All in a days work

The days are turning into a blur... lack of restful sleep is taking its toll... I know a month from now I will have forgotten how tired I am today.... but boy I could use a full nights sleep. We celebrated our anniversary this week. 26 years is a long time but it seems like just yesterday that we were dating. And just like when we were dating Mike knows how to get a point across!!! 2 Dozen Red Roses always remind you how much you are loved... and certainly make everyone at the office talk!
Speaking of the office..Maizy is settling in to a nice routine at work.. She has her tent which makes a great napping spot but an even better spot to play!! She drags toys in there and rolls around with them. Especially amazing is hearing her with a ball in the tent... It can't roll away from her and bounces off the sides of the tent... There are little squeels of delight that come along with that game.

Yesterday I made the decision that we needed to have "home" toys and "work" toys-- It was becoming a worry that I would forget to bring them back in the morning so we went to the store and picked up some little things to keep here at work. The red ball is a basic squeekee red ball with little nubs on it... and it has caused quite a stir -- Maizy does her best to bark at it... and dances around it like shes scared of it-- I'm not sure why she has this odd reaction but it does keep her busy.

More Maizy

So much to say but so little time to say it-- Maizy Maizy Maizy--- Since coming home its been nothing but puppy at our house. Who needs to do laundry when theres a puppy in the house? The wonderful surprise that was Maizy has kept me busy busy busy....Our "appointment" on Saturday morning was nothing but a wonderful surprise... I mean when you drive up to cows it really doesn't cross your mind that a puppy is coming into your life!

And once we had her in our hot little hands who knew that our next stop would be Kims Doggie spa??? Both Maizy and Madison got the Queens treatment with a full bath and blow dry--nails and even doggie breathe spray! And to top it off we shopped in the little boutique at the store like it was a holiday!! yes Maizy got a new collar and a bed and toys and we even got some of the breathe spray to take home... Madison was even treated to a new harness and a bone bigger than anything she had ever seen! Kim took good care of us....

And Maizy being the perfect puppy took the day in stride... napping when she could and putting herself to sleep at 10 pm... yup she even sleep in until 7am... i walked out to her crate to find her sitting waiting patiently for me to take her out!

Sunday what should have been a nice lazy day ... turned into a puppy party! I shouldn't have expected anything less! After we mowed the grass and cleaned the deck up after a week of storms the family came over for alittle birthday shindig-- and of course our favorite dogs came too.... shall we count the animals that attended my birthday party?

1) Madison

2) Bonnie

3) Mr. Wiggles

4) Furbie

5) Maizy

(hmmmm these animals all reside at my house right now)

6) Cooper (Coreys wonderful Golden Retriver puppy)

7) Rusty (Toni's guy)

8) Pheobie (What you've never heard of her??? ohh Toni picked her up on the way to my house hahaha)

If you were counting that would be 6 dogs and 2 cats!! and of course right in the middle of dinner the skies opened up -- thunder lightening and a whole lot of rain....and they all had to come inside.... despite every bone in my body telling me it was safer outside I stayed inside and even ate cake... And while there were alot of diverse personalites in all those animals -- amazingly they all got along just fine... Of course our favorite family and the kids friends were there too... making the day just perfect! And Maizy?? she didn't let a few extra people in her house bother her at all--- nothing like a tent made for a queen to take a nap in!

Introducing Miss Maisy

Introducing Miss Maisy!!! The newest addition to our zoo!! Isn't she just the cutest??? Sweetest little thing you have ever seen!! An early birthday surprise that it seems everyone knew about but me!!

And so far she is getting along with everyone! including Mr. Wiggles (the ever patient Mr. Wiggles who I am sure thinks we just keep bringing animals into the house to drive him crazy!)

I could use a yard sale

This is family... the part no one tells you about... when your grown children have no where to put the stuff they have accumulated while in college.. we are counting down the days until we get our house back... one moves out and another one moves in.... Its funny how you never think of household projects until it is nearly impossible to do them. The laundry room has been on my list for years... and since I have absolutly no where to move anything to its been Up Front and Center for days now... I have the floor tiles... I have the paint... I could make it a destination and not the cob web filled place it is now.... hmmm will I feel this way next week?

I think we are going alittle stir crazy due to the never ending thunder storms every night... Lovely days but the moment I get home the skies open up and the zoo and I are stuck indoors. And staring at the four walls only makes you think of what you could do.....

Furby

So Furby or is it Furbe?? whatever..... Christophers cat has been with us since Saturday and tonight was the first night the cat didn't growl at me. Of course I came bearing gifts of water. Funny the cat doesn't like me entering the room but had no problem with the camera flashing right at her.... maybe there is hope for this relationship yet....

Goodnews for the cat Christopher is coming for an early morning visit.. I can only imagine how pleasant he will be after sitting in rush hour traffic after working all night. I did alittle ironing for him and even managed to locate shoes... big meeting at 9am... lets just keep our fingers crossed.

Yes I still scrapbook

While summer weather, children moving out and in and wedding planning doesn't leave me much time to play in the scraproom right now.. I haven't given up totally. When I first got back from Nashville I was determined to finish all the projects I started. And I was doing soo good ...until the sun started shining every day and I found it harder and harder to be indoors... But I did finish this project from Angelia Wigginton's class... Thought I would share before I forgot...

thought of the day

“If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.” -- Winnie the Pooh

Customer Service

So maybe there is hope for customer service in America after all... I finally won my battle with Holiday Inn... Yes they are sending me a refund-- Can I get a WAHOO??-- After a month long battle with them finally they have seen the light. I had booked rooms for Amandas graduation wayyyy back in October before I knew the exact date or who would be attending because even then they were selling out fast down in Blacksburg. On my confirmation email it clearly said that I had to cancel by April 16-- being the organized person I rarely am I made the call on April 11th once I knew that I had made a grave mistake in thinking graduation would be a daytime event or that anyone other than our immediate family would be as excited about that monumental day as I was. But somewhere in the conversation and the trying to adjust dates and room numbers the very polite young man seemed to forget to hit the ENTER button and never actually made a cancellation.... fast forward to Graduation ... we drove through rain, tornado's and truck traffic only to find out that Holiday Inn knew nothing of our cancellations... so the quandary do we run wildly through the hotel and mess up rooms we have no intention of setting foot in just to get our moneys worth or do we try desperately to work within the system???? I think if I had more down time I would have smeared lipstick on the mirror and spilled coffee on the bed just so I would feel better... but I didn't have time so I started calling 1-800 holiday inn, and sending off "I am a pissed off customer" emails every chance I got.
Long story short... I guess eventually I used the magic words (whatever they may be) and my check is in the mail--- did I mention that Holiday Inn has not outsourced their customer service to India?? nope they put me through good ole American hell from Colorado or somewhere out west.... Score one for the customer---

Finally a picture

So it took a few more days than I thought but TADA!!! The water lily bloomed!! and isn't it worth the wait???

One would think with the hot weather we had it would have bloomed the day it popped up!! Well the weather finally broke and today was actually pleasant.. more pleasant since I played hookie this afternoon and spent the day with Amanda down in old town Alexandria. We crossed invitations off the list--kinda.. we have paper but no envelopes-- and a general idea of what we are doing next.. we also found 2 more churches to call-- keeping our fingers crossed that there really is a god and that he understands THE BUDGET... We also managed to peek into a florist and try on a few more dresses at Davids Bridal. The checkbook came out only twice today... paper and of course lunch al fresco... Shopping always makes me hungry and so do all those little outdoor cafes--

Madison is back (SMILE) for the weekend.. seems having Cooper, Zoie and Buster all in the townhouse is more than our girl can tolerate- and of course this grandma is always happy to have her grandpuppy visit!

Heat wave

I can't even begin to describe exactly how hot it is... even for me this is a bit much.. and tomorrow the forecast says 99 degrees... summer is here in a BIG way...

Despite the heat I got busy today and did alittle spot carpet shampooing, mopped the kitchen floor, shined up the kitchen counters and took the rug outside and hosed it off on the deck... and managed to get all the laundry done... Did I mention that I have held off on turning on the AC-- so yes its just as hot in here as it is outside...

No matter how I tried I just couldn't bring myself to do any yard work. The only sun I saw was when I laid myself out on the deck with a cup of ice and a stack of magazines. It was rough work but someone had to do it!

The fish are attempting to spawn in the big pond and over in my pond hopefully I will have a surprise to share tomorrow.... Today though I leave you with this...

ZOO

Exhausting is just one word that comes to mind when I look at these two! We have had

Madison for most of the summer... shes a handful-- definatley needs lots of attention.. but this week we've added Cooper to our friendly little zoo... at 6 months a handful doesn't even describe this guy!! gotta be 65lbs of pure excitement!! Amazingly smart and well mannered for someone his size.. but so many times forgets his size-- is very interested in being very close weather you are in a chair or just standing... and has no idea that his tail extends off his body... and while Madison is no problem when she runs laps in the house add Cooper and you don't know weather to laugh or yell!

The amazing part is he is oblivous to the fact that he should be arch enemies with Mr. Wiggles... and has found his place rather quickly in the pecking order with Bonnie... being alittle afraid of her (for no reason other than she does bark if he gets too close) he keeps a wide berth making sure never to walk too close to her if at all possible. This picture cracks me up...

what you don't see is that Cooper is right down the stairs. Sitting patiently because he chooses not to pass Bonnie at the top of the stairs... and the rest of the gang-- Mr. Wiggles and Madison appreciate the few minutes of peace! Yes thats Madison with not one but two bears... something that Cooper never lets happen when he's in the room.

Do you know what this is?

Don't even ask where I have been... I couldn't tell you other than Mikes been a bit grumpy which usually means rather then staying away it requires hand-holding... way too time spent doing nothing when I clearly I have "stuff" to do... but whats a girl to do???

So today I give you question: Do you know what this picture is of????? This sighting required me to leave my comfy chair here at the computer while I diligently was searching online for the perfect branch illustration for a certain bride to be... Three guesses...

Give up yet? heres another picture alittle closer up to give you a clue:

Got it yet??? Those would be caterpillars in a line coming down the tree!!! I am thinking with so many I am likely to have plant issues somewhere down the road!!!!

New Neighbors

Just out of harms way an new family has moved in-- nesseled in the Rose of Sharon Mike found these new neighbors--meer feet away from where I park every night.. and just above the point where tippy toes would let you see what was there.....

email

So my mother in law sends me the following little ditty-- and while internet jokes and stories pop into our in boxes daily most of them we dismiss rather quickly.. But you know what seems like a haha in the morning can leave a lasting impression by mid-day sometimes. After much thought I have decided if one of our presidental candidates came up with the below plan I would be willing to follow it... sure in practical purposes it would mean alittle pain.. probably alot of pain but really we would rebound and we would be better for it. And I would bet we could even create jobs here in our own country again... steel mills, oil wells, clothing districts.... Where is this candidate? And why have special interest groups been allowed to ramrod their needs above the needs of the collective US?

READ ON AND ENJOY--

Leave it to Robin Williams to come up with the perfect plan . What we need now is for our UN Ambassador to stand up and repeat this message. Robin Williams' plan...(Hard to argue with this logic!) "I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's one plan."
1) "The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Tojo, Noriega, Milosevic, Hussein, and the rest of those "good 'ole' boys", we will never "interfere" again.
2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world , starting with Germany , South Korea , the Middle East , and the Philippines . T hey don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one allowed sneaking through holes in the fence.
3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together or leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediatel y, regardless of whom or where they are. They're illegal!!! France will welcome them.
4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit!! No one from a terrorist nation will be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here . Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.
5) No foreign "students" over age 21. The older ones are t he bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a "D" and it's back home baby.
6) The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will include developing nonpolluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while
7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go someplace else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)
8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not "interfere." They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides most of what we give t hem is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.
9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island someplace. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.
10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us "Ugly Americans" any longer. The Language we speak is ENGLISH ..learn it..or LEAVE!!

Now, isn't that a winner of a plan? "The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses." She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, 'you want a piece of me?' "

Weekend fun

This is what the weekend was all about-- alot of resting and sunshine! Water was alittle too cool for swimming -- that and the scary swimming cobra that tried to attack me. I did survive despite the fact that no one was willing to actually jump in and rescue me and my jetski from the jaws of a snake who I know wanted to join me on the jetski--

Mothers day should be a week long holiday

Found this on Lisa B's blog... seemed appropriate...

Its raining again....

Mothers Day the condensed version

My house seems really quiet tonight... My parents have gone home, Madison has gone home and both kids poof gone...
We had such a nice Mothers Day in spite of the raging floods going on outside-- it was nice and peaceful inside. Both kids were home Saturday night and we all got to spend the day lounging for Mothers Day... And my mom was here too... couldn't ask for much more than that! And for dinner??? Dad and Christopher went out and brought us home Crab legs, Clams and Shrimp!!! And despite the pouring rain and hurricane winds Mike moved the grill close to the back door and cooked up some yummy steaks!! Yes I know the diet is shot to hell... but hey It was Mothers Day..
Of course we paid for that peaceful day--Monday every road I tried was closed due to floods. It took me until 10am to get to work and it was not better on the way home. I added an additional 20 miles to my trip home and saw some back roads I don't think I have ever seen before... Spring has got to be coming soon right???

Virginia Tech Graduation Weekend

We may not have been the loudest group or the largest but I can honestly say we were the proudest parents at VT this weekend. My baby did it!! She has officially graduated and I saw her do it in style. She marched into the stadium grinning and only briefly stopped to do her happy dance!!! I only wish I had that picture on film... but it will be engraved in my memories forever.. so her.. so happy...

The university ceremony was far from boring. They managed to have a wonderful keynote speaker Hoda Kotb, an NBC anchor who totally connected with the graduates at one point she turned on her ipod and put it to the microphone and had the kids jumping from their seats to Sandman-- And in turn the graduates turned their Hokie pride on her with the We are Hokies cheer--- Both the President and Vice Presidents of their class were also amazingly entertaining to listen to... The president started alittle slow and the crowd didn't respond as quickly as he hoped but then he made mention that it looked like a Harry Potter convention behind him (all the professors in their gowns) and that quickly drew a big laugh and set the tone for the rest of his great speech. It was a really good night and being in the stadium meant we had great seats so we could see our graduate up close-- We topped off the night with a late night celebration dinner at the Farmhouse.
But the weekend wasn't over! We got to see our Manda cross the stage and actually receive her diploma on Saturday. Burruss Hall has an elegant auditorium and we arrived just in time to get seats up close and center of the stage. Prime seats to see the Scottish Bagpipes and all the Biology graduates march in. We hooted and hollered as our girls name was called.. but apparently not loud enough--she expected more!! but regardless we tried to show our pride!
If hearts beating loudly and swelling pride could make a sound we would have been louder than any cheering section!!
Then it was our time for the happy dance!! As a parent I think seeing both my children graduate from College was probably one of my happiest moments. Unlike so many other things in life.. this was something they did on their own. They set a goal for education and achieved it. And for Amanda she did it in four years--certainly something to be proud of.

Counting down

Just counting down the time until we leave for Blacksburg... hard to imagine that 4 years has come and gone. This time four years ago we were worrying about what to pack for a freshman dorm and now we are worrying about what to do with all the accumulated college "stuff". With 5 cars coming home we can only hope that her college life will fit! (hmmm that and two dogs!)

Time sure flies... Woodbine Baptist Preschool graduation... Coles Elementary Graduation, Brentsville and now Virginia Tech... I happily sat through them all... but this one... I'd be ok to let this one wait awhile. The candles on the cake may say she's all grown up but I'd be just as happy to let her be our little girl just alittle while longer.

Sappy stuff aside... Our Big Brained gal is graduating weather we like it or not and boy oh boy we couldn't be prouder!!!
GOOOOO HOKIES

Richmond

Nothing says the start of spring like a flyover at Richmond International Raceway. You can say what you want about rednecks and Nascar but there really is nothing more patriotic... Where else do you get a flyover? The pledge of allegiance and alittle rendition of the "Land of the Free???" all served up under the hot sun with cold beer?

We had another incredible time at the racetrack. Two full days of tailgating and for the first time the whole family saw the race together. I have been to a few NASCAR races with Christopher and last year we took Amanda to see her first race in Martinsville but this time out all four of us were there... Along with a few of our friends and a few of the kids friends..

I took a moment to try and gather a few of the kids from the "ville" for a photo op--- Most of these kids grew up together-- its so fun to see them as adults out enjoying themselves. I hope 20 years from now they will look back and still be hanging out together under a tent at a racetrack somewhere. I got the nicest comment from one of our friends that we have known since high school this weekend... They told me I did good with Christopher and Amanda and that my life was something to be proud of. And you know what? I couldn't help but agree.

And for those keeping score.. yup it was Amanda (and Natalie's) driver that won on Friday night -- #11 Denny Hamilin and Mikes and Christopher's driver that finished 1st on Saturday night #07 Clint Bowyer.... Don't even ask me where my driver was... Cause I don't think kissing the wall gets any bonus points at the end of the season