Looking On the Brighter Side of Life!!

The bad news - I won't be going to the Michael McDonald concert this weekend.
The good news - Received two free tickets to Patti LaBelle along with a free two-night stay in September!

The bad news - Michael isn't home yet.
The good news - He's moving to a new facility today so if everything goes as planned, he'll be strong and home very soon!

The bad news - The Color Vibe 5K in Vancouver was cancelled.
The good news - My refund will arrive in 7-10 days!

The bad news - The kitchen was a mess tonight.
The good news -Son Sam whipped it into shape!

The bad news - It's only Monday.
The good news - I have Friday off!

The bad news - It's a teen tournament on Jeopardy.
The good news - Hotel Hell is on tonight focusing on Longview's own Hotel Monticello!

Here's to looking on the bright side of things!!!

Makeup, Mall, and Monday

Yesterday after visiting with my Michael, I stopped off at Vancouver Mall to get my nails done.  They did a quick job and the polish I picked out - radiant orchid - is beautiful.  Gonna have to pick me up a bottle of that!

Last night my allergies were in high gear so two Benydryl were my solution.  They kick my allergy's butt; however, they put me in a sleep coma.  It was so hard to wake up this morning!  A call from Michael ended up moving me to make coffee, then I spent the morning putting away all my clothes then making a trip to Walmart.  Arriving home, my options were go to the gym or mow the yard....hmmm...which one??!!  I ended up mowing the yard because it was looking pretty raggedy.  Unfortunately, newly mown grass is not really a solution for my allergies.....here's hoping for a Benydryl free night!

Tonight, I made dinner then sat down to read through a ton of new magazines that had been collecting dust on the counter.  Just never seem to have time to read them!  One of the ads spotlighted a new Maybelline Leather eyeshadow....nice look.

That's it for my weekend!  Monday will be here before we know it!  Here's to a great week!

The Strange, The Smelly, and the Super

I am so very glad it's Friday!!!  This week was full of odd occurrences and strange happenings!

On Tuesday after working out at the gym, I stopped off at Safeway to get gas and pick up a few items from the store.  I was getting ready to leave the parking lot when a thin, crazy woman went tearing behind my car up to the truck parked a few spaces over.  She was carrying a glass vase with flowers and a balloon.  She was desperately trying to get into the truck but it appeared her friends didn't want her to get in.  She ended up dropping the vase, which shattered all over the parking lot and the balloon went flying into the sky.  She then took off like a bat out of hell toward my car; lucky for her she veered away and continued running while a security guard went chasing after her.  She was so wild-eyed!  At that point a girl in the back seat of the truck jumped out and into the front seat then the truck sped away from the lot, but not before I could jot down their license plate number, which I gave to Safeway management.  Quite the excitement and another reminder why I rarely shop at Safeway, especially this particular one because it seems it is always crime-ridden.

After a few whiffs of stink in the garage, which I chocked up to a full garbage can needing to be taken out, Sam mentioned to me that he thought the freezer might be out. Ugh! Making my way to the garage, I slowly opened up the freezer and whoa.....serious stink city!!  Yep, the freezer had stopped, thawing everything (including chicken and beef) to a stinky, soupy mess.  Grabbing some garbage bags, I took a breath then cleaned out two bags worth of thawed yuck.  Had to back away a few times in order to hold back the vomit the smell was so bad.  Then I cleaned it out with bleach and left it to dry.  Two days later it seemed the putrid was still in my nose!!

Then this week there was awesome blessing - my Michael may be coming home soon!  He is doing so well with his current treatment and therapy that we are now counting the days until we can be together - at home. God has blessed my man and we can't wait for him to return to our "normal" life rather than a hospital setting!

Can't wait to be under one roof!!!

Mady - Diva in Training

Here's a pic of my great niece Mady.  Her mom posted this on Facebook stating she's the spitting image of me - a budding fashionista!  I'd have to agree!!!  Isn't she cute??!!!

 

I Agree!!

Blue Jacket Divas Once Again!

Last night was a great ending to a very busy and warm week!  The original Blue Jacket Divas gathered together at Diva Jan's house to break bread and catch up with each other.  It had been a long time - too long - and it was great being able to hear what was going on in each other's lives.  Jan grilled burgers and laid out a tasty buffet of potato salad, coleslaw, chips, and veggies.  Dessert included homemade berry crisp and Susan brought a Shari's cherry pie. I haven't eaten that much in a long time but it was worth it!

The highlight of the evening was when we received a surprise visit from one of the founders of the lab where we all used to work, Steve, along with his wife.  So nice catching up with him - it was like old home week from back in the day when we all worked together for so many years.

Here's a toast to old friends and good times!!!

Bonding, Bathtub, and Bathing Beauty

July 4th this year was special because it was the first time since March that I've spent the night in the same room as my love Michael.  Friday we enjoyed the holiday together where we were able to visit, relax, eat dinner together, and snooze (although in different beds) all night long.  While my bed was acceptable, it was plastic.  This meant waking up in the middle of the night with my back glued with sweat to the bed...ugh.  It was an experience and really made me proud of Michael as he endures this environment day in and day out. It's rough but we are praying he will soon his regain his strength so he can make it home.

Arriving home Saturday there was enough time for me to hit the gym for about an hour.  Sunday found me rising early to tackle cleaning my room and hanging up clothes then performing some deep cleaning on my bathroom, including the tub/shower.  It was gross and seriously needed some work for quite some time.  The small aquarium was next, which was cleaned then, with some trepidation, I moved my hefty algae eater into the larger aquarium.  He seems to be settling in just fine and will have much more room to roam.

I then cleaned and vacuumed the car, gassed it up, stopped at Target, then ran my auto through the car wash.  Arriving home, my next goal was to mow the front yard; instead, I watched Chopped on TV and took a nap, which was so worth it.  Refreshed, I mowed the yard, weeded, rearranged a few lawn items, cleaned out and set up the front fountain, then hung up my bathing beauty wind sock.

Back inside, the kitchen was next and finally, it was time to paint my nails to prepare for Monday.  I'm ready for my sunny, warm, and fabulous week - are you??!!!

Happy Independence Day 2014!!!

Have a safe and exciting July 4th!!!  

A Literal Potted Plant

Brother Todd gave me a quaint little potty chair when we celebrated our birthdays in January.  It's been sitting on the front porch; today i finally picked up some potted flowers to sit over the potty hole.  It's actually cute, rather than strange!!!  Thanks again Todd!!

Thunder in the Clear Blue Sky

My window at work overlooks the freeway....well, through brush and trees.  However, there is view enough to see if traffic is cruising along or dragging.  Today during my normal workday, I was typing along when I looked out my window and saw a huge puff of smoke or dust shooting into the air.  Then, there was a tremendous amount of noise akin to thunder.  Being that it was a sunny, clear and warm day, a miracle had to occur for thunder to sound.  Hmmm, I thought to myself as I returned to my typing.  A few minutes later, red and blue lights flickered on the freeway - police and ambulance had arrived and the freeway was at a standstill.  At that point, I ventured from my office to see what was going on.

Apparently, a semi carrying a load of logs overturned on the freeway, which caused the cloud of dust along with the thunder noise.  The following picture is from the freeway camera, which shows the extent of the wreck.  This occurred around 11am; southbound freeway was blocked for a few hours, cars were then detoured while the freeway was closed.   Close to my quitting time at 4pm, I was happy to see traffic was moving; however, when I made my way to the freeway, it was very slooooowwwww going for several miles. My 45 minute commute took me double that time to get home.  Ugh....but at least no one was hurt in the wreck.

Arriving home, I cancelled my normal trip to the gym in order to get outside and enjoy the warmth.  Tossing on my shorts and tank top, I then pulled out the lawnmower to cut the backyard.  Alas, no gas so my next trip was the gas station.  Once home, the next hour was spent mowing the backyard in the 90 some degree heat, which resulted in a serious sweat situation!  My plan was to cut the front yard as well but that shall wait for another day.

Here's to more summer weather this week!!!