I've Created a Monster

I told The dogs that it was bed time. Bear and Sabrina went to their kennels and waited for their nightly treats. Isaboo jumped up on my bed and laid down. I decided to lay down and read a book, Isaboo has been curled up next to me. When we got Isaboo she wasn't going to sleep in our bed. She apparently doesn't agree with this rule. I do have to admit it is kind of nice to wake up to a cuddle baby.

If You're Going to Open it, Drink it!

I don't cook with wine all that often, but I needed something to add to the jet stream with the roast, I didn't have any beef stock so I opened a bottle of wine. My taste buds must've changed, I didn't like red wine before. This one I actually like! If you're going to open the bottle to cook with you can't let the rest go to waste!

Lazy Sunday

It's been awhile since we've just hung around the house catching up on DVR. That's pretty obvious by the looks of the show list on the DVR. So today we're hanging out and catching up on shows. The dogs are opting to switch off from napping to running around the back yard.

A View From My Window, Well Almost

It's hard to believe that just a few steps away from this pretty and peaceful spot is the hustle and bustle of the everyday world. Highway 55 and 169 are just a few hundred yards away but yet if you tune that out and focus on the beauty in front of you this is what you see. Peaceful, quiet and full of nature. This is the pond next to the building where I work at my full time job. I can see a part of this from my office window. I will admit that there are days where the office seems to be chaotic and loud but I find myself gazing out the window to keep myself at peace. When did life get so hectic that the only interaction to the outside world is through a window? Life is too short to let days go by without you seeing what's around you. Remember to love those that love you, thank those that help you and help those that need help.

Welcome to Minnesota!

Yesterday's blog was about the mud and how much I hate it. Well my friends, we're in Minnesota. Minnesota is where it snows in March and sometimes even in April. It should be no surprise to anyone that we got 6 inches of snow between last night and today. It's Minnesota, it happens. The fact that we have had snow for the past four months should mean that people know how to drive in it. But they don't. Our usual 25 minute drive this morning took an hour. There's no reason for it. Highway 55 was slow because people were gawking at the accident. Which the accident was caused by someone not paying attention and rear ending someone. News flash people, if it's slippery out don't ride someone's ass! Leave some room to stop in case you hit a patch of ice! If everyone just put their common sense hat on in the morning before leaving for work or school or wherever we would all be on time for where we need to be! Get off your phone, put down your paper and your coffee and just drive! When I went through driver's ed I don't remember missing a day but I must have, I never learned how to read or talk on the phone and drive. That's why I don't do it. If I do happen to be on the phone I am on my headset, with both hands in control and guess what, I'm paying more attention to the road than I am the person on the other end of the phone! That's probably why by the time I get to the drive through I can't remember if Troy told me hard or soft shell tacos! So tomorrow is another day. There will still be snow on the ground and it will still be Minnesota.

Ugh Spring

I am not a fan of Spring. I hate the cold rain, the mud and the melting! For the next couple of months until things start to dry up our back yard will make a good venue for mud wrestling! It is this time of the year that I get tired of trying to get the dogs to sit so I can wipe off 12 muddy paws. There will be a lot of bathing of the feet as they get muddier and muddier! I can't wait until summer!

M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E

For those that know me it's no secret what my favorite things are. My favorite movie is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. My favorite coffee is latte with a half a shot of vanilla. My favorite color is purple. And my favorite cartoon character is Mickey. If I have a choice it's the Sorcerer Mickey. My next tattoo is going to be the Sorcerer Apprentice scene from Fantasia. Today Troy and I were both off work and decided to go to the Mall of America, we wanted to check out the new displays at the Underwater Adventures. Troy knows that a trip to the Mall of America is not complete without a stop in the Disney store. We walked in, looked around and I almost walked out, until I saw the snow globe displays! There on the shelf was a Fantasia snow globe. I looked at it. Looked at the price. Looked at it. Saw that the song that it played was the Sorcerer Apprentice and then my husband say, "if you want it, buy it." I love that guy!

20 Hours In

20 hours into scrapbooking and I have 13 pages. This album starts in September 1998 and I am part way through November 1998. I hope Bobby appreciates this!

Let the Scrapbooking Begin

It's Friday! I've been scrapbooking for 2 and a half hours so far! I'm not promising that I'll sleep this weekend. We stopped for coffee on our way I should be good for a few hours at least. Happy Scrapbooking!

Stickers!

Tomorrow Amy and I will be leaving for a weekend of scrapbooking. Tonight I packed my scrapbook stuff and clothes and bedding for the weekend. I decided I would go through my stickers to condense them down a little. I have a lot of stickers! I don't use them as much as I used to now that I have the Cricuit. I am actually considering leaving the stickers at home. We'll see when it comes time to pack the car tomorrow!

Starbursts

I was heading out to the store last weekend and I asked Troy if there was anything that he wanted me to pick up. "Starbursts" was the answer. So I picked some up. I had been craving a fruity candy too and since I can eat all of them except the pink ones I was safe. Tonight I was running some errands and I came home, walked into the living room and found Isaboo chewing on wrappers. I dug them out of her mouth and threw them away, but apparently I missed one. The backyard will be colorful!

Sanity

These are two items that are required to keep me sane. Coffee and my coffee maker. I was running low on coffee and wanted to make sure I had some to get me through the weekend. I'll be scrapbooking a lot and sleeping very little. That means I will need an ample supply of caffeine. Ahh.. coffee...

Daylight Savings

Daylight Savings did not really affect me at all yesterday. Even last night I didn't have a hard time falling asleep like I usually do. But this morning was a whole different story! I had to drag myself out of bed. It was really weird today at 5:00 when people were leaving work and it was really bright out. At 7:00 I came up stairs from the basement and I looked out the living room window and it was still light out. This picture doesn't really show how bright it really was, back lighting will do that, but it does show that the sun was still high enough in the sky at 7:00 to be above the building across the street! Hopefully getting up in the morning gets a little easier tomorrow!

Scrapurday

Today I was at Amy and Bert's for Scrapurday. 8 hours spent scrapbooking. I used the time to make a birthday card, back up my photos, create PDFs of Cricut Cartridge booklets and catching up with Amy and Bert. I am not as organized as I would like to think I am. Amy and I are going on a retreat next weekend and I have no idea what I am going to work on! I'll have to sit down, go through my stuff and figure out what I have! I just wish I could find a photofinishing place near by that prints matte finish!

Get Healthy.. Mentally

One of my goals for 2011 was to get healthy, both mentally and physically. I've been thinking about that goal a lot lately. I think mainly because I feel like I have been in a funk. I don't know if it's been this long winter, I really don't want to blame it on that because I love winter. So really I am trying to keep myself in a better state of mind. I am trying not not be negative or grumpy. I am refusing to let other people bring drama into my life, and if they do I am not responding to it. I know some of this would go away if I started working out again. I was in such a better mood Tuesday night after walking with Amy that I know that I really need to get back on track on working out! If I do I'll get health, mentally and physically. Tonight I am taking it easy. Winding down after a long, long week at work. No TV on, no lights on. Just me and my snuggle puppies and the glow of the lap top! Happy Weekend everyone!

A Quiet Night Out

Troy offered to take me out for dinner tonight so we stopped at Red Lobster on the way home. It was nice to be out during the week. No crowds, no wait and the restaurant was quiet. Other than the server dropping my water it was a great dinner and my glass of Riesling was good too. I really do love going out with Troy and relaxing and just talking. But, does this mean I don't get to go out tomorrow to a movie?!

Slow Down and Pay Attention!

So I was making dinner tonight. It was a new recipe. One that I won't be making again. But that's besides the point. I was boiling potatoes. It came time to drain them and I grabbed my Pampered Chef strainer, it's the hand held one. For the second time recently I burned myself draining the potatoes. Last time it wasn't so bad. This time it hurts. Almost three and a half hours later and my index finger is stinging.

What Does That Mean?!

Today was one of those days where every time I was focused and getting something done someone would interrupt me. I love when people bitch about something not being done fast enough, but what they don't realize that I would have been done a lot sooner if they would just leave me alone and let me work! I'm sorry but unless you're bleeding or dying your problem is no more important than the one I am already working on! I am only one person, I can multi-task but I'm sorry my limit is usually about 4 things at once! And please, please, please if you walk into my office and and say, "Hey can you..." and I interrupt you by saying, "Hold on a second." That means I'm in the middle of something that I can't stop! And if you are telling me, "Hey I need that thing." and I am looking at you like you have two heads that means I have no clue what you are talking about and when I ask, "What thing?" you need to be more specific. Courtney suggested that maybe I should make use of the Christmas present I got from the Jones family! So here it is.. what does it mean when you go past the "Don't Even Ask"?

Sock Mountain!

I really need to put laundry away more often! I spent the weekend washing clothes. Yesterday I spent a few hours hanging clothes up in the closet and I cleaned out my dresser drawers. Tonight I finished putting away the last three loads and then it was time for the socks... I hate matching and folding socks! So much so that as I was going through them I found socks that I haven't worn is at least this past fall! I swear I find it easier to just buy new ones than to match the ones I already have. It took me about an hour and a half to match them all up. When I was done I had probably about 20 socks without mates. Where do they go?! I swear they all had a matching sock when I took them off! I think I need to do like my mom does. Buy all of the same plain white socks, the same brand and style every time. Then they match up much much quicker!

What Is That?!

I let Isaboo and Bear out earlier today. I went to go let them back in and Isaboo is sniffing at something in the yard. I yelled at her to come in and tried to figure out from the kitchen window what was out what she was sniffing at. Troy was in the bathroom getting ready to jump in the shower so I mentioned to him that there was something out there, he looked out the bathroom window and said, it's just a bunch of sticks. I kept looking at it. Sabrina then went outside. I watched her and she head for the same item. As this point since Sabrina is sniffing at it I'm pretty sure it's not sticks! I grabbed my camera and my zoom lens and tried looking at it through that. I still really couldn't tell what it was. So I took a couple pictures then tried to look at those zoomed in. Still couldn't really tell what it was, but at this point I'm pretty sure it's some sort of dead animal. Troy got out of the shower, went out there and picked it up with gloves on, sure enough dead squirrel. He thinks it fell out of the tree. If not, it's not the first time Isaboo has caught a squirrel!

Just Hanging Around

Isaboo was laying with me while we watched movies today. I was petting her ears and she rolled over for a belly rub. She was moving around so much she almost fell off the couch onto her head! She's such a character!

Life Is Too Short

Today's blog doesn't exactly fit into my "rules" of this blog but, this is my blog and I'm allowed to break the rules. And besides, it's for good a reason.

Uncle Pat has passed away. I don't know a lot of the details. But I do know he'll be missed. He was a caring person, always looking out for other people. If you needed help with something he was usually the one to call. RIP Uncle Pat. We love you and will miss you.

Eyes Closed!

It never fails. Every time I try to take a picture of Sabrina she closes her eyes! She does it even when I don't have the flash on. She hears the beep of the camera and she closes her eyes. You can't tell in this picture that she has cataracts so I wouldn't think it's because the flash is too bright, maybe before she started losing her eye site it was and now it's a trained response to the sound of the camera.