Ready for mid April

Dale and I went to the VCU game two Sundays ago and watched them lose to ODU in OT. It was hard to watch them lose as I'm really not used to watching them lose. We had a good time though. We upgraded our seats again and sat in the lower bowl by the pep band again. /basketball season
Work has picked up due to the nice weather, people going outside to do yard work and then call to complain about their lawn/shrubs or wonder why we haven't been out since we normally come out in February. Apparently people don't remember the foot of snow on the ground in February and must think that they are the only customer that we have. Plus we're under-staffed and can't keep appointments. And my hours changed again to 10-7. Come on mid-April! /rant

Last week I started getting a sinus infection (due to the nice weather mentioned above). I decided to try a neti pot for the first time. As gross as it is, it worked. My sinus infection/pressure was lessened and it never moved into my chest, so I didn't have a week's worth of coughing like I did last time. So by Thursday of this week, I could taste my food again and breathe without constantly blowing my nose. /nasty

Last weekend since I was sick we didn't do much of anything. I even asked B to accompany me for grocery shopping. He did and we got home in time to watch the Blackhawks/Caps game on NBC. Since there was no NASCAR, I fell asleep watching hockey with the Caps in a 3 point deficit and woke up in OT and a minute later the Caps won the game. /Nap Time PerfectionThis weekend we dropped off B's truck at the new Firestone near my house for a state inspection. The Durango needed 3 new tires and new wiper blades. We bought 4 tires and the blades and almost $700 later we picked up the truck. There went the rest of B's OT money. And I'm pretty sure that we're going to end up owing both the feds and state taxes. *sigh* /money woes.

I'm almost done with the hallway wall. The damn wall that I've been fighting since August 09. This morning it looked like this:

This evening it looks like this:

I am SO very excited about this. At first the contact paper had us stumped. Then we thought we had its number, but it showed us. Then my cousin came over and gave a suggestion that worked quite well and even let us borrow his power sander to make it happen. Tomorrow night that wall will finally match the kitchen and the rest of the hallway. /giddiness
5.5 months until Buffett! Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

The week plus some

Dale and I went to the CAA basketball tournament today. We watched ODU crush Towson and then watched VCU vs GMU. VCU won! Good times. We upgraded our seats for the 2nd half for the VCU game. The lady behind us for the 1st half was so negative. I think she was for VCU, but I couldn't tell from the way she was bad-mouthing everyone. It must be horrible to watch a game like that. We moved and sat in a VCU section downstairs where even when one of the guys fouled out of the game the girls behind me were "It's ok we still love you". THAT's the type of fan I am too...I felt more at home downstairs. We were closer to the Pep Band too, which is always nice :-) After the game I met my hubby, Mom and K at Grandpa Eddie's for dinner. It better than Brock's or Sibley's IMHO. I got the brisket which was good, but I didn't care for their BBQ sauce. Their peanut butter pie was really yummy though.
This past Wednesday the Region VP, Division Commercial Mgr and Division VP came to visit work. That went well to the best of my knowledge. The DVP is a really nice personable guy and wouldn't mind seeing him again. I didn't really talk to the DCM and we see the RVP on a semi-regular basis already. The branch is about 90% rebranded due to the DVP visit. The customer calls will start heading to the call center in Mid April (silent Hooray!) and we'll be getting the hand held devices for the specialists within the month.
I went to DMV this morning to renew my baby truck's registration. I spent a total 15mins in DMV. That was awesome :) I get my old plates back. Hooray!! I can't stand my current plates because I misspelled something (backwards) so I took my old plates with me and they let me keep those and I'll be getting my new sparkley (correctly spelled) plates within the month. In related news, on the way to the VCU game there was a checkpoint on Hopkins Rd. That was not even 3 hours after being at DMV. So. Happy.
6 months to Buffett! Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Ready for Spring

I had to change the background of this blog from penguins to spring flowers.
The Capitals game has been postponed. I can't find any decently priced tickets. So stupid! In other news, I did find some decently priced Jimmy Buffett tickets. Byron, Suz, Mike and I will be going to the Labor Day weekend show in NoVa!!! So. Freaking. Excited. I got the tickets from StubHub and they arrived on Friday. Friday night I promptly bought stuff for tailgating and shirts to wear. Yep. I'm ready.
Two Fridays ago Melissa, Crystal, Chris, Doc, Jesse, Amanda and I went to Shamrock's for drinks and karaoke. Melissa got more than drunk...if that's possible. She doesn't remember anything past singing her last song (well...if you call that singing). Jesse carried her to my truck and Chris followed me to take her home to carry her in the house. Well, we got within eyeshot of her house and her body decides that's the perfect time to be sick...in my truck. Ewwww. We got her in the house and the Chris had to drive my truck (I drove his work van) to a car wash place to clean up my baby. We got that done while it was snowing and then went our separate ways. I went home and played on the computer until I couldn't stay awake.
Last Saturday Crystal came over and we had pizza, watched movies and drank until Crystal couldn't remember. I kept up with her shot for shot (we drank a bottle and a half of tequila...14 shots each). I guess I just can't get "blackout" drunk. Not that I was trying, but I've never been so drunk that I've forgotten chunks of time...it might be fuzzy though. Oh and I don't have hangovers either, but boy was my stomach and liver pissed off at me for a couple of days.
Work is changing. Ch-ch-ch-changes! They're coming hard and fast now. The Division VP is coming this week and our GM has lost his mind. And I think I've gone there with him. I forgot a route for one of the guys for Saturday this week. I didn't know he was back from his accident earlier in the week until after I had scheduled Saturday's work and forgot to go back and schedule a route for him. Not too bad, just a route right? Well, on Friday at 7am I have a missed call and VM. I check (at 8:45 when I'm ready to walk out the door) and it's my boss saying that two people didn't have routes. One wasn't really my fault because I was told that the guy wasn't going to be going out on a route and the other hadn't worked all week but the day before and had taken a route that was from a guy that called out sick. I didn't get in much trouble for that one, but two days in a row? I pray that I got everyone routes for Monday...I'll find out tomorrow morning. Oh some of the changes I mentioned was that the branch got a bit of a face lift on the inside. Some fresh paint, new tracking boards and new signage & posters. It looks 70% better. The carpet really needs to be replaced, but that's not going to happen soon and we're not quite done putting up posters and the warehouse face lift hasn't been started to my knowledge. And we're going to handheld devices for the routing. It'll make my job a bit easier once the transition has taken place. They aren't allowing my boss to replace Sharon since that person won't have a job past June (maybe sooner) when the customer calls start going to a call center. But for now, that still leaves me as the main phone person and trying to dispatch....maybe that's why I'm forgetting routes? Too much multi-tasking. Nope, that can't be it. No excuses and just own it.
I went to a VCU basketball game this week with Dale. That was good times, but the last home game of the season. We might go to the CAA tourney depending on where they seed and the weather. 
Today I took Lilly to Petco's Salon to get some Shed Less grooming. While waiting for her appointment to be done, I went to Dad's house and had lunch with him and Dale. Then I taught Dad some features about Facebook since he joined last weekend. I went and picked up the best smelling Lilly ever and she's very fluffy even though she has much less fur than when I dropped her off there. They say she did well. I saw a Lab in a muzzle getting its nails clipped and I had to wonder what they'll tell his owners if they ask. I know she's good for me, but is cautious around people she doesn't know. Anyhow, I dropped off Lilly at home and went to Barnes & Noble and picked up Melissa (after getting a couple of books) and went to Ross to get her something to wear to a wedding. After getting that we went to Red Lobster for dinner. The chowder was good, the dinner was so-so but the biscuits were yummy as usual. Came home and am I'm listening to the last live concert of the Summerzcool tour on Radio Margaritaville.
They're calling for a big snow storm this week. I hope not. I am SO tired of sNOw.
6 months and 1 week until Buffett. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Stupid Snow

Since my last post two weeks ago, it's significantly snowed twice. TWICE! This is Richmond, not New York. Where's my Global Warming??? I did get a few good pics of Lilly this past weekend, here's my favorite:

You can see the rest of snow pics here.
I baked cookies last weekend when I couldn't go out due to 8inches of snow. I ended up making three different kinds of cookies in one day. It was like Christmas baking all over again. I took some of them to work and everyone seemed to enjoy them. I'm sure I'll be baking again tomorrow since we're supposed to get another 6-8 inches.
B's been working OT due to inventory and is tired quite a bit, but was able to sleep away most of last Saturday when he would have been working. There was the only good thing about the snow.
My Washington Capitals have won 12 in a row and right now are going for 13. Hopefully they'll be able to pull out this season and make it to the Stanley Cup Finals (and win!) We plan on going to DC in March (after the Olympics) to see a game. Our first one since 2004. I will finally will get to see Ovechkin play in person. I'm way excited about that. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Just a week

This week was just a week. Nothing real special. Monday-Friday I worked. On Friday they changed the desks around in the office, so now I sit in the back corner of the room behind Crystal. I also was told that I will be doing more dispatcher responsibilities and my hours will change to 8am-5pm. Normal hours! Whoohoo! We also found out that Sharon's not coming back to work. This was her decision, not my company's. She has a daughter that is very sick with cancer and a bacterial infection. She's bedridden, any visitors must suit up in order to visit due to the bacterial infection and has lost so much weight that the only weighs 80lbs. Sharon just can't leave her right now and sacrificed her job. Any thoughts, prayers or vibes that you can send to Sharon, her daughter and family is greatly appreciated.
Friday night, Crystal and I went to the FunnyBone and saw Gary Owen. He was alright. Definitely not the worse I've seen, but not the best either.
Saturday, I went to my brother and sister-in-law's house to help train their dog. He's a lab/pitbull mix and weighs about 60lbs (twice as much as my Lilly) and is a cutie. He's pretty smart and caught on to what we wanted him to do and was even taking voice commands by the end of the session. After that I went and picked up Crystal and we headed to Norfolk. The Lindt store is going out of business and is selling chocolate from 30-70% off. We each bought about $30 worth of chocolate that easily would have been worth $80-90. We walked around the mall, shopped and window shopped. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen (her first time) and we split the best dessert that I've had a while, White chocolate strawberry cheesecake. Yum! I drove back and we sang songs from my iPod the whole way home. Good day.
Today I ran some errands and then went to my mom's house to set up her two computers to her new wireless printer. That only took 2 hours...one hour per computer. So much fun, but at least I was able to get-er-done :) Now, it's Chinese delivery for dinner and watching the NFC Championship game. (Go Saints!) Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Yikes

It's like I forgot this thing existed. So three months later I'll play a little catchup.
Crystal, her mom, B and I went to the '09 Meadow Highland Games & Celtic Festival and here are the pictures. We had a really good time even though it was pretty chilly that day.
We went to Ocracoke for vacation with Mom and K. We had a good time. The week seemed to fly by though. We stayed in a different house this year and didn't really like the house and we'll be staying at the house next door. It's smaller, but it's nicer. When we went fishing on the charter boat, I caught 3 fish. A total of 6 were caught for the day and we were able to keep 5. They were Good Eats :) Here are the pics.
I got laid off from TG in December. I was out for three weeks. I baked and baked and baked during that time. I made 10 different types of cookies! I also made the entire Christmas Eve dinner from the turkey to the cornbread stuffing to the pumpkin pie.
Christmas was good. We went to my dad's house in the morning and then my mom's in the afternoon. B's mom was out of town. Pictures of the cookies and from Christmas are here.
It snowed in Richmond in December for the first time in FOREVER. Pics are here. Of course it did this on my birthday weekend and ruined all my plans with family and friends. So, instead of being with them, I had to stay in the house. We did finally get out on Sunday and go to lunch with my mom and K, but not where we had planned to go originally. We went by her house on the way home and picked up my awesome birthday present. I got a KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer. Words cannot explain how I feel for this machine:
I had to have a tooth removed the Monday after my birthday. That's always fun, but at least the dentist was professional, nice and handsome to boot! I have to go back for a root canal soon...boo!
I've been to two Norfolk hockey games, both with Crystal and once included B. The one where the three of us went, we stopped at the Cheeseburger in Paradise in Newport News on the way home and us girls got very drunk. That was the longest ride home, even when dozing. This past Saturday just Crystal and I went down to Norfolk. We had a good time, stayed sober and even went to Wild Rose Cafe for some karaoke before going home.
We've seen a few movies as well. The most recent are Alvin & The Chipmunks 2 with Crystal and Avatar with Crystal and Byron. Both were enjoyable and Avatar was visually stimulating.
Last weekend Dale and I went to a VCU basketball game and watched them win. We're going again on Wednesday and hopefully they'll repeat that win thing.
Well, that's not everything but it's a good overview. And until next time...keep your stick on the ice.

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

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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.