The Mitchells In Michigan

It's Been A While...Again

2012-01-29T22:00:00.000-05:00

This time of year there just doesn't seem that much to say every week so I had to "save up" a bit until I had something. So, let's review:

I have to start with bowling. It was epic!! We bowled last week and when we got to the bowling alley we discovered we were in first place by just 1 point! Talk about pressure! We were bowling the second place team and we knew it would be tough. We won the first game by just 5 pins and really the anchor bowler on the other team lost it for them by not picking up her spare. The second game we lost by just 2 pins. That was a tough one. We were pretty down. But we all went out separate ways, had a little talk with ourselves, and decided that the anchor's excessive celebrating at their win was just too much and I have to say, the next and final game really told them what we thought of that! It was epic, truly!! The usual mild-mannered H-man was cool, calm and collected on the outside but inside he was an erupting volcano! And then he bowled OUT OF HIS MIND!! Strike, strike, strike, strike, spare, strike, strike strike, spare, strike, on and on!!! He bowled a 255 and his average is 158. Bill and Judy bowled well too. Judy had a 200 and Bill a 213 and I finally got my average that game but I was a spectacular motivator!!! We had a combined game, with handicap, of 949!! We beat them by more than 100 pins that game and ended up taking 2 games and totals! Lesson they learned: don't piss of the H-Man or you will suffer his wrath! Yes, it felt soooo good!! And we didn't over celebrate but Lord knows, I sure had to hold myself back because it was EPIC!!

The weather here has been fairly mild. We've had a little snow, a few inches, but then it melts or rains. Last Sunday we had some snow during the day and then it rained overnight and Monday ended up being a snow day. There wasn't really that much snow but the back roads had turned to ice so the buses couldn't pick up. It was a nice day off and the main roads were find so I ended up doing a little shopping.

I also baked these beauties!

Two someones were especially happy! They absolutely LOVE these things!

Last Sunday was cold but sunny at least. I saw some kids out on the pond playing hockey and skating. Unfortunately for the poor muskrats (or muscraps as Quinn calls them) about 10 minutes after I took these idyllic picture this naughty little girl was jumping up and down on top of their lovely home! Hopefully they were sound asleep and it didn't disturb them.

Snow and icicles.

The cardinals keep coming around as long as I keep the feeders full.

The squirrels don't seem to be hibernating at all this year.

A certain little girl got to play in a little snow last weekend too. I think she loved this miniature snowman fashioned by her Daddy.

Yesterday I had lunch with my friends Loretta and Natalie and then we went to a movie. I kind of picked the movie (One for The Money) so I felt responsible if they weren't enjoying it but both said they liked it. I liked it but I also read all the books by Janet Evanovich up to 16 (still have to read 17 and 18) so I probably enjoyed it more. After the movie we went to a fundraiser at a local restaurant/bar for one of our 4th grade students that has brain cancer. It was a very touching site to see so many people from our school district turn out for this event and open their wallets. Over $8,000 has been raised so far and events are still being held to help raise money for this family. The poor kid has exhausted his chances for surgery and is now undergoing a trial at U of M. Hopefully this will be the magic bullet he needs. He's been fighting this since he was 4 years old and has had 8 surgeries so far. The band that played at the event last night donated their payment also. One of the band members is a 5th grade teacher at our school. It was really an amazing night. The place was absolutely packed all night. Side note to Tyler: Beth was there last night and said to tell you Hi. Also, you will not believe who the "bouncer" was!! Hans!!! Our old neighbor!! And no, I didn't go up and say Hi to him. I tried to hide from him! Gross!!!!!

That's about all the news. It's snowing pretty good today. I wanted to go run a few errands but I bet the roads are pretty slippery so may have to wait. Right now I'm trying to talk Scott into taking this guy to the park for a run. Lord knows he really needs it!

In other news, Amber and Quinn have some big changes coming up next week! After a 5 month leave, Amber has been offered and decided to take a new job! She received from her old boss who is now with ABC and he wants her to produce ABC's political page! She will be working in downtown DC and Quinn will be going to a new preschool not too far from both Mommy and Daddy's work! It should be an interesting time for the whole little family. Thankfully the job is still a little flexible and if Amber has to work from home sometimes, like if Quinn is ill, she can. It's nice to have that flexibility just in case. It's going to be a very exciting week for them!

Scott is still waiting to hear from the interview he had a couple weeks ago. He hasn't given up hope and is going with the mantra that "no news is good news"? I sure hope he's right. I know this would be a great job for him and he's really getting tired of looking since it's been 5 months now. Keep good thoughts for him and fingers crossed!

Still no pictures from Tyler. He says they will be coming soon though. Not too much else to report from him. He hasn't done anything notable except teach camp and now school will start again this week. He is on the final downhill slope though. As things stand now, he should be heading back to the States in April or May. We don't have a firm date yet. From there, I'm not sure if he's firmed up his plans yet but you will be the first to know right after me!

We have some exciting things coming up in the next month! Can't wait to tell you all about them! But that will have to wait until next time!

Have a good week!

It's Quiet Around Here....

2012-01-08T22:00:00.000-05:00

There's not much happening around here this week. Going back to work wasn't too bad, except the getting up at 5:15 part. That part was hard, very hard. By Friday I was feeling quite sleep deprived.

Friday night was bowling. We were in second place, down 2 points, grrrrrr. Losing 3 points on position night a couple weeks ago really hurt us. We were all determined that this week wouldn't be the same. Determination can be a good thing. We battled and some games we didn't win by that much, but it was enough and we won all 4 points. I know the number one team lost at least 1 so we could either still be in second place or we may be in first. Unfortunately, next time we bowl we bowl the team that we lost 3 points to two weeks ago.

This weekend was spent mostly undecorating the house. By this afternoon at 5:00 we had finally finished. I really hate undecorating. It's so much work and not nearly as much fun as decorating. The only good thing about it is the house looks good, uncluttered.

I took the pups to the park yesterday but didn't make it today.

Today was filled with other things. One thing I did was this.

Delicious rosemary olive oil bread. This time I accidentally added too much water so I had to add more flour so instead of 3 loaves I made 4. Hopefully they will taste just as good.

I also had to make a batch of dog food. That took a little time too. Just not enough hours in the two day weekend.

Here's Zoe waiting for dinner.

So that's about all that's going on. Not much to write home about. We did talk to this little cutie a few times this week. She calls to check in on her Charlie Boy.

This is a picture of the picture we got for Christmas. She looks so adorable.

I'm putting a couple more videos on here for Tyler. She really loves singing and dancing to her Christmas songs!

Have a good week!

End to the Fun and Back to the Grind...

2012-01-02T22:00:00.000-05:00

Christmas and New Year's are but a memory and it's back to reality tomorrow. While I enjoyed the holidays I don't feel rested really but I can't really complain. I got to spend lots of quality time with precious family.

Christmas morning started out quietly. H and I were up by about 7:30 and I started the cinnamon rolls but we had to wait a little while for Scott to get up. When he finally did we got started on gifts right away.

This was his sleepy face when he realized the unwrapped gift opposite him was actually for him.

We splurged and got him something big for Christmas since we really didn't get him much for his birthday back in September and nothing for graduation. This was something he really wanted and something he can take with him when he finally moves out.

This was the surprised face when someone realized Santa had bought them a present too!

She needed a little help opening it but once it was opened she really liked it!

Charlie liked it too!

H was a little confused by his gift at first.

But once he realized what it was and had a chance to try it out, he really liked it!

The rest of the day was spent pretty quietly, playing with our new and old toys. I spent the day reading on my iPad2 Kindle. I read The Hunger Games on Christmas day and then the other two books in the trilogy between Christmas and New Years. They were so hard to put down, highly recommend them!

The next day we had another Christmas! Quinn and family returned and we had Christmas all over again!

Andy was happy with this "instant happiness" present of the gift of a few lunches/dinners at Chipoltle's. It can be hard to buy for the man who has everything and wants for nothing, but food is usually a good bet.

Amber loved these LL Bean slippers but sadly they did not love her and were a little on the tight side, even after some people with bigger feet tried to stretch them out for her. Luckily she has a store near her home and will try to exchange them.

This little girl was very serious while opening her gifts and got right down to business. Her trusty friend was at her side helping her

She loved this little bear backpack that Grandpa brought her back from Korea.

We got a little bit of snow after Christmas and Grandpa gave Quinn a ride to the mailbox. She liked the snow but wasn't quite sure what to think about it.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Andy flew back to Virginia to work for a few days and then came back Friday night. We spent New Year's Eve day around the house and then H, Amber and Andy got to go to a Piston's game on New Year's Eve. Quinn and I spent a little time at our friend's New Year's Eve party. Once H and Amber and Andy got there we stayed for a brief time and then came back home to watch all the music programs. We all had a hard time staying awake until midnight but we did make it.

The next day Amber and Andy gathered all their goodies and spent the morning packing up and were on the road by 10:30. They were lucky to have good weather coming and going. It can be dicey this time of year to drive in the midwest.

Now we are getting back into work mode as we all go back to work tomorrow. It's going to be tough getting up at 5:00 again.

I don't have any specific resolutions for the new year but I do have a few goals. I really want to pay down debt so will work on that. I'd like to get H and I healthier, eating better, more fruits and veggies. I would also like to get back into walking again. H moved my treadmill back here from a friend's house and fixed it so I have no excuse not to use it. I need more energy and going to bed earlier and getting some exercise should help. A new year is a good time to rethink your life and how things are working. There's always room for improvement.

These next few videos are mostly for Tyler. While he is leading an exciting life there in Korea and enjoying seeing the world, including travelling to Bali for Christmas, he is missing seeing his only niece grow up and pictures just don't do her justice. Neither do these videos really because she is much funnier in person. Every time a song comes on she goes to grab everyone's hand and says, "dance with me"! So cute. I miss her already!

Have a good week!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T07:00:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas! These little doggies are trying to convince me they've been nice and not naughty and deserve their Christmas present.

We talked to Quinn briefly yesterday but they had a very busy day, she was a little crabby and didn't want to talk long. She called to show us her Christmas Eve pj's, a tradition I always had for my kids too. It's nice to see the tradition carried on to the next generation.

I also "talked" to Tyler briefly on line. He has been in Bali for 3 days now and says it's beautiful. Can't wait to see the pictures! I'm so glad I got to talk to him for Christmas.

So Merry Christmas and I'll write more later and post lots of pictures.

Feliz Navidad!!

2011-12-24T13:33:00.000-05:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

A Little Bit of White Christmas

2011-12-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

I think this is about all we're gonna get. The weatherman is predicting no snow for Christmas this year. We got this last night and I really thought it would be gone by noon today because the day started out with the sun shining. That didn't last long though so take a cloudy day along with cold temps (hovering around 30) and it has stuck around.

We enjoyed a little visit with Quinn but now they have left for the west side of the state to have Christmas with Andy's family. I'm sure Quinn will have a wonderful time being spoiled by all her aunts and uncles and playing with her cousins.

Playing Christmas songs with Mommy and Daddy.

"Helping" Mimi on the computer. She loves dancing to Christmas songs. This is cute, just excuse my singing and all the stuff in the office! She only had a little space to dance in.

She's a multi-tasker, just like her Mimi!! Dance, give the dog his bone, etc.

We have bowling tonight. I think we are still in first place, if not alone then tied at least. I hope we can bowl well tonight!

Tomorrow should be a fairly quiet day just spent around here, finishing up wrapping and then relaxing. We will be here for Christmas day too, just the 3 of us. Then on Monday Quinn, Amber and Andy will come back to have our Christmas here.

We haven't heard from Tyler but assume he's made it to Bali ok. I looked up the weather there and it looks fabulous, with high's in the 80's and lows in the 70's! Can't wait to hear all about his trip.

H found the cord to the camera he took to Korea so I've been able to download those pictures too.

Tyler in the cab on the way to Masan.

Here's one of Tyler's schools.

Tyler in one of his classrooms

A market near Tyler's apartment

Apparently a Korean delicacy? H decided to pass. He'd already eaten enough kimchi by then!

Saying Goodbye

I hope everyone who reads this (all 4 of you) has a very Merry Christmas. I'll take lots of pictures and a try to get some better videos of Quinn for you Tyler! Wish you were here!

Merry Christmas!

Countdown...

2011-12-18T22:00:00.004-05:00

Just think, a short week from today Christmas will be winding down. The presents will be open (most of them anyway), the feast will be digesting and some people will be thinking about the after Christmas shopping (NOT ME)!

But in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this last week leading up to the big day. Last weekend was spent finishing up the decorating,

getting laundry finished up so H could pack for his trip to Korea, some baking for a bake sale at school to benefit a 4th grade student at school whose family needs help paying for the back and forth trips to get him the help he so desperately needs (we raised almost $1,000, by the way) and other Christmas related things.

H got off to Korea just fine and didn't really enjoy his trip much, except for the very end when he got to see Tyler for an evening and a day. He's not a fan of kimchi and said most of the time he wasn't sure what he was eating. I would love to show you some pictures from that trip but at this time I'm unable to locate the cord for the camera to download the pictures and the card won't fit in any of the slots on my computer. Dilemma. Hopefully I'll be able to solve it soon.

This weekend I pretty much spent all weekend baking and decorating cookies for a cookie exchange at school and also to give as gifts to some friends.

I'm trying to remember if I promised myself last year that I wouldn't do t his again. At any rate, I did it but it sure took a lot of time.

I also finished up our annual Christmas letter, addressed and mailed all the Christmas letter/cards and wrapped all of the presents. I still have a few things to do before Christmas. One thing I have planned is getting the pups in for grooming. After all, they need to look good for all those Christmas pictures!
And maybe I'll get a manicure. I could really use one.

H got home this afternoon and he is very jet lagged. Lucky for him he has the rest of the year off from work! I wish I could say the same. Actually we have 3 days of school this week but I'm only planning to work on Monday and Tuesday. Monday will probably be the only day much work is done, and maybe Tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon will be devoted to parties and our cookie exchange and then after school we will have our staff party. I am taking Wednesday off (one of those lovely mandatory days where I have to take it off and don't get paid) but I'm not really complaining because, barring any unfortunate delays, we are expecting company Tuesday night! Amber, Andy & Quinn will be driving in for the holidays. They will only be staying here a couple evenings before heading over to the west side to spend Christmas with Andy's family and then will come back here the day after Christmas for a little longer visit. We can't wait because Quinn has a little better understanding of what Christmas is this year and is " 'cited". When you ask her what she wants Santa to bring her all she says is "toys".

I'm sure she'll get her wish! She still won't sit on his lap though. No how, no way! Maybe next year!

One thing we may not get this year is our White Christmas. It's been very unseasonably warm. We've had mostly rain, only a little bit of snow and maybe 2 inches at a time at the most. Last week we had rain and what the weather man was calling "springlike" temps with high's on Thursday in the high 50's. We had so much rain last week that if it had been snow they said we would have gotten 8-10 inches. I'm glad that didn't happen though you will never hear me complain about a snow day!

The pups had a nice weekend thanks to Scott. He took them to the high school field both days. I was up to my elbows in cookies. They appreciated it.

So, the countdown for Christmas is on. I'm promising myself I'm gonna take it easy from here on out. After all, everything's done, right?

Have a good week!

Pain, Suffering and Crappy Weather...

2011-12-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

So, Thanksgiving has come and gone. I didn't spend the whole day cooking but we still had plenty to eat. I forgot to buy the ingredients I usually use for our traditional cheeseball but I just happened to have similar ingredients on hand so we didn't have to go without but it still wasn't quite as good as the usual one. The turkey was moist and the rest of the dinner was good.

The rest of the weekend is a bit of a blur to me. I was in a good amount of pain on Friday, Saturday and Sunday on account of that stupid flu shot. My muscle in my arm felt like it was spasming, like when you get a charlie horse in your leg in the middle of the night but I couldn't "walk it off". It got pretty bad. Finally on Monday I decided to take the muscle relaxer during the day, which I hadn't been doing. I slept off and on all day but at least the spasming stopped. Tuesday I went back to work and while I wasn't pain free it wasn't enough to stay home. I had put in a call to the Dr. on Monday but he wasn't in. Tuesday evening he called and after talking to him for a while he determined that the shot had probably hit a nerve since I had some numbness and tingling. He gave me an appointment for Thursday evening but the pain seemed less and less every day so I ended up cancelling the appointment. While I can't say I'm completely pain or numbness free, it mostly feels better with intermittent times of pain and tingling. The muscle still aches from time to time, like right now! Ouch! I'm not sure what the Dr. can really do. I'll give it a couple more weeks and then probably have to seek further treatment, whatever that might be. I'm absolutely sick of it, that's for sure.

There's not much else going on around here. We did wake up to this on Wednesday morning.

When I came home for lunch that day the sun was out and it was gorgeous. It was a wet snow so it stuck to everything.

Since then we've had some sunny days and then rain all weekend. The weekend was absolutely horrid. It was dark gray and rainy off and on all weekend. The snow is all gone now and it feels a bit balmy out this evening. It won't last long as we have colder temps predicted for the week and more snow on the way.

We've started decorating for Christmas. Scott got the outside lights and stuff up last weekend. This weekend H put up the big tree and put the lights on and some of the decorations. I put up the kitchen tree and snow baby tree but haven't decorated them yet. Hopefully I'll get around to that during the week sometime.

I was followed around by two sad little puppies all weekend. They really wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, but it was just too wet out. They had to settle from tome fetch in the living room. We couldn't do that too much either now with the tree up.

So, that's about it. Nothing exciting going on. Maybe next post I'll have some pictures of the Christmas decorations up.

H is so lucky! He gets to go back to South Korea and will get to see Tyler again. I am so jealous! In January it will be 2 years since I've seen Tyler. That's way too long. Hopefully H will take lots of pictures!

Have a good week!

Busy, Tired, Thankful

2011-11-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

So last time I wrote we were expecting a visit from our favorite girls, Amber & Quinn. They arrived Tuesday and were only spending that night before they headed over to the west side for a couple days to hang out with Nana and Poppop. What started out as an everyday morning ended up being quite scary and then something we were all so thankful for.

While Amber was getting ready to load up her things for the drive Wednesday morning she dashed into the bathroom to grab something which is right next to the staircase and the next thing she knew she heard Quinn tumbling down the stairs. By the time she looked down the stairs all she saw was Quinn trying to sit up. What followed was quite scary and I don't really want to write about the details because I don't want us to have to relive it but I will say right now that everything turned out just fine, thank God! A visit by 8 burly men (combo of fire, ambulance, rescue & Sheriff's office) resulted in a ride in an ambulance just to have her checked out since Amber wasn't sure if she had hit her head or what she had hit. I met them in the ER and after what seemed like forever (it was about 3 hours total) and a CAT scan it was determined that her head was fine and she had probably just knocked the wind out of herself. Scary, scary stuff for all concerned. Quinn took it all in stride and just wanted her MILK!!! And before I'm chastised by any interested bystanders, YES, we went out and bought a baby gate and learned a very valuable lesson and thankfully everything turned out ok.

Last Friday night was bowling and Amber and Quinn joined us at the bowling alley for an hour or so. Quinn met lots of new people and had fun cheering for her Grandpa and Mimi. We bowled Bill & Judy's son and daughter-in-law (their partners were absent) and while we hated to kick their butts, we had to! We were in a three way tie for first place. We ended up taking all four points and actually bowled 3 800+ games which we have never done before! It was a good night and thankfully Bill and Judy's son and daughter-in-law didn't hold it against us.

The next morning we got up and got ready to go to the greatest show on earth, the circus!! H managed to snag us some tickets to the suite and we were the only ones in there! We got there early so we could walk around down with the performers. We even got to see an Elephant up close!

Quinn was really excited to see that.

We weren't sure how long we would be able to stay as we didn't know how long her interest would hold out but she managed to make it the whole time! I think the cotton candy helped her make it through.

Her favorite acts were the elephants and the tigers. Mine too!

Sunday we took the pups to the park and Quinn really enjoyed that.

She ran for a solid 20 minutes while they played frisbee.

H and I took Monday off and we all, even Scott, went to a Cider Mill and what was billed as a petting farm. I think that's a very losely used term when all you have is 4 very aggressive sheep and some chickens! We bought some yummy doughnuts, some apples and cider and then headed to lunch.

Scott and Quinn, about to get up close and personal with one of those friendly sheep!

She was a bit perplexed about why exactly we wanted her to sit on this pumpkin. Never did get a smile out of her!

This chicken tried to take a bite out of Quinn's doughnut! Mama thought that was pretty funny!

Finally! She thought it was pretty funny when she was sitting on these pumpkins!

Amber and I managed to get some serious shopping done while she was here. I had a 30% off coupon from Kohls! I've only had 3 of those in all the years I've shopped there! I'm almost done shopping for Christmas for Quinn and even managed to pick up a couple other things.

All too soon it was time for Amber and Quinn to leave us. H took Tuesday afternoon off and drove them to the airport. I had to come home from school at lunch to say my good-byes. It's always so quiet after they leave. The house seems empty.

We had a wonderful visit, full of fun and a couple new experiences for Quinn, most good, one not so much.

The rest of the week was a blur of work and the usual stuff. I went to the grocery store on Wednesday and decided on impulse, after hearing an announcement on the loudspeaker, to go ahead to the pharmacy and get my flu shot. Usually it's no big deal, no pain, but this one hurt from the second she stuck the needle in. It hurt the whole time I walked around finishing up my shopping. And it still hurts 4 days later. The night I got it I woke up at 3 in the morning with my arm killing me! She must have hit the muscle or a nerve or something. I'm still having to take pain killers every 4-5 hours and I've used a heating pad on it a couple times, which seems to help a little. I just better not get the flu! I'll really be pissed if that happens!

Yesterday I went out to the garden to plant some garlic. You plant it in the Fall like you would tulips or daffodils. I was the only one out there and it doesn't look like many people cleaned their gardens out and no one spread manure like we did. Hopefully the garlic will have a nice sleep and will grow well next spring and summer. I tried to grow some garlic in my front flower bed last year but it didn't do well. Hopefully this will do better. I'm only getting one plot next year so I'm going to have to be very selective in what I plant.

Speaking of planting, yesterday I also made some broccoli cheese soup with broccoli from the garden. It was just ok. I have never seemed to be able to master soup making, no matter what kind I try. It never tastes as good as Campbells. I think they have some kind of secret ingredient I don't know about.

Today I'm making bread with olive oil and Rosemary. I brought some Rosemary from the garden yesterday. It was in the main garden and no one harvested it and it will die over the winter so I figured I might as well "save" it! I pulled mine up and have it in a pot in the kitchen windowsill. That way I'll have fresh Rosemary during the winter, if I can keep it alive!

The pups went to the high school field both days and were so happy to get out. Zoe "screamed" most of the way on the drive over. Today Scott took them so he got to listen to the rukus!

The leaves are all off the trees now and the bird feeders are being emptied almost as fast as I fill them.

Speaking of bird feeders, the first hillbilly security system didn't make the grade. Those smart suckers had it down on the ground the next morning. H thought it was just a fluke so he hung it back up and sure enough, the next morning it was down again. Back to Aco Hardware in search of something better. This one has been up for a week now and so far they haven't figured it out.

Remember Stumpy? I noticed him out in the backyard today. Seems he's grown a little white tail where his old tail used to be. He's still as fat as ever!

We have a new resident on the pond, at least our side of the pond. The muskrats had this place last year on the other side of the pond.

But now they've built another one on our side. I've seen 3 muskrats working on it so maybe it's a new apartment for offspring.

I'm so looking forward to a short week! I only have to work Monday and Tuesday. H took the whole week off as he has quite a bit of vacation time to use up before the end of the year. It will just be the 3 of us for Thanksgiving on Thursday, a nice quiet day. And a few other days to maybe sleep in a little.

Have a good week and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Signs

2011-11-06T22:00:00.000-05:00

While most of last week was decent weather, only one day of gray as I recall, this weekend was beautiful, once again. Sunny, in the high 50's-low 60's with a little breeze today. We can't really complain about that.

However, I had my little bubble of nice weather burst when I saw this fellow yesterday.

I thought I had seen one earlier in the week but it was while I was walking into school and it was still dark out but I thought I saw his dark feathers and white belly as I approached the door. I talked myself out of it though and figured it was just a little sparrow or something.

After yesterday (and then again today) I had to admit it was really a Junco. These little fellows are to winter what the Robin is to spring around here, a sure sign that snow isn't far away.

This little guy was all puffed up and sitting in the sun trying to soak it up. He'll stay around all winter and I'll need to keep the thistle feeder full for him and his brothers and sisters. I thought he looked so cute.

Not much else going on around here this weekend. We managed to get some chores done, laundry, aquarium cleaned, car maintenance, fun stuff like that. H took my car in for an oil change and discovered that the grinding sound I've been hearing is the brakes (or the rotor, whatever that is) and it will need to go into the shop this week for repair. I'm crossing my fingers that it won't break the bank.

I was able to take the pups up to the high school both days and boy, were they happy. Zoe did not want to stop, even when she had to lay down because she was panting so hard. Every time I would start walking toward the car she would grab the frisbee out of my hand and run off with it!

They had fun!

Saturday night H had tickets for the Red Wings game so he invited Bill, our bowling partner, to go with him. It was Bill's birthday yesterday so that was a nice treat. Better than going to work which was what he was planning to do. H reported that fun was had by all that the Wings won which always makes the game better.

I joined some friends at a local restaurant/bar to listen to a local band called The Locals. Catchy!! One of the members happens to be one of our 5th grade teachers. He plays bass and sings a little. They sang a lot of 80's and 90's stuff and overall were good, though loud for the venue and when we left I couldn't hear for a while. I even treated myself to a drink, a frozen margarita which I managed to nurse for the whole two hours we were there.

It's back to work tomorrow but we have something to look forward to this week. On Tuesday our two favorite girls arrive.

They will only stay for one night before they head over to the west side to visit for a few days but then will be back our way on Friday for a nice long weekend visit. If that wasn't excitement enough, I also have Bunco this week and then bowling Friday night!! Wooo Hooo!! Should be quite a week!

Have a good week!

A Walk in the Woods...

2011-10-30T22:00:00.002-04:00

So, yesterday was a beautiful day, crisp, cool but sunny. Instead of taking the pups up to the high school I thought it would be a perfect day for a walk in the woods.

Charlie and Zoe were absolutely nuts. They wanted off leash so badly but I knew if we let them they would be long gone, especially Charlie. The last time I took them through the woods at the high school Charlie got lost and I had a hard time finding him. Besides, at this park now they require you to keep them on leash at all times, bummer.

I thought this moss was really pretty.

It was a really nice walk. On the way home we stopped to pick up a pumpkin which I still haven't carved yet. Maybe tonight?

Friday night was bowling. We have an uneven number of teams on our league so that night we had a "bye". We had to bowl within 40 pins of our team average to win any points. We think we took 3 of the 4. We were also shocked to see we had risen to SECOND place!! Don't get too excited because it probably won't last too long but it's nice while we are there! I bowled pretty well, over average two games and within 3 pins the other. All in all, a good night.

The rest of the weekend has been quiet and fairly restful. I made dog food and got a lot of laundry done.

The pups went to the groomers on Friday. Poor things were there for almost 5 hours. They were pooped the rest of the afternoon.

Today Scott took them up to the high school for a little frisbee. I'd say they had a pretty good weekend, lucky dogs!

Hi Quinn!! Charlie can't wait to see you!! Slurp, slurp!!

It's hard to believe tomorrow is the last day of October. That means that Christmas is only 8 weeks away? I've already bought 2 presents! Way to go me!

Have a good week!

Happy Birthday Anon (a/k/a Andy)

2011-10-29T17:39:00.004-04:00

Happy Birthday to Andy!!

I'm sure your day won't be quite as relaxing as the one in the picture, no boat rides or shell hunting on an island.

But at least you get to spend it with your two favorite girls!!

And no pesky in-laws!

Hope it was super happy!

Mini-Vaca Over, Fall Colors and other stuff...

2011-10-23T22:00:00.000-04:00

So, I had a wonderful (but super fast) weekend with my little sweetie, Quinn. Hard to believe that was two weeks ago already! I arrived Thursday evening, met at the airport by the whole family and one little girl who was very happy to see her Mimi and kept looking at me and saying my name to be sure I was really there! So cute.

Mama and Dada left very early the next morning for their weekend adventure. After a quick explanation when she woke up that Mama and Dada would be back "soon" we were off on our adventures. We had fun at the park and library, did a little shopping and went on a few walks.

Here she is opening her "surprise"!

I think she was more thrilled with the little toys it came with than the actual baby

but soon she decided the baby should receive more of her attention.

Before we knew it we were off to the airport again to pick up Mama and Dada. This time we drove instead of taking the train. Quinn seemed a little confused when Mama and Dada got in the car and Mimi headed into the airport but she was happy to have her family back together.

Since I returned home the work weeks have been a blur. Not only have we had MEAP testing for two weeks (our State mandated achievement tests) but we've had conferences on top of that! When I get home at the end of the day I collapse in a chair, get up briefly to make dinner, the coffee and start the dishwasher and then upstairs to rest some more before I go to bed! The weekends haven't been any more energy filled.

Fall is in full swing.

The leaves are falling, colors changing and the weather unpredictable. We've alternately had rainy, windy, chilly days and then days like today when the sun is out all day long and you can enjoy sitting on the deck in the sun for a little while.

Most of last week the lowest temp we had during the days was mid-50's so I still haven't given up my capri pants and sandals yet. Soon though, very soon. After all, it's almost the last week in October! Some years we've had snow by now. But thankfully, not this year.

We haven't bowled in 3 weeks. We bowled a few weeks ago and then pre-bowled two days later so it will almost be a month since we've bowled when we go Friday night. My knee has been bothering me after bowling so I'm gonna have to be careful and not overdo. This old age thing is a real pain. I don't like it, not one bit.

In other news, Scott had an interview this week for a job he would really like to get. We are really keeping our fingers crossed for him. He's only working in the warehouse 3-4 days a week, depending on how much work they have for him.

We haven't heard much from Tyler lately. He's just working and trying to save money so that when his time there is up he will have a little savings to live off of until he can find another job. His girlfriend, Melanie, will be leaving Korea soon as he contract is up. She's going back to Canada for a while and then traveling so Tyler hopes it won't be too long until they can see each other again. After that, I don't know what their plans are. I'm on a "need to know" basis and I guess there's nothing I need to know right now. Tyler is planning to stay in Korea until April when his contract is up. At least that's the plan for now.

A, A & Q are taking advantage of the beautiful fall weather and visiting Fall Festivals in Virginia. Quinn and I tried that the weekend I was there but since I wasn't familiar with the area I couldn't find a place to park and wasn't sure where else I might go so we just passed up the petting zoo and headed for Target. There was plenty of parking there. Luckily there was another petting zoo a couple weeks later so Quinn got her share of animals to pet.

Apparently one little "kid" liked her so much he gifted her with a head butt, knocking her to her bottom. No harm done and she was ok and didn't even cry.

She's so funny, every afternoon she "facetimes" me and says the required "Hi, Mimi" and then quickly make a request to see her boy, Charlie. She absolutely loves that knuckle head.

Zoe had her yearly check up this week. She needed her 3 year Rabies shot and blood work for heart worm. I almost fell over when the vet tech said, "do you think she's a little thin?" I hadn't really thought so but she explained that she could feel her backbone and ribs fairly prominently and she thought she could stand to gain a couple pounds. Wow, I was really caught off guard by that one. A few years ago I had to get her to lose 10 pounds!! TEN pounds! Guess it worked. She usually puts a few pounds on over the winter anyway so I'm not too concerned about it and neither was the Vet but he agreed, gaining a couple pounds would be good for her. She won't complain about that at all. I've never seen a dog get as excited about food as she gets. She absolutely quivers.

I found it an interesting article this morning in the Dog Fancy magazine that I borrowed from the school library. Every few months Dog Fancy has a double issue, one regular issue and then in the back section it's called Natural Dog and is all about more natural things for dogs. The article was about these two men out in Cali who have started a business that makes home cooked food for dogs. Imagine! I told H, looks like I was 5 years ahead of my time with this whole cooking for dogs idea. Only in Cali would a business like that thrive. People here look at me like I'm crazy when I say I cook for my dogs. Yea, who's crazy now!!???!!

Friday I came home at noontime for lunch and when I looked out the kitchen window my fabulous $100 squirrel-proof bird feeder was.....GONE! MISSING! DISAPPEARED! I had an idea where it might have gone but didn't have time to change my shoes and traipse through the backyard looking for it. When I got home after school I changed into my oldest, beat up tennis shoes and started the hunt. Since I had a pretty good idea who the thief was (I knew it wasn't the squirrels, after all, it is squirrel proof) I headed toward the pond. Sure enough, through the brambles, and they were vicious, including some with 2 inch long thorns, there was my very expensive bird feeder lying in the mud!

After a struggle where I thought I was either going to sink like I was standing in quick sand or lose my shoe, I emerged the victor, $100 squirrel-proof bird feeder in hand! Right away I started thinking. What fool proof contraption could we come up with to prevent this from happening again because, really, I was lucky to get this expensive gadget back in one piece! I don't want this happening again. H and I discussed it this morning and after ruling out several designs, this is the one we thought most RACCOON proof!

They are smart, I give them that, but let's see them figure this one out! Short of bringing their little axes and chopping down the tree, I don't think they will get far the next time! Dirty rotten thieves! Hopefully this hillbilly security system will do the job!

Time will tell. I'll keep you updated!

I'm enjoying the last flowers of summer. H was trimming back the roses last weekend and brought these beauties into the kitchen.

They filled up the whole kitchen with their beautiful aroma. Love them! And I will miss them, until next summer...

Today H and I spent an hour or so out at the garden putting it to bed for the winter. We cleaned out both plots though I've decided if I'm allowed to get a plot for next year I will only be getting one.

I'll be calling tomorrow to see if they "allow" me to work one next year. They may decide I'm not worthy since I wasn't able to put in my full 20 hours of volunteer time. We'll see.

We found a really big bonus carrot

and some broccoli that was still going to town. There were a couple cabbage heads, some parsley and I dug up my rosemary and put it in a pot hoping to overwinter it in the basement.

It's looking really healthy right now so maybe it will make it. Manure is supposed to be delivered out there in a week or two so I will be spreading some of that and planting some garlic.

So, the weekend is almost over. It's been a good one. We got a few things accomplished and got a fair amount of rest and I'm so happy to say I have a 3 day weekend because I don't have school tomorrow! Teacher's worked conferences two nights so they get Monday off in exchange. Not a bad deal on the whole except I won't be getting paid for it. Oh well, right now it seems worth it. I may change my mind come pay day but it will be nice not to have to get up at 5:00 tomorrow.

Have a good week!

Flying

2011-10-02T22:00:00.000-04:00

September flew by. So did last week. Though I have to admit, when I got to Wednesday I was already wishing Friday to hurry up! It was a busy week at work. I spent time with students trying to get the final tweaks into my schedule. You never really know if things are going to work out in real life like you have them on paper and sure enough, there were a few glitches. By the end of the week I think I had things worked out pretty well, as long as no one else changes their schedules.

Wednesday was H's and my 37th wedding anniversary and Tuesday night he surprised me by bringing home 37 gorgeous red roses and 1 white rose for the coming year. They were absolutely beautiful. I only took a picture of them with my iPad which didn't do them justice but today I did take this picture but it doesn't really capture their beauty as they are getting a little wilty now.

To celebrate we went to Outback for dinner and had a perfect dinner together, close to home, good food and not too expensive.

Friday night was bowling. We bowled a team that had two bowlers absent which really worked in our favor, especially when we found out that we were in 12th place out of 13 teams! Yikes!!! Taking all 4 points will really help us.

It's been a crisp week too with quite a bit of rain. I was still wearing capris and sandals on Friday but by that afternoon, with the rain and the wind, I had to change to jeans and finally put on socks. It was just too cold. Putting on socks for the first time after all those months of warm weather feels so strange. This weekend has been sunny but very breezy and cool.

Very fall like with lots of leaves swirling down from the trees.

Scott was nice enough to take the pups up to the high school field today. They really enjoyed it. They came back panting and ready for a nap.

Zoe loves laying out on the deck when I'm out there.

Charlie, not so much. He gets scared, thinks he's hearing gun shots even when they aren't shooting.

We are leaving in a bit to go pre-bowl for next time. Bill and Judy have a wedding to go to when we bowl next and we don't want to lose any more points, We could bowl next weekend but I won't be here. I'm flying off for a special visit with a special little someone I can't wait to see for a girls weekend. We are going to paint our nails, order pizza, eat popcorn and watch Elmo all weekend!! I leave Thursday straight from school and come back Sunday night. A&A have to go south for a wedding so that's why it will be just a girls weekend.

Guess that's all the excitement around here for this week. Next Sunday Ill have more to say but I'll probably be too tired to write about it. Maybe I can get a jump start while Miss Q is napping, which hopefully she will though I might have to take one too when she does.

Have a good week!

Happy Fall!

2011-09-25T22:00:00.000-04:00

It's only been Fall for a few days but we've been feeling it here for a couple weeks really. The nights are especially cool and the heat has been coming on most mornings. Other than that the weather has been really nice. It's sunny with just a few gray days so far and usually while I'm at school so it doesn't seem to bother me as much.

Speaking of school, we've been very busy in preparation for seeing students this coming week. I think I'm ready! I only have two schools this year instead of three but I'll actually be out of the building more days though not all day. The first week or so we are trying to work out the kinks so we'll see how it goes.

I had a three day weekend since Friday was a Developmental Day and aides aren't required to work. I used that day to run my errands so I've been able to do some things I wanted to do instead of had to do this weekend.

Like make these refrigerator pickles.

And make sure the onions were dried out a bit and ready to put in the basement for storage.

I did make a trip out to the garden yesterday afternoon. I was there for over two hours and it hardly looked like I'd been there at all when I left. I pulled up the spent tomato plants and brought the cages home. I had planned to pull some carrots but while I was there I decided I might as well pull them all and for two little packets of seeds I got lots of carrots. I've not sure if this is a worthwhile crop or not. The planting was easy and they didn't require much upkeep but the cleaning and putting up of them was pretty labor intensive. I was able to cut and freeze 3 large bags and then I had this large bag of whole carrots that I'll have to either use up or finish cutting up and freeze them too for soups and such.

I also picked two eggplants, some grape tomatoes and a few banana peppers.

The purple cabbage is coming in nicely. Mine is small compared to the community garden cabbages but I figure I still have another month left before we get a frost (fingers crossed) so they will have some time to grow yet. I also have lots of blossoms on my eggplants but I doubt I'll get any more of those, just too late in the season. I left the broccoli in too because it's still putting up new little arms and does well in cooler weather.

The pups were so happy to go to the high school field both days, on Saturday with H and today with Scott. This is before

this is after!

I also baked this today.

What? It's only a couple weeks late! Ok, I'm guilty. I was just really busy that first week of school and a bunch of other excuses but Scott really wanted me to bake him a cake so, today I did. It's a white cake with double fudge icing. Yum!!

Speaking of Scott, no, he hasn't gotten a new job yet. He's working 3-4 days at the warehouse still.

I love my iPad! It is the best thing I have ever, ever, ever bought!! I thought Oprah was exaggerating but NO, she wasn't! It is the best thing ever. Right now I'm on my computer but listening to music on my iPad. Curious minds might want to know what I'm listening to?? The NEW Stevie Nicks album, In Your Dreams. I just found out about it! How did I miss this? I love Stevie Nicks, love, love, love!

We also did this with it this weekend!

SO MUCH FUN!!

I also did a bit of this

The Tigers are playing so well and it's been fun to watch them win. Can't wait till the playoffs!

So, that's about all the news from Michigan. Here are a few signs of Fall's arrival.

The birds are still flocking to the feeders except I haven't seen a hummingbird all week.

This little squirrel was really enjoying the remains of the sunflower I picked from the flower bed. It was starting to get a bit moldy instead of drying out so I just threw it out in the backyard for the squirrels.

This isn't a sign of Fall, I just thought it was pretty!

Tonight for dinner we had coleslaw made with purple cabbage and carrots from the garden. We also had mashed potatoes made with potatoes from the garden. It was all so fresh and good! Yum!

Ok, this post is a lot of this and that and not much meat. Guess I'm done.

Have a good week!

And We're Off!!

2011-09-18T22:00:00.000-04:00

To the start of the school year, that is. It's been a whirlwind and as usual, I'm putting in extra time to get ready to start seeing students soon. We've been out testing and doing paper work because the rumor is we will be audited by the State this year and everything has to be in order.

Bunco has started up again and so has bowling. Friday night's bowling was rough. The team we bowled only had two bowlers there so they started out 20 below average and still we struggled to take just one point. Not a good start. I have to take responsibility for a large part as I didn't bowl well at all. I was tired and the ball felt like it weighed 50 pounds! Oh well, my average will go down, which will be good.

These guys are still hanging in there. Not as many this weekend but they are still coming. Yesterday I put up a nice full container and this morning it was empty! Darn racoons!! I'll have to remember to bring it in tonight so I don't have to make more nectar in the morning.

These guys are hitting the thistle feeder hard too. All their pretty bright yellow feathers have turned to brown and they are constantly at the feeder.

The weather has been cool. Usually the start to the school year is still in the summer heat but we had an early cool down and it's pretty much stayed around. I've tried so hard not to have to turn on the heater but after using just the fireplace a few evenings I finally had to give in the other morning when the outside temp got down in the 40's. That's just a little too chilly!!

Thankfully there's been no frost yet so we still have flowers around. This sunflower, courtesy of a squirrel is still shut tight.

This zinnina I planted from seed has finally come up but it's not looking too good.

The shrub roses are in their second or third bloom and will keep going until the first frost.

But if you look closely you can tell Fall is coming. This Japanese Maple is feeling it.

Last night we had company for dinner. We don't seem to do that much any more. In the old days we did it all the time but now, not so much. We invited a guy H works with and his wife. He's German, she's Brazilian. They've only been in the US for 15 days. They are young and well traveled. It was a nice evening though the shish-ka-bobs were a little dry, at least to me. It was a little too cool to eat on the deck but we managed to sit out there for a little while before dinner. Seems like it's either been too hot or too cold to use the deck much this year.

Just before our guests arrived I took the pups to the park for a little frisbee. They really needed to get out. Today they have followed me from room to room, looking at me hopefully.

Are we going?

Are we going now?

No, we aren't going. I'm not feeling it. Sorry.

I'm just hanging around at home, watching the birds.

Looking at what's left of the flowers.

Charlie was checking out this sunflower. It was another one planted by the squirrels. This one was out in my flower bed by the street.

Something has already decided it's yummy and helped themselves.

I'm just sittin' around watching the grass grow.

Watching the sun's reflection on the pond.

In other news, Scott is still searching for a job while he works part time in Moosejaw's warehouse. It's not too busy right now but they keep telling him it will pick up soon with the holidays coming.

Quinn's little life will be changing soon. Her mommy has decided to quit her job in order to spend more time with her.

She's growing and changing so fast I'm sure they will both enjoy this time together. She's talking like a little chatty kathy lately and singing and playing make believe. She's doing all those darling things almost two year olds do. Such a fun time for the happy little family. Can't wait to see them again in less than a month, if even for a few days.

We're not hearing much from Tyler in Korea. He's back in school after summer camp and their two week break. We miss him.

So, other than working, which pretty much takes it out of me, I will be at home, enjoying the last of the impatiens and hydrangeas. They won't be around much longer.

Have a good week (or two)!! :-)

The Last Day of Summer

2011-09-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

It's not officially the last day of summer but today it feels like it, both because of the Fall-like weather we're experiencing and because tomorrow is the first day of school here in our neck of the woods.

My impatiens are still beautiful because it hasn't been too cold at night.

These little guys are still hanging around so I'm keeping the feeder up.

We had a mostly uneventful week but a few crazy things happened. Thursday was an especially crappy day. I awoke to two piles of poop in the living room, later to be accompanied by two piles of vomit and then to top it all off, the air conditioning broke around 1:00 and it started getting hotter and hotter. By the time H came home it was 82 degrees in the house and pretty humid too. H checked things out and was able to diagnose the problem so we called our local repair guy and he said he'd be by the next afternoon. Not what we wanted to hear since the temp the next day was supposed to hit 95 but we had no choice. It was a very warm and uncomfortable night for sleeping. Then we had a nice surprise the next morning. About 7:15 the phone rang and it was the local repair guy stating that he was outside and believed he had fixed the unit and to turn it on. He was right! It was fixed. Thank goodness.
Sadly we ended that day by having to go to a wake for an acquaintance who lost his year long battle with cancer.

Saturday was a hot, sunny day and we ended up spending our last summer-like day at our friend's pool. It was a perfect way to end the summer season. We just relaxed by the pool all day and had an easy dinner of pizza.

Today I took the pups to the park since the weather had cooled down and the rain from yesterday had stopped. They were really enjoying themselves.

It all went well until we went home. I pulled into the garage, opened the door to let them out like I usually do and instead of heading toward the garage door Charlie shot around me and headed for the street and toward a woman walking her little poodle. Zoe caught on and was right after him heading toward the poodle too. By the time I ran out to the street Zoe was attacking (or trying to attack) the little dog and so was Charlie. I was able to grab Zoe but Charlie kept jumping away from me and finally the woman picked the dog up and Charlie was trying to jump up on her to try to get the dog. I finally grabbed him by the ear as that was all I could get and then was able to get his collar while profusely and sincerely apologizing to the woman. At this point I thought I had to walk in, just holding their collars, hoping they wouldn't get away from me. By the time I got in the house I was completely winded and gasping for breath, both from the tussle and from the anger. I was very unhappy with two very naughty dogs! And after I had been so nice and took them to the park and all! Brats!

After I recovered I decided I really should make a trip to the garden since it had been a week again since I was out there. My plan was to dig potatoes and that's exactly what I did. I also pulled onions, carrots, a few more green beans and one of my basil plants.

We had that big potato with dinner since when I was digging it up I accidentally put a gash in it. The guys reported that it was delish. I also made some pesto from the basil. I put it in the freezer as I'm not quite sure what I'm gonna use it for yet. I was also able to freeze some broccoli and carrots. I think I probably got 20 pounds of potatoes from those 10 little plants and some of them were huge. Like this one!

I still have 3 purple cabbage plants in the garden but I'm not sure if I'll actually get a head from them or not. If I do they will probably be small. The ones in the main garden look much bigger than mine right now.

And this little beauty finally pushed up past the carrots. It took a long time. Guess the carrots were overpowering it a bit.

Dinner tonight had quite a few things from the garden. We had a caprisi salad with grape tomatoes and basil from the garden. The boys split that huge potato. And we had bar-b-q ribs on the grill. It was a really good, fresh dinner. Too bad it wasn't a little warmer so we could have eaten outside!

So, tomorrow is the first day of school. I'm ready except for the part when I have to get up at 5:30. That's the only part I'm not looking forward to. I am looking forward to seeing all my friends and the kids. It's only a half day for the kids but a full day for teachers and staff. At least the kids will be tired so they'll be easier to manage!!

Have a good week!

Winding Down Summer...

2011-08-28T22:00:00.000-04:00

We had a wonderful week in Florida with family and friends. Coming back from that I find the letters from our Superintendent of schools and our Principal setting out the year's first week of school (for teachers and staff anyway) and realize summer is really almost over. :-(

Our flight was uneventful until the very last minute. The landing gear went down for just a few minutes and then they went right back up. The pilot announced we couldn't land because a nearby thunderstorm was causing windshear. We circled a few times and then the pilot announced we still couldn't land and now we were running out of fuel so we would have to fly to Orlando to refuel. Thirty minutes later we were in sunny Orlando, fueled up and waiting for the ok to return to Tampa. The time finally came and we headed back. Even though we were disappointed to arrive 2 hours late we couldn't really blame anyone except Mother Nature.

We had a very busy week and were blessed with fantastic weather. There were a few thunderstorms but we always expect those.

We went out to a nice dinner to celebrate Scott's college graduation and toast his future.

We ate popsicles and fudgesicles by the pool.

We took walks on the beach, every day. Some of us in the morning

Some of us in the evening, just in time to watch the sunset.

And there were some beautiful sunsets

We swam in the pool, a lot!

We visited with friends

Took a boat to Shell Island

Collected shells and played in the sand

We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed sharing Quinn's first beach experience.

Our last night Quinn said, "bye beach". I think she really enjoyed her first time with her toes in the sand.

Unfortunately, because of the threat of Hurricane Irene, it came to a quick end. Amber & Andy decided that instead of leaving at noon on Saturday they should take an earlier flight at 6:00 a.m. to try to get home before the storm hit. That made an early night for them since they had to get up at 3:30 to get to the airport by 6:00. They made it home without incident but did find a little damage once they got home due to the earthquake! Yes, earthquake! While we were in Florida Virginia experienced a 5.8 earthquake. I was glad they were all safe and sound in Florida.

It felt good to be home yesterday. It felt good to sleep in our own beds and even to come home to cooler temps. The pups were very happy to have us home again even though Scott came home on Tuesday and picked them up so they had been home for days. They were still happy to see us.

Today was spent trying to catch up with laundry, grocery shopping, taking the pups to the park and then heading out to the garden. I didn't take any pictures of the garden but it is a real mess. The weeds are intermingled with the veggies but I still managed to harvest a few things.

The tomatoes are still coming in

Look at this onion! It's huge!

I pulled these today but there are still a few more left in the garden.

There was more broccoli

And a few more green beans

I had the pups in the car with me since we were on our way back from the park so I couldn't stay too long but I think my potatoes are ready to harvest too and I have to start doing a little clean-up. I had a nice pumpkin growing but apparently in the last week the vine died and the little pumpkin shriveled up. So sad.

So, tomorrow is the big welcome back to school ceremony. I was only planning to work on Wednesday which is the official "meet the teacher" day but I guess I'm going to have to go tomorrow too.

Summer is definitely winding down and the first day of school is just around the corner.

Have a good week!

Another Week...

2011-08-14T22:00:00.000-04:00

Another week of summer, another week closer to school starting. This was a pretty quiet week. The weather was so nice I was able to leave the air conditioning off and windows open all week. It was a pretty slow week.

Not much happening. I joined a couple different friends for lunch, attended a little get-together for our new Principal which wasn't very well attended but still fun. Apparently most people are trying to get those last minute trips in before school starts.

On Wednesday I had to take Zoe and Charlie to the vet to get their Bordatello vaccine (which really isn't a vaccine since it's a liquid given through the nose) so that they can go into boarding next Saturday. First, I've never taken them to the vet together. I don't recall if this began intentionally but I don't think so. Right now Zoe has to go for her check-up and shots in October and Charlie goes in December. The trip this week had to be together though. First I had to make sure no other dogs were in the waiting room. Check. Then we made our way to the reception area and on to the scales individually. To say they were excited is an understatement. While waiting Charlie let out a bark every few minutes just to remind them we were there. I think the receptionist finally got his hint and before long we were in our exam room. The exams went without a problem, both were curious about what was happening to the other which was funny. While there I did ask the vet about Charlie's anxiety medicine and why it wasn't working.

He switched him to a new kind and we got a chance to try it out last night. Poor dog! He was so drugged up we were kind of worried about him. It relaxed his eyes so much they were droopy and so bloodshot! But I have to say, he was calm. I think next time I will give him just a half instead of a whole pill. The nice thing about the pill is it lasts for 12 hours instead of just 4 like the last one. Next time we have storms all night long he should be much calmer.

I saw our little kitty this past week. She didn't leave us any presents and she didn't stay around too long. I let the pups out on the deck after hearing what sounded like a Robin in some kind of distress and Miss Kitty ran off. I guess she was doing something the Robin didn't like because as soon as she was gone the Robin calmed down and quit squawking!
When I saw this guy from the top deck I thought maybe he was a victim of our kitty friend but I guess he was just taking a nap. He stirred when I made a noise and later when I came back he was gone so I guess he was ok.

Yesterday H and I made a trip out to the garden. We harvested some tomatoes but that was about it. I noticed a couple potato plants have died back so I'll be able to harvest those soon and probably the rest of the onions. Most of the tomato plants aren't looking too good. I had a lot of grape tomatoes which was nice and just a few plum. I won't have the big tomato harvest I've had in past years. I also got an email that the honey that our garden bees have made is ready for purchase. I can pick that up at the Parks & Rec office tomorrow. Last year they sold out before I was able to get some so I'm really gonna try to get down there and get some this year.

I guess that's all the excitement for this week.

I hardly even took any pictures. Oh, I almost forgot, one exciting thing! This coming week is Scott's final week of college!! He has a final on Tuesday and THEN HE IS DONE!! WOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!! We are definitely going to celebrate. This is a red letter day! All 3 Mitchell children have finally (or will next week) graduated from college!! H and I have decided to celebrate next week on our vacation. And then Scott's job search will begin. Thankfully he already has a part-time job that he's also starting next week but he'll still continue looking for a REAL job!

We are counting down to our vacation at our time share in Florida.

I'm hoping we have much nicer weather than last year. I'm also so looking forward to spending time with Quinn and her Mama and Dada. They are coming down for the week too. We will also see some extended family members this week too and we can't wait to see them. This time next week we'll be sitting next to the pool with Margaritas!

Have a good week!

Birthdays and Garden Report

2011-08-07T22:00:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure where the week has gone but it flew by quickly. It took a little while to catch my breath after Amber and Quinn left on Thursday. Taking care of Quinn while her mama was in New York went just fine but I have to admit anytime she took a nap or when she went to bed I used that time to catch my breath and rest up. That girl is a whirling dervish!

I know she looks like an angel here. She takes her piano playing seriously. She doesn't bang and she listens to what she's playing! And, just so you know, I didn't put her up here so she could play the piano. She climbed up all by herself and just started playing. She's very independent like that! I think she'll be asking her Daddy for her own piano real soon!

So even though she has tons of energy and never stops moving (unless Elmo is on) she is also a joy and so much fun to be with. Can't wait until we see her again in just a couple weeks!

I haven't seen our resident kitty in the last couple weeks but we do have proof of her visits. We found another dead mole in the side yard and then this week there was another one on the welcome mat on the front porch! In fact, I almost stepped on it when I went out there to water some flowers. So, for those keeping track, that's 4 moles caught and killed now! She's doing a fabulous job! Those things tear up the yard like crazy and have been in our front yard for years. Keep up the good work kitty!!

Today I made a trip out to the garden. It had been a week again and things have really grown up. Sadly one of my tomato bushes was loaded with tomatoes but they had all split and I had to throw them all away, I was able to harvest a bunch of other goodies though, including these grape tomatoes and lots of carrots.

I also decided to pull some onions though I'm not really sure I should have yet.

They are big enough and they look great but after I picked them and came home I googled onion harvesting and they said you should wait until the tops die back and then pull them. I guess I'll try both ways and see how they do. They are beautiful though and huge compared to last year's crop. I guess that bulb food really helped.

Sadly I did notice that the community part of the garden isn't looking too good, at least part of it. It's full of weeds and you couldn't even see the tomato plants for the weeds. I guess people aren't able to get out there to help out much this year. I know I haven't been out there to put in any community time yet either. Hopefully this week I can go out and help harvest for the farmer's market on Saturday.

Somebody had a birthday yesterday.

The birthday boy turned 4 yesterday but we didn't have much of a celebration for him.

The day passed fairly quietly for him though Scott did take him to the park for a quick run which made him extremely happy.

Look what I finally got today!

Actually we went to Tennessee a month ago to pick up the swing and the plan was to just put it on my old frame. But once H looked at the old frame and tried to patch it up, he decided that it just wasn't good enough and went about finding the material to make me a completely new frame too. It's taken a while, him being a perfectionist and all, but today he finally put it together and the swing is now operational and in place for my swinging enjoyment!!

I've still got a couple closets to clean out before school starts again. Hopefully I can get on that this week plus fit in a few other things. And swing on my new swing, maybe get back out to the garden (and remember my camera) and enjoy the outdoors. The weatherman is predicting cooler temps this week so I'm hoping to open up the windows and give the air conditioner a rest.

Have a good week!

Good-bye July...

2011-07-31T22:00:00.000-04:00

Wow, that month flew by! Why does summer seem to pass so fast and winter just drags, especially around March??

I've managed to get a few more things cleaned out and organized, worked in the yard and the garden

zucchini casserole (before)

zucchini casserole (after)

and caught up with a few friends for lunch.

This past week we have been super busy because these special girls arrived a week ago!

This was shortly after they arrived and someone didn't get a long enough nap. She rarely falls asleep like this so you know she must have been tired!

Once she caught up on her sleep we have been on the go, non-stop!
We've gone swimming a few times

Visited the garden

Gone to the park

Taken Charlie to the park

Eaten more popsicles that we can count (they are sugar free which is a good thing because we are on a second box)

Climbed the stairs dozens of time and sat on them innocently while reading her books

Practiced finger painting. Apparently she doesn't like it when they do it at day care but she had absolutely no problem with it here, until it was clean-up time and then she wasn't too happy.

Celebrated Grandpa's birthday

Went to a baby shower for a friend who is having her first grand-child in September

Played farm with Uncle Scotty

Plus lots of other things that I didn't get pictures of like going for walks around the block, riding the merry-go-round with Grandpa at the mall, going to a dairy farm and visiting the cows and eating ice cream there, playing with and chasing Charlie and Zoe all around the house (those dogs are saints) coloring, singing, and dancing.

It's been really hot here but during the two days of rain we did have I saw these little cuties crossing the street to get from the pond behind our house to the pond behind the houses across the street. So cute!

So it's been a week since the girls arrived and this morning Amber left for a few days of work in NYC but Quinn stayed behind with Mimi and Grandpa. We will take care of her until Wednesday night when Mommy comes back and then they will leave for Virginia the next morning. What a nice long visit!!

I'm sure I'm gonna need a few days of rest at the end of the week. Taking care of an 18 month old is exhausting! She is such a busy girl, running from one activity to the next and expecting us to keep up with her!

I should probably get to bed soon. I'm gonna need all the energy I can get for the next 3 days! Wish me luck!

Have a good week!

Horses & Four Wheelers

2011-07-17T21:00:00.000-04:00

We left for Tennessee Friday morning, taking a route south that is less traveled. You only have to go through two larger cities, Indianapolis and Louisville. The drive through both wasn't bad at all and the rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. We arrived at my aunt and uncle's place around dinner time.

These beautiful creatures are in the pasture right across from their house. The horses don't belong to them but to a neighbor but they graze on my aunt and uncle's land. The pinto is a gelding and the other two mares. They were tolerant of petting but only because they thought you might have a treat. You couldn't get too close because we were separated by an electric fence!

Then we went for a ride on this four wheeler.

I was hesitant until H had a little practice. We rode down a country road where we saw a deer and a huge owl swooped over our heads and across the road.

Part of our trip was just like last summer when we visited but we enjoy these things when we go there. The hummingbirds are always special.

They hang 3 large feeders every day and by the end of the day they are empty. The birds fly in and out all day long.

We also love going to the lake.

It was a perfect day for it. We drove out to a little cove and enjoyed a swim. The water was the perfect temperature. For a Saturday afternoon/evening it was not very crowded on the lake which was great! We ate dinner out on the boat, relaxed a while and then headed back to shore.

The main purpose of the visit was to pick up a beautiful wooden swing that my uncle made for me. (No, this isn't the new swing, this is the 20+ year old one) We had to disassemble it to fit it in H's trunk but we made it home with no problem. We thought it would be a simple switch out since I have a swing that is 20+ years old which needed to be replaced but we thought the frame would be ok.

I guess upon further investigation H declared it was not ok and needed to be replaced. He worked all day yesterday on building a new one but it's taking longer than expected. Pictures soon.

Yesterday morning Scott and I headed out to the garden for some serious weeding. Shortly after H joined us and we all spent the next hour+ cleaning things up. I harvested this beautiful broccoli (two heads) and some zucchini.

H thought this crazy little carrot looked like a tooth.

So far I've gotten about 5 zucchini's with the promise of more as there are lots of flowers blooming.

Speaking of blooming, the clematis is in full bloom

and these beautiful lillies bloom every year even though I try to pull them out every year too. They just keep coming back.

This little guy showed up about a week ago.

I think he was probably the one responsible for the two dead moles we found on the front porch two weekends ago. I've caught him a couple times just sitting under the bird feeders which I don't really like. Thankfully I haven't found any dead birds out there yet. He's very unusual looking.

I decided to do a little research and I swear he looks just like this exotic cat I found when Googling.

According to the research this is a very unusual and rare breed of cat. So what the heck is he doing in our neighborhood? He has a very odd tail. It's like a half tail. Not bobbed but just half a tail.

He's really not afraid when I come out on the deck, he just slowly walks away.

It was a beautiful week last week. We were able to have the air conditioning off and the windows open all week long! That all changed yesterday and this coming week is going to be brutal. One day next week is supposed to be 99! I don't think it's ever been that hot here since we've lived here. No windows will be open next week and the air conditioning will be running full blast! Instead of working in the garden or the yard I will be working in the house, decluttering and other fun stuff like that.

At the end of the week we have a special treat to look forward to! More about that later...

Have a good week!

Well, Hello July!! :-)

2011-07-07T21:00:00.000-04:00

Hello July, my favorite month! June went by so quickly and I was so busy. When I returned from Virginia I went straight into summer school for two weeks. It was only 4 days each week but it still didn't provide for much of a break. I wasn't teaching but was more like a floater, getting things for people as they needed and filling in when they needed a break. It included a field trip each week, one to a dairy farm and another to a nature center. It was pretty steamy still at school so that was another negative, for me anyway.

I also squeezed in a little baking (this batch of English muffins turned out much better than the last)

Bought myself a Mother's day/Birthday/Anniversary/Christmas present

It's an iPad 2 and I absolutely love it! It's so much fun. One of the most fun things I can do with it is called "facetime". It allows you to video chat with someone (Quinn) who also has one. It's been lots of fun.

I've also been out to the garden quite a bit. Things are coming along pretty well.

The radishes have gone to seed and I just pulled them out today. The potatoes and carrots are growing like crazy though!

Broccoli is doing well. I just harvested a head today. Except for one strange thing that happened last week. I went to the garden after a week away expecting to find a nice head of broccoli waiting for me and it had been broken off. No sign of animals and it was the only thing missing. I mentioned it to the master gardener out there but he didn't know what might have happened to it. Hmmmmm, strange...

Tomatoes are coming along, slowly. I've harvested one small one so far.

The onions are doing great this year. They haven't gone to seed yet and it looks like the bulbs will be bigger this year, hopefully.

H's gardenia tree is doing well. It's loaded with blossoms right now and every day 2 or 3 more flowers open up.

The hostas are HUGE and the hydrangeas are starting to bloom.

This little house wren has decided to set up housekeeping in my bird house. I woke up yesterday morning to their very distinct song and them flying in and out of the house. At least I think they've set up housekeeping. I can't say I've seen or heard them in there today. Guess I'll have to do some investigating.

And this morning I looked out the window and saw the Mother duck and her almost completely grown gaggle of babies out on the pond. I counted 7 plus Mom but couldn't get a very good picture of them all together. They were quite busy catching bugs on the long grass and diving under water to get whatever was under there too.

So, that's what we've been up to, in a nutshell. H took this last week off to get a few things done around the house. He repaired some wood trim that the woodpeckers have decided were hiding some tasty treats and stained the deck. I've planted a few more flowers around the house and tended to the ones that are finally starting to grow.

We enjoyed a beautiful 4th of July with our friends at their pool. I didn't take the camera that day but the company was good, the pool perfect and the food delish. We made ribs and some salads to go along with them. I'd never made ribs before but they turned out well so I think I'll try them again soon.

In other news, our little sweetheart had her first serious boo boo a couple weeks ago.

After a trip to the ER where both Mommy and Daddy were troopers and made it through though it was more traumatic for them than Quinn, and after the stitching was all done, and thanks to the work of a very gifted plastic surgeon, she is good as new.

I'm sure I've skipped a few things that have happened in the last 3 weeks but those are the highlights.

Since H has 4 more days of vacation left we are headed out in the morning for a little road trip. Scott will be holding down the fort and pup sitting.

Details soon...

It's Been A While...and Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T22:30:00.000-04:00

So... school ended June 9. The kids were only there in the morning. I spent the rest of the day cleaning things up in our room and packing up what we could. The ESL department is moving across the hall to a bit bigger room!

The next morning, bright and early, I was on a plane jetting my way to Virginia. Quinn and I spent a little Mimi/Baby time together. Saturday Amber & Andy headed off to San Francisco for a few days of adult time. Quinn and I got busy right away having some girl fun~

We read books together, went swimming in the pool, took walks looking for puppies or birds or anything else we could find.

We went to the park and out to dinner together.

We had a wonderful time and I so enjoyed spending one on one time with my sweet little granddaughter!

I stayed on a few more days spending time with Amber, Andy and Quinn.

I enjoyed my visit but being away from home (and my own bed) for 8 days was a long time. A couple fluffballs missed me, at least a little.

They stayed pretty close to me all last evening.

Today (Father's Day) started off with a nice breakfast for H, a little bacon, eggs and some toast. Then he went his way and I went mine. H headed off to pick up some special ingredients for something he wanted to make for dinner. I headed off to try to find some herbs to put in the garden and anything else that was left out there, and let me tell you, there wasn't much left.

After that H and I went out to the garden to see how things were growing. I hadn't been out there in two weeks and man, things were a mess.

We pulled lots of weeds but there are still lots left.

I'll have to get back out there next week and pull some more.

Things seem to be growing slowly right now. Except for this thing!

Look at the size of this radish!

Then it was time to get home to start dinner. H made this Gazpacho (from scratch) with the tomatoes we canned last summer.

It was good, kind of like a nice salsa to me but he did a great job.

Then I made him his favorite cookies for dessert!

I have lots to do this week and I'm not sure how I'll get it all accomplished but I guess I'll just do what I can. Tomorrow is the first day of summer school for me. It actually started last week but I'm only working next week.

Then I'm really gonna get started on cleaning those closets!

Here's a few more, just for you Tyler!!

Have a good week!

Happy June!!!

2011-06-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

It's finally June and it's feelin' like it! It's been a warm week but not unbearable. Yesterday was a different story, hot and sticky. Now today not as bad but still very warm, 80's. These next few days though the weather will be in the high 80's and without air conditioning at school it will be very warm.

Now that the weather report is out of the way we can move on. This last week was the last week we worked with students. Next week will be mostly finishing up paper work and packing so our room can be moved. I'm not sure if that will be at the beginning or end of summer but I'm pretty sure I won't be there for it.

This little bugger has been quite a pest this week.

It's bad enough that he gets into my bird feeder all the time but then he also drained my hummingbird feeder. The final straw was pulling it off the hook and throwing it on the ground! Little rat! The only way I was able to keep him away was by soaking some paper towels in vinegar and wrapping them around the bar on the feeder. He didn't seem to like that at all. I haven't seen him now for a few days.

Today I went with a friend on a tour of wonderful homes in our town. There were 5 homes, 2 old ones and 3 newer homes. One was quite spectacular. It was on 100 acres very close to town. There was a beautiful horse barn and indoor riding arena. We were told that the owners had 16 horses but only 8 were there right now because the other 8 were being taken up north to the owner's private island. Ok, must be nice! Anyway, we had a nice time together and I really enjoyed the day!

When I got home H and I ran out to the garden. With all this hot weather I wanted to make sure my seeds were coming up and nothing had died. The tomatoes aren't looking all that good yet. The Master Gardener tells me that the nights are still too chilly for tomatoes to thrive. The potatoes are looking pretty good though.

I seriously need some straw though.

The carrots and radishes are doing well too. The broccoli was just starting to get the little heads started.

And look at this beauty!

I had it in my salad for dinner tonight! We watered everything and then left. The big garden plant is next Saturday.

When we got home from the garden I took the pups where they had been wanting to go since early Saturday morning! To play frisbee!!

It didn't take long to tucker them out and we were soon on our way back home.

Only 4 more days of school; 3-1/2 with kids. Then Friday morning I am on my way to an adventure for the next week! More about that later. :-)

Have a good week!

Hot, sticky and very busy time...

2011-05-31T22:00:00.000-04:00

It all started last Wednesday when Quinn and Amber flew into town! I took Thursday off from work but we weren't really able to do much. Quinn had been sick during the night and threw up several times, Amber had to work and it poured down rain all day long!

We still found a little fun though. Quinn and I listened to Beyonce's Single Ladies many times over!

Friday I went back to work and Amber and Quinn headed over to the west side of the state to hang out with Quinn's other Grandparents and various aunts, uncles and cousins! It just wasn't her weekend though because she ended up at urgent care over there and was diagnosed with an ear infection and swollen throat! Just not her weekend!

Saturday and Sunday we just spent around the house but did manage a trip out to the garden to finish planting some veggies and our marigolds. We also did a little weeding but I think whatever weeds were trying to come up drowned last week with all the rain we had!

Amber and Quinn came back on Monday, Quinn was feeling better and we made up for lost time! It was a really hot day so we decided it would be a good time for Quinn to have her first ride in the Mustang with the top down.

We were desperately trying to find a park with a baby swing but instead found a water park.

Quinn and Grandpa took a quick stroll around but it wasn't really her thing plus we didn't have her bathing suit. We decided next summer or the one after might be a better time for this place.

When we got home we decided it was a good time for another first. Quinn's first popsicle.

She liked it so much she had another one a little while later!

There's always time for a little puppy love on the deck!

The deck turned out to be a pretty fun place. You can watch the birds and chipmunks.

Stretch!!

Your best friends can join in the chipmunk watching with you.

All too soon the fun was over. Quinn and Amber left this morning to head back home. Quinn learned to go up and down the stairs this trip. And let me tell you, this girl is quick. She would disappear and in just the few seconds it took to go see where she had gone she was up those 15 stairs! The child as no fear!

Come back soon girls! We can never get enough of you!

Only 6-1/2 more days of school!!

Have a good week!

Brief Break in the Weather...and a really good week

2011-05-22T22:00:00.001-04:00

After so much rain I thought we might need to start building an ark, Friday started off dry enough so we could have Field Day at school at least! It was actually quite warm out in the field if you stood out there long enough.

I also got three pieces of great news on Friday. First we found out that our ESL department made 100% for our spring testing. The other girls said they had never achieved that in the past years. Then I found out that the student I tutor every morning and work with throughout the day, moved up 4 levels in reading! That's amazing. Then at the end of the day we found out who our new Principal will be next year and she was definitely in my top three! It was a really good week!

Saturday morning we headed to the Farmer's Market early. I wanted to see if we could find some more broccoli plants and as a bonus we found two hanging baskets for a great price. At our neighborhood nursery the baskets were $24.99 each. At the farmer's market they were 2 for $28. And look how beautiful they are!

Later in the day I headed out to the garden while H and Scott worked on cleaning the patio furniture and power washing the deck. It was really hot out at the garden and thankfully the the deer fencing was up! I got lots planted but left a little room for a few more things. I planted tomatoes, peppers, onions, broccoli, zucchini and cucumbers. My potatoes, radishes and carrots are coming up nicely.

Today is really warm. This afternoon when I took the pups up to the field my car thermometer said 84! We are expecting thunderstorms later today and that will cool things off a bit. Next week is only expected to be in the high 60's most of the week. This weather is crazy!

We are all looking forward to this coming week. Our little sweetie, along with her Mommy, is coming for a visit.

They will only be here a day and two nights then head over to the west coast to visit the other grandparents and some of Andy's siblings and Quinn's cousins. Then they will come back this way on Monday and fly back home on Tuesday. It will be nice to spend even a little time with them!

These two are ready!

Park anyone??

Only 3 more weeks of school! WooHoo! All the year end activities are coming up so it's really feeling like the school year is almost over. This is my last week traveling to other buildings and soon we will start packing up our room. We are expecting to move across the hall to a bigger room for next year. Fingers crossed!

Have a good week!

Rough Week...

2011-05-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

The weather has been crazy this week. We had thunderstorms several nights and when that happens Charlie doesn't sleep and therefore I don't sleep. He vibrates and pants and is up and down on the bed. Some of the storms seemed to take hours to leave town. Rough.

Thursday was the day I was on the committee to interview our new principal. It was interesting and at the end I was exhausted. I hope we picked well. We had to choose our top 3 and some of us struggled with that.

Friday night was our last bowling for the season. We ended up in 7th place which is about the middle of the pack. Our winnings were just enough to pay for dinner after bowling at Outback.

We had two really hot days this week. Thursday and Friday the temps were up near the 80's. I even turned on the air conditioning Thursday when I got home from school. It didn't last though and Saturday morning there was rain forecast for the rest of the weekend and much of next week.

It's been much colder too with temps in the 50's and low's even colder, near 40. I was really hoping to make it out to the garden and plant some of my veggies but it was just too soggy.

Instead they still sit on the porch. Maybe next weekend.

The tulips are finally blooming though. They look so pretty. I only wish I had removed the dead annual grass before they started.

And my dogwood is trying to bloom. I'm not sure if this tree is going to do very well this year. The flowers and leaves seem pretty slim this year.

The birds are everywhere. They empty the feeders almost as quickly as I fill them, with a little help from their friends, the squirrels.

On Saturday I called the vet to find out if there was something I could get to help Charlie with this anxiety he has during thunderstorms. Someone at Bunco the other night told me there was a drug that really helps. The vet called back to tell me I could pick up the scrip and have it filled at my local pharmacy. It's a generic Prozac-type drug and even the pharmacist said she has given it to her dog and it helped.

I thought we were going to have a storm Saturday night so I gave him one but the storm never quite made it here so I don't know if it worked or not but I did waste one pill!

Zoe was very disappointed that because of the continuous rain there was no trip to the park this weekend.

Not happy at all.

Only four weeks until summer vaca!!

Have a good week!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T21:00:00.000-04:00

I've had a lovely Mother's Day. I've had a lovely weekend actually. Contrary to what the weather forecasters predicted late last week, the weekend has been glorious! The temp has been in the low 70's, sunny, perfect!

I started the day out today with a surprise call from Tyler! Apparently you can actually make phone calls on Skype. Who knew? I almost didn't answer the call since called id said the number was "unavailable" but I'm sure glad I did. I miss you son and it was so good to talk to you today.

While I was talking to Tyler, Amber called. She and her little family are visiting family in Tennessee this weekend and they were on the road. She sent me a sweet little necklace that said "Mimi" on it. So cute.

Then Scott offered to go get me my favorite breakfast, a sausage biscuit from McDonalds. Unfortunately we had waited too late and breakfast was over so he brought me a small fry instead. It's the thought that counts, right? I loved his thoughtful card though.

It's been a nice, quiet day. I've been on the deck doing a lot of reading. H and I took a trip to the garden to plant potatoes. Sadly, the stupid electric fence is still not hooked up so I still haven't been able to plant my broccoli or lettuce. H put in a few hours out there yesterday building a pergola.

The pergola is nice but let's just say a fence would have been more useful.

We also took the Mustang for a ride yesterday with the top down. We drove out to a nursery and picked up some onions slips, peppers and squash plants. Right now they are on the porch, at least for a couple more weeks, just in case we have a late freeze. We (well, H really) also bought this lovely Gardenia tree.

It looked a little worse for wear but was on sale. I think with a little tlc we can bring it back to it's former beauty!
It has a couple flowers on it now and some nice buds that will open soon.

Not much else is going on around here. I do have one really exciting thing to look forward to this week. I have been selected to sit in on the interviews for our building Principal. One teacher, one support staff, one parent and the building secretary from our building were chosen. I've never done this before so I don't really know what to expect but it should be interesting. I hope we have some good candidates to choose from.

The pups got to go to the high school field both days. I took them on Saturday and Scott took them for me today. Yesterday they had a collision and Zoe came back with a bleeding tongue!

It was dripping blood all over and she got a few drips on her chest and Charlie ended up with some drips on his foot. Thankfully she didn't loose any teeth and it stopped quickly.

I can't believe we only have 5 weeks of school left. Summer vaca will be here before we know it!!

Have a good week!

Happy May! :-)

2011-05-01T21:00:00.002-04:00

There's nothing much new this week and I almost just blew off this post completely. But when I started to think a little I decided there were a few things to blog about but no pictures really.

Friday night was our last night of real bowling, position night. We were in 7th place and fought hard for 3 points. We could end up anywhere from 4th to 6th, hopefully. We bowl again in two weeks but that will just be for fun. It will be 9-pin No Tap which is a good game for me since at least half of the balls I throw can knock down at least 9 pins! I should have a super high score!

Saturday morning H and I headed out to the farmer's market. Since it was the last day of April I was hoping people would start bringing their seedlings, etc. There wasn't much there at all. A few people had some herbs but I'm not ready to put those out yet so I figured I could wait a bit. I decided to head out to the local nursery after that to see what they had. I had a little better luck there. They had lots of lettuce so now I have my porch lettuce out.

I also picked up some broccoli and cucumbers and a few tomato plants. It's still too early for the cucumbers and tomatoes but I was really hoping to get the broccoli planted out in the garden.

So, out to the garden I went today. I was hoping by now the deer fencing would be up. I received an email about a month ago saying they were starting it. When I got out to the garden this afternoon there was no sign of any progress of any kind. Well, I take that back. It looks like they had built some compost bins in a very inconvenient location, far from the gardens (whose idea was that?) but no sign of fencing, new or old. When I got to my plots I could see recent evidence that the deer having been meandering through my section of the garden as there were all sorts of footprints through both my plots. So, I wasn't able to plant the broccoli or lettuce I had but I did plant carrot and radish seeds. I also turned over both plots and that took about an hour and I will definitely feel that pain tomorrow. I hope the lettuce and broccoli will keep another week and hopefully they will make some progress on the fencing by then. After all, it's May 1, time to get planting!!

The pups got to get out for a little frisbee both days. They were so happy.

Zoe has been worrying me a little lately though. Yesterday after we got home she was walking very stiff-legged and slow. She goes full bore at the park and then walks like an old lady.

I guess now that she's 7 and officially a senior citizen I'm gonna have to take it a little easy on her.

So, that's pretty much it. Oh wait, I haven't really talked about the weather!! What would a post be without weather-talk. We've had lots of rain and a few nights of thunderstorms. Last night Charlie was acting like we were having thunderstorms. He woke me up a few times panting and shaking but I never did hear anything that sounded like thunder. It's supposed to rain this next week too and be mostly in the 50's. It's time to have a little more warmth!! The good news is the trees are starting to bud out a bit and everything is looking pretty green. And the peepers are still peeping at night.

Have a good week!

More Signs of Spring...and Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T21:00:00.000-04:00

First, Happy Easter. We don't do as much around here to celebrate as we did when the kids were little. I bought Scott a chocolate bunny, H some Almond Joy eggs and only made a slight effort at an Easter dinner. I did make these today since we had some extra eggs.

And we had some leftover ham in the freezer to I warmed that up and made these! I just love popovers!

So we had a pretty decent weekend, for late April. Late April, I can't believe it's late April already. Only one more week until MAY! The sun was in and out and the temps were in the high 60's. We had thunderstorms Friday night which I might have slept through except Charlie was panting and vibrating so neither of us got much rest.

Saturday H broke out his baby and took it for a couple drives.

Then he helped me in the yard and we got a couple flower beds cleaned out and got the rose bushes trimmed back.

Then I saw this.

And this.

And when I finally saw this today

I knew Spring had really sprung and things were only going to be looking up from here on in.

I took the pups to the high school field on Saturday and today. Yesterday was a little soggy and they came back with wet, slightly muddy paws. Today was a little better and they had loads of fun!

So that's it for this week. Countdown to May!!

Have a good week!

Early Spring Happenings...

2011-04-17T22:00:00.001-04:00

It's been a relatively uneventful week. Now that testing is winding down we are back to our normal ESL schedules, except for a snafu at the high school level which required all three of us aides to make an emergency run and finish testing that a teacher couldn't manage. The good news is the testing is completed, on time. It's also the time of year when layoff notices are being handed out. Several teachers, who have also received them the last couple years, are receiving them again. Chances are they will be rehired but you never know for sure. So far the ESL department appears to be safe. Our money comes from Title III funding, federal level, and so far we haven't heard of any cuts. Time will tell though what our numbers will be for next year as this population seems to fluctuate from year to year. I really love this job so I hope it lasts for another year.

Friday night was bowling and I won't go into too much detail except to say it was ugly and painful and we beat ourselves and deserved to lose all 4 points. No one on our team really bowled well and as usual, we brought out the best in the other team and they creamed us! Next time is position night and I think we will finish somewhere near the middle of the 14 teams, hopefully.

We are still seeing some signs of spring but this weekend it's been cold and gray. Oh wait, the sun just popped out! Maybe this day will turn out ok. Although the forecasters are predicting "snow showers" later in the week along with thunderstorms. We also have a high wind advisory for today. It's takes Spring a while to make up it's mind here in Michigan. The grass is greening up though and my tulips and daffodils are making a valiant effort to push up toward the sun!

Here are my Hyacinths almost ready to bloom! Guess it's time to clean out those Fall leaves.

I think that super warm day we had last Sunday helped everything along. I even noticed one of my rosebushes starting to get some little branch buds on it.

Of course the wild life comes and goes. Here's just a sampling of things I've seen around the house this week.

There were two pairs of Wood ducks by the feeder. The picture isn't that great since I took it out the kitchen window.

They have the prettiest markings!

One male kept trying, and finally managed, to chase the other pair off. The girls stayed out of it!

This young mourning dove sat on the deck railing for a long time just watching me at the sink.

This egret was out on the pond for quite some time.

These two ducks landed right in front of him and he just stood there.

He was quite busy and there will probably be a few less peepers peeping this evening on the pond.

I took the pups to the field this afternoon. It was really windy and therefore really cold but they had fun, as usual. I thought Charlie was going to run for the hills one time when the wind was whistling through the bleachers on the football field but he finally stopped, turned around and came back to me.

I managed to cross off most of the things on my to-do list this weekend. I had hoped to get out to the garden and maybe plant onions but that will have to wait. It was just too cold and windy. I have Friday off for Good Friday so maybe it will be a little warmer then. I also bought carrot and radish seeds today and I would like to get them planted too. Maybe I'll even head out to the nursery and see if any early lettuce or broccoli are in. I'm already planning (in my head at least) where I'm going to plant what this year and what all I'm going to plant based on what worked and what didn't last year. It's almost the end of April! It's got to warm up sometime, right?

Have a good week.

First Things First...

2011-04-10T21:00:00.000-04:00

First, let me just say, since all I've done the past 6 months is complain about our Michigan weather, today is an ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS PERFECT DAY!! As I begin writing this post on Sunday at about 4:00 p.m., the sun has been out most of the day, the birds are chirping, the peepers are peeping, kids are playing outside and the temp is about 78 degrees!! Don't get too excited. That's just today's temp. The rest of the week will be in the 50's and tonight and tomorrow we are expecting thunderstorms and rain but today, TODAY, is wonderful!! I'll have to stop writing in a few minutes and finally take the pups to the high school field as they have been patiently waiting all afternoon. (Ok, when I took them to the field, which they thoroughly enjoyed, the thermometer in my car registered 82 degrees!!) They didn't last long. Too much heat too quickly and they are beat!

I wish we could have had some of this kind of weather last week during my Spring break and when Amber & Quinn were here. It was cold and gray and windy and rainy much of the time they were here. The one day we ventured outside and tried to take Quinn to the school playground for a little swing time, her teeth were actually chattering and we couldn't stay long.

Also unfortunately Quinn wasn't feeling too well most of the week. She had been fighting off a cold and after a pretty sleepless night on Wednesday we took her to the Dr. on Thursday to discover a pretty bad ear infection. :-( Poor baby! After that she was doctored up with drops, antibiotic, benedryl and tylenol. Amber wanted her feeling better for the return trip home. It's no fun flying (for Amber or Quinn) when someone has an earache.

Since we couldn't get out and go much, we enjoyed our time at home. Quinn had a great time with Charlie, as always. They are good buddies and I am so thankful that he's so good with her. He's very tolerant and puts up with all her baby ways like stepping on his feet, poking at his eyes and pulling on his fur. He loves her (and all the goodies she can provide him with.)

She also had her first experience in a big tub, a really big tub!!

We had this blow up duckie tub but every time Amber put her in it she would cry. Finally Amber tried her in the big tub, even though she had to get in there with her, and she loved it!

At one point the whole family was in there together watching her enjoy bath time!

The rest of the time we just hung out here at the house while Amber worked.

Playing piano with Mama.

Grandpa was home part of the time too.

They were blowing bubbles here. He took a couple afternoons off and Friday but Amber worked every day except Thursday and we took a little trip to the mall that day and that's also the day we had to take Quinn to the Dr.

Reading books in the office while Mimi was on her computer. Then she would come up to me and say "uh, uh, uh". That meant I needed to put Beyonce's Single Ladies on so we could have our dance party!!

More reading (in the great chair we found at Salvation Army for like $2)

Some good friends stopped by for a visit.

Playing with toys.

More play time with Zoe & Charlie on the deck. Zoe isn't quite sure about Quinn. Sometimes she gets a little rough and Zoe is sensitive. Zoe chooses to just walk away, which is good.

However, Quinn chooses to follow her.

She finally catches up. Zoe never does anything except send me this forlorn look like "can't you help me out, Mom?"

Some Mama time, with Zoe supervision.

Quinn and her buddy, Charlie.

Help me Uncle Scotty.

She loved chasing Uncle Scotty around the house.

We all love having this sweet little face around, even Zoe.

It was a great way to spend Spring Break. Just wish we had some warmer weather.

So now Spring Break is over and after today it's really going to start feeling like Spring. After all, I'm wearing capri's today and I actually painted my toe nails (just a stop-gap measure until I can get a real pedicure) and I've been hearing this wonderful sound the last few nights (and all day today).

Once I hear this sound for a few nights I'm convinced. Spring has sprung and warmer weather must be on the way! At school the countdown will begin counting down the first day of summer vacation. It's really only 2 months away! That's not long at all!

Have a good week!

The Long Wait ...

2011-03-27T22:00:00.000-04:00

The long wait continues. It's officially Spring. It's really cold here. Most days are freezing, right at freezing or below freezing. One plus, the sun has been out lately providing a slow melt of each new snow we get which thankfully is only an inch or so each time.

Sometimes you see positive signs so you know it's coming.

Then you are reminded that winter still has an "icy" grip!

It's been a quiet week and weekend. With H gone I haven't cooked dinner much. It's funny, when he is home and I cook for us, Scott is rarely home to each with us. This week he seemed to be home every night always asking "what's for dinner"? My answer was, "not much" or "where do you want to go". With H coming home tonight, dinner is already in the oven. One of the few things I've heard from him is he was tired of Korean Bar-B-Q!

I've chatted with my little sweet heart almost every night at dinner time. She's actually requesting to "talk" to her Mimi while she's eating. although she doesn't say much.

I think she just likes to see me for a few minutes, have me entertain her a little, see Charlie and Zoe, crazy Uncle Scotty and when she's finished eating, she blows me a kiss and says "bye bye dada". I love it! I hear she says "bye bye dada" to everyone, including DaDa.

Today I took the pups up to the high school field but we didn't stay long. To start, I saw a truck parked by the soccer field which meant someone was already there with at least one other dog and could appear at any time. That's never good. That means that Charlie could take off on me at any time. We played for about 10 minutes then came home before he could run off.

When we got home I decided to take Charlie for a walk. Now that I don't have any more foot pain I figured I should really try to start walking again. He was a complete spaz. Even though Scott supposedly walks him now and then, he was all over the place. It took a bit of time to remind him how he's supposed to behave on a leash! He finally got it though and walked nicely. We only walked for about 20 minutes. That was about all both of us could take.

So now the countdown begins. Only 5 days of school and then we are on our Spring Break. A whole week off and I'm really hoping for some decent weather. Not in the 70's, (let's be realistic) but how about some 50's?? We are having a special little visitor (plus our lovely daughter) and I would love to be able to take her to the zoo or on a walk without freezing!

Please Spring, please join us for just a week! The weather this coming week is supposed to be above freezing at least. I'm hoping it holds out for a little longer.

Have a good week!

Happy Spring, Happy Pups, Happy Family & Happy Birthday!!

2011-03-20T22:00:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's officially Spring. And yes, we've had some warmer temps and major melting. This is what the pond looked like on Monday, complete with this beautiful pair of Canadian geese.

And this is what it looked like today.

A pair of ducks have become regulars too. Today I saw the male quite close to shore and then later they were both at the bird feeder. I'll have to remember to pick up some cracked corn for them this week. They seem so hungry!

So Friday night was bowling. H got back from Miami Thursday night so our whole team was present for bowling. We bowled a team that's way down near the bottom of the list but we had to give them 150 points! Ouch! We lost the first game by about 40 points. Then we won the second by about 60 and won the third too so we got 3 points, two games plus totals! That should help us move up a little. I think we are in 6th or 7th place.

Saturday morning we had to get busy because H had to leave for the airport around 10:00. He's off to South Korea this week! He was running to the bank and dry cleaners while I was printing his business cards. Apparently it's a sign of respect to give people your business cards there and he had given them all out while in Miami. Thank goodness we had some card stock here. He left here at 12:30 p.m. and arrived in Korea at 3:30 Sunday afternoon Korea time.

The weather was actually dry and sunny on Saturday so I was able to take the pups to the high school field for some frisbee. Boy, were they happy!

When we were finished we sat and enjoyed a little sunshine and practiced being patient. We really need to work on that.

Saturday night before I went to bed I decided to go outside and see what all the fuss was about with the full moon. It was full but it didn't seem any fuller than any other full moon. At least the sky was clear, no clouds, so I could get a couple pictures. It's amazing to me that my camera can do this!

I had fun Skyping with Quinn several times this past week. Apparently I'm her dinner-time entertainment!! She's actually asking to call me now, going to the computer and saying, "Mimi, Mimi"! She's so darn smart! I loved this picture of the little family. Can you tell what team they like?? Love it!

So, it's officially Spring! Yesterday it really felt like it. Today, not so much. It was cloudy and now, tonight, it's raining. The predicted thunderstorms are Springlike but later this week the forecasters are predicting freezing rain and snow showers again. I've been thinking Spring though. I bought my potato and onion starts yesterday and was hoping to find some lettuce for my porch pots but they haven't come in to the nursery yet. This flowering plant was the closest thing to Spring I could find.

Today Scott took the pups to the high school early because I thought it was going to rain earlier but it held off until this evening. They were so nice and calm all afternoon.

Tomorrow is Tyler's 26th birthday. Another birthday spent far away from home but I'm sure he'll have fun with his friends. We miss you son! Later this week he and H will be spending some time together. Tyler is traveling up to Seoul to see H for a day and evening. I wish I could be there too but it's just too expensive. But Dad is bringing a few gifts. I hope they work out for you son! Happy Birthday and I love you very much!

Our testing is winding down. We are finishing up a few kids this week and then finishing our paperwork. I'll be glad to get back to my normal schedule soon.

Have a good week!

Blah, Blah, Blah

2011-03-13T19:00:00.000-04:00

That's how I'm feeling. I blame it on the gray. I think there was some sun on Friday, when I had the day off. I have a vague memory of taking a nap on the couch in the warm sunshine. Sadly it's not been seen since then. The other crappy thing about gray is that it's hard to tell what time it is. No shadows or moving sun to tell you if it's morning, early afternoon or late afternoon. On a semi-good note, the temps are a bit warmer this weekend and we are having some meltage.

On another semi-good note, I believe the forecast is for above freezing temps all week so we will have more meltage.

So like I said I had Friday off. Teacher's had to work completing report cards in the morning and then having conferences from 1-4. In this position I don't work conferences. Of course I don't get paid either. It's a trade-off. Our testing went well and I am almost finished with 2 of my schools. Hopefully by Tuesday it will be done and I can concentrate on my home school. I enjoyed the day at home catching up on some chores and taking that nap!

The rest of the weekend has been uneventful as well. I did a little cooking/baking. I made pizza for Scott and I Saturday night. H wasn't here Saturday night as he has a conference in Ft. Lauderdale/Miami this whole next week. The temps there are in the high 70's/low 80's for the whole week. He's so lucky! Not only that he will be able to eat Cuban sandwiches at will!

Today I tried baking these English muffins for the first time. It didn't sound like too difficult a recipe (compared to some I've seen) and I think they turned out pretty good. The recipe makes about 1-1/2 dozen so they will last for a while in the freezer.

Amber took these darling pictures of Quinn in an outfit that her Uncle Tyler sent her all the way from S. Korea. It fits her so well.

Look how much she's enjoying wearing it! She's so funny! And smart! And I'm not a bit biased. Not a bit!

Speaking of Uncle Tyler and S. Korea, I've been trying to get in touch with him since Friday morning when I heard about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Thankfully it seems the tsunami went away from Korea and I've not read or heard anything about problems in Korea, it would still be nice to hear from Tyler and hear that he's ok. Please Ty, when/if you read this, please get in touch somehow.

Two pups are not too happy with me this weekend. It's too messy out to take them to the field today. They would be a muddy mess. If they were better behaved I could take them for a walk, on a leash. But they are not well behaved. Or maybe I should say they are out of practice. I haven't walked them on a leash in a looooong time. They follow me from room to room and look at me with these sad eyes.

These last few months waiting for summer are the hardest. I need some color in my life! I keep buying these little pots of flowers to cheer myself up.

It's a very temporary fix. Hopefully we will have a couple sunny days this week. Plus maybe just a little more daylight in general, now that Daylight Savings Time is here.

Have a good week!

Still Winter To Almost Spring and Back to Winter

2011-03-06T19:00:00.001-05:00

When there's not much to report, I can always count on the weather and visiting wildlife. We've had both this week. Early in the week I looked out the kitchen window and spied these beauties!

At one point one of them came up to the bird feeder to find out what leftovers were laying around. He didn't stay long and even this little herd moved on pretty quickly. I have no idea where they migrate to and from. This area, as most of you know, is in the middle of a subdivision with subdivisions all around so I don't know where they might be living.

By Saturday morning we were having a bit of a thaw and the edges of the pond were just water with the middle on the slushy side. When I looked out the window I saw these guys making their way up from to the pond to the bird feeder. Once we start seeing ducks you start to think Spring can't be too far behind, can it?

Sadly, our hopes of Spring were soon dashed because Saturday afternoon the snow started falling and when it was all said and done we had another 3 or 4 inches on the ground again.

Friday night was bowling. We were in 6th place I think but we've probably dropped down a place or two after our sad performance. We started by having to give the other team 50 pins. The first game H and Bill had great games, both over 200. I, sadly, did not even get my average. We won the second game and were up about 30 pins. The other team really stepped it up the last game and though we had great hopes in taking that one and winning 1 and totals, it was not to be and we only ended up with 1 point.

The rest of the weekend has been fairly uneventful. We stayed home last night and watched Robin Hood (the version with Russel Crowe that tells what happened before he became the Robin Hood we all know). Lots of fighting, death and violence.

Today the sun finally came out and even though there was a fresh layer of snow on the ground it was nice enough to take the pups to the high school for a little frisbee. They were happy!!

A couple of times the wind got under the frisbee and carried it across this little stream. Thankfully both Zoe and Charlie remembered to jump it instead of falling in it. Once the frisbee actually went right in but Zoe retrieved it without even getting a paw wet!

I thought this picture looked crazy! I have no idea what happened. It was very bright out but most of the pictures were either washed out like this one or too dark. Weird.

They had so much fun and are now sleeping soundly like good little pups!

H is out tonight. He has the suite at the Palace again and is treating some people to a Piston's game. They're playing the Wizards, Andy! You should have flown in for the weekend and you and H could have made a night of it.

I'm preparing for a busy few weeks. The ESL dept. (that's me now) is preparing for our annual ELPA testing which is an annual test given to English Language Learners to see how much they've improved in English. We have to test every student in four areas, listening, speaking, reading and writing, and have until April 15 go complete it. While I haven't done any of this kind of testing myself yet, the other girls tell me it's quite intensive and a bit stressful. If you don't get everyone tested by the end date your school is penalized for each day you aren't finished. We should have enough time but there is a week of Spring break in there so we have to work around that too. I'm hoping things go well. There's already been a bit of tension in our department between two other aides. I'm staying neutral if it kills me. They are having a bit of a power struggle and I'm just waiting until they're finished so we can get started testing. If the teacher would just step in and handle it that would take care of the problem but she doesn't really like to do that. She's in her own little world, doing her own thing, and let's the rest of the stuff get sorted out between us three aides. That would be fine except the other two struggle for all the power. It's kind of interesting to sit there in the middle and watch them go at it but also I just want to get started and get the testing over with so we can get back to helping these kids learn English!!

Ok, that's it for the week. Only two more weeks until Spring officially arrives. We are ready for it here. If only Winter would cooperate and leave!

More weather reports next week.

Have a good week!

My Baby Love Weekend...

2011-02-27T18:03:00.000-05:00

So last Friday I took a personal day off from work and headed to Virginia to see Quinn and family. The weather cooperated so the trip was uneventful. I always worry when travelling in February that there will be a major blizzard or something and I won't be able to go. I arrived around noon to a 70 degree day! Talk about beautiful! We grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to the park. Quinn loves the park and it was a great day for it.
She loves the swings

The slide

Running away from Mommy

And hanging out watching the other kids do all the things she wishes she could do.

It won't be long Quinn.

Saturday we did a little shopping and then Saturday night Amber & Andy went into DC for a night on the town and their first night away from Quinn together. She and I had a fun evening with dinner, bath time and then off to bed. She let me sleep in until 6:30 at least. She's an early riser.
Here she is the next morning reading her books on Mimi's bed (air mattress). She loved this bed.

While she did pretty good being with just Mimi I will say that she started missing her Mama on Sunday morning. She had a couple sad moments so I had to do some major distracting. She was happy to see them when they got home but still came to me for a couple hugs and kisses. I would say their first night away went well.

Monday night, my last night there, Amber and I took a cooking class that Andy had arranged for Amber's Valentine's Day gift. We were cooking Greek. Our team of 5 made lamb kebabs with Tzatziki (which is the cucumber sauce) and Spanakopita (spinach pie) and Baklava. Between the Spanakopita and Baklava we used a ton of butter. I always thought Greek cooking was so healthy with olive oil and all but we soon found out butter is a huge part of their cooking. We spent about 3 hours there, ate what we cooked and then brought a bit home. Amber is lucky that this place is right down the street from her so she can take more classes there if she wants to.

The flight back home was uneventful too and I was home by about 8:00 Tuesday night. It was a great weekend and I loved being able to spend a few days with Quinn. She changes so much is just a few short weeks. I would hate it if I couldn't see her every couple months. And thanks to Skype there wasn't really too much of a warm up time. She knew who I was and wasn't shy or anything! Great trip!

Not much else going on around here. That snow that had melted before I went to DC was replaced with another 10 inches last Sunday. If Monday hadn't been a holiday (President's Day) we would have had another snow day. The weather has been cold and crappy all week, no sun, just yuk. Tonight we are supposed to have rain and maybe even some thunder. Crazy!

We did have one nice surprise this week. Tyler's box from South Korea arrived. It was full of goodies for the whole family. We have all been enjoying the snacks. It seems they really like things covered with chocolate which is ok by me. There was one thing kind of puffy and filled with air and it wasn't so good. Last time I chatted with Tyler on line he said he was considering signing on to teach for another year. He hasn't made up his mind yet but since his contract is up in May he's going to have go decide pretty soon.

Here was another surprise. We had this guy visiting the back yard one evening this week. He was practically in the back yard this time.

Tomorrow morning at school we have a meeting to talk about next year's budget. I've already heard that classroom aide time is being cut by at least 30% and I know there will be other cuts. My job could be on the line again but so far no news is good news? My job is paid for by Federal funds and I'm not even sure if the Principal knows what that budget is yet. Michigan is going to be one of the states that cuts it's per pupil budget, we've already heard the Governor say that. It's going to mean less teachers and larger classes and less services. And here I am still taking training classes. Friday I had a half day class for a reading program. On Tuesday afternoon I have another training class so I can learn how to do the testing we begin in March and continue through April. I'm really hoping I don't get laid off again as I really do love this job. Time will tell.

Have a good week! I hope you get a couple days at the park Quinn!! :-)

The Week in Review

2011-02-13T21:00:00.000-05:00

It been an eclectic week. Tuesday after school we had out "holiday" get-together. Guess things were so busy around Christmas it got put off for a while. It was decided that a "Murder Mystery" would be a new and interesting idea for dinner. I don't mind these types of things as long as I don't have to play a part. And thankfully I was not chosen to do that. My team did not have the right answer for "who done it". Guess with all those teachers and brain power in the room it was anybody's guess would would get the right answer. I had the opportunity to catch up with a few people that I don't get to talk with very often so that was nice.

Thursday night was Bunco. Many of the Bunco girls are new Grandma's or just coming into the Grandma phase. Since this group has been together 20+ years you can imagine all the changes within the group. We have been through births, serious illnesses (one girl had breast cancer), death (one girl passed away from lung cancer about 12 years ago), raising kids, kid's graduations, kid's weddings and the birth of grandchildren. Sadly one of our girls just found out on Friday that her daughter, who was expecting twins later this summer, had lost the babies. At an ultrasound last week they couldn't detect any heartbeats and the babies were delivered the next day. This will be a tough one to get through. There are many happy and sad things to help each other through when you have 12 women who have been friends for so many years.

No bowling this week. I thought we might pre-bowl this weekend because I won't be able to go Friday night but our partners decided they wanted to bowl so they and H will just take 10 off my average. I hope we get some points because we really need them! We are bowling a tough team next week so it could go either way.

Saturday night we had tickets through H's work to go to a concert. His company has invested in a suite so they have certain weeks when they can take customers to certain events. However, no customers wanted to attend this weekend's concert so it was opened to the upper management. I didn't really want to go either but H asked me to so I gave in and went. This performer is someone I would never pay good (or bad) money to see, that's for sure! It was Ozzy Osbourne!

I actually had to google him to see if I knew or recognized any of his songs. It was VERY loud, the seats were vibrating, there was fireworks, loud fireworks, he took a hose to the audience!!! I really felt for those people in the front 10-15 rows but they didn't seem to care. My ears were ringing for hours. But at least no one set my hair on fire. Old story.

We are having a little bit of a thaw here in Michigan. The temps this weekend have allowed for a little snow melt. Today my car thermometer said 47!

I think we are actually supposed to have several days with above freezing temps so even more of the snow will melt. That's a good thing. I'm not saying winter is anywhere near over here but at least you can start to feel that the end is not too far off.

H spotted this beauty this morning. She was behind the pond in our back yard and had a friend with her. She layed there for a couple hours until the guy on the other side of the pond got his snow blower out to blow off the pond again so the kids could skate.

I had to take the pups up to the high school today. I should have yesterday but I went shopping instead. So today there was no getting around it. The drive there was awful. Zoe couldn't stop "talking". Loud "talking". I had to let Charlie out of the car and leave her there for a bit so she could get a hold of herself! Like I said, they really needed to get out.

That's right sister. We need to go to the park!

Where's that frisbee Mom??

I made sure I threw that frisbee time after time down the hill so they would have to make their way back up in the deep, melting snow. They were pretty tired by the time we were done.

He picked up a snowball with the frisbee and when he dropped the frisbee he look down at the snowball wondering where it had come from!

Now they are sleeping blissfully!

This coming week we have school Valentine's parties on Monday. The kids will be so excited it will be hard to get much teaching done. On Tuesday I will be going to training all day so there will be no teaching that day either. It will also be a short week for me because I am taking Friday off! I am headed off to Virginia to visit a special little someone!

Here she is at her first professional photo shoot trying to move the props around! This is an "outtake" so I can't wait to see the ones that turned out! Mostly I can't wait to see her. She has changed so much in just 6 short weeks. Having dinner with her every night via Skype has been wonderful but being there in person is the best.

Have a good week and a Happy Valentine's Day!

Mixed Signals

2011-02-06T17:43:00.006-05:00

So we've had very cold temps, more snow and even this!

These things are huge, probably 5 or 6 inches thick and almost 5 feet long and hanging off our roof on the south side of the house. I don't think I've ever seen them get this big before!
Then on Saturday I'm looking out the window and I spy this! (Not a very good picture) I think I was so shocked I forgot to focus. It's a Robin! He's way too early for Spring. I have no idea what he's gonna eat for the next two months! There are no worms anywhere in sight! They are buried under 10 inches of snow. Crazy!

Friday night was bowling again. We are now in 5th place and only out of 1st by 5 points. We bowled the 4th place team. The first game I bowled a 198! That's the highest I've bowled in I don't know how long. Unfortunately we lost that game by 5 pins. So sad. The second game was a tough one. None of us bowled our best games (I bowled a 105, way below average) so we lost that game by a lot. The third game we rallied and managed to pull it out by only 7 pins! We only took 1 point and have probably dropped back down in the rankings again.

The rest of the weekend has been fairly uneventful and I haven't done much. Having those two lovely snow days I was able to catch up on the laundry, I cleaned the aquarium and paid all the bills. I didn't even take the pups anywhere on Saturday. I was planning to but then it started snowing in the afternoon so I decided not to go.

Today I decided I just had to take them as they hadn't been out in a whole week and they were really happy to get out even though the snow was even deeper than last weekend.

How could you say no to this happy face?

They had a great time. The snow was really deep and they spent a lot of time hopping through it. When they were finished they were loaded with snow balls that were stuck to the long fur on their legs. Zoe spent the next hour pulling them off but Charlie doesn't really care.

We are deep into winter now and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. We are expected to get more snow this week. Nothing measurable but just more snow, inch by inch it all adds up.

They had so much fun.

The Super Bowl is on. I'm not really interested in watching it. We just finished our super bowl dinner though, prepared completely by H. We had bar-b-q pork sandwiches, cole slaw and potato skins. During dinner I was telling him how nice it was and how special I felt. He said that now I know how he feels every night! I said, yea, you are really lucky! But really, it was nice to have it all prepared and served to me and it wasn't fast food either.

So another week begins. Another week of winter. Cold, gray, snow. Only 42 days until Spring begins. 42 days and counting...

Have a good week!

It's the Great Blizzard of Ground Hog Day - 2011

2011-02-02T22:30:00.001-05:00

And we lived to tell the tale! Needless to say, we had a snow day today.

This makes it official! A real blizzard!

The winds howled all night long and this morning this is what I found when I looked out the window!

It was supposed to look like this one.

It continued to snow for another couple hours.

The boys got out there around noon to start clearing the driveway. It looks like we got about 9-10 inches maybe.

These two just relaxed around the house all morning.

When most of the shoveling and snow blowing was done I decided it was time to take the pups out for some snow fun!

And more fun.

And the really fun part? We get to do it all again tomorrow! I just got the call and due to poor road conditions there will be no school tomorrow either!

I have a feeling H will try to make it to work anyway. The main roads and interstate will probably be clear enough for him to make it in.

But I'll be here, cozy and warm. Maybe tomorrow I'll get the laundry caught up, or watch a movie, or read a book, or clean something. We'll see.

Happy Snow Day!

Head Colds and Snow Babies and Good-Bye January...

2011-01-30T22:00:00.001-05:00

This week was fairly uneventful. The cold I had last week ended up hanging around. I went to school on Monday for my before school tutoring, went to my Monday school and tested a new student and was pretty much out of energy. I ended up going home around 10:00 and taking it easy the rest of the day, thinking that's all I would need, a little rest. Sadly that didn't happen because I was up most of Monday night coughing! Tuesday morning I just wasn't able to get going so I stayed home again and rested. By Wednesday I was able to go in as I had managed to sleep the night before but the cough is still with me. Cough drops are my friend. I was glad when Friday rolled around.

The weekend has been pretty uneventful too. Saturday was spent around the house, doing chores, reading, relaxing, cooking dog food. Finally around 3:00 I took the pups up to the high school field for a little run. The snow was deep and it was really cold! They ran around for a while until they had to stop and chew the ice out from between their toes.

Today we went back to the high school field again and it was a little nicer with the sun out but still really cold! I think the high today was 22 or 23 and with the wind chill a bit colder than that. But that didn't stop a couple Snow Babies from having some fun!
Look how deep that snow is!

I'm glad January is on it's way out. That means February is right around the corner and only another 19 days until I get to see this little cutie!

I'm heading to Virginia for my mid-winter break! Can't wait.

That means Spring is closer too, only another 49 days (plus another month or so until it really arrives here in Michigan.) However, I did hear on the news tonight that we are expecting a big winter storm this week! It's supposed to start Tuesday night and go all day Wednesday, 10-16 inches worth! Could be another Snow Day coming our way!

Have a good week!

I'm Done

2011-01-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

I'm done with Winter. It's gone on too long now.

I need to move to a place where by the end of January there's no more snow or freezing cold temps! This past week has been brutal here.

Below, well below, freezing temps and gray every day. Today the sun is finally out but it's like 7 degrees.

The temps are supposed to stay in the teens and twentys all the next week. Too cold to take the pups to the park so no pictures of that. They look at me so expectantly every time I grab my shoes and keys but no luck for them.

I am not standing out in the freezing cold even for them. And then there's the wind chill. Brrrrrrrrr!

This past week was fairly non-eventful. Work was good, busy, lots of things to do. Nothing too exciting going on except I did get this.

I ordered it from Target on Saturday and it was here by Tuesday. It's for my office so I can watch TV while I work on the blog or write bills or read blogs or whatever. It just gets the basic channels but it's great. I love it.

On Thursday, at work, I was bragging to a co-worker who was coming down with a cold how I had been so healthy this year. Stupid, stupid me. That night, when I got home, my throat started feeling itchy and I could feel a cold coming on! It's not too bad, just some sneezing and coughing and head congestion but I have finally found an over-the-counter medication that at least can handle the symptoms! I'll manage.

Thursday night H and I were enjoying a leisurely dinner at the local Wendy's when the woman sitting next to us said, "I hope you aren't planning to go to Kroger after dinner." When we said no, we weren't, why, she informed us that the parking lot was all blocked off and that the police were dealing with a bomb scare!! A bomb scare here in out little town!!! Unbelievable!!! Sure enough, when we left Wendy's the bomb squad was parked in front of the store and the parking lots had all entrances blocked off. I heard nothing on the news but the next day at work I did a quick search and found out that some guy had gone in to the pharmacy, put a box on the counter saying it was a bomb and demanded some Vicodin. Crazy!! Apparently a clerk threw a bottle at him, he left and they evacuated the store for the next 3 hours! This was at 7:00 at night! They got pictures of him on the surveillance cameras so hopefully he will be caught soon.

Friday night was bowling. We were all there and ready to kick some butt. Which we did. We won all 3 games and took totals. Four points for us!! I bowled a 144, 145 and 143. Apparently H took quite a spill on the lane. He had been up at the juke box and I went up to relieve him when it was his turn to bowl. He must have stepped into some water because when he went to bowl he stuck and went flying. People told me he went down pretty hard. He said he feels just fine, didn't hurt anything, just maybe a little pride. No one likes to go flying on their face. We were all very careful the rest of the night as no one wanted to repeat that performance.

Amber had her first night away from Quinn this weekend. She took advantage of a friend's business trip to Miami and joined her down there for a little R&R. Apparently there wasn't much sun but at least it was a little warmer and gave her a chance to rest and recharge.

I haven't heard from Andy but I'm sure he and Quinn are enjoying lots of father/daughter bonding time!!

Tyler is on vaca this week and next. I haven't heard from him either so I guess he's either sleeping around the clock or having a great time exploring Masan. Can't wait to hear all about it son! Maybe you can update your blog with some fascinating pictures about your 2 weeks off!! Please??

Have a great week!

Birthday Girl!

2011-01-12T19:05:00.002-05:00

Our sweet little Quinn turned 1 yesterday but I didn't have access to the pictures until it was all over. Not being there tends to cause that kind of problem.

This picture I stole off Auntie Liz's Facebook page. She was at the party on Saturday and designated as one of the photographers. Quinn has her cake here, everyone is singing Happy Birthday and she's not quite sure what's expected of her.

Then Amber took this one on Quinn's actual birthday, 1-11-11, in her birthday onesie.

She's definitely leaving her baby year behind. She's walking for real, long distances, stopping, turning, bending to pick things up and walking on. Amber told me that she's walking into her bedroom, saying good-bye, closing the door and staying in there quietly playing with her toys. She's saying all kinds of things, trying to sing, dancing, all the adorable things little girls do. She couldn't be more precious to us.

Hard to believe one little being could bring so many people so much joy but that's exactly what she's done and we've all loved every minute of it!

Happy Birthday Baby!!

Back to Work...

2011-01-09T22:00:00.000-05:00

This past week went by fast! Before I knew it we were on to to Friday and the week was over. Friday night was bowling and considering we hadn't bowled in month I would say we did pretty good. We took 4 points which we sorely need since we are in 14th place!! That's 14th out of 16! We didn't realize last night was position night until we got to the bowling alley but I don't suppose it would have mattered either way. It helped that one of the guys from the other team who can really bowl if he gets hot wasn't there last night. Then his wife accidentally brought his ball so she didn't have her own ball or shoes which would have made for a terrible night if that happened to me. But, as luck would have it, she found a house ball that she bowled better with than she does her own ball. At the end of the night she liked it so much she decided to take it home with her!

Saturday we focused on packing away the Christmas trees and all the trimmings. We got most of it done Saturday and I finished up the rest today. Why does it seem to take so much longer to take it all down than to put it up?

Here's the new bird feeder H bought me for Christmas. It's supposedly made with Cardinals in mind but this is one of the first Cardinals I've seen on the feeder all week. They are finally warming up to it. It's squirrel proof and I have to say, I haven't seen one squirrel on it. At least there is one thing they can't get on because lord knows they get in to everything else!

On Saturday I also had to make dog food since I was completely out. I made breakfast food first then dinner. Now we are all set for another month. My pups didn't go far from the kitchen all afternoon.

After I finished cooking I had just enough time before dark to take them up to the high school for a little frisbee. It was cold out but at least the sun was out. Charlie took off at a run almost as soon as he got out of the car. I don't always mind that but this time he took off with the frisbee and I don't like that! Once he takes off with it he puts it down and then I have to go find it. Since everything was snow covered I wasn't looking forward to going to look for the frisbee. Those dumb things are expensive too, over $20 and I don't want to lose one! Luckily Zoe was on his trail and she found the frisbee and brought it back to me while he was off checking his pee-mail! We couldn't stay out long because the snow was balling up in their feet and they had to keep stopping to pull the snow out from between their toes!

Also on Saturday our little sweetie had her birthday party in Virginia! By all reports it was a success and Quinn enjoyed being the center of all that attention! I was hoping for some pics but so far none have come my way. We did Skype with Quinn today and she was pretty blase about the whole event until I pulled Zoe up onto my lap. Then she came to life and even laughed!! She love her some puppies!!

Here's Zoe waiting for her dinner.

Today was another cold but at least sunny day. Even though it was only in the 20's today (and even colder with the wind chill) it feels so much warmer somehow with the sun out. We are lucky to have lots of windows in this house and many on the south side so we can have some sun coming in all day.

I ran to the pet store for some organic kibble and couldn't resist a couple new toys for the pups. I really didn't buy them anything for Christmas and I think I missed their birthdays too last year. Here's Charlie with his newest possession.

It's a leopard with the stuffing removed, except for the head. We'll see how long this lasts. He seems way more interested in toys than Zoe. She would rather have her Nylabone, if she can keep it away from Charlie. They were having adoptions at Petco and I noticed there were only two puppies and all the rest much older dogs. I hope they all find good homes where someone will love and spoil them. In this economy it's not easy to feed and take care of a pet. The yearly vet bills alone are very expensive, even if you just get the minimum. We were lucky that neither dog needed any shots this year but with just a check-up, heartworm check and yearly medication and bordatello it was expensive enough.

We managed another trip to the park but I couldn't take the cold for long. Even with gloves on, after about 10 minutes, my fingers were numb. My car thermometer said 26 but the wind was really blowing so I know it felt much colder than that! They enjoyed getting out though.

Wow, where did the weekend go. It's time to get ready for work tomorrow. I'm still doing laundry. Oh well, guess it will get done when it gets done. I have Bunco at my house this Thursday night so I have to get busy planning for that too. I would say right now it's in the "thinking" stage. I'm thinking about what I want to make for everyone to eat and thinking about how I don't want to get too stressed out about it all. I decided to take Thursday off work since I have personal days to use and I haven't taken one day off this school year so far. It just makes things less stressful for me. Hopefully. The snacks aren't a problem but I'm not a big desert person so I never quite know what to make for that. Lately the girls have been making a dinner instead of appetizers and just one desert. In the old days they would make TWO deserts! Glad those days are gone.

Have a good week!

Happy 2011!!

2011-01-02T18:00:00.000-05:00

I'm taking it as a good omen for the year that the sun was shining today. It has been so gray lately that when the sun comes out I find my self announcing to anyone within earshot, "look, it's the sun!!!" in a very excited voice!! Not only has it been gray but it warmed up a bit, rained like heck and melted all our snow. But not to worry, a new storm is headed our way and I'm sure we'll be getting some more. After all, it's only January for goodness sake! This was the first sunset of 2011.

It has been a busy time since Christmas though we didn't really do that much, if that makes sense. Having a baby around can make you feel busy all the time. We so enjoyed spending 9 days with our little sweetheart. She is learning so much right now, beginning to really walk, talk and just does the cutest things. H, Scott and I would tag team watch her since there were so many potential hazards in our non-babyproofed home. By the time she left here she was walking good, long distances without falling. She really had us all on a schedule and our world revolved around her needs.

Andy's parents and sister came over from the west side a few days after Andy went home. We enjoyed a nice afternoon with them and they got to spend a little Christmas time with Quinn. She never gets tired of opening presents!

We tried to get some nice pictures but "someone" wasn't very cooperative.

Actually this one was a better picture but unfortunately it's a bit blurry. :-(

This was a cute one of Quinn with her Mama and Aunt Lizzie but she was pretty much done having her picture taken.

This picture turned out cute though it wasn't what we were going for. H wanted a picture of her with the dogs but the trouble with a baby that's learning to walk is that no matter where you put her she doesn't stay there long.

Uncle Scott would put her somewhere and try to get out of the picture but as soon as he would let go of her she would take off again! Too bad she doesn't know the "stay" command like my pups do!!

Amber and Quinn went home yesterday and it's been very quiet around here today.

Some of us needed a nap! It's hard work following a baby around for 9 days.

These two weeks have gone by very quickly and I'm back to school on Monday. I was hoping to un-decorate the house before then but I'm not sure if that's going to happen. Today was spent watching the Rose Parade in the morning (well, really until 1:00) and then getting things prepared for our New Year's Day dinner. Sometimes I think all these traditions we partake in are just lots of work. Scott commented at dinner that he doesn't like 3 of the 4 things we had. I'm not all that fond of them either but they become a tradition so that's what you have. Maybe next year we'll switch things up a little. Today we had a nice Honeybaked ham that we bought with a certificate from H's work, scalloped potatoes that were a bit too buttery and not really creamy for some reason eventhough I used 1-1/2 cups of milk in them, our must-have black eyed peas and corn bread muffins. Scott said he would rather have had a steak which today wouldn't have been a problem but if it were last week there was 8 inches of snow on the deck and no getting near the grill so that could have been a bit of a problem.

I also read a few blogs today and it seems everyone looks back on their year and tries to measure it up and see how they fared. I would say The Mitchells fared pretty well when things were said and done. Of course the year started out with a wonderful gift, our precious little Quinn. We managed to see her often so we wouldn't miss too much of her growing up. Soon after that we found out that things weren't going so well for Tyler, he couldn't find a job in Hawaii, so he would be moving to South Korea. While we were glad he was able to find a job, moving to S. Korea wasn't exactly something we ever even thought of. It's turned out to be a good experience for him even though we miss him terribly and not seeing him for almost 1-1/2 years isn't a good thing. The prospect of me losing my job was quite depressing and for months I felt terrible about it. Everyone else's lives just moved forward and I felt mine was stuck in the mud with no prospect for a new job. In the end I was offered a new job, just before the old one ended, and after a few hiccups this has turned into the best job I've ever had. I really enjoy working with these kids and all the other responsibilities that at first were a bit daunting have become manageable. I do miss some of the other people I used to work with but at least I get to see them, I just don't have the daily interactions with them that I used to have. All in all it's been a pretty good year.

I'm counting my blessings.

(I actually wrote this yesterday, New Year's Day, but blogger wasn't cooperating with picture loading so it had to wait until today.)

Happy New Year!!

Christmas-Before and After

2010-12-26T22:00:00.001-05:00

So it's been a busy week! Amber and Andy and Quinn arrived Wednesday afternoon. We were pretty much on the go every day up until Christmas Eve. Everyone (except me and Andy) seemed to have a little last minute shopping to do and had to make a few trips out to pick up last minute items. I stayed home and made Christmas cookies and played with Quinn.

I was glad when Christmas Eve rolled around and everyone could just stay home and relax. The tree looked beautiful with just a small pile of presents underneath.
Instead of our traditional Christmas Eve pizza we had stuffed shells. We decided to have pizza the night before that since everyone was tired from all the cookie decorating (and cookie baking).

Here's Quinn just after she opened her Christmas Eve pajamas (with her Mommy and Daddy). She was pretty tired by this time and it wasn't long before she headed off to bed.

Here she is Christmas morning. There was so much for her to open and play with I'm sure it was a little overwhelming.

And here she is in her cute little Christmas outfit, one of two since she had a little accident in this one later in the day.

Here she is with all her puppy presents and a couple real puppies too.

Zoe and Charlie were in the Christmas spirit too and wore their special holiday bells around their necks. It sounded like Santa's reindeer were following me around all day!

Here's Quinn with her Uncle Scotty who is reading her one of her Christmas books. She just loves being read to.

She does the cutest dances when she plays with this toy and it plays music.

And here she is in her second Christmas outfit of the day with the present from her Grandpa H and Mimi.

We had Christmas dinner later in the day, around 5:00. We had a pretty relaxed day and spent the afternoon playing Scrabble and a card game, Five Crowns. Here's Quinn with her dinner though she wanted to share most of it with Zoe and Charlie. She has learned that game quite easily. What she doesn't want, just pitch it over the side and it quickly disappears when her two pals are nearby.

It was a pretty quiet day overall. Quinn went to bed around 7:30 and we ended up playing a couple more games of Five Crowns.

Andy has to return to Virginia this afternoon so Amber drove him to the airport while Grandpa and I babysat. We took Quinn to the grocery store to pick up a couple things and get her out of the house for a little while. She hadn't been out of the house since they got here on Wednesday. Then Grandpa and I were in charge of getting her dinner, a bath and put to bed. Amber was going to a get-to-gether with friends from her high school days. Bath and bed time are kind of a mad rush. By the time Quinn is ready for a bath she's pretty much had it for the day and just wants to get it over with, get her baba and go to bed! We had it all accomplished by 7:30 without a problem. Now we just keep our fingers crossed for her mama that she will sleep all night!!

And just for fun, while I was looking through the pictures taken in the last couple days I happened to notice how many pictures Zoe was in with Quinn. It seems wherever Quinn is, Zoe isn't far away. There were even a few more than these but I figured this was enough. In a couple you have to look a little closer, but Zoe is there!

I'm not sure what we will be doing the rest of the week. H and I are both off all week and Amber has to work from here on Monday and Tuesday. We are both just happy to get to spend a little more time with both of them.

Have a great week and a Happy New Year!!

We Are Definitely Having a White Christmas...

2010-12-19T21:00:00.000-05:00

So last week I was talking about how the snow had come down all day and chances were good that a Snow Day was in my future! Well, I was right. That was the good news. The bad news was that I got the call at 4:30 a.m. on Monday morning!! And just about the time I was drifting off, I got another call from the District at 5:00! From that point on there was no going back to sleep so I decided to just get up and get going. It was clear I wasn't going to be driving anywhere (though later in the morning H did make it to work after a very long wait on the Interstate because a truck had overturned and they had to clear it out of the way) and I might as well get some things done around the house.

So I did this

It was a heavy, wet snow too and we figure we got 6-7 inches at least. H was out there with the snow blower several times.

By Monday night things weren't looking any better as it was so darn cold the salt wasn't working. The many side roads and even some main ones, had a layer of ice in spots. The buses weren't going to be able to make it to school with ice on the roads so they made the call Monday night around 9:30 that there would be no school on Tuesday.

By Tuesday I was going a little stir crazy as I hadn't been out in a couple days and I really wanted to get Tyler's package mailed and also my Christmas cards. I decided to give it a try but it was pretty scary out there. The main road I take to the post office is a bit hilly and going up those partially ice covered roads was pretty scary. I did make it though and got everything mailed.

I wasn't sure there would be school on Wednesday either because it was still so cold that the salt wasn't working on the ice but I guess two days was enough time off so there was no snow day call on Wednesday. I managed to get to school on time or nearly but the buses were very late. Qi's bus was almost 30 minutes late that morning. I was at school by 7:10 and he usually gets there around 7:25 but it was almost 8:00 when he finally got there. There was even indoor recess because the playground was covered in a layer of ice too.

The rest of the week was pretty much a blur. We had parties, a sing-a-long, lesson plans to prepare, wrapping of gifts for the families we adopted, loading their car with all the presents, loading a truck for a food bank with all the school district's extra food and end of year stuff to file away so we were pretty busy. I was glad to see Friday roll around!

Yesterday H got the big tree up and he decorated it all by himself. I'd say he did a nice job. It looks great.

I put up my Snow Baby tree and put out my Snow Babies and the rest of the things around the house, like some baby's stocking!!

Scott even helped out by putting up the staircase garland.

Yesterday this lovely centerpiece arrived from H's brother Dan and his wife Cheryl.

This is always such a nice gift and it makes the table look so festive, or at least it will if I ever get the junk cleared off of it. I've realized that while I do enjoy my new "office" in the former dining room, at this time of year I am really missing my dining room table since it was "wrapping central" and I don't really have anything to take it's place except the kitchen table, where we actually eat! I guess I'll manage somehow since it's only a week until Christmas. Just think, this time next week it will all be over!!

I just remembered this funny picture I wanted to put in here. Last week the temps got so cold that the dogs couldn't walk out in the snow. After a few steps they would just lay down and refuse to move. While I was out on Tuesday I ran into the pet store and picked up these babies.

Wouldn't you know, the temps warmed up a bit so they didn't need them but we'll be prepared next time. You should see how funny they walk in them. I'll have to get video next time. It's hilarious!!

I still have lots to do this week. I still need to wrap everything and maybe make another batch of sugar cookies to give to friends and neighbors. The dogs need to go to the groomers before Christmas. They really are overdue but I haven't had time to get them there. Amber and Andy and Quinn will arrive Wednesday afternoon so we have to get things ready for their arrival too! We can't wait.

Quinn has a special Christmas surprise for us (and we have one for her too Andy. It rhymes with "guppy").

The Mitchell's In Michigan are wishing everyone a Merry Christmas full of joy.