My Mom Rocks!

Yesterday, Richie's parents left to go back to PA and Richie and I both had to work. I looked forward to going home and just relaxing on the couch after a fun filled last 2 weeks. When I pulled down my street my Mom's car was in my driveway- This is nothing new, although she usually calls and tells me she is coming over. I walked into the house and she had cleaned from top to bottom, did laundry, cleaned the sheets on the bed, towels, mopped the floor, vacuumed, dusted and the place looked amazing! She knew I wanted to come home and relax and knew I would not be able to since there was so much to do. I love her- what a great gift she gave me. Plus, we may have people at our house tonight for New Years and it all needed to be done yesterday. I am so excited.

A friend on my Mom's had their house broken into: The husband got home first and called the wife who was still at work:
Husband: Our house has been broken into, they jimmied the back door.
Wife: OMG- what did they take?
Husband: Nothing
Wife: What?
Husband: They cleaned- the whole house has been cleaned!!!
Wife:?????
Evidently, their neighbor had hired a house cleaning service and told them that they would leave the back door open. The cleaning service went to the wrong house, jimmied the back lock open, came in and cleaned the whole house! Can you imagine?
My Mom and I had a joke about wishing that would happen to us. Every time we would walk into the house we would say--Darn, the cleaning lady forgot to come today!
Well, my cleaning lady showed up yesterday and I am so grateful-
First thing on my list for the New Year- Go help my Mom clean up her house from top to bottom-

A Year End

Amazing, the year is coming to an end. I feel like I have to hang on, the time is flying so fast. Richie's parents are getting ready to go home to PA. The have been with us for about 10 days. We have had such a blast and it will be strange to have a quiet house. Between shopping, Xmas, going out to eat, visiting with our nephew, watching football, we have been going non-stop. Kevin (nephew) flew in from Japan. He is in the Navy and was 1 of about a dozen people allowed to leave the boat for Xmas. We are thankful for his visit because we do not know how long it will be before we see him again. He has grown into such a wonderful, independent, sweet young man. I am very proud of him.
I am planning a New Years Eve celebration because I think I volunteered my house for the party place. I was told I volunteered, but I think I was more elected than anything else. Who knows- it will be fun whatever we do. Looking forward to all things great in 2009.

So much to do

Richie's parents are coming on Saturday and staying with us for about 10 days. We have done nothing in preparation and now I am starting to panic. We have our tree up, but I did not decorate the house like I normally do. I just did not feel like it and sometimes it is such a hassle putting it up and taking it down. I know, we all know that feeling. Richie brought down the decorations about 3 weeks ago and I told him I did not want to put them up. We had a conversation it went:
Richie- "Are you sure you do not want to put this stuff up?"
Me- "yep"
Richie- "Don't say you are sure and then change your mind and make me dig all this stuff out again"
Me- "I am sure, I don't want to put it all out" (whiny like)
Richie- "okay, then..I will put it back" (In our Xmas storage area)

So, do you think he will be upset when I tell him I have changed my mind??

LOL. I was looking around last night and wanted a few things out. I thought about getting candy like hersey kisses and M&M's just to have around the house. I thought to myself, where is my Xmas dish? Guess where it is...Packed away with all the decorations. I will break the news to Richie tonight when he gets home. When he complains...I will just tell him to stop being a Scrooge and get into the Xmas spirit. I can almost feel his eyes burning a hole through my head as I sit here and type.

I am also trying to do my last minute shopping. I still have not completed my list. Geez. Richie and I went out last night and did some shopping for him. He desperately needed jeans, so we went and got a few pair for him. Yay! One present down.

I am trying to put a menu together for the 10 days Richie's parents are going to be here. Breakfast and Lunch= not a problem.. Dinner is the pain. I figure I need to plan for 8 days, excluding Xmas day and one night we will probably go out to eat. Richie's Dad has had bypass surgery, so I am very conscious about preparing food that does not have a lot of sodium and fat in it. That rules out any thing in a box or a jar. It really limits our selections. Fresh fruit and veggies is the key. I need to go to the store and figure out what I am gonna do. Wish me luck ............

Winnie the Pooh

Richie and I finally finished decorating our Christmas tree over the weekend. We are a few weeks behind, but lately I have not felt like doing very much. I have been tired when I got home from work and had too much to do over the weekends. (FYI-not preggo) My tree is complete with my Winnie the Pooh lights. Every Xmas of my life, they have gone on my tree. This year is number 32. My Winnie lights make me happy and I enjoy seeing them every year. I love how Richie is so careful with them, strings them perfectly and then sits back and admires them. I have turned him into a Winnie lover!
I spent Saturday with friends I have not seen in about 4 years or so. I went to an old friends baby shower. Terry and I were really good friends about 10 years ago and have remained in contact after all these years. Email and facebook help. We see each other for important things, bridal and baby showers, weddings and birthday parties. I love that after all this time, we can get together and talk like no time has passed. Since I was on that side of town, I stopped in to see my friend, Amy too. She has a little girl that is almost 7 months old. Little Lizzie is adorable and just lights up a room. I stayed and visited for about 2 hours and headed off to get my phone replaced. The earpiece speaker was broken and needed to be repaired. I couldn't hear anyone when I answered the phone. It was crazy and lasted about 2 days before I had it fixed. Now, I have a new phone and can actually hear people when the call....Imagine that. Sunday, my mom came over and the three of us watched football and ate chicken dumpling soup. It was cold yesterday (mid 30's) so it was nice to have the crockpot going making the house smell so good. It was such a wonderful relaxing Sunday.

Worth every minute...

The last couple of days have been crazy! This past Thursday was Thanksgiving. We went to the Lee/Howard family house for Turkey Day. I don't think I have had that much fun on Thanksgiving since I was a kid. Richie and David played football and baseball all day with Caleb (10) and Connor (7) (David's nephews) Richie helped Caleb with throwing a baseball. Caleb wants to be a pitcher and Richie enjoys working with him. Gracie (5) (Davids niece) hung out with all the women and occasionally jumped on the trampoline. The house filled up fast with family and friends. Probably, 40 people passed through the house at some point. Being with our extended family is so nice. There is never a doubt in my mind that I am loved by that family. I know they would do anything for me and my family, no matter what. Being thankful that I have them all in my life is what Thanksgiving is all about.
Friday, we had Huneka's birthday party at our house. We had a bunch of people over and had a great time. We played beer pong, opened presents, played games and just let loose.
Saturday, Richie had to work and I cleaned up the house from the night before. My back has been sore for about a week now, so it took me a long time to get the house straight. Just trying to do a little at a time. Richie, David and I went out to dinner and came back to our house. I took David home at about 3 am and then could not go to sleep. I stayed up and watched TV until about 6 am. Yikes, I knew I would be hurting....
Sunday, Patrick came over to the house and watched the Redskins game. We have Direct TV and the football package. The Redskins game was not on regular tv and since the Steelers didn't play till 4, he was able to watch the game. We had snacks and watched football all day. I was exhausted, but had to stay up and watch the Steelers kick some butt- YaY!
Monday- Richie was off work and brought all the Christmas stuff down. He put the tree up and moved all the furniture around. That is usually the hardest part. All the other bins are labeled and easy for me to decorate with. I made it easier years ago and did Xmas bins. Makes a world of difference. Hopefully, I will get it all done this week. I came home from work and fell asleep on the couch. I woke up a few times, once to answer the phone and once to eat. Otherwise, I was knocked out and went to bed early!
Long, crazy, couple of days, but so worth every minute!

High Gear Holidays

It is me or is this holiday season coming in high gear? I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving. Usually by this year, I have done some Christmas shopping and have a list of things I wanted to get people. This year = nothing. Not even a thought about what I wanted to get my family. It is crazy. I have not been shopping lately, so I have not been reminded that Christmas is around the corner. The closest thing I have to that is my facebook Christmas countdown. Ha. My mom is the easiest to buy for, but this year I am stumped. Of course, I could go the basic route...perfume, clothes, gift cards, but I don't want to. Gift cards, reminded me of holiday cards which need to be sent to about 100 people. You guessed it, haven't started them either. Not that I am ba-humbug, just haven't had a chance to do anything yet. Richie and I usually bring all our Xmas stuff down this week and we put the tree up and decorate on Black Friday. I have off from work, so I just go to town. This year, I am hosting a friends birthday party Friday night and do not want the mess. I thought about having the house all done with Xmas decorations, but I think it will be a lot of work to do in one day. I am sure she will be happy that it is more about her birthday, then Xmas anyway. It should be fun.

Another Weekend Rundown

Friday night, Richie and I met Mandy for dinner. We have not hung out in a long time. Probably 6 months or so. We always have good intentions to meet up and do something, but time always escapes me. How many times a week do you say to someone.."yeah, we do need to get together" or "we need to figure out a day to meet up". I know I say that at least once a week to someone. It isn't until I specifically set up a day and time on the calendar that we actually do something. Mandy and I made our plans a week in advance. Friday nights are pretty low key and if we do anything at all, it is just dinner with a few friends and hope for an early night. We went to dinner at a little bar and grill. Good food for cheap money! Love that! The 3 of us had a blast and just sat and talked for about 3 1/2 hours. Then I was beat! We called it a night in hope that so much time would not pass between visits. Although, no matter how much time passes between visits, as soon as we get together, it seems like just yesterday we hung out. Gotta love it!
Saturday, I did some laundry and went to the grocery store. Fun, fun! We were invited to Trey and Carrie's Pre-Holiday party! They live about 45 minutes away from us, so we had pre- arranged that Richie and I would be staying at their house. I decided to bring breakfast and make a casserole. I made a sausage, egg, and cheese casserole, brought cinnamon buns and OJ! I had never made the casserole before, but it actually turned out really good and I was very happy with it. We had a great time. Visited friends, played some beer pong, and ate great food. Can't wait until next year!
Sunday was football, of course. Steelers won and we were very excited. Went to bed early to catch up on zzzzzzzzzzzzz's we lost the night before!

So Much for Resting

Richie and I decided since I had a 4 day weekend we should do something fun. We decided to head down to the beach and visit some friends. We stayed at Mike, Sara and baby Madison's. Madison is 6 months old and just as cute as can be. We had a blast. We left Saturday night after Richie got off of work. The guys fixed Mikes 4 wheeler so they could go ride in the morning while us girls hung out. We got up Sunday and had breakfast and off the boys went for most of the morning. Sara and I just played with the baby and talked. The boys came back and where muddy as muddy could be. They had to clean up the bikes and get showered. Mike fixed us a wonderful dinner and we watched movies. Mike had to be at work on Monday so he left early. Richie and I packed up and went and meet another friend for lunch before heading home. It was a great weekend and we all had so much fun. Although, I just wanted to curl up under a blanket all weekend, I am so glad we jumped in the car and went to the beach.

Richie and Mike

Richie loves his goddaughter Madison

Just Tired

I am not sure if it is the time change, temperature change or just me, but I am so tired. I have gotten plenty of sleep, just feel like I have been dragging for the last 2 weeks. I had a cold last week and it seem to be still lingering. I am sure that plays a huge role in how I feel. All I want to do it lie down, curl up under a blanket and go to sleep. I had a pretty busy week and am very thankful it is Friday. I took off from work on Monday, so I have a 4 day weekend (Tuesday being Veterans Day-Holiday) Hopefully, I will be able to relax a little and finally kick this cold. Of course, it never happens that way... I already have a few projects lined up that I would like to complete. Tell tail sign that I am getting older- I can't "just do nothing" anymore. Years ago, I could lie around all day and watch TV and do nothing or hang out on a float in the pool for hours and hours. I just can't do that anymore and some days I really wish I could. I am going to try to have a well rested weekend- We will see what happens.

October Bash

This past weekend was a lot of fun. Our friend David threw a little party and had a great turnout. Friends from out of town came to visit and we all hung out in the garage and talked until 4 am. I forget how bad I feel after a night of staying up until wee hours of the morning. It was completely worth it though. The weather was awesome. we were worried about the rain, but we only had about 10 sprinkles all day and night. Richie and I cat napped all day Sunday in between football games and just relaxed.


These guys have been friends for over 25 years. Crazy! :-)

PA trip

My mom and I took a trip to Philly this past weekend. We had not been there since January, which is a long time for us. We usually have a spring visit too, but I was too busy at work and then time flew by. My grandmother's birthday was last week so she was super excited for us to make the trip. We took my new car, Sammy and she did really well. Nice smooth ride. My grandmother buys lots of little things for us, so we had plenty of room to pack up the car for the way home. My grandparents rock! It is so funny how instantly I regress into the little girl and the granddaughter role. I love being there. I helped my grandmother hang some pictures, carrying stuff up from the basement, help change air filters and do other little things for them. It is so easy for me to do it real quick then have them do it. I always tell my grandmother to make a list for me. Some of our last trips include painting walls, ceiling, removing wallpaper, cleaning out closets, etc. I cleaned out a linen closet a couple years ago and found Pepto from 1980 or something crazy like that. It wasn't even pink. HA. Needless to say, we usually work pretty hard when we go up there. This past visit was pretty low key for the most part. We visited with some of my family and of course, had a philly cheesesteak. Yum!

My grandmother laughing at my grandfather

Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Chalie

Family came and went

We had a great time 2 weekends ago. My aunt Mary and her boyfriend came into town. We had a few cocktails out on the deck while enjoying the most beautiful fall weather. Paul, our old neighbor, came into town that night also. That was just a coincidence, so we invited David and my mom's friend Becky over too. We had a mini reunion. I think we had about 8 of us for dinner. Then the boys went outside and played on the mini motorcycle. They had a great time and definitely kept us entertained. Silly boys. A quick visit for everyone, but it was great just hanging out with them all.

Family visits

My Aunt Mary and her boyfriend are coming into town this weekend. I am very excited. I don't think I have seen my Aunt Mary in a couple of years. Was it our wedding? I think we have seen her once since then. Who knows. They are only staying one night and getting back on the road to PA. I love being the pit stop place. I am trying to figure out what to have flor dinner.. I like doing lasagna, Caesar salad and bread sticks. It is a full meal, pretty easy and fills ya up. I thought about steak, baked potatoes and salad, but that seems like more work. I can't decide. I guess I will just wing it. Maybe we will all go out and that will solve any dinner problems :-)

Low Key Weekend

We have a very low key weekend. We watched movies on Friday night. Richie worked on Saturday and I did an all day grocery shopping spree. We should not need to step foot in the grocery store for at least a month! I went to one place, came home unloaded, and ran out the door for the next store, came home and unloaded again. Then, I just stood there and stared at how I was going to make all the stuff fit in the refrigerator. Success came and I was able to fit everything in. I don't know how people do this once I week. HA! Sunday, Richie cut the grass and I cleaned inside. The Steelers did not play until 8:15 pm, so we were able to do stuff around the house. Usually, when they have a 1pm game, we get nothing accomplished on Sundays. David went to Wilmington and brought back J. Michaels for us. J. Michaels is a Philadelphia cheesesteak place in Wilmington. It is so good and the closest thing to a real philly steak sandwich that I have ever been able to find. It was real good and a nice treat. Ended the weekend with a Steelers win, then crashed for the night.

New Addition to the Family

After the ALL day event- We have a new car. She is Sammy the Saturn (Vue). We love her!

Weekend Rundown

We had a great weekend:
~Friday night hanging out with my friend from high school. We had a great time just reminiscing about our high school days and how much more trouble we should have gotten into.
~Saturday went to David's and watch the State game
~Sunday watched football all day at David's again. We ate ribs that were so good. Pittsburgh has the Monday night game, so we are able to go out on Sunday :-)
~We also spent the weekend test driving a Saturn Vue. I really like the car and we are considering buying it. I am just a little apprehensive about making this commitment. I have gone a long time without a car payment....decisions, decisions.....

High School Friends

A few years ago, by accident, I received an email from a girl in our work agency. Her name was the same as the girl I went to high school with. Although, not a common name, I wasn't sure if it was the same girl. I sent one of those emails, you know, the ones that start off " I know this may be weird, but....... It was her!! We caught up with each other over email and then decided to meet for dinner. We sat for hours and just laughed. We really had a great time. We have continued to keep in touch even though we don't see each other too much. With facebook and Myspace we can at least know what is going one in each others lives. We are meeting Friday night for dinner again. I am looking forward to catching up with an old friend again.

Football and Steelers

Football season has started and I love everything about it. Today, we had the windows open with a nice cool breeze blowing through the house. I had meatballs cooking in the crockpot for our half time special and they made the house smell so good. We were looking forward to the game all day, but unfortunaltely, the Steelers lost the game. :-( We did get to use our new Steelers toy though. Every year we buy a special Steelers piece to add to our collection. This year the Steelers remote. It rocks.

Busy week

This past week was so busy for me. Work has been crazy. Tdap boosters deadline is approaching for all the 6th graders to come and get their shots. We have had lines out the door. I stayed late at work a few night this week just trying to get all the stuff done. I was exhausted.

I finally replaced the lamp that got broken in our living room. The lamps were ceramic lamps my grandparents had made many years ago. Somehow between the cat jumping and Richie grabbing her, the lamp fell and busted. I was devastated. It was in pieces and I could not throw it away. My grandparents do not do ceramics anymore and sold almost all of their stuff. I knew I could never get a replacement. So for the last 7 months, we have not had a lamp. I looked around and could not find one that I liked. I wanted something similar, but was unable to find anything. Finally, I found something close, something that I liked and could live with. YAY! So now we have 2 matching lamps after 7 months. I think I am ready to move on. haha. As you can see, the before (broken) lamp (top) and after lamp (bottom), I am a creature of habit!

Working on a Saturday should be illegal

Had a big project for work this morning. I am the new project manager, so I thought it would be best if I showed up. We were giving immunizations to about 200 sixth graders. All went well with not a lot of crying and no vomit. That makes for a good morning.

I am so glad I got gas yesterday. I went by the same gas station this morning and it was even .10 higher then on my while home from work yesterday. Crazy. I needed gas anyway and had to wait in line for about 20 minutes for gas. I hope this gas crisis ends soon. Also, hope everyone will be safe if Texas.

Closet Chaos

Last Saturday night, Richie and I heard a loud bang in our bedroom. We went running in a saw that my side of the closet had riped completely out of the wall. All my clothes were on the floor. We stood, starred at each other and then back to the clothes. I turned off the closet light and tried to shut the door. Richie then said "We going to Champps?". I said "Absolutely". So we left, ate dinner at Champps and tried to come up with a game plan. We did. We decided to take the rest of the closet apart, patch the holes, repaint the closet and baseboards and design a whole new closet. Off to Home Depot we went. I love that place. We bought new shelving, paint and all the accessories. We worked on the closet a little at a time each evening and I am happy to say- We are done. I am so excited. We have a newly designed closet with twice the storage space and a freshly painted closet. Now, I just have to reorganize my clothes....