...ONE WEEK'S TIME

What a difference one week makes! Last Saturday we had fun in the sun with an over 40 degree day. And this week when Brian was called in this morning to salt the roads at 4am, it was -6 degrees - brrrr! And next Saturday we'll be spending at the hospital with Mom and Dad as she is recovering from her aortic valve surgery. I'm pretty sure I won't make it to the Crop Day at the elementary school, but I hope to pop in and see Mary, Lynn and whomever else is going.

I hope everyone is staying toasty warm and healthy today. I've heard this very cold weather is actually good for viruses, it helps keep people indoors and away from each other which slows the spread!

XOXO

FUN WEEKEND!

We had a nice weekend, other than Brian's back still hurting and him stir crazy that he's not able to do everything he wants to. (He has an appt with Back Dr. on 2/2)

1. Woke up Saturday morning and Brian suggested we go out to breakfast. We used to do this all the time on Saturdays before Katie, and while she was an infant.

2. We went separate ways - me to Wegmans for groceries and Katie & Brian to Walmart for some small odds and ends.

3. Because we got up and out early, I was home from Wegs by 11 (usually after noon sometime) and we had the whole wonderful afternoon in the sunshine.

4. Katie rode her brand new bike from Christmas for about 30 mins. We sat on the front steps in just light sweatshirts and let the sun bake in on our bodies.

5. Made homemade pizza for dinner with help from Chef Katie, with all of the toppings placed ever so delicately...it took about 15 mins longer than normal to get baking :)

6. Sunday we had Church, and helped with the Hope for Haiti collection.

7. Katie and I ran some errands at Eastview - BJs and BonTon - While returning a dress she didn't wear at the Holiday Pageant, we saw some bras in the 7-16 department. She's been complaining that her light tshirt bras might not be concealing enough, so we tried on some new ones. How crazy is this...she's 10 and wearing nicer bras than me.

8. Nice cozy dinner of baked chicken, mashed taters and biscuits

Doesn't get any better than this. We have so much to be thankful for, it was an extra long grace before dinner tonight!

A FEW UPDATES ~

1. Brian's back is manageable, but he still walks crooked and his body aches. He's putting so much extra weight on his hips and knees that they are now starting to hurt. He's going to a specialist on 2/3/10, hopefully he makes it until then without blowing anything else out. Fun times, poor guy.

2. Katie is sniffle free going on the 2nd week since Thanksgiving. It seems as though she wraps up a week or two of sniffles during the day and full blown coughing at night, is good for about 4 days and then it starts all over again. Certainly not bad enough to be home sick, but not sleeping well and grouchy. I'm keeping the vitamin C flowing fast and of course sanitizing everything with Lysol! I think I've washed the color out of her sheets and pillow cases!

3. Mom is going to have heart valve surgery in a few weeks. She's had a murmur for a few years, had a fainting/passing out scare this past summer and they determined she needs one of her four valves replaced. She's meeting with surgeons this week and we'll get more details soon. Sounds like she'll be out of commission for a good chunk of time while she recuperates.

4. Scrapbook day on 2/5/10 is just around the corner, and Scrapbook Weekend is just over 2 months away - can't wait! Bought a cool new book and love the samples so hopefully I'll be planning some very nice pages.

That's all for now!

OUR LITTLE SONGBIRD

I can remember my Grandma Sullivan humming and singing as she worked in her kitchen. She didn't have a license so rarely left her house, and living just up the road from us, I often rode my bike to see her. She had a very old fashioned farmhouse kitchen with little to no counter space so everything was made at the table. She hummed and sang every step she took and then would beat her batter to the song's melody.

Well, our little Katherine Elizabeth is just like Grandma. She can be mad at me or frustrated with something and in little to no time at all, I hear her voice. She sings songs from school, from the radio, from church and sometimes makes up her own. I love to hear her voice echoing through our rooms.

This is a snapshot of her Holiday Concert. She's positioned right in front of her Chorus Teacher, Mrs. Warren, who is the most exuberant conductor you've ever seen. She's excellent for the kids, and I know Katie has more interest in Chorus because of her.

DOWN TIME

Brian's back is getting better, but still not 100%...but he can't stand to be home any more, he's heading back to work tomorrow. We're all just kind of hanging out today, you can see love-bug Millie lazing with Daddy. This back problem has really knocked him for a loop. He used to be up and around within a week when it would happen, but this time it's been almost 12 days and he's not quite up to spec yet. He'll have to play a real foreman tomorrow and not work along side his crew, but give them direction from the sidelines so he doesn't injure it any further. Can he do that?!? I'm sure we'll know by tomorrow night! Good luck honey, be careful!

WOW, SO YOU THINK YOU'RE HAVING A BAD DAY?

A horrible day going down in history - the poor Haitian people and what they are facing. As if their living conditions weren't bad enough, add thousands (100's of thousands actually), of deaths. And closer to home, two twenty-something daughters showed up at my company today, crying hysterically to the receptionist explaining they need to speak with their mom (one of the employees in my department). A safety officer took them into an empty office and one of them blurted out their brother was killed today in Afghanistan and they needed to tell their mom. The officer called me to explain and asked me to bring Lynn over to them. It was the most horrible few minutes that I can remember facing in a long time. As soon as I got her to the office, he and I left while they told her, but just standing outside the door and hearing them all moan in pain was devastating. I can't imagine what their poor family is going through. Her husband has terminal cancer and the 3 of them take turns caring for him at home. Who would have thought she needs to take care of her son's funeral arrangements before her husband's?

So if you are having a pity party for yourself...think about all of the others in the world that have it so much worse than we do today. And then say a prayer for them.

MY LATEST PROJECT

Not that I'm interested in country style decor much anymore, but this very cool wall hanging caught my eye and tickled my fancy. It's all done in dyed wool and it's oh-so-easy! I have a dining room that's sierra colored, a foyer that is butter yellow and a sage green living room that all meet up. So to blend the colors I needed something on the foyer wall to pull them all together. This is just one of the 6 12x12 blocks that I'm doing, I have one more to do. Once I get them all done, I'll take a photo of the entire hanging. I've decided to place each individually in a 12x12 black frame so they don't take on the dust (as it's not a favorite job of mine), and hopefully I can the whole lot square enough to look a bit more modern to match other things in the house. Yes, if anyone is keeping track, this will be the 3rd thing I'm going to hang on my walls that I still consider freshly painted, yet are now two years old!

S-U-C-C-E-S-S

That's the way you spell success! Pardon me as I revert back to my cheerleading days, but I'm so proud of my accomplishment I did a cheer in my head! I have mastered backing up my pictures and important stuff on my computer! Now, where to put this little thingy in order to have it when I need it. OK everyone, so you can help me find it (unlike my garage sale money), it's in my scrapbook desk drawer!

1st full accomplishment of my New Month Resolution! Also, have been better at sleep and eating practices. Not yet habits because I'm jonesin' to do it the old way, but hey...mind over matter is still working!

XOXO

MY FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR!

Oh when this little bundle of excitement hits my mailbox at the end of a long, busy day, everything else melts away and I retreat into my favorite place! It's the Stampin' Up Sale-a-Bration catalog! Spend $50 and get a free set of stamps - usually I find a reason that I need all 4 free sets, or even 5 and 6! Last year I had the excuse of Brandi's wedding to buy the supplies. This year, not so much. Oh well...I can still rummage through the catalog a few hundred times, can't I?!

HE'S FLAT ON HIS BACK :(

I got a call at work yesterday that Brian threw his back out. When I got home, he had made it upstairs through multiple muscle spasms, with the thought he'd be closer to the bathroom than in the living room. Well...let's just say the spasms took away any of the healthy muscle he had left and at that point couldn't even get from his back to his front while on the floor. It was a long night, trying to keep him comfortable, Advil'd and iced. Right now a Dr. or Chiro is out of the question, I can't even get him down the stairs. For all that matter, I couldn't get him to the bathroom a few times either, let's just say remember your marriage vows..for better or worse, in sickness and in helping urinate? Wow, he'd be so mad if he knew I shared that!! Let's hope for a quick recovery, my nursemaid personality is completely fake and difficult to keep up!!

MOMMY'S LITTLE HELPER

When Daddy is at work...Mommy is the Wo-Man for Millie to follow. Anyone who has seen Millie in action with Brian knows she is his buddy and she will follow him to the ends of the Earth. BUT, when he's at work and she is stuck with me...she's really stuck with me. I'm sitting at the computer attempting my e-bay crusade and she is looking up at me with these puppy dog-yellow cat eyes that just melt my reserve to stay focused. She is the best dog, cuddly, happy, companion to all, and especially easy for all of us to love. Boy, it will be a hard day when she goes down hill. I really think Brian might take it harder than if I were going down hill!! :)`

STAMPS, STAMPS, EVERYWHERE

Quick post today, gettting ready to get back to reality first thing tomorrow morning.

Here's my pile of stamps I'm going to put on E-Bay. A few at a time because I can't stay up on all of the correspondance if I don't space it out.

Good luck to everyone getting back to the real world this week!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's to a new year, new decade and hopefully new adventures and health, safety and fun for everyone I know.

I'm going to make myself a New Month Resolution List instead of New Year because I never get anything to last a year, unless it's a bad habit (like EZ Cheese from the Can)

1. Back up my computer with this outrageously expensive thumb drive thingy one of the tech geeks at work told me to get to make it so easy. (still haven't figured it out since Nov)

2. Scale back on my "stuff" and either donate, sell, or share. I have too much of it everywhere and need to streamline.

3. Take care of myself better. I've actually started with my sleep habits in the last 2 weeks (mainly because I've been home a lot more than normal). Eat better, get my body moving at least a little more and not try to live like a weirdo hermit lady who's up all night but wants to sleep all day on the weekends. If I set my sights on 4 weeks to start, it sounds so less drastic than a YEAR!!

4. Try really hard not to take any more pictures of myself like this...

Hope everyone has a wonderful end to their holiday season and a beautiful start to a new Month, Year or Decade...whatever works for you!