My Birthday Flowers

These are the flowers that Pete came home with for my birthday. My two favorites!

A little tongue

I hate days like these.  Rainy, cold, and dark.  I had issues getting out of bed today.  I guess I have issues getting out of bed everyday, but today was especially hard.  I woke up this morning and Pete was gone.  Zora was sleeping next to me and Pete was no where to be found.  Apparently he tried to say good bye this morning and I wouldn't wake up. I don't like waking up.

This morning at work blew.  I was trying to meet a deadline and I was grumpy, but all is good now.  The chunk of work is done and I can work at a more relaxed pace. I got out of the office to run to the post office and mail out the last of the wedding photos.  I talked to my boss and got next Wednesday off.  Now I only have to come to work on Monday and Tuesday mornings.   That makes me very excited.

 I am going to take the kids to the zoo next week.  I love the zoo, but I feel wierd just going by myself.  Pete went once and said that that was enough for him.  Hopefully the kids will want to go. 

Our landscaper came yesterday and staked out the yard.  So this morning we resubmitted our application and hopefully are on schedule to start the yard next week.  The landscaper said that it should be the end of next week.  I can't wait to not have the eye sore lawn of the neighborhood. Also I think that my dad has the kind of car that we can fit a ladder into, so maybe I can talk Pete into buying one so we can take the ugly satelite dish off my roof. 

Everything is ready for my dad and the kids to get here.  I just have to blow up the other beds.  Zora is still pouting that she doesnt get to go into the guest room right now.  She give the gate an evil eye everytime she walks by it.  I think that it is kinda funny.

I have to get back to work now.  I want to have a clean desk by tomorrow, so that next week isn't that bad. 

Grrr!

If someone tells you they have a deadline, don't you think that maybe you shouldn't bother them. Of course not. Just keep asking them to do other work. That definitely makes it easier.

Things on my end have been good. Pete got home Saturday morning at 7am. I was still sleeping since I hadn't gone to bed until 3 am. I may have stayed up late, but everything that possibly could be cleaned in our house was cleaned. Bedding, floors, kitchen, and even the dog. I like having a door on the shower so Zora can't get out. Makes bathing at home much easier. I even baked. I made Pete pepper cookies, zeppole and 2 jello pies. I also cooked off some sausage for Saturday's dinner. I was very productive. Anywho, when Pete got into bed and we both slept til noon. Probably would have slept later, but poor Zora was crossing her legs.

We relaxed the rest of the weekend. I made Pete go to Target with me on Sunday to shop for clothes for the kids. I could have bought some many cute outfits for my niece, but I held back. I got them all white polo shirts, and the boys jeans and Christina a cute little denim skirt. I think it will look cute in their pictures. As long as the cooperate that it.

This week has been Ok. Work is busy and people are very demanding. Yesterday was my birthday, so I pulled the birthday card and got out of work 2 hours early. The weather was perfect, so I relaxed at home and put the dog out in the yard. I checked on her every 10 minutes or so and she was doing fine. I go and check on her after she had been out there for about an hour and she was in the woods sniffing the creek bed. This may sound fine, but her tie out doesn't reach that far. She had gotten off somehow. Thankfully she didn't run off and was just sniffing in the woods on our property. Her harness was in one piece and so was the cord. I have no clue how she got off. I suppose it will always be a mystery.

Anywho, I wasn't in the mood to go out to dinner, so we just ordered in and I made Pete watch a pretty bad movie. That seems to be a theme this week. He really does love me, cuz he watches them.

I get to leave work early today again. Only a half hour, but anything works for me. The landscaper is coming to stake out the yard, so that the board will finally be happy. I have an appointment at the gym tonight too. I am not really in the mood to workout, but I think it will get out some of my work aggression.

My Dad and the kids get here Friday night. It should be a loud, busy week next week. Expect more pictures. I get camera happy with them. I feel bad for my future children. They are going to get sick of cameras.

On a totally unrelated side not, just something I need to get off my chest. If a multimillion dollar corporation is going to install technology, maybe just maybe they should have someone who knows how to work it and fix it. I can play with the volume button too, but that isn't going to fix anything. Also, if you haven't reserved a conference room, then maybe you shouldn't get mad when people did reserve the room want it. Don't tell me you have 3 minutes left until the meeting starts. I don't have all freaking day to sit around waiting to test the faulty technology while you finish your meeting. I have other work to do.

Speaking of other work, I really need to get back to what I was doing. Blogging is not helping me meet my deadline. It just makes the stress level decrease a little.

I am taking a break from cleaning to rest, so I figured I would blog again. I am feeling very productive tonight. I am about 1/3 of the way done cleaning right now, but hopefully the rest will go quickly. I did the hardest parts first. Zora got a bath. She was not happy, but she smells so nice right now it was well worth it.

Being my anal retentive self, I made up floor plans of the house in Publisher and mapped out everything that needs to be done. They are hung on their respective floors and I am finding them quite useful. I think I may use them more often. I tend to forget what I need to do and this helps remind me.

I am back off to cleaning. Pete will be home in 10 hours. I can't wait.

I can't believe that it is only Thursday. This week has seemed so long. I don't like when Pete travels. I know that he doesn't do it as often as he could, but I still don't like it.

Tuesday night was not good. I went to our ARB meeting and there were four applications in. The board did the other three and they left and then I spent the next 30 minutes just questioning me. I had no clue what the answers were because Pete had dealt with the landscaper, so I called Pete in CA repeatedly until he picked up and made him answer the questions. For some reason I was so mad when I left. Pete's mom isn't talking to me because I got mad at her for no reason. I just needed someone to vent to and she tried to fix it, which just made more angry. Jesse was good enough just to let me vent to her. I can swear to her too, which made it better.

Last night, I had a little shopping therapy. I went to Target and made the appointment for my niece and nephews to have their pictures taken and then proceed to start buying. I don't know what it is about Target that just gets me going. I love their stuff. I got some kitchen towels and some more containers for our closet. They have the cutest gardening gloves for $1.49. You can not beat that price. The night continued with Sam's club, getting my nails done, a new watch battery, and some Bath and Body works products. I looked for some new headphones, but I need some long ones and I can't find them.

Tonight I am going out to dinner with a friend. I feel bad leaving Zora alone so much, but I will be home all night tomorrow night. She and I are going to clean everything. The house is getting cleaned from top to bottom. Zora doesn't know it yet, but she is getting a bath too. I am also making some of Pete's favorite desserts. I have finally mastered Jello Pie and his aunt sent me a recipe for Zeppoles. I am going to try my first attempt and maybe try pepper cookies again.

I have to get back to work. I played catch up today. It feels so good to get my follow up box down to 4. I have updated everything that I possibly could update. I need to place a printer cartridge order and I am done.

I know I really suck at keeping up to date. I don't know why. I am on a computer 8+ hours a day. I read a ton of blogs, I just get distracted updating my own. I am going to try and do better and add more pictures.

This past weekend was really good. Friday night we rented Casino Royale. I pre-rented it from Red Box. I love that thing. We only need movies for one night. You can not beat a dollar. We spent the night relaxing.

Saturday, we ran errands and did things around the house. Pete went psycho cleaning before he had to leave. After church, we went to some friend's house for dinner and to watch the UNC game. She made a really good beef stew and it was good to have female company. The boys watched the game and we talked while half watching the game. UNC won and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, which is exciting.

Sunday, we slept late and then I made Pete work in the yard all afternoon. He wanted to relax before he had to travel, but I wanted to finish the last two flower beds. The yard is starting to look good. I can't wait for the landscaper to come. I think that we did pretty good for the first time though.

Pete left early Monday morning. Zora pouted. She doesn't like when one of us leaves. All last night she looked out the window at every car that passed the house. She is kinda pitiful.

I took the opportunity last night to clean our the fridge and reorganize it and the freezer and the pantry. They look much better now. I like when things are organized. I get too easily distracted when Pete is home and forget what I want to do.

I have to go to our Homeowner's Association ARB Meeting tonight. Should be way fun. More on that later.

I have a ton of FedEx to get out, so this is all for now.

Spring is coming.

I don't really like hot weather, but I love when spring comes. The weather is warm, but not hot. Today is so nice that I dont want to be at work. I went home for lunch again and had the windows opened and the dog in the front yard and I seriously considered not coming back. I probably would have gotten in trouble, so I did come back. So not worth it.

This week has been quiet. We haven't done anything. Our second estimate came back from the landscapers and it was much less than the first one. We are just waiting for the board's approval and we will finally have a lawn. I am very excited.

I just called Pete and he is sitting on the deck at home with the dog. It is making it really hard to stay here and work. I wanna go home and enjoy the outside.

It was like being at work again.

I did Pete's study last night and it was like being at work again. I swore at the computer just like I do at work too. Some of it really was like my job since Pete was using me complaining as examples for tasks. I can not say much cuz I dont know who is going to take it, but it made me have to go to the bathroom the entire 2 hours. I used my $20 to get dinner out last night instead of cooking.

Zora enjoyed it cuz we were on the 3rd floor and she got to play fetch with the pillow I got at my bachelorette party. Not an appropriate toy for a dog, but we get a kick out of watching her run around with it in her mouth.

Back to work.

A car makes such a difference.

I have the car today because Pete is on campus and what a difference it makes. I left the office for lunch and that just makes me in better spirits. I went and looked at some mattresses. I found a good deal except for the delivery charges. If we can figure out how to get them from the store to the house then we will be good. After that I went home and started some laundry, emptied the dishwasher, took the dog out, heated lunch, which I ate in the car on the way home, and took some pictures.

I wish that I could do that more often. It is such a nice day and getting out in the sun makes such a difference.

Now after much waiting some pictures.

The guest bathroom (hopefully to be the kid's bathroom someday)

The picture I found for the wall in the bathroom. The curtains above the kitchen sink

The curtains above the breakfast nook. The seat cushions match and the rug by the back door kinda matches. I found the rug at Target for 4 bucks.

Thats all I have for now. Back to work. I have a ton to do before I leave tonight.

A knock at the door.

Last night, Pete and I were getting ready to walk Zora. I had just put her harness on when there was a knock at the door. That is very unusual for us. We don't know that many people. Pete opens the door to a young looking guy. He starts off by saying "This is really embarrassing, but I have to go around to all the houses in the neighborhood." Hmm..what would you think when someone said that. Thank goodness he went on to tell us he is college student trying to raise money for some photography courses in NY. He was selling hard cover books. Since he wasn't a sex offender, we ended up getting a set of books for my niece and nephews for an Easter gift. We should have told him that he needed to start his selling point a little different.

This weekend was really busy. I don't like busy weekends. They go by too fast.

Thursday we were waiting for another landscaper to come and give us a estimate for the yard work that we want done. Zora was tied up out back enjoying herself. I attached her long leash to the tie out and she was having a grand old time. I was sitting on the stairs on the side of the house, talking to my neighbor and her son, when all of a sudden Zora comes running up to me all happy with herself. She had broke another leash. This is the 4th one in two months. She is starting to get expensive. I couldn't get mad at her because she looked so pleased with herself and she did run right to me instead of running away when she broke it.

Friday afternoon my curtains came in from Pottery Barn, so after walking Zora, I made Pete put them up while I cooked dinner. I was a little skeptical ordering them because I only saw them in the picture in the catalog. They didn't carry them in the store, but once they were up I love them. They add a good amount of color to the kitchen.

Saturday was our apartment sale. We sold a fair amount of items. Made some money. We definitely advertised too long of a time. No one really came after 1130 and we were there til 2. Zora was not a happy camper. The gate kept falling so she was scared the entire time. She also didn't like that she couldn't greet everyone. Spoiled brat.

We dropped her at home before Church and because we were thinking we forgot to put down the couch cushions. Pete snuck up to the window when we got home and where was she. Sprawled out on the couch. Brat! She got yelled at for that one.

Sunday we got up early and cleaned and did errands. I got some towels and a cute picture for the guest bathroom. I still want the tooth brush holder and tissue holder and then it will done. After that a mattress and we are ready for guests. We have until the last week in March, so I think it will be OK.

For last night's UNC/Dook game, we had some friends over. They are a married couple that Pete knew the husband from the CS Department. They got married about a month before us and bought a house in Woodcroft. We met for dinner last week and they are really nice. They came to watch the game and for dinner. The night was even better because UNC won again. They beat Dook twice in this year and took the #1 spot in the ACC. It was a good game until the dirty playing.

I don't want to be at work right now, but that is nothing new. I have to get back to things. I really need to find my camera so I can post some pictures of some of the rooms I am working on.