Since some of you were dying to see this

Here is the pic of my daughter Kim feeding me baby food.



She was really shoveling it in.

I am so looking forward to this weekend. My sister and my mom and I are heading up to Pittsburgh for the Steeler game!!! I can't wait. We are driving up Saturday and having dinner with hubby's family, then the game is on Sunday then we will drive back home on Monday. Seems a lot for two days, but it's well worth it.

Karen- I am breaking out my terrible towel girl!!!

I will post some pics later.

We are taking a girl at my work out tomorrow night for her bachelorette party. She thinks we are only going out to dinner, but we are taking her to the local comedy club as well as maybe to a dance club after that. I can't stay up too late since I have to leave early the next day for Pittsburgh, but I am sure I will have a great time.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Finally some pics from the winery

that we visited for hubby's bday.



Entrance into Shelton Winery



The main building that houses the gift shop and where you start your tour




An antique way of making wine



Shelton's insignia. The two owners (brothers) have 5 children between them and the insignia is made up of 5 S's.



This is from the Ragapple Lassie Winery. It's another much smaller scaled operation, so we got a private, personal tour from the owner's wife. These containers were very cold to the touch.



This a authentic Bavarian styled Bakery on the way back to the Bed and Breakfast that was recommended to us. Very good stuff in here!!

I will post some of Mt Airy (AKA Mayberry next)

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Opening Day for ball is this weekend

I can't believe it's almost here. It feels like we just finished spring ball. We had a scrimage game the other day and won. YEAH!! The girls are doing a great job of coming together as a team and they are having fun as well. I had them doing some fun drills the other day that left them laughing. It's always fun to see them enjoying themselves and learning something in the mean time.

My awful summer cold is winding down. I can breathe out of my nose again thank goodness. The weekend of activities went great. The baby shower was fun. Kim and I won a game where she had to feed me baby food. I may post a pic of that later. Not very flattering, but funny. The wedding was nice. It took place on the rooftop of a building downtown. Very pretty. My mother in laws surprise party went great. Tons of fun and good food were had by all, and we did manage to surprise her. Not an easy thing to do.

The new fall season is almost upon us for tv shows. I am getting tired of watching reruns. I am bummed about having to wait til January to watch Lost again. By then, I have forgotten most of what happened last season.

Well, I better get back to work. Have a great week everyone!

Busy weekend ahead

This weekend is going to be very busy from the time I get off work today until Sunday night. As soon as I get off work I am meeting up with hubby's mom and sister so we can shop for a baby shower for tomorrow and I have to pick up a wedding gift as well. Then we are meeting up with the rest of hubby's family to go out to eat. Tomorrow morning we have softball practice at 10:30, a baby shower at 2, then a wedding to go to at 5. Sunday is more softball practice and a surprise 80th birthday party for my mother in law. Geesh!!! Do I over extend myself much??!! I thought the weekend was supposed to be for relaxing after a long week at work. Apparently not this weekend. Most of my weekends are crazy. I would like to say it's my kids who do it to me, but it's me. That is usually the only time I can get anything done.

Oh well, I guess I should look on the bright side. I won't be doing any cooking this weekend. Score!!

Have a great weekend everyone and be safe.

Personality test

My niece sent me this link in an email and I took the test. Normally, I disregard these things, but this one was dead on to my answers. It was kind of cool. I don't buy into the whole send this to so many people and you will get your wish crap, but try it for fun.

Personality Quiz

Hope everyone is enjoying their week so far.

We had our first softball practice yesterday

and the head coach didn't show up. First let me preface this by saying that I got a call from one of the players dads whom I coached last season and he asked when our first practice was because no one had called him yet. Now Tracey, the head coach, got our practice schedule last Monday, so he had all that time to call people and tell them about yesterday. I didn't have any of the girls numbers except 3, and I only had those because they were on my team in the spring, so I couldn't call anyone about yesterday's practice. I had tried to call Tracey on his home and cell phone with no avail. I called the commissioner and luckily he had them, so I began calling at 12:30 yesterday for a 3:00 practice. Not the ideal thing to do. I did manage to get 8 out of the 11 girls to show up, thankfully. Tracey called me at 2:00 and said he wasn't going to call a practice since it was Labor Day weekend. Opening Day is in mid October and he wants to procrastinate on getting these girls ready to play as a team. Thankfully one of the dad's helped me out. I was just glad that I had ran many a practices before yesterday, or I would have been lost.

I think overall we have a good team this season, a great group of girls. We have another one today at 2. Hopefully Tracey shows up for this one. I took on assistant coach so I would have less stress. It's not working out that way so far.

**UPDATE** He actually showed up and we had a great practice. YEAH!

A quiz I got from Tracey's blog

"FIRST REACTIONS QUIZ".

You have to type the 1ST thing that comes to mind whenever you hear these 40 words. You can't think and go back and change your answers. Here we go:

1. Beer: tastes great with pizza
2. Anorexic: low self esteem
3. Super Hero: Spiderman
4. Your Last Ex: too long ago to care
5. Power Rangers: can't believe they are still around
6. Plastic Surgery: no thanks
7. Steroids: pathetic
8. Cartoons: are not just for kids
9. The President: is it 2008 yet?!!
10. Tupperware: have too much of it
11. Florida: Disney World
12. Santa Claus: childhood
13. Halloween: costumes
14. Bon Jovi: still looking good
15. Grammar: yes please
16. Myspace: becoming annoying
17. Worst fear: spiders
18. Marriage: give and take
19. Paris Hilton: go play in traffic
20. Brunettes: have more fun ;)
21. Redheads: feisty
22. Blondes: stereotyped
23. Pass the time: reading a good book
24. One night stands: dangerous
25. Donald Trump: icky
26. Neverland: Peter Pan
27. Pixie Stix: not good when they get wet
28. Vanilla ice cream: not as good as chocolate
29. Port-a-Potties: germ pools
30. High school: was a long time ago
31. Pajamas: comfy
32. Wood: fireplace
33. Wet Sock: sweaty feet
34. Alcohol: socially
35. Love: can be the best feeling
36. The Bible: stories
37. Heartache: hurts
38. Time: precious
39. Life: live it to the fullest
40. Blood: red

Thanks Tracey!

Hubby put the downpayment on my car today

YEAH!!!!

I am supposed to get a new car

Hubby's work sells their sales cars every year and gets new ones, and they offer them to their employees first at really good prices. We bought hubby one 2 years ago and it's been a great car. Here's what we are looking at:



2006 Chevy HHR

It doesn't hold as much as my van, but it is nice. The kids never want to go camping anymore so I guess we don't need as much room. I am excited about the prospect of getting a new car. they won't be ready for delivery until the first week of October, but I can wait. I've waited this long.

I am headed off to the softball field today to meet with the head coach and pick the rest of our team. It's such a long drawn out process. It's all so political. The same coaches always end up with the best players, miraculously. I dread going in a way. Kim is coming with me to help with the selection. She has a pretty good eye for these things.

We lost our football game Friday night 13-10. Our team put up a good fight. It was scary watching Will play. Some of you may remember he had back surgery last year and couldn't play all last season. Every time he makes a tackle, I cringe. I am so worried that he is going to hurt his back. I'm glad he's not my son. That would make it ten times worse. Stephanie and I sat next to his parents and you could tell his mom was very nervous. One of the highlights of the night came after the game. The marching band does this thing called "Blacktop." Basically, they head over to the basketball courts and have a little drum off. All the kids circle them and really get into it. I recorded some of it on my phone, but the sound quality is horrible. I may try to take the video camera next time so I can post it on here. These kids are pretty talented.

School starts back this Tuesday. Bummer for the kids. It's back to signing tons of papers that are brought home, writing notes, packing lunches or giving out lunch money, and all the other crap. We have open house tomorrow night where Kim will be able to do a walk through of her new school. She will be low man on the totem pole this year where her sister will be on the top. It will be a new challenge for her. They do this stupid thing called Freshman Academy at our high school. Basically, they separate the freshman into a different hallway and everything. Steph and Kim will never see each other during the school day. I don't know how they expect them to adjust to high school while being segregated. This is the second year they are doing it. I was hoping they would see how stupid it was after the first year and never do it again. I didn't get my wish.

Well, I'm off to the softball field. Take care.

I am soooo glad it's Friday!

I had the week from hell after getting back from a nice vacation. Why does that always have to happen???!!! It's like I didn't get a vacation at all when that happens. First my schedule is slammed and they keep wanting to add more patients to it. One person here people with one set of hands!!! Then yesterday one of the doctors was trying to hook up a printer to my machine to print the reports on and he screwed something up. I had to call tech support, but first I had to go through the automated line which has to be in India or something since everyone I talked to sounded like that kind of accent. The connection was horrible and they couldn't understand me well and vice versa. Finally someone from the States called, an actual American, thank the gods. He managed to walk me through fixing it. The printer is still not hooked up and I could care less if it ever gets hooked up. I put it back in the damn box it came in and said "Good riddance!" I should just bring it home since it is a whole lot better than the one I have and it's a scanner and copier and fax machine too. Fancy piece of shit is what it is. Oh, I almost forgot the lovely comment the aforementioned doctor said to me when I couldn't put the damn paper trays into the printer. He said "Women are so incompetent when it comes to computer stuff." Of course the smart ass that I am answered "I can shoot you between the eyes at 100 feet with one shot. I think that skill will come in more handy than being able to put a stupid tray in a printer, don't you?" Needless to say, he had no answer to that.

Okay, I'm done ranting about my week. Hubby is speaking to me again. I knew he wouldn't last the week. I'm glad though. I do hate it when we are fighting.

I don't know how many of you watch the series "Dexter" on Showtime, but Season 1 just came out on DVD and I went to Best Buy last night and purchased it. Hubby and I got hooked on it when we had a free weekend of Showtime a while back, but could never finish the episodes because we won't pay for Showtime for just that one show. We watched two episodes last night and will finish the rest over the next week or so. I'm trying to make it last since it will be awhile before Season 2 comes out on DVD since it hasn't even started on Showtime yet. I also bought Photoshop for us so we can mess around with our pictures. It's a really neat program. Now I just have to get the kids to teach me how to use it. (Remember, I'm Annie Oakley, not Bill Gates).

We have our first home football game tonight and we are all going to cheer Stephanie's boyfriend Will on. Steph won her tennis match yesterday. She is ranked number 2 on the team. Not bad for only playing a year. That's my girl!

Well, I need to go get ready to leave for the game. Have a great weekend everyone!

Hubby is still giving me the silent treatment

What he doesn't seem to realize is that I am okay with it. It's like a vacation of some sorts. He is acting so childish. Grow up already!

Def Leppard was in Raleigh last night, and I didn't go. It was tempting though. They did do an interview with Sav on the radio on my way home. I thought about you Jude when I heard it.

We finally got some rain yesterday. Not a lot, but a good bit. My grass and flowers were screaming for joy I'm sure. I think I lost most of my azaleas. I don't think they will be back next spring. I just don't have a green thumb at all. Don't give me a plant unless you want it to die.

Softball starts back this weekend. We are picking our teams. I am playing the role of assistant coach this season. My IBS and GERD will be better off without the stress of head coach. These kids get to me sometimes.

I can't wait for Friday to come. Work this week has been crazy. Busy, busy, busy. I guess I can't complain too much. It's paying my mortgage. Well, my lunch is over over, so I better head off for now.

Happy Hump Day!


**UPDATE** I just found out that the DL show last night was canceled due to bad weather. Bummer!

Eva called

and she is safely back on French soil. My oldest talked with her on MSN today. She wants to come back. I told her to hop back on a plane right now missy!! I would adopt that kid right now, no questions asked. I hope we all get to see her again. My youngest wants me to buy the perfume that she wears. I would, but it costs way too much moolah. An ounce is like $70.

We are no further in solving the bike problem in the neighborhood. We may set out a bike as bait to try and catch who is doing it. Too bad we couldn't rig something on it that would shock the hell out of whoever nabs it.

Bike- $50
electrical wiring- $30
watching the butt hole taking a kids bike scream like a girl- priceless

Kim and I went to see "No Reservations" tonight. It was cute. A little tear jerky though, just to warn you.

We had a bridal shower for a girl at work today. Another sucker is born. Just kidding. Hubby and I are not speaking to each other right now, so I had to throw that in. He's mad at me because I told him he was driving like a maniac on the way to the airport yesterday. Then it was my fault he made a wrong turn and blah, blah, blah. He is so childish. When I am mad, I want to discuss it and get over it. He wants to be stubborn and not speak to me for days. Whatever. Get over it!

Stephanie had her first tennis match today for school and school hasn't even started yet. She said two girls passed out on the courts. I guess so since it was like 100 freakin' degrees outside. She won her match, so I am proud of her.

My first day back at work today was a nightmare. It was so busy. They tried to fit more patients on my schedule than there was room for. I had to get a little attitude with them and say "what part of no don't you understand?" They will never learn. That is what made me leave my last job, so they need to wakey wakey. I plan on winning the Powerball for 285 million, so I won't have to worry about working because let me tell you I won't be one of those people they interview on tv that says "I'm not going to quit work just because I won millions of dollars." I just have one word for those people, "DUMBASS!" You keep right on working while I sit on some remote island with a fruity drink in my hand thinking of ways to spend my millions on frivolous things.

Okay, I guess I have ranted enough for one night. I am getting pretty good at posting frequently. Aren't you proud of me?

Eva is gone

and I am sad. :( I never thought it would be so hard to say goodbye to her. My house feels so different now. I know I will get over it eventually. As I am typing this, she is on her way to Germany, then to France. Because of the time change, she will be wide awake when her parents are wanting to go to bed. I would definitely host again though. It was a great experience, one that I will never forget and cherish always. I have my desktop back now so I am going to try and post some pics from the mountains, then I will finish up my winery pics some time this week. I haven't forgotten about them.







We took more, but Blogger takes so long to upload them. Well, I guess I am back to work tomorrow. Sucky!!!

Have a great week everyone. Au revoir!

Weird stuff going on in the neighborhood

Our neighborhood has been experiencing a rash of bike thefts. Although, I guess the correct term would be "borrowing" as we have recovered all of them in ditches around the neighborhood. We think it might be kids, but we can't be sure. We are hoping it is and they are just demonstrating some type of stupid teenage behavior. I would hate to think adults were doing it. First bikes, then they move on to something bigger and better in our garages like our cars!

Hubby is the president of the neighborhood association so we are trying to keep on top of the situation. So far about 8 bikes have been discarded, all kids bikes. The bad thing is they are mostly little kids bikes, some with training wheels for pete's sake. We got an email from a neighbor that both his kids bikes were missing since this past Wednesday. We recovered both of them and returned them to their rightful owners. The kids were happy.

These kids have some balls just walking into people's garages in the middle of the night and taking things. It does bring up the issue of leaving your garage door open all night. Yes, we should be able to, but it's not a smart thing to do in today's world. We wouldn't be able to sleep a wink if ours was open, but we have noticed that several people do it. I guess we are just not as trusting as some people. We would like to be, but can't.

We are going to enjoy our last full day with Eva today. She is at the mall with the girls doing some last minute shopping. She had to buy another suitcase to take all of her new stuff home. Ken is cooking us a wonderful dinner. It smells heavenly.

Til' next time.

Back from the beach

and missing it already! I am catching up on some blogs that I haven't visited in a while. I figured I can't complain about the number of comments I receive if I am not giving them out very well. (Smacks self on hand!) I have made some new friends though, so my efforts haven't gone unnoticed. I will continue to visit more blogs to make more friends. I am taking the suggestion I was given and posting more. Sometimes I guess I feel like if I don't have anything exciting to post about, I shouldn't post. I guess I have lost sight of the meaning of a blog. It's an online diary, which can be whatever I make of it. Some days it's an online confessional, some days it's a way to brag about my kids, some days I just need to get something off my chest. It's also a great way to meet some new and exciting people, which I have done over the last 2 years. I get some great ideas from other bloggers and I enjoy reading about other people's lives.

So bare with me while I adjust and maybe make some changes. I have changed the title to my blog. I may change it to something else after I have thought about it some more. My creative side needs to come out and think of something. Something that incorporates the different aspects of my life. I may try out some different titles over the next few weeks.

I have also realized that I need to get back to writing. Especially since I have my lap top back up and running. (All my stories are on it) I also have another idea for a story that I have been messing with on paper. I need to finish the one I started first though. I will probably never publish any of them, and I am okay with that. I enjoy writing just for the sake of writing. If others read it and enjoy it, that's enough for me.

Stephanie's boyfriend Will got some free tickets to a show tomorrow night. Quiet Riot, Vince Neil, and Slaughter. 80's music here we come! I don't know whether we will go or not. It's our last night with Eva before she leaves on Sunday. :( We ate at Red Robbin on the way home today and we told the waiter it was Eva's birthday so they would bring her a sundae and balloons and sing to her. She got a big kick out of it. Her birthday isn't until December, but since she won't be here then, we celebrated it early. I just hope we keep in touch and see each other again in the future.

Well, I'm off to do some laundry. Have a great weekend everyone!

I actually went into the ocean yesterday!

Now, anyone that knows me well enough knows that I am deathly afraid of sharks, hence I stay out of the ocean. The water felt so good yesterday that I couldn't resist. I haven't done that in years. Probably since I was a teenager. I was still nervous and the waves knocked me over more than once. My family thought that was hilarious. Laugh at mom's expense, hah hah.

We had a great time. Then we went to the pier after dinner and saw three stingrays very close to the shore. One was very big. Huge in fact. Of course they were about the same distance from shore as we were earlier that day, so I probably won't go back in that deep today. I tried to get some pics of them, but they were too deep in the water to see through the camera.

My mom and my sisters are almost here. They are spending the rest of the week with us. We haven't all gone away together in a year, so it will be nice.

Well, I am off to greet my family. Talk with you soon!

Did anyone see the meteor showers last night?

They were amazing. It was particularly great getting to watch them from the beach. The sky was so clear. It was so relaxing to sit out on the deck and watch them. Even the kids got into it which surprised me a little since they are teenagers and so busy with their lives. Kim even said she wanted to be a scientist. Her career choice changes on a daily basis. It's kind of fun to see what she comes up with next.

Well, I am off to sunscreen it up and head to the beach.

Have a great Monday everyone!

P.S. Jude, you would have loved the sunset here yesterday. Absolutely gorgeous!

Yeah!!! It's finally raining!!!

I just looked out my window at work and it is pouring down rain. We soooo desperately needed it. It is still 101 degrees though. My plants will be happy. We have been watering them so they won't die. Pa and Ohio got too much rain it seems. My sister in law sent me some pics from the tornadoes and flooding. What a mess. I am posting the link. The pic of the microburst/tornadoes is particularly scary.

Pittsburgh Storm

I have been officially inducted into the mammogram society today. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had a great tech and she was very nice. If everything goes well, I won't have to have another one for 2 years when I hit the big 4-0. Then it's once a year.

I am on a mission to find some new bloggers on here. I don't get a lot of traffic through here and I would like to change that. I want to meet some new interesting people. After all, that's what I am here for. We'll see what happens.

Well, I am off to the beach in the morning. I will chat with everyone when I get back or sooner if I take my laptop.

Have a great week everyone!

This was just too good not to share

A fellow Lep fan, Rebecca, posted this as a bulletin on Myspace. I laughed so hard, I just had to share it with my fellow Lep fans on here:



We went to the mountains for a picnic yesterday and had a great time. It was hot as hell, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. I will post some pics later.

Have a great week everyone!

Not too much going on

Just chilling out and getting to know our exchange student better. She is such a delight. We got so lucky picking her. She fits into our family so nicely. Ken wants her to come back for the school year to stay longer. I wish she could as well, but I'm sure her parents are anxious to get her back. She wanted to go to an American beach so we are taking off for Topsail for a week for some fun in the sun. We weren't planning on taking any more vacation this year, but we couldn't tell her no and we love Topsail. It's so relaxing. My two sisters and their children are coming with us as well as my mom. We got a big house to fit everyone. I am so excited about going and getting away from work even though I just did a few weeks ago, but who's counting??? LOL!

I still have some pics to post from our winert trip, but they are on the computer in the bedroom Eva is staying in so I will post them after she goes home. I don't feel right about going in there now that she is staying in there with all of her stuff. I want to give her privacy.

I bought some cd's to teach us French while we are driving in the car. I must look a sight "talking" to myself as I'm driving. Oh well. Whatever works. I want to get fluent in it again before we go to Europe in 2009.

Eva and her family are moving from France back to Guadeloupe next August. She has invited us to come and stay with them. I hope we get to do that sometime. It is a beautiful island in the Carribean.

Oh well, I guess I will get back to work. Bummer! I will just keep daydreaming about sipping margaritas on the beach :)

Our exchange student has arrived!

Eva is here and I have discovered that my French is appalling!! I haven't had to use it in years. Hubby and I used to talk to each other all the time in French and we have even played scrabble using only French before. We should have kept it up. Now I am resorting to using a French-English dictionary. Her English is pretty good though. She only gets hung up on a few words. She is a sweet girl. I won't be posting any pics of her as I don't know exactly how to ask permission from her to do that and I haven't spoken to her parents either, so I don't feel comfortable doing it. She went to an amusement park with my girls today so they could get to know each other better.

My squirrel problem is getting worse. They have figured out how to get into the rabbit cage to eat her food and they are chasing her. While Kim is away today, hubby and I are going to take care of them once and for all. It's getting ridiculous.

Well I am going to leave everyone with something a friend of mine in Australia sent to me. I thought it was nice.

Natural Highs
Think about them one at a time before going on to the next one. It Does Make You Feel Good, especially the thought at the end of #44.

1. Falling in love.
2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.
3. A hot shower.
4. No lines at the supermarket.
5. A special glance.
6. Getting mail.
7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.
8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.
9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.
10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.
11. Chocolate milkshake (vanilla or strawberry ).
12. A bubble bath.
13. Giggling.
14. A good conversation.
15. The beach.
16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.
17. Laughing at yourself.
18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you
19. Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
20. Running through sprinklers.
21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
23. Laughing at an inside joke with FRIENDS
24. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
25. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to
sleep.
26. Your first kiss (the very first).
27. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
28. Playing with a new puppy.
29. Having someone play with your hair.
30. Sweet dreams.
31. Hot chocolate.
32. Road trips with friends.
33. Swinging on swings.
34. Making eye contact with a cute stranger.
35. Making chocolate chip cookies.
36. Having your friends send you homemade cookies.
37. Holding hands with someone you care about.
38. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good
or bad) never change.
39. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much
desired present from you.
40. Watching the sunrise.
41. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another
beautiful day.
42. Knowing that somebody misses you.
43. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.
44. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other
people think.

Have a great week everyone!!

Some pics

I am going to break this up into more than one posting. I will start with some winery shots.

This first set is at Round Peak Winery. We loved all their wines.






These are the Merlot grapes:



These are Cabernet Franc:





Each of these barrels actually produce 300 bottles of wine, believe it or not



It was so pretty up there. It's hard to imagine that this is only a little over an hour away from me.

I will post some from another winery in my next post.

Until then.....

We are getting our foreign exchange student

She arrives this Saturday from France. We are very excited about it. She will be staying with us for a month. She is 16 and her name is Eva. Ken and Kim will be picking her up at the Charlotte airport because Stephanie and I already reservations at a spa for massages. I am really looking forward to that. I haven't had a massage in ages.

I have some pics to share from my romantic weekend getaway to the B&B and wineries. We had a very relaxing time and it was neat to visit Mt Airy, home of Andy Griffith so I guess I should call it Mayberry, lol!

I will share the photos as soon as I download them from my camera. You know it takes me a while sometimes. :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their week and that my Canadian friend Jude is feeling much better.

Talk with you soon.

A few pics from my trip to the burgh

My sister in law works for US Steel so she got us up to the 61st floor for a view from way up high.

PNC Park where the Pittsburgh Pirates play:



Heinz Field (Home of the Steelers!!)



If you look really close you can see some big white boats. They are part of a clipper fleet that you can get on to tour the rivers.



Of course, no Pittsburgh trip would be complete without a little shopping, right ladies? My girls went right to the Prada purses that cost a couple of thousand dollars. Stephanie took her picture with one. I told the sales lady that was the closest she was getting to one, lol!



We went to the quaint town of Harmony for dinner one evening and had dinner at The Harmony Inn, which was built in 1856. The original owners sold it and it was turned into a saloon/hotel for a while. Eventually it became a restaurant. There are stories that it is haunted.




This was an example of one of the many original, small homes that are still there.



We had a great trip. I love visiting my hometown, but I love getting back to NC where we belong.

Off to Pittsburgh

tomorrow for a week to visit family. I was supposed to see DL this Saturday, but my niece couldn't get tickets, so I am bummed. It would have been nice to meet Connie since she is going to that show. Oh well, maybe another time. There are still tickets left, but I can't justify spending the money right now.

My backyard is being taken over by squirrels. We have managed to coexist pretty nicely since we moved in 9 years ago, but they are becoming a pain in the ass. They are eating the dog food, trying to chew their way into our shed, and they are terrorizing my dachshund and rabbit. Hubby was going to take some out with the .22 rifle, but my youngest went berserk and insisted he couldn't kill any of them. We settled on using the BB gun for now to see if they can be frightened off. I swear these squirrels are on steroids. They are the biggest damn things I have ever seen. I guess we will work on it more when we get back.

Well, I am off to get some work done. I hope everyone has a fun filled safe 4th and Connie, get some good pics for us to drool over, lol!

My weather pixie is a tramp...

I couldn't help notice that my pixie on my sidebar is dressing more scantily these days. She is such a harlot, lol! Our temps have been in the 90's and I have yet to step into a pool this year. I haven't had time to really. My oldest had her wisdom teeth out Friday and has recovered quite nicely. It appears she is a lightweight like her mom when it comes to being put under. He said he only had to give her a baby dose. She was crying when she came out of the anesthesia, which broke my heart. She slept most of the day Friday thanks to some lovely pain pills. She didn't have any swelling or any of the other nasty side effects.

Softball is over for my team. We didn't do too bad. My oldest is still playing though and we have a game Thursday night. I have been going to see a lot of movies in the last couple of weeks. It's been the time for trilogies I suppose. We saw Spidey 3, Pirates 3, and Shrek the 3rd. They were all okay. I liked their other installments better. Spidey 3 was cheesy in some parts.

We are just preparing for our vacation up north for a few days then hubby and I have our weekend getaway. He thinks we are going to NY city. That was his guess anyway. My response was "only if the Yankees are playing." That would be one thing I would definitely have to do if we visited NY.

Well, I better get back to work. Have a great week everyone!

I got a post card in the mail yesterday

from the UK looking for sonographers. They said I could have 25 days of holiday. I want to work somewhere where they call vacation holiday and say quirky things like "godsmacked" Hubby says I should reply to it. He thinks they will send me over for an interview. I told them they probably have representatives here in the states. It would be cool though. It's very tempting. I wouldn't have to learn a new language and I am pretty familiar with most of the slang. I know I wouldn't get tired of hearing that accent. Never in a million years. If the kids were grown and out of the house, I would be sorely tempted to email them. We will move eventually, but it will be out west, probably Oregon. That's where hubby wants to go. It won't be for a long while though. Not until we retire or win the lottery, whichever comes first.

It looks like we will be spending the 4th in Pittsburgh to see family and my boys on the 7th!! I figured since I was going to be up there anyway, why not? I am hoping to meet up with Connie since she will be going to that show. We will have to exchange mobile numbers (see I am talking brit already, lol!)

I have also planned a romantic weekend getaway for hubby's birthday to a nice B&B in the Yadkin Valley region of NC. We will be touring about 6 wineries. His birthday is June 21st, but we are not going away until July 13. We have softball going until then. It's a surprise too!!! I hope he likes it.

We were supposed to go shooting today, but it rained all day. We needed it desperately. My lawn looks all brown. I was going to teach one of the docs I work with how to shoot. She was bummed that we didn't go, but I told her we would reschedule for another day.

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

Finally posting some Prom pics of Stephanie and Will

It took me a week, but I'm finally getting around to loading up these pics on my computer to share them with you. I am still getting used to my new digital, so some of them may be a little blurry. Too many buttons!!!

I will start with Steph getting ready for the prom.

Before they did her hair:



After:







Before her make-up:



After:



The lovely couple!



All the couples that went together:



Just the ladies: (and yes two of them are twins!)



Just the guys:



They had a great time. Many wonderful memories to last a life time. I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend and didn't have to work. I took tomorrow off as well. Hubby and I have a date day. We are going to lunch and to see Spidey 3. I am looking forward to it. We have had some hot weather lately and not enough rain. My grass is dying, and my yard looks awful. I don't think we have any rain in the forecast until this coming weekend either.

Oh well, have a great week everyone!!

8th grade prom

was last Friday. Kim had a good time. She looked so pretty, didn't she? She went with an ex-boyfriend as "just friends" since neither one of them is dating anyone. They looked so cute together.

Stephanie's prom is this Saturday. She exchanged her dress for a different one. It's about 100 dollars cheaper, so I'm not complaining. I will post some pics that I will take with my new digital camera that I got for my birthday!!! I didn't get the Mini Cooper, but that's okay. I'm still going to keep my eyes open in case I see one for a good price.

My sisters and I are planning a surprise birthday party for our mom for her 70th next month. My brother is supposed to come down from Pittsburgh as well for it. Everyone else lives here. I think she will love it. I hope so anyway.

Well, I am going to enjoy some brownies that my daughter made me for my birthday. Enjoy the rest of your week!

Ken booked our cruise

for Stephanie's graduation present. We will be going to the Carribean for 7 days aboard this ship:



I am very excited about it. We will leave out of Miami next June. I have a whole year to wait, but it will be worth it. My anniversary is in 5 days. 19 years!! I am making hubby a mixed cd of music that reflects over the years we have been together. Sounds sappy I know, but he will like it. Sometimes the gifts that don't cost anything are the best ones.

Have a great weekend!

Good News X 3

today. First Kimberly won her school softball game, yeah Kim!! She made a triple off of a bunt. It was a pretty bunt too. Then we went over to the high school because Steph was being inducted into the National Honor Society. My smart girl. Here are some pics from it.




Stephanie holding her certificate and wearing her gold tassle around her neck that she will eventually wear over her cap and gown this time next year.



Steph and Will.

Then the third thing was that we won our rec softball game 8-6!!! I was sooo proud of my girls. They did so well.

Oh, and Steph found a prom dress. It is gorgeous. I will wait to post pics of it when she is wearing it on prom night. Kim has 8th grade prom so we are continuing our search for a dress for her this weekend.

On Saturday we are going to a college softball game, a double header. It will be UNC-Chapel Hill against Florida State I think. Go Heels!!!

Hope everyone is having a great week and I want to wish my dear friend Jude a very Happy Birthday!! Many more to you dear. Muah!

Softball season has started once again

yesterday and we lost our first game, but won the second one!! Not too bad of a start. We had opening ceremonies Friday night and I worked the pitching station where they tell you how fast you can pitch a ball. It was so much fun watching all the little ones do this. They looked so cute in their little uniforms. Stephanie dressed up in the San Diego chicken costume. She had so much fun wearing it and entertaining the little kids. I will try and post a pic of it. Will took some on his phone, but he hasn't emailed them to me yet.

I have recently registered myself on a high school alumni site. It is specifically for my high school, so I don't have to pay to get other people's emails and stuff. It's been great catching up with people I haven't talked to in a long time. I am trying to arrange lunch with some of the girls. That should be fun. We have our 20 year reunion this fall. I don't know if I am going or not. Time will tell.

It's a rainy, cold day here. I told the girls I would take them shopping and maybe a movie. My other option is to clean and do laundry. Hmmm... I think I'll opt for shopping.

Have a great week everyone!

I'm putting together my birthday wish list

a little early. Well just a month early. I usually don't have a clue as to what I want, but this year I know exactly what I want. Naturally, I will list these from most wanted to least wanted.

1. Mini Cooper (just like this one)



2. A new digital camera (this one would be good)




3. And last, but not least this:




Oh, I guess I should add a "fantasy wish" right? Something along the lines of this maybe:



A girl can dream, right? LOL!

I'm back from the beach!

And came back to colder weather, yikes!! I want to go back to the beach where we had temps in the low 80's and no humidity. It actually snowed here Friday night. WTF!!! Don't get me wrong. I don't particularly like how hot it gets here in the summer, mainly because of the humidity, but snow in April??!! Give me a break.

We did have a very relaxing time at the beach. Topsail is known for 2 things:

These rocks that are just as abundant as shells on the beach:




And these:




Pretty cool, huh? Ken and I spent most mornings walking the beach and collecting these. It became a contest to see who could find the biggest one. Our daughter Stephanie won.

The first evening we were there, we were greeted by this view off our back deck:



This is overlooking the sound. Gorgeous view. It was very nice just to sit out on the deck and watch the sun set each evening.

Kim wouldn't let us take her picture, but we managed to capture a great one of Steph:




All in all, we had a great time. I just hate to have to go back to work tomorrow. Boo!!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend and Happy Easter!

Off to the beach

for the week!!! We are headed to Topsail for some fun in the sun and the weather is supposed to be sunny, yippee!!

I am so looking forward to some much needed time off from work.

Have a great week everyone and I will catch up with you next week!

Trying to come to a sense of understanding...

We had our monthly Bunko game last night. It was something I really needed after this week. It felt good to laugh. Eva plays with us sometimes so her presence was deeply missed, especially since we did a St Patty's Day theme. She always gets into the spirit with her garb and different head gears.

Thanks to a fellow blogger, Kelly, who posted a comment on my last post. I have put Eva in touch with her to help her in anyway she can. Apparently there is a trial at Duke Hospital here in NC that Hayden may be eligible for. I am still holding out hope that the diagnosis may be wrong. One can dream, right? Thank you again Kelly. You are a remarkable person.

On a brighter note, my softball team had a scrimmage game (just a game for fun that doesn't count) Thursday night and we won!!!! The girls did so well. I am so proud of them. They are really coming together as a team. We picked our team colors. They will be teal and black, very pretty. They wanted hot pink, but the shirts didn't come in that color. We have practice again today in just a little bit. It's a pretty day for it. Another perfect Carolina blue sky (and no it is not Duke blue for you ACC fans, lol!!!) Basketball is probably the one sport I cannot watch, so I am not thrilled about the tournament going on right now. I will root for Carolina just because Steph wants to go there (along with all my money!!)

Have a great weekend everyone. And just once, if only for a moment, take the time to just enjoy what is around you and appreciate it for how precious it truly is. You are all very precious to me.

This is my 100th post....

and unfortunately I only have sad thoughts today. A good friend of mine, Eva, has a small son that has been having health problems. They finally got a diagnosis of Krebbe's Disease which is fatal when diagnosed in children under the age of 2. The longest known survivor only lived until the age of 8.

My heart is heavy and my thoughts range from complete devastation to outright rage. The question that keeps entering my mind is WHY????

I know we all have different religious and spiritual beliefs so the answers will be varied. I want to share something that Eva put in her email to me. Her courage astounds me.

"My mom-in-law made me come home for a few minutes today while she sits with Hayden in the hospital. His G-tube surgery went well. He seems to be doing well post surgery as well. His tummy is still sore-you can tell when the pump pushing the pedialite through the feeding tube kicks on because he makes lots of noise and some upset faces. He hasn't actually started using the feeding tube for food yet, the X-ray yesterday showed some air behind the tube in his tummy. The doctors say that is normal and we have to wait to make sure there is no infection from that air before actually using the feeding tube. We heard from Dr. Tennison (the neurologist in Chapel Hill) yesterday. We have a diagnosis of Krabbe's disease. While it is not an immediate your son is going to die diagnosis, it's pretty close. This is a apparently one of the rarer forms of leukodystrophy. We have an appointment with Dr. Tennison tomorrow at 4pm. From the information I have been able to find quickly online (I want to get back to the hospital ASAP), it appears that Hayden will be with us for about a maximum of 5-8years.

Changing subjects for a moment - Laura, I'm glad your mom came through okay, she's been in my prayers since I talked to you earlier.

I'll let you know what Dr. Tennison says tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers. God sent us an angel yesterday, a red tailed hawk flew up and sat on our hospital window for about 5min. He was very interested in what was going on in the room (which was me going WOW! there's a hawk in my window) and kept looking around in the room. Then just as quickly, he was gone. It was really cool."

The Laura she is referring to is another good friend whose mom underwent a mastectomy yesterday for breast cancer. Eva is an exceptional person to be able to think of something other than Hayden right now and remember Laura and her mother in the midst of all of this. Her comments about the red tailed hawk were awe inspiring.

I am at a complete loss of what to do and say. I have never had a friend or anyone for that matter that was faced with this before.

I want to be there for her, but I don't know how. My tears are hitting the desk as I am typing this. I have to go...........

Off to the beach!

Well, we have finally decided that we are going back to Topsail Island for spring break. We are staying for the whole week this time though. Last year we only stayed 4 days. We are staying right on the sound so we will probably bring Will's boat. That will be nice. Relaxation here I come!!!

30 days and counting. We will be home for Easter though. Not that we really celebrate it much anymore since the kids are bigger. We still hide their Easter baskets though. There are some things we can't give up.

We are also getting ready to book our cruise for next year to the Eastern Carribean as soon as the dates are available. We have been watching a lot of shows on cruises on the Travel Channel (which has become one of my favorite channels now) and I am getting psyched. One cruise ship even has a British Pub on board, Woo hoo!!!! You know which ship I am hoping to travel on.

Have a great weekend everyone!

New updates

We have a new addition to our family. My hubby's niece had her baby February 16th. His name is Logan and he weighed 9 pounds 10 ounces! Big boy! Here is a pic of him:



Softball season has started back up again. I am coaching again. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. We will see. Kim has made the school softball team. We are very proud of her. She is going to be busy playing for school and me. I will post some pics from some of her games. Her first one is March 12th.

We are also busy getting ready for Stephanie's first prom. It's the 3rd week of May so we have a little time. We have to go dress shopping and hire a limo. They are going all out.

Stephanie got a new puppy as well. Her name is Miley and she is a handful. Stephanie is spoiling her so she whines when Steph isn't around. Like I said, a handful!

Well, I'm off to catch up on some blogs.

Hello All

I know, I know. Where have I been? Any fellow myspacers will know that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. My last post talked about having surgery and having another baby. Well hubby decided that he didn't want me to have the four hour surgery. Since it wasn't medically necessary. He didn't think I should risk it. I respect his decision, but it has taken me a while to deal with the reality of not having another child. I haven't felt like talking about it. It depressed me. I have dealt with it over the last two months and I have come to realize that it was probably the best decision.

Thanks to everyone for their support and advice.

I have really missed talking with my fellow bloggers. I know I have a lot to catch up on, so bear with me as I visit your sites.

Talk with you soon!

One Step Closer

Okay, so I had my hysterosalpingogram (HSG) done today. This test was done to see if I had enough healthy fallopian tube left to reverse my tubal. It was a little uncomfortable, but not too bad. The radiologist was great. She really helped me relax. She showed me the pictures they took and it was pretty neat. This isn't me, but it gives you an idea:



The doctor said it looked very promising. I meet with the doctor that will be doing the surgery on Wednesday. I will let you know what she says.

Well, I better go get some dinner started. The natives are getting restless. Have a great week everyone!

And to a certain fellow Steeler fan and DL fan, have a great birthday Karen!


(I don't know who originally made that, so sorry I can't give credit. But they did a great job!)

Turkey Day

Well, I guess everyone is preparing to stuff their faces tomorrow. I read recently that on average people gain 10 pounds during the holiday season. I believe it. Too much enticing good food. We will be going to my mom's for lunch and hubby's parents for dinner. I am getting hungry just thinking about it and I just finished dinner!

I meet with a doctor on December 6th to discuss my surgery. I have to have a special test done probably next week to check out things. Hopefully all will go well from there. Hopefully my fellow lep fan will have some news for us by Christmas. {{HUGS}}

We got some Christmas shopping done today. I am just about finished. I hate going into the stores after Thanksgiving, but I don't have a choice since I am not done yet. :(

Well, I am going to make that sweet pumpkin dip for tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great Turkey Day!

What a performance!

What has a laser show, fake snow, pyrotechnics, as well as some really damn good rock music??? The Transiberian Orchestra that's what!

I was blown away Wednesday night. I wasn't expecting the performance that I got. They gave you your money's worth and more. The first half of the show was Christmas oriented (if you've never heard Christmas in Sarajevo I highly recommend it) then the second half was pure rock. (Including a rendition of Layla by Eric Clapton!) I was kinda hoping they would break out into some PSSOM, but they didn't. Bummer!

The guy that lead the orchestra had his own custom electric violin in the shape of a flying V. How cool is that?? Then he had one where the edges of a violin and the bow glowed in the dark! It was way cool.

They all had real talent. If you have never seen them before, do. You will not be disappointed. Well worth the money.

We are hanging out at home for Thanksgiving. Trying to save some moulah since we are going to be dishing out a pretty penny in January for my surgery. Yes, we've made a final decision about it and we are going for it. I just hope it doesn't take too long. I'm anxious!! Who knows? Maybe me and my fellow lep fan Connie will be doing this together. You never know. (Still keeping my fingers crossed for ya babe).

Have a safe and wonderful weekend everyone!

Just a quick note

My mom's surgery was today and everything went well. She is back at home and resting nicely with the help of Percocet, lol! Thanks to everyone for thinking about her.

Happy hump day!

I need some advice

Okay everyone, I need some advice. My husband and I are seriously thinking about having another baby before I get too old. I'll be 38 in May. My kids are 16 and 13, so there would be a big age gap.

We will have to pay a lot of money to even try, since I had my tubes tied 13 years ago. I would need an operation to untie them essentially (put them back together), then there are no guarantees that it will work. I was very fertile in my 20's, but the older we get the less fertile we are.

Then I'm not sure I am even a candidate for the surgery. Only certain kinds of tubals can be reversed. I have to have a test done first to see if my tubes are still patent.

Insurance will probably not cover any of the tests or surgeries, so we are probably looking at a few grand (7-10,000).

I am really hoping you guys can help me decide on what to do. I know we both want another baby, but are we just being crazy?

Thanks for your help.