Grand Time And I Became Official

We spent Saturday night at the MGM grand hotel. Don and Linda went with us and a couple of the guys that Rich works with were there, too. It is a beautiful hotel! First class. There was even a TV in the bathroom! The shower was the size of my half bath. The bed was really comfortable. We had dinner in the buffet and breakfast at Wolfgang Pucks. The breakfast portions were surprisingly big and the food was really delicious at both places. All in all we had a great time.

My promotion came through at work. I am now officially a Administrative Assistant Intermediate. It came with a 10% raise so I'm happy. Trying to look for another job right now is really tough. Too many people out of work in our lovely state! So I do the same job, just make more money doing it!

Tuesday night we had someone come over to give us a estimate on having our wallpaper removed. It's a pretty good price so we are going to go for it. We're going to let him paint too. What he will do in 4 days would take us many, many weekends! It's so worth the money! He should be getting started next week.

Shauna got an apartment and will be moving out probably the 3rd week in March. The apartment she is getting had a lady living in it for 30 years, so they will be completely redoing it. New carpet, paint, cupboards and appliances. It's a really nice apartment complex and I think it's full of old people. So I feel good that she will be safe there. Plus she's only about 3 miles from us. I can't wait to help her move and bring her food and stuff! Saturday we are going shopping because she needs practically everything! Too bad we can't have a "moving out" shower!

It's supposed to snow again tonight. I was really bummed to see this today:



The darn meter-reader person ruined our pristine snow in the back yard!

Frozen Lunar Eclipse

It's been cold again lately. I know, I complain a lot about it but damnit! I don't recall ever being so ready for Spring as I am this year! Seems to be this has been a colder and more snowy winter than usual, or it could be that we have been spoiled by so many mild winters! Whatever.

Speaking of whatever, there is a radio talk show I have been listening to every night on my way home from work called Whatever with Jennifer and Alexis. I rather like it. For some reason I like to listen to talk radio driving home. Makes the time go buy faster for some reason. I usually don't listen to news because it's only bad stuff anymore. I also used to listen to Dr. Laura but she's not on anymore and she was beginning to bug the shit out of me, anyway! She's so judgemental!

Unless you live in a box you know that last night was the lunar eclipse.



It was cool looking but too cold to stand out there for very long!

This weekend we are spending the night at the MGM hotel. We were going to spend the night two weeks ago but it was right after my surgery and I was too uncomfortable. I am looking forward to it. Don and Linda are going too. It should be fun.

Next week I am having someone come over to give us a estimate on taking the rest of the wallpaper down. Just about every room in the house was covered in wallpaper when we moved in and we have personally taken down the wallpaper in the kitchen, the library/computer room, the master bedroom and the dining area. There is still wallpaper in the living room, dining room, front hallway, stairwell, upstairs hallway, master bath and half bath. I want ALL of it gone!

Hopefully it won't cost a fortune but I think it will be worth every penny!

Thinking Ahead to Spring

The new header picture above was taken this weekend from the front porch looking down the street. It was raining and the sun was shining making a cool reflection on the street. I don't know if the picture does it justice but it was pretty neat and rather springy looking even if there is snow on the ground! I am enjoying my new camera. I just need to take the time to learn how to use it properly.


Spring will eventually be here (I hope!) and we are starting to think about things we are going to do to the house. It needs quite a bit of updating. We probably will start with new siding, gutters and a front door. Our siding is white with black trim. Very 80's! Plus its dirty and grungy. The front door is wood and was a good door in its time. Its still is a good door but its all weather worn and the little windows on the top are all foggy. I really want a steel entry door with a pretty window in it. It would be a much improvement of the look of the house.

Weekly Winners

Cat Tongue

A Little Bit of Green

Bad Girl

Saving Change

Want to see more? Click the box and visit Lotus!

Whew

Well, I had my follow-up appointment with the doctor on Monday. All of the cancer has been removed and there is no need for further treatment right now. Plus I had a cat scan which was negative. So I am in the clear and need to be scoped (ug!) again in 3 months. All I can say is that I have a incredible network of family, friends and coworkers. I am blessed!

Yesterday it started snowing at about 2:00 in the afternoon, so by the time I left work at about 4:15, traffic was at a gridlock! It took me over a hour to get out of Ann Arbor which is approximately 5 miles! Bumper to bumper with cars in the ditch and spun out. It never fails to amaze me that people either don't know how to drive in the snow or they are not willing to SLOW THEIR ASSES DOWN, so they cause accidents and back ups and big old messes!! Anyway, I was starving and I did not have a single thing to eat in the car. Only about 1/2 bottle of water! Usually I have at least a apple but this day I forgot it!

It's also been pretty cold. This winter has been a doozy so far. I am so ready for Spring!!

We got a new slow cooker on Monday night. Yesterday I put a frozen solid turkey breast in it in the morning on low. I thought it may not be cooked good enough when I got home but seeing as I was home later than normal, it was cooked perfect! Slow cookers are the best. What I like is that you can take a less expensive cut of meat and its fall-off-the-fork tender after cooking slowly all day!

Weekly Winners

Small reflection


Thru the blinds


Good but heavy


Cat pondering

Thankful Thursday On Friday!

Sorry. I missed the Thankful Thursday entry. I was busy having surgery in the morning and then zoned out on Vicodin in the afternoon!! What a way to spend the day!

This week I am thankful for all of the doctors and nurses and technicians that I have been dealing with in the last week. Everyone is so kind, gentle and thoughtful. They helped to make a scary situation much easier. God bless them.

Go visit Julie at Another Chance Ranch to see more Thankful Thursday entries and add one of your own.


Anyway, I am off of work for the next 4 days. I can't go back until Tuesday which is fine with me. I just have to find ways to occupy my time. I get bored very easily.

The Never Ending Rollercoaster

Whew..it's been a few days since I have been here. Besides having computer problems, other things have been going on in my life that have kept me from being able to post.

We finally got our computer back from the repair shop on Sunday. Apparently it had a windows corruption or something so they had to back up all of the information, wipe windows out completely and re-install it. Then the tech forgot to take the installation cd out of the drive and when I got it home and turned it on, I got a prompt to boot from the CD so I did and then things just went downhill from there. See, I like to pretend that I know what I am doing in regards to computer glitches, but I really don't so we ended up having to take it back to the shop. Luckly, it wasn't my fault so they fixed it again and now its OK.

Yesterday I had an appointment with a urologist. I have some small areas of cancer in my bladder. On Thursday I am having the areas removed and biopsied. He said that the spots are small and superficial and we caught it early so I'm not too worried now, but man, that threw me for a loop. Being in the medical field I know all to well how things can be and I was pretty terrified for a few days there. But I feel better now and am confident that things will be ok.

Rich bought himself a new toy:



Its a beauty and has a 17 inch screen.

Shauna and her boyfriend hooked up the wireless router so now we can surf the net from anywhere in the house! It's very nice and he needs it for some future endeavors he plans on doing.

I am still looking for a new camera.. I think I want this one. It seems like a good one and has a 4.6 out of 5 star rating. Plus it's a Canon and cameras are what they do, you know? As soon as I can justify spending the money for just my amusement than I am going to get it!

That's it for now.