Debra and Jason

Plantation Day

2012-01-20T19:13:00.004-05:00

So, since I'm prego, I'm not allowed to go on the air boat and do the swamp tour. Instead, Jason settled for plantation tours, which I was looking forward to anyway. We went to two: Oak Alley and Houmas House. While the oaks at Oak Alley were SPECTACULAR, the grounds at Houmas House were beyond belief. I told Jason that if I could pick what my heaven looked like when I died, I wanted it to be Houmas House. It was just a wonderfully tranquil and beautiful place to visit and I highly suggest it to anyone who goes to New Orleans! The home tours were boring, but being able to explore was worth listening to someone drone on and on and on and on....

Audobon Zoo Day

2012-01-20T19:06:00.006-05:00

We can obviously tell what I like to see at the zoo! Anyway, not too many photos this day since we got a late start, the trolley ride took FOREVER to get there, and I didn't feel like taking photos of the old homes as we rode along. It was a nice ride, but Jason wasn't feeling it and when we got to the zoo, it was 1.5 hours before it closed and Jason was making me walk fast which, even though I am only 4.5 months pregnant, not a nice thing to do to a pregnant chick. I think the trolley ride shot his patience with the whole day. Oh well, I enjoyed seeing the old homes and the animals. :)

St. Louis Cathedral

2012-01-15T19:24:00.006-05:00

According to Wikipedia: Saint Louis Cathedral, also known as the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans; it has the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating cathedral in the (as now constituted) United States. The first church on the site was built in 1718; the third, built in 1789, was raised to cathedral rank in 1793. The cathedral was expanded and largely rebuilt in 1850, with little of the 1789 structure remaining.

According to Debra and Jason: Very pretty church that is insanely ornate and we didn't understand half of the things in it since neither of us are Catholic, but it was still nice to look at and take pictures of and a very calming place to go visit.

The Mighty Mississippi

2012-01-15T19:20:00.002-05:00

Jason took these photos...obviously he was interested in the boat. I could have sat on the river walk all day and been quite pleased. Not so much for Jason. He lasted about 15 minutes and wanted to walk around and "do" stuff. So, off we went down the walk to see all the homeless people who are aggressive!

New Orleans post 1

2012-01-15T19:09:00.008-05:00

I'm not as speedy or energetic as I once was...so, to cover the trip to NOLA, it will be a many part post. Jason and I went to NOLA on 27 December to 3 January. We splurged and stayed at a higher class of hotel (Double Tree) and actually did things (unlike our trip to Bermuda).

Day One: Arrived and as soon as we could check in, took a loooong nap.

Day Two: Insectarium (no photos with the camera, only w/ the phone since Jason said we wouldn't need the camera...)

Day Three: Aquarium and stroll along the river

So, this is only meant for kids since I couldn't even get my shoulders through the tube :)

Jason looks beat up...that's because he is. He is still healing from his 2nd revisional nose surgery. His doctor was quite aggressive w/ the cartilage implant as well as the nose breaking this time. He's doing fine now and it actually looks worse in this picture than it actually is.

If you've been to Shedd in Chicago, sort of leaves all other aquariums in the dust. But, it was something we haven't done in some time, so it was nice.

Growing a Sprout

2011-12-22T04:32:00.003-05:00

So, as everyone should have gotten our latest Christmas card by now, you know that we will be adding to our family a little sprout sometime in the middle of June. Yay! We have to wait to find out the gender until the 20th week, which should be the end of January/beginning of February. As soon as we know, we will let you know.

Overall, I am doing great. Little tired sometimes, little weepy at others. I've been lucky and the "bad" food (aka: fast food, junk, etc) tastes really bad to me and the "good" food (raspberries, blueberries, salads, cucumbers, etc) tastes delicious, so that's what I have been craving. My one vice is soda, or liquid satan if you've read Skinny Bitch.

Stay tuned for updates and Merry Christmas to everyone!

Really...again

2011-12-16T20:15:00.002-05:00

So, I sort of feel like I should take my post from March, 2010 and just re-post it. Well, Jason was just in another accident today. He was leaving the grocery store and someone hit the front of his car. Based upon circumstances, he was cited. So, we now have to wait to find out if the insurance agency is going to total it or fix it.

The concerning part of the message was that he had just had revisional nose surgery on Monday and I was uber concerned his face was damaged when the airbag deployed. Luckily, his face and his body are fine. Can't speak to his state of mind (he's very depressed about the whole thing), but he's physically okay. And that is my main concern. I reached out to his nasal doctor to see if we needed an emergency visit, but he said as long as his face wasn't hit, he should be fine and he could see Jason as normal on Monday.

That's all I have to say for the excitement of the day. :)

Les Miserables

2011-12-07T20:27:00.003-05:00

So, Jason, Penny and I went to see Les Mis when it was in Dayton on the 26th. Now, Penny did ask, "Do we need to dress nice" and I was like, "No, no need. When Lori and I went to the same theater, we wore jeans and were fine." What I didn't realize that Saturday theater is really Saturday theatre and Thursday theater is for the poor folk. We saw a lady in full on opera wear evening gown.

While it wasn't my favorite, I am glad that I saw it. I didn't realize they would sing the whole time, even in conversations, it was not too bad. The second act was much better than the first.

Fingers Crossed

2011-11-29T23:39:00.002-05:00

So, since I need all the luck I can get...broke out the Nun picture. We have a couple interested in the Maysville house. They are going back sometime this week to look w/ their parents (they are first time home-buyers). It's between our house and the house two blocks down the street. So, please keep your fingers crossed for us and whatever else good you can send our way...I would love to get that house sold!

Cancer again

2011-10-23T16:51:00.002-04:00

Well, it seems as if the cards are stacked against my sweet Zoey. We went to the Vet yesterday to have a "stitch inspection" and a report out on her biopsy results. I will admit, I forgot that we still needed to find out about her lumps that were removed. I guess that is selective memory :) So, the Vet inspected her incisions and said they were doing quite nicely. Then he sat down and started the review of the results. I could just tell from his mannerisms that the news was not good, so I started to tear up, then when he was about to get to the bad stuff, I lost it.

I tried so hard not to cry, but I just knew it would be bad. And it was. Talk about self-fulfilling prophecy. Her small bumps are nothing to worry about, but her breast mass that was removed was found to be cancerous. I don't remember much else that he said after that because all I could think was, "Damn those grapefruit sized things in Zoey's body! Every damn time something is a grapefruit, it's "f"ing cancerous". He did say he was glad that he was as aggressive as he was in removal of the mass and he was surprised at the results. He didn't think it was cancerous, he just thought it was a benign mass. I guess that's why it's good to send everything off like we did. It was our choice and I said send every damn lump b/c I want to know.

Here's the humor of it. Jason said he knew instantly when I began to cry w/o even looking at me b/c Dr. Glass' face took on a look of terror and Jason just knew the tears had begun to fall. You'd think a Vet, being in the business all these years, wouldn't react so adversely to a few tears...lol.

So, now we have choices to make for her future. I told him that my guide will be her quality, not quantity, of life. While she's able to recover quickly now, she might not be so adept at it in the future and I don't want her to have pain and suffering for the extension of just a few months.

Zoey, of course, is oblivious to it and quite content to eat the meat and treats I give her to appease my own anxiety. I just hope that we still get many good years with her and her vicious kisses she has started giving (they are like sour patch kids...she bites/nips, then kisses...sour, then sweet). Stay tuned to the saga of Zoey :)

Mid-October Update

2011-10-18T23:43:00.004-04:00

Well, October is shaping up to be a busy busy busy month. Jason and I just finished round 2 of classes. No more "Globalization and Multiculturalism" for me and no more "Death and Dying" for Jason. This 8 week session I am attempting 2 classes. I was going to go from 1 to 3, but figured that might be too much, so am trying out 2. Hopefully, I can balance the workload and still manage to do a good job. Jason is just doing one class this time around...I guess since the guy works 7 days/week, we'll cut him some slack...LOL.

My beautiful girl had surgery last Thursday and had to stay there until Monday morning. I am not sure who had a rougher time being apart...I think her, but it was super tough on me not to have my constant companion around. She had 2 lumps, one red growth, one skin tag, and a breast mass that were all removed. The mastectomy was the worst on her...poor baby. I sometimes think all the things we do to "help" her are not worth the pain and suffering. And once again, the Vet said that the mass he removed was about the size of a grapefruit. What is up w/ the masses she grows being that size??? The tumor they removed when they did her spleenectomy in Feb was the size of a grapefruit. Anyway, she's got horrible bruising, a gnarly incision, and she still hops around like she's fine. What a trooper!

Here's a pic of it...I am at her butt looking up her stomach. To proect her modesty, didn't get her "tinkler" in the pic :)

Penny in Grand Rapids, OH

2011-10-03T01:19:00.003-04:00

On Saturday, I picked up Lori and we drove 2.5 hours down the road to meet up w/ my mom in Grand Rapids, OH. One might take a moment to ask, why in the world do you go to Grand Rapids, OH. Well, Penny can answer that. Her rationale for stopping there a few years back...there's a Grand Rapids, MI, so why not stop in the OH version. Anyway, it's almost exactly a midway point between her house and mine and there is a restaurant that sells these great fried pickle spears...that's all we need. So, we met up so I could give her some stuff I had collected for her at my house and she could loan me some books from her personal library (it's quite extensive...trust me) for my latest paper. Mutually beneficial for both. And, it was a nice day for a drive. We all checked out the shops downtown and I picked up a pretty unique print from the local gallery. Not too sure how Jason feels about it, but I like it and that's all that matters.

Don't you wish you could spend your day like this?

2011-10-03T01:14:00.001-04:00

Talk about spoiled rotten. This dog, I tell you. She just loves to spend time outside. She used to love to spend time outside walking. Since she's aging, she prefers to spend her time lying around in the grass, sunning herself. I am glad that we were able to fence in the backyard so she's able to spend as much time as she wants outside. We just leave the slider open when we are downstairs and she comes and goes as she pleases. I think that the backyard is the only redeeming quality of the OH house.

She starts out on her feet, looking around...

Then she migrates down to laying...

Then, it's all over...she can't help herself. The grass is just too inviting.

It's oh so nice to lay there, feel the breeze and the sunshine. Makes for perfect napping weather.

If this isn't the face of pure bliss, I am not sure what is.

And she's out cold. I think our dog has morphed into a feline, what with all the cat naps she takes!

Zoey's medical issues...again

2011-09-11T22:57:00.004-04:00

We spent some time at the Cummins Nature Preserve today before we came back north to Middletown. Zoey loves to wander around and sniff, so with whatever that purple stuff in bloom is in the background, I thought it would be nice to try some different settings on my camera and get some pictures.

Well, my beautiful girl might have some more medical issues. We went to the Vet on Saturday and I pointed out some bumps/lumps I've noticed in the past month or so and he seem concerned enough to put her on an antibiotic to see if they will shrink and to plan on having them removed in a few weeks. So, that unplanned surgery nixed our trip to Rhode Island next month. In the grand scheme of life, Zoey is more important than a trip, but darn...this dog has impeccable timing. That's two trips she's managed to cancel for us. And we never plan them!

She's such a good girl. She just likes to meander around. If there isn't anyone around, I don't put her collar on. So, she's "doggie naked" in these photos. She just got her haircut on Thursday, so she looks sassy! Too bad she couldn't keep her eyes open. She's just like people...when it's sunny, you get squinty eyes.

She comes across all meek and mild mannered...she was probably just watching the bugs on the ground :)

Upstairs rooms

2011-08-30T22:46:00.015-04:00

So, here are all the photos of the 2nd story of the house...

This is the upstairs foyer. You can see the doorways to the master (the one on the right), the bathroom (center) and both spare bedrooms are on the left.

My most favorite room of all...the purple room. I know it's a bit risky to not use a neutral when selling, but I love purple. And, it's not an overwhelming purple b/c of the white bead board 1/2 way up the walls. I love sleeping in this room, I love the white bedding, I love the purple throw pillows that I stalked at HomeGoods until they went on clearance, I love the spaciousness of the room, I love it all and if I could, I would, I would re-create this in my next house, but I don't think I can convince Jason to do bead board again. If you look real close through the doorway, you can see our green vacuum...oops.

This is the other spare room. Nothing too exciting about this room. It's the same color as the kitchen. Not my favorite color, but it gets the job done.

Here is the upstairs bathroom. Thanks to Dillon (Jason's cousin) for all his help on this!

And last but not least, the master bedroom. The mirrors still need to be hung and the window frame still needs some paint, but that can be accomplished this weekend :)

Home Stretch

2011-08-29T17:40:00.011-04:00

The finished product!

All the pictures in this post are of the first floor rooms

My beautiful foyer...I just love it! If I could live in this room, I just might :)

It's very hard to get a good picture of the living room...this is the best I can do. We want to sell the Lazy Boys, but haven't yet, so they make the furniture placement awkward.

So, forgot to rotate the picture b4 I uploaded it...oh well. Here's the fireplace in the Living Room. Jason did a great job tiling!

The lighting of the picture looks dark...sorry. But I think the dining room turned out very nice as well. I only wish I had the foresight to realize what browns I was going to use and selected the darker stain for my furniture to match better. Oh well, can't change it now.

Ahh...the kitchen. This room has been a long time coming. It turned out so nicely!

Even though the placement of the room is in a weird spot, this bathroom rocks!

Well, we thought this day would never come and here it is...our house in Maysville officially goes on the market 1 September 2011. If we would have never hired the handyman, we would not be this far. So, even though I feel like he lolly-gagged at the end, I am thankful that we found him. Thank you Rhonda, Mary, Matt, and Megan for taking time out of your lives to put one of the many coats of paint on the walls. And a special thank you goes out to my mom for coming down for a week this month to help paint and allow the handyman to (sort of) work.

We still have a few odds and ends to finish up during the holiday weekend, but WE MADE IT! Who would have ever thought? I can tell you that we felt as if this was the never-ending project (4.5 years). Let's hope we sell before we hit 5 years...good to have a goal.

1st graduate level class done

2011-08-11T00:12:00.003-04:00

This is the face of someone who is glad she accomplished something new!

Woo hoo...I just finished the final paper for my first ever graduate level class! Yay me :) It was a lot of work, that last paper, but I managed to get it done, with the help of my mother's extensive personal library. I am just glad I have one done and am able to move on in the process.

I even made a friend in my first class and we are taking the next one together. She's farther along in her program than I am, but I am glad that we are able to take this next one at the same time. I can depend on her to show up and get stuff done, so she makes a great team member.

Let's hope I get a good grade for class #1. I have to wait for the professor to grade everything, so I am on pins and needles.

Big Weekend

2011-08-09T06:38:00.004-04:00

So, we both had a weekend full of new experiences. I went to a laser show with Lori. She used to go to these a lot when she was younger (and inebriated). I guess the trick is the inebriation. While it was interesting (at first), not something I need to do again in my life. I think she was disappointed as well. But, it was something new for me, so I am glad I can check that off my list. And, it was in Norwood (aka Nor Hood)...who would have known the high school had a planetarium! We didn't have stuff like that at my high school.

Jason went to Chicago to see the Cubs with Matt and Brett. Since Matt relocated to Rhode Island, all the boys flew this time instead of carpooling. Jason missed the in-park home run (I guess that is a rarity) but after he got over the disappointment from that, they had a good time.

After the laser show, I went back to Maysville to do what I do best...painting. I concentrated my efforts on the bathroom. I have created a new song purely for the experience that I had...it goes a little something like this..."Paint paint paint, that's all I do. Paint paint paint, "F" you." It's not the most original, but it works to illustrate my feelings on painting. The video is short b/c the phone won't let me send the whole thing. I just focused on white this weekend. The color should be up this week (my mom is at my house to help out) or this upcoming weekend. Stay tuned.

Working hard

2011-07-24T22:58:00.003-04:00

This handyman has been the BEST thing that ever happened to us. If only we had thought of him/found him years ago! Oh well, it is what it is.

So, to explain, having him work on the house motivates Jason and I (yes, you read that right, JASON and I...he's been taking weekends off to work on the house) to get stuff done when we would normally just nap. We got the kitchen painted all ONE color...hasn't been that way since we bought the house. It's now "New Penny", same color as one of the bedrooms. While it's not my favorite color, it does match the counter tops well and is a bit more neutral that "Fiddlehead Fern" or "Green Mist" was. The kitchen looks SO much better.

We also got the ceiling in the dining room painted this weekend as well as sealing the tile work that I did two weekends ago in the downstairs bathroom. So, LOTS of painting this weekend. The handyman should finish the ceiling work in the kitchen next week and I will be able to paint that on Sunday (maybe).

We are nearing the end of first semester back in school...we are both getting the hang of work/class/Zoey/exercise (Jazzercise for me and P90x for Jason). Who knew we ever had this much time in our lives?

On a side note...I've discovered Chipotle. Yes, I am a slow adopter to innovation, but damn...that shit is DELISH! Love those bowls! If you haven't tried it...please do so. I hope you are not disappointed...I sure wasn't :)

Little fish eating the Big fish

2011-07-21T23:20:00.004-04:00

I received a very disturbing phone call this morning from Lori (co-worker)...it went something like this:

Lori: Hey...we are being bought by Express Scripts (a competitor)

Me: WTF?

Lori: Yeah...

Me: Holy s*it...let me get online to get the details

Lori: Good...all I know is Gilbert (our boss) called me this morning to tell me just the basics.

So, not the best way to start the day, but hey, what can you do?

If you want details, just search "Medco" on any search engine. Only the future knows what is going to happen, so I will just have to keep my spirits high. Jason made it through his recent acquisition (Axcan bought Eurand. New company name is Aptalis). I just find it truly interesting that Express Scripts, sitting at around 14000 employees and not near the size of Medco was able to purchase us (we have about 23000 employees), and at a premium to boot. The nice thing is part of the deal includes a payout of 28.80 per stock share and a .81 stock share of Express Scripts. In other words, if I owned 100 shares of Medco stock, I would get $2880 cash and 81 shares of Express Scripts stock. Guess I will be buying some stock! LOL!

Stay tuned for updates...hopefully they will be positive and read something like this: Yay...I made it through the merger unscathed.

Babies everywhere

2011-06-29T22:35:00.003-04:00

It seems like everyone I know is either pregnant or having babies! A big congratulations goes out to my MSU exercise partner Mandy and her husband Dominick on the birth of their beautiful baby girl, Harmony Rose. It's weird to think that the girl I met way back in 1998 and started running with is now a mom! My how lives change. I am very excited for them and hope she remains as peaceful and quiet as she looks in the picture...lol!

Congrats Denise and Jason

2011-06-22T12:23:00.003-04:00

Belated congrats to my bestie and her husband on the birth of their little boy, Jace! I cannot wait to see him in person, so that means a trip to Hawaii in the (hopefully near) future. Even though my submission for his Hawaiian middle name was not selected, I still think he's a cute little nugget and I am so happy for Denise and Jason :)

Bye Bye May May

2011-06-20T22:42:00.001-04:00

Sweet and psychotic little Macy (one of Megan's dogs) passed away at the beginning of June. While she was a handful, we (including Zoey) will miss her.

Burn baby, burn

2011-06-12T15:29:00.006-04:00

What better way to spend a 95 degree day than burning all of the shredding I had in the backyard fire pit? That's exactly the thought I had last week. I had originally taken the entire week off to celebrate my birthday, but something came up at work, so I ended up working on Tuesday and Wednesday. Well, Tuesday I decided I was sick of looking at our shred bag and since I don't have a shredder at home, I figured burning was the next best thing. Good Lord, I couldn't have been more wrong!

It took over 2 hours to burn everything I had and it was hotter than blazes and I got so much smoke in my eyes/hair, I never thought I was going to make it! :)

I had those flames going quite high!

Smoky the Bear was right...you have to burn safely. So, the hose helped to create a wet zone around the fire pit.

Zoey LOVED the fact I was outside for hours. She got to stay with me and lounge around on the grass. I didn't want bugs crawling on her, so I got a towel out for her to lay on. She used it, for about 15 minutes, then got up and moved to the grass. So, I went inside and got her bed out and put that on the grass. I guess that was the ticket b/c she stayed out on it even after I got done burning for about 45 more minutes.

Fire up Chips v2

2011-06-01T22:16:00.003-04:00

Looks like someone else in the family is going to be a Chippewa...yay for Jason. He was accepted as well to CMU and we will be taking classes at the same time! He's going to be finishing up his Bachelor of Science in Business, so life in our house for the next bit will really suck! :) LOL! But, when your employer does tuition reimbursement, you have to take advantage of it...free money!

Zoey's Easter Basket

2011-06-01T22:08:00.002-04:00

So, a little late posting this one...here is Zoey with her Easter Basket. As you can see, she doesn't make much effort and is used to me placing things near her so she doesn't have to get up. What a life! She was very excited about all of the goodies, not so much excited about the squealing pig and the tail that spins around.

Glutton for Punishment

2011-05-04T22:36:00.003-04:00

I think I must be a glutton for punishment. In all of my infinite wisdom, I felt that now would be the best time to go back to school for my Masters degree. You know, working 45+ hours a week, having to commute between two house, and trying to go to Jazzercise 3 times a week to get in shape didn't seem like it took enough of my time, so why not add some additional stress and start a Masters program? LOL.

Lucky me, I was accepted back to my alma mater and should start classes next month. I will be doing a MSA (Master of Science in Administration) in Human Resources Administration. Lots of words. And, to top it off, since I never took accounting or statistics as an undergrad, I have to take them now b/c some of my course have them as a pre-req. I was like, "Seriously?!". So, b/c I am cheap, I am going to take them at the local community college (I can take the undergrad version), then transfer in the credit. So, that's two additional courses to add to my program that will take up precious time. Bastards! It's all a big ole racket!

Fire up Chips!

Jason and Rhonda

2011-05-04T22:29:00.003-04:00

Jason's eyes are closed in this one...

And Rhonda's eyes are closed in this one. I can't win! :)

On her way down to do Habitat for Humanity in Louisiana, Rhonda stopped by to see us in Kentucky. Jason told her she didn't need to drive all the way down there, she could stay at our house and do some Habitat for Jason-manity there. LOL!

We were glad to have her visit so she could see the progress (or lack there of) that we have made since she was there last. Jason was also thrilled to have her visit since we got to make a really nice meal to eat for dinner. I made a roast in the crock pot, cheesy potatoes, and fruit salad. Yum!

It's raining tree limbs

2011-04-12T23:30:00.006-04:00

I'm going to go out on a limb (ba dum bum bump) and say we were not the most liked people on our block in KY this morning. But let me back up, I'm getting ahead of myself.

I got a wake up call from my neighbor letting me know that one of the limbs from our trees in the front of the house fell across the road and people had to take an alternate route because of it. Oh, and that there was some sort of "wire" that came down too.

My first thought was "Holy Shit! Am I going to be fined from the City for causing a hazard?". So, I hung up w/ her, called Jason to let him know, and then let my boss and co-workers know that I wouldn't be coming to work today.

I called the City of Maysville, they directed me to call the City Garage. I called the City Garage. They told me since the road we live on is owned by the State, I would have to call them. I then called the State. No answer. Got a small laugh out of that. Called the City Garage again to make sure I had the number correct, I did. Called the State again. Got a very nice guy on the phone who told me that they had already been there and cleaned it up. I was like, "Sweet!" Then I thought, "So this is what my taxes pay for...finally".

Got down to KY after driving in a torrential downpour, thinking everything would be cleaned up and all I had to do was deal w/ the wire. I guess the State's definition and my definition of "all cleaned up" don't match up.

Anyway, I called the guy who trimmed our trees a few years ago and he said that the City should chip up 15 minutes worth of stuff. I asked him if he could trim this tree up and he said he drove by in the morning after he heard about it on the POLICE SCANNER...damn, we made the scanner? He then told me it would be about $400. When he trimmed both trees a few years ago it was only $250! I called the State back since it was a State issue (I think that genius idea saved about 10 unnecessary phone calls) and they said they'd see what they could do.

At least it's out of the way and I don't have to worry about pissing people off b/c the road has a barricade up so the State can take care of my tree. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it and who I can rope into helping me :O) The drama never ends!

You can see where the limb broke off. It's weird since NOTHING else came down off that tree. That was one of the better looking limbs...not rotted or anything.

Where the State moved it when they cleaned it all up :)

A shot of it from another angle.

A better view of all that the State "cleaned up" by depositing everything on my lawn.

Ebates

2011-04-03T22:05:00.004-04:00

So, I just added the little link on my site for Ebates...I hope you all try it out. If you join right now, you get $5 cash. When I joined in 2009, I got a $10 gift card to Macys. So far, I've gotten $8o+ back over the lifetime that I've used the site. I know it's not a lot, but I don't do a lot of online shopping. So, if you do try it out (which I suggest you do), please give me credit (kaserdeb@yahoo.com) so I get cash money for referring you :)

All you do is go to Ebates first, then click on to whatever site you want to shop at through Ebates. Depending on what the site offers, you can get anywhere from 1% back of your purchase to who knows how much. When Jason and I bought my treadmill last year from Sears, I went through Ebates. I did Site to Store @ Sears and got 2% back of my purchase price. Not bad. I get a check from them every quarter. I just used it tonight to buy our new bed from QVC (they offer 2.5%).

Not all stores participate, but for the ones that do, it's very helpful. Hope you try it :)

Zoey...Great White Bunny Hunter

2011-03-29T12:10:00.002-04:00

Well, it had to happen. Zoey finally caught her first bunny yesterday. After years of trying, she was successful at last. And thankfully, she didn't kill it, maim it, or even draw blood. She very delicately picked it up and put it at Jason's feet outside. She was so proud...I wish I could have been there to see her.

Jason wasn't so sure what to do with it, so he brought it inside and tried to feed it a carrot. He then called and hinted that he wanted to keep it, but was otherwise informed that it should go back to where it came from if it was in okay shape. I am sort of glad I didn't see it for fear that its cuteness would have swayed my decision a different way!

Updates 03.14.11

2011-03-14T22:34:00.004-04:00

Well, time does go by quite quickly. Here are all the updates:

Zoey is doing very well. She is like a whole new dog. She runs around, she has a zest for life, she chows down her food like it's going to run away from her, she chases Canadian Geese and ducks... All in all, she is doing very well. I took her to the KY vet for her annual shots and a second opinion on the vitamins/supplements the OH vet told us to give her and the KY vet complimented Jason and I on how well Zoey is doing overall (and considering she had her spleen removed). I am so glad that we caught her issue in time to address it and give her the best chance for a great life!

The time finally came where I had to get rid of the Pacifica. Not that I was sad (I never liked that car...it was too "Soccer Mom" of which I am NOT). But, I was trying to hold out to trade it in until we sold the Maysville house. And guess what...we did! Can you believe it? Yeah, we couldn't either.

Sike...just kidding. I had to see what it felt like to say that...roll it around and see how it sounded in black and white.

Anyway, the car was making some really weird noises, the gas mileage was going down fast, and Jason drove it one night and told me he thought it was the transmission or an axle. Either way, it was going to be a costly repair. So, I started looking and came up w/ four factors for my new car.

1: Must have a moonroof

2: Must be a 2009 or newer

3: Must be a car from a company still in business

4: Must be any other color than red.

As you can see from the pictures below, I only met one of my criteria. Guess which one...hint: the car is silver.

But, I really do like my new zippy Saturn Aura that only had 15K miles on it for a 2008. And the gas mileage is AWESOME! I got a pretty good price on the Saturn but I got tapped hard on my trade since they instantly could tell there was something wrong w/ the Pacifica. Even my best acting skills didn't get me where I needed to be. But, I did buy myself some peace of mind with a safe car and for that, I am a happy.

It's not flashy or "cool" like my others cars, but hey, I used to drive a mini-wagon so ANYTHING is a step up from where I was. And Zoey loves being within "touching" distance of us. If only I had known that when I was shopping for a new car...I could have saved 4 years of driving a mini-wagon (she was the whole reason we got the Pacifica).

That's about all. Jason and I are both still at our jobs, we have both houses still, we're doing well. Nothing too earth shattering, nothing new :)

Zoey update

2011-02-14T20:27:00.002-05:00

Well, I got the call last week from the vet with the update on her pathology report...not the really bad cancer we thought she might have. That's a plus! But, it did have cancerous cells in it, though not enough to be too concerned about. The protocol for the type she had was a complete spleen removal (which she had), so they believe that we are sitting in a favorable spot. That's a big PHEWW!

We have an appointment with them on Friday for an update (I am trying to get my hands on the picture of her tumor so I can post it...eww...gross :) ), as well as an appointment with the doggie nutritionist/acupuncturist/chiropractor. We are going to try to help Zoey in her "spleen free" life by supplementing her diet with "people" food to address her new issues (higher chance of infection/suppressed immune system). We shall see...

Cone of shame

2011-02-07T22:37:00.004-05:00

My beautiful girl...wearing the cone of shame :) Talk about pathetic...first thing I did when I got home on Wednesday after her surgery was take off her cone of shame. The vet said as long as she left her insanely long incision alone and we monitored her, she didn't have to wear her cone of shame. I mean, do you see how big that thing is? And it's quite heavy as well.

Jason moved the mattress off of our daybed down to the living room floor so we could sleep with Zoey (they said she couldn't climb stairs or jump on our bed for the first week). That lasted all of 1.5 days. Zoey managed to bypass our blockade on the stairs and Friday night, came pounding up the stairs, launched herself on our bed, and laid down as quick as humanly possible so we couldn't stop her. We took that as a message that was where she wanted to be and that was that...so says Zoey licious :) Secretly, we both were happy since sleeping on a mattress on the floor is a bit "college" for us...lol!

Chilling on her squishy bed downstairs

"Cone of Shame"-less...and enjoying the 2 ft rawhide a coworker sent home with me. She loved it!

Jason took Zoey to the vet today for a post-op checkup. Her blood levels (not too sure what specifically) have gone from 22% to 28%, which is good. They said her incision was looking good and we could take her on short walks (which Zoey is most thrilled about...she is getting sick of staying in the house). We have been feeding her all sorts of yummy things (liver, salmon, eggs, etc.) and will be meeting with a nutritionist in a week to go over her new dietary requirements. I must say, ever since her surgery, her appetite has been stronger than I have EVER seen it...she powers food down like it's going to run out of her bowl.

Keep your fingers crossed for us...we should find out the results of the biopsy tomorrow. At the very latest on Wednesday. I keep hoping that the words, "It's benign" are spoken in context to her tumor.

2K and counting...

2011-02-02T15:52:00.013-05:00

The 2011 Saga of Zoey

Well, it must be love. If not, why else would someone be willing to spend 2 thousand dollars (so far) on their dog? I mean, can you really put a price on love? Look at that face...it says, "Spend as much money on me as it takes" :)

Here's the back story...right before Jason's surgery (Lasik) in January, Zoey wasn't feeling well. We took her to the vet and they thought she just had the flu. So, we gave her antibiotics and she got better.

Total cost: Just north of $100

This Monday, those symptoms returned and we once again took her to the vet and they gave her medication and pulled blood. They told us we should have results by Tuesday.

Total cost: Just shy of $300

I get a call on Tuesday that based upon her CBC, they think there is a problem with the spleen and recommended her getting an ultrasound of her abdomen. I, of course, called Jason immediately and he gets up (he sleeps during the day since he works nights) and takes her to the vet to get the ultrasound done. They tell us that they found a massive tumor in her spleen and, best case scenario, they remove the spleen and she lives happily ever after. Worst case scenario...it's a type of fast spreading cancer and it's already moved to her chest cavity. They only way to tell is to get X-rays. I, of course, say do it now. Luckily, the X-rays show a clear chest cavity. But, they said that is not a guarantee it's not cancer. I guess they are glass half empty people.

Total cost: Just shy of $500

They suggest that we need to move quickly so her tumor doesn't rupture (there is already free floating liquid) and have her spleen removed. So, we schedule that to happen this morning. Last night was the longest night of my life...I kept waking up to make sure she didn't die in the middle of the night (a tad bit paranoid...yes, I will cop to it).

This morning on the way there, I tell Jason on the way that I plan on informing them that if anything bad happens to her, they can expect to get sued. Jason informs me that is NOT what I am going to say. I don't see anything wrong with setting the expectation...just making sure everyone is on the same page ;)

We get to the vet this morning and then this person, who looks like she just graduated HIGH SCHOOL starts going over all the details with me, which of course, turns me in to a blubbering mess. Turns out, she's the vet. Am I getting older? Anyway, we leave our most treasured family member in their care, come home, and pray for the best

Total cost: $900

Around 2pm, we get a call letting us know that Zoey made it through the surgery and is in recovery. They will be watching her and will call us before they close for the day. Depending on how well she does, she may be released to come home tomorrow or may have to stay another night. I asked if she will get a private "room" since other dogs irritate her and inhibit her sleeping (that's why we don't board her at Pet Resorts...she gets cranky she can't sleep all day with the barking). I think they think I am crazy. I don't care since her health and well-being are my sole goal at this point. So, our fingers are crossed that she progresses to the point we can bring her home tomorrow. We now have to wait for the lab results to come back to let us know if it is cancerous or not. I asked if I could pay to put a rush on the results, but they told me no. Bastards... We should find out early to mid next week. I hope it's benign.

Desolate and cold

2011-01-27T22:24:00.002-05:00

This is one of my most favorite trees. It's on the walking trail that I take Zoey to, so I see it almost every day. I just thought that with the snow, lack of leaves, and barren background, it was quite a striking view (in black and white). I don't think my camera phone really did it justice, but I still think it's a nice photo :)

New Ride

2011-01-11T21:48:00.007-05:00

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all!

Hope that your holiday season was as peaceful as mine was...because I didn't have any insane family members around like I did last year :)

Well, Jason ended the year with a very nice present from Santa/the Credit Union. His car (the one he got after he totaled out the Lumina in March) was going downhill slowly but steadily. We had a conversation and decided that instead of pouring a few thousand into a car that wasn't worth it to get it into good working order, we would cut our losses and purchase a new for him car.

Jason is quite happy with his Mazda 6. He did the entire deal on his own (normally I take care of these things) and walked away as a proud new (for him) car owner. Even though it doesn't have a moon roof, he did the practical thing and chose the car with less miles/less features/less price over the car with more features (moon roof)/more price. I guess that means we have finally reached an age where we make the smart decision opposed to the fun decision...gasp :)

Light Up Middletown

2010-12-14T19:36:00.003-05:00

Wow...so much has happened in the past few weeks! We did some RIFs in the HR department; my Director, the Recruiter, and the Receptionist were "affected" (that's the PC term everyone is using), so we are now down to 4 active employees (Payroll is out on leave). With that being said, we were informed we had our Corp Road Show coming to our location last week which meant planning all the logistics. In the midst of a contract negotiation for a venue (that was not going well and stressing me out), I got a call that my grandfather passed away. He made it 97.5 years...not too shabby.

So, after I closed out the Road Show, Jason and I headed up to Michigan for the services. Luckily, Jason had planned on taking the weekend off to spend time with us in Maysville, so he didn't have to find coverage. We got up there Friday night, attended the services on Saturday, and headed back to Ohio. We were lucky enough to avoid the winter storm. We woke up Sunday morning to a beautiful white winter wonderland.

Jason and I both got 3 days bereavement, but we only are taking two. Funny how works gets in the way of life. I've been trying to deal with the fact that now, all of my grandparents are gone. It's been hard. Jason and I have enjoyed spending this time together...it's rare. I think my Grampa would be pleased that we got to spend time together because of him...I really do.

Jason convinced me to go to "Light Up Middletown" last night as a distraction. You give a donation and drive through a park they have decorated with lots of lights. Jason loved it...listed to Christmas music, the whole 9 yards.

Baby Bear Cake

2010-11-26T02:03:00.004-05:00

I started making cakes again...it's been a few years, but with my Director getting ready to have a baby, I thought it would be a fun time to make the baby bear cake I had made in the past. The only problem was I sold my cake pan a few years ago at one of my yard sales (probably for a buck), so I had to go purchase another one (at full price). Geesh!

Anyway, it didn't turn out too bad. There were things I could have done better/different, but hey, it takes time to remember the old "tricks". I forgot to leave some white frosting for the eyes, that's why it has pink eyes, but oh well. And I forgot to level the side it was laying on, so as it was on the board for a bit the paws started to break off. I had to stuff granola bar underneath to hold the paws up, then frost the hell out of them to blend it. LOL! It still tasted delish!

On top of all the other issues, we were supposed to have her shower on a Thursday, and she ended up calling off sick, so rather than have my cake sit out all day, Jason was kind enough to come pick it up and take it home to put it in the fridge to help it "keep" till Friday, which she ended up calling off on that day too! Let's just say the HR group, even when down one member, is able to finish any food put in front of us :)

Rock of Ages

2010-11-24T23:21:00.003-05:00

Since they don't let you take photos in the theater, this is the best I could get of the set...and yes, that is a giant "porn star like" photo on the left side of the stage.

The first weekend in November, Jason, Lori, her mom, and I all went to the Aronoff Center in downtown Cincy to see "Rock of Ages". I must share...I have been excited to see this show for some time! I mean, 80's rock...you can't get better than that.

And to tell the truth, the show didn't disappoint. It was funny, entertaining, and full of songs I knew all the words to. My kind of musical. On top of that, they were selling beer and let you drink it in the theater. I think that's the only way I will ever get Jason to come to a show with me again... LOL! :)

New Potty

2010-11-24T22:59:00.007-05:00

This may not seem exciting or "blog worthy" to you, but it surely is to me. We have had issues with our toilet in Maysville since the day we moved in. As of late, it has been running all the time. Well, Jason finally had a day off and came back with me a few weekends ago. I am lucky enough to have a handy husband who is able to switch out potties. Yay me! Let me set the story for you though...

Here's the hole where the potty used to sit. You can see we didn't completely get all the wall when we switched from that horrible blue to a nice soothing gray.

Just cause he's not a plumber doesn't mean he can't look like one, butt crack and all :)

Sunday morning, around 6:30 am, I get Jason in my face saying, "You don't have to go to the bathroom do you?" Mind you, he is waking me from a dead sleep. Of course I had to go...everyone has to go when they get up... Then he says, "I hope not since I took the toilet apart". I am thinking, "You did what!!??!?!" Anyway, long story short, because it was a Sunday, we had to wait till 9 for Lowe's to open, go purchase a new toilet, and then, lucky for him, Jason got it installed within an hour. Thank goodness...if he wouldn't have been so speedy, he might not have made it out of Kentucky alive with all of his extremities :)

Isn't it nice? The people before us did the whole bathroom in the tan (or whatever you call it...) color for fixtures. We've been slowly switching them out/making them blend better. Not sure if we will get all the way done, but we've at least tied them all together with white since I feel that white is a "cleaner" look for a bathroom than tan.

The Volacno

2010-11-13T10:41:00.001-05:00

The Volcano at the Mirage....not too exciting.

Bellagio Fountains

2010-11-13T10:26:00.003-05:00

This is a really long clip...over 3 minutes. It was just so beautiful, well, I just couldn't really figure out a time to stop recording...so, here you go!

(On a karma note...it took me FOREVER to upload to my blog, so I guess that's fair since it will take you a long time to watch it)

They have a different song with different water effects each time, so it's a "new" experience over and over again.

Freemont Street vidoes

2010-11-12T23:22:00.002-05:00

The flying bats on Freemont Street

A little Queen for your listening pleasure...

And it's only fitting that since we were there around Halloween, we add a little Rocky Horror your way! :)

Bellagio

2010-11-08T21:43:00.003-05:00

Viva Las Vegas: Day 3

2010-11-08T20:07:00.005-05:00

Day 3 involved a lot of walking...again! Good thing I enjoy it or else the sore feet would have been worse than what they were. Jason felt it important to take the monorail to the end of the strip, The Sahara, and walk back. We stopped in at Circus Circus (run down), The Rivera (got a free deck of cards) and just were tuckered out. So, we napped to save up strength to make it to Freemont Street in the evening. Oh boy oh boy...was that a crazy place to be!

Now we don't have to go to France. Good thing since I only made it to year two in French class. "Bon jour...j'mappelle Debra...et toi?"

The Wynn/Encore is quite possibly, one of the nicest hotels we saw while we were there. Just beautiful decor on the inside, especially the Encore.

And even those this was on Day 2, it was past midnight (in our normal time zone), so it counts for Day 3. We went to Serendipity, on the advice of a co-worker who was later chastised for his advice, for dessert. This is our $10 piece of peanut butter pie. Not so good. It was dry, so we ordered a $4 scoop of vanilla ice cream. I guess you are paying for the novelty. Tell Denise that, who paid $14 for foot long hot dog (saw advertisements for the same thing down the street for $2). Oh well, you live and learn. And we had a good time, so that's all that mattered!

Madame Tussauds

2010-11-08T19:56:00.002-05:00

Viva Las Vegas: Day 2

2010-10-31T22:53:00.010-04:00

So the day starts by us just barely missing the shuttle from our hotel to the Strip. Jason, in typical fashion, says, "I can see the hotels/casinos from here...we can walk it". I respond, "Remember when we were in Chicago and you said that since we could see the Sears Tower, we could walk it? You can see the Sears Tower from Wisconsin!".

Since I enjoy walking, I don't mind to hoof it. Besides, it is a great way to burn off some calories and I know we will be eating a lot on this trip! So, off we started trekking. Ever 5 minutes or so, I keep saying, "Sears Tower". I am going to guess that in total that day, we must have walked close to 7 miles. Thankfully, we lucked out weather-wise the whole time we were there. It was around 70 during the day and in the high 50s/low 60s at night. Just perfect for a light coat/sweatshirt.

Jason outside Cesar's Palace. This place was insanely huge! They had multiple towers, it had gigantic/enormous fountains. It was just over the top!

A view of the skyline

Hello Statue of Liberty

We went through A LOT of hotels/casinos and we also got a pass for the monorail. At the time, we thought we were quite smart. That is, until we realized that a bus pass is not only cheaper, but also is more direct. Anyway, we learned that the next day. We checked out the Bellagio (insanely gorgeous...see slide show in next posting), the Venetian (hoitey toitey), the MGM Grand, and a few others that went by in a blur.

Who can resist a picture with a giant stripper?

We found M&M World in the middle of the Strip. 4 floors of all things M&M. And, might I add, a little over-priced. But, it was quite cool to see ALL of the things that they came up with related to M&Ms. The sign is made out of M&Ms.

Viva Las Vegas: Day 1

2010-10-31T20:28:00.005-04:00

Just got back from a few days in Vegas...wow, time flies there! The whole purpose was to meet up with Denise and Jason, who were there from Hawaii for a bowling tourney. It was almost an exact 1/2 way point. So now that we are back, I will recap our trip.

We lucked out and had pretty good seats for both of our flights to Vegas. We used miles, so our tickets were free! :)

We stayed at the Gold Coast...it is off the strip, but it's right next to the Rio and right across from the Palms. We got the "premium" room (we didn't pay for airfare, so why not splurge on the room) and the bed was comfortable. Poor Jason was dead dog tired when we got there since he worked the night before and we flew out in the morning.

We met up with Denise and Jason (who were kind enough to give us two of their meal coupons for the buffet, had lunch (way too many calories), and then took a quick nap before we went to see Penn and Teller at the Rio. How lucky were we that it was right next door and we could walk, saving on cab fare (did I mention that Jason and I realized we were cheap b*stards and finally realized that this trip?) This photo is off the internet.

This is the only picture I could take inside their theater. The show was quite good. I enjoy the sarcastic humor! The waters we purchased went against our cheap ways, but we were "thirsting" to death...$4/bottle! Goodness!

After that, I think Jason may have played some slots, then we went to bed, awaiting our next day of entertainment in Vegas. I will be posting more later.

Move over Disney...

2010-10-18T20:14:00.007-04:00

Move over Disney! Bronner's Christmas Wonderland (Frankenmuth, MI) is the happiest place on earth. I'm looking a little, not a lot, "hot mess", but oh well :) I had a great time looking for ornaments and swearing seven ways to Sunday that Jason had been to Bronners before, then I remembered he really hadn't, but I had called (calling/ being there...it's an honest mistake) him last time I went, so that's why I thought he had gone with me. I was woman enough to admit my mistake and apologized for being wrong.

Jason and I were in MI this past weekend to see my Grampa since it's be awhile. While that part of the trip wasn't the greatest (he's not doing so well at all...but the man is 97 years old so he gets some special considerations), we did have a nice weekend.

We stayed in a hotel for the first time with Zoey. We were concerned that she was going to "mark" her territory, but she was a dream the whole visit and we didn't need to use the SpotBot that we brought along just in case. We went to Bronners, we went to Birch Run (large outlet shopping mall), we did a lot of walking, we got to eat at Big Boy (not quite how I remember it tasting), we got Slurpees (no 7 Elevens in OH), and I got to spend an hour with my Gramps. We got a lot done in a short amount of time!

Sun and Moon

2010-09-30T19:55:00.002-04:00

The other day, Zoey and I went for a walk around 9 in the morning and what did we see? We saw the sun and the moon out at the same time. How weird that was! You can see the sun a whole lot better than the moon, but if you pay attention, you can see it. I guess my camera phone isn't the best for detail :)

Adorable Zoey

2010-09-27T21:42:00.003-04:00

As we all know, I love my dog. But sometimes, her cuteness is just too much. Not too sure if you can see it, but I was talking to her and she took her paw and hooked it behind her ear as if to say..."I can't hear you and I don't want to". I mean, for real? If you don't want to listen, at least get up and walk away...don't just lay there and plug your ear :)

Golf Outing 2010

2010-09-27T21:25:00.007-04:00

Jason's company hosts a golf outing each year and this year was no exception. Thank goodness some industries are still doing okay in this crappy economy we have. Anyway, he and Matt took the time for some "male bonding" to not only play some golf, but to celebrate Jason's birthday.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed at the beginning of the day. Not only that, but hopefully that he, Jason, Master Golfer (Wii golfer, not real life golfer), can bring home the hole in one $25,000 prize. I mean, he does it on the TV so why not on the course :)

What's that...is that a ball almost close to the pin on the $25,000 hole? I think it must be.

And look who that ball belonged to...Matt. Not Jason, Master Golfer.

Jason's ball didn't even get close enough to take a picture of it, so he settled for a picture with the sign. I still love him even if he is not Michelle Wie...LOL!

Well, even though neither was a good enough golfer to win the $25K, they still had a grand old time playing golf ALL day. Since there were 32 teams of 4, it took 7+ hours to complete 18 holes. And on top of that, they had a dinner to go to afterwards. A very long day for my 9-hole (self declared) golfer husband. He at least won 4 rounds of golf for free, so with a buddy named Matt, they can go 2 more times.

Fence

2010-09-14T21:14:00.003-04:00

Ignore the dead looking grass...it has been a really hot summer and we didn't want to waste H2O or $ on watering the grass. Anyway...here is a bird's eye view (from the one of the 2nd floor bedrooms) of our great new fence that went up on August 30th.

The first time I let Zoey out with the fence up, she walked around quickly, looking up in the air, trying to figure out what the heck happened to her backyard. You can see that there is a bunch of open grass behind our fence (we've dubbed it the back 40) and she was used to having the run of the place. I have to tell you, it is VERY nice to just open the slider, let her out, and go do other things while she putters around! I do miss the open feel, but it is nice and convenient to just let her out.

Sexy

2010-09-09T19:43:00.002-04:00

Who's that sexy man wearing women's sunglasses?

When Jason went to the eye doctor in August to see if he was a candidate for Lasik (he is), he soon realized that his sunglasses were not substantial enough to keep his eyes from hurting (they have to dilate your eyes and it sucks!). I offered up mine since they are quite a bit larger than his and surprisingly, he took me up on it, but only when we were in the car. I don't think he will be wearing them again in the near future (just a guess by the look on his face).

Purple flowers everywhere

2010-09-06T22:13:00.007-04:00

I don't think my cell phone has the resolution that I was looking for when I took these photos today. You can sort of see that our favorite nature preserve is a field of purple. I don't ever remember it looking like this, so we had to capture a photo of it. I think Zoey was more excited about going on a walk and didn't really care about the beautiful fields of purple, but we can pretend, right :)

At least it wasn't too hot out today. This long weekend turned out to have some very nice weather. Which sort of made up for a crappy weekend. Our yard sale on Saturday was a bust. We didn't even clear 100 together, let alone separately. We were not productive on the house this weekend, along with some other problems. Here's to a better week and a better weekend next weekend!

No Fence

2010-08-30T21:43:00.002-04:00

It only took 5 months of dealing with the HOA to be granted permission to put up our fence. I think 5 months is a reasonable amount of time...don't you agree? Blah on them on their slow time table!

Anyway, this is the "before" picture of our backyard. Tomorrow at this time, we should have a shiny, 6 foot fence in our backyard, keeping the neighbors dogs (and their poo), out of our yard. I can hardly wait. And, then Jason is planning on moving our grill outside, we are going to get a rototiller, plant some gardens, and even get ready to plant some veggies next year. A friend was kind enough to get me some grade A compost from the horse farm, so once we mix that in, we are good to go. Maybe next year you will see a link for "Debra's Free Veggies" because my plants will be so fruitful. Fingers crossed!

5 years

2010-08-20T06:02:00.002-04:00

10 years ago, on August 19th, 2000, Jason and I went out on our first date (shopping in Lansing). It has been love ever since :) And today, we celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary (I picked our wedding date as close as I could to help Jason with ease of remembering) by going to the eye doctor together. If that's not a romantic way to spend time together, I don't know what is!

Best cutter ever

2010-08-20T05:38:00.003-04:00

I got the best fruit and veggie cutter EVER! I was actually looking for just a strawberry cutter. I was at Target and I looked down and saw this cutter...this amazing cutter. It, of course, was a Michael Graves cutter. The price was a bit steep ($17), but I figured if I hated it, I could return it.

Let me tell you...this thing rocks. It cuts everything! It cuts kiwi, strawberries, bananas, tomatoes, cucumber, my fingers...all sorts of stuff. I am so excited about it, I am going to buy another one for Maysville!

An example of the great fruit salad I made with my AWESOME cutter!

Aren't they cute

2010-08-20T05:32:00.002-04:00

Ha...I was smarter than they were this time! Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me! Every time Max and/or Macy come to visit, they do something to my bedding. They've puked on it, they've had wet foofies (butt related), they've done everything. And each time they leave, I end up getting something new to replace the destruction they've left in their wake. Not this time buddy....I was on top of my game and covered my very nice pink and green and white coverlet with a heavy blanket. Ha! Take that!

On a side note, don't they all look cute together with their little haircuts? Jason was brave enough to take them all to the groomer on Tuesday. I came home to freshly trimmed dogs :)

4 legged guests

2010-08-17T21:17:00.004-04:00

Zoey says the only good thing about having her cousins visit is that she can steal their blue thing that comes with chicken in it. Now, she hasn't figured out how to get it out, but damn it, she surely is not going to let Max or Macy have it. She has been guarding it since the day they arrived!

We have some guests this week...of the 4-legged variety. They go by the names of Max and Macy. Or, depending on our moods, The Hell Hounds, Cujo and Mad Dog, etc. You get the picture. Anyway, they are our guests and we are enjoying having them here (I am lying...). I told Megan that one has to go through Purgatory to get to Redemption. So, having her dogs is Purgatory and she can Redeem herself by watching Zoey in the future! :)

Just Macy. I was trying to get her making her crazy noises, but I was unsuccessful.

Max and Macy together. They don't know many tricks.

Ouch

2010-07-27T22:23:00.004-04:00

All I am going to say is OUCH! Jason and I went for walk mid-afternoon yesterday, I wore a different style of tank top, and we were only out for 1 hour...tops. Who would have ever thought that this is what I would end up with. Damn...! I mean, the weather here has been so oppressively hot that on the one nice day this month we took the opportunity to enjoy it and I end up burned. It hurt so bad today I seriously contemplated (but took no action) taking off my bra at work (I do wear a sweater every day so it's not as if people would have known). I mean...it REALLY hurt. I would never even consider doing anything as risque as that normally.

All I can hope for now is that it turns into a tan and doesn't peel because that would suck.

She deserved to be on the cover

2010-07-22T23:00:00.001-04:00

I found this random website that allows you to upload photos and turn them into magazine covers. Of course I had to try it...so I made Gram famous (as she was to us)!

Zoey Face

2010-07-22T22:11:00.002-04:00

This is the face I wake up to each and every morning. With that staring back at you, and the bed vibrating since her tail is wiggling a mile a minute, how can you not start the day off right? As you can see, Miss Zoey likes to sleep with her head on a pillow. Lucky for her that Jason and I sleep in shifts or she wouldn't get her demands. If Jason ever stops working 3rd, I am not sure what Zoey will do. I think we will either have to up-size to a California King or put a twin bed next to ours so she can have her own space.

Golf...finally

2010-07-17T17:14:00.003-04:00

Ever since we moved back to the mainland, Jason's golf frequency has taken a nose dive. Last year, he only went out once (I think) and that was for the annual Golf Event that his company sponsored. He realized that if he wanted to even have a respectable score at this year's event, he needed to get out a little bit more. So, lucky for him, Matt was willing to drive up from Kentucky and they played 18 holes this morning. Or maybe I shouldn't say lucky since when he got home, he informed me that between when we left Hawaii and now, he got old and he is a 9 hole golfer, not an 18...LOL!

For those that don't know, Jason shaved his head for the summer months. Each week, he asks me to shave his head so the stubble doesn't get too long :)

From where I am standing, he still looks like he can fake the funk...doesn't look any different from the pictures he used to bring home from the golf course before.

All in all, he and Matt had a good time and I think they are going to golf again next month in preparation for the big Outing in September. After all, Jason's company is sponsoring a huge money hole and both of them have their eyes on it...

Gotta love Lowe's

2010-07-12T23:07:00.005-04:00

As you may or may not know, Jason and I LOVE to shop at Lowe's. It first started as a necessity, but then it became an obsession. Our favorite thing to do is go to the Maysville Lowe's (the Middletown one is junk!) and look for amazing bargains. We have found all sorts of stuff. I have to admit, some stuff we don't really need, but when it's a great deal, hey, why not? I mean, when you can find a handcart (or dolly) for $16 (normally $64), you can't let it pass by. Besides, you never know when you might need one!

So anyway, we were shopping at Lowe's over the the 4th and found this great deal on a shelving unit. It was only $35 (normally around $130). See...great deals. Well, I tell Jason I have to have it. And then, in a moment of clarity, Jason asks me where I planned on putting it. I thought, "Who is this person...this is not the normal Jason who gets caught up in great deal shopping with me and doesn't question the need for it?" Luckily, that fleeting moment of clarity passed for Jason and off he went to get a flatbed cart. Phew...I almost thought I lost my bargain-hunter hubby for a moment. Anyway, as proof of needing this, I told Jason I would put it together. Let's just say, easier said than done.

Starting out...all the pieces all over the floor. Good thing I bought myself a drill a few weeks ago. Jason has a tendency of leaving things wherever he used them last, so coming across tools is sometimes a tall order...which is why I have my own drill he is not allowed to touch...so I will always know where it is : )

I got pretty far. But, alas, I am at my stopping point. First, I am sweating like a wh^re in church and second, I need Jason's manly muscles for squishing the stuff together. But, I think once he helps me with that part, I can continue on my quest of putting it together. Hopefully, my next post will show it all nicely decorated.

I tried to get a picture of the sweat, but it just turned out shiny. I am putting the shelf together in one of the spare bedrooms and when they built the house, they should have used two air conditioning units instead of one (cheapies). It always stays cold downstairs but not so much upstairs. Normally, we would put up a ceiling fan...but of all the weird things, they didn't put junction boxes on the ceiling of either the spare bedrooms, so we would have to run electrical to put up ceiling fans. Anyway, time to go get a drink of water!

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-06T22:33:00.004-04:00

Here it is...the FIRST post using the new (now old since we have had it so long) computer! Yay! It only took 3 months...but it feels like 3 years.

Anyway, we traveled down to Lexington to watch the fireworks with Megan, Lindsey, Alberto, and Aiden once again at the Red Mile. A few things to note about this year. Alberto is now a proud social security number carrying member of the United States (go Alberto!!!), the Red Mile sucked (Megan was right), and Aiden is turning out to be a fun kid to interact with (guess that comes with age). I would venture to say the best part of the evening was eating at Olive Garden before the fireworks.

Synopsis of the night: We all met up at the ole OG for dinner. Jason was thrilled because he has been on a very low sodium diet this past week (high blood pressure), so he got to have processed food w/ preservatives. I was happy since I love their Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. Megan was happy to be around me (who wouldn't), and Lindsey and Alberto were happy to be eating at the OG since they love it there as well.

We had a nice dinner, paid our bill, and then drove to the Red Mile, looking forward to sitting in the stands, as we have done the past two years. We pay our $5 to park, and then are informed that the grandstand is closed this year....WTF? So, being unprepared to sit on the ground, we park anyway, root around in the car, find a blanket (thanks Fidelity and Sandy for giving it to me), and then use the sun shades as a "blanket" as well. As we are enjoying our evening, more and more people are arriving. We were one of the first, so we pulled up to the fence line and were the first row. Then these slackers come up to our grass (yes, I know, I don't OWN it, but damn it, I got there first) and take our good viewing spaces. The best part of the night for me was when I gave Aiden my crank flash light and let him play with it. I tell you what, that kid loved the flashlight and loved that it had a crank on it. He wasn't sharing that "toy" with anyone! :)

Jason on the sun shades...I think he was tired.

Megan playing her game on her phone that she is addicted to.

Needless to say, we will NOT be watching at the Red Mile next year. I guess all good things end, so we will just look forward to our new venue.

This one is about a minute long. I don't have a zoom on my camera, you have to take what you get.

This one is shorter.

Strange bedfellows

2010-06-21T12:31:00.003-04:00

Sometimes sleeping makes for strange bedfellows! Jason seems to be surrounded by dogs. I guess Macy really likes his pillow...so much so that she shares it with him. ;)

Thanks Denise

2010-06-18T17:37:00.004-04:00

My wonderful friend Denise arranged to have some flowers delivered on my birthday! What a wonderful person and what a great surprise. Thank you so much!

Aren't they wonderful? I am so appreciative of her thinking of me...what a buddy, what a pal, what a chum, what a friend :)

Megan's Birthday

2010-06-18T17:28:00.005-04:00

Last year, Megan was kind enough to stop by and see me on my birthday so this year, I figured I would surprise her with a visit to her office! I picked up the ghetto cake from Kroger. I mean, come on...a 7 year old could have made it look nicer than the "professionals" at Kroger. Anyway, the balloons were nice (but how can one really screw up balloons). I worked w/ one of Megan's coworkers/friends to arrange the whole thing and it was a very nice day down in Lexington.

Here is the crappy cake. It was supposed to say, "25, 29, or ? Happy Birthday Megan". This is what I got. No flowers, no decorations, no nothing!

Megan and Chandra getting ready to cut the cake. I am lucky Megan's office is a bit more "visitor friendly" than mine...a lot easier to get in there than it is here :)

I guess it takes really strong women to cut a cake??? Not sure. Either that or they just like to flex...LOL!

After we had cake, I got Megan to leave work early and we did some errands I had to do and then had a nice dinner at Old Chicago Pizza (love their pizza...love it!). Then I had to get back to Maysville since Zoey was waiting on me.

Legally Blonde

2010-06-18T17:16:00.004-04:00

Just because we got a new computer doesn't mean we are quick with getting the internet! Sorry for the delay.

Way back on the 23rd of May, Megan, Lori and I all went to see Legally Blonde at the Arnoff Center in Cincinnati. We had a great time and really enjoyed the show. We had great seats and had a wonderful Sunday afternoon! The only stressful part was the parking garage. The ramp to get in to park was insanely steep and the curve was very hard to negotiate and I thought I was going to scrape up my front end. And that was getting in...all I could think about was the getting out part, which I stressed over the entire production. Come to find out, getting out was easy as pie. Stress for nothing!

The picture of the stage is an "illegally" gotten photo...I tried to take it and was reprimanded by the ushers. Good thing Big Sister was there to get it for me (thanks Megan!).

Door Knobs

2010-06-01T05:12:00.003-04:00

Okay, so the picture doesn't really illustrate what I accomplished this weekend, but, it gives a hint. After many months of not having door knobs on the doors, I finally got around to spraying them and then putting them back on. They were gold and in bad shape. Rather than purchasing all new knobs, I sprayed them silver, then put on some clear coat, then put them back on the doors. Jason then pointed out that I should probably do all of the hinges. That's 2 hinges per door, 2 doors per room... I am never going to be done! :)

New Computer

2010-05-19T18:44:00.002-04:00

Well, phew...we finally got a new computer. We got a great deal on a Toshiba from Best Buy this past weekend. Now all we need to do is set it up. Once we do, watch out, I will be making up for lost time. Watch for some new posts coming soon!

Right before our computer crashed, Jason and I decided to cancel our cable since all we did was watch TV rather than spending time doing more productive things. We decided to be drastic and solve our problem by eliminating it (cancelling cable). Then, the computer crashed and we no longer had the internet. I was telling my friend Lori (from work) about it and she said we were like the Amish. Well, now that we have a computer and soon to have the internet again...we are Amish no more :)

Zoey celebrated her 6th birthday last Thursday, the 13th. I know I started out strong that first year by having a party and all, but life has gotten busier and I have been slacking. Though, I have to say, if Zoey was asked, she would think that this year was an improvement from before b/c instead of getting a dog treat, she got an ENTIRE STEAK all to herself. Jason grilled steaks for himself and Zoey and I got a turkey burger (yum!). So, if Zoey had to choose, I think she would take a steak any day of the week over a gigantic bone "frosted" in dog yogurt that said Happy Birthday!

Irises

2010-05-13T13:19:00.003-04:00

My computer is still dead...but my irises are not! When Jason and I got to our KY house this past weekend, all my flowers were in bloom and I cut some to put them in my vase. Now, of course, I forgot to bring them back with me, but at least I was able to enjoy them for the weekend! :)

DEAD COMPUTER

2010-04-19T09:47:00.001-04:00

My computer is dead...there will be no posts for awhile until we get it fixed or get a new one. But, that will be soon (hopefully)...so fingers crossed.

Winter 2009

2010-04-06T23:20:00.002-04:00

Found these photos on the camera...from this winter when we got dumped on with the snow.

Fireplace

2010-04-06T22:56:00.006-04:00

Let me first start by saying, my original intention with the fireplace was to strip the paint and refinish the wood. Now, let's move on to the actual outcome since I was unsuccessful at my goal.

Jason and I repainted the fireplace a sharp white to make it look clean and modern. A much better look compared to the half stripped version that has been around since last year.

All done, paint wise. Nice and clean. And, we even removed that horrible cover and cleaned out the inside.

A sample of the tile Jason is going to be using...looks fine to me.

Holy Shit! Is that really my fireplace? You have got to be joking me. They even did decorative tile, like I really wanted but Jason told me no. I think it looks AMAZING. I am so excited. And they are even building a little box so we can put candles in it. I am not going to want to sell the house now that we finally are getting some where on it.

Bathroom Reno...finally

2010-04-06T22:48:00.004-04:00

Jason's cousin is my new personal hero...thank goodness he decided to come for a visit this week and lend some of his skill to our NEVER ENDING home renovation. I will be FOREVER grateful to him. Yes, the walls are disgusting, but that's b/c they had tile on them all the way up. Let's concentrate on the floors.

Looks like we are getting some backer board down in preparation for the tiles.

And we have tiles! I showed Jason a few that I liked and let him pick out which ones he wanted to buy. I figured he needed to have some decision making capabilities for this project...but it is killing me not to control it!

Will wonders never cease...all this progress in less than one full day. May I reiterate my previous statement...thank goodness for Dillon (I hope I spelled his name correctly).

We might actually have a chance in hell of getting our house on the market in 2009. I know that was the goal, but we set goals each year and NEVER meet them, so it wasn't really a realistic goal. I think we actually have a shot with Dillon's help. On top of that, Jason has committed to taking one weekend off a month to come back to Maysville to help with the house, so we truly might make it. If anyone has any talents with remodeling, you know you always have a place to stay and we will feed you (maybe even pay for your gas to get to our house...depends on skill set though!) :)

Credentials

2010-04-05T16:50:00.002-04:00

That's my Jason...always camera friendly! This is him, in the car this weekend, right after we picked up his "credentials". He finalized his previous hours from his first college foray as well as having to take a few more and now has his Associates in Science. I am proud of him for finishing and am really hoping that when he moves on to getting a Bachelor of Whatever, I don't have to be part of it. While I liked learning about Appalachia, I was not a fan of Economics (since I know NOTHING and was of no assistance). He's been talking about a few different colleges to attend and I really hope he does since his company has a 90% reimbursement program. Maybe the next picture will be of him in his cap and gown walking during graduation.

Making sleepies

2010-04-05T16:44:00.003-04:00

Miss Zoey-licious has become a tad bit spoiled. I recently got her hair cut, thinking warm weather was just around the corner. Well, it was, for a day or two. Then it got a might bit cold for a spell. During that spell, Miss Licious had the shivers when she made sleepies in the big bed. So, I crossed the line I said I would never cross (mind you, there have been a few of those...starting with letting her even sleep on the bed, then not making her stay at the foot of the bed, then allowing her to sleep with her head on a pillow). I now allow her to sleep under the covers so she doesn't get cold. Thank goodness it is up in the high 70s this week, or we would still be snuggle buddies. Before you know it, she will be sitting on a chair at the table with her own place setting...

Old roof

2010-03-21T14:16:00.003-04:00

We are getting a new roof! Woo hoo! There was wind damage this winter and it was bad enough that the insurance company agreed to replace our roof. Jason was a good "wheeler and dealer" that he worked out a deal w/ Lowe's (they have a promotion w/ gift cards for 3-dimensional shingles) where it will cost the same for 3-dimensional as it would for 3-tab. So, now I just have to decide on the color and then either this week or next week they will replace my roof...which will increase the value and be more appealing when we get ready to sell this thing.

Slick new ride

2010-03-21T14:07:00.003-04:00

Alas, we were lucky enough to find Jason another "grandma" car, though not from my grandma. He is now the proud owner of a 2002 Mercury Sable. The only thing it is missing, in our opinion, is a moon roof. But, beggars cannot be choosers. It only has 66K miles on it and this one actually has a CD player, though I am quite bummed it doesn't have a tape player since I still have tapes I listen to (hair bands anyone?). Jason really likes driving it since it has key less entry (that works), the seats are a little more ergonomic, and the interior lights actually work at night so he can see how fast he is going (we did have one of those hockey puck pop lights in the Lumina...you could click it on when you wanted to see your speed). All in all, he is happy with his new car, but he does miss Loomie. No car payment and cheap insurance are a thing of the past now.

Please ignore suburbia in the background. Yes, we live in a subdivision and we are not proud of it. :(

Jason went to traffic court last week. He was originally scheduled on Monday and his name didn't show up on the docket. We were quite excited b/c if it doesn't show up for 30 days, then it's a dead ticket. Unfortunately, it showed up for Wednesday. Jason went in, told the judge his side (the fact that he was the ONLY one ticketed for hitting someone when the gal in front of him hit someone as well) and the judge reduced the cost of the ticket. But, with court costs, it all worked out to be the same cost. He did end up pleading No Contest, and by not paying the ticket (which would have been admitting guilt), he was able to get that legally entered. So, he now has some points on his license, we have an "at-fault" accident on our insurance, and the costs will be doubling next time we pay our premiums. Yay for accidents!

A funny thing happened on the way to the...

2010-03-21T14:01:00.004-04:00

As you know, Jason was in a car accident on a Wednesday. Well, that Friday, he borrowed my car and went to a dealership to look at a prospect. He had dropped me off at work and since I was going to Newport on the Levee w/ Lori after work (she was driving and then dropping me off at home), he kept the car to go to his sleep study that night. I wake up Saturday morning, happy as a clam, and as Jason and I are headed out the door on errands, he hands me a piece of paper and says, "Here. Here's the info on the guy who backed into your car yesterday". I of course think Jason is joking. I mean, isn't that something you would tell someone the day of and not forget it till the next day. So, I call him on it. Jason promises me that he's not kidding and I should go see for myself. Yep...clear as day...someone hit my car at the dealership when Jason was there. New rule: Jason is not allowed to drive my car. :)

Now I have to deal with the guy's insurance to get this fixed...which means that I won't have a car while it's getting painted. Which means a rental car. I hate rental cars. I surely better not have to pay for it.

Close up of the scrape. I guess the guy was backing up and his bumper went up over our bumper, then scraped up the paint as he came down. Not a good week for Jason.

Weirdest Show EVER

2010-03-21T11:52:00.002-04:00

Last month, it was Wicked. This month, it was "The Aluminum Show" (TAS). I must say, Wicked rocked over the one this month for the pure fact that TAS was the weirdest, strangest, most bizarre thing I have ever seen. It was just flat out weird. The opening segment was people in gigantic dryer vents gyrating on stage, moving here and there, and eventually "birthing" a mini dryer vent that moved across the stage on a pulley system. There was another segment where they had a black wall, with dryer vent sock puppets, that kept punching out of the holes, singing "Paradise City" by Guns-N-Roses, some ABBA, and a vast variety of songs. There was also a segment that included blowing up HUGE silver pillows and throwing them into the audience. I got beaned in the head a few times...ouch!

We were in the front row, so I couldn't really take any photos w/ my phone w/o being noticed. I was only able to get photos at the end. I will just end it with...had I ever had the opportunity to take acid (which I have not), I suspect that this show would be just like an acid trip.

These giant dryer vents dropped down at the end of the show...I guess this is the "curtain".

This is the stuff that they shot out of cannons at us. Very weird.

http://www.aluminum-show.com
If you are interested in seeing more photos or seeing what the heck I am talking about, click on the link and see for yourself...weird!

Girls Day

2010-03-07T23:26:00.008-05:00

Jason's celebration of Girls Day (March 3rd), which was originally reported incorrectly as Boys Day (come on Hawaii people...why didn't you correct me???) was a literal blast...from the airbags as they deployed when the two cars in front of him created a hazard he couldn't avoid. I got a call around 8:30 in the morning from Jason telling me he was in an accident. Thankfully, he was not hurt. But, poor Loomie cannot say the same. Since we only carried liability on it, and the cost to re-pack airbags in insane, not to mention the fact we would have had to replace the windshield, we sold it to a scrap man. It was a sad day.

Now, we are on the hunt for an economical, not too high mileage, car for Jason. Thankfully, Matt is loaning us the Altima so we don't have to rent a car. Thanks Matt!

Wish us luck as we try to fight the good fight and get Jason absolved of responsibility for the accident. I feel so low class saying we have a court date next Monday, but hey, we do. Hopefully the traffic judge sees it our way and cancels out Jason's ticket and puts full responsibility on the middle car...which was a Lexus.

You can see the front end damage. The white powder is from the airbags deploying.

Jason said that if there had been a passenger, the windshield probably would have been fine. But since there wasn't a person there to absorb the impact, it went up into the windshield and broke that.

The Firefighters had a very complex way to put the airbags back...Duct Tape!

I am just happy that all I saw were photos...not in person.

Shadowbox Cabaret

2010-03-07T00:12:00.002-05:00

Back in October, Kwana, Lori and I went to see a Shadowbox Cabaret show (sort of like Saturday Night Live...they have skits and also cover songs) ...their Halloween themed one. I wasn't that impressed, they had some funny skits and some of their songs were good, but I didn't really ever plan on going back. But, when I got a call that I could go to another show for a very low ticket price, I asked Lori and off we went to Newport on the Levee. The theme for this show, since it is their one they start right before Valentine's Day, is about love and relationships. I think that they found their niche...this one was HILARIOUS! And, they had some awesome songs. We had a really great time and had better seats than last time.

Sorry my photos are not closer...I haven't exactly mastered my new phone. "Keep your hands to yourself" by Georgia Satellites is the song that they were singing when I took the photo. They did an AWESOME cover!

You can never go wrong when you hear, in pitch darkness...Shot through the heart and you're to blame!. I mean really, Bon Jovi is legendary :)

Aidan is getting to be a super cute kid

2010-02-27T23:23:00.003-05:00

My friends, Lindsey and Alberto, have a super cute kid! Here he is with Manny, a family member's dog. I went down to Lexington this weekend to help Megan out with some stuff and had the opportunity to catch up with my friends from the farm. Aidan is at the "interactive" stage and Lindsey was telling me how he has been dying to get outside and play. Well, looks like she let him and he found a friend to sit with in the dirt. I am sure that's all a little boy could ask for!

New Lamps

2010-02-27T23:19:00.002-05:00

For the first time in my life, I finally have lamps that match each other! Woo hoo! I have Target to thank for my achievement. I have been looking for lamps that I like, at a cost that I like, and have been unsuccessful, until now. Jason and I were are Target the other day, wandered back to the clearance area, and found a 3 pack of lamps, with shades, on clearance for $20.99. Well, you cannot beat that price, so I got a box and liked them so much, my loving husband went out the next day in an "Ohio Blizzard" and got another box for me since they were such a great deal. They are great and they work perfect for what we need them for now. While they are not the highest grade of workmanship, they fit the bill for now and I am happy with them. Thanks Target!

Wicked

2010-02-27T22:37:00.002-05:00

I will be forever grateful to Lori's mom for going to Florida. Because of her trip, I was able to use her ticket and go see Wicked in Dayton with Lori for free! :) I had tried to get tickets for Jason, Megan and I, but they were insanely expensive and the seats available were horrible.

And, since Lori's mom is a season ticket holder, we had kick ass seats...front row, almost center, first level up. Way better than if we were on the ground floor.

You cannot really tell, but what you are seeing is the Time Dragon on the top on the stage, framing it (it has it's wings spread) and the curtain is a map of Oz, with the Emerald City in green and the person talking is welcoming all of us to enjoy the show.

The Time Dragon has its eyes lit up and you can see the audience as well...not a great environment for picture taking (especially when you are trying to be discreet so you don't get kicked out!)

The Annual Hockey Game

2010-02-27T22:35:00.003-05:00

Once again, Jason made it to Columbus with Matt to catch the Sabres lose. Whenever Jason attends a game, they lose...maybe he should just watch from home. I think that Jason is flashing back to Hawaii w/ the shaka sign and some ass in the background thought it was funny to give him bunny ears...must be a Columbus fan and not a Buffalo fan. Anyway, Jason enjoyed going to see his team, even if they were not victorious!

The hockey game...where the action takes place.

Jason's cohorts in crime...Matt and Brett. I believe they all had a good time while they were there.

SNOW

2010-02-20T23:00:00.003-05:00

Can I just tell you how much snow we've received so far in February! I feel like I've moved to Canada...we have been inundated with the white stuff! I think we have at least 3 feet. It's crazy...thankfully, this weekend it has warmed up and some of it is melting. Good thing b/c Zoey, while she is a snow-lover, is getting sick of freezing her girl parts when she has to go potty. Jason shoveled her some trails in the back yard, but she doesn't like to be confined to just those areas, so she takes it upon herself to go bounding into the "back 40" to broaden her area of available potty places. Poor puppy has taken a few diggers in the snow and came up looking like a snow dog. I think it's cute...Zoey not so much.

Treadmill

2010-02-20T22:55:00.003-05:00

I finally got my Christmas present! Jason's gift to me this year was any piece of fitness equipment that I wanted. I chose a treadmill. I have to admit, I do struggle with decision making in situations like this one. I have this fear that I will choose the "wrong" thing and be stuck with it. I remember back when I was in Jr. High and my mom said I could pick what I wanted for my birthday...it took me almost a whole nother year to figure out I wanted roller blades! So, I guess I can be thankful this was a speedy decision. I selected a Nordic Track and since I purchased it online...I got an ebate! Jason had a small mishap putting it together, so we had to wait for a replacement part to come in the mail, which it did yesterday and I finally got to use it today. It is so nice to have it in the house...I hope I get miles of use out of it!

100k

2010-02-06T10:06:00.002-05:00

Well, it FINALLY happened...Jason rolled 100K miles in the Lumina on Friday. We never thought that we were going to get there, but we finally did. It only took us just shy of 4 years to do it. I think, when we bought the car, it only 24K or some absurdly low number like that and since we use that car to drive all over tarnation, it just racked up the miles. Not bad for a 1997 car!

Thanks Ryan

2010-02-02T22:25:00.004-05:00

Good Job Ryan!

As you might know... I have been having really bad computer issues. I have either a virus or malware and it is forcing my computer to randomly shut down and there was no way that I knew to stop it. It was INSANELY FRUSTRATING. Well, with my awesome cousin Ryan's help, he has enabled me to stop the shut down so I can continue working on whatever I am working on. While we still haven't been successful at finding what the problem is, I think we will and look forward to not having to deal with this anymore. I am so thankful I have such a wonderful cousin who will take time out of his busy life to help me out. Ryan is great! :)

Deer

2010-02-02T22:20:00.003-05:00

Zoey and I visited the Preserve this past weekend. Maysville had a ton more snow that Middletown did, which was surprising since, if you consider the geography, KY is south of OH (thanks Captain Obvious). Anyway, with all of the snow, it must have forced the deer out in the open. We saw two different sets. One while we were on our walk and the second as we were driving away. Zoey tried to chase the first set...much to her dismay, they were speedy little suckers. She was left with a fleeting image of a big, white, fluffy tail. The second time, she was trapped in the back of the car and had zero chance of getting them so she didn't even try.

Bad computer

2010-01-29T12:02:00.001-05:00

Sorry there haven't been updates...I am having major computer issues and I can't get my computer to stay on long enough to run my anti-virus...so I haven't even attempted to update the blog. Hopefully my outstanding cousin who is a genius can help me out...if not, I think a computer purchase is in my future. Blah! :(

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Macy is visiting

2010-01-19T20:02:00.002-05:00

I will be the first to admit that having a dog around makes me more comfortable, especially when I visit the KY house. Since I was going from Megan's house to my house, I didn't have Zoey and thought the next best thing was Macy. Megan was kind enough to lend her to me for the week. Zoey is not of the opinion that it was kind. Zoey is so irritated in fact, she made shi-shi on the carpet as a statement to her discontent. Did I ever share that Jason and I are convinced that Zoey is a revenge pee-er? We think she only ever goes potty in the house to get revenge on us for whatever misgiving we may have caused her. Well, in this case, Jason made the grave error of laying on the bed with Macy. Zoey came in, looked at them, and then squatted on the floor and made shi-shis to let Jason know just how much she doesn't appreciate Macy getting "her" attention. Poor Jason lost his cookies while cleaning it up :) LOL!

She is a cute little nugget. You almost cannot tell she is an anxiety ridden spaz who can't ever calm down...well, that is, unless she is away from Megan, then she is cool as a cucumber.

Macy lounging on top of the couch in Maysville. You can see Jason got a start on skim coating the living room there. Start is the key word...never finished.

Yay for Lasik

2010-01-19T19:52:00.003-05:00

Yay for Lasik! I can see without contacts now...Woo Hoo! I FINALLY qualified for Lasik, after 3 years of trying. When I saw my eye doctor on the 14th of December, he told me I could see Lasik doctors to see if I was a candidate. I wasted no time and set up appointments with three different doctors, two in Cincy and with Megan's doctor in Lexington. Well, I guess the saying, "birds of a feather" holds true for family b/c I selected Megan's doctor (Dr. Dudee, pronounced Do dee). And, I was lucky enough that Megan was willing to take a day off from work so that I could get Lasik. She was very nice to me and made me healthy food and I greatly appreciate it.

A close up of "before". Had to get proof in case of needing to sue them if they made me blind. That was my greatest fear...going blind.

My eye afterward. I sent out a text to Jason and my mom that this is the result of what Megan does to me when we are alone...she beats me up like when we were kids. LOL! The yellow is the sterilization stuff they put on my eye and the tear is actually a drop I just put in my eye. Ha ha.

Don't be jealous of my sexy eye goggles I am supposed to be wearing when I sleep (which I don't). As you can see...my tooth got fixed on last Monday (Lasik was last Thursday) and you can't even tell it was ever broken. Just like my eyes!

My vision, as of last Friday, is 20/20 in my right eye and 20/25 in my left eye. So, there is already a HUGE improvement. They said it should keep getting better. I have a follow up this Thursday to see where I am at. I am glad that I did it, but I don't think I would go thru it again. The whole flap cutting thing on my eyeball was quite uncomfortable. Good thing they give you a Valium and numbing drops for your eyes.

Fugly curtains and love for Jason

2010-01-19T19:49:00.002-05:00

I must love my husband a WHOLE LOT because I have sacrificed a beautiful bedroom for him. Jason sleeps during the day and the light, wispy, whimsical curtains that I normally love hanging don't work for him..."Too much light comes in Debra". So, I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and bought some god awful curtains that advertise the blockage of 99.7% of light. I tried to find the most attractive of their offerings, but you don't get a wide selection. Anyway, here are the fugly curtains we have in our bedroom, all because of Jason. No bitterness whatsoever :)

Purple Hooter anyone

2010-01-19T19:46:00.002-05:00

I flew however many thousands of miles for two things...to see Denise and to drink PURPLE HOOTERS from the Mai Tai bar at Ala Moana Shopping Center! Well, I am sure I had more than 2 reasons, but the drink was a top priority. I have not found anywhere that can make a purple hooter like they do. Too bad they were so expensive or I would have had a few more. Denise cut me off. This was taken on the day I got the call about if I wanted to see my Gram alive, I should get home that day. So, needless to say, a good time for a drink.