A Little Decorating Goes a Long Way...

In the midst of the usual mid-winter snow storms (that keep popping up one after the other), I often find myself feeling claustrophobic in my little house. The daylight is semi-starting to last a bit longer, but in a small house, in a living room with no windows (besides the little ones on the front door)... it is very easy to let the dismal weather wear you down!! I spend a lot of time reading, really. Which I thoroughly enjoy! Sometimes I find myself itching for that warm spring weather when I can have my door open and shed some light on the place. No worrying about bundling up, shoveling snow, how high the gas bill is going to be, or whether or not I'll make it home from work (which I almost didn't today). The weather today was odd. Snowy... then rainy. Then hail... then slush... then a major blast of snow with some major gusts of wind! My little office at work has a decent size window that I can look out at the "yard" (mainly the big slab of cement where all of the trucks pull in and forklifts drive around). I found myself getting antsy as I watched the changing weather throughout the day. Thinking of all of the things I could do in the WARM weather... the convenience of it... the flip flops... sliding into cool sheets at night... OK... anyway. I can't say I was really grumpy... but I have been having issues with my left arm/elbow/hand... so that's got me a little down... and also my "face" issues (see previous post)--which have gotten better on and off--hard to explain. LOL! Well, toward the end of the day when the snow was coming down in HUGE flakes... my co-worker popped his head in the door of my office and said "Looks like God's really decorating today!" Hmm. "Yeah, He is," I said. And I looked back out the window across the yard to the hill past the shop buildings... there I noticed the trees. They were covered so peacefully in white. The whole little forest of them... decorated... like a scene in a winter wonderland. It made me smile. I decided tonight... I would be productive! I came home and exercised on my recumbent bike. I did a couple of 45 min work outs and realized that I rode that thing for 20 miles tonight! I may have out done myself - I'm sure I'll be feeling it tomorrow! But I am glad my co-worker reminded me that winter isn't such a bad time. You have to appreciate the beauty in it... and then you gotta DO something and not just wallow in pity! Of course, tomorrow as I'm shoveling my car out of all of the snow at 5AM, I may not see the beauty--but hey, at that time, it will be dark out still... so maybe there will be hope yet for later on in the day! ;)

All in all... God knows what he's doing. One snowflake at a time!

A Semi-Lazy Saturday

I have been battling a horrible FACE-ACHE the past week. Yes, you read right. My Face Aches! I can't really explain it other than my face muscles feel totally tense. My eyes hurt. I am constantly blinking and consciously trying NOT to make weird faces and such. It is VERY odd. At first I was thinking maybe my eyes are bad (I have noticed that I can't see far away--like the screen at the front of church, etc). But then, my mom said that maybe it was sinus pressure. I have NO idea. But I do know that it has literally been DAYS... and if it doesn't ease up soon... I might go crazy. Maybe it is from Stress? Work has upped in stress the past week. *sigh*

Today, Cory and I went to some different stores to do our Wedding Registry. It went pretty well. We only went to a couple of places because there isn't a huge shopping metropolis nearby. The only places really to register are JC Penney and Walmart. Which, whatever! I don't mind either way. I don't have to have super fancy items! I am also in the process of registering online at some places. That pretty much took up my afternoon. Cory had to head back to the new house to fix a fallen gutter. It apparently froze and broke and pulled off some of the siding... and broke a board on the porch as well. I am SO glad I don't have to deal with that. His having to leave kind of rushed things... but we had a good time anyway... and afterward I stopped at Bon Ton and looked around. I didn't see much that I wanted--so I didn't bother to register. I also stopped at Old Navy. They were having SUPER deals. Clearance items that were then half-off of that!! I got a shirt for my neice... .98 cents! I got a shirt for my dad that he can wear this spring... $1.98. (Among other things). Nothing that I bought was over $3!! So... I was pretty happy about that!! I came home and threw some laundry in the washer... but I also gave Boo a huge bone that Cory got for her. She will be SO sick tonight. But she's happy. I will take it away soon so she doesn't get TOO sick.
Also, my sister made me this little cozy for my MP3 player! It is so cute and it is nice to have something to keep the player from getting all scratched up! Thanks Katy!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday!! I pretty much plan on being lazy the rest of the night. Maybe watching some online TV or reading (as long as my aching head can take it).

Snow Day!

This morning... we all seem to be snowed in. At least on this side of town. I don't trust the bad roads as far as making it to church this morning... and the snow is STILL falling! I bet we got a good 4-6 inches on top of 8 or so already.

I decided to go out and do some shoveling--so I grabbed the camera and called the dog... and I must say it was pretty fun watching Boo run around and play in the snow. A couple of days ago it was below zero wind chills. I had let her out to do her "business" and after maybe 3 minutes... she wouldn't come when I called. I realized that she was out in the middle of the yard and wouldn't move. Her paws were too cold. So I threw on my boots and ran out to get her. She let me carry her in (and she is not a small dog!). She didn't even put up a fight! Poor girl! But today was better. Not as cold. So we played... and she played... and I shoveled!!





I hope you're all staying inside... dry and warm!! Boo and I are both tuckered out! At least for a little bit!!

I AM READY TO GO HOME.

I am at the teen center. The place I volunteer (usually with Cory) every weekend. Tonight... I am soooo ready to go home. It is below zero outside and my feet just will not get warm!! The kids that have ventured out in the cold are rather... obnoxious tonight. I am keeping my patience with them on the outside, but on the inside... they are driving me crazy!! This place definitely keeps me on my toes... sometimes more than I'd like!!! Cory is hanging out with some out-of-town friends tonight... so I'm alone (other than the handful of kids).

My work just picked up some big business--which is GREAT in this crappy economy... but it will be affecting my job immensely and I have a feeling it's going to be pretty nuts!! The past few days have been nuts... and I'm exhausted--which is probably adding to my irritability!!!!

The phone keeps ringing here. I want to pull my hair out. The kids are right across the counter from me--being loud. Patience. I keep telling myself that. Oh no. I hear gum chewing... lips smacking... gum cracking. *sigh* pet peeves. pet peeves + irritability = not good. Plus, I'm tired. And rambling.

Hope you are enjoying your Friday more than I am!!!!

I've been busy... and a funny.

I have been really busy.

Cory hit a deer on Friday... and I just haven't really had the time or oomph to sit down and post about it! And that's a BIG deal!! (sorry Cor) He was on his way home from volunteering a The Teen Center with me... and he hit a deer. Luckily he sped up--which made the deer go flying up and over the car. Damage was severe--but since he punched the gas, there wasn't time for the deer to go flying through the windshield. Although, not far from his house... on the same night... after the shock of hitting the deer and just wanting to make it the rest of the way home in one piece... an ELK stepped out onto the road in front of him. Luckily he missed a would-be horrible collision at that point..... but all in all... I am just so glad he is OK. His car will be OK as well once it's out of the shop!

Work has been exhausting. For as slow as the economy is... and as many people as my work has laid off--it sure doesn't seem to be slowing down for me! At least not over the last week and a half. I guess that's a good thing though!

We have gotten pounded with snow. I am so sick of it. BLAH!!!

I just ordered a book from this lovely lady. You should check her out. I read her blog all of the time--she's a hoot.

I also just realized that one of my favorite singers (Josh Garrels) has released a cd. I have been out of the loop on music lately. I'm thinking about getting his new release one of these days! We'll see what I've got after paying some bills!!

OH MY GOODNESS--I just remembered that I had to share a story about how embarrassing my mom is! We went out and picked up my sister's kids to take them to KIDS NIGHT at our local pizza hut. It's a pretty good deal... you buy one buffet and the kids eat free. After they pick at their food... they go hound some teenage girl at the Craft Table--where they squeeze endless amounts of glue onto that weird foamy paper stuff.. and crawl all over her and each other trying to get to the endless supply of pipe cleaners and feathers. (You should see some of the creations we've brought home! LOL!) Anyway. Tonight. We walk in and wait to be seated--and my mom just happened to notice this woman and her daughter at the counter. I take the kids over to the table and help them take off their coats while my mom is chit chatting with this woman (my mom was her youth leader YEARS ago--considering the lady has a teenage daughter!). Anyway... no big deal, ya know. Getting the coats hung over the chairs, etc... and then CRASH!!!!!!!! The woman (who my mom was talking to) had her purse up on the counter and when she went to pull it up on her shoulder it got caught!! This WHOLE BOWL of cinnamints (courtesy of Pizza Hut) went flying to the floor. The WHOLE stinking place went quiet. Silence. My mother took advantage of that pin-dropping silence to say QUITE LOUDLY (and its not a very big restaurant, mind you)... "SHE DID IT! IT WAS HER!" and literally pointed to this poor woman and her daughter who were on the floor trying to gather up all of these spilled mints! Not only did I feel bad for the mint-lady... I also was embarrassed for me and the kids! We were obviously with the loud mouth lady at the front of the place. Oh my gosh. I must admit.. it was funny. And the woman and her daughter just kind of laughed--although their faces were red. My mom joked around with them as they stood back up with the now-tainted bowl of mints... and all was well. But it definitely started out the evening on a rather interesting note!! My mom is always full of surprises!!!!

Well--I am off to bed. Cheers!

Good Reads

So, I added this Library Thing to the sidebar of my blog. It has some really interesting books that I would recommend if you are interested in healthy eating, whole foods, organics, etc. I am reading "Eat Fat, Lose Fat" right now... and it REALLY makes me think about what I'm putting in my mouth! Kind of like those ice cream commercials where the little girl is reading the nutrition labels. The one that has all of the weird, hard-to-pronounce words... yeah. I definitely don't think its an easy thing to give up certain foods... but a lot of what the book says makes sense and I would like to try to follow certain guidelines from it for myself. By no means do I condemn anyone else for what they are eating and I am not sure if I can continually NOT eat things like pizza and cookies and cereal and crackers, etc. But I'm going to try... and I'll report back in my progress. If anyone out there has read any of the books on my library list--or are living in the "Eat Fat, Lose Fat" Mode--I would love to hear how it's going for you!! Is it really that hard?

Also... on my way to my car today (trying to leave work)... I fell. Yep. My feet went right under me. Almost like a baseball player would slide onto a base. My leg just slid right under and I went down... HARD! So, I suspect I will have a rather large bruise from that. It still throbs after an hour. Remember... even though there is snow... there may be ice under that snow! So tread lightly!!!

It's 2009!

So, my week after Christmas hasn't been that hectic. I mean, I've had church things and work and such... but mostly, I haven't been running around like crazy or anything. I just haven't felt much like going online to post anything. My mom and sister have had the flu... and so for the past few days I have been psyching myself out thinking that I am getting it. I haven't though. But last night I honestly wasn't feeling all that hot... so Cory and I stopped halfway through a movie and I went to bed... and he drove 40 mins back home. We didn't stay up to watch the ball drop. Of course, I don't have cable so we couldn't have really seen it anyway--unless we found something online that was streaming video. We didn't go out or party (we don't party anyway). We were both home and in our beds when the clock struck midnight... and I'm OK with that! I am meeting him out at the new house today to go over some "improvements" that we'd like done before he moves in. He has a relative who will do the work for us (and we are VERY GRATEFUL)... so we may not have to live with bright orange kitchen counters and weird colored paneling! LOL! But we'll see. We will only do what we can afford--and I don't know how much that will be yet.
I still haven't taken my Christmas Tree down. I wasn't even going to put one up... but I decided to use my pencil tree and switch the decorations from my usual (year round) "sun and moon" ornaments... to the gaudy Christmas ornaments that I love so much! I couldn't afford a real tree this year... but this one worked nicely!
I don't think I have any pictures of me and Cory from Christmas (my mom might have a couple on her camera)--so I will share a couple of others. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!
My Cousin, Mekka... and Me on Christmas Eve (photo cred-Jax, my 3 yr old nephew... LOL!):

(You can tell that the curlers did NOTHING to help my hair! lol)
Cory on Christmas morning:

Boo licking her chops after opening the presents from Cory's parents: