Well kiss my grits!

In my new found world of Facebook, I discovered a friend I met in 3rd grade at Bushy Park Elem. School. We were in the same classes and usually sat near eachother due to alphabetical seating arrangements. I am SO PSYCHED I found her. With Andrew having been friends with a few people for decades (Yes, he is that old) I was feeling kinda sad that I hadn't kept in touch with anyone from school. Out of all the thousands of kids I met in 12 years of Howard County Public Schools, I think I picked a good one to reach out to again. Her name is Anna. Try not to confuse her with my niece, who is also Anna. Two very different Annas.. Anyway, my Anna gave me a nickname (Manders) that lasted well, until I lost track of her about 5 years ago. Manders was on my high school class ring and "Varsity Choir" sheet music folders, and it might have been said in place of my name at graduation since even the principal knew about my celebrity name. You know, like Madonna or Cher, only better. ;) I feel like an old chapter in my life has been re-opened and I am thrilled to have a friend who knew me way back when back in my life.

Anna, (my Anna) if you read this...email me, I'm dying to hear all about Kenya!


Proof Im not making this up. That's an ice cream cake with Manders and my graduation year on it. See? It was that big.

It's easy being green in our kitchen.

Well hello there, Martini Olive by Behr. You look stunning next to those cabinets and rosewood floors. My, oh my.

I was first introduced to Martini Olive a few years ago at a friends home office. I loved being in that room because the color made me feel good all around. Now that it's in my kitchen, maybe I'll be cooking up a feast nightly. Or maybe not.

Good things come in smaller sizes to those who wait.

About a month ago, I ordered some stuff from LL Bean. I got 2 pairs of pants, Roo got 3 shirts. When my pants arrived, I tried them on...waaaaaaaay too big. WAY big. :D I exchanged them for the next smaller size and 1 pair was in the mailbox today (second pair was backordered) I tried the new pants and they fit like a glove. P-e-r-f-e-c-t! Can pants fit like a glove? Ahh well. These sure do! I am so happy to see some results from working out 4-6 days a week. Go me!

Myfaceblogspacebook

I am on too many websites and I can't keep up with them...I need a new hobby, and a jobby.

I'm a member of:
The Nest
Blogger
MySpace
Facebook
Random chatboards and.....
iTunes!

It's a miracle I can keep the passwords straight because I won't write them down. I mean, I am trying to save paper here.

Another reason to avoid Wal-Mart

http://www.yahoo.com/s/840436

It's sad that such a huge corporation with a 'help the community' attitude is really screwing with this family.

Dawn, I thought of you when I saw this! I hope the video works...

I must be on some blacklist

My job search has hit another dead end. I have applied to at least 30 places in the past month. I managed to land 1 interview. But I did not get the job. I'm starting to wonder if my last boss put me on some city wide black list of names "Do Not Hire This Person". It's depressing. I'm so tired of not being able to contribute to our bank account. We have debt we want to pay off and every month when the bills come I just feel like a bigger failure. I want to work. I need a job. Why is it so hard to get a job? I've given up on finding a M-F shift. I'll work overnight. I am desperate. I feel so ashamed when people ask where I work and all I can say is "I'm unemployed right now" I feel like I've failed when Andrew comes home and talks about his day and all I have to add is "Oh. I walked the dogs today." I am embarrassed to go out with his work friends because I feel that I have nothing to add to the conversation. I feel like a burden instead of a partner in my marriage. Today is Monday. I have 2 job possibilities to talk with today. Well, one will call me back and I need to go beg the second one for a job.

I hate feeling like this.

Bunny Cake

Ta DAH!

It started out like this:




But then I decided it was a girl bunny, so I gave her some eye lashes...much better:




Roo's not allowed to cut into this cake until Monday night. Hehehe.

Pictures from the last month or so...

I'll explain each one as I go, since I'm getting better at this whole blog thing.

Roo had the flu, and he was hanging on for dear life...hanging on Raven's tail.


See? We did paint! Valentine's weekend. It's very soothing and cozy, just the feeling we were going for.


Buster and Sweetie like it too. But Sweetie thinks Buster needs to fix his hair...or fur.


This is what happens when you leave the room for 10 seconds to start the dryer.


18 inches of snow fell between March 7th and 8th. Here's the evidence left by Mother Nature. In the left of this photo, you can see that we'll be getting some neighbors this Spring. We'll miss dumping our extra dirt on the vacant lot, it's served us well.

Household Health Stats

Me: I'm fine and dandy.
Roo: Recovering from spider bite. We think he may be the next Spider Man.
3 Cats: fine and dandy
Peyton: has puppy mange, not contagious. I don't know how she got it. I get to bathe her twice a day and apply peanut butterish medicine to the sores. Her fur is falling out by the handfuls. My vacuum is getting a real workout.
Raven: has an ear infection. I get to clean her ears twice a day and squirt ear drops in there. She's pretty good about this. I learned to do it outside because when she shakes the ear cleaning fluid out, other stuff comes out too. Bdlech.

It's crazy here this week!

Our backyard is now a pond...

www.stoprainingnow.pleaseprettyplease.Ineedsunshine.com/thanks

*Please note that the photo at the top of the page features Raven playing at a dog park, and it is not our backyard. Sorry for the confusion!

Numbers

I did some 2nd grade math today so I could share the fascinating facts of my life: (I know, I need my own TV talk show, it's that good)

2 dogs x 4 walks a day x 7 days a week = walking dogs 56 times, for 20 minutes or so each time.

3 cats x 2 water bowls = 2 water puddles on the floor = 2 wet socks on my feet.

1 round trip to Mom and Dad's x 100 miles each way = 200 miles = better gas mileage on the truck. Yay.

1 spider bite on Andrew + 1 trip to Urgent Care + $11.99 in 'drugs' = happier Andrew.

10 = Loads of laundry to do because of spider bite, and the risk of a major infection.

3 = Number of species sleeping in my bed on any given night. (Humans, cats, dog)

5 = Number of living things sleeping in my bed on any given night. (Me, Andrew, 2 cats, and Raven)

20 = Number of furry feet in the house.

106 = Number of toes in the house, including mine and Andrew's.

4.5 = Number of tails in the house (Sweetie's tail is kinked, we count it as half because it never grew to its full length.)

1 = Average number of trash bags we take to the curb on trash night.

1 truckload = Average amount of recyclables we take to the recycling center every 2 weeks.

$800 = amount of gas we've used for FREE since June. Oh how I love our grocery store gas perks program.

2-3 inches = amount of rain we'll see in the next 24 hours.

0 inches = snow left on the ground

6 = lbs officially lost since Jan. 2, 2008.

4 = (in addition to the 6 above) lbs of fat (yuk) turned into muscle (YAY!)

1.5 = pants sizes lost in 2.5 months.


I'm out of numbers for now.

Happy 80th Birthday, Grammie

Taken last July when we took Raven to Grammie for a visit. Grammie LOVED Raven. She even got giggly when Raven licked her hand or cheek. She loved that extra attention that only a dog can give.




We love you and miss you.
60 years of marriage, 2 daughters, 2 sons in law, 6 grandkids and dozens of 4 legged great grandkids.
Florence (Grammie) Colerick
March 13th 1928 - December 7th 2007

BrrrrChilly COLD!

It's about 24 degrees outside. Not bad at all. It's almost warm enough here to take off my coat. Except for two tiny things. Snow and wind. Lots of snow, and even more wind. We could possibly get 14 inches of the wonderful white stuff by the end of tomorrow. Did I mention how windy it is? Blustery, bone shaking, teeth chattering windy. So windy, my hat blew off.

Walking dogs is usually enjoyable. But, throw in a foot of snow, and you have one sad frozen lady being lead all over the neighborhood by her snow loving dog. I look ridiculous. Two pairs of pants, 1 T-shirt, 1 long sleeve shirt, 2 pairs of thick socks, 1 hooded sweater, 1 hat, 1 hooded coat (count 'em...three things on my head), mittens and snow/ wet weather boots. I can hardly move. I'm wearing the entire LL Bean catalog just so my dog can 'use the bathroom'.

But I'm not done. No. There is a 6 month old puppy (puppy, as in as large as Raven) in the house, begging to get out and romp around in the empty fields around our house. Nice. Raven, go inside, send Peyton out.


Thankyouverymuch.