Christmas tree crisis!

I woke up Saturday morning and discovered tiny black bugs all over my carpet near my tree. Upon looking at the trunk closer, we discovered bigger ones feeding on the sap. Gross!!! Hubby said they were aphids. We quickly took off all the ornaments and lights and disposed of the tree. So here I was 3 days before Christmas with no Christmas tree. My oldest started freaking out that she wasn't going to have a tree her last Christmas home before she went to college. (That depresses me to think about so I'm not going to get into any details about that)

Her and I went on a hunt to find a tree. We had to visit a few different places, but finally found a 9 foot pre-lit artificial one (not taking any chances!) at Home Depot, and it was half off, score! We brought it home and put the decorations on it. It looks fabulous. Much better than the last one. Crisis averted.

I wrapped all the girls presents last night so now we just have to wait for tomorrow morning for them to open them. I actually have hubby stumped this year. He always manages to figure out what I got him. It's killing him that he can't guess. He he.

Well, I'm off to cook some dinner. The natives are getting restless. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

My Christmas Cards

We finally got around to taking the picture of the girls for the Christmas cards today. It's so hard to find one that they both agree on and we can use. They narrowed it done to these two. I liked the first one better, but they liked the second one so that's the one I ordered. They should be ready to pick up in a couple of days.





I like sending out cards, I just don't like addressing and licking all the envelopes. Ewwww!!! I refuse to lick them. That's just gross to me.

I have all my shopping done except for one gift for my mom. I know what I'm getting, I just have to go to the store and get it. I will probably go one day next week.

Oh, and we heard from NC State yesterday and Stephanie got in!!! She said she was going to accept no matter what Chapel Hill told her. We shall see if that's true next month when Chapel Hill sends out their letters.

We have had the weirdest weather here lately. It's been 80 degrees most of this past week and today it was cold. They are actually calling for snow tonight. That's so strange. I wish it would make up it's mind. Don't get me wrong, I am loving the warmer temps. I don't care if I ever see snow again.

Well, I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Stay safe and warm.

My tree

Our Tree



This is the job Steph and Will did to the outside of the house. Sorry it's blurry. It was cold and I was in a hurry!!




Also, it was Will's 18th birthday Monday and we had a cake for him.

My busy week went well

We had our wine tasting Thursday night and it was fun. We learned some new things about wine that we didn't know before. We sampled 12 different wines from all around the world. My favorite from the states is still Washington state. They produce some awesome wines. New Zealand is the best for Rieslings so far. I tasted a really good red wine from Argentina as well. All in all, it was a great night.

Our Christmas party was last night and we had some fun. My friends and I danced the night away. It's nice to let loose and act silly every now and then.



Hubby and I. Do you like me new auburn hair? I love it.




My crazy co-workers. Amy, Me, Shannon (she did my hair), and Stacy. These girls keep me laughing every day.

We are going to get our tree today, hopefully. We haven't done the first bit of decorating for Christmas. I am such a slacker this year!!

Have a great week everybody!

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth

Sorry for the absence. I have several things going on right now to keep me away from the computer. My Christmas work party is this Saturday and we give gag gifts to each of the doctors and they have assigned me to write the poems to go with them. It's really fun and they have to stand up and read them in front of everyone.

We also have a wine tasting social for the neighborhood that we are hosting tomorrow night so I have been getting ready for that as well. I am also hosting a purse party next Friday and we have our monthly Bunko the following Friday. Busy, busy.

My sister's birthday is tomorrow so we all went out to eat tonight at PF Changs. I love that place. I saw my younger sister, the one who is having problems with her son and she didn't take my advice. He skipped school today actually. I don't know what to say about that. She asked me if I would trade one of my girls for him for a month. I told her that he would be praying for military school by the end of the month. I'm not willing to give up my kid to find out.

I am going to finish my Christmas shopping this weekend. I am usually done by now. I hate the crowds. Oh, and I am also getting my hair done on Saturday. I haven't had it cut since July. I am in desperate need!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

P.S. Aren't you proud of me Jude? I managed to change my layout all by myself, lol!

Just a little update

Tyler's mom is healing. She broke her bone under her one eye. The guy was her crack head neighbor just trying to start some trouble. He's in jail, thank goodness.

The holidays are creeping up on me. I am going to do some more shopping this weekend. I have decided to get hubby the XBox 360. He loves his video games. Men and their toys, lol!

My sister has come to ask for advice about her 15 year old son. He's failing all of his classes (he's in the 9th grade for a second year), mainly because he's skipping school. She takes him every morning to make sure he goes, but at some point, he leaves the school grounds. Obviously, this is easy to do. His father is out of the picture for some time. She has remarried 7 years ago and new hubby is no help. He has a 16 year old daughter from his first marriage that can do no wrong, and he doesn't discipline her for anything. She wants to send him to military school, but can't afford it. I told her what I would do if this happened to me. I told her to set up tutoring sessions after school that are mandatory for him to go to try to bring his grades up. Then I would take everything out of his room except for his bed and his clothes. No tv, no video games, no guitar until he brought his grades back up. I would also have him do some chores around the house. He doesn't do any now. She thought that was being strict, but I think she is way too lenient with him. What do you guys think? Any suggestions for my sis? She could use all the help she can get.

Hope everyone is enjoying their week so far!

Finally some good news!

Stephanie heard back from East Carolina University today and SHE GOT IN!!! I am so proud of her. She is still waiting to hear back from NC State and Chapel Hill. ECU is her 3rd choice. It's 3 hours away, so it's my third choice as well, lol!

Connie left me a not so cryptic message the other day that I am still on cloud nine about. I am anxiously awaiting some details on that girl!!

We have started Christmas shopping. The girls wanted docks for their iPods so we got those and we got them Guitar Hero 3 for the PS2. Kim also wanted the soundtrack to Across the Universe, so I picked that up. She is a huge Beatle's fan. She appreciates music the way I do. She has very eclectic taste like me. She also has a love for reading like me. She's joined a book club at school. She has a love for writing like me and writes short stories too. She really is my mini me.

I am really enjoying my new car. The girls at work call it my British Mobile since I have the union jack on the front. They love to ride in it at lunch time and we blast some 80's music and act silly. I will post some pics. Every time I go to find my digital, one of the girls are using it.

Kim brought home a baby hamster the other day. His name is Todd. He's pretty cute. He has this elaborate cage with a wheel and stuff. One more animal to feed!

Have a great weekend everyone!

What in the heck is the world coming to?

Last night Kim's boyfriend's mom was attacked in her own back yard while she was feeding her dogs, then they robbed her house. She is okay, physically anyway. Kim didn't get the full story, but they did find out that the person(s)responsible lives down the street from them. Am I going to have to carry a weapon walking out into my back yard now?!! WTF!!

I am tired of bad news, let me tell you. It's time for a break!!! Hubby went to the doctor today because he felt something in one of his testicles yesterday. He stopped by afterward to tell me that it was just a cyst and everything was fine. I really don't think I could have handled anymore bad news right now. I am at my limit.

Softball is over for another season. It will start back up again with sign ups in February. Kim will have to move up to play with the bigger girls since she is 14. The good thing is she will get to play with her big sister. They haven't played on the same team together in probably 4 or 5 years, so that will be nice.

Nothing else is going on, thank goodness!! Too much drama right now. I feel like I am on a soap opera or some kind of reality tv show. My fellow blogger Dick just came from Hawaii and posted some really great pics on his blog you should check out. It makes me want to go so bad. I know it makes you want to go back Jude, since it is one of your favorite places. Hawaii is definitely on my list of places to see. My other blogger friend Susan posted a blog recently about 50 things that you would like to do before you die. I don't think I could come up with 50. Most of mine would be places to visit, not so much things to do. I have a long list of places to see. For now I will have to live vicariously through fellow bloggers to see pictures until it is my turn.

I thought it would be fun and interesting to see what are some things you want to do?

Another day, another dolllar

That's how I feel sometimes about work. I need to work, but I don't want to work. I think today all the crazy people are coming to our office. There are some days I just can't handle another person and I just want to poke my eyes out! I get sick of all the dumb questions, and I'm not talking about questions that the average non-medical person wouldn't know the answer to in a million years. I am talking about stuff that people should know if you have half a brain cell in your head!!!

This morning I had a patient's mother ask me if ultrasound was safe for her grandchild. That is a perfectly reasonable question. I told her that it has been around for a very long time and there were no known bio-effects from it. She was still very skeptical. I then proceeded to tell her that she was surrounded by sound waves all the time, and they didn't seem to be affecting her. Her response is what gained her a free membership into my stupid question hall of fame. She said and I quote "But I'm not surrounded by water." WTF!!! I ended the conversation because the smart ass in me was dying to come out. That is just one of many dumb questions I get on a daily basis. I am going to start keeping track of them and sharing them with you all. It will give you a chuckle if nothing else.

My co-worker hasn't returned back to work yet. She posted a bulletin on myspace that made me cry. She was very close to her brother and thought of him as her own child in a lot of ways, since she is a few years older. It really breaks my heart. And we got bad news #2 out of the comes in 3 thing. Our neighbor's 26 year old son died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack. He was a brittle diabetic who was not under the care of a physician because he refused to see one. He had been complaining about not feeling well for a few days and came to stay with them. They said he usually would do this. By the time his mom dragged him to the ER it was too late. He died soon after they arrived. The sad thing is they may have been able to help him if he wouldn't have been so stubborn about going. I would have dragged him kicking and screaming when he first felt bad. They are feeling a lot of guilt now because of this. All we can do is be there for them now and comfort them as best as we can. As parents we aren't supposed to bury our children.

On a brighter note, Halloween was uneventful. The kids had fun trick or treating with their friends. We didn't get many kids this year, just a handful. It's dwindling down every year which is a shame. We used to have such a blast growing up on Halloween. Nobody wants to participate in it anymore. So many people think it's evil. It's only evil if you make it that way!!! Okay, I won't stay on that soap box long.

We are enjoying some nice temps in the 70's. Very nice for the fall. I hope everyone is enjoying their week and has a nice relaxing weekend ahead of them.

And I want to wish my dear friend Janna a Happy Birthday. Rock on sista!

We are getting so much rain now

I am so glad. It's a shame though that just when we get all the rain we need, California sure could use some about now to help with all those fires. What an utter tragedy. I would gladly give up some of ours to help them out right now. Since it has been raining so much, I haven't had a chance to take any pics of the new car. I guess I could take some while it's inside my garage, but I don't think you want to see the inside of the garage. It needs some cleaning. We have too much crap in there! Everything and anything is stored in my garage. We are thinking about getting some of those pulley systems to hang the bikes on just to get them off the ground. We are going to give it a good once over now that the weather is getting cooler.

I got some bad news when I got to work today. One of the medical assistants that I work with called in today. Her brother was killed in a car wreck last night. It must have been bad because they were asked to go identify the body. I don't know any details. We have had so many wrecks with all the rain we have been getting. It's been dry for so long that people have forgotten how to drive apparently. My heart really goes out to her and her family. She is such a sweet person. I hate that this had to happen to her.

On a lighter note, we are attending a wedding this Saturday out of town. Well, not too far out of town, less than two hours away. My best friend's son is getting married. It's supposed to stop raining by then, so that should be good. We were supposed to have a softball game tonight, but I don't see that happening with all the rain. It will be the first one we would have to reschedule due to weather. I would much rather go home and relax tonight anyway. We have had a busy week, as usual.

Enjoy your weekend everyone and stay safe!

I actually picked up my new car today!

Finally! I will post some pics soon. Of course the first thing I did was put my union jack license plate on the front. It looks good on it. I love it and On Star rocks!

The fake baby is a pain in the ass. It cries too damn much. I'll be so glad when she turns it back in tomorrow. We are getting our carpets cleaned tomorrow and I am so happy about that. They desperately need it. One of neighbors has a carpet cleaning business so he is giving us a great deal to do the whole house. There are things on my kid's bedroom floors that I have no idea what they are and probably don't want to.

Well, I'm off to read a little and get to bed. I just wanted everyone to know that I got my new ride!

Have a great week!

We finally got some rain!

It started last night and just stopped at lunch time today. We need so much more though. It really needs to rain for a solid week or more to make up for the drought. We are having our neighborhood fall festival tomorrow so I do hope we have some nice weather for it. Since I am the social director for the association, I will be busy, busy tomorrow starting at the butt crack of dawn! I have tents and tables to set up and I am in charge of making the iced tea, an essential for any southern get together. I will have help, so it's not like it's all on me or anything. Also, if I get to pick up the tags for my new car, I will try to pick that up tomorrow morning as well. So much going on!!! That's my life though. Never a dull moment. I guess they will come when the kids leave the nest. For now, I will just enjoy them.

Kim is bringing home a fake baby today for the weekend. Some of you may remember, my oldest brought one home two years ago, right around the time I started this blog. She is going shoppping after school with some friends with baby in tow. That should be interesting. I wish I could be a fly on the wall for that.

Stephanie is leaving for Raleigh tonight to spend the night and get up early for NC State's Open House. Then they are off to the state fair. I hope the weather holds out for them as well. I know we need the rain, but I want it to rain at night when we don't have softball games and other things going on.

We won our softball game last night which was great! Last Tuesday they came back from a score of 12-3 to tie it up as well. Two great games in a row. Kim made it all the way to 3rd base on a dropped 3rd strike. They kept over throwing the ball and she kept going. That's my girl!

Hubby and I are visiting with my nephew and his wife tonight. He has every game system imaginable so I know what hubby will be doing. LOL! Boys and their toys.

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend wherever you may be on the map.

I still don't have my new car!

Now I have to wait for the company that's handling the sale to send the title to the place we got the loan from. Then I have to pick that up to get the tags. I have no idea how long that is going to take. It's coming from Illinois. Hubby is off work Monday, so hopefully we will be able to do it then. I really wanted it by this weekend, but oh well.

The dinosaur show rocked! It was incredible. The girls loved it. I highly recommend it. It's a show for all ages. Trust me.

I big thank you to Jude who helped me pick out my new blogskin and fixed my haloscan for me. I am sooo computer challenged!

I am coming up on two years on Blogger. It's hard to believe. I have made some new friends as well as kept in touch with others. It's been great talking with everyone and getting a glimpse into their worlds. I have been given great advice and hopefully returned the favor on occasion.

We have Steph's tennis banquet dinner tomorrow night. We are eating at a local steakhouse. That should be good.

Well, I hope everyone is enjoying their week!

Not too much going on

We went to the post office and officially applied for our passports. They said it should take 6-8 weeks to get them. The only thing I didn't like is they took our birth certificates and we won't get them back until we get our passports. I hope we won't need them in the mean time. I will have to pay to get another copy if we do. That would be just my luck.

The weather here is finally getting a little cooler. We had some hot temps for October. Highs in the 90's! It felt great today. It's dipping down into the 40's at night. Perfect sleeping weather. We still haven't had any rain and have tight water restrictions. Of course there are dumb asses that think that the restrictions don't apply to them. That somehow, miraculously, our water reserve levels will rise on their own without any rain. They are still watering their lawns and washing their cars like it's no big deal. Idiots! We have a well at our house. No city water for us, so we are being especially careful conserving whenever we can. Hopefully, we will have a monsoon or something soon. Even if we do, it will still be awhile before the restrictions are lifted.

We are going to the dinosaur show tomorrow. The girls are really looking forward to it. I am excited just seeing them so excited about it.

Stephanie is visiting one of her college choices next weekend. They are having an open house. Then she is going to the State Fair when they are done. It's been years since I've been to the state fair. Ah, the deep fried food! She is going up with 3 friends so I know they will have a good time. She has officially applied to one of her college choices the other night. This school is 3 hours away, so I'm kinda hoping she goes to her first or second choices since they are less than 2 hours away. The time is slipping by way too fast. Her senior year is definitely going by quicker than her previous years. At least it feels that way.

We got an update about my car. It should be ready Monday or Tuesday! Yeah!! I will keep you posted.

Enjoy your Sunday everyone!

I don't have my new car yet dammit!

They haven't released it yet, and I am getting frustrated! I want my car. I guess I just have to be more patient, not one of my strong suits!

Stephanie had her tennis conference today. She played doubles and they lost their first match and it was single elimination. They put up a good fight though. I am very proud of them. I took a couple of pics, but they didn't turn out very well since I had to take them through a fence. Not worth posting. Sorry guys. I am just not a very good photographer.

We got a bill today for yearbooks. Yeah, yet more money to spend. Two high school yearbooks cost about $160.

We are going to see a cool show this weekend called Walking with Dinosaurs. I wish they would have had this when Stephanie was little. She has always been an avid lover of them and has most of the Carnegie collection. She was able to tell you their scientific names at around 3 years old.

Check out this youtube link.




Pretty neat, huh?

Ta ta for now.

Another busy week coming up

as usual. Hopefully I will be picking up my new car tomorrow or Tuesday. I can't wait!!! Stephanie has a tennis conference Tuesday. She is playing doubles. I will try to take some pics. Of course we have a softball game and practice. I am hosting Bunko this month on Friday. Of course I am doing a Halloween theme. I have to get out my Halloween decorations still. I am being a slacker.

My glasses broke the other day so I just got contacts. I've worn them before, but it's been a few years. I like getting up in the morning and putting on glasses. It's so much quicker and easier. I am going to get my glasses fixed so I have them for when I get up on the weekends, I can just put them on. I hate having to put contacts in first thing every day just so I can see. I don't like taking a shower with them in either. I guess I just have to get used to them.

Well, I am off to do some shopping for my Bunko prizes. Have a great week everyone!

Homecoming 2007

Here are a couple of pics from Homecoming. We won 31-15!! Stephanie was a Senior Representative for Will, so that's why she is dressed up and is wearing that sash.





Stephanie and Will




Stephanie and Kim




It was College Night at the Coliseum last night and Stephanie and I went to check out perspective colleges. She got information from about 5 or 6. She found out that she more than meets the requirements for UNC-Chapel Hill and that is her first choice, so she was very happy about that. The lady told her that she just has to turn in good essay answers with her application and she should be set. Hopefully I will be buying that bumper sticker next year that says my daughter and my money go to Chapel Hill, lol! We are ordering cap and gowns tomorrow night as well as graduation announcements. Senior year is taking me broke!!!

I am so proud of my girls, as always. They are doing exceptionally well in school and sports and are just great kids. I find myself bragging about them all the time. I am so lucky to have good kids when there are so many teenagers out there drinking and doing drugs. I feel so fortunate and count my blessings for them every day.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. And for those of you getting a lot of rain, send some my way. We are in desperate need!

Just a quick post

to say that I am back home and absolutely loved the game!!!! We had a blast. I forgot how much fun it is to watch my team on their home turf surrounded by 60 some thousand screaming Steeler fans whipping their terrible towels into a frenzy. Like a dumb ass I forgot my camera, but my sister did manage to snag a few pics she will be sharing with me soon so I can share them with you. I managed to get a sunburn on just the right side of my face and neck. Now that looks ridiculous to say the least. It was all worth it though. It was a gorgeous day for a football game. Tailgating was fun. Met some great people and ate some wonderful Pittsburgh food. Yummy!!! I wish I could bring it home with me. I would probably weigh 300 pounds if I did though. LOL!

Dick- I was happy to see your Seahawks win as well this past weekend. Congrats!

Well, I am off to catch up on some tv shows that I have in the DVR. I will post some pics soon. We have Homecoming Friday night as well and Stephanie will be dressed up since her boyfriend is on the team so they will be having a big ceremony and such. So I will post some pics of that as well, probably this weekend.

So long for now!

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!