New Additions to the Wish List

Today has been a sick day.  I woke up early this morning, before the alarm, with a sore throat.  I did manage to get myself up out of bed and to work on time this morning.  But as the morning progressed I just felt worse and worse. So, I was home by lunch time. 

I have been plopped on the couch all afternoon watching about a week's worth of shows that I had recorded.  I also took some time to browse through some of my favorite cross stitch websites.  Below are just some of the patterns that I wish I could have!

HAED:

Mystic Stitch:

Other patterns:

When I Grow Up....

I frequently think that thought: "When I grow up I want to be ...."  I haven't yet figured that out to be honest.  I have two college degrees, both of which I don't use in my present job. While I enjoy the work I do, hmmmm, I loathe my boss thus making it an uncomfortable situation. Most days I can just ignore him and do my work and put 100% or more into it.  Other days, like today, I just do the minimum to get by.

This weekend, while visiting friends, I was told "You should be a wife, mother, and a teacher."  Hmmm, well, I am none of those. Do they  know something I don't? 

The friend who told me I should be a wife and mother is a very dear, close friend.  We've known each other for twenty years now!  Wow!  That's a very long time!  We know everything about each other. She said that seeing me with my niece and how we interacted, she just knows I would be a great mother.  I'm glad she thinks so. I'm not sure.  I'm good with kids in a short span of time, but I do like to give them back!!!  :)  And as for the wife comment, I'm not sure what she bases that on.  Maybe it is just part of the package of being a mother. But in order to be a wife and mother, well, there needs to be a man.  Hmmm, the jury is still out on that one.  I'm not sure that I want a man in my life.  Yes, yes, yes.  I know.  I just haven't met the right one.  As my sister once said, "I think Mr. Right got hit by a bus!"

The friend who told me I should be a teacher has also known me for a long time also.  Let's see.  We've known each other for....eleven or twelve years. I can't remember exactly when I met her. I know it was before she got married in 1998. Anyway, she tells me I should get my certification because she could see me teaching high school.  I personally think she was smoking something when she said that!  I am such an impatient person.  Plus my communication skills to explain things to people are not that good.  Very rarely can I "think outside the box" to explain something to someone who has never been introduced to a topic.

What do these friends see that I don't?  Am I blind to my own possibilities in life?  Probably so.  I don't like change and I don't like getting hurt. But I am learning not to sweat the small stuff and to roll with the punches.  Life is much better that way. Maybe when I am least expecting it, Mr. Right will walk through the door.  And if not, maybe I will become that teacher.  Or find some other new exciting career.

Until that time when any of those things come true or not, I will ponder: When I grow up, I want to be......

Houston Trip

Friday I anxiously counted down the time to 11:30!  As soon as it hit, I was out the office door!  After stopping to get some gas and cash (hey! that rhymes!), I was on the road.  It was a beautiful day for a ride!  Blue skies all the way! 

Once I arrived, we were off to dinner at Gringo's!  They have some of the best Mexican food!  I also had a apple pucker margarita.  It was good to try but I probably wouldn't have it again.  It isn't as good as say, mango or peach.

Then we came home where we had a quiet evening. I was able to play with Cassady, change her, get her ready for bed, feed her, and then put her to bed.  She is just too sweet!

Saturday was an awesome day!  We had so much fun at Sarah's youngest daughter's birthday party!  It was a great time to catch up with an old, dear friend.  It was also nice to see her parents.  Sarah's dad was one of my high school teachers.  He is, and always be, Mr. Paul.  His wife however has become just Pam.  Isn't that funny!?  Cassady was awesome.  She was so good tempered and she just played and played.  I finally had to leave because she would not lay down to nap.  She had to be up and aware of all that was going on!  She was out seconds after putting her in the car!!!  It was an awesome trip even though I got lost twice.  But what's a road trip without getting lost at least once??

Sarah's two girls are just so cute.  They are total opposites.  Eden, her oldest, is the spitting image of her mother, outgoing and very talkative.  Zoe is more reserved and like her father.  But they both cannot be mistaken for anything other than "Paul" girls. 

Saturday evening was a nice relaxing evening with the girls.  Stacy, Cassady and I went out for Chinese, then Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and back home to watch the LSU game.  The boys finally decided to deliver a decisive victory for us! 

I was on the road by 9 am on Sunday.  Cassady decided that she wanted to wake up at 6:30 am!!  We really thought she would sleep late as we had had such a big day on Saturday!  No such luck!  But that had me home by 1:30ish.  I have been able to spend that time watching the Saints game, stitching, some laundry, and making some homemade cranberry sauce (I love cranberries!).

I have the long work week ahead of me, but that's ok!  I have Rocky Horror on Friday to look forward to and then Halloween, Tulane LSU game, and enchiladas with friends on Saturday!!!!

Almost here!

Friday.  Noon.  Almost here!  I can't wait!!!  At noon I am out of here!  Headed to Houston to see two of my favorite people!!! 

But before then, I have to do laundry, pack, wrap a birthday present, clean the kitchen, pack Duke's overnight bag (he's going to the grandparents), and take the trash out!

Right now though, I am blogging, listening to the rain, and the tinkle of my windchimes.  The combination of the two sounds is so soothing. Thanks Jill for the windchimes!

It felt like today was going to last forever!  Thankfully the afternoon went pretty quickly.  Probably because I was in fear for my life!!!  The boss and I had an off-site meeting with a volunteer to help us with booking speakers for an upcoming convention.  He drove.  He has an 1980 something crown victoria or something similar to that, which takes FOREVER to just turn over.  Praying is a prerequisite to driving with this man. Whiplash?  Yep, you will suffer from that after driving with him.  In the short drive to the meeting, I learned about how 2 of his pine trees are dead not because of a disease but because of a beetle.  A beetle who picks and chooses which trees it will kill.  I also learned that since he and his family have lived in their house they have removed about 20 trees altogether.  15 in the first year that they had lived there.  On the way back to the office, I was regaled with the stories of him purchasing new vehicles for his wife and daughter but not for himself.  Why should he?  This one still runs!  Even though the windshield wipers are shot, it guzzles oil and the engine sounds like it is constantly "coughing".  Not to mention that he was yawning so hard that I thought his face would split in half at the jaw joints.  Which was probably why we almost got killed when he tried to turn left onto a major street from a side street.  Comments like "Whoops, almost got my front end there" and "Almost had to have a conversation with my insurance agent" were made!

But I made it!  Or I wouldn't be writing this entry! :)

Ok, I must run!  I have things to do!  Dinner to make!  Dog to play with!  Stitching to do!!!  Everyone have a great weekend!

Mid-Week Update

It's Wednesday!  Yay!!!  Only 1 1/2 days of work left!  I am counting down to noon on Friday when I head off to Houston again!  Two times in one month!  How lucky am I  to get to visit some of my most favorite people!

Work - work is a paycheck.  While we are now fully staffed, I agreed today to take on more work.  I know!  What was I thinking?  Obviously I was not!  Or, I seem to have a serious problem at saying "No".  (My mother would disagree with that one!) We are currently bidding for a new client and well, it seems that it will fall onto me to service the new client, along with my current one and the other one that I am working on their annual convention.  Yeah, I can do it.  Now, whether my mind/sanity will survive, that's a whole other story!!!!  It just might entail some overtime which will be very welcomed!

I have been stitching some on the baby quilt.  A little bit each night.  But I don't see enough significant progress to post a picture.  Not sure what will be significant but you will know when you see the picture!  :) 

Have you checked out Heaven and Earth's website lately?  They've just recently released stockings!!!  Hmm, I wonder how long it would take to stitch one of those?  I've only completed two storykeeps.  I've always wanted a cross stitched stocking.  I have two stocking kits in my stash.  Started one, put in about 10 stitches.  But now it sits, waiting for me to pick it back up.  I just don't like working on aida anymore!!

Jill got a brochure today in the mail about the Renaissance Festival.  Woo hoo!  I've only been to this particular festival once but have been to other Renaissance Festivals.  I've always enjoyed them.  More so just being outside and enjoying the fall weather, but also looking at the crazy period costumes that the normal people wear, not just the actors. This was also the first time I had ever had a fried Milky Way.  Yes, they fried a candy bar.  It makes it super sweet.  Not really a fan of it.  I'm not very big on sweet things.

This fall weather we have been having has put me into a better frame of mind.  Makes me want to get up and do things!  I am so excited about seeing my BFF from high school, Sarah, this weekend.  Dinner at Gringo's with my "sister", Stacy. Time with my two nieces, Marly and Cassady!  Then next weekend!!!  Woo hoo!  Halloween!  I love Halloween!  Rocky Horror on Friday night with Jill and then the Tulane game on Saturday with Jill and her hubby!  I'm making enchiladas! Yummy!  I know, a very halloweeny meal, don't you think?  Mexican goes with everything! :)

November starts the holidays!  Those are just around the corner! I am so looking forward to my week off during Thanksgiving.  Even though it means I am just sitting at home doing nothing.  Well, that isn't true.  I have TONS of stitching to do.  Yay!!!  I can't wait!!! I also can't wait to decorate for Christmas.  I am staying home in BR this year.  I am refusing to travel to Austin to have Christmas with my parents and sister. So I am going to decorate my apartment.  I am very excited!  No, I won't be alone.  I already have friends kindly welcoming me to join them for Christmas.  I am so blessed!! :)

Well, I should have plenty of pictures to share after my weekend in Houston!  Till then, adios!!!

Beautiful Fall Weekend

Well, Fall has finally decided to land in Southern Louisiana!  We've had two days with tempteratures in the 60s during the day and 40s at night.  Blue skies. Wind.  Lots of sun (which we've missed the past few weeks with all the rain).

Saturday I took a ride down to even further South Louisiana to attend a crafts fair at Oak Alley.  It was a nice day to spend outside.  But it was quite the adventure.  Upon arriving down there, I discovered that people were being asked to park at some of the local spots (school, parish hall) and shuttle in.  It seems that with all the rain that we have been having, the fields that were typically used at the plantation for parking were closed because they were just too wet and muddy.  So, after parking my car at the parish hall, I waited for over an hour for a shuttle.  You see, the shuttles they were using only fit either 12 people (if it was a handicap shuttle) or 24 people. In addition, only 4 shuttles were running.  This is when I wish I had a truck. If I had a truck, I would have tried to park in one of the muddy lots that they proceeded to open up as the day went on.

Upon arriving to the plantation, I discovered the place was packed! I began to wander amongst the people and the booths.  It amazes me the things that people come up with to sell as crafts and people actually buy them.  There was one booth that was selling bikinis for dogs.  Yes, you read that correctly!  Bikinis for dogs.  Another booth was selling bottle caps as jewelry: necklaces and earrings.  Why can't I come up with something like that and make a living at it?  There were also some really true artists there.  There was one booth that was selling LSU themed pictures (always a hit!).

They also had some great food there!  Now I only sampled one item, but the aromas were irresistible.  For lunch I had fried eggplant with a crawfish sauce.  It was even better than it sounded!  I was good though.  I avoided the funnel cake.  Although it was calling my name as I walked off the grounds! 

The rest of my Saturday was spent watching football, piddling around the apartment, and making some very delicious Taco Soup (recipe provided by my friend Jill). 

Sunday started with two phone calls before 9 am.  I guess that was my cue to get up. The first call was work related and the second call was my Dad wanting to know if he could come over to help me put up fencing on the balcony so we could doggy proof it.

A trip to the bookstore for a birthday gift and the rest of the day was spent at home!  I worked on my balcony, getting it all cleaned up and doing some weeding.  Hung up my new windchimes that was given to me as a gift from my friend, Jill. Watched some football.  Saints are awesome! Took a walk with Duke. Quick trip to Dad's to pick up some potato soup.  A nice conversation with my BFF, Jeff, and then my sister! 

A very poor picture of the wind chime.  Totally chopped off the jewel at the bottom!  But it is now hanging! :)

Picture of my mexican heather.  I just had to take a picture!  I can't tell you how many times I have thought it was dead

and cut it back to nothing and it came back!

It has been quite the lovely weekend!  Unfortunately I don't have any updates on stitching.  :(  Just too pretty outside.  Had to keep moving!!!  ;)

Anticipation

One more day of work and then FREEDOM!!!  This upcoming weekend I have no plans!  Ok, well, let me clarify that. I have nothing scheduled.  Come Friday at 4 pm, I am free from the chains of employment and can do whatever I want till Monday morning at 7:30 am.

My mom is currently out of town visiting my cousin in Boston.  He attends MIT.  I know, impressive, huh?  I've been replaced as the smartest person in the family.  Boo hoo!  Today my mom, grandmother, and aunt were visiting Salem.  I am so very jealous!!!!  Anyway, the point I was going for was that I have no family obligation for dinner this weekend as my mom is away and my dad is golfing this weekend.

You can tell it is fall time in Louisiana with all the number of festivals and fairs going on.  This weekend is a crafts fair at Oak Alley Plantation.  And since we are finally going to get some fall weather, temperatures only in the 60s, it will be a great time to go walk the ground of the plantation and look at some hand crafted items!!!  I might even be able to pick up a birthday gift for the birthday party I am going to next weekend in Houston!  That would be fantastic if I don't have to visit a department store!!!!

Other things I need to do this weekend are clean off my balcony, clean my computer desk (I am currently staring at a pile of bills - paid - that have yet to be filed), stitch and read.  So two of the four items on my list are my favorite things to do!  I might even do some cooking.   A friend gave me a great recipe for the crock pot - Taco Soup.  It is as yummy as it sounds!  But then, I think anything mexican is pretty yummy!

There is no LSU football game this weekend as it is the bye weekend.  Thankfully!  They desperately need to regroup!  But there is a Saints game!  Should be a good one!

I am ready for this weekend to arrive!  But in typical fashion, loathe for it to end!

Tuesday Thoughts

DVRs
Do you have a DVR?  I do.  Thought it was a good idea when I upgraded to high def cable.  Yeah, not so much!  I spend a lot of my free time watching shows that I've recorded because I wanted to watch them but couldn't because I wasn't home or watching another show.  It is an endless, vicious cycle.  My suggestion, stick to the VCR.  You can only record one thing at a time and you have to make the effort to set up the VCR timer and find a tape.  With the DVR, you just push a few buttons.  The more effort you have to put into it, the less likely you are to do it!

Apartment Living
I live in a one bedroom apartment.  I've been in this apartment for just over 4 years.  It's ok.  It isn't luxury living but then again, I don't pay a "luxurious" amount.  I have fairly low rent in a really central locale.  But there are times when I loathe living in an apartment.  Like at this moment.  I know Jill is going to enjoy using this as a reason to buy a house by her!!!  They are currently painting the exteriors of the buildings.  They needed it.  About 5 years ago.  Anyway, they are painting and yesterday  the office called requesting that I move my plants off the balcony.  I refused to bring them inside because I didn't want the bugs in my apartment that could be on the plants!  So they said to just push them against the balcony bars because they needed to paint the walls.  Ok.  I understood that.  I did that.  Most of the plants are against the balcony anyway.  When I came home today, all of the plants and  my gardening chest were shoved to one corner up against the wall.  Now, explain this to me.  You are painting the walls so you shove everything up against the wall.  Needless to say I am ticked off.  My balcony area is completely wrecked with dirt everywhere.  In addition to that, they have partitioned off half of the stairwell because they painted the steps.  Really?  I have had to carry Duke up and down the stairs so that he doesn't get into the paint.

Work
Work sucks.  Need I say more? 

Back to Houston
I will be back in Houston again very soon.  This time for a birthday party.  Another good friend of mine is having a birthday party for her youngest little girl who is turning 1.  So back to Houston I go.  I never attend any of her kids' events and I feel bad.  So I am going to go and take my niece, Cassady, with me.  She's 6 months old.  She's close to 1.  I think she would have a good time!  I really can't wait. 

Stitching
Not much progress to report on.  I'm working on some Christmas presents.  I just hope I don't run out of time.  I normally do but it's like when I know there is a deadline, I get really lazy and lose my mojo.  It's not fun to stitch when you HAVE to finish it within a certain amount of time.  Maybe if I wasn't so busy watching all the shows I recorded, I'd have more time to stitch?  Hmmmm....something to ponder!

Highlight of my day....

The highlight of my day was when I came home to walk Duke.  I took him for his usual afternoon walk and when he pooped....it was NORMAL!!!  Yippy! 

I know, this sounds totally absurd but if you knew the week I'd had with him, you would be excited too! 

Weekend before last, the poor baby was boarded as I was in Houston.  My mom was nice enough to pick him up on Monday so that he didn't have to spend the entire day there as I was at work.  Monday was a typical evening, him ignoring me because he was ticked that I boarded him.  Hey, not my idea!  My mom won't watch him anymore!!! 

Tuesday night, I was awakened by gagging noises at 3 am.  He then proceeded to throw up on my arm as he was sleeping on my arm.  Not a big deal.  Not exactly the best experience, but it wasn't much.  So I got up, cleaned off my arm and the bed.  No sooner had we settled back down, turned the light off, that I hear him making noises again!  Can I say, I never knew a little poodle, who weighs less than 10 lbs, could have that much puke in him. It was everywhere!  All over the bed's comforter and mostly, on me!!  But can I say, he didn't have one drop on him!!!  I had to change the bed sheets, my pajamas, and clean the comforter.  The comforter was removed to the living room and is now at the cleaners.  I figured that would be the end of it.  Nope, every half hour to an hour, he was up with diarrhea. 

While he did not gag again till Friday evening, every night he was up at around 2 or 3 am with diarrhea that lasted till I had to wake up.  I have been exhausted!  I can't even imagine what it would be like if I had kids!  This is a dog!!!!! At least with him, I can put him in his kennel or drop him off at the vet.  I don't think you can do that with kids!

Needless to say, I have been anxiously awaiting the night where he finally slept through the night (that was Saturday night) and the time when he had "normal" poop again.

I am a happy dog owner once again! :)

Busy, but mostly lazy, weekend

It was a fairly good weekend.  Saturday was a busy day. I woke up early to take my car in for it's very first oil change and tire rotation.  I have to say, it didn't take them that long.  I was in and out in less than an hour!

I then briefly made an appearance at my apartment to walk the dog and then off to campus to pick up Stacy and Marly Grace.  We thought it would be a good idea for them to park their car early on campus for the big game that night, Florida and LSU.  We were right.  At 10:30 am, people were beginning to park on the outskirts of campus.  There were people every where. I can honestly say, I cannot remember a time when there were so many people on campus.  They were estimating 150,000 to be on campus.

It was Stacy's birthday so we went to Parrain's for lunch.  We had a great time.  And for dessert, we had purple and gold cheesecake!!! 

We then did a quick shopping trip to Walmart and then back to campus to drop them off for the game.  I then proceeded home where I spent the rest of the afternoon snuggled on the couch with my dog.  I've just been so tired lately from work and late nights with the dog (he's been sick) that I actually napped.  Then I watched the game. 

I don't know why I am upset that we lost to Florida.  It was pretty much a given.  But I had hope.  I was holding on to the hope that the team that I know they can be would show up.  Instead, they just disappointed me.  Now I could strongly argue, though, that the referrees were on Florida's payroll.  I mean, really?  How many times in a row can you call offsides?

Sunday has been a semi lazy day.  I have done laundry, some ironing, and that's about it.  I've started a new cross stitch project.  I am now working on a quilt for Christmas for Cassady.  I hope to finish it by then.  Once I've gotten some progress made on it, I will post a progress picture.

I did have dinner with my parents.  My mom's birthday is next weekend but she won't be here so we had a dinner tonight.  Dad made a yummy Mexican Stew.  It was awesome.  It's like a typical beef stew but it has rotel tomatos, cinnamon, chili powder, apple juice, and granny smith apples added in.  It was very yummy!

That's all for now.  I have to get ready for the upcoming work week!  Ugh!  Not looking forward to it!

Tuesday Thoughts

Tinker Bell
For Christmas I found this Tinker Bell pillow case for my sister.  She adores Tinker Bell.  Today I managed to finish it!!!  Yay! I am so glad it is done because it was a stamped cross stitch and I don't really enjoy doing those types of projects.

Journal
For the past couple of years I've kept a journal of sorts for the sailor who is no longer mine.  It was a way for me to let him know what was going on with me, day to day.  Now that he is no longer mine, I find that I miss doing that.  So today I purchased a journal for me to keep my thoughts in. I find it very therapeutic to write things down instead of letting them fester in my brain!

New Phone
My cell phone recently has been giving me a lot of problems.  Won't hold a charge. Won't charge unless the charger is held in by hand. The touchscreen was going out. Things of that nature.  And I only had it for about a month as the one before it was also having problems.  Well, today, I received my new phone that I purchased online the other night.  It is a Blackberry Curve.  Definitely a lot to learn with it. But I am already enjoying it. Took me a while to figure out how to do texts but I love the email feature on it!  I can't wait to find out what other things it can do!!!

Weekend in Houston

I tore myself away from work (while gleefully, it was still reluctantly), to travel to Houston this weekend for the finalization of the adoption of my friends' newest baby girl. 

On Thursday I headed off to Houston.  Now, it is only about a five hour drive but it feels like FOREVER!!!!  Anyway, I made it to town in time to see the kids get home from school!

While Thursday was basically a travel day, Friday was packed full!!!  We woke up early as we had to leave by 7 am to get to court by 8:30 am.  The actual adoption proceedings were a maximum of five minutes.  The judge actually did 4 adoptions totally in about 30 minutes.  My friends answered a few questions as did their two older children.  The judge then granted the adoption and then handed out stuffed animals to all 3 kids. We then all went out for a big breakfast and dinner later that night to celebrate. 

The rest of Friday was spent shopping with the kids.  Parker got his Darth Vader costume and Marly Grace got her Molly, American Girl, tap dance outfit.  Actually, Marly Grace's costume is Captain America's daughter but it looked like what she wanted so I bought it for her.  We also shopped for outfits for each of the kids.  So it was an afternoon of shopping, shopping, and shopping.

Saturday was once again packed. Marly Grace had her own football games to cheer at and Parker had his first flag football game.  I went to Parker's game.  I know I am biased, but he is a great football player.  He played quarterback, receiver, and linebacker.  He is so versatile.

The LSU game was Saturday afternoon.  I won't comment on the game.  It was nerve wracking enough the first time!!!  All I will say is that we did win.

My new niece, Cassady Hope, is a happy, happy baby who loves to laugh.  I was so happy to be able to join them in the finalization of the adoption. She is a welcome addition to the family!