Monday, August 24, 2009

A women's job is ....

What is that old saying? "A woman's job is never done?" or is "there is no such thing as man's work?" I don't know which ever it is I have an answer for it.

Today I decided to get my hands dirty and get started on a project from my to do list. This is a picture from the house of five on Cambridge Drive sidewalk.

These bushes are horrible. They need to be freshened up.

This is what they look like now:

I guess you might say I got a little carried away!

Oops.....

In all fairness I think they look 100 times better!

Look at the roots on those babies!

I am in need of a major tub soak tonight!


So now what is a girl to do?

You'll see in a few days when my body recovers from today. I have a few more days of work and then I'll have the big reveal. Enjoy your evening, I am off to the tub for a good soaking!



Thursday, August 20, 2009

whats done is done....

Time has told it version of a story, now I am telling mine. I posted about a tough tennis decision I was having in June. I knew this day was coming. I have just been trying to out run it. Truth be told I am not really that great or fast of a runner.

I have always known in the back of my mind a spot wouldn't be held for me. WHY would it? I have always believed that those women who say they are my friends didn't really mean it....

What's done is done....TENNIS....I QUIT TENNIS!!!!
OK so maybe I never physically said that 4 letter word Quit, but there is no longer a spot for me to play my favorite past time.


I get it, no one cares about this but me, but I just quit the one thing that I love more than words can describe. This means nothing to anyone but me, but I just quit the game/activity that was only about me and not my family or children. I quit the only form of exercise I have ever truly loved! I QUIT TENNIS!!! And the saddest part about it, I really didn't want to!


Who was I kidding? Ass wipe Jason wasn't going to give me what I wanted.


All I had to do was make a phone call that said "I WOULD LIKE TO PLAY NEXT SEASON!"


Have I ever mentioned how stubborn I can be? The words sorry aren't really part of my vocabulary. Oh I am a grudge holder and can easily give the silent treatment for months at a time. I have issues! I think my way is the right way.

It is over...tennis is over.....

All HE had to do was make a phone call that said "I WOULD LIKE YOU TO PLAY NEXT SEASON!"


So who is the winner?
Not me, I just lost my beloved tennis!
Not him, he just lost his court number one doubles player!


5 months ago I angrily walked off the tennis courts from my fifth season of indoor tennis. Frustrated by Jason management, I knew in the back of my mind I was probably playing my last indoor doubles match.

Tired of paying a lot of money to be treated like a second class citizen by dick-wad, I decided to create a test in my head for the people around me. Not a soul knew about this test. I decided to drop of the face of the tennis universe and see if anyone noticed.

Somehow I knew what the answer would end up being. What I didn't realize is how badly it would hurt when no one noticed I was gone.

Today by accident I found out that the new travel season had already started. My spot has been replaced! Today I realized there is no turning back.

So today I am angry!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Schools in session

Today my first born became a second grader! I don't know what is harder to believe, the fact that she is almost 8yrs old or that I am old enough to have a 2nd grader?  Look at those teeth that smile? It is priceless! This is a smile of a girl who loves school! also a smile that is costing $1500!  


Cambridge's crew of kid get's smaller each year. The two oldest went off to the Jr. High this morning. That bus came a whole hour before the elementary's . It was weird to be minus the big girls.   It is hard to believe, but the girl on the end is Gabby's age. She is tiny for her age and Gabby is big. The two boys in the middle are the oldest, Quinn will be in 5th grade he is holding the scooter and Nate who is right beside Gabby will be in 4th grade. Conner and Nicholas on the ends are both 3rd graders, but poor Nicholas (in the orange) was not a happy camper this morning! Ethan is the lone 1st grader (he is in between Gabby & Anna)

Cambridge seems to have all ages and grades covered. Gia and Annabell are the babies at two.   Bella and Matthew are the big 5 year olds who just missed the kindergarten cut off for school. Here then are pretending to be waiting for the bus. School for these two preschoolers starts in 2 weeks. They are both pumped because they are being moved into the 5 day class. This year Bella will add play-n-stay twice a week which will give her the opportunity to eat lunch.

 

 

Have a super day, I am off the the grocery to buy food to feed this crew!

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Thursday, August 13, 2009

life as a volunteer

The kids go back to school tomorrow...at least one of the three do. Number two doesn't start for a good two more weeks. Can't you hear my excitement? Actually I am a bit sad. As much nit picking and fighting that goes on here you'd think I would be more excited but now the reality of a nightly bedtime and homework and a more set schedule makes me sad.

My term as PTO president officially began on July 1st, but last night was the schools first official activity. In all honesty I have been in volunteer mode for weeks getting this ice cream social planned.

Gabby's school has reached just over the 700 mark. That is a lot of ice cream. Two weeks ago I meet with the food guy from the restaurant I work at to price out and than place the order to feed 700 students and there families. On Thursday the ice cream shipment came to the restaurant and I was there to place it in my car and take it off to the school.

This is was 21 cases of ice cream looks like:


Life as a volunteer on a 90° day:



One event down a whole slew more to go....ahhhhh the life of a volunteer!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

a whole lot of nothing...

Today was "Prince Spaghetti Day", only I had a calzone for dinner instead of pasta. Actually every Wednesday night I work at my friends Italian Restaurant as a waitress/hostess/salad maker/dish clearer/phone answerer.

Usually business is decent but yikes tonight it was sooooo slow! The owner and I played games on my i phone for a good two hours just to pass time. At one point he disappeared with the phone only to reappear with these photos.

ENJOY, but keep in mind that boss of mind has a very dry sense of humor!.....




Now I guess you know the secrets what really happens in your favorite restaurant when you walk in and you are the lone customers. Yep, sad but true, a lot of checkers and facebook were played tonight.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

a obsession love of symbols

holy shit oops I mean yeah for me! I finally figured these writing techniques out! Watch out world because I am ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ a new tune. I just ♥♥♥ that I can write with pretty new symbols. My world is starting to look ▲.


Monday, August 10, 2009

weekend get-a-way....

My good friend and I decided we needed a weekend away from stress. We had been racking our brains for a few weeks try to find something cheap and relaxing to do. I came up with the ultimate escape.

Jared has and Aunt and Uncle that live out in the country in the same county as us. It is about a 25 minute drive door to door. They have about 4 acres.

Over the years Uncle Irv has put a lot of extras on the property.   Let's just say there are now more outbuildings then cars. About 5 years ago. He put a huge man made pond and about 3 years ago he put a mini log cabin. This is a view of the property from the cabin. The main house is the smallest of the three buildings.

Below is the "mini" cabin. I decided it would be the ultimate get away. It had almost everything I was looking for. Privacy, no kids and most importantly FREE. The only real thing it lacked was a TV and air conditioning. The fridge was stocked with the essentials for a perfect weekend....beer, wine, and pop!  
 


This is the view of the pond each morning from the cabin. Ahhhh the peace and quiet was glorious. Ever so often you would hear the sound of horses and buggies trotting down the country road.  

Sometimes a girl just needs a break. I had a wonderful two nights away. The second night was one of those evenings you see in the movies. Two girls, drinking on a cabin porch, sitting in rocking chairs talking about love and life.

Today was my catch up day. Unfortunately while the CAT is away the little MICE play. It is quiet amazing just how messy 3 kids, 1 dog and a hubby can be when there is no one around to clean up after them.

I truly hope you had a marvelous weekend, for mine was so close to perfect. Summer's ending way to soon! Weekends like this are almost gone for the year. The next few weeks will all be about getting back into routine and finding balance.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Finish the sentence......

I saw this on Facebook, and thought it would be fun to do and share here. Feel free to copy and paste and post to your blog.

1. I SHOULD LEARN TO: be a better listener

2. I LOVE: my husband and girls

3. PEOPLE WOULD SAY THAT I'M: funny

4. I DON'T UNDERSTAND: why my girls have to fight all the time

5. WHEN I WAKE UP IN THE MORNING: i am still tired

6. I LOST: my first pet when I was 6 months pregnant with my second child

7. LIFE IS: exactly what i was hoping it would be

8. MY PAST TAUGHT ME: to never give up

9. I GET ANNOYED WHEN: things aren't going according to plan

10. I LAUGH THE MOST WHEN: drinking

11. I WISH: i had a million dollars

12. DOGS AND CATS: i hate cats, they freak me out

13. MY CHILDHOOD PETS: were made up in my head

14. I HAVE A LOW TOLERANCE FOR: whiny, loud kids

15. IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: i would pay off my house, buy a new car, fix my roof, save more money for my childrens college future, make a nice donation to our church and help a friend in desperate need

16. I'M TERRIFED OF: getting cancer

17. I'VE COME TO REALIZE: some people and some things are just not worth the stress they cause

18. I AM LISTENING TO: the hum of the computer fan

19. I TALK: most of the time

20. MY GOOD FRIENDS: accept me like i am...faults and all

21. LOVE IS: hard work

22. MARRIAGE IS: forever

23. SOMEWHERE, SOMEONE IS THINKING: how am i going to pay for this

24. I'LL ALWAYS BE: true to myself

25. THE LAST TIME I REALLY CRIED WAS: tubing down the river while camping with the neighbors

26. MY CELL PHONE IS: always with me

27. BEFORE I GO TO BED: i check to make sure all the doors are locked and bolted and that all the lights are off

28. MY MIDDLE NAME IS: jo

29. RIGHT NOW, I AM THINKING: why am i still up

30. TODAY, I: can't wait to be over

31. TOMORROW, I WILL BE: having a girls night with some great friends

32. I REALLY WANT TO: be the best at everything i do

33. I MISS: my grandmothers

34. I FUNCTION ON: 5 to 6 hrs of sleep and a lot of coffee

35. MY MOST TREASURED POSSESSIONS: my wedding ring

36. MY FAVORITE PICTURES: are in my i phone so i can view them at any given moment

37. I SING: all the time and love to harmonize with the radio

38. IF I WERE A CRAYON: i'd want to be a bright, bold color

39. SOMEDAY, I WANT TO TRAVEL TO: italy

40. I AM WEARING: shorts and a t-shirt

41. MY FAVORITE CLASS: accounting

42. MY FAVORITE LANGUAGE IS: italian, it reminds me of my grandma

43. I'M GOING TO MISS: sleeping in when my kids go back to school next week

44. MY PROFILE PICTURE IS: jared and i on our 12th anniversary camping with the kids

45. I NEED: to lose weight

Have a great day....

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

a three year journey.....

Today I have decided to take you into my front door and share with you my colorful, lively household.  


Welcome to Cambridge Drive, the place I call home. In four days we will have bought this house three years ago. We bought this place because of it's lay out and proximity to many important things. (work, school, family)
 


Enter with caution, for we are still a work in progress.
 

 

Before and Afters....
 

 




The house is slowly being marked with little touches of me. It has been a long time coming, but my house is truly becoming our home.

I have no defined type of style. I just see things that I like and try to make it work with what I have. I love to buy things on clearance or retail shops and make them work. The bigger the deal the more excited I get.

This is my new dining room. My CPA hubby laid these beautiful floors for me 1 week before Christmas. This room use to have carpet, wall paper and be the living room/tv room. Did I mention he is a CPA and has no real knowledge on house renovations. It is now quiet possibly one of my favorite rooms in the house.   I love that as soon as you enter our house this is the room that greets you to the left. The blue is so bold and bright and the curtain fabric puts a huge smile on my face daily. The fabric is one of the few items I paid full price for. YIKES....It is the most I have ever paid for fabric, but it was so beautiful I just had to have it. I have sewed every curtain on the main level of this house. It is one of my many pride and joys about living here.
 
I always knew this room was meant to be a dining room. For real, I swear the walls were talking to me the day we walked thru it with our Realtor.  


This is what it looked liked the day we bought it:
 
Wow, I barely even believe the transformation. To think many others walked by with their Realtors and never saw the potential I always knew it could hold.
 
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As you walk into the dining room, you are greeted by my new den. This is were all my blog magic happens. This is the former dining room. It was always to small to be a great dining space, but as a den it is just perfect. I love the chandler and or course the curtains. The best part about those were the price. $4 a yard and they are 100% silk. Oh and the chandler was free from a friend who knew I would give it great love and return it to it's former glory. Total cost $25 and that was for new shades.
  Unfortunately I can't find any pictures of it from the day we moved in, but I can tell you it was in desperate need of TLC. Old tired carpet, nasty 80's wallpaper and heavy drab curtains.

As you leave the den you enter the heart of the home. My kitchen. We have done so much work in here already, but have barely iced the cake. The amount that I still want to do is to much for me to try to take on now. Someday....it will get painted white cabinets and all the counter tops will be replaced, but for now it has only has new floors, new lights, fresh paint and a gloriously beautiful new granite island. Ahhh it is so lovely. And just one day the rest of the kitchen will match that breathtaking island.  

Today Miss Bella is washing the dishing while I snap pictures. The kitchen flows straight into the family room. Since we moved in I can't seem to decide on the furniture or room placement. I not even sure the color is right. I have had 4 different couches and and countless chairs in this room. It still doesn't feel quite right, but that is probably due to all the toys and clutter this room holds. One day my children won't require so much stuff and then I will put more love into it. It has such a pretty fireplace that should be more of a focal point and those walls are screaming hunter or concord green.
 


And to think this is what the kitchen/family room looked like 3 short years ago:
 


 



As you can see, A family of five sure do require a lot of shoes!
 


Thanks for having a look around. Maybe I will get motivated once school gets going and start working on the upstairs projects. Those will be huge transformations when they are 100% completed. I have a horrible feeling that it will be at least 2 more years till I am ready to show you all around upstairs.

"MAY ALL WHO ENTER AS GUESTS, LEAVE AS FRIENDS."