Say Thanks to a Soilder

What a weekend!

Well, I didn't get done everything I wanted to do and lots of stuff I hadn't planned on doing. I did get to Ace, Home Depot and WalMart on Saturday morning, but didn't get home until 12noon. I needed to switch out our satellite receiver. I did that but it's no good either, so I'm still DVR-less. *sigh* The only thing I got done in the hallway was taping the doors, doorbell and a/c register.
There was no branch meeting on Friday. It's been rescheduled, but no one knows when. I got a call on Saturday morning that told me that my hours are being changed to 9-6 starting Tuesday. The sales crew is the reason I work so late and management changed their hours, so that means my hours change too. Hooray! I'm working "normal hours" again. Hopefully, this will last for the rest of the year. I'm only working 3 days this week. I took off Thursday/Friday because Thursday is B's and mine 4 year anniversary and sometimes we'll go do things around that date and want to make sure that's possible. But, this year I'm just off to head to take Lilly for her yearly shots/checkup and do my painting that I didn't get done this weekend.
We went to Norfolk for some hockey last night. It was good to see live hockey even if I didn't care about the teams either way. I did notice that Manchester had a guy named Hickey on their team, so that who I started to root for and of course they lost. We'll be going again in December for my birthday with again I team I don't care about, but then in January we'll go and see a team where I can root against Norfolk (as usual).
Today, Crystal came over and we cleared out the flower beds of dead/dying plants & ground cover. Byron replaced the rusted out mailbox and B & I replaced the doorbell button and cleaned out a closet that needed it and took most of that to the dump. We're finally doing stuff with the house that should have been taken care of when we moved in 4 years ago.
Only 20 days to my Outer Banks vacation :)
Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Just a week

We decided that since there's no hockey in Richmond and watching it on TV just isn't the same, we're headed to Norfolk on Saturday to see the Admirals play. But, we need to continue work on the house first. So that means I have to get up and get moving much earlier than I usually do on Saturdays. I need to get to Home Depot, Ace Hardware and Wal-Mart all before 11am.
I can't believe the names that they're coming up with for the new double-A Richmond baseball team. The Hambones, Flying Squirrels, Rhinos, Flatheads and Rock Hoppers. Then CNBC gets in the mix and adds Hush Puppies. The owners said that they don't want anything normal...well they're certainly not going to get it. Teams like the Mudbugs and Jackalopes (both minor league hockey) make more money on merchandise from out of towners than people that support the team locally, so I guess that's where they're trying to go with it.
Tomorrow is the branch meeting where we might get more info about the changes coming. My guess is there will be less talk about the changes and more about how much we suck and need to improve. Nothing unusual there though. Hopefully, it'll be short and I'll be able to still got my work done despite having this "break" in the day.
Byron has stated that now that he's gotten his promotion and raise he wants to start saving and take us to Austin, TX for our 5th year anniversary (one year and one week from today). If that's the case, then I need to lose weight in order to fly in a plane without having to buy two tickets. I've started to watch my portions and stop eating extra meals (by stopping at Mickey D's before heading home for dinner). Soon, I'll start exercising by walking. Then, I'll be able to buy a bicycle and be able to exercise two ways and still get the dog moving too.
Lilly gets her yearly shots next week. And we'll be checking on her head shaking as well. It hasn't been as bad as it was, but she's still shaking. Her ears are clean and I used the drying solution after I washed her last. I'm hoping it's something little or even nothing at all.
Only 23 days till my Outer Banks vacation :)
Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Zombies!!!

We went to see Zombieland today. It was pretty funny. I'm not one for horror movies at ALL, but I did enjoy Shaun of the Dead and read a review last night that said it was very much the same type of movie. I will not spoil the best cameo in a movie in a long time, but it was awesome.
After the movie we went to TGIFridays because I was one of Woody's first 500,000 fans and got a coupon for a free Jack Daniel's burger. I'm not a big JD fan, so I gave that to Byron and I had something else. For the second weekend in a row, B did not like the burger he ordered. I feel like I'm on the quest for burger that B will enjoy. I guess we'll have to go to Five Guys next weekend. They never disappoint.
We also discovered that when flooring was bought for the kitchen that not enough was bought. I don't know if we gave the chick at Home Depot the wrong measurements, they were right and she figured them wrong or we got less boxes than recommended or a combination of any of the above, but we're about 5 boxes short. So now more flooring has to be bought. First, we need to paint the ceiling, prime and paint the hallway and paint one piece in the kitchen and the outlet/switchplates. Then we can lay the flooring. I'm hoping to be done by the second weekend in November.
Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Changes are coming!

This week wasn't horrible for a change. Monday was a bit hectic as it was my first day back after four days on vacation. I felt appreciated when I came back. My direct boss was very happy to see me and now understands I'm not just circling dots to schedule work. Tuesday though Thursday the main boss was gone and we just worked and talked and had a few good days. Friday the main boss was back and all the managers went into a meeting before I got there and didn't come out for 90mins after I arrived. The main boss had gone out of town to a meeting to get the new direction of the company. (Backstory: The company I work for and its sister companies were bought out buy a private equity investment firm early last year and they're trying to make us grow so they can sell us.) There are some major changes coming to the company at the branch level. Changes have been happening for a while in the company, but that the corporate, division or regional level. Lots of middle management and admin is gone and our help desk was closed and is handled out of India now. Now, my direct boss is losing her title (and probably some money to go with it, but that's none of my business so I didn't ask) and there are LOTS of branch level changes coming. The good news is that since my branch was working with few customer service/admin people that we should all keep our jobs...at least for now.
Byron got a promotion and raise and both went into effect this week. He's finally considered full time and can start getting paid vacation and benefits (I think). He even has someone working under him. He's very happy...at least as happy as B gets.
Hockey season started this week. Unfortunately there is no hockey in RVA this year. I'm already going through live hockey withdrawals. I think we're going to Norfolk next weekend to get a fix. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Movie and lunch

Two posts in two days! I might try for NaBloPoMo in November.
We went and saw The Informant! yesterday. That was interesting, kinda slow but amusing as well. LOTS of stand-up comedians: Paul F. Thompkins, Tom F Wilson, Allan Havey, Joel McHale, Tom Papa, Bob Zany, Patton Oswalt, Tom AND Dick Smothers (!) to name a few. Some you may know by name, most you'd know if you watch a lot of Comedy Central and HBO One Night Stands like me.
After the movie we went across the street to Spinnakers Restaurant for lunch. That was okay. Byron was disappointed with his cheeseburger, but the club wrap that I was good. We had their Caribbean Cream Pie for dessert and I'm going to try and remake that for dessert sometime next week. Graham cracker crust, vanilla pudding, bananas and pineapple topped with toasted coconut and walnuts. I'm going to substitute macadamia nuts for walnuts when I make it. Yum!
After that we went to Michael's, but their Christmas stuff was lacking...too early yet. But I was just getting ideas for kids activities for the Open House. We went to Barnes & Noble and picked up the first book in the series that inspired the show on FOX, Bones. Byron's reading that while I finish the recent Sookie Stackhouse book. After that we went to Game Stop and I got Batman Lego for the Wii. That's a pretty fun game. We have the Star Wars Lego for Gamecube (for the Wii), but I enjoy playing Batman more.
Today is sports day in the house. Football and NASCAR...and naps :) I'm off to enjoy my last day of my 4 days of freedom. Tomorrow's back to work...blah! Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Nothing much to say

I haven't been blogging because I'm lazy and nothing much has been going on lately.
The kitchen is still a mess, but it's painted now. I did most of the priming and then Crystal came over and helped with the actual painting of color on the walls. I think it looks good and am pleased. We also got a new rug for the living room. What we had was something that came with the house. It was a wall-to-wall rug that was falling apart in several places (no help from our four legged kids). It's a bit bold for what I usually do when decorating, but I like it.

Work is just that. I finally had some vacation time this week after not having any all year. I didn't win the big Mega Millions jackpot a few weeks ago, so next year I'm taking some days off in the summer to keep me from having a mental breakdown.
I'm working on starting my invitations for the Open House. I'm just getting the wording together so when I can buy the stationery I'm ready to print them. Most places are setting out their Christmas decorations already. I've gotten one or two things already. As much work as it's going to be to pull this off, I'm excited about it.
We went to the NASCAR race a few weekends ago. B was sick and he didn't go, but my mom, step-dad and I had a good time.
Chris and I went to the State Fair on opening day (Thursday). It was hot and humid, but we had a good time. We saw some dog stunts at the Extreme Canines Stunt Dog Show, played with Legos, petted some barnyard animals, played some games (and won), rode some rides and walked around the exhibit halls. Pictures are on my Flickr.
That's all for now...like I said not much going on here. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Another Weekend

This weekend has been nice but a bit tiring. Yesterday my dad came over and he and B replaced the kitchen faucet. I went grocery shopping while they did this. Wal-Mart is remodeling their Chester store and this week most things were not where they normally are. It was tiring having to go down every single aisle trying to find things. But there's only a month or so until it's done and I can understand the whole needing to move things around while remodeling. My kitchen is a mess! The stuff on the main counter is on my table, the stuff on the left counter is on my main counter and the painting stuff is on my left counter, main counter and kitchen table. Ahhh! B moved the refrigerator and I got the wallpaper off from behind there today. I'm waiting for him to come back so he can move the stove and get the wallpaper from behind there. With that done, all the wallpaper in the kitchen will be removed. Hurrah! The bad news? We found out that the wallpaper in the hallway isn't wallpaper. It's contact paper. What a mess! And there's no really easy way to get it and its adhesive off the wall.
We went to Target to look for some new curtains for the kitchen, but they didn't have much of a selection. B took me to Bed, Bath & Beyond and I found what I liked, but they didn't have the size I needed and didn't have the valance I wanted. I did find some online this morning and will be ordering them soon.
We also made a trip to GameStop and checked out their used games for the Wii. We picked out SSX Blur. After dinner we played the Wii for the rest of the night til bedtime.
Lilly also got her bath today. She hated it as usual, but she behaved well. I think she's got an inner ear infection. She's been shaking her head and scratching her right ear quite a bit recently, but the ear itself is clean. When I put in the ear drying solution after her bath she whined a little. A guess a trip to the v-e-t will be in order soon.
Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

July, exit stage right

July started off busy and pretty much stayed that way. About mid July I overheated my truck to the tune of having to replace the radiator. The thermostat was broken, so that needed to be replaced as well.
Soon after, we went to Carter Mountain for some peach picking. Brian and Ale were supposed to go, but Ale had a really bad sinus infection and they couldn't make it. So, the three of us made the trek up to C-ville. Warning: Cute Dog Pics and Scenic Mountain Views Inside
A few weekends ago we attended Richmond Tea Party's Libery 101, a freedom rally. Nothing like some info for the noggin. Warning: Funny signs and one cool video inside That night Carolyn, Todd and I went to the Funnybone to see Tom Wilson (the guy that played Biff in the Back To The Future movies). He was hilarious.
Two weekends ago it was B's birthday. We went to Captain Chuck a Muck's in Rescue, VA (just east of Smithfield). We had seen the place on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and B wanted to go there. The food was good (and mid-ranged priced for seafood), the atmosphere and staff were friendly...however the owner left much to be desired. The table I called ahead for was the Captain's table. It's reserved when there are 7 or more people in your party and there's a 90mins limit on the table. Yes...a time limit. I can see why. The place is busy and you want to make the most of your space. We got there 5mins earlier...well two in our party didn't. They got there 10mins late. At about 5mins late the owner came over and made a big deal about the time limit and that they had a group coming in after us and then just walked away. Wow. Really? No "thanks for coming". No "I hope you enjoy". Just "they'd better get here". So, we had a good time making fun of him for the rest of the evening. Oh and we left 5mins past our allotted time-limit. So there! K caught up with the owner after dinner as we were leaving and asked him how long he had been in business. He answered 12. K said that he wouldn't make it to 13 if he kept treating his customers that way. The owner could do nothing but apologize to K, but K didn't do it for the apology.
We would go back, but not as a large group and not if we were coming from home. Ninety mins is too far to drive for that. Captain Toms in Colonial Heights is just as good if not better. Maybe if were were already in Surry and the Rocky Bottom Grill was closed and we wanted seafood. Well...I just went to see if Rocky Bottom Grill had a website to link to and it seems they went out of business in September 2008. RIP RBG
Last Saturday we went to see G.I.Joe. That was good and a nice way to round out the Summer Movie Season. Lots of explosions with just a hint of plot. Yummy! We also took advantage of the tax-free weekend and went to Best Buy and got a new wireless router. Yippee! I can finally play my Wii online. I've been playing Mario Kart Wii all week online. I love that game. If you wanna be my Wii Friend, lemme know and I'll give you my number.
Last Sunday we started on the mini-renovation of our kitchen and hallway. The plans at the moment are to remove the wallpaper, apply primer and paint to both, get new curtains, replace the faucet and possibly replace the flooring in the kitchen. You can watch the progress on my Flickr. All this is because I'm still planning my Open House in December (mentioned in my Welcome 2009 post).
That's all for now. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

LOL 7: What's in a name?

My second Living Out Loud entry.
When people ask me my middle name I ask, "which one?". I was born Sarah Catherine Elizabeth. Sarah Catherine was my great-grandma on my dad's side and Sarah Elizabeth was my great-great grandma on my mom's side. I love my name. Not many people will actually admit it. I love having family history right there.
I'm very protective of the "H" at the end of Sarah. People at work constantly leave the H off even though we've worked together for 12 years. It's annoying. When people ask, "Is that Sarah with or without the 'H'?" I proudly answer, "With." I can't explain my attachment to one letter other than it's my name. I always do my darnedest to make sure I spell other people's names correctly and feel the same courtesy should be made to me.
Putting all my names on "official" documents was interesting. Sometimes I was able to put Sarah Catherine E. on these documents, but I usually ended up having to drop the Elizabeth all together.
I was the last of my surname to get married. I had always said growing up that I was just going to tack on my husband's last name to the great list of names since all of them meant something. Then I got engaged. There began the internal debate on keeping all of them and having five names. On the way home from meeting the florist, I brought up to my mom that I was thinking about dropping Elizabeth when I added on my hubby's last name. I promised her that when we had a kid and if it was a girl that I was use Elizabeth in her name. Mom agreed and when I filled out the paper work after getting hitched, I dropped the Elizabeth and kept my maiden name as my second middle name.
I miss Elizabeth sometimes when I fill out paperwork. I didn't think I would. It's just a name after all, right? But it was a part of me, who I was and what I was known by for 25 years. I think I'm allowed to miss it.

Party Pics

Some pics from Joshua W's birthday Party

Ctrl+Alt+Del on Billy Mays

Ctrl+Alt+Del

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Good Bye June. Hello July.

I check some blogs every day or so (others, not as often), hoping to see a glimpse into what's going on my friend's, relatives or complete stranger's lives. Yet, I barely update my own. Like my friend, Carolyn said this past week on her blog, "I guess I love reading about everyone else's lives but I am less likely to share mine."
In June, we had a co-worker quit in a pretty irresponsible way. She called out on a Friday and didn't bother to show up on Monday, but had her girlfriend call in and say that she wasn't coming back to work. She had told Crystal that she had gotten another job. What a shitty way to quit a job! So, since she was the night-time CSR, that left us with no one to answer the phones at night. Enter me. I'm now working 11am-8pm. It totally sucks, but I'm trying to stay grateful that I even have a job.
I got back in touch with an old best friend from High School (and beyond) last month. She contacted me via Facebook. We mended our past and are speaking to each other again. And eventually our schedules with align and we'll be able to go out and do something together and catch up things.
June means my stepmom's birthday and Father's Day. We had my stepmom and Dad over to the house for both occasions and fixed lunch both times. Both times, they enjoyed food and some T.V. before heading back home. Having company over keeps my house clean and I've been trying to keep it that way. So far, so good.
B and I had a "stay-at-home and watch movies most of the weekend" in June. We watched Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express, Run Fat Boy Run and Bully. PE and Bully were the worst two movies of the weekend. TT and RFBR were the best of the group.
On the amount of recent Hollywood deaths: Enough Already! I've officially heard enough about MJ and I haven't heard that much at all about it. I was really sad when I heard Billy Mays passed. I recently had begun to watch Pitchmen on Discovery and gotten to know the man and even some of his family. His son worked for/with him helping with commercials and they showed his current wife and little girl in a recent episode. He was certainly more than just some sleazy salesmen.
This weekend is Independence Weekend. B and I had off on Friday and boy was Friday busy for me. I got up early because Ukrop's was having a sale and I wanted to beat the stupid people there. I boiled 13 eggs before I left for my Dad's potlock dinner that night. I got to Ukrop's around 9am and there were no carts to be found! Luckily, I wasn't going to do my weekly shopping and was able to use one of their half-carts. I did $40 of shopping and only spent $14. With that $14 we got bread (2), soda (5), cheese (3), hot dogs (2), beans (4) and ice cream sandwiches (2). B's mom went also and got us soda (6). I think we're set on Pepsi products for a while. I went home and dropped off that load and went to WalMart for grocery shopping and to get some clothes for my nephew's 1st birthday. Came back and unloaded those and left to see My Sister's Keeper with Crystal. Nothing like a good cry to release some stress. I came back to fix the eggs, but had forgotten to put them in the fridge and they all went bad. I had to boil another 13 eggs. Luckily it was still a few hours before Dad's potluck and they had plenty of time to chill after making them into deviled eggs...or divine eggs as they were called that night. The potluck went well. Lots of good food and laughter.
Saturday, I cleaned up around the kitchen a little and cleaned Madison's box. Then we went to my nephew's 1st birthday party. My brother and SIL did a nice job. It was jungle themed party. They had a kiddie pool shaped like a gator, a sprinkler shaped like an elephant and a giraffe who's neck made a semi-circle for the kids to walk/crawl under to get wet and they had an inflatable monkey and parrot in the trees as decorations. I have pictures, but haven't downloaded them to the computer because my dad has my camera bag which has my USB cable. We had to leave the party early to go feed the girls before heading to B's mom's house for dinner. After spending some time with her and gathering up the sodas and other stuff she bought us we headed home. My mom and K were coming over to watch the Chesterfield County fireworks from our back deck. We made space on the back porch for everyone to sit and watch. And I just want to say that I have the most amazing dog. She sat in B's lap and watched the fireworks with her ears perked. She only barked once and that while we were inside and everyone was moving outside because he had heard the first boom. The other dogs around us were barking up a storm and Lilly was the perfect lady. The fireworks were pretty even though we could barely see some of them because our trees have grown over the past two years. All and all a very busy two days. Now I'm off to start my more peaceful Sunday. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

LOL 6: I have found me a home

"I Have Found Me A Home" Lyrics by Jimmy Buffett
This song plays in the background as I start my first Living Out Loud entry.
Going home can be hard when coming from a "broken family". I lived in the actual Richmond City limits for the first 3 years of my life before my mom and dad moved to the suburbs of Chesterfield County in a then new subdivision of Kings Forest off of Cogbill Rd. We lived as a "happy" family there until Mom asked Dad to move out when I was 11. Mom and I continued to live there while Dad found a duplex off Iron Bridge Rd to rent. I no longer had one house; there was Mom's house and Dad's house. Eventually, Mom had to move due to finances and she rented a place off Dundas Rd. Later, Dad moved out of the duplex and into Orchardhill off Beulah Rd. He did his best to establish a relationship with me since the one we had was basically non-existent. We fixed up the house in Orchardhill by painting the inside and fixing the kitchen up a little. It was good bonding for us. The memories we made in that short time included when he helped me when I had to dump my first boyfriend, we watched the same 2-3 movies over and over and when we decorated for Christmas. Dad soon met his second wife and moved in after the wedding with her and her son into Salem Woods off Salem Church Rd. My Mom dated and wedded her second husband and moved into Mason Woods off Beulah Rd. Both prom and homecoming dances always started at this house. I also spent my last night as a single woman in that house. I stayed at both these houses until I met my future husband and I spent a good portion of the time with him, Rich and Genie at B's and Rich's apartment off Gayton Rd in West End of Henrico County. Eventually, B moved out and we got an apartment off Patterson Ave in Henrico. Two years later we were engaged, ready to be married and we bought the house where my dad and stepmom lived as they moved to a place off Kingsland Rd. Currently, we reside in Salem Woods house while my mom, dad and respective step parents live within 8 minutes of our house. At Mom's house my old bedroom has been converted into a "Man Room" for her hubby, but if we ever needed a place to stay I know I can "come home" there.
When asked where I'm from I generally say the Richmond Area, South Side or Chesterfield depending on who is asking. When we moved to the West End it was like telling people you came from some rural part of the state/country when you said you were from the other side of the River. It was my private school experience all over again. There it is was snobby kids thinking they were better than me because of where I lived and what my parents drove. Probably why I jumped at the chance for public schooling when it was given to me. Just like I jumped at the chance to not only move back to South Side right before our wedding, but into a house that was already a home to me. I consider myself very fortunate. Despite having had multiple homes, they were all that...homes.

Made it

I almost didn't blog in May. Oops. Oh well.
We went to the Richmond NASCAR race and had a good time despite the rain. Thanks to Jaime for finding someone who wanted to buy my extra tickets. The money was well spent in acquiring #39 Newman stuff since all I had was #12 Newman stuff. I only got rained on once...coming back from the Porta-potty. Other than that we were under our canopy or I sleeping in the back of the Durango. We met David Reutimann (#00) and he's a nice guy and let me take this picture of him: We actually stayed till the end of the race. I hadn't done that since Ricky Rudd won in September 2001 and B's never done it. Too bad Kyle Busch won, but Newman had a really good night and I was proud of him and his crew.
I was supposed to go to Va Beach a couple of weekends ago with Crystal and Carolyn, but Mother Nature apparently didn't like those plans and rained on our parade. Crystal still came over to the house and had dinner, drinks and watched movies until the wee hours in the morning. B made us yummy pancakes, bacon and eggs for breakfast.
Last weekend, B and I headed down to OBX (Outer Banks, NC) to stay with my dad and stepmom for the weekend. They're on vacation down there for 2 weeks and invited us down. Unfortunately, we couldn't bring Lilly cause the house they rented wasn't pet friendly. So, for the first time since we adopted her (November 07) we left her at home for a weekend. Crystal was nice enough to stay with her for the weekend and Lilly was sad, but did okay without us. I missed my dog and there were dogs everywhere down there. Our neighbors had 3, two doors down had 5, we saw several dogs walking and playing on the beach. I got to see a Great Pyrenees in person. He was a big puppy...115lbs and he would top out at about 180lbs! This isn't him, but to give you an idea of the dog: He was huge, but very cute and sweet. He had an entourage on the beach. They were trying to walk the dog and every few feet was getting stopped by other people wanting to talk about him, pet him and even take pictures with him. I got to fly my kite while we were down there. We went to Jockey's Ridge and there was no wind! We had to drive down onto Hatteras to Coquina Beach to fly. It was worth it. B wanted to go back to a restaurant that his family went to when they went to OBX, Tale of the Whale. It's casual fine dining, but it was REALLY good. Our waitress and the food were awesome. I ordered off the Lighter Fare menu and still got a lot of food. Their bread was awesome too. We enjoyed it so much that I actually emailed the owners to let them know...and I rarely do things like that.Those were the highlights of my May. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Date Night?

Howdy all! The Monday 4/6 B hurt his back before he left for work and was out all week :( He went to the doctor and they gave him some exercises to do and some pain meds. He went back to work the next Monday and all is well now. Easter was good. I went to church and then later we went to B's sister's house for dinner. This past Saturday, I worked and then laid around waiting for it to be time to go out again. Chris and I went and hung out Saturday night. We went to see "State of Play", had dinner at Capital Ale House and then went bowling. "State of Play" was pretty good. It was the best choice out of everything that is out at the moment. I'm not a big Ben Affleck fan, but he did well in this. Capital Ale House was wonderful. Even though I was fighting a sinus infection and my taste wasn't 100% the food and the beer was amazing. We had a very good waiter, Jay who did a good job of picking out what beer went with the meal and waiting on us. I had crab-stuffed Virginia rockfish and Chris had the steak. Both were outstanding. I love Capital Ale House and wish I could afford to go there more often. We had a good time. I'm glad that we remained friends and that my hubby loves me and trusts me to go out with an ex. Sunday was a lazy day and we did a bunch of nothing after going grocery shopping. This week has gone by not quite quickly, but not slow either. I'm getting actual work done without drowning in the stuff I can let slide for a few days.
One last thing ~ I have Richmond NASCAR tickets for sale. There are three of them, but we are willing to sell just two if that's all you need. They are face valued at $90, but are asking $45/ticket for them. They are in the Henrico Tower which is at the beginning of Turn 3. The race is Saturday May 2, 2009 at 7pm. If you, or someone you know is interested, please email me: bandsburger (AT) verizon (dot) com

Personal Fail Whale

Twitter has almost fallen to the way side for me. Not being able to access the web at work, not wanting my phone buzzing every few mins with a new tweet and having my laptop confined to the home office due to my non-functioning wireless router has combined into my tweets becoming practically non-existent. However, this is still amusing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo8IfYFyLgQ

No more hockey and sick kitty

It's update time again. Hockey for Hope 5 was good. I worked the merchandise table with one other lady and in the time period that we were there we made over $600 in merchandise. I don't know the final tally for the money made that day, but it had to be good. We went to Capital Ale House on Main St afterward with the rest of the gang. I love their food. The pretzels are always so good. We left there and headed back to the Coliseum to watch the end of the Richmond Legends game and the last Richmond Renegades game of the season, year...forever. They announced later that the team would not be back next season. So now Richmond has lost baseball and hockey in a matter of a year. All we have left is NASCAR, the Kickers and college teams. Sad :(
Last Saturday was my job's sell-a-thon. Luckily, I have some of the fastest fingers in the branch and I get to enter all the sales instead of trying to make them. The time went by quickly. Afterward, Crystal and I headed to Wal-Mart to do our grocery shopping. Sunday, B and I were busy. We spent the last of my gift card to Moe's for lunch, we headed to Casual Male XL to get B some clearance work shirts and a belt, went to Hayne's to look at carpet and promptly left, went to Home Depot and found some remnant roll out linoleum, pulled up the cat-stained carpet and took it to the dump and rolled out the linoleum. All in all a busy and productive day.
Since laying down the linoleum, Madison is using her box more often. I got up early (5:30am) Saturday to take Madison to our vet. They put out their "first come, first serve" list at 7am and they open at 8am....we got there at 6:45am and were 5th on the list. We were done and gone by 9am. The vet is not quite sure what the exact problem is. It's not worms, but there is definitely a bacteria overgrowth. So now I get to inject some medicine orally for the next week. I had to go and buy a syringe because the vet didn't get me one. Funny enough I used my FSA card to buy it. Last year I bought the dog motion sickness pills (to calm her for the long drive to NC) with the card. My entire family benefits from that card :) Hopefully this will work and I'll have a completely healthy kitty.

So much

Hello All! I hope this finds you well. I volunteered with BARK at Strange's Florist's Dog Days in the Garden. What a good time that was! I got to spend some time with and show off some adoptable doggies. I wasn't well a few weekends ago as I caught a stomach virus from Crystal and spent most of the day Sunday either in the bathroom or in the bed. The next day it snowed a few inches, I called in sick cause I was running a fever and B didn't have to work because Ft. Lee closed. So, he took me to Patient First since my doctor was closed due to the snow. I was told it was the stomach virus and to drink fluids for 24 hours and then slowly work my way back to normal foods. I had never had so much flat Sierra Mist and Jell-O in a 48 hour period. I was back to normal foods by Friday. Last Saturday and Sunday, my stepmom and I went to see VCU play in the CAA basketball tournament. My Flickr pics for those two days can be found here. This week at work was the busiest we've been all season as the weather went from several inches of snow to 70-80 degree weather and the Spring weeds have popped. Wednesday and Thursday were the worst days because I had to enter sales which is usually done at night but Crystal was so busy that she didn't have time to do that. Friday wasn't so bad because she had time to enter some of them and my boss helped by doing some other data entry that I usually do in the morning. Plus it was raining/snowing and that usually slows down the amount of phone calls. Friday night was a Renegades hockey game. We left early cause we were tired, they were losing badly and the people behind us were obnoxious. Yesterday, B and I went to see Watchmen on one of the movie gift cards that my dad gave us for Christmas. Just about every preview we got was something we're going to see while they are still in theaters. Public Enemies with Christain Bale and Johnny Depp, Terminator: Salvation with Christain Bale, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, X-Men Origins: Wolverine with Hugh Jackman and the one that we'll wait and Netflix it is Observe and Report with Seth Rogan. I like Seth (who looks much better with his curly hair), but I can't see shelling out the money to see this one on the big screen. Today we're going to a Sunday afternoon hockey game and home to watch some TV and relax before heading back to work on Monday. Next Saturday (3/21) is the RHFC's Hockey for Hope 5 at the Richmond Coliseum. The game starts at 2pm and admission is a donation of your choice. I'll be running the RHFC merchandise stand, so if you can make it please stop by and say hi (and buy a shirt, puck or patch!). Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Playing Catchup

It's been well over a month since my last actual blog. I'm still working nights, but hopefully that'll end soon since March is upon us and generally we go back to a full staff then.
To round up January, I went to a VCU basketball game with my Dad, went to several Renegades games, finished cleaning my bedroom and office, my dad and step mom grieved the passing of their beloved cat (who had cancer), with the help of hubby, Mom and step dad- cleared out the rotting woodpile in the backyard and fixed the fence so Lilly can't escape and moved in a new desk to the office and started going back to church.
To round up February so far, I stopped cleaning the house, washed the dog, found a tick on the dog(!), continued going to church, went to the restaurant attached to the Bass Pro Shop (yummy!), watched the Super Bowl, NASCAR season has started, learned a friend is leaving for Iraq for military duty and another started her basic training last week, went to her going away party and got the news that Jimmy Buffett is going to stop in NoVa for his tour this year.
This past week I battled a sinus infection. I loaded up on the pills: Acetaminophen, Vitamin C, Claratin, MucinexDM and another anti-coughing pill that I don't remember the name of at the moment. I'm pretty much done with it and never felt extremely horrible. This weekend after B got off work we headed down to Norfolk to meet with Rich (Genie-his wife-had a school Alumni event and couldn't be with us), have dinner and go to a Norfolk Admirals hockey game. Dinner was at Johnny Rockets, that was a good time but the portions were a bit small. We headed to the game and Rich ended up getting some money off the tickets with his Military ID and we sat in the lower bowl for the upper bowl price. The game was good and we had a good time. Afterward we went back to Rich's house and I played Rock Band for the first time. That was fun. I might end up having to buy that once our finances settle down a little. Today, we slept in since we didn't get home until after 1am so we missed church. We went to 5 Guys for lunch and went to Food Lion to get things I forgot with my weekly WalMart trip, came back and our wireless internet was not working. I fooled with that and got it working and it went down again. I kept on fooling with it and getting frustrated and working on it some more and before I knew it was close to 5pm! I was supposed to have gone to a friend's baby shower and that started at 4pm, sadzies. And I still don't have a wireless network. I think the router or the laptop's network card has gone bad.
Two more things: Dog Days in the Garden and Hockey for Hope 5. I am volunteering at both of these events. Dog Days in the Garden is at Strange's Florist on W. Broad St in Short Pump and I'm volunteering with BARK that day from 10am-1pm. Hockey for Hope is a Richmond Hockey Fights Cancer event held at the Richmond Coliseum. For $10 you get into the RHFC game, the Richmond Legends game and the Richmond Renegades game that night. There are raffles, auctions and of course hockey. It's for a good cause: all the proceeds go to local and national associations, as well as families of cancer patients in the area. You can buy tickets from the website (above) or contact me. I hope to see you there! Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

RHFC

We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us About

I promise to write a real post sometime this week. But, for now something stolen from Miss Misery:

INSTRUCTIONS
-Put your music player on shuffle.
-Skip to the next random song to get your answer for each question...
-Write it down, even if it sounds silly (no cheating!)

1. How would you describe your personality?
"Spatula City" Weird Al Yankovic

2. What is your best quality?
"Alone" Bluebeat Revue

3. What do you look for in a lover?
"Beast of Burden" Rolling Stones

4. What is your life's motto?
"Monster" Bluebeat Revue (bad shuffle iPod)

5. What do you think about all the time?
"Let's Do That Again" Trace Adkins

6. What do other people think of you?
"Pickup Man" Joe Diffie

7. What do you like to do when no one else is around?
"Pencil Thin Mustace" Jimmy Buffett

8. What is your favorite hobby/interest?
"White & Nerdy" Weird Al Yankovic (ha!)

9. What is your biggest secret?
"Suffer" Staind

10. What is your life story?
"Losing My Religion" R.E.M.

11. How will you die?
"Someone I Used To Love" Jimmy Buffett (I'm dying of heartache?)

12. What will they play at your funeral?
"Big House" Audio Adrenaline

13. What is the one thing you regret?
"In The Shelter" Jimmy Buffett

14. If you could go back in time, what would you change?
"My Generation" Limp Bizkit (yep)

15. What makes you laugh?
"Told You So" Barenaked Ladies

16. What makes you cry?
"Small Town" Eve6

17. What scares you the most?
"Coastal Confessions" Jimmy Buffett

18. What's the worst thing that could happen?
"Addicted to Love" Robert Palmer

19. What is the meaning of life?
"Folsom Prison Blues" Johnny Cash

20. What title will you give this post?
"We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us About" Jimmy Buffett

Cleaning

I should have taken a before picture so I could track the progress of the cleaning. I've taken an hour each morning since Tuesday to start cleaning the house. I'll pick one area to do and work on that for an hour before going into work. I've already got my dresser and nightstand cleaned and the floor between those two pieces. My mom is getting a new desk and offered up her old one to us and I wanted to replace the POS desk that's in there now. There's nothing wrong with Mom's desk, she's just upgrading to one that she found on eBay. That meant that the "catch all" room that used to be the computer room (before we got the laptop) needed to be cleaned at least enough to get the old desk out and the new desk in there. I started that cleaning this morning and got everything off the desk but the electronics. I have an iMac that I was given for free that I've never bothered to hook up or use. I guess I'll be giving that to Goodwill. I also cleaned under the desk (lots of dustbunnies!) and into the corner. I need to work on the other side of the desk tomorrow morning. B's clothes are kept in this room and I did ask him to start getting them up and he did, but now he needs hangers to get more of them cleared. Fun! Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Weekend Update

New Year's Day I went to Dad's house for dinner and watch football. Friday at work the computers were brought down for the year end process at noon and that takes 6-8 hours. I was supposed to be there until 6pm, but my boss let me leaves at 5:30. We watched the movie "Be Kind Rewind". I wasn't impressed, which is sad cause I like Jack Black. Oh well. Saturday we didn't get up until after 10am and decided on Moe's for lunch. After Moe's we went to Target to use my gift card. I need a new purse probably about a year ago, but a couple a months ago the shoulder strap broke and couldn't be repaired. I found one that was on clearance that was still pretty small but would hold my meds, iPod, wallet and still have room. B found a 09 calendar in the "Dollar Spot" so I can be reminded of Lilly's heartworm meds. We then looked at the bed linens getting ideas for the guest bedroom when we put that together. It's gonna be my "purple room" as hubby calls it. We went to PetCo and bought the girls toys that we weren't able to buy during the Christmas season. We got home and took down Christmas decorations, had dinner and went to the Renegades game. I went to my season seat and there were people in my and hubby's seats as well as some surrounding. Had it just been two people I would have asked them to move myself, but there was eight of them. I had the security lady go down with my ticket and move them for me. Funny thing about that was I knew 3 of the people in the group as I went to high school with them. I was in JROTC with one of them. I'm pretty sure they didn't recognize me. I contacted the JROTC one via facebook and confirmed that he didn't recognize me right away. The game was good. By 12 seconds into the game there had been four fights. After that, they settled down and was up 2-0 halfway through the first. They ended up winning in a shootout. We came home and crashed. Sunday I got up and headed to WalMart and grocery shopped. I got there around 10am and it was a bit more crowded than last time and there was one crying kid. I had a gift card from my aunt, so I was able to buy a little less frugal than I have been and got some of those blue "hideous" reuseable bags. I'm tired of those damn plastic bags in my house and forgetting to take them back to be recycled. Hopefully I can remember to take them with me. I came home, had lunch and cleaned up the house a little...still a long way to go. We went to the afternoon hockey game...that was a really bad game. Everything about the team was off yesterday. They lost 7-3. We wouldn't have stayed till the end of the game if I hadn't been playing Monopoly on my iPod. We came home and watched TV the rest of the night. I start working 12noon-9pm today through at least the end of January. I'm missing my day hours already. Hopefully the night time girl will be brought back from layoff sooner than later and this won't go past January. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Welcome 2009

So long 2008. I will not miss thee. 09 has got to be better, right?
My resolutions? I want my house clean. I never really finished unpacking from moving in back in September 2005. There are unpacked boxes in bedrooms and crap everywhere. I want to have a Christmas Open House this year. That's going to be a ton of work throughout the year, but it'll be worth it. I also want to lose 50lbs this year. I've lost 60lbs over 2 years. I'm not getting any younger and it's not going to get any easier.
Happy 2009 everyone! I hope it's a great one!