Nothing exciting, just griping a bit.

I'm grumpy today. I think it's just the PMS stuff--at least I hope it is. That moody crap usually lasts just a few days. (I'm sure my husband would disagree with me). And who knew a puppy could be a strain on a marriage? It seems that I can't do anything right when it comes to the pup. The first day that I was home during the day and she peed 4 times in the kitchen. Never mind, it was raining outside and I couldn't figure out how to get her outside to pee. So, of course, her regressing is all my fault. I am definitely a cat person. I like a pet that does not expect me to know what I'm doing or care. Show them the litter box and where the food is and there you go--they're trained.

The sister in law called and they left NYC around 7:30 pm. She said they might get a hotel half way and come in the morning. It is only a 4.5 hr trip. Interesting.

OK. Better go and put the kids to bed. It is going to be a rough week next week since they are staying up until 9:30 pm and sleeping in until 9 am. I guess they will get used to it quickly next week.

Veggies from the garden...

Pete watered the garden the other day and Voila! The zucchini literally grew over night. The tomato had been a long time coming, however. :)

It's Thursday!!! Yay!!!

I'm looking forward to an easy day. Today and tomorrow are the last days of summer for us (other than the weekend). School starts back next Tuesday and we'll get back into the routine. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm sort of looking forward to a schedule. I usually enjoy not having a clue what the days holds.

So, it's going to be a crazy weekend here. Pete's sister and crew are coming from NYC. They never slow down. But, the cousins play so well together and it's great to see. So, that means we will be eating a lot and the house will be in an uproar!

And before I knew that my SIL was coming, I agreed to bake a couple desserts for my neighbor. She is a host family for the swim club at Penn State and has a dinner for them once a month or so. She calls me once in a while to ask if I will do it. I'm flattered, actually. So she wants a key lime pie and I'm going to make Ina Garten's Chocolate Ganache cake. It is probably the best thing I make! She wanted a third dessert so I suggested that she buys an angel food cake, strawberries (slice and put sugar on them to make them extra sweet) and whipped cream. I didn't want to make a third one.

Red Sky at Night, sailors delight...

Last night was the last softball game of the summer. I'm missing it already. But on the way home last night, I saw the most beautiful sunset and could only feel happy. I know, a little syrup-y. I wish I would have had the camera with me. We lost the game but it was still so much fun. I love it.

Today was my last day to work for a while. It's been a busy August and my house is showing it. Of course, the new puppy isn't helping any on the clean house front, either.

I found out today that my sister-in-law and her family is coming to "the country" this weekend from the big city, New York. We are going to have Kendall's birthday party this weekend, too. Yee-haw.

So, here's to another season of softball, beautiful sunsets, having a clean house once again and family.

Football tickets!

I just found out that we have two tickets to the Michigan State game. It's the last game of the season and they are on the 45 yard line. I've never been to a Penn State game before. The lady I bought them from is a widow of a former coach. Her husband used to coach with Joe Paterno. Woo hoo. Excitement.

Puppy woes and stuff...

Life has been a little stressful lately. I think Pete is stressed with the puppy peeing on the kitchen floor. Amazingly, I'm not flipping out. When Pete *decided he was getting a puppy-I didn't want one because I felt like life was finally getting easier-I knew that I needed to keep my mouth shut and not complain. And this is not a cheap pet, either. But, nevertheless, we have her and I know/hope she will grow up some day.

There some other stuff going on here, too that is a little stressful but I don't feel like I can talk about it yet. And I have been working a bunch lately (love the money!)

School starts back the day after Labor Day and I dread having to be out of the house everyday early! Yikes! I'm not going anywhere but Kendall will be in 1st grade. Clayton will be in preschool 3 mornings this year-woo hoo! Maybe I will get some things done around this house. Probably not.

So, sorry I have been neglecting this blog. I feel like I am just catching my breath.


*He pretty much said he was getting one and that was it.

Cheeky Monkey

We were at the National Zoo in DC with my friend, Heather and her kids, when an ape stopped over us to relieve himself.

Meet the newest arrival to our family...

This is Canoga's Tiger Lilly--aka Lilly. We got her today in upstate New York. She's 10 weeks old. More pictures to come later.

My new favorite group...and they're local!

I saw Ted McCloskey and the Hi-Fi's Saturday night. I think I need to buy the CD.

And here is another one.

How could I have thought life was hard before kids...?

I am doing something that moms all over the world probably wish for...to be in your home alone. I've been experiencing this luxury for going on 4 days now. The kids and Pete went to Maine on Wednesday to spend some time with my in-laws. We usually go as a family every August for a week and enjoy eating caught-that-day-lobster and boating on the Damariscotta River. But this year I stayed back to work at the hospital. My father-in-law switched the week on us and I was already committed. It's all good, though. I think it's good that Pete gets to visit with his family and enjoy the kids without me around. I don't know for all the kids out there, but mine seem to whine less when I'm not around.

And so what have I been doing with my time? I worked everyday this week starting at 7:30 am until 4 pm. Wednesday after work I ran some errands and actually took my time. Thursday after work I had a softball game. I was so tired but made myself go anyway. It turned out to be a great game. Friday evening I watched my friend's boys so she could go out for dinner with her husband. I felt like the fun Aunt that could play or just hang out. It was relaxing and it also helps that her kids are well-behaved. Saturday morning I slept in and I have to say that is the only thing I really wanted to do while the house has been empty. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm still in the care-giving role as our lab and cat are still hanging around. I have been walking Cody everyday. I like to think she is looking at me in a different light this week.

Saturday morning I ran on the treadmill. I accomplished some errands that I had been putting off, too. I got a long over due pedicure and then Saturday night I went to the Elk Creek Cafe and Ale House to hear a live band. I really like the sound of Ted McCloskey and the Hi-Fi's. I went with a couple I know through my husband.

Today I was a slacker and skipped church. I decided to be a hermit and I might go to the grocery store later on since I've run out of flour. Yep, I've got a chocolate zucchini bread baking in the oven right now and I need more flour to bake some more stuff.

So, it has been a relaxing time and I haven't done half the stuff I thought I would get done. It's still early, yet. I feel like I have so much time and no one telling me to do it...

Guilty Pleasures...

I borrowed this title from Auburn Kat. I just loved Project Runway tonight. It's one of my guilty pleasures. The challenge was to create an outfit for the female athletes of the USA Olympic team. Some of the people were spot on. Others, not so much. And tonight the guest judge was Apollo Ohno. He's sort of cute.

Another one--chocolate. I could never go without eating it at least once a day. I even had more than usual today. After lunch I was still hungry so I bought a brownie from the snack bar at the hospital. And tonight I had some left over chocolate-mint brownies that I had made yesterday. They are all gone now. No wonder I am still awake.

Well, it's time to go to bed. This working 5 days a week is for the birds. :)

Amateur

Yes, that is what our band is. Some things that we need to do before we move beyond that description:

• memorize, memorize, memorize
• practice, practice, practice
• work on the endings of our songs
  
• memorize some more

You might remember that I was supposed to go to DC to see an old friend this week. Well, I left on Wednesday after the kids' swim lessons but ended up staying in a hotel only two hours down the road. I started feeling awful and needed to lie down. I ended up getting really sick in the middle of the night. Not fun when you are responsible for your two little kids and away from home. I scheduled a doctor's appointment the next day and headed home in the morning. He thought it was my gall bladder but tests were inconclusive, so the mystery continues. The good news is that I am feeling better. The doctor said perhaps it was a virus. My sister thinks it is still my gall bladder but she is my sister and not my doctor. If she weren't my sister, I would definitely use her as my doctor. (OK- if I lived near her).

OK. Back to the band. We had this gig scheduled today for a benefit in another community. Pete's boss is the band leader. He wanted me to cut my trip early from DC to be back by this afternoon. Since I didn't go to DC, I was here for the gig. And since I'm feeling better, it was in the cards for me to be there. But, I would have been really disappointed had I driven all that way on a Saturday morning to get back for our gig. I mean it was fun, but it was kind of funny, too. We were in a really cool, red barn. A group was raising money for a charity fund in the community with a silent auction and we started playing around 3 pm when the fundraiser started. The funny part is that hardly no one was there or maybe they were outside. And then to try to cool the barn down, they closed the doors. So, there we were in this really cool band playing to nobody. We did sound really good today. Towards the end of our time slot, there were some people showing up because the food was being served. The band that followed us was a bluegrass band and they were really good. (I mean really good.)

So, that was my end of the week. No gall stones and no memorized music.

Solar Eclipse

There was a total eclipse of the sun today in China and other places in the northern hemisphere. You can click here to see the video. I posted the clip without the commentary but the commentary was interesting to listen to.