D@@@ Germs!

  Today I realized for the millionth time, that your body has a way of telling you to "slow down".  Mine started out a bit sneaky.  I felt fine all day last Friday, I was at work as usual, went to lunch with my friends etc...I had an hour left of my work day when all of a sudden, a slight sore throat developed which should have been my first warning (but I didn't listen because the temptation of going to my first major league baseball game of the season was way too tempting).  As soon as I pulled up in our driveway, Jason said "let's go to the game" I could never resist that invite, no matter how I feel.
  Sautrday & Sunday came and went and my voice started going also, yet i still refused to listen!  Monday and Tuesday also came and went and the non-stop aches and pains, fever arrived with no problem, just "made themselves at home" but stupid me did not listen and kept forging on through conference calls, paperwork etc...
  Until today when my body said "enough already".  I felt like I got hit and run over by a train today!   the message to slow down finallly got through, loud and clear!
  Thank God we have a world class healthcare location literally 2 minutes from my work, and it was there on my lunch where I found out that I have "walking Pneumonia" of all things!  I think it's time to slow down.  Those D@@@ Germs!

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

  Happy birthday to the one who picked out my first teddy bear for me when I was less than a day old (by the way, I still have it!), the one who pushed my stroller around the block on sunny afternoons.  Happy birthday to "my protector" when kids were making fun of me on my way home from school one day (tackling one of them and pinning them down to the ground sent a pretty strong message), you always looked out for me even though you're the same one who drew a mustache on my face with permanent black marker while I was asleep (mom scrubbed my upper lip so hard I'm surprised I still have an upper lip!)  Even after you grew and got married, I could always count on you to be there for me.  Everytime my car broke down you dropped everything to pick me up from where ever I was stranded without hesitation.  I will never forget when you asked me to be in the delivery room with you when your first child (my awesome nephew) was born!  I will also never forget when you walked into my dressing room right before my wedding, and you saw me standing there in my wedding dress, and this wonderfully big smile came across your face and you said "you're beautiful!"
  I know there were times growing up when we fought and I wanted to "put you up for rent, cheap" especailly when you accidentally shot me in the arm with your bb gun!  But then I also remember the time when you were shot in a hunting accident and we almost lost you!  I couldn't imagine not having you in our lives!  Especially my life!
  You were and you still are the best big brother anyone could have!  I talked to you earlier today and wished you Happy birthday but I didn't get the chance to tell you how much you mean to me.  I love you!  Happy Birthday!!!!

Quiet Night

  With my husband and pugs sleeping soundly all snuggled in bed together, I am spending some "me time" enjoying sitting here typing while I'm watching the movie "Father of the bride".  I am enjoying this time  right now, I'm taking advantage of the fact that I'm not surrounded by somone talking on their cell phone, or swearing at the baseball player that struck out at the plate on t.v.  Right now I'm not surrounded by phones ringing, people talking , walking back and forth between offices.  I am relaxed and clear headed for the first time today.
  For the year and a half that I was unemployed, I forgot just how crazy life can be with working full time and taking care of your house and family, it's a delicate balance.
  I try to carve out time for myself everyday whether it's staying up late like tonight or walking a few miles on our treadmill.  I have realized my "me time" is important to keep the balance, and as my husband has put it, i get down right "cranky" (I'm putting it nicer than he does) if I don't take time for myself.
  In a minute, I will be going to bed rested, with a clear head, have a restful sleep and get ready to face the day tomorrow.  Good Night!

Grateful

After about a year and a half of being unemployed, I was lucky enough to find a job.  I was even luckier to find one that pays more than my previous job did and to find a company that cares more about their employees than my previous "big name, worldwide corporation" employer does.  I am still working in the "corporate world" but it's more of a "corporate world with a heart" in a way.  Now I know I've only been there for three months, in fact I started a few days before Christmas (a job is a wonderful christmas gift!), but I felt right at home from the first second I stepped through the door my first day!
  When i first got to my desk on my first day, I was welcomed with a neatly wrapped Christmas gift and card sitting on my desk with my name on it, little touches like that stand out to me, it was a great way to make me feel at ease on my first day and set the tone for my new job.  I work both independantly and in a team setting. right from the beginning my team made me feel welcome and to me they are my extended family.  For the first time in years, I don't dread going into work, I enjoy it and at times it's actually fun. 
  Two weeks out of every month, we can wear jeans, and almost every week we have contests and drawings for prizes of all kinds and twice a week the company brings in breakfast for everyone and once in a while has lunch catered for everyone.  Yes it's great to feel appreciated!  I am grateful!

Calm after "chaos"

  Tonight was the first sense of calm we've had in a while in our house.  My husband and I are both settled now in our new jobs (I love my job, my husband hates his job).  While we have settled into our jobs, chaos has been going on around us.  Our work lives have been the "eye" in the "tornado" that is home ownership.  Last december, our shower in our upstairs bathroom (the only full bathroom inthe house) decided to leak through our kitchen ceiling and into the kitchen light fixtures, which could have been a recipe for diseaster, but thankfully wasn't.  The bathroom had to be completely gutted out and totally rebuilt.  After one month of having a bathroom with no shower, no walls, no floor, heat, many checks written to the contractor, and last but not least more than a few arguements with our insurance company (who refused to cover the repairs!).  We now have an awesome new bathroom!  2 weeks of calm then set in and then,  just when life was getting back to normal, water started streaming into our bedroom right through one of our window panes!  Right through the middle of it, and down onto our bedroom carpet. Agh!
  Our bedroom window started another storm of chaos, we had to move into our much smaller guest room with a much smaller bed.  This second wave of chaos included another round of dealing with insurance (which thankfully covered repairs this time), contractors, and living in a "construction zone" for another month and a half.  I mean, half of the wall with the leaking window had to be demolished, repaired/rebuilt, repainted, recarpeted.  After 2 months of living in our guest room, tonight is the first night back in our "new" bedroom.  As I breathe in the new carpet, new paint smell, I finally feel a sense of calm coming over our house again, like the house is breathing a sigh of relief.  Hopefully our house doesn't throw any more surprises our way for a while and a sense of order can start to take place.  A sense of calm.

Hello Again

  Hello again blogosphere!  I'm sorry I've been away for a while, but as you know, life has a way of getting in the way sometimes.    We have been going through some changes here.  My husband started his new job a week ago, so far he likes it.  The only downsides of his new job are that the pay is much less than what he made at his previous job and he has a lot longer commute now.  But the big upside is that the company cares  more about their employees than his previous employer. 
  Not to be outdone, I also got a new job! I will start my new position in little over a week, and I can't wait!  I also will have a much longer commute than before. but I will be paid more than I was before! 
  Other than our new jobs, we finally started the major repair on our bathroom, so for the past week we've contractors going in and out of our house throughout the day every day.  Our bathroom had to be completely gutted out, so we get to start from scratch with it which is kind of exciting!
  During this time we also discovered that spending 24 hrs a day 7 days a week together is not easy, especially when you have no income, and are both having difficulty finding jobs (thankfully that is over!)
  We butted heads at times but we made it!  We have jobs, we have each other, and in a couple of weeks we'll have a new bathroom to enjoy!

Temptations

  It's November, the weather is colder, leaves are changing color, we got our first snow today (didn't stay long though).  With the fall season and Thanksgiving coming soon, I have had cravings for pumpkin pie, cookies etc...I only eat these things around this time of year so I guess it shouldn't surprise me.  What I'm about worried is that since my husband was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes, both of us have not been eating any sweets at all.  In fact, my husband has lost 45 lbs since July and I've lost 20 lbs, and I definitely don't want to gain any back during the holidays. 
  I think my best plan of action is to step up my exercise routine and indulge my cravings in moderation.  My husband is a lot more strong willed about these things than I am, so I'm not quite as worried about him caving in. 
  The upcoming holidays are going to be even tougher this year. because my grandmother passed away earlier this year and the holidays  are not going to be the same!  It's going to be a real temptation to turn to the holiday "comfort foods" when I'm missing my grandmother, and I really have to fight doing that

A Few Random Thoughts

I wish the fall season lasted all year long! I love the briskness in the air and the leaves changing color!

So happy the political commercials are finally off T.V!

Love the leaves changing color, but definitely do not like raking said leaves.

Wonder why we park in driveways and drive on parkways? Hmm...

I've been using the word "Dork" a lot more lately. Don't know where that's coming from.

Would give anything to have one of my Grandma's awesome Thanksgiving dinners this Thanksgiving! Miss you Grandma, R.I.P!

Hope my fantasy football team stays in first place (I'm the only woman in the league, so it's that much sweeter!).

Craving some chocolate

Never A Good Time

There is never a good time for things in the house to break down, especially now! Right now we are both unemployed, and of course now is the time our shower floor decided to let water leak down through our kitchen ceiling!
So today we had a contractor that was recommended to us by our friends (who had the same problem with their shower) take a look at it. It turns out that our shower pan needs replacing and we need to have part of our kitchen ceiling replaced due to water damage. We are going to have to have our shower floor gutted out for the repair and have our shower floor retiled.
The shower retiling would not be a big deal, but since the bathroom tile was custom made for the previous owner, it cannot be matched. Most of our bathroom is tiled, including the walls, with the custom made unmatchable tile. Basically just having the shower repaired is going to cause us to have the whole bathroom retiled so it goes all together! Then we found out that our insurance won't cover it! Our insurance compant said it was "preventable" and replacing a shower pan is considered to be "regular shower maintenance". Also, our policy does not cover water damage unless it's "catastrophic". I guess if one of us would have fallen through the shower floor while showering then we would have been covered!
We spent the day dealing with the contractor, insurance adjuster, and picking out the new tile for our bathroom.
We're not looking forward to having our kitchen and bathroom torn up or having to spend the money for it(couldn't have come at a worse time!).
I just keep thinking how nice it will look when it's all done, and it will add value to our house whenever we do decide to sell it, so at least there are some positives to it. But again, never a good time!

I Finally Finished It!

  YES!  I finally finished the latest book I've been reading called "Damaged" by Pamela Callow.  "Damaged" is a medical/ legal thriller loosely based on a real life news story that took place in Canada. 
  "Damaged" is Pamela Callow's debut novel.  This book instantly drew me in.  The characters were very well fleshed out, which is very important to me, I want to be able to mentally visualize them and care about what happens to them.  The heroine is young attorney Kate Lange, and she is definitely a stand out character.  Kate Lange is the kind of character that I just rooted and pushed for from the begining to the end!
  I just learned that "Damaged' is the first book in a series, the second book titled "Indefensible" also featuring Kate Lange is scheduled to be released around December 28th.  I cannot wait! 
  Now, I loved "Damaged" but I'm not being too descriptive about the book because I don't want to give anything away about what happens.  But, if you want to read a great medical/legal thriller I would definitely recommend "Damaged".
  I also like to read different genres of books, so I just started reading "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory, I'm only a few pages in but I am intrigued by both the story and the historical side.  I also have some personal interest, because I have an ancestor who was beheaded by Henry the VIII, and of course Henry the VIII is part of this novel.

Forging Ahead

  The past 2 weeks have been absolutely crazy around here, and a big cause of the craziness has been my husband.  He's been unemployed for all of 2 weeks, and he is still bouncing off the walls.  The pur guy just cannot make up his mind what he wants to do next.  One minute he's looking on the computer looking for work, and the next he's on his phone talking to friends about buying into a franchise pizza place, or he's telling me that he wants to just pack everything up in the car and just leave and start all over again.  His mind is all over the place sometimes. 
  I have decided to be the "calm in the storm", I have been the voice of reason in the house and have been calmly forging ahead trying to find my own new career path.  Yes I will still continue to work for my brother, but business is down right now, so I'm looking for some supplemental income in the mean time (preferrably outside the home so I can get away from the craziness).  There are some things (well not many actually) about working in the corporate world I miss, and the biggest thing is the commeraderie I've had with co-workers, having lunches out etc...Hopefully I can be the bread winner for a little while till my husband figures out what he wants to do.
  I told my husband that anything he decides to do I am 100%  behind him and that I love him.  I really hope he finds his niche in world!  I love him so much!

Crazy Days, New Horizons

  I know I've been gone for awhile, but I'm back.  The past 2 weeks have just been plain "nuts" around here!
Our wedding anniversary was on Aug 18th (9 years!), my husband had to work that day, which is no big deal.  The "big deal" came at about 5 min before he was scheduled to leave work.  Five muntes before my husband was scheduled to leave work, he was asked to see his supervisor who then told him he was "terminated"!  He was totally blindsided!  He had been with this company for 10 1/2 years without any problems, and was a "top performer" consistantly every month (and was recognized within the company every month and was in the top 8% of the company's achievers nationally).  Everyone thinks it's because the company is "cost cutting" by terminating employees with tenure.  Basically  "IT STINKS!" and on our anniversary!!  Needless to say, we didn't feel like celebrating!
  On the same day, a friend of ours was chopping wood and ended up chopping half of his index finger off! OUCH!!  My husband now refers to him as "Mr. 9 and 1/2" luckily he has a sense of humor about it!
  One of the things that we've had to adjust to is that we are having to spend a lot more time together at home (which at times is driving me crazy!).  I've been helping my husband with posting his resume, filing for unemployment, looking for work etc... 
  Another thing is that my husband has had ADD his whole life, so if he isn't busy, it's like he's "bouncing off the walls".  He'll literally walk around the house saying "I gotta get out, there has to be something for me to do, I gotta do something" over and over, major cabin fever. 
  We'll get through it.  I know he'll land on his feet, he's got a lot going for him.

Almost Done!

   I've been off my blog for a few days to work on a project in my basement (or the "dungeon" as we call it).  My husband has been spending a lot of time working on his half of the basement, he calls it his "man cave".  Hanging up his sports memorabilia, moving his pinball machine, exercise bike, and trying to figure out if we can fit a couch (we are getting a fairly new couch from a friend of ours, to put in our family room)in his "man cave", along with a top of the line treadmill that's been sitting in our garage for more than 2 months!  Trust me, I would rather his sports memorabilia be all displayed in the basement, instead of all through the house like it is now!  I can't wait until he's all done.  He can host his poker nights down there as well!
  My half of the basement is partially taken up by the furnace unit, water heater, and washer & dryer.  I am fixing up a big corner of my half and turning it into a little "cozy corner", where I can have peace and quiet to read, relax, do crafts etc...  I am almost done, just have to finish painting and figuring out where to put things etc...

Shoe Mourning

Today I am in mourning. I'm mourning the demise of my favorite pair of ankle high black suede boots! (pause to wipe tear here)

The little heel on my left boot broke, well actually it's more like it just broke into pieces, just fell apart! The heel is not salvagable, so into to the trash they went this morning. These boots were my absolute favorite pair of shoes for at least the past 3 years. I loved them! From the beginning, I felt they were just made for me!

I have a $50 Nordstroms gift card that's been burning a hole in my wallet for a while, so off to Nordstroms rack I went. My mission was to find a suitable substitute for my now gone boots.

I was at Notrdstroms rack for about 45 min hopelessly looking for a new pair of boots, and I found very few suitable pairs. First of all, even deeply discounted shoes were still way over my $50 gift card limit, and they had about every color suede boot except black.

I had no luck in finding anything for me but I did have a few laughs at some of the shoes I saw. A couple of shoes I saw are posted here:

The yellow rain boots were discounted to a "bargain" price of $89.00!

These "Hollywood Hooker" shoes were marked down to only $190.00!
What a bargain!  They weren't even designer shoes!

Affordable, simple, little black suede boots. Where are you?!

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

One place where my husband and I vastly differ is food. I will try a much larger variety of food than he will. My husband is the pickiest, most unadventuress eater I have ever known. With a few exceptions, I will try anything once!
If we ever travel to a foreign country we might here a citizen of that country say to us "If you feel hunger, try lizard feet" or "frog legs", alligator (although I did try alligator once, and it did as they say "taste like chicken"), I've even heard of people eating snake! I don't know if I could stomach the thought of eating snake, but I would probably try it if no one told me what it was and I couldn't tell what it was.
I am willing to try a lot of different foods, but I would draw the line at some point I know. I don't know how people like Anthony Bourdain, or the guy on "Man vs. Food" do it! I think they will eat anything!

Surprise Visitor

Usually the only occupants of our house during the day consist of me and our two dogs. Well today was different.
This morning was like any other morning in our house, my husband getting ready for work, me taking care of the dogs etc... The usual routine. Well, my morning changed from "usual routine" to "chaos" in a blink of an eye!
The second my husband stepped foot out the door, an unknown dog swiftly ran in! The dog not only ran into our house, he instantly ran down into our basement (the basement stairs are right next to our side door)! I took off down the basement stairs yelling "here doggie, here doggie". the dog ran through the door and down the stairs so fast that I didn't even get a good glimpse of him. All I knew was that the dog was dark colored and was definitely bigger than our two dogs put together!
The second I got into our basement, the dog ran past me and ran up the stairs and started barking at our two dogs who were going crazy and barking back. At least the sight of our dogs stopped our "surprise visitor" so I could get a hold of him and try to get some of kind of control of the situation.
I quickly trapped our "guest" in my kitchen and trapped our dogs in another room, at least until I could get a good look at this dog and get an idea of his demeanor. He had a collar on but no tag, and looked well taken care of, and when I approached he quickly layed on the floor and rolled onto his back for a tummy rub. After a few calming tummy strokes I left him in my kitchen with some kibble and went outside to see if anyone was looking for a dog. No one was.
One by one I introduced the dog to our dogs and after a few sniffs of each others "you know whats", all three started playing with each other, under my supervision of course.
Our newspaper had no posting for a lost dog that matched this dog's description. I called our neighborhood vet and let them know I found this dog and gave them his description , and also called our police dept and let them know the same.
Since the dog was obviously someone's pet and had a great demeanor about him, we decided we were going to keep him until we found his owner, and if we couldn't find his owner after a period of time, he would be a welcomed "new addition" to our family!

Our "surprise visitor, Bowzer"!

Around 4:30 p.m. I got a call from our police dept. The officer on the phone said a woman called in frantic about her missing dog who matched the description of dog I was watching sleep on my family room floor. He is a 11 month old black lab and hound mix, and his name is "Bowzer". Turns out "Bowzer" had gotten out through the back door of his house because it was not closed all the way when his owner left for work this morning. The officer gave me the woman's phone number so I could tell her where to pick him up.
I called Bowzer's owner right away, and I could tell by her voice that she'd been crying (I felt so sorry for her). She described Bowzer to me down to the color of his collar. I assured her he was okay, and gave her my address (turns out she lives a few blocks away). Within minutes of hanging up the phone a black SUV pulled into our driveway. A young woman came to our door, I greeted her, then quickly brought Bowzer to her. The second she saw Bowzer, she hugged him, and without saying anything to me she quickly put Bowzer in her car and drove off.
Now, Bowzer is a very sweet, lovable dog and I didn't mind taking care of him for a day (or much longer if needed). Also, thank God Bowzer got himself somewhere where he was safe and he didn't get hurt or worse when he was running around the streets here. I really didn't mind having him here, I was happy to help him!
What I'm a little upset about in this situation is that the woman that owns Bowzer didn't even say "thank you". She didn't say "thank you" over the phone and didn't say it when she picked him up! If that happened to me, I would be extremely grateful and appreciative!