tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-156064402024-03-14T14:49:26.935-04:00Under the QuiltI'm here. You're here. Let's talk amongst ourselves.Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.comBlogger356125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-62165813339198701652009-10-13T22:53:00.002-04:002009-10-13T23:42:30.500-04:00So, yeah...Thought I would write a few blurbs about the goings on around these parts. I started a new job on the weekends. I call it my 6th and 7th day of the work week. Ha! If I don't remain humorous I may just go completely insane. So, yeah. I'm now working seven days a week for an unspecified amount of time. Plus, I took on a side project a couple months ago that I've been mostly procrastinating on and now regretting that I didn't use all of my free time on it. Once I can get that out of the way, my stress level will decrease tremendously. I'm currently sworn to secrecy, but will let y'all know what it is when I'm done. That is unless I'm completely embarrassed by my shotty attempt at writing. In that case, I'll probably just pretend that I never mentioned anything and you all can do the same!<br /><br />So, my new job on the weekends (and an occasional weeknight extending my M-F work days to about 15 hours...yay). I am a "Suite Attendant" at one of the more upscale hotels in town. Suite Attendant is obviously just a glorified term for maid. I will say that all of my new co-workers seem very nice. I've worked in this setting before, back before I had any kids, and it's not easy to find pleasant, ungrouchy people in housekeeping. It ain't the most pleasant job, but it pays the bills. I'm actually excited because for years I have not had co-workers and believe it or not, that is going to be one of the perks for me. Yes, I said it. Real live adults (not 3 year olds...who I love dearly... who throw fits all day). I told myself, "Self, if you have to work seven days a week you need to have variety. Caring for children seven days a week will get monotonous and you will start to get burned out." <br /><br />Last weekend was my first on the job. The older lady that I was paired with is a hoot!!! I hope they stick me with her again until I finish my training. We got on the subject of anti-depressants and she said, "Yeah, I've been on them for the past 7 years, right after my husband passed away. I call them my "I Don't Give a Shit! pills....HAHAHAH!!!"<br /><br />I love her laugh. It's contagious and she has this wonderful old lady name that fits her perfectly. When we were done for the day and restocking her cart, she even told me that on her days off I could use her cart if necessary. If you haven't ever had the pleasure (or displeasure) of being in the company of a group of housekeepers/maids/suite attendants, then you may not know how much of a BIG DEAL that offer is. I have definitely found a new friend. I thanked her for the offer, but I don't think I'll need to take her up on it because I have my own brand spanking new (or recently cleaned and refilled by mwah) cleaning cart. Orick vacuum and all! You know the ones I'm talking about. Whenever you stay in a motel and it's sitting in the hall, maid nowhere in sight. You think...hmmm, I need some extra soap/shampoo/sewing kit. No one will EVER notice! So you snap a few extras. And maybe an extra bath towel while you're at it. Well, if anyone decides to do that from my cart, I will definitely understand. And even look the other way. Because you know what kind of soap we have on our fancy little carts??? Bath and Body Works. The bath bar is Brown Sugar Vanilla and the face/hand bar is Coconut Lime (I think?). <br /><br />I am going to have THE HARDEST TIME not sticking one in my pocket to take home. It's worse than the temptation to steal office supplies. Post-its have nothing over Bath and Body Works. <br /><br /><br />p.s. Oh, I almost forgot the bestest part! My first bed made by myself after the Head Housekeeper left me on my own. 12 minutes!! Apparently the veterans do theirs in around 11 minutes. These are not your ordinary beds, mind you. Smooth the mattress cover and pull taut. Fitted sheet with the elastic stretchies on the sides of bed. Pull taut. Flat sheet on next, leaving one to two inches at the top. White thermal blanket, about 4 inches down from the flat sheet. Decorative sheet, next. Line it up with the blanket. Fold the bottom flat sheet over the top of the blanket and decorative sheet, tucking in the sides VERY TIGHTLY. Oh yeah, I forgot the bottom flat sheet has the "ugly" edge facing up since it it going to get folded over. The decorative sheet has the "pretty" edge facing up. (getting bored yet?) Next, put the pillow cases on the six, yes SIX, pillows (four for the queens). 3 feather pillows centered in the back, 3 synthetic centered and placed in front of the feathered. Don't forget to place the zipper from the pillow cover on the inside of the case and then do your envelope fold so that no part of the pillow is exposed. Make sure to place the folded end of the pillow to the center of the bed. Now....(taking a breather)....go down to the bottom of the bed and kneel down at the corner. You must kneel down and press your knee against the bed skirt or else it will get folded up with the sheets as you do your fancy hospital corner tucks. Put your hand down under all 3 elements (flat sheet, blanket, decorative sheet) and pull up slightly on the mattress. Stuff all three under the mattress making a nice clean (and tight!) fit. "Wrap the present" on each corner. Tuck in sides all the way to the top of the bed (tightly!). Grab your very neatly folded comforter which you have placed on the nearby cushioned foot stool. Place the zipper nearest to the window. Fold it in a fan style so that when the occupant gets into bed they can easily pull it up and over the sheet. Lastly, place the velour bolster pillow centered in front of the 6 bed pillows. Smooth out any wrinkles as needed. Viola! Now does 12 minutes sound a little more impressive??Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-78613539060255883432009-09-24T00:04:00.002-04:002009-09-24T00:09:49.656-04:00My grandbabyHaha! Did I get you with that one? No? Oh well. <br /><br />My daughter, who is 12 years old, has already decided a few things for her future. For years now, she has said that she does not WHATSOEVER want to give birth to a baby. Not only is it painful (thank you unrealistic TV and movie versions of childbirth) , but she doesn't want to ruin her body. Hmmm. You think she remembers seeing me without clothes when she was younger.<br /><br />No need to fear though. She is planning on adopting. And if it's a girl, her name will be Naomi. Isn't that the sweetest name for a little grandbaby? That would be really funny if she actually sticks with those plans. Will keep y'all updated!Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-66074022913906550302009-09-15T23:59:00.003-04:002009-09-16T00:27:15.593-04:00To Do List<ul><li>Get stuff sorted through and priced for our neighborhood yard sale on Saturday</li><li>Put away ALL toilet paper, paper towels, hair ties, rubber bands, pens, pencils, cotton balls, etc. because this weekend we are adding a member to the family. A young, male manx cat named Tumi is going to come live with us for the next few months and terrorize our two adult cats. The gentleman (or guy...because gentleman just makes me think of a "Gentlemen's Club" and that's just creepy) that I've been working for on the weekends is taking the next few months to visit family in India. He didn't have any plans for his little kitty and was, therefore, going to bring him to the shelter. I couldn't let that happen and since I don't have enough on my plate already (ha) I decided to volunteer. The past couple of weeks that I've gone over to clean, the entire apartment is covered in toilet paper. Should be fun!</li><li>Bone up on infant care. For the longest time, all of my daycare children have been in the toddler to preschool age range. At the end of October, I will gain a newborn and a 1 1/2 year old. The baby is breastfed so I know I better be prepared with stain remover. Does anyone know what I'm talking about when I mention the color fluorescent orange??</li><li>Stop procrastinating and call my mom back. My uncle is quickly losing his battle against leukemia. This past week Mom called, barely able to hold down her end of the conversation (understandably), to tell me that he was given 2 weeks to 2 months to live. Or as God sees fit. A couple of days later, my dad calls to tell me that uncle R is not doing very well and they are going to let him come home. I don't know if I've ever seen or heard my dad cry before. There's a first time for everything I guess. All I can do is sit here feeling helpless because how do you console a loved one, over the phone, who is losing a sibling? The answer is you can't. I feel like a jerk because money is preventing me from taking a week off to drive the 14 or so hours to be there for my mom. You know how people always say CANCER SUCKS! They're right every single time.</li><li>Give my kids and hubby extra hugs because they deserve it (and so do I!)</li><li>Tell everyone about <a href="http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/">this wonderful blog</a> that I discovered a few days ago and now have read hours and hours of archives because I just love it. If I had to pick a favorite part, it would definitely be the love letter entries. It warms my heart so.<br /></li><li><br /></li></ul>Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-46834738467284293442009-09-05T00:46:00.004-04:002009-09-05T00:54:01.601-04:00Sag HarborWhen I was a teenager and my mom had those comics that made fun of the little old ladies with boobs sagging down all the way down to<br /> <br /> t<br /> h<br /> e<br /> r<br /> e<br /> .<br /> .<br /> .<br /> .<br /><br /><br /><br />I used to think they were funny.<br /><br />Not so much anymore.<br /><br />I've completely given up the notion that there is a bra out there that will support these puppies. And also? I have no recollection of what perky is.<br /><br />And who ever thought that the brand name Sag Harbor was a good idea for a clothing line? I suppose it <span style="font-style: italic;">would</span> be an excellent name for a retirement nudist colony.Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-81881233716418411482009-09-02T00:46:00.003-04:002009-09-02T00:50:33.142-04:00ScaryI just sent an email requesting an application for an ad on Craigslist. Yep, I'm still browsing around there. Come October 2 - November 1 I could be the next scariest monster you ever did see. Raaaawwwwrrrr!!!!!<br /><br />You KNOW I'll be posting a picture here if I get the job.Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-30988083171851592092009-08-30T00:14:00.004-04:002009-08-30T00:29:27.475-04:00IronyEvery weekend now, I make the 30 minute drive to my cleaning/personal assistant/chauffer (that was added to the list today) job. Now mind you, even though it sucks to be working this many hours each week, I am grateful to be picking up some extra cash on the weekends ($9 per hour if you were interested). But it is also ultra annoying to have to sit at the signal light just blocks from my job and have to be stared down by the dude with the cardboard sign begging for money. It seems like it's a different person each week, which makes me wonder if they have alternating shifts or something. And the sign always says something different, but they all have the same basic message.<br /><br />GIVE ME MONEY FOR STANDING HERE AND LOOKING PITIFUL!<br /><br />I know that times are hard right now. You don't have to tell me that. I also know that I am probably not in the same position, or even close to it, as these beggars.<br /><br />But I also know that I am not the kind of person that is going to sit back and expect people to feel sorry for me without taking some initiative.<br /><br />Does that make me heartless? I prefer to call myself a realist.Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-72188385792195423692009-08-24T00:18:00.003-04:002009-08-24T00:36:34.523-04:00PerspectiveI saw this on a church sign today as I was driving home after working 9 1/2 hours cleaning and schlepping boxes, and holding a photographic reflector thingie in "just the right position":<br /><br /><em>Laughter</em> is the shock absorber that eases the <em style="font-style: italic;">blows</em><span style="font-style: italic;"> of </span><em style="font-style: italic;">life</em>.<br /><br />True dat.<br /><br />And just when you think your life is sucky and you have every reason to complain about anything and everything, something pops up that smacks you right back into reality.<br /><br />Just over a month ago, my uncle (my mom's bro) was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia. Yeah. He has had one round of chemo and will find out in a day or two the results from his tests. If there are any cancer cells detected, they will immediately start the next round of chemo. After that, it is bone marrow transplant time...if a match is found. No guarantees and all. He will also be having numerous blood transfusions throughout this process.<br /><br />My mom and her oldest brother will be going in to get tested to see if they are a match. Statistically, siblings are the most likely to match. From there it's a crap shoot. I have been on the bone marrow registry for about 10 years now, having a vial of blood drawn at a Relay for Life event. This is my friendly reminder to everyone to seek out your local blood bank and/or bone marrow donation center. It really is not that painful of a process, lasting about an hour per donation, and you get free cookies and juice! <br /><br />Please send positive thoughts (and prayers if that's up your alley) in the direction of Milwaukee, WI. Thanks so much!Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-20979027850212462572009-08-22T00:42:00.003-04:002009-08-22T00:47:32.849-04:00Moving onI needed to write a post to get rid of the nastiness of the previous one. Or at least move it on down the page. I would love to write an actual, meaningful post, but I'm Much. Too. Busy. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! At least I have tomorrow off so I can catch up on a few things...like my next business (sort of) adventure. Woo hoo! Now if I could just get my brain to function for this one. Hmmmm.Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-15220013453512952962009-08-14T17:52:00.002-04:002009-08-14T17:57:19.267-04:00Things you can't say on FacebookAKA: If You Were Looking for Something Positive and Chipper to Read.....Look Elsewhere.<br /><br />I'm about at the end of my rope. To be exact, I've been there for a while, but I've just been holding it all in because I know if I disintegrate then everything around me will also.<br /><br />That job I was hoping to get? Foot model. It was most likely some freak with a foot fetish and, yes, I was willing to sell myself out for $50/hour session. I never thought I would be this desperate to put food on the table. Alas....<br /><br />Working seven days a week sucks. That's right. I'm whining and this is my blog so if anyone doesn't like it they can bite me. Well, that's about it. Ta ta!!Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-26861146110453585462009-08-08T01:03:00.002-04:002009-08-08T01:19:10.713-04:00The LatestSo yeah. I survived the cleaning job on the weekend. Now every weekend I go for 4-8 hours to clean and help organize this guy's apartment. He has a ton of "stuff" crammed into a relatively small space. Last Saturday I spent 3 hours cleaning and the next 4 helping him sort through junk and various sentimental items. It seems that what he really has needed was someone to be there as motivation to keep going through the process. You know how it is when sorting through any room in your house with accumulated junk. It's so easy to get caught up in the memories and the "What in the heck am I keeping this for, but I still can't bear to get rid of it". <br /><br />In the midst of the sorting, we came across some beautifully hand-painted pieces from India (that's where he's from). Some of the details were so small that we had to look at them with a magnifying glass. Speaking of magnifying glasses, we also came across a grain of rice in a little glass container with his given Indian name painted on it. My favorite part though was sorting through his toys. He had two full dresser drawers filled with collectible hot wheels cars still in their packaging. He said that as a child growing up in India, he had a total of 3 toy cars during his whole childhood. Apparently they are super expensive there due to the fact that they are imported. So one night while shopping in Walmart he told himself, "I'm gonna buy every toy car that I want." And he did.<br /><br />I bet you'll never guess what my next odd job is that I found on Craigslist? Anyone? I <span style="font-style: italic;">will</span> tell you that never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd have a chance at making money doing this. Hint: it doesn't involve sex or taking off my clothing...lolRoxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-60690576512728790952009-07-25T22:43:00.003-04:002009-07-25T23:21:56.550-04:00You know you're desperate when...**You keep searching on Craigslist under the jobs category searching for anything to make an extra few bucks. Yes, I still have a full time (50-70 hours/week) job Monday thru Friday. We are STILL having a hard time making ends meet. Our budget has been looked over a million times and I can't find anything else to cut back on unless we start to go to bed at 8pm as to not use any electricity in the evenings. I'm not kidding. So, I've been searching Craigslist and applied for a job as a Suite Attendant (glorified hotel maid). This place is pretty sweet though. The rooms are $300 and up/night. I've done this type of work before. Way back before I had any kids, but I can still clean like nobody's business. Haven't heard a word back from the place in 2 weeks. Their loss. Then there was the ad for someone looking for a nude model. I know what you're thinking. But wait! It sounded legit and I almost (well, maybe more than almost) answered the ad. This was an ex-art student looking for someone to pose (in the nude, of course) so they could get back into their craft. The pay? A professional massage from the "artist". <span style="font-style: italic;">That's</span> when you know you're getting desperate. So, I answered an ad I spotted yesterday for a different cleaning job. Someone needs their studio apartment cleaned every few weeks. I will meet with him tomorrow morning and if I'm lucky, will not end up on the news as the newest victim of a Craigslist killer. I've seriously considered having Ron go with me, but it seems like paranoia. I guess if this is my last post we'll know for sure!!!<br /><br />**I will soon become a Trucker's Wife. Ron has spent the past 6 months (never EVER did either of us think this would last this long) applying for engineering jobs and basically anything else that he might remotely qualify for. He's had a whopping ONE interview the whole time. It looked rather promising. Enough so that we were both in the mindset that he HAD this one. He had nailed the interview and the testing. He was the only applicant in the past year that aced the test and he got The Good Vibe from them during the interview. Unfortunately, he received the "Thanks for your interest but we've chosen someone else" phone call. That was back in June. A few days later my parents visited from CA. We spent the week playing tour guide, sent Jesse off on an airplane with them, and now she has a few days left before coming home. During the 5 weeks that she's been gone, Ron has been pursuing a career in the trucking business. He's been studying to take his test for his temp license, various doctors appointments to make sure he's ready to pass the physical, and lots of waiting to see if he can receive gov't assistance for his truck school. For at least the first year of a trucking career you can most likely expect to receive the long haul jobs. This is when I will have to gear up into Single Parent mode. He could easily be gone for 2 weeks at a time. Boo! I know this is not going to be easy, but not stressing about making the mortgage payment will be wonderful again. At least we'll have our cell phones, but it's just not the same. The kids will be affected I'm sure, but they also like to eat. It really is amazing how much you begin to appreciate the little things (or big, depending on how you choose to look at it) in life when something like this happens to your family. Time spent playing games with the kids. A meal on the table. A house to live in. Leftover gift cards from Christmas. We went to see The Hangover today due to the generosity of one of my daycare families this past Christmas. If you haven't seen this movie, then GO SEE THIS MOVIE!! My stomach muscles still hurt, but boy did I need that laugh. Now back to reality...Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-81720261735249564692009-07-05T11:54:00.002-04:002009-07-05T12:07:09.736-04:00Still alive and kickingI know, I know. I have no explanations for my long absence.<br /><br />Moving on. <br /><br />**To all the women out there, have you seen this hilariousness???? <a href="http://wendiaarons.com/2007/03/as-seen-on-mcsweeneysnet.html">The Happy Period</a> Yes, it's safe to view at work. Unless your work place is Proctor and Gamble. Hee hee.<br /><br /><br />**I am currently working on <a href="http://jlyarnworks.blogspot.com/2008/07/hermiones-cable-eyelet-hat.html">this hat</a> for my niece's birthday. She's turning 8 years old and I'm hoping she thinks it's cool to look like Hermoine from Harry Potter. <br /><br />**Also? I may soon become a Trucker's Wife (aka Trucker's Widow since I won't freaking see my hubby at all). As a last resort, he is looking into doing trucking school and then seeking employment transporting "stuff" around half the country. The pros? We can still pay the mortgage and buy food and prescriptions and fun stuff like that. The cons? Well, I think you can probably guess those. <br /><br />**I'm missing my baby girl today. She turned 12 years old at 1:05 am today. And I don't get to give her a big birthday hug because she's thousands of miles away visiting family in Cali. Boo for me, but I know she's having a blast. She'll be gone a total of 5 weeks (I know!) and she didn't think THAT was long enough.Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-7202834197925886612009-04-12T00:27:00.001-04:002009-04-12T00:28:44.504-04:00Too many friends, too little timeOh poor little neglected blog. I totally blame Facebook. :PRoxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-59983302798374006012009-03-28T00:03:00.002-04:002009-03-28T01:02:35.986-04:00Just a QuickieThought I would drop in here for a minute. Tonight I was wrangled into taking my daughter and three of her friends to the school carnival. If you've never been to one of these as a parent, let me warn you in advance that it is quite the experience. I made a discovery tonight. I'm attempting to say this without a holier-than-thou attitude, but MY GOD what has happened to the some of the youth in this world??!!! I know that my youngest child needs an attitude adjustment on most days as of late, but these girls made her look like an angel. With mouths like sailors and the "Oh no she di-int" head shake (at 11 years old mind you) it was quite grotesque to watch. Oh and tube tops. Allright I'll stop being judgmental.<br /><br />You know how it's easy to just go on with your daily life...work, eat, sleep, a weekend to play. You feel like things are just starting to become somewhat normal. Well, as normal as they can get. And then the plummeting economy decides to hit your household like a wrecking ball. A month ago, Ron was laid off from his job. I know, I know. Change is good. Things happen for a reason. Blah, blah, blah. None of that helps to pay the bills. We are definitely lucky that I have an awesome career that provides for our family. Even so, things are tighter around here than I am comfortable with. Needless to say, I have had to actually look at our monthly budget to see if there's any spots to cut back on (not so much...we don't even have things like cable, tivo, spa weekends). Things we have cut out: eating out (lots of meals in the crock pot lately), vacations, and basically any unnecessary spending. One thing I am not willing to give up is my third life crisis fun! My solution? Knitting! I'm going to stockpile all of my earnings from my hand-crafted goodies that I sell into my "Fun for Roxanne Fund". Oh yeah, did I mention that Ryan Cabrera will be back in Cleveland on May 1st? Heehee! Anyone interested in joining me?? <br /><br />Also? I'm now selling stuff and you can follow the link in the sidebar over there to your right. ---------------------------------------------------------------------><br />Look under the Hand-Crafted Goodies and then click on Buy My Stuff Here. Viola! I'm even all technically advanced and have a paypal button, y'all! I'm not quite ready to open an Etsy store, maybe when I get a stock-pile of a few items to display. Anyhoo, if anyone has any requests, I'm open for just about anything. I even recently found a pattern for hand-knitted pasties, if that's up your alley. <br /><br />Thanks again to my first customers, Caro and Liz. Thank you ladies! It makes me feel all warm inside (in a non-sexual way) that you like my goods so much. I figure if I can earn a few extra bucks to do things for myself while enjoying one of my hobbies AND keep people's heads warm and stylish...what more could I ask for? I'm thinking I may even get that long awaited professional massage...<br /><br />Here's the quick recap:<br /><br />Husband lost job.<br /><br />Roxanne working diligently with children during the day and possibly the night shift if I can get any clients (to pay the bills).<br /><br />Roxanne working diligently with knitting needles in the evening to pay for concerts and other frivolous things.Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-70563958058782444472009-03-02T23:14:00.001-05:002009-03-02T23:15:41.452-05:00I usually delete them, but this one cracked me up<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> I just had to share this funny email from my mom before I move onto the bad news post. <br /><br /><br />New breakfast meal at Denny's!<br /><br /><br />In honor of the mother of the octuplets, </span> <p class="EC_MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Denny's is offering a new breakfast meal:<br />You get fourteen eggs, no sausage, and the guy next to you<br />has to pay the bill. </span></p>Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-89848397945047769902009-02-20T14:20:00.008-05:002009-02-21T02:10:50.085-05:00I can't handle the pressureYou know how when you put something off for so long, the bigness of it just seems to grow and grow and grow into a seemingly unmanageable size? That's my lame excuse for not posting for so long. Moving on.<br /><br />Let's see....what would you like to know? I could start with the fun stuff. I think due to the fact that during my twenties I seemed to always have a kid attached at the boob and cleaning poopy diapers left and right, I never really got to have my "coming of age". I've been having what I call a 3rd life crisis (because I plan on living to at least 100yrs. old). And due to my lack of girlfriends here (trying to remedy that, but I'll talk about that one later), I've had to drag my hubby along with me. He has humored me so far, but I think his limitations are coming to an end. :)<br /><br />I have been an avid Dancing with the Stars fan for the last few seasons. I think the main reason is the fact that I love dancing in general. Also, one of the things on my Bucket List is to learn how to ballroom dance. I've done everything but beg Ron to take classes with me, but I know it'll never happen. I just tease him that I'll have to find me some hot partner to learn with. SPEAKING OF THAT.....<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZZSRT3_90kEhywqe_BNf_jT-kFWCMq7Oe_10T0RQul5oTiXAPS4mXOoL2mwWnxQXtHREplSeLcssUENAk6Qmc5HV4G66K1G9q3Ebf0O1c1zcOpG3dN_Wgq9A5-YX0gGtKb3Q/s1600-h/Ballas+Hough+Band+015.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirZZSRT3_90kEhywqe_BNf_jT-kFWCMq7Oe_10T0RQul5oTiXAPS4mXOoL2mwWnxQXtHREplSeLcssUENAk6Qmc5HV4G66K1G9q3Ebf0O1c1zcOpG3dN_Wgq9A5-YX0gGtKb3Q/s320/Ballas+Hough+Band+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305129703503061010" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">For those of you that don't know, this is Derek Hough. I should have asked him how much his private dance lessons are. Hehe.....</span> (My husband was on the other side of the camera. MUST.KEEP.HANDS.ABOVE.THE.WAIST.)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">I got to briefly meet him and Mark Ballas<br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1GY48BESKVXSW051a2mzBenlAILGzGpwKWR932BnuwkQxZd85gaG-q6H0wOhGVDvN0mrpvmQc183FRPvPUOIzN9xfpFifMN0j3p_iemYSrc4D5MxyR-v_dD_tqjRAPCERkB_/s1600-h/Ballas+Hough+Band+016.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1GY48BESKVXSW051a2mzBenlAILGzGpwKWR932BnuwkQxZd85gaG-q6H0wOhGVDvN0mrpvmQc183FRPvPUOIzN9xfpFifMN0j3p_iemYSrc4D5MxyR-v_dD_tqjRAPCERkB_/s320/Ballas+Hough+Band+016.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305130739950902562" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Do I look like an Amazon woman, or what??</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Not only are they professional dancers on the show, but they also have their own band (Ballas Hough Band) that has been playing at pubs across the lovely country of England for the past 10 years. They were touring the country and I had the pleasure of seeing them in Cleveland. I'm still kicking myself for not buying tickets to the Dancing with the Stars tour. Bah!!!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Also, have I mentioned that I'm a fan of Ryan Cabrera before? I realize that most of his fans are 20ish and younger, but I don't care!! I love his music and he puts on a great performance. I promise it has nothing to do with his good looks or cute, but dorky, personality. Anyhow, he was doing an acoustic tour across some of the eastern states and I just lucked out that he added Pittsburgh at the last minute. I couldn't talk any of my knitting buddies along and there was a pretty nasty storm coming through that night. So my husband, being the gentleman that he is, played chauffer for the evening.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHomZ3gk2sF0fX8z_G-Unly17-NC3fm_p5Nqa0WVu-ZzdnCS35eXiJjFFbPO82B4wBV1CqYzZgaNBTNZpYMROx50FehuAM02-bsCq_-zVxFpWVqoC_GBm6VW4WkL1jRWGgpRqc/s1600-h/DSCN0003.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHomZ3gk2sF0fX8z_G-Unly17-NC3fm_p5Nqa0WVu-ZzdnCS35eXiJjFFbPO82B4wBV1CqYzZgaNBTNZpYMROx50FehuAM02-bsCq_-zVxFpWVqoC_GBm6VW4WkL1jRWGgpRqc/s320/DSCN0003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305135838065470946" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This is not Ryan. This is one of the warm-up guys, Zack Hexum. He was pretty good. Good enough that I bought his CD and I've listened to it several times since. When Jesse saw his picture, she said he looks like Marshal on How I Met Your Mother.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlQXBaKUSahiBQP4FbYy74G_r3gr_pygZ6YANRRKqtJN0lAqYqADUYv9eXYTgr80yYVAinvhy5jiOB_7Zrp_cfMcZhaWcCTX3ImUtFHSjiIjPBR1tty2kjnt7DH2DCwilyb3V/s1600-h/DSCN0012.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlQXBaKUSahiBQP4FbYy74G_r3gr_pygZ6YANRRKqtJN0lAqYqADUYv9eXYTgr80yYVAinvhy5jiOB_7Zrp_cfMcZhaWcCTX3ImUtFHSjiIjPBR1tty2kjnt7DH2DCwilyb3V/s320/DSCN0012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305135839486694290" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This would be Ryan. He has since cut off the long locks that made many of his fans (mostly young girls) disgusted and/or outraged. I don't really care, as long as he keeps making new music. :)</span> <br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTtrZWTI0zGhLw3IEPMOYeUCWWGJNpV0UpFD0VztwmMsmdgcJ0GibZD-SY-izkkBOfCRbI24iyO-gtGuCtqEmH5k-KdWkzG0FZ0x1wDuN3LTa1AWCZ3tAy6CVDvcXs_ttV42oD/s1600-h/DSCN0001.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTtrZWTI0zGhLw3IEPMOYeUCWWGJNpV0UpFD0VztwmMsmdgcJ0GibZD-SY-izkkBOfCRbI24iyO-gtGuCtqEmH5k-KdWkzG0FZ0x1wDuN3LTa1AWCZ3tAy6CVDvcXs_ttV42oD/s320/DSCN0001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305134897106204834" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Because I'm a knitting geek, this is the hat that I made for him. I know that he likes to wear funky hats, so why not make one for him? I was slightly (maybe more) embarrassed because... who does that? I'm just a tad too old to be a groupie, right? My husband, trying to ease the uncomfortable-ness for me, says to Ryan, "Hey, that's not so weird. Her mom used to make stuff for John Denver!" Which is totally true, but still! He seemed genuinely thankful and said he really needed a winter hat. Hopefully it doesn't end up in the bottom of his closet.</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1MQqaEPSWsyZ1pFHH11i-Y8ML5071vS1seoxMzKQCztnKgIHwNAlODzFr59-jgyaNiYBRxRBVrDDcKXrBmMwUNDpTVtssue6J-CQ7cMYED6S9qqKTtwPsivBeD9qXfXfEVAFZ/s1600-h/DSCN0014.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1MQqaEPSWsyZ1pFHH11i-Y8ML5071vS1seoxMzKQCztnKgIHwNAlODzFr59-jgyaNiYBRxRBVrDDcKXrBmMwUNDpTVtssue6J-CQ7cMYED6S9qqKTtwPsivBeD9qXfXfEVAFZ/s320/DSCN0014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305135832310299042" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">This is immediately following the awkward hat exchange. Again with the Amazon woman look. I'm even taller than his spiky hair!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSrXdrmeR_h2mSvrHMDqM-Kx4Qvi64gKQuWxKfSEs2QIGQliHBfzUJLTd5a6WvUEL3a0UvfO-fGmjxS6FwCE4ieItM6KrFWTaWN4ZiioF2mmOA5_TwGIgmRg_P1Eqhn3TQmBWJ/s1600-h/Daycare+February+2008+002.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSrXdrmeR_h2mSvrHMDqM-Kx4Qvi64gKQuWxKfSEs2QIGQliHBfzUJLTd5a6WvUEL3a0UvfO-fGmjxS6FwCE4ieItM6KrFWTaWN4ZiioF2mmOA5_TwGIgmRg_P1Eqhn3TQmBWJ/s320/Daycare+February+2008+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305139818450320098" border="0" /></a><br />This is me modeling the same version hat, only mine is in mauve. I love this hat! It covers my ears in the bitter cold. It has a cute little brim. The fit is slightly loose so that when I take it off my hair is usually not plastered to my head. Jesse? Says I look like a cancer patient because you can't tell I have any hair. Ron? Just made a funny face like "I'm not going to comment because then I'll be in trouble." What a wise man. <br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I'll save the not so fun news for later. I promise I won't wait months to post again. Really!<br />Also? I'm on Facebook and spending a bit too much time playing around, catching up with old friends from high school and beyond. I've yet to poke anyone or send random, meaningless gifts to anyone. If you're a regular here and want to find me on Facebook, send me a holler...roxanneblogspot@yahoo.com. I might let you in the secret vault...heh..heh..heh...<br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /></div></div>Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-50378099508162892352009-01-01T21:25:00.006-05:002009-03-26T18:22:33.126-04:00Buy My Stuff<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgSDizYaiziU5Yf7h7RjWMptjTkXmMXZqIQdX6zGBpylfSMlHINJSwwqaEJMZRFNIkh6In85mYr70NKTmFsPTdTJrj4di8SLaYR5tKTOv1tgW9sJ-aLWAp5odLpdCcDLAtkhsy/s1600-h/Daycare+February+2008+002.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgSDizYaiziU5Yf7h7RjWMptjTkXmMXZqIQdX6zGBpylfSMlHINJSwwqaEJMZRFNIkh6In85mYr70NKTmFsPTdTJrj4di8SLaYR5tKTOv1tgW9sJ-aLWAp5odLpdCcDLAtkhsy/s320/Daycare+February+2008+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316189104355741650" border="0" /></a><br />Hand-knitted brim hat $25 +shipping <p></p><br /><form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"><br /><input name="cmd" value="_s-xclick" type="hidden"><br /><input name="encrypted" value="-----BEGIN PKCS7-----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-----END PKCS7----- " type="hidden"><br /><input src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_buynowCC_LG.gif" name="submit" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!" type="image" border="0"><br /><img alt="" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" border="0" height="1" /><br /></form><br /><br />If you'd like to purchase an item, please email me at roxanneblogspot@yahoo.com with your name, address, and color choice. Thanks <br /><br /><br />More items to come...Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-58058187773258828752008-12-17T00:31:00.011-05:002008-12-17T16:09:48.317-05:00Oh JoyThis is what it took to get one somewhat decent picture to send out in our Christmas cards.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHSkw39gMV4MG6MZE7lE2vP4BJGzUwgkCE-KuaQFw3-efCBr2kUZ4nvf258LVRH5mPKGOumyKc_obpIxggeh3yOhdJkARbtRijyoVaALj6oXtQBySVi_-sQP6xna76Ncfix2J/s1600-h/Daycare+December+2008+081.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdHSkw39gMV4MG6MZE7lE2vP4BJGzUwgkCE-KuaQFw3-efCBr2kUZ4nvf258LVRH5mPKGOumyKc_obpIxggeh3yOhdJkARbtRijyoVaALj6oXtQBySVi_-sQP6xna76Ncfix2J/s320/Daycare+December+2008+081.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280861574934963842" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Just wait, it gets better.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-w23ZkO50XNMK8zZx_TpXf0z7C98EGXTB81tqAwuWPWVEOljPxaO2aA3ZroDFSoL8Fxj8ALjry1En8pN9YR9klU7UYTV8FSFcHBFrw8whnK6gEJf5NGRRbETPZyoH_GvpIPk/s1600-h/Daycare+December+2008+088.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI-w23ZkO50XNMK8zZx_TpXf0z7C98EGXTB81tqAwuWPWVEOljPxaO2aA3ZroDFSoL8Fxj8ALjry1En8pN9YR9klU7UYTV8FSFcHBFrw8whnK6gEJf5NGRRbETPZyoH_GvpIPk/s320/Daycare+December+2008+088.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280863858103602994" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The typical eyes closed pic.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-pCAetqH7rdt7n7MP0NbU1BJpFL2mJdMItHU76c3zqZyHeYGFPPCv3ht0EsRwbJIKej6Pb0g_DrjQU6CcPiy3HdRCXXToB5SVxTa6EYfNL_ru4SrhKYQ5AxoCsxlZcT4YO5zG/s1600-h/Daycare+December+2008+083.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-pCAetqH7rdt7n7MP0NbU1BJpFL2mJdMItHU76c3zqZyHeYGFPPCv3ht0EsRwbJIKej6Pb0g_DrjQU6CcPiy3HdRCXXToB5SVxTa6EYfNL_ru4SrhKYQ5AxoCsxlZcT4YO5zG/s320/Daycare+December+2008+083.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280862912657643394" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And then we have the "Child Eating Chocolate" pic.<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXuU_NqzasxRuZ7ZGipK4MQz7XvW3DIBkiazbD0ZXnBXSrKu3LJAlR5iSICWV7xPWsa89WihueKVLbtHB_nkQfqojxkgX8yY2kCd7sbB8n6dlDvjg0T73U1vXxF0FtIM5Np1h/s1600-h/Daycare+December+2008+084.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXuU_NqzasxRuZ7ZGipK4MQz7XvW3DIBkiazbD0ZXnBXSrKu3LJAlR5iSICWV7xPWsa89WihueKVLbtHB_nkQfqojxkgX8yY2kCd7sbB8n6dlDvjg0T73U1vXxF0FtIM5Np1h/s320/Daycare+December+2008+084.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280863243875817666" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The even less common "Chocolate Teeth".<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMf0ZjqldrwXqBcx6MQC4zVwN6NFAN3SRZzLWxOjxB8v4lPlyKo-yVBGxJ8XonH8II9MnXSjS6W_Z2RzfotiV2GMbEJFzEasny7ft1sjgoNtVOTY1xgnJkSuop0YhtUe5Hw5_/s1600-h/Daycare+December+2008+087.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMf0ZjqldrwXqBcx6MQC4zVwN6NFAN3SRZzLWxOjxB8v4lPlyKo-yVBGxJ8XonH8II9MnXSjS6W_Z2RzfotiV2GMbEJFzEasny7ft1sjgoNtVOTY1xgnJkSuop0YhtUe5Hw5_/s320/Daycare+December+2008+087.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280863566163972706" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The "Funny Face".<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7tFBXDXv88iuQdZptVUak107dDgYihWuCfLNvPmoCcT-R1v8UOjt0O8LsKe0lfESSvmSUjAovXmSg0vJOHxF8YrVfz8_cncT8zVoAlDDpbxt2HwT3VTg4VIPNaihfrs7Lre5I/s1600-h/Daycare+December+2008+089.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7tFBXDXv88iuQdZptVUak107dDgYihWuCfLNvPmoCcT-R1v8UOjt0O8LsKe0lfESSvmSUjAovXmSg0vJOHxF8YrVfz8_cncT8zVoAlDDpbxt2HwT3VTg4VIPNaihfrs7Lre5I/s320/Daycare+December+2008+089.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280864152171418226" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The "OMG".<br /></div><br />I kid you not. Every time I pressed the button down, both children were smiling. Then I'd look at the result on the itty bitty screen and these are what I found. I was laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The end result?<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuI5jXg26VMiiumw-LqwG7EeXrSn8Cy0NG11eNXzmLRe7asy6zRxlz3OPRveKFk0toiB5xUiKkVsLHlSjHPM1uT4wsN4XgjZB_P8qr6p743Xn7MOLfS_4ayEkz-TbkLf1HhVfQ/s1600-h/Nick+Danika+December+2008.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuI5jXg26VMiiumw-LqwG7EeXrSn8Cy0NG11eNXzmLRe7asy6zRxlz3OPRveKFk0toiB5xUiKkVsLHlSjHPM1uT4wsN4XgjZB_P8qr6p743Xn7MOLfS_4ayEkz-TbkLf1HhVfQ/s320/Nick+Danika+December+2008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280868574875407714" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I even managed to capture snow flying in the background. How festive!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And because I haven't had a very good track record around here lately of posting, I will tell you all to have a wonderful holiday!!<br /><br />P.S. I knit the black hat that Nate is wearing. Go me!<br /></div></div>Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-87005326051109465402008-12-05T01:06:00.001-05:002008-12-05T01:09:01.080-05:00Let's love, not hateI thought I would share this hilarious video with y'all. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c0cf508ff8/prop-8-the-musical-starring-jack-black-john-c-reilly-and-many-more-from-fod-team-jack-black-craig-robinson-john-c-reilly-and-rashida-jones">Prop 8 Musical</a>Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-37054217279028882022008-11-20T13:45:00.002-05:002008-11-20T13:53:37.787-05:00Just when you think it's safe to answer the doorbell...You know it's going to be one of those days when County Children's Services shows up on your doorstep.....<br /><br />I've debated about whether or not to post anything about this here. And although I'm not going to elaborate I will say this...never say never. Never think that because you have the best interest of your child in your thoughts at all times that it makes you immune to the overzealousness of authority figures (a.k.a. school principal). <br /><br />And on a lighter note (because if I allow myself to focus on this much more I'll send myself into a tailspin)........<br /><br />Does anyone have a tried and true delectable pie recipe they'd like to share? We are going to Cincinnati again this year for Thanksgiving and I will most likely be bringing pies. I'm planning on the typical pumpkin but I'd also like to make some sort of berry pie and one other just for good measure. Any ideas before I start my google search???Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-75738413224230866212008-11-08T22:19:00.005-05:002008-11-08T23:07:07.032-05:00Um..........hello?Sheesh. It's been so long since I've been here that I almost forgot my login and password. I'm a bad, bad blogger. I've written many a posts inside my head but then I never seem to follow through and actually put them into writing. Here's the lowdown of some of the stuff I could've written individual posts about......<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8q-i5JKCZSFYTO0KNBUX0rtCk7r76deW2nOBcnLqeAvM1O3oRdYVcS-DkSlOq_4Ihp1zUc2kC0z9G7su5AVWkAYOMgcwU3kzkzibIW239gSV3r3f5QtZahu_iVFg4joUGbH4Q/s1600-h/Daycare+October+2008+041.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8q-i5JKCZSFYTO0KNBUX0rtCk7r76deW2nOBcnLqeAvM1O3oRdYVcS-DkSlOq_4Ihp1zUc2kC0z9G7su5AVWkAYOMgcwU3kzkzibIW239gSV3r3f5QtZahu_iVFg4joUGbH4Q/s320/Daycare+October+2008+041.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266494045998764066" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I bought this car off of Ebay. I know you're jealous. Well, maybe I should clarify I didn't ACTUALLY buy it. I saw it at the zoo and snapped a picture to send to my dad who is a car buff. I would love to have something this garrish to drive around in just to see people's reactions. Especially when I'm dropping the kids off at school and such. </span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZnMt-sB-tpwVE8OdDifxRrhDJKhysR2JAAEaTkBpbxOK7SqCAc9SU2m1N9muWkZLuYjgvP0P5UoE7rK8Q6PGsycNUNOV0f5r9SELeVt5WoGdbPmSpbb3u11Lr2_ThTWbDP6Sb/s1600-h/Daycare+September+2008+098.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZnMt-sB-tpwVE8OdDifxRrhDJKhysR2JAAEaTkBpbxOK7SqCAc9SU2m1N9muWkZLuYjgvP0P5UoE7rK8Q6PGsycNUNOV0f5r9SELeVt5WoGdbPmSpbb3u11Lr2_ThTWbDP6Sb/s320/Daycare+September+2008+098.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266495097403671858" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">Hurricane Ike decided to do a bit of damage to our pool as he whipped his way through Ohio. I guess this means no more late night skinny dipping sessions. Oh darn!<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE1iPQ_OQ6X-82KGc9WJRon7W_AXYNFQVBIl8ptgN5f7fwnpHoseuGIt_e3PsJScHj2nLGOJT_fldy9EGscCdf73QSRIxCNQIcbF56SooYLKlEadHM0sJIj-hm_gxGinjiISWt/s1600-h/Daycare+September+2008+100.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE1iPQ_OQ6X-82KGc9WJRon7W_AXYNFQVBIl8ptgN5f7fwnpHoseuGIt_e3PsJScHj2nLGOJT_fldy9EGscCdf73QSRIxCNQIcbF56SooYLKlEadHM0sJIj-hm_gxGinjiISWt/s320/Daycare+September+2008+100.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266495102112798674" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">Here's another view of the tree with the whole root system. Pretty impressive, huh?<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTgxXb7oAoWAedrwTESepaDjAl_qcY0YkL1IyfaBpBqqcmIeazaZ-5bUqgIZQNWA2wl6IQjFTdP1RrY9XlX8mixlHliIoUK90vrqubKN3PTzElCYwQAEWFHrA-XPVb-7mzeme/s1600-h/Daycare+October+2008+051.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTgxXb7oAoWAedrwTESepaDjAl_qcY0YkL1IyfaBpBqqcmIeazaZ-5bUqgIZQNWA2wl6IQjFTdP1RrY9XlX8mixlHliIoUK90vrqubKN3PTzElCYwQAEWFHrA-XPVb-7mzeme/s320/Daycare+October+2008+051.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266494056225682034" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This is what happens when you try to get a teenage boy to do work outside. The hammock and the lazy cat won out over the nagging parents. Aren't they just too cute?</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdeF2Qv9ilIyFdZL4-pUsNZT0aZsVjUlg29sJKOZ_9SEbTqqe7qjwq7aAQp7F5NLUeShm_-Lja0ubxh-NdLwoth0O03ZtlOKy8Xcm0nB_BB14ZGxQ-1MJ3ohPvarML8Al2TiX/s1600-h/Daycare+October+2008+077.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdeF2Qv9ilIyFdZL4-pUsNZT0aZsVjUlg29sJKOZ_9SEbTqqe7qjwq7aAQp7F5NLUeShm_-Lja0ubxh-NdLwoth0O03ZtlOKy8Xcm0nB_BB14ZGxQ-1MJ3ohPvarML8Al2TiX/s320/Daycare+October+2008+077.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266494058176670130" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">We did Halloween. Here's my ghost suckers. Scary.</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX7zudicDxFKBnC-JKgBXnjzRqqbUBXwzVFQNq2Tj898fNgpiZO041aOW2JAabmzLwAjRMJ02Gm8uocxJlpDPw9yrMqFnNRHVJzRndlehV7QrwfvxFYT45N3X0m9rHaF55SQY5/s1600-h/Daycare+October+2008+110.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX7zudicDxFKBnC-JKgBXnjzRqqbUBXwzVFQNq2Tj898fNgpiZO041aOW2JAabmzLwAjRMJ02Gm8uocxJlpDPw9yrMqFnNRHVJzRndlehV7QrwfvxFYT45N3X0m9rHaF55SQY5/s320/Daycare+October+2008+110.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266494067941184194" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And we decorated cookies.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0jkIhZl-KlFde5H4vP7AGnIiXBQhTt8AkXD3ZVvXrJ8V2dnTum9VbpkJe9LH4xUQ_rZze1L71Uw1_9in37tcIxG_RJZaiPs4pkL10MhgVp9ouwzrAK21XObkMaVNI-9p13pH/s1600-h/Daycare+October+2008+063.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii0jkIhZl-KlFde5H4vP7AGnIiXBQhTt8AkXD3ZVvXrJ8V2dnTum9VbpkJe9LH4xUQ_rZze1L71Uw1_9in37tcIxG_RJZaiPs4pkL10MhgVp9ouwzrAK21XObkMaVNI-9p13pH/s320/Daycare+October+2008+063.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266494059748739778" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This is the first year I dressed up along with the daycare kids. Think I'm scary enough? I had to lose the black hair partway through the day because A) it was irritating the heck out of my head, and B)I was scaring the little ones. I also dressed up for a party that Ron and I went to. I have photographic evidence, but Ron is also in the picture and I suppose I'll maintain his anonimity for him. I also have no idea how to photoshop him out or put a big dark blob over his face. Anyhoo, I dressed in doctor's scrubs, had a real stethoscope and everything. My nametag? Dr. Turnyur Hedenkoff. (hee!)</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQaRxXaHQbzm46qMcvPRwaSlrGPDOK5MZ32gRoQfJlgxIID-F5jSugaNK_rXLAoSF1ET9CIId-M8925O1Jgz_zw2U60DvPV8wD3tN2xBt1aU7A_BwvfaHCrRm9TmBNgfXEvzj/s1600-h/Daycare+October+2008+132.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQaRxXaHQbzm46qMcvPRwaSlrGPDOK5MZ32gRoQfJlgxIID-F5jSugaNK_rXLAoSF1ET9CIId-M8925O1Jgz_zw2U60DvPV8wD3tN2xBt1aU7A_BwvfaHCrRm9TmBNgfXEvzj/s320/Daycare+October+2008+132.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266495093012381314" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Someone else also dressed up for Halloween. Meet Wednesday Addams. Her complete outfit was purchased at Goodwill. I'm still amazed that we were able to find everything so efficiently and cost effectively. Even though my feet hurt after the trick-or-treat session it was well worth it. Jesse and her friend gave me all of their Snickers and Resse's cups . Score!</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghpUVo0qe-x18HfpTlqfOuc0DkubWL8P6YM_wpzDO9tBxtf7_8E6oBXrhnONLczEteKAGuQpn7w51eXt9QOTr4W6jt_0p6xbDZlyz8JSXl9yDGeGN2YvnSTrnQRlTyAHG40ZmL/s1600-h/October+2008+014.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghpUVo0qe-x18HfpTlqfOuc0DkubWL8P6YM_wpzDO9tBxtf7_8E6oBXrhnONLczEteKAGuQpn7w51eXt9QOTr4W6jt_0p6xbDZlyz8JSXl9yDGeGN2YvnSTrnQRlTyAHG40ZmL/s320/October+2008+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266495517888938578" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I will leave you with this image. No, it's not a dead bunny. Just one that's terrified stiff. Whenever it's toenail trimming time, Jesse lays them on their back on her lap. They don't move an inch the whole time. See the cute little bunny chompers?</span><br /></div>Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-35351453489484550082008-09-08T13:52:00.006-04:002008-09-08T14:36:40.040-04:00It's me again...back from the witness protection programHere's some bits and pieces of my exciting life in the great midwest:<br /><br />**Our trip to Delaware went as smoothly as one could ask for. No one ended up in the hospital, it only rained one half of one day, I swam in the ocean for my first time ever (wading in the water up to your knees does NOT count), we saw tons of dolphin pods swimming right off shore every day (very cool!), and we didn't get a ticket for our non-functioning tent trailer lights. I can't wait to get back to the beach. It is truly one of my favorite places to just "be". It was quite an adjustment though to have to share the beach with all of the other thousands of vacationers. The first day we headed to Rehoboth Beach, which ended up being the busiest of all the beaches we visited. Here's some pics of our third day and what ended up being the least populated beach. We were accompanied by a family to our right with a very, very sick child. Just as we were eating our picnic lunch I heard this gurgling sound. Not knowing what it was, my natural curiosity caused me to turn and look. At the exact same moment as the girl was tossing her lunch (and by the extent of it..breakfast and last night's dinner). Immediately Jesse tosses her sandwich down and a little too loudly announces, "Well, I'm not gonna be able to eat for about 4 hours now!" Nice. Real nice. It's good to know that our efforts to teach her some tack have paid off.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib41MAiXaCdMQRJSv_4lbgOlIeGwsB3_r6ULyFSBspaa8UQD4rTMInezeEq_aBxGjTmMm0JjwUPnpZ9VZUOjFX7RnVQ2BJL49rL4lNJgDB4ClkmKdvSL0H8ItQcwurtOhyphenhyphenFpEq/s1600-h/Delaware+summer+2008+027.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib41MAiXaCdMQRJSv_4lbgOlIeGwsB3_r6ULyFSBspaa8UQD4rTMInezeEq_aBxGjTmMm0JjwUPnpZ9VZUOjFX7RnVQ2BJL49rL4lNJgDB4ClkmKdvSL0H8ItQcwurtOhyphenhyphenFpEq/s320/Delaware+summer+2008+027.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243720091419732146" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This is the only pic of me in a swimsuit I'm willing to share. Can you see our turtle sand sculpture? Me neither! All the beach pics turned out too light. :(</span><br /></div><br />** I have decided to start my daycare children in swim lessons. Call me crazy, but once a week I am now taking 4 little ones (aged 4, 3, 2, and 2) for a 45 minute swim lesson. The first one was this past week. Every thing was going smoothly. I had every one dressed in their swim diaper (those not potty trained yet), their suits....and then I scramble through the backpack for my suit. After dumping everything onto the floor, cursing myself (in my head), I realized my big mistake. It wouldn't have been a big deal except this was the first lesson for all of my kiddos and we had no idea how they would do listening to the teacher. Luckily the woman who teaches my evening water aerobics requested to be our teacher...and I just love her! She was definitely MADE to work with children. She said it was no problem and just had me remain poolside to make sure everyone got the idea to sit on the edge and wait their turn. They did such a good job and the parents were excited to hear how the first lesson went. One of my guys was even practicing some of the skills he learned in the bathtub at home. Wish me luck on Wednesday....and, yes, I already have my suit stashed away in the backpack ready to go!<br /><br />**My oldest nephew just graduated from Army bootcamp this past week in South Carolina. I wish the timing would have worked out better for us to go see him. Since we just took a trip to the coast and the kids are in school now it just wasn't feasible. My sister and her husband flew from Cali and so we would've gotten to see them, too. Bummer. As it turned out, they missed the actual ceremony due to some schedule changes. Because of Hurricane Hannah's looming approach, they moved the graduation forward a day. They anticipated having to use the barracks to house some of the evacuees. My sis and bro-in-law had planned on arriving the day before graduation. Unfortunately they still ended up missing it by a mere hour or less.<br /><br />I'm still kind of in denial that we now have a close family member that will most likely be at the top of our Worry List. I know it is inevitable that he will end up in either Iraq or Afganistan. Even with as dangerous as that prospect sounds, the path that his life was headed pre-Army was not a good one. I just hope and pray that he gets to use the government paid schooling that he is looking forward to.<br /><br />**The kids started school 2 weeks ago. Here's their first day pics. Better late than never, eh?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnQxnMz2Y88INQKCkZ7qEIJWEXNmBZvuYGHJIjRCUg4zj6T9irliarWy9o0sHmqvUAbQDENlrE7a1UcMauLTrkmJe94gDD7OPa-30lRsV3kB84SBurMpbqrWGlFiBGcirjzFQ/s1600-h/1st+day+of+school++2008+018.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnQxnMz2Y88INQKCkZ7qEIJWEXNmBZvuYGHJIjRCUg4zj6T9irliarWy9o0sHmqvUAbQDENlrE7a1UcMauLTrkmJe94gDD7OPa-30lRsV3kB84SBurMpbqrWGlFiBGcirjzFQ/s320/1st+day+of+school++2008+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243719109506140626" border="0" /></a><br />Are we excited or what?<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNr1c2ZMngl7v8zIvm10FIq-Dus6fbu-9gw0Op-VbvszoLgTWErimHwOSBixGbDWEtCVLhZqeGwVR2h0oBdXV8lPG7fZQqx2deZtb3WLJ5u7eK6LnJYrVy4eCyKEPjkLL8UejY/s1600-h/1st+day+of+school+2008+020.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNr1c2ZMngl7v8zIvm10FIq-Dus6fbu-9gw0Op-VbvszoLgTWErimHwOSBixGbDWEtCVLhZqeGwVR2h0oBdXV8lPG7fZQqx2deZtb3WLJ5u7eK6LnJYrVy4eCyKEPjkLL8UejY/s320/1st+day+of+school+2008+020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243719374402597394" border="0" /></a><br />Jesse showing off her newly learned skillz. String games!<br /></div>Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-34050044573863846432008-07-30T13:13:00.002-04:002008-07-30T13:40:18.946-04:00Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo (how about you, you, you)If you're not a fan of Raffi then you might not get the title. I have been trying to plan a another daycare trip to the zoo. I bought a membership in May and we've taken two trips so far. The kids absolutely love it and I love any excuse to get out of the house and do something different. Even though it's a ton of work for me. Mostly because I have to pull 4 kiddos, averaging 35-40 lbs. each, in a wagon+lunches+diaper bag=back breaking work. But it's all worth it. <br /><br />Well, to get to the point, our trip needed to be postponed. About a week ago I was getting gas in our minivan. And because we had enough free gas credit from our local grocery (due to Ron's expensive precriptions) to get up to 30 gallons of FREE GAS. Yep, you heard that right. So in order to take advantage of that offer, I brought along 2 (6) gallon gas cans. With the van's tank on empty and the 2 gas cans I was able to get 27.5 gallons. Of course it irked me that I was throwing away money by not having a third can on hand. If you do the math (which I always do), at $4 a gallon, that's like flushing $10 down the toilet. Moving on. When I carefully placed the cans into the back end of the van, the thought crossed my mind..."Since these cans are full and heavy, they should be just fine back here all alone". Do you see where this one is going? <br /><br />About a mile and a half from home, I noticed that the smell of gas became really strong. Not hearing a thump in the back, I thought that some fumes had escaped the vent thingy on the top. I rolled the windows down and kept on a truckin'. Welp, guess what? Not one, but BOTH cans had tipped over and the entire trunk area was saturated with gasoline. The panic set in. I ran in the house and told Ron, "I. NEED. HELP." I think he sensed the urgency in my voice and hopped to his feet. <br /><br />We soaked up as much as we could with some rags, making sure to hang them out on the clothesline instead of clumping them into a pile in the garage and creating a combustible situation. I googled to see if I could find any solutions besides lighting a match and collecting on the insurance (can you say fraud?). Here's a few tips that I found from people who have had the same thing happen. Clean with vinegar and hot water solution (done that twice so far and then shop vacced), baking soda and hot water (done), air it out (it hasn't been closed up for the past week), kitty litter, febreeze, and pour a 5lb. box of baking soda on it and leave for a month. Everything except for the last one sounds fine to me, but we have a time constraint problem. Our trip to the coast is planned to happen in 3 weeks. Hopefully by then the overwhelming smell will have gone away. I really don't want to be driving for 7 hours down the freeway with all the windows down. <br /><br />Anyone else have this problem? If so, I would love the hear how you took care of it. I'm getting tired of scrubbing and vaccuming only to have the same results when I'm done. And I really don't want to pay the $300 to have someone replace the carpet. As they say, there's so such thing as a free tank of gas...Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-55362035503762370312008-07-21T16:26:00.007-04:002008-07-22T07:32:09.739-04:00In case you were wondering....I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Summer life has a way of taking over. Since I last checked in, I've ridden death defying roller coasters (and got a super hideous headache but it was SO worth it!), I braved thunderstorms at the waterpark with the kids, and we had 2 sleepover birthday parties for our darling children.<br /><br />Even though I've had a running commentary in my head of all of our exciting summer activities thus far, I have felt little to no inspiration to type them out here. I guess that's better than having no life to speak of whatsoever and blogging about that boringness, right?<br /><br />Here are a couple more tidbits of life around here...<br /><br />***I came home from swim class one night and Jesse came to greet me with a mischievous look across her face. *oh no, what now?* She had a 'surprise' for me out on the screened porch. Turns out we now have a new member of the family. The neighbor was looking to downsize the amount of pets that he has. He had already downsized the people in his life (girlfriend and her daughter). Ron had just a few seconds to decide to be the reasonable, but mean, dad or the cool and, like, totally awesome dad. He chose the latter. And now we have a cute little fur ball that Jesse has named, Buddy.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1UQjVtb0lKVAgMykad-malvntz2AEiCro8yNlfctlEUxyP1n06FGBjUaTEnE8z87OzZTgmiiCEFZt5QI6G3eEdwQur4hNym80PikRLrQe_hRtsMUcHWoE9SHyvFSVM0euHyV0/s1600-h/Bunnies+003.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1UQjVtb0lKVAgMykad-malvntz2AEiCro8yNlfctlEUxyP1n06FGBjUaTEnE8z87OzZTgmiiCEFZt5QI6G3eEdwQur4hNym80PikRLrQe_hRtsMUcHWoE9SHyvFSVM0euHyV0/s320/Bunnies+003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225797582660307330" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Isn't he the most adorable, little ball of fluff you've ever seen?</span> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Sidenote: his eyes are really dark brown, not the evil devilish red that you see here.</span><br /></div><br /><br /><br />***For Nate's birthday we bought him the XBOX version of Rock Band. If you're not familiar with this game, it basically consists of a drum set, guitar, and microphone (for the people not coordinated enough to handle the instruments). Let's just say I may never master the drums, and probably not the guitar, but I can ROCK on the vocals. Well, if they would include more songs that I actually knew, that is. Now if only they would make the game with Pop Hits from the 80's. Or maybe Ryan Cabrera songs. :P<br /><br />***We had a camping trip planned (at one of the local campgrounds) during the month of August. After some thought the other night, we've decided to travel over to the Delaware coast to visit the beaches. I sooo miss having a beach nearby to go to on the spur of the moment. Both of the kids were really excited when we told them the change of plans. Now, if we can just avoid sunburn and sharks during our little jaunt.<br /><br />***I finally finished making this quilt for <a href="http://potatoesinthemist.blogspot.com/">Bearette's</a> baby just in the nick of time.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57T9-ITuzqUFDzvfLrBzaPMdPnFILtMuCvSWywGD3BDrU6-bagwG3hvae51IXw1uujFvNhWW7IDc6VQWFVe1SnhwyU4fbyYwRZ5ObWP6sGAZlxyx2KRF7ZOAycceN62nQJBTk/s1600-h/For+Katie%27s+baby+Eric+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57T9-ITuzqUFDzvfLrBzaPMdPnFILtMuCvSWywGD3BDrU6-bagwG3hvae51IXw1uujFvNhWW7IDc6VQWFVe1SnhwyU4fbyYwRZ5ObWP6sGAZlxyx2KRF7ZOAycceN62nQJBTk/s320/For+Katie%27s+baby+Eric+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225574478860469442" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">She has a much cuter pic of it with baby E on top, but for the life of me I cannot get a link to that post.</span><br /></div><br />Then I raced to get the next one started. One of my daycare moms was about 8 months along when I first started cutting the squares. Amazingly enough, I finished it and gave it to her before the baby was born. Even though I "cheated" and pieced it together with the machine, I still did the quilting by hand. I think I even set a my own record with this one!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTChHOA9NIny7h6K8EVO67WRXh8mWRM-o0LmpO3WcKacmJRS_lwNIXj6KF1_9AL6H7qt-_DBfaqiz0nZdXKKTnFC6HeCtJW25kYWi7NxU68iRCWiBbU7oniqJItnAcik_t6M3c/s1600-h/DSCF1308.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTChHOA9NIny7h6K8EVO67WRXh8mWRM-o0LmpO3WcKacmJRS_lwNIXj6KF1_9AL6H7qt-_DBfaqiz0nZdXKKTnFC6HeCtJW25kYWi7NxU68iRCWiBbU7oniqJItnAcik_t6M3c/s320/DSCF1308.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225794674984286258" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I personally loved the color scheme on this one. Ron, on the other hand, said, "Pink and green?" but what does he know. :)</span><br /><br /></div>I have another little something that I am in the process of making. I can't post any pictures just yet as I don't want to spoil the surprise. Sadly though, I don't think this one will get done before the little babe decides to make it's appearance. I've had other obligations to take care of. Like hanging out with the kids, getting up at O'Dark thirty in the morning for my first daycare child (that's 6 am, ouch), reading my new library book..More Than it Hurts You by Darin Strauss, and of course the endless amounts of laundry. If you've never had a teenage (or pre-teen in this case) daughter in your household you may not know what I'm talking about. It is really quite amazing. Whenever she exits the bathroom I could swear that a freaking tornado hit the place. There is not a clean towel in sight (the floor is riddled with the dirty ones, of course).<br /><br />That's about it in a nutshell. Hopefully I'll be back around before our big trip to the east coast. If not, see you on the flip side!Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15606440.post-79109967294141730802008-06-23T15:42:00.004-04:002008-06-23T16:19:55.864-04:00Keep Your Enemies Close......and your lovers closer. That's a line from one of Ryan Cabrera's songs off of his new album. The concert was great....for those of us that attended. Not kidding here. There were, at the most, about 50 people in attendance. I was shocked that the place wasn't packed, but hey it made it more enjoyable for us! Without having to stand and save our spot the whole time, we were 3 or 4 people back from the stage.<br /><br />There were 2 warm-ups before Ryan came out. The first group was "Cory Lamb". That's the name of the lead singer and the name of the group. They were pretty awesome. Jesse said, "We HAVE to buy their CD!" It was 5 buck for 5 songs. The same 5 songs they played for us (koinkydink!). Next up was Ferras. He didn't have his band along so he sat at the keyboard and belted out some tunes including, "Hollywood is not America". We bought his CD too because he was even better than the first guys. Apparently his CDs are on sale at Target and Walmart and according to Ferras, also from his trunk.<br /><br />The Grog Shop in Cleveland feels like hanging out in someone's basement. When we first arrived Jessed commented that "it looks like crap!" I tried to explain to her that it was on purpose. That it is the look that they're going for. I was just thankful that, even though alcohol is served (re: "grog" in the Grog Shop), no one seemed to get out of control or anything. I guess that's just the protective mom part of me coming out. The closest that we came to having anyone "out of control" was the Paris Hilton Wannabe and her equally annoying bleach blonde friend. Not only did she have the same hair, body, face, and fake tan as Paris, but she and her friend acted in that I Am Entitled To Do as I Please No Matter How Many People I Hurt Or Annoy Along The Way. Seriously. I was waiting for one of the Ryan Groupies to sucker punch her while she and friend were pushing (literally) their way to the front of the stage. And almost spilling their drinks on everyone along the way. I don't even think they were there to listen to the music. Not like the rest of us who were singing every line of every song. :) If I ever figure out how to view the video off our camera AND THEN figure out how to post it online you can see these 2 a-holes for yourself. Because in their Full Entitled Fashion were able to walk right in front of Jesse as she was filming Ryan singing one of her favorite songs.<br /><br />My only regret is that I didn't shell out the dough for the "Meet and Greet". It was $20 per person and that included a copy of his new CD (which we already own but I may have been able to sell or give them as gifts, oh well, too late now). We would have been able to go backstage to take pictures and meet Ryan and the band. Even though I would have loved to get those pictures and have a chance to meet him, I probably would have felt totally awkward. I mean where do you go beyond, "Hey, I love your music.....and,ummmm" Next time I plan on making him a funky knit hat (because he wears them) to break the ice. Is that too Grandmotherly? Or maybe I'll just throw the hat onto the stage instead of my granny underwear.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiGiipWELdSF3ZMHQWJ55-79_ZiEdSqzyRJ2oPT_CMP7nmOt-2V1IXgltiGRj_kFkF_GajO2wGXUW8lEtTwhyPDfNKbns7Tt8_y4bFDSwjEI6QvxB0WADonzbvuZjFmKD-WkPZ/s1600-h/Ryan+Cabrera-The+Grog+Shop+022.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiGiipWELdSF3ZMHQWJ55-79_ZiEdSqzyRJ2oPT_CMP7nmOt-2V1IXgltiGRj_kFkF_GajO2wGXUW8lEtTwhyPDfNKbns7Tt8_y4bFDSwjEI6QvxB0WADonzbvuZjFmKD-WkPZ/s320/Ryan+Cabrera-The+Grog+Shop+022.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215172603457374002" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">Before the concert<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLzws1ujNsSEjUv5aMgXfXvApgAXHbDw5OW4qOjj3mJHtcgZF2cFNjJXhakb8CvtQVmlMZrPQLInQiiZ4qVrqIOBVWntxCZXbguiLxIN2SATbbAJccI65fpFY4-DZgfzKM75r/s1600-h/Ryan+Cabrera-The+Grog+Shop+045.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLzws1ujNsSEjUv5aMgXfXvApgAXHbDw5OW4qOjj3mJHtcgZF2cFNjJXhakb8CvtQVmlMZrPQLInQiiZ4qVrqIOBVWntxCZXbguiLxIN2SATbbAJccI65fpFY4-DZgfzKM75r/s320/Ryan+Cabrera-The+Grog+Shop+045.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215172610034207746" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">Check out the camera at the bottom of the frame. I bet their pic turned out better!<br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mw91POKnN-TKxZUaNwpbUfidmSeBGOx3FX6quYe-VSoJKw7QKcBg0eJ-8TzCz_3K3SnRhaf2VRflJ-GlOaus4DqHHHrAFXLa4IX1d_tOZ6_7ct3AvO4kSkOGyKbQq2_JJ4aT/s1600-h/Ryan+Cabrera-The+Grog+Shop+046.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mw91POKnN-TKxZUaNwpbUfidmSeBGOx3FX6quYe-VSoJKw7QKcBg0eJ-8TzCz_3K3SnRhaf2VRflJ-GlOaus4DqHHHrAFXLa4IX1d_tOZ6_7ct3AvO4kSkOGyKbQq2_JJ4aT/s320/Ryan+Cabrera-The+Grog+Shop+046.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215172613855974514" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">With all that long hair, he was constantly pushing it back behind his ears. But as least it helped me get a shot of one his newest Tats (as Jesse called them...how does she know that word anyhow?) 50 bonus points to the first person to figure out what it is.</span><br /></div>Roxannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03092366237053524032noreply@blogger.com8