Hang in there with me...

Every morning I wake up with the best intentions of blogging. I have pictures and stories to share GALORE. But it seems that once the day gets rolling, things (and mainly time) gets away from me.

Please hang in there with me. I'm working on getting caught up with some things, settling a few issues I've been dealing with, and checking off a few items on my long overdue "to do" list.

I'll be back soon, promise.

Right around the corner

I'll be back really soon. Promise. I've just been busy with the normal stuff. Dogs, therapy visits, gold parties, you name it. It's all good though...no complaints today.

I just saw this posted - and I've decided I'm going to do it again.

It's fun, it's great motivation to get my camera out, and it makes for a little good conversation.  Want to join me?

Yup, I'll be back and blogging soon - like tomorrow!  I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel of my desk disaster area...it's right around the corner.

Swamped

This is how I feel.

Yeah, I've got a couple of things on my plate right now. I'll probably be off the blog grid for a couple of days...but just a couple. Check back after the weekend, um k?

Hello 2013!

We rung in the new year with a quiet toast...

 some time with family (Mom was here earlier, but headed home at about 10pm...)

 

 watching the ball drop...

 and the San Diego version of a polar bear plunge. Only AJ and I were brave (or stupid) enough to do it.

 The water was a chilly 50F, and we didn't stay in it long.

 Thankfully the jacuzzi was a toasty 101F and we thawed out quickly.

 

I found this a couple of weeks ago on someones FB I think, and it really struck a cord with me. I love this idea, and I am going to do it for sure. Why not join me?  After the year I had in 2012 it would have been nice to have been reminded of some of the nicer things that happened. Unfortunately, I will not look back at 2012 with fond memories. I was glad to see it go...and I hope for a happier year this time around.

I have a few resolutions this year...as I always do, but I won't be sharing them with anyone. That way, if they don't come to fruition, I won't have embarrassed myself. I'll hold myself accountable, and that's enough for me.

I wish you, and all of the important people in your life a health, happy new year. Let's all keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

December Photo-a-day challenge, day 26

Day 26 - the prompt is "mess"

The window near my desk leaked. All of the contents from my desk got shoved quickly into this laundry basket. This is a MAJOR mess I'm not looking forward to cleaning up.  Lucky me.

I haven't...

...fallen off the face of the earth, or been put away with all of the Halloween decorations. I've just had other stuff going on that I've needed to take care of.  You know how it goes, right?

I received two discs with more party pictures on them today. I will post more pictures tomorrow, and that, my friends, is a promise. I have a few more decoration pictures I want to post and then it's on to the guest pictures.

Hang in there with me. It's been....well....a little busy.

The Circus is Coming to Town - TOMORROW!

Tomorrow is our BIG day. The party we've been planning and working on for months will come together at last. 

We are excited. Very.  We are expecting 101 guests.

Holy Moly.

I have hundreds of pictures already that I wish I could share with you, but I don't want to ruin the surprises for my guests that read this. Half the fun of showing up is wondering what we've come up with.

It's been tougher than expected to get everything to come together as planned...but we've done the best we can.

Needless to say, it's been a balancing act sometimes.

Stay tuned and I'll start posting pictures as soon as I can after the party.

Wish us luck....and no matter what, as they say, the show must go on, right?

Strange Goings On....

Kona greeted me this morning with a fake rat in his mouth. The rat was accompanied by a giant rubber spider and both were nestled in a large fishing net.

Kona was tickled with his new "toys"....Momma was not.

Halloween is near my friends, and there are strange goings on at my house.

Strange indeed.

In case you've been wondering

In case you've been wondering why I haven't been posting much...well, you know it's that time of year again, that crazy, busy, hectic, Halloween party time of year. We have been hard at work getting the invitations ready to send, painting, sewing, sawing, screwing (hey, now, get your mind out of the gutter, at least until party time!) and even having a little "eye scream"  and it is finally starting to really take shape. Here is a taste of how things are coming along. Less than 4 weeks until party time, and it's getting down to the wire!

 

 

 

 

I've got the send a special and very HUGE thank you to all of our awesome friends who have been helping to make all of this happen. You are superstars!

Operation 'Big Top' is underway!

We spent all day working on Halloween stuff and got a couple of great things accomplished. It felt GOOD!

I wasn't kidding when I mentioned a "big top!"

Not the best picture, but you get the idea - and you know me, I don't like to give away too much before the party.

The "Big Build" will get started tomorrow, but today the groundwork was laid.  I'm very excited to see how things look tomorrow evening at this time.

I know, I know, this post is short, and a little secretive. Hey, what can I say? It's that time of year! Only 10 weeks until the party! OH NO! I just went into panic mode! I'm heading out for more painting...seriously!

G'night!

Dear Blog...

I have missed you...no I have not forgotten about you. I have been busy. REALLY busy. I know, I know, I say that a lot. I've neglected you, and I'm sorry. I promise things will get better between us soon. I've been cheating on you with a little something called my 30 year reunion. Yes, I've been spending WAY too much time with this reunion obsession of mine, but it's nearing the end. I've been wanting to share so much with you, but there are only so many hours in the day.

And I've been stressed....oh, I could tell you stories to make the edges of your pages curl.  But I will save those for another time. Right now I have to figure out how to print on my new printer...(yes, my other color printed died yesterday, RIP HP6500 -hello HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus, please be good to me. We'll need to have a long, healthy relationship.)

As soon as I figure out how to load pictures from my camera stick onto my printer and then to my computer, I will be completely back in business.  (I see a card reader in my future.)

The last of the reunion name tags are calling to me now, so I must go. More cutting, more pasting...ah, the memories.

Wasn't it just yesterday that I was in high school? How can it possibly be 30 years ago. Don't I still look like this? HA!

Clowns, clowns everywhere!

What a weekend! We got a bunch of stuff accomplished and I am actually starting to get excited. The party is less than 3 months away, and the pressure is already starting to build. One of the toughest things to do is to simply come up with unique ideas for this kind of party.

Needless to say, I spent a LOT of time on my computer this weekend.

A circus/carnival themed party is not out of the ordinary.

A Halloween party is not out of the ordinary.

An adult costume party is not out of the ordinary.

Now, roll those all into one big party, throw in a lot of gore, adult themes, home-made sets and props and you start to get the idea.

I don't like to throw an ordinary party.

Our Psycho Circus and CarnEvil of Carnage will be anything BUT ordinary.  

I'm busting at the seams with antic-i-PATION just thinking about it!

Underway

It's official, our 2012 Halloween party is underway.

We started off the morning with a clean garage, and then we unloaded the attic. I've said goodbye to my garage for the next 3 months.

Yes, it's fair to say we've got a few Halloween items....We actually went thru every tub and every bag and put some stuff away that we knew we wouldn't use for this year's theme, and this is what we left down!

This year's party?  Well...it's going to be a doosie!

Total Disaster Area

My house is a mess....I can't find my kitchen counter! I think I need a "party planner" intervention! See? I wasn't kidding...

Whitewater Rafting Trip 2012

While I came home to over 400 emails waiting for me, Pickle had some time to take some of the photos and videos from our trip and create this awesome video. Check it out!

Keeping it all going

I've been so swamped with things lately, I feel like this guy...(advance to about 5:30)

...but he's a LOT more talented at keeping everything going than I am.

Sometimes I feel like all of the plates are going to start to fall, but then I run around like a chicken with my head cut off to keep them all spinning.  It keeps the audience happy...but is it worth it? That, my friends, is the question...

I Haven't...

In the last 32 days I haven't had any soda...or any carbonated beverages at all. I gave up soda for lent, not because I am Catholic, but just because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. It's been easier than I thought it would be.

In the last 21 days I haven't had any alcohol. It's not that I am a big drinker at all, however I do enjoy an occasional cocktail or two when I am out with friends. The decision not to drink hasn't been a conscious one, it just hasn't come up lately and I'm ok with that.

Now for the really interesting stuff. Since this past Monday I
1. Haven't had any caffeine
2. Haven't had any sugar (other than natural sugar in fruit)
3. Haven't had any bread, potatoes or rice (white, brown or any other color)
4. Haven't had any dairy products
5. Haven't had anything fried
6. Haven't had any red meat
7. Haven't had any fast food - including not one of my beloved Mickey D's Mocha Frappes!

I have been drinking a LOT of water, eating a lot of vegetables, fish, chicken and salad. I am really trying to learn a new way of eating. So far, so good. My weight is going in the right direction too- I'm very happy with my progress. I don't want to jinx things though, so I won't give details on that yet.

I have some personal things coming up that I really want to look good for-including my 30th class reunion in August. Oh, how I'd love to lose about 30 lbs before then! Wish me luck, so far, I'm on the right track.

Distracted

I can't believe that an entire week has gone by without me updating my blog. I feel terrible about it, I really do!

To say that I have been distracted is an understatement. I'd really rather not go into all of what's been going on around the homestead, but suffice to say that my brain has been otherwise occupied, and I haven't been in the best mindset to blog. 'Nuff said about that...

On to a couple of good things...I just wrapped up a pleasant, quiet, and relaxing visit with my boy. AJ was in town for a week for his Spring Break from Purdue. I was thrilled to have him in town, even if only to sit and chat with him, and enjoy some silliness. He is great company, wonderful help with the dogs, easy going, and helps to put the twinkle back into my eye. He headed back to Indiana yesterday, but he will be back for the summer in only two months. Mentally I've started the countdown already.

My knee continues to improve. Last Wednesday I finished up my physical torture therapy visits, so that's good. I've got great range of motion back, and other than it being a bit achy here and there, it's treating me pretty well. The 4 little incisions are healing well too, and I think with a couple of more weeks time, they will hardly be noticeable.

I've found that I still feel like I am under some sort of cloud...and in a funk. I just can't really explain it. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the combination of loosing my Dad, physically not feeling well, and dealing with some emotional baggage that has broadsided me over and over again lately. Yep, I know, probably not the feel good post you were hoping for...but that's life sometimes, right. I remind myself that I've got to take the good with the bad, the happy with the sad, the sh!t with the shinola. Ok, I just made that last one up...but you get the point. Sometimes it just doesn't all smell like roses.

I'm working on shaking the funk though. (That would be the name of my band, if I had a band, "Shaking the Funk...." - my friends who listen to Dave, Shelly and Chainsaw here in San Diego will relate to that...) but the funk is a persistent S.O.B., that's for sure.

In the meantime...I'll just keep hanging in there.

How is this...

...for sexy?

In the words of my dear, honest friend Doug, "Ummmm, maybe not so much.."

It's not feeling too bad though, even after my first physical therapy visit yesterday. Yay! I am on the mend, that's for sure.

Under the Scope

I had a bit of knee surgery yesterday. I've been dealing with a sore knee for a long time now, and it was finally time to get if fixed. At first my doctor thought I had a torn meniscus, but the MRI showed arthritis and a bone spur instead. Hmmm, fun stuff.

Here I am waiting to be called back to surgery....

I guess you could say that the surgery has been looming over me. It's been heavy on my mind, to say the least. It's not so much that the actual procedure was worrying me, but more of the not knowing what to expect as far as recovery, etc.

To be honest, I was also worried about going under the anesthesia. With what happened just 8 weeks ago with my Dad, I don't think anyone could question my anxiety...but, as expected, things went as planned, and here I am. Fine and nearly dandy.

I've been getting around pretty good today without my crutches. Granted I'm not up for walking the dogs, or going to Disneyland, but I get to the bathroom and kitchen by myself without any problem. Yay!

Tomorrow I go for my first physical therapy appointment. Oh, I'm really looking forward to that. Ha! Until then, I'll sit, relax with my knee up and savor the sweet smell of the flowers my wonderful friends and family have sent.

Sent from my iPad as I'm sitting on my big @ss couch.