What a weekend!

Last week was really terrible.  Truly bad. I worked my tail off at my job so much so that I was physically and emotionally exhausted every day, I slept poorly, and I just felt lousy.  It really was a rotten week at work and I couldn't help it that the rotten-ness at work carried itself over to home.  Sometimes that happens as much as you don't want it to, it just does.  I wasn't necessarily in a bad mood or anything, but I wasn't much fun either.  I was drained and I was determined to put that week behind me and start anew.

So on Saturday I figured I knew just the way to do that and I scheduled a massage along with a mani and a pedi for myself.  You know what?  It really did the trick!  Yup!  Nothing like a few hours of pampering to make you feel all fresh and relaxed again.  Umm.  I just love a good massage and this one was a great massage!  My entire body felt like putty, like I could just slide off the table into a puddle onto the floor, I had turned to mush.  And my sinuses were clear for the first time in a long time too!  It was great! 

Later that evening Jim asked if we wanted to go to the National Zoo

the next day.  He has wanted to go for a while now to see the new lion cubs that were born a while ago and I kept saying no, so I surprised him and said sure.  Bella loves the zoo and was so excited about going.  So, Sunday morning we got up and got an early start so we get down there in time to see them as they are only outside for an  hour. We couldn't have been there for more than an hour or two when Bella started complaining that her foot hurt and she didn't want to walk.  That was unusual because: 1) she doesn't usually complain and 2) she can walk around that place for hours on end.  So Grandaddy put her on his shoulders for a while, but she still wasn't herself.  Soon she started asking for lunch, so we stopped for lunch but when we got her meal she would eat or drink anything.  That is also very unusual behaviour.  When we were watching the lion cubs she just started crying and couldn't be consoled.  But when asked what was wrong she couldn't really say, just that she didn't think she felt well.  So we packed it up and went home.  She slept most of the rest of the day, and ran a bit of a fever off and on, so Michelle decided to take her in to visit the doctor this morning.  Poor kid has strep throat!  Her first time ever!

Before she started to feel poorly.

This little red Panda was so cute!  He had just woken up from a nap in the tree and was so close to us!

There are seven babies from 2 different moms, but only 5 were out this day.

These 2 were so curious and were following mom all over and could see their reflection in the water.

This little one smacked mom when mom kept her from going where she wanted to go!

It did not go over well with momma!

The Groundhog Lied

Or at the very least was on the fence about this whole Spring thing.  How do I know?  Because this morning I woke up to snow and ice covering the ground, my car and the roads!  What a way to start the mornig! 

Friday it was 74 degrees and today it is 24 degrees, what is that about?! 

Anyway, Saturday Bella had  her first dance competition.  She was a little nervous, afraid that she would forget her steps or something, but the girls all did great.  The competition was in Baltimore, so we didn't have far to go.  It was an incredibly windy day and driving down there was a bit of a challenge as we could feel the car being blown around the road a bit.  Luckily there was a parking garage right across from the convention center where the competition was held so we didn't have far to walk.  Bella thought she might get blown away, and she could have the winds were that strong!  The girls were among the youngest there, so they didn't have to stay all day.  They danced in the afternoon and then awards were at 5:00 and we were able to leave after that.  Their number was so cute, it was a lyrical routine danced to the song 'Believe' by Josh Groban and some of the girls were snowflakes and the others were skaters.  Bella was a snowflake. 

Our little snowflake

Bella and Miss Casey, she just LOVES this girl. 

Miss Casey is a high school girl who is also in the dance company and has been for some time.  She is also an assistant teacher in Bella's class this year.  The older girls are all so great with the younger ones.  We are a so lucky to be at this studio because everyone there is just wonderful!  The respect show to one another and the level of caring and compassion is just amazing.  Before the competition, each girl was asked to take an index card for every girl in the company and write something nice, positive or encouraging to each girl.  Then Miss Casey gathered all the cards and seperated them and put each girls' into a index card box.  So every girl got a file box with a card from every girl in the company with something nice written on it about them.  Just such a positive experience for them.  

Oh, and how did they do?  They won a Platinum Award based on overall points and a Second Place award!  Not too shabby for their first time out.  Bella was thrilled because she got a ribbon.

But the day really took it out of her.  During the awards ceremony she was falling asleep in Casey's lap!

On Sunday I went to church alone.  The girls were not up to it, Bella had just gotten up.  I was the liturgist, so I had to go, but more than that I wanted to go.  It really helps me to get a good start on my week and it helps to carry me through my week too.  After church, I went home and rested a bit because I knew we had a long afternoon ahead of us.  Tim was coming home to celebrate his birthday.  My little boy is 25!  Well, he will be tomorrow.  We had a great evening just being together.  Tim is always entertaining, but he was joined by his buddy Dan who he has beed friends with for MANY years now, and when the two of them are together they are a riot.  We had a gret time.  Shawn joined us too and we all went out to dinner, then afterwards we came home for cake and candles. 

The birthday boy and his favorite niece!

Blowing out the candles.

It was a great weekend!

Pictures!

Finally totally finished with Bella's rom and boy does it feel good!  We worked on hanging pictured over the weekend and adding the finishing touches.  So now, I can finally post some pictures.  First I have to give a disclaimer.  Isabella is six and she actually lives in this room.  What do I mean by this?  You know how sometimes you see pictures of rooms that are posted on websites and you think 'Yeah, but does anyone really use that room?'.  Well she uses this room.  As evidenced by all the 'stuff ' in it. Ha!  This is not a model room or a nursery waiting for a baby. 

This is looking in from her door.

The letters over her bed I got at Joann's and painted them then used scrapbook paper (Basic Grey) and Mod Poged in on.  I added different elements to some of the letters like a little bling crown, rub on words, a flower, etc.  added ribbon and hung them. 

This view if from the opposite side. 

The valances are gingham and have rick rack trim, got them on sale at Kohl's.  Her furniture was her nursery furnitur that converted to a full sized bed, same dresser.    You can see her many scrapbooks on the top of her dresser.  The poster in between her windows she picked out and we just bought a cheap-o frame from Michaels. (It is wooden but looks black in the picture.)  The little shelf in the corner is from Target and holds her CD player that she got when she was born.  CD's and DVD/s and some little things of hers.

This is the wall that the door is on.

The little signs say SING, DANCE and LAUGH, another Target find.  The shelf I got at Joann's and painted to match the room.  That is her TV in the corner on her bookshelf. 

Just another view. 

The little heart shaped shelf Bella made at  Home Depot.  I painted it to match the room.

She hung her Home Depot apron on it and her Dance Company bag on it. 

The keyboard was a hand me down from a neighbor, she loves it.  Best thing about it is that it has head phones so that she can practice and the whole house doesn't have to hear it.  Ha!

The wicker basked was a gift from my sister meant for her dress up clothes, but they  now fit in her closet.  So, her many, many stuffed animals go there.  Believe it or not she went through her animals and gave away two for each one she kept!   She also made a spice rack at Home Depot and has had me paint that as well and wants that hung in her room so that she can display her 'specimen jars' on the rack!  She has things like butterfly wings she has found and robin's eggs and a  hornet's nest (minus the hornet) all in little jars.  She is a collecter, my girl. 

So that's the grand tour of our little princesses room.  What do you think?  I'd love to get some feedback.

One more picture to share with you today.  My hubby surprised me with a special gift yesterday for Valentine's Day.  Here she is:

I have coveted this statue for my garden for sometime now, but have never been able to find her.

Well, while Christmas shopping I came across her and boy, was I delighted!  I told Jim about my find and where he could locate her and I told the shop owner that if Jim should come in that she was to let him know I wanted her.  I told him that Mother's Day would be the perfect time to give her to me.  So I was  not at all expecting to find her waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday. 

But I must say,  he does take direction well.  Ha!

I can't wait for the weather to warm up so that I can find the perfect spot for her in my garden!

 

Jersey Girls

The Good Kind.

If you have watched that reality show that is all the rage now Jersey Shore, you may think that you have an idea about Jersey Girls.  You do not.  That show does nothing to depict either the kind of girls that New Jersey is known for or the state itself.  How do I know? 
                                     I am a Jersey Girl!  Born and Bred, baby!
I can speak and write intelligently.  I don't hide in a pouf or laquer my hair so much that it is considered a fire hazard.  (My body either.)  But, I can still get my 'New York' up when needed.  So you don't mess with a Jersey Girl. 

Here are two  more Jersey Girls.  They're the real thing! 

These are my cousins: Christine and Linda.  You don't want to mess with either one of these girls either. 

They are actually from the Jersey shore.  But let me tell you something about these girls, they are as nice as can be, they are all about family, they are fun, they are real and just plain good people.  I have the privilege to call them family. 

This picture was taken when we were in Florida last weekend on my Blackberry.  (I didn't bring my camera.)  In the area where my parents and aunt and uncle live, one mode of transporation is golf car.  We had just come back for a nice long ride with a stop downtown.  We thought that my Mom wanted to get rid of us 6 girls (my 3 sisters, myself and my 2 cousins) for a while, but it turns out she just wanted us to take advantage of the Florida sunshine.

Anyway, we had a blast with them.  Considering the circumstances. I'd love to get together just for fun.  Rarely get those kind of opportunities though.  Everbodies schedules and such.  So here's a shout out to my cousins Christine and Linda-Hiya' girls!  Great to see ya'!  You gals made me laugh, you made me cry and you Jersey girls sure can throw  your money around!  Ha! 

Back in Action

I'm back in action after a long weekend.  I flew down to Florida on Thursday to join my family for my cousins' memorial service.  It was good to see my family and good to be with everyone.  We all needed it.  There is so much left unresolved, but I guess that is the way it is in this type of a situation  It just breaks my heart and I grieve so for my Aunt and Uncle and his brothers.  They are in such pain. 
Jim was able to  join me after all and it was so good to have him there with me.  He didn't get down until Saturday and we left on Sunday morning, but he was there and that was what mattered. 

So back home and back to work.  Before I left I finished my room.  Then we got the futon back in, Jim put shelves in the closet for me and I hung the curtains.  While I was away, Jim did get some of my stuff moved upstairs, but there is so much more to go!  Michelle emptied off my bookshelf and moved everything upstairs for me, but had no place to put it because it doesn't look like the shelf will fit.  Each time I m ove spaces I have this problem.  What goes where?  I either loose space or furniture or something.  Now I have too much furniture and too much stuff and not enough space to put it all back.  Something's got to give!  I think that something has got to be me.  I'll be on the road to purging my stash and maybe putting some of the bigger items on Craigs List or something.  I just hate to have to part with my things!  The pain!   
The good news though is that the end is near.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Soon I will be on my way to scrapbooking, cardmaking and general craftyness again.  Oh, I can't wait.  What fun!  I know it will be worth it in the long run, but right now I've about had enough.  
Last night I sat on the floor sorting paper.  And of course now nothing from my old room now matches my new color scheme.  So, I see a shopping trip in my future.  I will definitely post pictures when I'm done. 
Until then!  

I Hate Mondays!

There is really nothing good to be said about a Monday.  Unless of course, it is a day off.  That is a horse of a different color.  But in general, Monday's stink.  I hate 'em!  Today is no exception.  I didn't want to get up, then the traffic in to work was terrible, work is -well WORK, need I say more?!  If I were ruler of all things, I would make Mondays a stay home day.  Different than a week-end day, where you can do what you want on Saturday and Sunday.  Monday you just stay home.  The whole focus of Monday would be to gear up and re-focus yourself and your family for the week ahead.  Doesn't that sound like a good idea? 
No running around?         No errands?             No jumping in and out of the car?            No spending money?       
                None of that.
Just you and your family. At home.  No neighbors.  No stores.  No homework.  No work.  Just family time.
Quite, together, BE time.  The kids won't be bugging you to go outside or to go to Tommy's house or to the movies or anything, 'cuz your can't.  It's the law of the land.  Of the supreme ruler of all things.  Just quiet family time.  See.  Isn't this sounding better and better?   You're liking it, aren't you?  Go ahead, admit it?

Yeah, me too.

In the meantime, Mondays suck.

So, how was you're weekend?

I was productive if nothing else.  I finished up Bella's room.  Curtains are hung, shelf is up, furniture is all moved in, and there are even a few things on the walls.  For all intents and purposes, her room is done.  Some finishing touches need to go in, but we have to wait for those to arrive.
After I finished in there, I moved into her old room and started priming the walls for paint.  Worked on that for most of the remainder of Saturday.  Cleared out some of the junk that remained in the room that no one wanted to claim, and then Jim and I headed out for a bite to eat and then on to Home Depot.  I know, it was a hot Saturday night!  Picked up the paint that I was going to need and some other misc. items. 
So after church on Sunday I headed upstairs to change my clothes and then straight into the next room to start painting.  I didn't stop until I had run out of paint.  Which happened to be 1/2 a wall shy of finishing the room!  I got two coats on everything but that final 1/2 a wall.  By that time it was 4:30, I was beat and in no mood to run down to the store for more paint, so I cleaned up and called it a day. 
Jim has promised to pick up the paint for me today and I'll finish after work this evening.  So close!
Then, we can begin moving the furniture in and I can start organizing my craft room!  It has been nearly six months since my stuff has been in one place and since I've been able to work on anything.  I won't know where to begin.    I'm sure that I'll be able to figure something out though!

But I won't be working on it over the weekend as I found out on Thursday that a Memorial Service has been planned for Richard on Saturday.  So, I will be flying down to Florida to the rest of my extended family on Thursday as we gather together to celebrate and to honor Richard's life.
So, say a prayer if you will.  I know that it is going to be a difficult time, but one that we will get through together and with God's love.

A New Normal

I'm going to try to get back to a more regular schedule of posting.  Things have been rather difficult as of late.  My family has been so shocked and saddened by the news of my cousins' death and the violence surrounding it.  We are all just reeling from the horror of it all.  Most especially, his mother, father and of course, his wife.  It is such a tragedy.  No one expects something like this to touch  your world and when it does, you don't know what to do, where to turn, or how to act.  It has been almost a week since the police showed up at my aunts home to tell her of the news and yet, his body still has not been released.  There has been no service, no arrest in the case, no official word on what really happened, no closure.  Perhaps there never will be.  That has got to be very difficult to live with.  How do you reconcile yourself with that?

What they do know is that sometimes Richard didn't make the best choices.  He fought with his demons, he wrestled with them, he overcame them.  Only to slip and fall to fight his way back to the top again.  He was a fighter, make no mistake.  Richard didn't come by things easily.  He struggled.  He worked hard, he fought and he won.  He knew the feeling of despair that comes from failure and he wore a smile that radiated through his eyes from a triumph that no one but he could fully understand.  He had a heart as big as his chest and would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it.  He grew up, loved and was loved in return.  We grieve the loss of him.

The circumstances surrounding his death should in no way define the kind of person he was.  He was a good man.  A loving man.  A kind man.  A gentle man.  A man who will be missed.

Okay, the tears are done.  I'll tell you about our anniversary.  Jim and I went to the Bavarian Inn as promised.  It was great.  Cold, but great.  It was just nice to get away and be alone.  The room was nice, king sized bed, fire place, jacuzzi tub, river view.  Jim had thought to have a cheese and fruit tray sent to the room so it was waiting for us when we got in, very nice.  We brought a bottle of wine so we had the wine and cheese in front of the fire place and it was quiet.  Very nice.  When we went to dinner it was freezing!  But it was so crowded, the place really does quite a good business.  The food was really good, but the desert was delicious!  I has a raspberry lindser torte and Jim has apple strudle-mmm good!  Best part was the chef took melted chocolate and wrote Happy Anniversary on our plates with it and then put a candle in it and brought it to the table.  So pretty!  I took a picture, but it didn't come out. 

Here are some pictures of the views:

The view from our balcony.

A side view of the chalet.

The front view of our chalet.

After we got home on Sunday I rested for a while and then got back to work.  I finished painting Bella's room!  Finally!  Last night after work Jim, Michelle and I moved Bella's furniture into her new r oom.  There are still more things to do but we are getting there!  Her old room is trashed, lots of toys and junk that has to be moved, pictures on the wall yet, but the big stuff is done. I'll post pictures when it's done, done.  Hopefully by the weekend I will be able to start priming that room.

This morning we woke up to snow.  All the major school systems in the area have closed for the day.  We are told to expect about 8 inches, which is significant in these parts.  I will be at work for most of the day.  Bleh!