Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Still Not Done

Our real jobs are interfering with just how much time my painter friend can actually spend here painting.
He hopes to be finished tomorrow night. I hope so, too. My house is trashed. So for now just a little sneak peek.
Are you really surprised at my color choice? Perhaps this is why I choose to remain single? Never having to compromise on what color to paint the living room.
And just for proof...you can see that it really is a
TOTALLY DIFFERENT shade of pink. LOL!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

3 Word Sunday

That about sums it up. One of the many projects this year was painting the living and dining rooms. They haven't been painted in 11 years and really need freshened up.

Since some patch work was needed and the ceilings had to be done along with all the trim, I decided to pay someone else to do it. These rooms are big and the task was just too overwhelming for me. Best decision I've made in awhile.

The painter is actually a homicide detective that I work with. He paints as a side job. I decided I might be getting a little jaded about my job when he called yesterday morning to tell me he'd be a little late because he got called out on a dead woman found in a trash can. And my first response was "So how long do you think that'll take?"

Trust me, I recognize the tragedy in that. It just took a second for it to catch up. One of the side effects of police work.

Stay tuned for pics of the finished project....

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Random Victim Of Tagging

My LID buddy, Tonggu Momma, tagged me for a meme. She's logged in a day before me. And we're hoping that maybe we'll meet up in China if this plays out right. I plan to get her drunk on margaritas and teach her how to properly drop the F-bomb. Just kidding TM! I know my bad influence is no match for your girl scout honor. LOL!

The rules:
Post 3 random things about yourself.
Link to the person who tagged you in your post.
Tag at least 5 other bloggers.
Let them know you've tagged them by commenting on their blog with an invite to participate.



Moving on to my 3 random (useless) bits of information about me:

1. I love love love bleu cheese dressing! On just about anything. On salads, hot wings, burgers, steak, chips, crackers, veggies, pretzels, or in Tracy's chicken dip. Hell, I love it so much I could just drink it out of the bottle. And the chunkier the better. My favorite store bought brand is T Mar$zetti's Chunky Style. Hmmmm... funny. For some reason I'm hungry now.

2. I have NO arch in my feet. None. They're completely flat. Think Fred Flint-stone. Makes shoe shopping difficult. It's nearly impossible for me to wear stilletto's for any length of time. And buying running shoes requires in depth research. I have to go to a specialty shoe store just to find the proper fit. In case anyone is interested to know, I've been instructed to never wear Ni*ke's cuz their arches are too high. Just to prove my point...here's an outline of my foot. And yes I traced it just like back in kindergarden. Although a 5 yr old might have done a better job. Sexy, no? Like a platypus.

3. I had my tonsils out when I was 11. I woke up in the recovery room with dry, cracked lips that were caked with dried blood. It was gross. And painful. But I got to eat a lot of popsicles so that seemed to make things better. I recently thought of this after seing a pic of someone who shall remain nameless with her mouth wide open showing people her chewed up food. (It was so immature considering her age and all. LOL!) But in addition to the chewed up chocolate brownie, I also saw her tonsils. And had to think a second about what the heck those things were since they looked so unfamiliar to me. Which brings me back to the story of my memories about having my tonsils removed when I was 11.


So now I have to tag 5 more victims... errr I mean.... friends that would have so much fun participating in this wonderfully amusing meme. Eeenie meenie miney meme moe. I choose.....


My sister, Carla, cuz I'm curious to see what she might put.
Kim from Journey to Isabella cuz I've never tagged her before.
Amie from Heart Smiles cuz I think she has plenty of time on her hands since she only has 6 kids. *snort*
Stephe from Giorgia Danette cuz I think she needs a nice distraction as we inch closer to her February '06 LID.
Shannon from Elena, r u? cuz ...well, do I really need a reason?

Saturday, April 19, 2008

3 Words Sunday & Other Ramblings

I was awakened very early Friday morning with my bed shaking. Now depending on who's in it, that could be a good thing. But since it was just me and Griffey, I knew something was odd. (Yes my spoiled dog sleeps in my bed.) I thought maybe he was just scratching or something cuz the bed was just barely moving. So I reached over to make him stop. But he was laying on his side sound asleep.

However the bed was still shaking. Was I dreaming? Was I possessed? Was there a serial killer under my bed? Then it stopped. Since I was still only half awake I rolled over and went back to sleep. Later that morning as I was getting ready for work, I kept thinking about it. Did I imagine it? Why was my bed shaking?

Then I turned on the news and heard that what I'd felt was a freakin' EARTHQUAKE! In Ohio! WTF? Apparently, there's a fault line in Illinois that registered a 5.4 magnitude earthquake at 4:37am. And we felt it all the way over here. Luckily, there were no reports of injuries and only minor damage. Crazy. That's a story to tell my grandchildren some day.

Baseball season has started. Why does that matter to me, you ask? Because the guy I share my second job with coaches his son's team. That means for the next couple months I'll be working 4 evenings a week to cover his absence. Unless it rains. Then he'll go to work instead. So I may be doing some rain dances over here so I can have a break. I hate baseball season.

My Florida sunburn has faded. No more pain. But now I have a lovely peel going on. Oh well... it was worth it. I had a blast.

Griffey had a follow up appointment with the vet on Wednesday. We got good news. His eye is 90% healed! The vet said it's remarkable considering how significant the injury was just a week ago. He has vision in the eye and hopefully things will continue to progress until he's completely recovered. We only have to put ointment in the eye twice a day now. Thank goodness. That's torture for both of us. And no more stupid lampshade thing on his head!

So my 3 words this week are for my baby boy.......

*Click here for an explanation of the 3 Words Project.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Florida Weekend Re-cap

I arrived at the airport bright and early for my 7am flight. Okay... maybe I wasn't feeling the brightness of being up at that hour. And maybe I wasn't early since I got to the gate at the final boarding call. Well, you know me.... nothing like being the last one on the plane. LOL! I arrived in Florida 2 hours before Colleen.
That gave Tracy just enough time to pick me up at the curb and drive her boys to Grams and Gramps house and then high tail it back to the airport for the big surprise. It was awesome! Colleen had no idea I was coming. On the left, you can see the edge of the pole I was hiding behind as she walked up to greet Tracy. I came up behind her and the look on her face was soooo worth it! She was shocked and just as happy to see me as I was to see her. We headed back to T's house and immediately fired up the blender. Hey, I'm sure it was 5 0'clock somewhere!! I fell in love all over again with Colleen when she told me the margaritas weren't strong enough and added more tequila. A girl after my own heart!
The afternoon was spent lounging in the pool and enjoying lots of girl talk. Could not have been a more perfect afternoon! I love the Florida lifestyle. The people down there really know how to have a good time. And they certainly enjoy their cocktails. My kind of folk. :) But I don't know how I'd ever get to work if I had a pool and my own bar right in the backyard! I might never leave the house!Our host and hostess threw an impromptu little cookout that evening for some of the other neighbors also running for the BOD. Before everyone got there, the birthday girl received a box in the mail from Maryellen. She had tried so hard to work out a flight so she could be part of the birthday surprise, too. But in the end, there was just no way to do it.
So she sent Colleen some cool gifties instead. She loved all of it! The wine glass was in her hand most of the weekend. Except when we went boating. She took the koozie for that. LOL! After a delish dinner and lots more cocktails, we played mucho cornhole. Now since I'm from Ohi-yer, I've had lots of practice with this game. The funny thing is that I got better and better as the night wore on. The more tequila I drank, the more accurate my aim got. Strange, huh?
In fact, on the last shot of the last game I made all four of the bags in the hole to pull out a victory for my team. Because of that amazing feat, I was crowned the new "cornhole princess". (Boy do I have a lot of jokes for that line...) Here you can see the former princess passing on the crown. I accepted it proudly!
The next morning, we headed out for a little shoppy. Now this was an entirely different experience than what I'm used to. Last weekend when I visited Maryellen in North Carolina, we made a Wal*Mart run. Much more my speed. These high-falutin' stores down here were way outta my league. But I'm always up for an adventure so I happily went along.
The birthday girl wanted to treat herself to a new LV handbag. I wasn't able to share her enthusiasm when I saw that one bag cost more than my house payment. However, we made the mistake of going in the C0ach store later. Somehow a bag that only cost more than my last car payment seemed more reasonable. WTF?I've been corrupted! But I do love my new bag. And I rationalized that since my car has actually been paid off for more than a year it wasn't that big of a purchase. Plus more importantly, I deserve it! Looks good on me, no? Before heading back to party central, we stopped at the market. Tracy needed to pick up a few staples. No.... not bread and milk.We're talking tequila and beer, baby! You see, Florida is very hot. People tend to get pretty thirsty.Once back home, our host and hostess slipped off to their BOD election meeting while Colleen and I held down the fort. But we received constant updates via text messages. Finally, they arrived home victorious! And the celebration began.
We headed out to Colleen's favorite place for dinner. T0mmy*Bahamas. I'd never been to one. Let's just say that now I'm a believer, too. I had the best steak I've ever tasted in my life. Seriously...in my life!!Since I was dining in a tropical paradise, I decided to have an appropriate tropical drink that came with it's very own little umbrella. I ordered a yummy pina colada in honor of another homegirl who was also part of the birthday surprise. But unfortunately, she had to cancel at the last minute. So cheers to you, Melissa! You were there in spirit.
Mr Sea Star snuck off during dinner under the guise of "going to the bathroom". But really, he arranged a special birthday treat. But there was no stupid singing by the waiters in this classy joint. Though she did get to blow out a candle.
She was so happy that she decided to make love to the palm. She's truly a tree hugger! LOL!
We walked down to the pier so I could see the gulf side of the ocean since I'd never been here before. It looked the same as the Atlantic side. But it was a nice walk anyway. LOL! Aren't these two just the cutest couple? They really are just as adorable in real life, too.
Deja vu? Didn't Tracy lose her keys during the last "Girlfriends on the Gulf" trip? And was photographed in the exact same position? With the exact same look on her face?
The humidity had taken a toll on our hair at this point. But we still look hot. No, I mean we were really hot. LOL!
The next morning, we were up early for a day on the water. Mr Sea Star loaded us up on the boat and took us out for some island time. It was a gorgeous day.
These two sun worshipers worked on their fabulous tans with no worries. While I slathered on SPF 50 sunscreen and sat under the umbrella. With my lovely fishing hat and tee shirt on. Scared to death of a burn.
This set up is how I garnered the name "Miss Daisy". I burnt anyway. Badly. I knew my fair complected skin couldn't deal with that sun. Happens every time. But it was still a great day... in spite of my pain. LOL!
I had the most fun!! And to think I almost didn't go. Only because I had traveled the weekend before. I thought it would be too excessive to fly two weekends in a row and get my party on again so soon. Thank goodness Tracy twisted my arm and convinced me to throw caution to the wind and live it up while I still can in my pre-baby time. Thanks for the encouragement, girl!
Our time in paradise. We lounged. We swam. We ate great food. We enjoyed many delicious cocktails. We talked and talked. We cornholed. We shopped. We celebrated. We boated. We saw naked ass on the beach. We partied like rock stars. And then some of us fell asleep. :PThe weekend was fabulous! Spent with two of my favorite people. (Well, actually three now cuz Mr Sea Star is pretty freakin cool himself.) I could not possibly have had a better time. Except maybe if we left out the sunburn. LOL! Thanks to Tracy and Jason for being such wonderful hosts and pampering us all weekend.
I love you girls and can't wait til next time!
I miss you so much already!
*And I can't believe I just posted pics of myself in a bathing suit on the world wide web. Yes it's hidden under a tee shirt but it's still there. I must really love you chicks! BTW... am I not just rockin that camouflage fishing hat? LMAO!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Too Much Partying Like A Rock Star

This pic explains exactly how I feel right now, too. Yes she really is asleep. Didn't even flinch when I snapped the pic. But in her defense, this was at the end of day three. She can still party like the smokin hot rock star that she is!

I got a wicked bad sunburn in paradise. In spite of the 50 SPF sunscreen I slathered on, wearing a tee shirt and a big camo fishing hat (yeah it was a fashion statement) and sitting under the umbrella at the beach. My pasty white Ohi-yer skin just couldn't handle the Florida sun.

I actually had to take another day off work cuz I couldn't wear shoes today. Uhhhmm... I'm coming off wintertime here so I'm kinda outta practice. And I forgot that I needed to sunscreen my feet, too. Big mistake.

I'm resting and re-hydrating. LOL! I'll give ya a big re-cap of the fantabulous weekend later. But for now check out Tracy and Colleen's blogs for some pics.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Surprise !!!

I'm down in paradise with the birthday girl!!
The look on her face when I jumped out at the airport was absolutely priceless.

So far I've had way too many margaritas to count, been crowned the new cornhole princess and was strong armed into spending entirely too much money on a new handbag. These girls are such a bad influence on me. But I love every second of it!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Happy Birthday Colleen!

I know you'll have a blast down in paradise this weekend partying like the rock star that you are!! Have a fabulous birthday.
Love you girl!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Weekend Re-cap

In spite of the airline going bankrupt and leaving me stranded in North Carolina, the weekend spent with the TBG Gang was a good one. I finally made it home yesterday evening. I ended up buying a one way ticket on another carrier. Some other airlines were offering to help those stuck for only a $50 fee. But it was flying stand-by and they specified that as much as they were willing to help, the seating was very limited. So I passed on that one. And if the craziness at the airport and packed flights on the way home were any kind of indicator, I made the right choice. It may have cost a little more but the convenience and peace of mind were worth it.I was happy to see Sophie and Maryellen again. And I finally got to meet the rest of the TBG Gang. Hannah is a great big sister. She's a small fry version of her momma. A witty and snarky chip off the ole' block. I loved her the second we met. However, she holds most of the blame for my 5 lb weight gain in one weekend. I think that's my all time record. Hey..... the chocolate fountain seemed like a good idea at the time!

As if that wasn't bad enough, we re-heated the leftovers the next night. Marshmallows, peanut butter and potato chips were our favorite dippers. Seriously.... it's not like the fruit is really gonna be all that good for you covered in chocolate. So why not go all the way with it, right?
This is the hubs who laughed out loud at the news of my airline going out of business. In hindsight, it is pretty funny. But at the time, Maryellen was not finding him amusing. LOL!
This is Ben. I only saw him for brief moments when he'd surface for nourishment. The rest of the time he was sleeping or playing video games. Typical teenage boy behavior. But he still wasn't too big to come snuggle with his momma...and in front of a complete stranger no less. I think that may be against some kind of teenage rules of conduct though.
We spent the weekend doing my all time favorite thing.... just hanging out. There were several hours of sweatpants time, some movie watching, quite a bit of junk food eating, and lots of goofing around.
And let me tell ya.... this whole family is good at goofing around. Even doing nothing they have the most fun.
Sophie fits right in. She's as crazy as the rest of them. An all around crack up.
I think I laughed more this weekend than I have in awhile. And I really really needed to.
So thanks for sharing your fabulous family with me, Mar! I truly had a great time. Your bagels were the best. I even had fun when you showed me what an adventure your redneck Wal*mart can be on a Saturday afternoon. Oh and sorry for asking so many questions during I*Am*Legend.... but it totally stressed me out. I couldn't take it! LOL! Can't wait til we can do it again. Soon I hope....


Coming home and having to deal with real life pretty much sucked though. My amazing dog sitter took Griffey to the vet while I was away. It seems his eye is pretty bad. He has an ulcerated cornea which was caused by some kind of liquid being flushed into his eye at the groomer. Most likely shampoo... even though it's hypo-allergenic and tear free. He has it open now but as you can see in the camera flash it looks weird. And the poor guy has to wear the stupid lampshade thing so he doesn't mess with it.
His entire eye is affected. The vet thinks that right now he's blind in it. But she's hopeful that with treatment it will heal and he will get his sight back. So I pray that everything goes well. It requires ointment 5 times a day, eye drops to dilate it once a day and pain pills twice a day. Which doesn't make him happy. She said an eye injury can be very painful. So it breaks my heart that he has to go through this. He has a follow up in a week to see how things have progressed.
But right now, I'm suffering from some horrible mommy guilt that I wasn't here to take care of him this weekend. I'm so upset with the groomer. I know it was an accident and they feel awful about it. But for gawd's sake, if you're using a product or doing something that might blind someone's animal... you might want to re-think things.

Thank goodness for my dog sitter, Cayce. She took excellent care of him for me. I know a trip to the vet and all the care he needed this weekend wasn't in our arrangement. Especially considering she has 3 kids and 2 dogs of her own. I owe her big time!