Bits & Pieces of My Days...

I'm doing a Day in the Life mini album later this month so if you're not an Instagram follower of mine, here are a few highlights...

I wore orange today. It was a gloomy rainy day but not when I looked in my mirror!

My work computer really needed a cleaning!  It took 3 hours!!

Reading on the train:  Hunting Eve, by Iris Johansen.

It's pretty quiet on the train - room to spread out...

I'm on the train now and it's hard to type so I'll sign off. More soon...

Lightening my life...

I simply have too much.  I'm not complaining, per se, but I'm feeling bogged down with all the "stuff" I own, and I want to simplify.

I am so very blessed.  We are far from wealthy but we really don't actively worry about where our next meal is coming from, or if we can afford to put gas in the car, or if I want to buy an extra magazine in the grocery store...  Since J's retirement is looming on the horizon, we've been talking a lot more about how we spend, what we buy, what we need, what we want, how we'll live, where we'll live...

But when I walk into my house, into my room, into my spare room, when I go into my closets, I just feel as though there's too much stuff in my house.  I simply have wasted too much of my money in the past buying things, things I don't need, things I just wanted, and now I feel the need to just unburden myself.

I've always donated clothes and miscellaneous household stuff to the Vietnam Veterans of America, or to the Lupus Foundation.  I've decided that I'm going to put together a selection of work clothes I don't wear too much and contact a woman's shelter to donate them:  there are so many women escaping abusive husbands, women who need a helping hand to move up in the world, and perhaps my work clothes will be just what they need to wear on that special interview. 

I have so many extra scrapping things; I've been donating them to my scrapping group.  But now I'm going to put together some small activity kits and bring them to the hospital and donate them to the pediatric ward.  Perhaps there are a few children who can use a distraction while they're in the hospital for treatment, or while they're recovering...

I was so enlightened by the sheer amount of food I had to throw away after Hurricane Sandy.  I just go to Shop Rite, and I buy what catches my eye.  I never worry about a food budget, or if I should or could buy those chips/cookies/sodas, etc.  I vowed to not buy too much anymore, not more than I can realistically use.  I promised not to overstock my refrigerator and freezer.  FAIL!  I'll have to take a picture of the inside of my fridge/freezer and add it to this post tonight...  We are cooking more, and eating out less, since J is pretty much homebound since his surgery, but I still have so much I really don't need to store.  So I'll be putting together some dried goods and bringing it to the church this weekend.  We have a food box in the vestibule where you can donate foodstuff, and members can help themselves to what's there.  There are quite a few elderly parishioners and some lower income families in the parish, so there are some more people I can help.

I haven't done any of this yet this week, but my heart already feels lighter!

Last weekend in photos...

So let's see...

We went to Atlantic City with some friends. J and I have a tradition of taking self portraits at arm's length and here's our latest...

I'm not much of a cook but check out my fridge!! It's as full as its ever been!!!

We both sort of consider the "front" of the lake house secondary to the back, lake side of the house. I like the idea J had to create this little deck of planters...

This post was done on my smart phone and I have no idea where the text will be with respect to the photos so forgive me if the photos aren't captioned. I'm sure you can figure them all out...

Chauffer or Housekeeper?

Yea, I spent some money on lottery tickets when the MegaMillions prize was $640MILLION!  We play at work, four of us, and even when it's PowerBall and nowhere near $640MILLION, we toss around ideas about what we'd do if we won...

One woman said we can't just quit, that we have to come in and quit all together.  No, we don't, but we will, until we each get our share, THEN, ladies and germs, I'M SO OUTTA HERE!  The other three of us are ready to quit now, but can't, but since she's the one that walks to get the tickets...

I don't want to win $640MILLION.  I just want to take home about $5million, $2million, enough to share with my sisters and my mom, and my kids, with the rest there to ensure hubby and I don't have to eat catfood during our retirement.  Enough so that if our friends call and say, "Hey, last minute cruise tickets, $500 each for 7 days to Bermuda, wanna go?" we can say, "Hell, yea, count us in!" without worrying if we'll be able to pay the taxes on the house next quarter.

The other day someone asked me if I'd rather have a chauffer or a housekeeper.

H.O.U.S.E.K.E.E.P.E.R.

ALL THE WAY!!!

I like to drive.  I wouldn't want someone to drive me around.  I wouldn't even get a new car until I needed one; I love my 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe!

But I hate housework.  I hate laundry.  I hate scrubbing the tub.  In fact, the other day, when I was working from home and when I do, I still got up before 6am to shower and dress.  I went to Starbucks and bought myself a caramel macchiato and a slice of banana walnut bread.  Then I went home and went to work.  I went to the doctor in the middle of the day (the reason I was working from home) and came home after lunch.  I made myself a sandwich, ate while I checked emails, then went upstairs to use the potty.  In the afternoon we get a lot of sun in the main bathroom, and I noticed I'd forgotten to pull the shower curtain closed.  I walked over there to close it and happened to look down.

How can a tub/shower get so darned dirty when you're using soap and water in it twice a day?!?!?  So down on my hands and knees I go, scrubbing soap scum and me scum off the tub, cursing the whole time:  "Sure, $17 in lottery tickets isn't enough to win!  The first thing I'd do is get a housekeeper!  I hate scrubbing the tub; I'd rather clean the toilet!  This sucks!"  Interspersed with words I say out loud but won't type on my blog because they're not nice words...

Oh, by the way, don't ask me to choose between a housekeeper and a chef, 'cause then I'd have to win more money so I could have both, because the closest I am to a cook is my maiden name.

Cook.

Good luck if you're playing, and YAY!!! if you win!!!  (Are we related?!?  Or bestest friends?!?)

It's been a tough couple of weeks...

1. One of my credit cards got hacked.
2. I have spent at least 48 hours dealing with that, online, on the phone, and in person at the police station.
3. Hubby hurt his back this weekend but didn't tell me because he didn't want me to, and I quote, "yell at him."
4. For the record, I have never yelled at him.
5. Until he said that.
6. I read my middle sister's blogpost today and copied her. I went to the Tom Bihn website and bought a bag, a kiwi and black Swift.  Click on that link to see it.
7. I am not really caught up at work, but pretty darned close to it.
8. Our tickets are booked for a trip to New Orleans (yay!) - business trip for hubby and I get to be the "plus one."
9. I don't have to go to Miami for sales conference; it was cancelled.
10. I spent 2 days cleaning out my closet, getting rid of about 15 pairs of black and/or gray pants that didn't fit or were out of style.  I have room to bring down spring clothes now.
11. We went into Hoboken to have dinner with friends last night.  So much fun!
12. A friend fell and broke BOTH bones in her leg, just at the ankle, so she's been laid up for weeks.  I've been leaving work early (that translates to "on time" in my case) to visit her at least once a week.
13. Just put in for a 1/2 day this Friday, and days off next Monday, Thursday and Friday.  School is closed so this will either be quality time with my husband or I'll be looking for ways to stay out of his way if he's busy working.
14. Spending Saturday with friend E, scrapping and arting.  Yay!  She doesn't know this yet, but will be bringing her b'day presents with me.  Her b'day is 04/04 but I won't see her during the week...  She's been sick for a few days, and is still under the weather...
15. Tried Chobani Greek yogurt and liked it.
16. Tried Voskos Greek yogurt and didn't.  At least not the blueberry flavor.  There's not enough fruit in it.
17. Going to EN&T doctor tonight so he can do a cat scan on hubby's sinuses.
18. Literally a 30 second procedure in that same doctor's office two weeks ago was labeled "surgery" and they charged our insurance company $545 for it!!!  Yes, Mom, I should have become a doctor!
19. My baby sister will be visiting St. Louis on business for a week.  Wish I could go with her and see friend C again!!!
20. I bought a ticket for the MegaMillions lottery - $363 million!  What I could do with...  but that's another blogpost...

$5000 richer, once removed...

THE GIANTS WON!  21-17!  WE BEAT THE PATRIOTS!

And my darling daughter won $5000 in the football pool!

That's the same as me winning, right?  Once removed?

I'm so excited for her!  Her fiance posted "$5000!!!" on Facebook, so I replied with, "???  Did you win a football pool???"  That's when he said it was my daughter who won!!!

It was an awesome game, and I'm so glad I watched it.  It was a real nail biter, that's for sure, and while I can follow a game, I don't know all the rules and regulations.  My daughter, however, does.  We had gone out to dinner with the two of them last week, and S mentioned that they don't watch games together, in the same room, because she goes crazy!  In fact, he said, she uses his clean socks and underwear to throw down flags during the game!  So I asked her, when she called to tell us about her win, I asked how many flags were on the bedroom floor.  She counted:  "1, 2, 3,... 11, 12, 13!!!"

I wish she'd taken a picture of the floor!!!

And, by the way, THE SINGLE BEST SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL WAS (DRUM ROLL, PLEASE):

THE CLINT EASTWOOD/CHRYSLER COMMERCIAL.  THE MAN IS H.O.T.

Focus

Last year I took a class from Ali Edwards:  One Little Word.  I'm not taking it this year because I'm signed up for too many other classes and I just can't swing another one!

But I'm picking a word and trying to live by it and I'm sure somewhere in the year I'll do a spread about it, either as a scrapbook page, or in my diary, or in my Project Life binder, or in my art journal, or in my soon-to-be-started gratitude journal, or perhaps in all five of those places!  I'm sure I'll probably blog about it when it strikes me, too, so you can add this blog as another place that my One Little Word will show up...

FOCUS.

That's my word.  As a matter of fact, that was my word last year.  I intended to focus in every aspect of my life, but as happens quite often, life gets in the way!  I got a necklace for myself with the word "focus" stamped on it.

That helped a lot, as long as I remembered to wear it!  (Got it from Lisa Leonard - she has some lovely pieces and her prices, I think, are pretty reasonable.)

There are still a lot of places in my life where I need to focus.  Here are a few:

1. I want to focus on being a better wife, daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, friend, employee.
2. I want to focus on my faith during the week, not just when I'm in church on Sunday.
3. I want to focus on my creativity, through the online classes I'm taking, by sketching and scrapping and taking photos.
4. I want to focus on my health.  I'm taking a class called Move More, Eat Well with Cathy Zielske.  I'm hoping that this, along with Weight Watchers, can help me accomplish this year what I've been trying to accomplish for many years.  I've joined a gym, too, so I want to focus on actually going!
5. I want to focus on my job.  I get too distracted:  the internet, my new iPhone, Words with Friends, Facebook and Twitter - they're all more interesting and more fun than my job.  But I need to focus on my job.  I always do a good job.  Now I want to do a GREAT job.
6. I want to focus on my house.  Both of them.  They need to be decluttered, cleaned, painted, refreshed.  And it shouldn't be on J to do it all.

Get the idea?  Last year's One Little Word was FOCUS.  THIS year's One Little Word is FOCUS.  While 2011 wasn't an epic fail, I could have definitely done better.  I'd like to say, on December 31, 2012, that I DID do better THIS year.

A Blog Post - YAY!

So I know I haven't been blogging all that regularly lately and as a voracious blog READER, I know how that sucks.  Although I ALSO know you're not all sitting at the edge of your seats waiting for pearls of wisdom to fall from my lips on a regular basis; you probably didn't even miss me!

There's another blogger I read who's been a bit incommunicado recently, and she's decided to blog every day of October, using a list of blog subjects she got from someone else.  I've been keeping track of her subject and figure I'll use them to spark a little somethin' somethin' when the muse is on vacation...  AND I thought I'd start today...

I'm not posting in the same order as she did, and I'm not even going to IMPLY that I'll post every day for a month; I know me better than that!  But at least when I have a few minutes, I'll have a list of stuff to write about.  We already know my life is not really all that blogworthy...  LOL...

My List of Short Term Goals for This Month (and yes, I'm aware that the month is more than half over!!!

1.  Start Christmas shopping
2.  Start planning a redesign of our lake house bedroom
     a.  Decide on a face for the fireplace
     b.  Shop for a new mattress (the old will go into the spare room Murphy Bed)
     c.  Clean out dressers and nightstands
     d.  Bring standing lamp up to lake house will be done this weekend!
     e.  Reorganize walk-in closet
     f.  Donate and/or discard old clothes
     g.  Start shopping for nightstand lamps
     h.  Decide on photos, wall art
3.  Start planning a redesign of my lake house scrapping room/spare room
     a.  Purge, donate, discard
     b.  Adhere poster on posterboard and hang on wall
     c.  Clean out the closet
     d.  Winter jackets go downstairs to cedar closet will be done this weekend
     e.  Clean desk will be done this weekend!
     f.  Start shopping for folding table for sitting room so we can scrap up there
4.  Organizing and reorganizing my kitchen
     a.  Clean out cabinets
     b.  Clean out refrigerator
     c.  Discard old condiments, canned goods
     d.  Get rid of tools, mugs, anything we don't use or have too many of
5.  Take my sister and mother out for my sister's birthday
6.  Scrapping Day 10/15/11 done!
7.  Finish swapping out spring/summer clothes for fall/winter clothes 1/2 done!
8.  Change bedsheets to fall/winter flannels done!

Think I'm too ambitious?!?!?

Have been incommunicado...

... and not for any good reason...

Work's been busy, or I've been busy working...

Here are some photos from recent weeks...

Last Sunday we took a motorcycle ride down to New Hope, PA, with T (one of our 2 best men), and D and D (J's two partner teachers at work).  Here's a photo of J with one of the Ds...

Here's a photo of the main drag in New Hope.  We got down there, ate breakfast outside, walked around town for a little while, then left for home up the Delaware River, on the PA side.  It's so scenic; the road is right along the river for most of the ride.  There are so many beautiful riverside homes there, and you could see how many of them were flooded this past summer when we had rain and hurricane issues.  There are, sadly, LOTS of those beautiful homes for sale.

Took this "self-portrait" in the motorcycle mirror on Saturday afternoon, before we left to go home.  We were meeting our riders at the Tick Tock Sunday  morning and going home Saturday night meant we could go to church and get a good night's sleep before being out all day Sunday...

She loves to read.  She must have gotten that from her Cioci!  She gets the book and says, "Book, Unca Da!"  And wrapped as he is around her finger, just like that, our departure is delayed until she gets bored!  And her mommy is trying to teach her to say Cioci (that's aunt, in Polish).  For now, I'm "Kiki!!!"  And I can live with that until we get to Cioci!

The beginning of the school year means shopping for new sneakers.  No, we don't start in August, BEFORE the school year.  We have to wait until we realize we NEED them, rather than WANT them, and that's when we start school and last year's pairs just don't cut it anymore...

I spent yesterday scrapping with my friend E.  After December, when I finally get a smart phone of some kind, I'll be posting/updating in real time, not a day or two later, when I finally have some wifi at home...  I'm already looking forward to posting photos in real time, posting on FB when things are happening, or at least when I think to post them, rather than hours later when I'm home and trying to watch my sitcoms, read my books, eat my dinner, talk to my husband, clean my house, and get ready for bed...

Will try to update more regularly...

It's been a while...

I have no idea what's been going on, what's been happening to me, to us, that has kept me away from this blog.  I feel as though I've been sucked into this huge black hole, where time is not, and where I just can't have enough hours in the day to do all I want to do...  Enough sobbing, I'm sure you all know what I mean...

So what's been going on, you ask?  (Despite my opening sentence, I'll try to remember...)

Let's see...

I.ORDERED.A.KINDLE.FIRE.  That's the most exciting thing that's happened in the past couple of weeks.  Originally I was going to wait a bit before I mentioned it to J (he's not the techy one in the family and doesn't understand why I need one when I have a phone, a laptop, a desktop and an iTouch).  And to be honest, now that I reread that, I really don't "need" one...  I want one!  Heck, it's only $199.  My iTouch was more!!!  So I'm waiting with baited breath for November 15th...  If you don't know what the Fire is, here's a link:  http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Color-Multi-touch-Display-Wi-Fi/dp/B0051VVOB2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1317511225&sr=8-5  But I told him the other day about the new tablet and he asked if I wanted one, so I told him I ordered it already... 

I thought my allergies were bothering me.  I started with a wheezing chest cough and no other symptoms.  Gradually, over a week, I added runny eyes, a congested head and ears, and a runny nose.  (Attractive, no?!?)  So, being the genius I am, I deduced that it's really a cold, not an allergy.  And that wheezing cough?  A couple of years ago I had a really bad winter cold, and ever since, I've had a lingering wheeze in my chest.  When I lay on my back, I cough, in a wheezy way...  And now, it's getting aggravated by this cold...  I'm not too happy about this.

FYI, I LOVE House Hunters on HGTV.  (Just thought I'd share!)

J is in the basement, building a new floor for the laundry area.  We got a new washer and dryer a few years ago and the washing is walking all over the floor!  We never had that problem with our old machines.  Today, when he moved the washing machine and pulled up the old floor, it became (naturally!) a much bigger job than he anticipated.  While he likes doing work like this, he likes to plan for it, and he really didn't know there was so much damage underneath.  He thought he could just tighten the existing floor, but it got to bad over the years that it needs to be entirely replaced.  So, he's replacing it...

Went to the gym this morning. I did 35 minutes on the treadmill, using the pre-programmed weight loss plan.  It's an hour long program and boy, did it kick my butt!  I'm not much for hills, but this plan included an incline that went as high as 6.5; not all that much, I suppose, if you're fit, but to me?  It may as well be Mt. Everest!  Then I moved to the bike, and I did 4 miles on the bike, again using the weight loss program.  That's not half as bad.  And then I started some weight training.  I did a couple of sets on the chest press and a couple of sets on the butterfly machine.

I did a 1/2 hour with a trainer the other day.  I must say, the program is fine, but she didn't impress me at all.  I signed up on a Friday night and they said she'd contact me within 48 hours to set up an appointment.  Well, Tuesdsay night, when I went to the gym, I asked and they said they would text her and that if she didn't contact me within 24 hours, to call her and they gave me her telephone number.  She didn't, so I called.  She had an excuse for not calling me, my file wasn't in her binder.  Okay, she's a trainer, not a psychic, so we just made an appointment for 2 weeks later on a night that worked for us both.

I got there early to do some time on the treadmill; she suggest 7 minutes.  Not 5.  Not 10. 7.  Okay, moving on...  I did about 15 minutes on the treadmill then went over to the counter to ask if she was there yet.  Yes, she's waiting for her appointment.  That's me, so they flagged her over.  She was there, but she started whining about not having paperwork for me, where is it, without paperwork how's she going to get paid... 

Hey, I have MY receipt to show I paid; you can use that!  Oh.  So rather resentfully, I felt, we started my session.  She was better while she was actually working with me, but I really don't like her very much.  We finished my session, then she started on the paperwork again...  I just left, thanking her for the session.  The girls behind the counter told her they'd take care of it, that she has nothing to worry about, that she'll get paid...

Today I asked them and they took care of it.  It was misfiled in the other trainer's binder and he inadvertently flagged me as done, so they just switched his person to my trainer and they both got paid...  Ah, the joys of robbing Peter to pay Paul...  If it works...

Boy I miss the days before HIPPA and privacy laws and all that nonsense...  Today I was on the phone with Optimum for 10 or 15 minutes and after all the account numbers and passwords, they had to talk to J because he's the account holder.  His name is on the account.  Yea, go ahead and ask him about the password for wi-fi, or about the user ID for the account...  I dare ya!

Back in the day I used to set up PSE&G and phone accounts for my friend Dave all the time.  I'd just say I was Mrs. DW and we were moving and could we switch accounts from address #1 to address #2 and could you come set up cable on Thursday because one of us could be there that day and yes, I'd like to keep the same phone number when we move next week...  And Dave would just move into his new apartment, and everything would be set up for him...

Well, I'm going to take a break now and heat up some leftovers - J said he needed another 15 minutes or so and I guess it's been about that long...  He made a delicious sauce the other day, with fresh tomatoes and fresh eggplant, and all the herbs, all from our garden.  We've got tons of peppers, a few more eggplants to go, and our crops will all be gone...  We had such great veggies all summer long, save so much money on fresh vegetables... Winter is going to be tough!

More later...

Lots to catch you up on...

I spent 4 days in Boston/Cambridge last week.  I traveled up there on business and for the first time, I found something that said spouses can't travel with you...  didn't want to get in trouble, and he was working anyway, so this trip didn't work out for a side trip to Cape Cod (sorry, D & A!).  He said for the rest of the summer, he's free to accompany me, so we'll see what, if any, trips I can schedule quickly...  Here are some photos from this trip, along with some notes...

This was my view from breakfast at the ArtBar in the Royal Sonesta Hotel, BEFORE I walked out without breakfast - 35 minutes I sat there, without even a cup of coffee!  And when I complained to the hostess, she stopped a waitress who looked right at me, shook her head "no" and didn't come over to take my order.  Another 15 minutes and I was outta there!

The waitress who refused to serve me...

The view of the lobby wall when the elevator doors open - I like those pictures!

South Street Station on Thursday, on my way home.

A mural on the wall, done with tiles, in the hotel, on the 2nd floor.  Apparently the hotel is known for having art on display all over the hotel; you can even take a self-guided tour of the art...  There were a few pieces that caused me to think, before I knew it was "art," "What on earth is that and when are they going to finish it??!!??"

Appetizer at evoo, in Cambridge:  Lourdes' Burratini with Drumlin Farms' Arugula, Kimball Farms' Cantaloupe, Cucumber, Red Onion and Toasted Pine Nuts

My hotel room at the Royal Sonesta Hotel.  Opposite the bed, to the right, was a corner window that let in a  LOT of light - loved that, even though the view was of the Galleria and PF Chang's...

On Sunday, August 7th, Mom turned 39 (again!).  I threw her a little surprise party at our house.  She knew I'd invited my baby sister and her family, but she didn't know I'd invited my cousin and his family, and my husband's family, too!  She was very surprised when they all arrived!  Here are some photos...

We put together an appetizer of tomatoes, roasted red peppers, red onions and mozzarella, drizzled with evoo and seasoned, on a bed of fresh basil. Personally I could have eaten that whole plate, and nothing else, and been perfectly happy!

We had cavatelli and broccoli, sausage with peppers and onions, mini sandwiches, cole slaw made from the red cabbage from our garden, three bean salad, potato salad, and a tomato salad my sister made.

My little great niece, at 13 months old.  Apparently we had to be sure not to draw attention to her barettes or they would be torn out of her hair! 

My SIL, mom and one of my nieces.

My sister and her beau.

My niece's hubby (she's the one in the photo above), my sister's beau's son, and the baby's daddy, who's married to my other niece (they're twins!).

Mom blowing out her candles - my sister got red candles that sparked colored flames!

Mom with my cousin - he's more like a brother to me than a cousin...  His family couldn't come, dang it - his wife and son were working, and his daughter was away for the weekend with some friends.  Yes, it's my fault, I left invites to the last minute...

Hubby and me!!!

What this week looks like for me...

Work:

• Prep for my trip to Chicago and Wisconsin next week
• Volunteer at school on Tuesday
• Catch up on new title submissions

Play:

• Catch up on photos for Project Live
• Pack up a project for Friday, just in case
• Prep for next week's crop day
• Watch Ali Edwards video

Home:

• Eye doctor Tuesday night
• Laundry
• Clean house (1st, the bedroom!)
• Create a meal plan for the week
• Shop Rite with Mom for this week's food shopping

Not much of anything...

So I have to decide whether to take all of tomorrow off, or only 1/2 of tomorrow.  I WANT to take all of tomorrow, and I'm hoping my baby sister will take a couple of hours to join Mom and me for breakfast and a quick trip to Trader Joe's...  If she can't take the time, I'm not sure...  I might still do it...  Hmm, let's call Mom and ask her what SHE thinks - just hang out for a second...

[One minute later...] No answer at Mom's house.  She's either (a) "washing her hair," or (b) at a doctor's appointment she didn't mention she had this morning...  Guess I'll ask her later...

We're going to the lake tomorrow - for the weekend.  The whole weekend.  Including Monday, when we have off.  For Presidents' Day.  YAY!  We haven't been to the lake for the weekend since Christmas, what with the holidays, me getting sick, Jack getting sick, snow, bad weather, more snow, Mom coming home, more bad weather, a funeral...  just to mention a few of the things that got in the way...  We did take a few day trips up there just to check on the house and so that Jack could do a bit of work on my closet in the basement...  But a relaxing weekend with nothing to do but read and scrap and shop?  Not in wwwaaayyy too long!!!

Which reminds me, we have sort of decided to change the design of the summer kitchen and the pantry down there.  Instead of putting open shelves in the corner near the pump at the bottom of the stairs, I think we're going to go with a full-length pantry from Ikea (yay for Ikea!).  It's better for any number of reasons, not the least of which is that it will be closed in so when he's working in the main room and making a mess, the sawdust or sheetrock dust will, for the most part, stay off whatever is in the pantry.  (Mama didn't birth no fool - I KNOW there will still be some dust inside the pantry, but it will be a heck of a lot less than on open shelves!)  The opposite corner will be some coat hooks for our every day jackets, against the wall of the new coat closet he built me in the family room.  Someday, when I can use one of those floor plan sites, I'll include a floor plan of the house and show you what we've already modified...  maybe that will be my assignment this weekend...  hmmm...

[21 minutes later] Mom called - she's all for TJ's tomorrow, and yes, she was at the doctor's office.  Now we have to convince my sister, who said that Fridays are her worst day - she might do TJ, but possibly/probably not breakfast...  I'm going to try to convince her...

This was a very productive week at work - I got loads done, including a 2 hour meeting in the middle of Wednesday, an hour of yoga immediately following, and some brief visits to my blogroll and Facebook whenever I needed a break.  I would love to stay on this roll for the next few weeks, catch up on everything that is on my desk, including what's been there for months but not handled (!), and leave on vacation and go to sales conference (end of April/beginning of May) with a clean desk, with only current work sitting there, waiting for my return.

A woman can dream, can't she?!?

Anyway, this was my break for this morning...  More "not much of anything" later!

Monday the 17th

So I've lost 10 pounds since the beginning of December.  That's a nice start, but I have a way to go.  I'd LOVE to lose another 10 to 15 by the time I go to Mexico in April for my nephew's wedding.  We're going to Cabo.  Yes, Cabo.  Where the stars go to play.  Not that I will see any stars, I'm sure, but it would be nice if I could buy some new clothes for the trip, specifically a new bathing suit.  I have several, one of which I actually wear, but the one will be a bit loose on me, if I can keep this weight off, so I'm going to start shopping once the spring and summer clothes come out...

I have a few sundresses that will be great for the dinners and the breakfasts, and I do need some non-junky shorts and tops for in between.  And of course I need a "dress for the wedding."  So with the help of WW's new Points Plus Program, I'm going to do this.

I have chosen a word for the year:  FOCUS.

I need to FOCUS on weight loss, on saving money, on taking more photos, on being a better all around person, on eating more healthy homemade meals (aside from the weight loss benefits, I/we have some bad habits - we eat out a lot).  I bought myself a necklace to wear every day that includes the word "FOCUS" on it - I'll post a picture of it here when it arrives, along with a link to the supplier.  It's going to be my anchor, a WW thing that I think and hope might work for the rest of my life, not just my weight loss...

We're on our way out the door to Lowe's - PLEASE keep your fingers crossed that I can find a color to paint my hallway and living room - hubby is getting a bit impatient with me.  I know I want a taupe, some sort of taupe, but I don't want the hallway to be too dark so I'm a bit afraid - the ones I like are on the darker side, rather than the lighter side.  I picked one several years ago that's on the wall now:  compared to the white ceiling, it definitely had some color.  UNTIL we painted all the walls with it and it just looks like, well, another shade of white.

I need to FOCUS on paint chips today...

Unplugged...

So I spent Sunday unplugged along with P. Well, unplugged except for the requisite phone call to Mom first thing in the morning, and a check-in with P during our Day of Unplugged-ness. (We both pretty much agreed to that phone calls, especially to Mom to check in, were allowed if necessary. Except for Mom and P, the only other phone call I accepted was from DSD, post-surgery. (I couldn't not talk with her; we needed to know how she was doing.)

I started my day at church and then we took a ride up to Bagel Station, on Route 15, where they sell "the best bagels in New Jersey." And it's not just our opinion; they have a sign!!! J had his usual asiago cheese bagel, "the best [I've] ever had!!" And I had a garlic bagel: the first time I had a garlic bagel from them - okay, but their everything is better. I think next time I'll either try J's asiago or the bacon, egg and cheese one...

Then we went home, planted ourselves in lounge chairs on the dock, and absorbed some Vitamin D for a few hours! (I'm not responsible for the scientific accuracy of my blogging!) I have a nice tan from yesterday. It was warmer than on Saturday, a bit more humid, but far from as humid as today. (I only lasted 1/2 an hour today.)

I read a lot: I read Tess Gerritsen's new Ice Cold, James Patterson's new Private, and finished 3 short stories in a book called The Bodyguard (I like Cherry Adair and she was one of the authors). I also finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, and started Karen Rose's Silent Scream.

I scrapped some, too, and worked on my art journal. I made this mini book with pictures from A's graduation party.

We went to bed without the usual DVD or TV movie; after all, it was "Unplugged Day."

And that was it...

My, my, my, it HAS been a while...

You know something? I'm really not that busy. I really don't do all that much except for work and sleep. Here, I'll prove it -

A Week in My Life

Saturday - Up at 6:30am, showered, to WW at 8am (down .6 lbs - better than UP!), then to breakfast with mom and Jack, home to meet E to get our summer pedicure, then to the mall. I bought a pair of sandals, a purple dress, and a grey skirt. I need tops for the skirt. We had lunch at the Olive Garden. I went home around 4:30, popped on over to Shop Rite, made dinner, and we watched some TV and went to bed.
Sunday - Up at 7am, to church for 8am mass, breakfast with mom and Jack and T, home to shower (yes, I went to church without showering), then to C's so Jack could help J put the new floor in their spare room. C and I met P at the mall, they returned some clothes and bought some new ones, and we went to lunch at Ruby Tuesday's. I had Southwestern Quesadillas and an unsweetened iced tea or two. Then we went to P's house, T&K came over, G was there and BOY, does he know JUST which buttons to push to annoy his sisters! Then Jack picked me up and we went home, ate some dinner, did some computer work for the After-School Kindergarten graduation, watched some TV, and went to bed.
Monday - Got up at 5:50am, showered, went to work. Worked all day. Drove in since I had a follow up appointment with Dr. V. for my (dental) implant. (Lord knows I don't need any other kind!) Picked mom up on the way, intending to drop her at the Caldwell Shop Rite so she could shop while I was at the doctor. But nothing goes as planned; there was road construction all over Bloomfield Avenue and I was a few minutes late for the appointment so mom came with me and we both went to Shop Rite afterwards. Dropped mom home, went home, picked up Jack and we went to Subway for a sandwich, then to P's for dessert. We took a ride with P&B to see a Corvette he's thinking of buying; it was already sold so he looked at another that was $15K more and liked that one better. Home to watch some TV then we went to bed.
Tuesday - Got up at 5:50am, showered, went to work. Worked all day. Went home, made dinner, ate dinner, picked up mom, went to Amazing Savings; Jack bought me some highlighters and some scrapping paper. Took mom home, thinking we were going to Barnes & Noble, but we went home, watched some TV, and went to bed.
Wednesday - Got up at 5:50am, showered, went to work. Working all day. Called to reschedule Jack's dentist appointment 'cause he got called for jury duty that same day. Will be going home to make dinner, eat dinner, watch some TV and go to bed.
Thursday - More of the same to come.
Friday - More of the same to come, but we will be visiting C's new house; Friday is slated to be their closing day. Will probably bring some cartons over and try to help her unpack a little, if they're ready for that...

So why is it, exactly, that I don't seem to have enough time to look at my calendar, realize that today is my colleague's b'day, start working on the little favors I volunteered to make for A's graduation party - my baby niece is graduating from high school in two weeks! No, she's not still a baby, but she'll always be a baby in my heart!

Well, off to get some lunch, then I'll be back to catch up on my Google Reader, Facebook, and Twitter sites... Oh, yea, THAT'S why I have no free time - it's YOUR fault, me trying to squeeze in all those feeds, those Tweets, those FB posts... Stop it, will ya? Stop being so darned interesting!

(Please insert "went online for a few hours" into each day above.)

A Week in the Life...

My life is boring. And never have I been more convinced of that than this past week!

I am supposed to be taking numerous pictures each day of "my life" - my boring, ordinary life that's just like every one else's boring, ordinary life who's participating in that same project. What project, you ask? Visit Ali's blog; she started this whole deal.

So there are thousands of women, scrappers all over the globe, participating in this project. There's Cathy Zielski - here's a link to HER blog. The other day? She took 192 pictures.

1.9.2. One.hundred.ninety-two. CXCII. (Is that right?)

192 pictures? I'm struggling to break 10 in a day!!! I know I'm supposed to take photos of "my every day." And I tried. So, in words (photos to come at a later day!), here's a typical week:

• picture of my breakfast
• picture of me dressed and coifed for work
• picture of my desk
• picture of PC screen
• picture of a representative project on my desk
• picture out the window of my office of NYC hidden by fog
• picture of my lunch
• picture of my dinner
• picture of J
• picture of us watching TV
• picture of my breakfast (which, btw, IS.EXACTLY.THE.SAME.AS.YESTERDAY'S
• picture of me dressed and coifed for work
• picture of my desk
• picture of PC screen - oh, wow! Different shot!
• picture of representative project on my desk - I do the same thing every day, people, so this looks the same as yesterday's, too!
• picture out the window of my office of NYC NOT hidden by fog
• picture of my lunch - different salad, but salad, nonetheless
• picture of my dinner (Oh, this picture is of an empty plate 'cause I forgot to take a photo of the dinner itself!)
• picture of J doing something a little different, maybe changing a tire rather than cleaning the basement
• picture of us watching TV (hey, it IS a different show!)
• and on, and on, and on
• and to shake it all up, OH! I did laundry one day!!! Wanna see photos of my clean socks?!?

This is going to be ONE.BORING.PROJECT.

To prove it, I'll post those pictures later on... I'm going to take photos for two weeks, in the off chance something interesting happens to me, or around me, next week...

Not too much is going on here in NJ...

Actually, it's kind of boring here in NJ...

Although hubby and I ARE going to a dance at the Elks club tomorrow night... Yea, you're as surprised as I was when he announced he'd bought tickets! Apparently J is feeling as though we don't "do anything" and I "deserve to go out once in a while."

And he chose a dance?!?!?

But seriously, we'll have a great time. We always do. No matter what we do, if we're together, we have fun! All the school folk are so excited that we're coming; they've been stopping me in the hallway to say they can't believe I got him to go! When I tell them it was HIS idea, they're floored! It's nothing formal, jeans or work clothes are okay, and it's all you can eat and all you can drink (wine, soda, beer, coffee, with a cash bar). I'm looking forward to it! I'll try to remember to take some pictures! It's a pretty wild crowd, from what I understand!

We're going to be at the lakehouse this weekend, installing two of my three window seats and measuring for the third. Oh, wait, I forgot to mention that J built me window seats to go under the three windows in the sitting room! We bought some fabric and made cushions - a real pretty maroon-ish color with gold dragonflies that match the gold accent wall behind the bookshelves. Once we decide what to do with the fireplace surround and then put some other furniture in that room, it will be DONE!

Then we can start on the kitchen and bathroom downstairs! And the new dock we need outside... But none of that can be done until we have our final inspection, which we'll do this spring. Then we'll start working on a plan for the kitchen/bath remodel and start getting the permits and supplies, etc., and it starts all over again!

My friend E leaves our company tomorrow for what she hopes will be bigger and better things. At the very least, her salary will be about 50% bigger and better! A "life-changing number" was how she described the increase! She'll be commuting from NJ to Brooklyn every day, which is enough to put me off the job, but I'm not her and she's not me and she's younger and commuted into the city for her entire college career at NYU, so she's okay with it. Me? Uh-uh, no way, Jose! Not even for that kind of salary bump!

So my job will be less one friend, which makes me sad, but in a way will force me to expand my friend horizons a bit, too. With a built-in best friend at work, it wasn't really necessary to be friends with anyone else; I was okay just being colleagues. Now I'll make some new friends...

Unless I win the MegaMillions at which point, internet-pals, I'll be traveling the country to meet you all in person!!!

De-Clutter

You know, there are many blogs online where you can register your "word" for the year, try to "live" your word. And most wonderful, thoughtful, deep people are choosing words like "nurture," or "story," or "blessing," or "peace," or "hope."

Me? Not so deep. My word is De-Clutter. Capitalized just like that. Hyphenated just like that. Emphasis on the "De."

My house is full of stuff. Important stuff, sure, stuff that neither Jack nor I would want to lose or give up for all the tea in China.

But it's full of a lot of other kinds of "stuff." Stuff we don't need, don't want, never needed, shouldn't have kept, shouldn't have bought, should have passed up... Get the picture? "Stuff" that's making me short of breath, "stuff" that's overwhelming me, "stuff" that's collecting dust, "stuff" that needs to be De-Cluttered. Now. ASAP.

When I cleaned for the holidays, I took lots of "stuff" that didn't belong on the first floor, in the living room, kitchen, dining room or library, and dumped it into Rubbermaid bins and piled them high in the computer room. I promised myself I'd go through them with a hard heart and throw out or donate whatever didn't have a home and/or whatever I didn't want/need. Jack and I dipped our toe into the De-Cluttering project on Saturday. We started a bit of cleaning, and so far I have two small boxes/bags to be donated to the VVA (they pick up at the house and they take clothes and small household items). We didn't overtire ourselves, just puttered around for a half-hour or so in the middle of the afternoon, and BOY-HOWDY, did I feel accomplished when I saw two bags of trash and two boxes/bags for donation!

2010 is going to the be year I De-Clutter. I will be De-Cluttering my life, my house, my bookshelves, my drawers, my closets, whatever can be De-Cluttered will be De-Cluttered.

I swear. I promise. I pinky-swear. (Yup, this is for real, folks!)

1/2 an Hour to Christmas Vacation

It's 3:25pm on Tuesday, 12/22. My Christmas vacation starts at 4:00pm. I'm off until Monday, 01/04/10.

I never took a vacation like this until last year. It was the first time I was off the entire holiday season with Jack, the first time EVER, actually. And I LOVED it! I really liked not knowing what day it was 'cause I didn't have a computer in front of my face 8 hours a day. I liked trying to figure out if I had to be anywhere that day 'cause I didn't know what day it was!!!

I'm so looking forward to having to arrange my day around Live with Regis and Kelly, The View, Dr. Phil and all my evening shows, Castle, Criminal Minds, CSI New York, The Mentalist, America's Funniest Home Videos, Extreme Home Makeover, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers and Sisters. And I hope to be in front of the TV often enough to watch any episodes of HouseHunters I may have missed, and to find out exactly when they're airing What Not to Wear. Say Yes to the Dress is another favorite.

I know. You're disappointed in me. No Public Television, no History Channel (unless there's something good on) - just lots of junk TV and HGTV and TLC. For variety we'll throw in some Food-TV and Discovery, and who wouldn't want to watch something on ABC Family?!

Don't worry - Ms. Book Addict has a stack of books up at the lake just waiting to be read, and I hear some scrapping projects calling my name.

But I have to admit, I'm looking forward to rotting my brain - nay, I'm planning to rot my brain from tonight at 4pm until 8:30am Monday, 01/04, except for a few hours daily of actual thinking and planning (just so I don't forget how!).

Might even try a couple of recipes I've always wanted to try...

Well, it's 3:36pm and I have to go and work for the next 24 minutes!

More over the holidays! Happy Christmas to All!!!