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!