my blog is- that would be a lie- just me voicing my frustrations with the lack of interesting posts!

I do have photos and when I get to TN that will be one of my first orders of business - post photos!

I am getting excited to get away. No house cleaning, no errands to run, still a bit of work, but peace and quiet! Thank God for the Mountains - and the Mountain House! I am looking forward to visiting my piano- Did I ever share that story?

My great grandmother bought a 1936 Baby Grand Piano back around 1936 and it was then given to my grandparents- and on to my dad. A few years ago in casual conversation my dad told me he was having trouble "getting rid of it." To my complete shock he had already offered it to local churches etc., but due to the size and need for tuning etc. nobody wanted it. EXCEPT ME! Who he never really asked- I announced I would take it. Except I lived in a tiny condo in Jersey???? So, I shipped the piano to J's house in TN- and there it rests until our children (yet to be conceived) are old enough to take lessons on it. At that point I will ship it to our house and have it tuned and refinished- I truly LOVE this piano and can't believe my dad was going to just rid of it without telling me or my sister! Crazy.....so when I go to TN I usually polish it- and it drinks the polish in and then I go on my merry way- I have no idea how to play the piano, but it is a beautiful piece. I will add a photo of that to my list to post.

Traveling in less than 3 hours!

What to do.

I have considered posting multiple times over the past few weeks and decided not to since I did not have any photos to post. I did take some shots of "what we have been up to," but to be perfectly honest it is somewhat boring.
Most of my fellow bloggers have children to update photos of and their happenings- but truly how many photos can you take of me, MW and the dogs? It is pretty lame. So, I ask you, what do I post photos of? Do I continue to blog, or abandon it all together? I would hate to let the blog go, but I sometimes feel like I am just boring the population. With that said, I will post my not so exciting pictures later and let you re-evaluate. I do find this a great means for staying connected with others, but am curious if this blog is a boring as I fear it is.

In the mean time we have been getting fit- running, swimming, enjoying the community pool- A little bit of golf here and there, some yard work, and regular work. That is what our days consist of. MW got a new road bike over the weekend, so he is enjoying that- looks like he will be riding in a few upcoming races.

We are heading to TN tomorrow for a getaway. I can hardly wait.

Latta Triatholon

The first event: THE SWIM It is difficult to see the course, but it was out to the last barrel- which I don't think I can even see knowing where it was. AKA 750 meters. This photo was taken around 6am. This is the bike setup- I have a few other shots of this, but loved the way the bikes looked all lined up. It was an art how people set up there things for the transitions.

Here is MW and George getting ready to swim. The water was reportedly too warm to be refreshing. MW completed the swim in about 17 minutes. When he came out of the water we had a plan that I would try and take a photo and Julie would hand him his glasses. Of course, after swimming that far he was disoriented to the plan and looked at me with this sense of desperation for his glasses- this is the shot.-

I missed the photo of him coming in off the bike - but here he is getting started on his run. I guess the run was rocky and windy- so not too easy. Especially after a 750 meter swim and an 18 mile bike ride...

Here is the place everyone is trying to get too!

And here he is reaching the finish line- 1 hour and 41 minutes later. His goal was 1 hour 45 minutes, so he made it!

Here are the proud wives with the sweaty husbands!!!!I was careful to not touch MW (so mean I know).

I am so proud of M. I may have to try one of these sometime....