Holidays!

It has been a while since my last post! Sheesh! I guess I have been pretty busy lately.

In preparation for the holiday season, here are my responses to some Holiday Questions:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I think there is something magical about ripping that paper off your gift that gift bags just don't have.
2. Real tree or Artificial? When we used to celebrate this holiday, we would go cut down a real tree. Our new house did come with a tree so we will see how this goes.
3. When do you put up the tree? If we put one up, usually after Thanksgiving. I am actually hoping to get some decorations going this week, if I can.
4. When do you take the tree down? New Years Day is the tradition in my family.
5. Do you like eggnog? I love it! But since I have been dieting for 4 Christmases in a row, sneaking a sip is all I get to do. I did buy some soy egg nog this year. If you drink it at least 10 months after the real thing, it doesn't seem too bad.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Blue BMX bike that matched my brother's. We would do synchronized bike tricks in the yard and pretend that we were going to be in the circus or the Olympics.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Rob and my dad. My mom is always happy with gold earrings if I can't come up with any other ideas.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? I have a tiny little glass one that I put on an end table.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I almost always write out Christmas cards then I NEVER mail them. I have a stack for the last 3 years.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Fugly purple shirt from Wal-Mart that had a beaded necklace that was built in. Andrea and I tried to return it but they said that it was so old that they couldn't take it back. So, we went to the clothes section and threw it under a rack of clothes. I peed in my pants, then we left. Well, it wasn't that much pee. I was just laughing REALLY hard.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? This is a hard one for me. Since I haven't been in the Christmas spirit for a few years. They all seem really hokey. But I think that It's a Wonderful Life probably is the only one that I truely like.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I start thinking about it in October. First purchases are usually in November. There have been years where I will have 85% of my gifts purchased and wrapped by the first week of December.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mint M & Ms.
16. Lights on the tree? White lights, even though Ellis thinks they are too boring.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Tony Bennet singing "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We have traveled for the last 5 Christmases. I think staying home might help me with my Christmas issues.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Most of them
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I usually can't reach it.... so I just toss a bow up there.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Whenever everyone can get together. Usually about 5 days early for my family and Christmas day with Ellis's family.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? All the parties and food. Can we just celebrate for once and not focus on the food???
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I have no response to this.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Homemade Pumpkin Pie (is this a Christmas food?)
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? The same thing Melanie Lyon wants: Eat everything I want and lose 15 lbs. And whirled peas.

Wakie Wakie!

So, Ellis makes me laugh. A lot. All the time. But I still think that the funniest things he says are when he is still asleep. The problem is that if I laugh at the time, he wakes up a little bit and his feelings get hurt. So this morning, I worked really hard to keep it together. And as I am typing this, I am having my first chuckle over it. He is just so cute I can't stand it!

Since it is Friday, Ellis is off from work. So we both get to sleep in.... I get to sleep until about 6:45 and he gets to sleep until I turn on the Today show. Well, my alarm had gone off and I had pressed the snooze button. Ellis turned over and cuddled with me. Then he said, "It is like cartoons." Since I love talking to him when he is asleep just to see what he says back to me, I replied, "Huh?"

"Like cartoons. Bugs Bunny."

"Bugs Bunny?" I asked.

"With a cigar. Stripes like a cigar."

"Are you saying that I have marks from the sheets" (You know what I am talking about, right?)

"Guns."

"Guns?" Huh? What the?

"Guns, guns, guns."

In my mind I was imagining Looney Toons characters. The ones who shoot the guns and a little flag pops out.

Since I couldn't make any sense out of what he was saying, I didn't ask any more questions. Later today I will bring it up and see if he remembers anything about what he was dreaming.

Seriously, that man makes me laugh!!!




***UPDATE!***

I did tell Ellis about "Guns Guns Guns!" and he just laughed. He didn't remember dreaming anything and vaguely remembered saying something to me. He thought it was funny, too!

Wedding Fun!

Ellis is on his way to becoming a professional photographer! He took pics for a wedding this weekend. These are straight out of the camera shots. Since he is already a professional graphic designer, he will end up touching these up a little to make them pop even more. Regardless, they look wonderful as is! Check them out!

Book Club!

After talking about it for a year and a half, we are finally starting our book club! Scoot on over to our new Book Club blog! http://bookclub37312.blogspot.com/

We are having our first meeting on Oct 7. At that time, I hope that we come up with a name for our club and make some simple decisions for what we want to do with it. It is going to be fun, I know that for sure! We will probably not be too serious, maybe some serious books, but I hope we mostly have fun! We are encouraging our out-of-town friends to join in, too. So others can keep up with what we are reading, too.

Our first book is Cranberry Queen by Kathleen DeMarco. Feel free to join in!

And check out my new gadget...be a Follwer, too!

Nice!

Our dear friend Jeremy recently came to town for a visit. He and his cousin stayed at our house for a few days. Jeremy lives in Park City, where Ellis spent the winter a year and a half ago. AKB helped to name our "Cleveland-Utah Family" who live in Park City. It was always such a special treat to spend time with Jeremy and his wife and kids.

On this trip, we met Jeremy's cousin, Stephen. He lives in ATL and is an entrepreneur. His wife runs a cupcake store in downtown Atlanta. It is called The Little Cake Bakery. He actually had some cupcakes with him so I was able to have a sample. The Red Velvet was to die for! Yum! I decided right then and there that my next trip to the ATL will HAVE to include a stop!

They have some staple flavors every day: Chocolate on Chocolate, Vanilla on Chocolate, and 14 other combinations of Chocolate and Vanilla. They have Red Velvet every day, too. But they also have some special flavors that rotate through every day: Strawberry, Pinapple Upside Down Cake, Hummingbird, Elvis, Peanut Butter, Lemon Lavendar. They all sound so good!

Check out their website and plan a trip!

http://littlecakebakery.com/index_new.html

Smooth Move!

I am such a klutz. No really. It is amazing that I have never had a broken bone. I trip, stumble, and sometimes even fall. There was one time I was walking up the steps into my building at work and I stepped on the hem of my long skirt. Face planted right there in front of the double glass doors. That is me. Just call me Grace.

On Saturday Ellis and I were working on our new garage. The problem with buying your parents' old house is that when your husband tells your dad, "Don't worry about cleaning out the garage. There are a lot of treasures in there that I want to sort through." Your dad literally leaves everything for you to sort through. Well, not literally. But a lot of stuff. A lot of cool things like an air filter for your 1977 Jeep that you sold in 1994, your plaque from the time you served in the Post Office Union, the painters hat you got for free when you originally painted the house in 1984.

In addition to all that "cool" stuff, we have been storing about 5 pieces of furniture in the garage. A tall narrow shelf, a buffet, bar stools, a washer, and this other cabinet thing that we used as a book shelf but also doubles as a TV stand thing. So, Ellis and I were carrying it into the house. I was wearing flip flops and going backwards most of the time. It is pretty amazing that I didn't drop the thing on myself.

We brought the book shelf into the house, maneuvered through the kitchen, then decided to take a quick break at the bottom of the stairs. As Ellis was tipping his end up, I was bending over, lowering my end. Then my back cracked. Loud and painfully. Oops. Yes, my back went out! {Insert cheesy old people jokes here.}

I kept hoping that just resting would make a difference. So I spent Sunday on the couch watching stupid movies that were on TV. Too bad I can't have that day back. On Monday (Labor Day), I read Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. On Tuesday, it was back to work. And the pain was still there. Definitely not better. Maybe worse. So I decided it was time to go see a doctor. The chiropractor worked on me for about 15 minutes. Then when she was finished, I couldn't get off the table. That is pretty bad. Who knew that those back muscles were the ones that helped you crawl or get up from a laying-on-your-stomach position?

Anyway, so that is my complaining blog. I am still in pain so it is almost all I can think about.

So, how are you? Did you have a good Labor Day weekend? I hope yours was fun and pain free!

Thoughts on Rejection

I read a blog posted by a fellow DZT gal about Rejection. And it brought to mind one of my favorite stories. So, after I replied on Jenn's page, I thought I would post here, too.

Here are my thoughts about rejection:

I had a moment of inspiration from a teacher that I worked with about 8 years ago. We were PE teachers together and were planning Field Day. One of the classroom teachers approached her and said, "Can we just give out participation ribbons to everyone? It is just not fair that some kids can never get a first place ribbon."

After thinking about it for several days, our head PE teacher had a brilliant response. "Not every child makes a 100 on a spelling test. Would it be right to go ahead and give them all a perfect score when they can't actually spell? Some children can't excel in the classroom. But they can in the gym. Those children need that recognition, too."

Hopefully, we can all find a place in our life where we can be the bright shining star. Sometimes it takes trial and error. But I hope we can all find it.


Check out www.delightfullycliche.com to see what inspired me today.

Oops!

Why do all of the fun things always happen on the same night?


A few months ago, my dear, dear friend Marishell told me that she was having a Purse Party. I was super excited! So right then and there I vowed that I would do whatever I could to be there for the party! When she set a date, I immediately cleared my calender to drive down, spend the evening in ATL, then Ellis and I would spend the following day at IKEA or some other grand Atlanta mecca.



THEN I found out that Here Come The Mummies (the greatest Funk music from beyond the grave) were going to be in Chatty the same night! We have seen them like 5 times....but this time they are supposed to have some new music and I am sure it would be awesome, as usual.

THEN I found out that there is a DZT alumni ceremony for the new tap tonight in Cleveland. I haven't been around much for DZT, but it still sounds like a good, nice thing. (Check out the Lovely Ladies in my sidebar. Ah, the fun and the memories.)

So, on behalf of the Purse Party, "Schmooney and Burke Abides!"

On behalf of Here Come The Mummies, "Tip Toe Down the the Basement and Funk Shui!"

On behalf of DZT, "Shun Blue!"





Shhhhhhhh!

Please don't tell the DZT girls that I am hanging with some old Sigma gals tonight. I don't think that would go over so well.

My Second Love

Ellis will always be my first love. But I realized my second love this morning.

Imagine, two tall, shaggy guys who smell like cigarette smoke. They are wearing their work shirts, shorts, and those yellow-ish boots. They have tools and a ladder. And a van. And I think one of them has a mullet.

And they told Ellis that they don't have to cut down any trees to install our new Dish Network! This means that we will have our beloved Dish DVR again! No more annoying Charter that can't skip ahead in 30 second intervals. We will have 200 + hours of recording time IN TWO ROOMS!

We had Dish at our old house. And actually, in the spring we had them come out to the new house twice and both times they said there was no way they could put it in without interference because of the trees. And one of the problems was that one of the trees was on the edge of the side drive of the rental property next door. Since my parents moved to their new house and took Charter with them, we decided to give it one more try. My dad even took the day off so he could help cut down some trees if that was needed. But, when the two installers arrived, Ellis told them, "I will buy your dinner tonight if can install this without me having to cut down any trees." And TA-DA! I will have Dish at our house when I get home from work tonight!

I am ecstatic!

I told Ellis, "This is the best day of my life.... well, of the year... well, of the month? Oh, I had a lot of fun last Friday night.... This is the best moment of the morning!"

I love Dish! But not as much as I love Ellis!

First Day of School

It is that time again. Wal-mart aisles are clogged with parents with school lists and screaming children. Morning traffic is about to pick back up again, mamas are driving their kiddies to school. And our parking lot is going to be packed. Our office is adjacent to two schools and we share the parking lot with one of the schools. So, the teachers' cars take up most of the space that was empty all summer long. And this morning, since it was registration day, was full of parents. Every spot was taken. The excitement was in the air. Moms rushing around, meeting teachers, putting their best foot forward. And looking forward to having someone else take care of the kids during the day.

I am sure that there is a lot of joy in motherhood. That is what everyone says, anyway. But, after sending them to school for an entire 10 months, then having them mope around the house for 9 weeks of summer....it has to be a relief to get them back into a routine. Especially a routine that someone else is responsible for.

Ellis and I talk about having kids. He is totally ready for them. I, on the other hand, am not. The change to our lifestyle, the extra laundry, the baby food, shopping for clothes for someone else besides me! I am selfish! I know it! It scares the hell out of me thinking about losing that.

I sometimes think that the best thing for me would be to accidentally get preggers. That way I have no choice. "Oops! Oh well, I guess we are going to have a baby." We are actually aligning our lives to be ready for a child. We just bought a bigger house in a good school district. We have a four door car in addition to our little 2 door Mercedes. The back yard is fenced in. My credit card is nearly paid off (well, "nearly" may not be the right word..."significant progress" or "JUST 9 more months!").

All that to say, one day, I, too, might be one of those moms. Crowding the aisles, buying supplies, new shoes, checking off the list, setting up the car pool. Every now and then I think, "Is this it? Is this all there is?" Then, I think that if I really needed a change, to mix my life up a little bit, all I need to do is not be careful. Oops.

This is not my story....

But I am going to tell it anyway.

Last week, I was at home talking to Ellis and I said a word....with this fun little inflection. "Delicious!" I said. And it was so familiar. I knew that there was some story about that word but I couldn't remember what it was.

I thought about it a lot. Finally realizing that there was some story from the three months I spent in England. But I still couldn't remember.

Finally, in the shower a few days later (if it is important, I will always find the time to remember it while I am in the shower!), I remembered the story. And now, my dear friends, I am going to tell it to you.

There was a little girl named Lindy. She was cute with wavy hair. One day Lindy was helping her dad wash the car. (She was just a little girl, maybe 3 or so.) I am sure she was playing the suds and with the water hose and having a grand time. At some point, her dad was on the other side of the car, washing away. And then he heard this little raspy voice say, "Delicious!"

He ran around the car and found Lindy with a bottle of Armour All, squirting it into her mouth. Big eyes, big smile. He promptly grabbed her up and rinsed her mouth out with the water hose.

The entire winter/spring of 1999, we all said "Delicious!" in that funny little way that only Lindy could really do. After eating fish and chips, after eating Yorkshire pudding, after eating toad in a hole, after pretty much every meal. Except Haggis. Not that I ever tried haggis, but if I did, I would NOT be saying "delicious!"

Birthday Adventure

I really wish I had charged my camera for our adventure yesterday. But then, how was I supposed to know it would turn in to an adventure?

Here is the background: It was Ellis's birthday. July 23. I have been thinking for MONTHS about this awesome gift for him. And recent events solidified the idea in my mind. Ellis is totally into electronics and technology. But what most people may not know is that he is also in to fixing things, tools, and making and designing things.

(Check out his cameo on the Make Magazine Website: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/05/hammock_made_with_sketchup.html)

So, when he realized that he would have his own garage and utility room in the new house, we was pretty excited. One day in early July I was unpacking some kitchen stuff and he was helping me. After a little while, he asked, "Can I go to my room?" He promptly went to the utility room and was in there for HOURS! Looking though the stuff my dad was leaving. I guess he was envisioning the wonder of his own space to fill with his tools and gadgets. Thinking of the things he would build. And wondering what the hell my dad was thinking by keeping 4 drills that didn't work, the box to a 1974 purchase of some obsolete part to his old jeep, and the Four Wheelin Magazines from 1982 - 1987.

Anyway, I decided that Ellis needed a tool box. Actually, a few years ago I bought him a Craftsman Rally Box. I don't exactly know what that is, but it was a four drawer, black tool box. And he has out grown it. He has LOTS of stuff! And it is all Craftsman. From drill bits to wrenches to tiny screw drivers to who knows what else. Then man loves Craftsman. So, I decided that he needed a tool CHEST. And I knew he would love it!

I found the chest I wanted. It was econmical but had 9 drawers! A great starter chest! But, they didn't have one in our town. As a matter of fact, the closest one was 30 miles away. I decided that since Ellis has about an hour commute home every day that if I left at 5, I could be back around the time he would get home from work. In my mind I envisioned him pulling into the driveway and opening the garage door. Then this wonderful red chest would be sitting in the garage with a huge bow on it! And there would be spotlights and music and dancers....well, maybe not dancers. It was going to be great!

So, on Wednesday morning, I e-mailed AKB to see if she wanted to ride with me to pick it up. She is always up for a reason to leave work on time (bless her! She has been working late a lot this summer!). So she said yes! I filled up my gas tank and was in her work parking lot 10 minutes before 5. It was all going so smoothly! Then, our friend Mel met us, we loaded up in the Acura and hit the road! As we were pulling out, AKB said something like, "Did you want me to drive? I have more room in my Liberty?" And Mel said, "I can take my van, too. It has lots of room!" And I was so totally on my game, I said, "Nah! We can fit it in here! There is a lot of room!"

I had called Sears earlier in the day and they said that my order was ready. I actually paid for it on line, so all we had to do was pull up in front of the door, tell them we were there, get our stuff, and head back to town. Easy enough, right?

We arrive at Sears and these two young guys (high school, maybe freshmen in college) wheel out two large boxes. I am still optimistic. We put the smaller one in the trunk. AKB made fun of me since I didn't clean out my trunk before we started the trip. There was a box of painting supplies in there. And a stereo that Ellis acquired when he installed someone's new sound system....the stereo is circa 1981. Knobs and everything! But, we did manage to get the smaller box in!

Then, it was time for the larger box. I figured, from the looks of it, it would fit in the back seat beside Mel. I did not account for the small car doors that only opened a little bit. There was no way. We tried rolling down the window, but it still wouldn't fit. We tried the front seat. We scooted the seat back, laid it down, but it still wouldn't fit. After 15 minutes of this, Mel called her husband. But some stroke of fate, he was parked at a movie theater about 15 miles away....thinking it was the one we were supposed to meet at for Ellis's birthday movie. Joel and Mel were sure that it would fit in the trunk of their Jetta. The seats laid down and everything! There was room!

Just kidding.

No room.

Well, there WAS room, but the problem is that the opening to the trunk wasn't big enough. But, as luck would have it, his back doors opened a SMIDGGEN wider than mine did. So, thank the Craftsman Gods, it finally fit!

Due to traffic, stop in Ooltewah, and ordering the iPhone from AT&T, we had to push back the movie time to 8 instead of 7...but all in all, it did come together.

Well, not the music, spotlights, and dancers part.

After the movie, Ellis asked, "When do I get my gift?" And in an anticlimatic way, we walked over to Joel's car. He opened the back door and saw the lovely red of the base of the tool chest lodged into the vehicle. I had to explain that the rest of it was in his garage (I snuck it out of the trunk before the movie) and he would have to see it all together to get the full effect. He said that he liked it. I will find out how much he likes it by how many hours he spends in his utility room this weekend, filling it up, organizing it, and getting it the way he wants it. So, we'll see.

Wallpaper and Paint

Remember that sweet photo of our blue carpet from the other day (just scroll down if you need a reminder)? See that lovely wall of paper and ladder? Well, this weekend I am going to tackle the wallpaper removal from that wall. Thankfully, there is just one wall that is papered and it doesn't go all the way to the top of the ceiling (removing wallpaper from 20 foot ceilings is NOT something I am looking forward to).

I tackled our bathroom in January and it took a total of 20 hours to take down the wallpaper in that tiny room. It was disastrous! After that, it took another 8 hours to texture the wall and patch all the lovely holes that I managed to create. By the time I painted, I was ready for it to be over with. I am hoping and praying that this wall won't be so bad. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the bathroom was that bad because of 24 years of steam and humidity from the shower. Anyway, the final product turned out pretty good. Still needs a little work, but I am fairly happy with it.

So, Ellis and I have been full of discussions about the colors we want to use in our living room. Every day it has been a different discussion: Portabello brown (the same color as our bedroom)! Then "That is too much brown!" How about GREEN! No, I don't like the green. How about red?! No, I am over red. How about beige? This house is going to be all brown and boring! Add some color to your life, girl!

I have been hesitant to bring the color blue into the conversation. Mostly because of the current blue carpet and blue countertops. It kinda seems counter productive to rip out all sorts of blue just to add it back again. But, after some discussion, we did settle on a lovely blue and brown idea. Now, we have a long way to go before painting. Mostly this weekend I am going to work on the wallpaper removal. If all goes well, in a week or so we can start the painting processes then get our new carpet installed! It is all so very exciting! What do you think about the blue and brown? I think it is going to rock!

Speaking of Carpet....

There are some pretty great perks when your husband works as a sweet-ass designer for a huge carpet corporation. One is thatI get to take a day off from work and go have lunch with him at the Oakwood and have the best Mac N Cheese in the world (and I know, I am a conissour and try it everywhere)! Also, I get to look at the secret showroom that has the newest and coolest floor stuff to pick out for our new house.

Since our new house was originally built by my parents in the mid 80s, it shouldn't be a surprise that they were cutting edge and super hip with the style. So please enjoy the plush country blue carpet while we choose our new stuff! Actually, the carpet is still in good shape in some places. I mean, not neccessarily right in front of where the couch used to be. But, when you run across the room barefoot, the space UNDER where the couch used to be is super nice! And the area around where the formal dining room table was is pretty schweet. But, it is still blue. COUNTRY blue. But, fortunately for me, the kitchen countertops match perfectly! (We will get into that at a later date!)

So, my trip to the showroom yesterday helped solidify our choice for our new carpet. So, here is what we have in mind: Macabi in Bronze Door for the living room and in Khaki for the bedroom. And, by the way, it is no longer called SHAG, so get that out of your vocabulary! It is FRIEZE now, people! I think it will look good. And it will continue with my boring brown theme, at least according to Ellis. What do you think? Will shaggy brown work in our house? Do you think it is cool or crappy?


I also took a gander at some hardwood. And I fell in love with this floor! I think it is great! I think that the dark color will look great with our crown molding and windows. I think that changing the hardwood is pretty far down the list, but it is never to early to plan! Plus, I love to think about it, plan, and dream a little.

Our House.....

Is a very very fine house. With two cats in the yard.

Well, one cat at least. Chewy has survived some tough times lately. Her new cousin, Bruno, came for a visit for 2 weeks in June. He is a 35 lb Portuguese Water Dog. He is really super sweet. And honestly, I don't think that he even saw Chewy very much. His hair was shaggy and in his face a lot. And Chewy hid out. A lot. Actually, Ellis and I were in Florida when Rob and Bruno arrived, so she was just terrified and hid in the spare room, living in the boxes we had packed. My mom was worried when they had not seen her for about 3 days. Then, one night, my dad felt her walking on his leg while he was asleep. He looked up at her, she stared him in the eye. Then she jumped and ran away. She did it again the next night, too. When we finally came back from our trip, Ellis found her hiding deep in the boxes in the storage room. She reluctantly came out. She lost several lbs during her time in exile.

Throughout the rest of Bruno's visit, Chewy hid in our bedroom. By the last day of Bruno's stay, she was bold enough to sneak out and watch him from afar. I personally think he was still clueless and did not even know she was around.

Yesterday, my mom and dad hired movers to finish up getting their stuff out of the house. My mom reported to me that the movers kept the front door open most of the day and she was worried that Chewy would run out of the house. Backing up a bit, my mom wants Chewy to be her best friend. She plays with her, follows her around a bit, and gets scratched and bit in return. For some strange reason, Chewy just does not like my mom. Well, with the movers in and out so much, my mom decided to get Chewy to our bedroom so she wouldn't be a runner. She was hesitant to just pick Chewy up because she has some killer claws. So, she opted to pick her up by her scruff. From there, Chewy let out the most blood curdling cat scream. My mom said that she had never heard anything like it. Somehow, she got Chewy to our bedroom and secured her there for the rest of the move. After the scream, one of the movers asked my mom, "Is that cat going to attack us?" You never know my friend, you never know.

Last night, it was just me and Ellis and Chewy in our big, new house. The furniture is mostly gone. We sold our living room furniture and are in the process of buying some new. So, we only have a recliner and an end table in the living room. So there is a LOT of carpet. And Chewy loved it. All night we kept throwing her mouse toys and she would just tear across that carpet like mad. Then turn on a dime. I have never seen her so wound up!

I think she is going to like it.

Less furniture.

More carpet.

Our OTHER Nephew

Rob has a baby. He is 7 months old and is pretty hairy. And ADORABLE! Rob and Bruno came for a visit and we finally met our new nephew! (Our other nephew, Matthew, is coming for a visit in another 3 weeks or so.) Bruno is awesome! He is a Portuguese Water Dog, or PWD for short. They are a breed that traditionally do water work and they have a different type of hair so they don't shed like regular dogs. Rob has taken Bruno to the river on kayak and funyak trips and Bruno loves it!

Rob dropped Bruno off at the groomers yesterday and told us that she said he would be ready for pick up at 5. Ellis and I happened to be in the vicinity around 4:30 and decided to stop and see if he was ready. The groomer said that she would be finished by 5:30 or so, so we didn't get to take him home. But we did get to take a pic! He was so funny! His hair was brushed really straight around his face and then at that point, it was really short everywhere else! Our little mop dog was gone!

He is just an adorable and sweet pup!

The Box of Awesome!

Awww! I love the beach!


We just spent the week with the Burns/Fox family at Ocean East in Ormond Beach, FL. Most of the week AKB and I could be found by the pool worshiping the sun. I finished a Sophie Kinsella book and started my book club book, Captains and Kings. It has been a slow start, I kinda wish I had picked up a lighter read instead.

Anyway, one day while at the beach, Ellis decided that he needed to define our little spot. So he drew a rectangle around our chairs and labeled it "The Box of AWESOME." Yes, that is us. Later on, Jordan, AKB's niece, decided that she needed to change the name. It ended up being "The Box of Dorks" when it was all over. Sometimes being this awesome means that there has to be a little dork in there some where.

Later, Ellis decided that he needed to see how far he could dig into the sand. Basically, he stood in one spot and let the sand erode beneath him. He also shifted back and forth with little steps to help bury himself a little deeper.

We had a great time! Lots of scrimps, sand, and sun! Ellis and I are now thinking of ideas so we can always live a life of vacation. Playing the lotto and writing books. Those are our ideas so far. Maybe we can make it work out!

Chocolate Always Loves You Back

I am trying to be good. Really I am. AKB convinced me in January that I should go with her to Boot Camp on M/W/Fs. Then, Ellis convinced me to start back at Weight Watchers in February. And here we are, two weeks in to it and I have been rockin it out! I have been getting up at 4:27 five days a week for about six and a half weeks now. And it has been good! I am loving the early morning stuff. And WW has been good to me, too! I had my second weigh in yesterday and, in two weeks, I have lost 6.8 lbs. Not too shabby.

But, for some reason, today I just don't have it in me. I woke up slightly late this morning for Boot Camp. I was still on time, but I think that I must have been in the middle of some major REM sleep. Then, the workout was primarily arms and abs. No cardio. No running up stairs and doing the dreaded "bow ties." Maybe my body needed the cardio today or something. Maybe my sleep cycle was just off. I don't know.

Oh, and it was COLD today! Maybe it was just 27. But it was windy. And it just chilled me to the bone. I cuddled with Ellis for about 10 minutes before getting in the shower and I still couldn't get totally warm. Then, in the shower, I cranked up the hot water and stood in there for a while. And I was still chilly! I thought about maybe running all the way across town for a coffee at Starbucks, but I just wasn't up to driving all the way just for that delicious liquid amber.

Anyway, so sitting at my desk, I had this brilliant thought, "Hmmm, I need a piece of chocolate. Rich, dark, creamy chocolate will warm me up." I have about half a bag of Dove Dark Chocolates in my desk left over from Valentines Day. I passed them out to my co-workers along with a goofy little V-Day card. So, I pulled out one piece. Bit it in half and ate and enjoyed that morsel. Then I glanced down...somehow the other half had already disappeared. Did I eat it?

Then, another chocolate. Just a bite, half maybe....What? I ate the whole thing already? Well, one more.

I don't even know how long this went on. Finally, I read the message on the beautiful silver wrapper from my most recent Dove Dark Chocolate. This message kinda summed up the morning and made my stomach not so interested anymore. "Chocolate Always Loves You Back."

There is some sick, food-atic fattie working for Dove that has the same issues as me, apparently. I think I need to write a letter to them about how bad a quote that really is.

Anyway, things are looking up. I just had lunch with some Cleveland gals and my brother just gave me a new recipe. I will be sure to try it one day: One chocolate covered cherry and one huge dollop peanut butter. Voila.

All Crimes in Cleveland have been solved!

I had two headline options and am not sure which one is better. After you read the story, let me know what you think!

Option 1:
Apparently the Cleveland Police have solved all crime in Cleveland now....


Option 2:
Spinning Class can save you $60!



Story:

So, this morning, AKB and I were planning on going to a spinning class at the Y. The class starts a 5:15 am. We are "used" to getting up for our Mon/Wed/Fri 5 am class. I actually got up about 5 minutes earlier than I have been getting up. As I was walking out the door, I saw TWO police cars in front of our house. Sailor Pop's car was parked near our mailbox and my car was parked in the driveway. One police car was stopped by the mailbox with his lights shining on Sailor Pop's car. The other police car was parked diagonally across the street with his lights on the Mercedes. (He was basically blocked both lanes of the street.)

I stood at the door for a second, a little confused. I started walking towards the police car near the mailbox. I waved my little gloved hand at the officer (I wanted to make sure he saw me and knew that I wasn't a threat - I didn't want to be tased!) He acknowledged me, so I walked over to his car. I asked something like, "Is there a problem?" I was totally thinking that there was a break-in or something like that.

Police Officer: "Is this your car?"

Me: "Well, it is my grandfather's car. I know the tags have expired, but he passed away and our car is in the shop. So we have been driving his."

PO: "You shouldn't be parked on the sidewalk. If you move it, I won't give you a ticket."

Me: "I thought that was our property."

PO: "There is a city ordinance that you can't park on the sidewalk."

Me: "Ok, I will move it..... for the purpose of full disclosure (yes, I did say this at 5 am....fast on my feet!) I have lived here for seven years and have never had a problem with parking on the sidewalk."

I really don't remember what his reply was.....maybe something about the ordinance again. So, I ran inside and searched for Ellis's keys, then went ahead and drove the wagon to the Y.

So, if I had slept in, I would have totally had a ticket this morning.

AND, if there had bit a little more crime in Cleveland, they officers would have had something else to do instead of giving out a ticket for something I have been doing for SEVEN YEARS!

Booya!

Andrea and I went to a class at the YMCA in Cleveland this morning at 5 am. (Can you believe it? I did drag Ellis to a morning workout at 5 last week, too!) We finished this crazy class full of running and obstacle courses. As we were leaving the parking lot, there were like 5 or 6 cars pulling in - people there to start their workouts (by this time it was 6 and I was delirious from it being so early and from lack of oxygen to my brain.....or something). And I hollered out: "We're finished....We're leaving.... BOOYA!" The funny thing is that Andrea knew the "Booya" was coming, so she joined in, too. We had a big laugh! And, of course, kept repeating it. :)