Mother's Day Weekend

Happy Mother's Day!

My mother's day weekend started off great! Joe took me to dinner. Just me and him since Sara went to a friend's house for the night. Then Saturday I spent the day with my mom--just me and her, which doesn't happen enough. We went to the Blueberry Festival. We picked blueberries fresh off the bush for an hour and half. Between us both we had over 9 lbs of berries! We also participated in the wine tasting. I'm not big on wine but I'm always willing to try. They were actually pretty good! My favorites were the strawberry and tangerine. We also tasted key lime, blueberry, wild berry and raspberry. There were many vendor tents set up and a live band! We got hamburgers from the fire dept that were there and sat and ate enjoying the live band. It was great!!

Once my afternoon was over with my mommy, I had to pick Sara up from her friend's house and we had to go dress shopping. Yes, I will repeat, DRESS shopping. For Sara. The girl who is anti-pink and anti-dress. Her 8th grade banquet is Monday and it is semi-formal wear. She's been shopping the past few weekends with her friend but has yet to find anything. Now, any type of clothes shopping with Sara is usually hell. I usually make Joe come to keep us behaved. But he didn't want to go and just wished me luck and told me to behave. Well, 2 and half hours, $55 spent and NO arguring, Sara got a dress, shoes and a sweater to go over the dress since it reveals her back. I can't believe my baby is wearing a dress! Look how gorgous she is:

Of course she'll probably kill me I posted this but isn't part of being a parent about embarressing, I mean, bragging about your child?!

This morning I woke up to breakfast: cheese omlet and blueberry pancakes! YUM! YUM! I foresee lots of blueberries in my food this week. hehe. I've had a lazy day so far but I think I will suggest going to the park with the dogs later for a walk. Oh yeah, the card Sara made for me was very heartfelt. I balled my eyes out. Literally. I cannot remember sobbing so much from something so sweet no less from my one and only child. I can't even put this into words. But if you are a mother, I'm sure you understand.

Until next time, enjoy your day! Especially if you're a mother!

Happy St. Patty's Day

I have said that I am Polish. I am. 50% Polish. In my other half I hold 1/8 Irish. YES! I have true reason to celebrate today! So in honor of St. Patty's Day, here is Flogging Molly for your viewing/listening entertainment.

Square Root Day

Today is Square Root Day! 3/3/09. For those of you who don't know, the square root of 3 is 9. A silly day but gives us a reason to celebrate. I think I will cut my sandwich into squares for these festivities. I found this article about today. Enjoy!

V-day is over!

Hopefully work will calm down although I know paperwork will be flowing in for me. That's better than my "party" boss running around like a chicken with no head and constantly breaking his SOP (standard operating procedures.)

Joe told me several weeks ago he was going to plan a weekend get away for us for V-day. Well since I am home and it's the weekend we didn't go. He didn't plan it. He blamed it on lack of money. I really think it was procrastination. But whatever. I love him. So we decided we'd go to a nice dinner Friday night. Well I ended up working late and didn't get home until close to 7pm. I'm so wishy-washy when trying to decide where to eat so Joe picked the place. He wouldn't tell me or Sara where but we piled in the car and he drove. We drove for 30 minutes and I was thinking it was going to be a good place we haven't been in a while. As we are fixing to turn onto a main road, Joe jokes about going to Buddy Freddy's. If you aren't familiar with this restuarant, it's a little country-type place that's strictly a buffet with down-home-country-cooking. (But NOWHERE nearly as good as Crackel Barrel.) Well I thought Joe was joking. He wasn't. We pull into the parking lot and I say aloud "We drive 30 minutes to go to Buddy Freddy's for our family V-day dinner?" I tried not to act too disappointed but I was. Sara was happy with the place so I was happy. Plus it was a place we haven't been to in a long time.

Saturday Joe took us to breakfast too to this small place down the street. Sara loves their pancakes so it was mainly for her. Joe played golf all day while Sara and I went to meet my sister for her 4D ultrasound of my niece, who's arrival will be approx. April 3. After that Sara went to her nana's for the rest of the weekend which gave me time to work on schoolwork. Joe finally got home and he decided we go out for dinner just the 2 of us. So I'm thinking maybe now I'll have my "nice" dinner. Although being V-day night everyone was going out so it'd be busy everywhere and I didn't feel like dealing with crowds. So Sonny's it was. Yum, yum.

To turn this somewhat negative post about Joe and V-day around, he did give me a sweet card (brought tears to my eyes) and a small box of SpongeBob chocolates. Oh how I love SpongeBob. He is so cool!

Maybe one year I'll get that professional massage I've been asking for for 4 years...

Valentines Day

I know its not even February yet but the stores are already displaying Valentines day stuff. And at my day job the Valentine day rush has begun. I work for a company that imports flowers from South America. We are near the top of the flower chain. We buy flowers from the farms then sell them to wholesalers who sells them to florists who then sell the general retail. So we are usually a few weeks ahead of the normal retail rush of things. As much as I enjoy this day to spend with my dear loved ones, the past few years I have dread the prior few weeks. Work is hell. Let me repeat, work is hell. Tons of paperwork and tons of stressful hours. Although many florists aren't expecting a too crazy year with the state of the economy and the fact that V-day falls on a Saturday. So I guess we'll see. One of the bosses has taken a leave of absence due to family issues and all the people under him are coming to me with their incompetencies. WTH? I guess I need to take down the sign on my door that reads "Need help? Enter here." I am the accounting department. I do not deal with customer orders or inventory. I do not talk to the farm sales rep to place orders. Just because your direct boss isn't here for a few months and you don't want to deal with the other boss don't come to me! I will just direct you to the other boss anyways.

Ok so now that I got that off my chest I also want to let you know that I may go MIA for the next few weeks. Valentines day is the busiest time of year for us so that means I have to actually dedicate all my work hours to work. It sucks that work is getting in the way of fun but I guess I get paid to work not have fun right?

I really hope Joe is planning something special for our Valentines day. I could use a good day of relaxation and adult fun after work's V-day rush. But knowing Joe he probably isn't. I will have to plan. And I don't want to do a special dinner or something all fancied up. It can even be a family thing to include Sara. So any ideas on a inexpensive, fun, relaxing, family-friendly V-day? Or even something inexpensive and relaxing for adults? Based upon the past it will just be another day with a few more kisses and I love yous. At least it's on a Saturday and I will have the whole day off.

XXX & OOO

Christmas

I had a great long Christmas weekend. Christmas Eve we went to Nana's house, had dinner and opened presents with them. Here is Heather and Nana opening her gift:

Kathryn, her boyfriend and her cat:
Sara, Heather & Nick eating:
Nick with her gift:

Christmas morning I enjoyed with Sara, Joe and the dogs. I was Joey-free as he went to his mama's. (Yippee!) Sara put me on a scavenger hunt to find my present. To find clues I was instructed to go in my closet, go to the air vent in Sara's room, go outside to the secret hose compartment then I finally found my gift behind the couch. The same room we started in. She got me a Precious Moments which I collect. It brought tears to my eyes how much thought she put into the gift and the hunt. hehe so cute! I also go satelite radio for my car, which I had to install myself and I did ALL BY MYSELF! It took me 2 hours but I did get a compliment from Joey saying it looked like a professional install how I hid all the wires. Yay me!


Joe got a GPS so he can stop calling me at work asking me to look up an address and tell him how to get there. He also got a few golf books. Sara got a jacket and beanie hat she's been wanting and wore it ALL day, even with it being 80 degrees outside. See:
She also got some earrings, PJs, PS2 game--OH! Speaking of PS2 games! Santa brought us the Dance Revolution game with the dance pad. I am so excited to hook it up and dance! In fact I think I will when I'm done blogging. Here's a few more pictures:

The dogs enjoyed Christmas too:



After our morning we went to my parents' house and enjoyed Christmas with them, my sister & bro-in-law and my nephew:
Isn't my nephew the cutest?
The boys and Sara played some after Christmas dinner pool:

I saved the best for last (well maybe not the best since it's about someone is always on my poo-poo list): Joe got Joey golf knickers. This outfit fits his personality so perfect and he wore them to play golf Saturday. OMG everyone laughed! It's just so funny looking!!


I hope everyone has a great Christmas. And I wish you the best for the new year! Be safe on New Years Eve!!

Snowmen in Florida?

Yup it's true! There are snowmen in Florida....on my feet! LOL! Here are my newest socks. I won these from a game of Christmas Bingo at my best bud's Cookie Exchange Party. I almost forget how fun bingo can be! Check out the link to see a pic of us serious bingo players! (4 of us on the couch; I'm the one with the antlers one!)

The Wreath

When we were putting our Christmas stuff up a few weeks ago, our wreath seemed to be MIA along with the hanger. So this weekend Sara and I were at Michael's and decided to check out what they had. We ended up buying a plain wreath and some glittery pinecones and gifts with a string of beads and designed our own wreath. Isn't it lovely?

The best part of this is everything was on sale! The wreath was like $6 and each little pinecone and gift was $0.17! Then Sara threw in her creativity and voila! A new pretty wreath! We got a new hanger too which was also on sale. I feel like I got an awesome deal. And what's even cooler than that is the wreath that is MIA was a left over I inherited from Joe's ex so now we have a wreath that is really all ours!

Christmas with the Animals

Went to the Humane Society yesterday. It's always so much fun! We brought toys in for all the dogs for Christmas and also donated to get paw prints for JayJay and Polly to hang on the wall around the shelter. Here is a poem I received from JayJay's friend on Dogster:


CHRISTMAS AT THE SHELTER
author unknown

'Tis the night before Christmas and all through the town,
every shelter is full - we are lost but not found,
Our numbers are hung on our kennels so bare,
we hope every minute that someone will care.

They'll come to adopt us and give us the call,
Come here, Max and Sparkie - come fetch your new ball!
But now we sit here and think of the days..
we were treated so fondly - we had cute, baby ways.

Once we were little, then we grew and we grew -
now we're no longer young and we're no longer new.
So out the back door we were thrown like the trash,
they reacted so quickly - why were they so rash?

We jump on the children, don't come when they call,
we bark when they leave us, climb over the wall.
We should have been neutered, we should have been spayed,
now we suffer the consequence of the errors THEY made.

If only they'd trained us, if only we knew...
we'd have done what they asked us and worshiped them too.
We were left in the backyard, or worse -left to roam-
now we're tired and lonely and out of a home

They dropped us off here and they kissed us good-bye...
"Maybe someone else will give you a try."
So now here we are, all confused and alone...
in a shelter with others who long for a home.

The kind workers come through with a meal and a pat,
with so many to care for, they can't stay to chat,
They move to the next kennel, giving each of us cheer...
we know that they wonder how long we'll be here.

We lay down to sleep and sweet dreams fill our heads..
of a home filled with love and our own cozy beds.
Then we wake to see sad eyes, brimming with tears --
our friends filled with emptiness, worry, and fear.

If you can't adopt us and there's no room at the Inn --
could you help with the bills and fill our food bin?
We count on your kindness each day of the year --
can you give more than hope to everyone here?

Please make a donation to pay for the heat...
and help get us something special to eat.
The shelter that cares for us wants us to live,
and more of us will, if more people will give.

Deck the Halls....fa la la la la

I am happy to say that my Christmas tree was angel-less for only 2 days. (See prior post.) We finally got the house decorations up and my home looks so Christmas-y. See:




And every house is not complete at Christmas time without a nativity scene:

Some more of my snowmen:

And the stockings were hung by the fireplace...er...videos?

Yes we do not have a fireplace and we do not have a mantle so I have to get creative with my stocking location. There is one for Joe, Sara, Joey and me and of course I can't forget the furry kids, JayJay & Polly. They are worse than a 4yo searching for Christmas gifts. I've had to hide their gifts way, way up high off the ground because they are already snooping around.

Merry Christmas!

My Office Christmas Party

Friday night was my office Christmas party. It was held at Gameworks in Ybor City. It was a true success (I planned it!) and everyone had a great time. See:




Once we used up all our game time and drink tickets, one of my bosses decided it was clubbing time. For those of you not in the Tampa area, Ybor City is a strip full of bars and clubs and lots of cops. So Joe and I went along for the ride. We had so much fun and boss made sure everyone was not drinkless. We danced and shook our behinds until 2:45am. We closed the club down! I cannot remember the last time I did that. I don't know if I even ever have! Joe didn't drink too much so he drove us home. But a few of my co-workers were quite wasted so the bosses got them a hotel room so they wouldn't have to drive home drunk. Then the bosses took a cab home. At least that was the story when Joe and I left. I guess I'll get the details Monday at work. See how much fun we had dancing?




I have not partied like this in years! I didn't get up and going Saturday until 1pm. We've got office party pictures that will be office talk for years to come!

Merry Christmas!!

Ba Humbug?

Sunday Joe and I dragged our gazillion tubs of Christmas stuff out from the shed. Yesterday, he and Sara put up the tree. Tonight we were to decorate. So here goes the evening:

Me: "Sara you ready?"
Sara: "Uh..." as she's texting on her phone

So I get up and clean up dinner, wash dishes, yadda yadda yadda. Then I go take a nice HOT shower since it 44 degrees out (I love my desktop weather gadget!). While I'm in the shower Sara comes in the room saying "I thought we were going to decorate the tree." "Yes dear, when I'm done showering." So I finish and put on my nice cozy winter PJs. I go out to the media room where Joe and Sara are watching TV. Well, Joe was more on his computer than TV. So Sara and I start decorating the tree. We finally finish and I tell Joe its ready for the angel. I start going thru the other tubs to decorate the house. Joe is still sitting on the couch in front of his computer. I say again "The tree is ready for the angel." Seeing how there is no movement of Joe I pack up the tub I just unpacked and hopped on my computer to do schoolwork. Finally Joe gets up from his *&%$@ computer which he was just playing a game and goes to put the angel on the tree. He asks where the foot stool is because the top of the tree is just out of his reach. I say that is an excellent question. I haven't seen the foot stool in months! I'm thinking to myself it's probably lost in Joey's room. Things go in there and disappear to never be seen again. So mental note: need new foot stool. So instead of going to look for the foot stool, Joe puts the angel down and sits back on the couch with his *&%$@ computer back on the stupid game! I will admit, sure, I could have got up to look for the foot stool but I didn't feel like it. So here I sit looking at our beautiful, angel-less tree.

Happy Holidays!

Turkey, Potatoes and Gravy...oh my!

Thanksgiving was wonderful! This is the first year I was lucky to enjoy 2 Thanksgiving dinners! Yes 2 days full of turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies and pie. Thursday I enjoyed it with my parents and sister. Then today I enjoyed it with Nana (Sara's dad's family who we are still close to--just not him.) Today brought back many memories. First of all I was reminded just how dee-lic-cious Nana's cooking is. Especially the strawberry salad (with pretzels and whipped cream) and the oreo cake. MMMMMM!!! Secondly, it brought back memories of high school. My SIL is 15 and is dating her first boyfriend for several months now...maybe 5 or 6 months? He was over for dinner today too. Just watching them together reminded me of when I was her age and first started dating Sara's dad. In fact, I am the age Nana was when I first met them. It seems ages ago! But just seeing SIL with her BF...I can't believe how grown up she is. I remember the day she was born. Nana is my second mother and I am so thankful I have her in my life still. I am also thankful for Sara and Joe, my job, my home, my parents, my sister, my nephew and my soon-to-be niece. What are you thankful for this year?