Homefront news

We have more good news! On Friday we received an offer on our home, which we countered and then they countered and that was that. Now we are under contract and unless there is a problem with the inspection we have to be out by January 27th. That means Joe will be spending this coming week looking for temporary headquarters for us and all of our stuff, aka an apartment. We are really excited! This is one less thing for us to worry about now. I just need to know who is going to volunteer to help us move all of our stuff???

Graduation

Good news everyone! I have completed my undergraduate degree in the exciting field of Management. I took my last final ever on December 13th and came out with a final grade of B for that course. The only downside is that I did not "register" for graduation in time so I technically don't graduate until May 2006, but as long as I don't have to take any more classes that is fine with me.

Another Quiz!

OK, this quiz is about which Sci-Fi character are you... As you can see I am the lovely Galadriel!

Silly things

My friends are always sending me silly links and I thought I would share some:

This one makes me think of Monty Python! Interview
If you love Richard Simmons this one is for you.
An interesting video of a drunk driver...

Hope everyone out there is well!

In Bloom

I almost forgot to add a picture of the amaryllis in bloom. This thing really is gigantic.

Now I am waiting for the second one to flower, but as you can see it may be a few weeks. The problem is I went to Target and Lowes last night and had to slap more of these out of my hands! I really do not need another one, even though they are so pretty.

Lots of stuff

I am worn out. Work is getting more and more frustrating and I see no end in site. I have been contemplating looking for a new job, but my I fully vest in my 401K in May. Shouldn't I wait it out and take the money and run? Mom and Dad would be proud! Well, except maybe the cut and run part, but you know work isn't exactly looking after my best interest. We'll see if I can wait it out for six more months. Anywho, I actually sent my resume off to my prior workplace because I heard they might be hiring some underwriters soon. So who knows, maybe I will end up back there learning the job that sent me away. Life is strange sometimes.

A friend of mine sent this picture and it just made me laugh!


Ok, so I have an interesting sense of humor, but it's funny isn't it? I think I am craving some eggs...

Thanksgiving is almost upon us. I still have some issues with all of the Christmas decorations going up before we celebrate Thanksgiving. One holiday at a time people! Are we in that much of a hurry to get there? I did, however, put a wreath on the door. My excuse is that I am trying to make my door look pretty for potential buyers.

I thought I would add some cross stitch progress. I am almost done with the monthly blocks from Lizzie Kate. So cute!


I am working on November and I almost done with it. I have to get to the shop to get the rest of the thread I need for December and it will be complete! Now, the important question is... will I actually frame it? We shall see, we shall see.

I have one more topic of great importance. I am constantly being asked what is up with school. Here is the current information on that topic. I am still taking what I believe to be my last class in order to graduate. I have a solid C (again, Mom and Dad will be so proud) and I will be presenting with my group next week on South Korea and I will be taking the final, I believe on the 13th. So I should know how I did a week or so after that. I will not be officially graduating in December because I failed to "apply" for graduation by October 1st. That means that I will not be a college graduate "officially" until May 2006. Apparently it takes the college 3 months to process everything that they need to process in order to mail out a diploma, go figure.

I think that is about it for now. Stay tuned for more exciting updates!

Busy Day

This day is going to wear me out! Here is my list of things for today:
Meet with Brink about wiring our home at 11AM
Finish my group paper for school and email it out
Work from home
Scrub Smokey's cage
If I have time I need to finish cleaning the windows and screens on the house and work on the molding in the kitchen/dining room.


I thought the weekends were for relaxing, but apparently not this one.

I have to get a shower and get started with this day! Hopefully I will be able to go to the Southern Christmas Show tomorrow for a little fun.

Giant Amaryllis

For those of you who are in the know, I seem to have this insane addiction to Amaryllis bulbs. I realize that it is a real shock to hear that I am obsessive about anything, but there it is.
This is the first bulb that I purchased from a plant grower (specifically White Flower Farm) and the bulb was pretty big compared to the ones I have bought from Lowes. Well, this sucker is huge! I measured the stem and it is currently over 2 feet. This one is called "Intoki" and will be pure white. I will most likely post some additional pictures once it blooms. I really hope this thing doesn't tip over.

Beautiful paint

Hi Mom! Here is a picture of our newly painted front door.

Photobucket

This is a test post from Photobucket.com

Cutie Pie

I have to do a little bragging about my cutie pie neice, isn't she just the cutest? She was probably the only kid trick or treating with a Longaberger basket!













Here she is again! I am hoping that she will be baking some cookies to bring to me on Thanksgiving. I bet they would be yummy.

Thanks Jon and Heidi for the pictures!

House update

Yeah!! Here is a picture of Joe and I on our new property. Look at those pretty trees in the background. That means that we will have no neighbors behind us. I can be naked in the back of the house and no one will ever know!

















Here is a picture of our brand new for sale sign. It's only about two hours old and we just showed our house to some people who were driving around our neighborhood!! We gave them the grand tour and our realtors number. I will post the MLS number as soon as I find out what it is and then you can show all your friends our house so we can sell it faster.


I have to go, got to bake a bundt for a friends birthday party tonight.

So tired

Well, Joe and I are on our way to becoming new homeowners. Nothing has been bought or sold, but we will definitely be doing something. I rented a storage unit last week and everytime we pack up a box it goes in the car and off it goes. I have been mulching the back yard and cleaning out the guest room. It is amazing how much stuff you can jam into one closet! Joe has been power washing the driveway and the back patio (thanks to our fancy shmancy new power washer, thanks mom and dad!). If he ever finishes the entire driveway he will be washing the house which is absolutely filthy. It makes you wonder why it takes the fact that one will be selling their home to do these things.

I am totally worn out and I am sure it will only get better! I will keep you posted on our progress and I am taking volunteers for cleaners (yeah, Cindy, you are on my list).

New home?

For those of you who are not aware, Joe and I will hopefully be buying a new home in the near future. We have been talking about it for a while, but we went to look at some homes on Sunday and fell in love! The community we are aiming for is called Berewick. It is only about 5-10 minutes from where we are now, which is a big bonus for us. Also, the model that we are leaning towards seems to be exactly what we have been talking about. Now we just have to make the final deal with the builder i.e. try to get the price down and get our house on the market.

Speaking of getting our house on the market, Joe has already made a list of about 20 things that we need to do to have the house ready for the market. Of course, I have already bought a for sale sign and am ready to put it in the front yard until we get a realtor. That is the difference between Joe and I!

Yellowjackets

I should have mentioned this in my last post, but Saturday morning while watching a lovely DVD on Italy with my family I was STUNG!! How you might ask? I was sitting in a chair innocently enjoying a morning with my family when the underneath of my right arm started to burn like crazy. I reached under my arm to see what in the world was going on under there. As I do that a yellowjacket crawls out onto the arm of my shirt. I


found a lovely picture of one of the creatures... it seemed to be more brown, but hey, I was jumping and screaming around the living room what do I know. So, that would be the end of the story, except that last night after taking plenty of Benadryl I am up all night scratching at my arm. So this morning I wake up miserable and look at my arm and it is huge! It's like three times as big as it was last night. So I found a pretty good link about stings, here. I decided it was time to go the doctor and see what in the world was going on. To make a really long story short (too late!) I was nauseous all day and went home from work early. I went to the doctor at three and he said, Yeah that looks bad. I now have a prescription for Prednisone (steroid). I really enjoyed reading the side effects, but I only need to take it for five days so I should survive... I included a lovely picture of my puffy red under-arm. Gotta love nature, especially when it is hiding in a chair!

Delays Delays...

I have had several complaints due to the fact that I have not posted to my blog for a while. My only excuse is that I was really sick due to major allergies and then I just got plain lazy. This week I promise to remedy that... if not I owe you a beer or something.

I did try to create a seperate blog for Blinky as he is insisting that he needs to have his own space. Oh, I am in Charleston, WV to visit my family and Blinky agreed to come home with me. Apparently he is growing bored in this small town. All the worldly travel and now he is Mr Bigshot and needs the lime light of the big city of Charlotte. I digress as usual, so I tried to create a seperate blog for Blinky, but I have to get into the ftp server and make a folder, blah blah blah. Not trying to do all of that right now so that waits until I get home tomorrow.

I want everyone to know that I have been throwing my money to the lottery machine like there is no tomorrow for tonight's drawing. I bought tickets through work, you know if they won I would never forgive myself. Joe and I bought our own ticket, because in my heart I want it all to myself. Then the family bought tickets today, I guess I will have to share with them. So, if I don't win anything tonight and no one else hits it I will throw more money at the lotto machine. I am a sucker, I totally admit.

I believe that is about it for now. Stay tuned for more fabulous updates about my fantastic existance and a link to the fabulous new Blinky Blog! That is actually a pretty good name, I may use that if I don't completely forget about it tomorrow.

Good night everyone and get some sleep!

Talk Like a Pirate Day

For those of you who missed it, September 19 is Talk Like a Pirate Day. If you missed it this year you need to mark your calendar for the next!

If you feel the need to have a pirate name, click here. I really think I may start using mine on a regular basis.

My pirate name is:

Iron Bess Bonney

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Delayed Blinky sighting

I was talking to brother Joe the other day and was severely chastised for not updating my blog more frequently. Especially since I hadn't written anything else about Blinky's adventures in Europe. Just so you know I have been sick with allergies and sinus' since last Thursday and have felt generally like crap the whole time. Well, here it goes...

Apparently Blinky went to town with the free drinks that are served in first class.

With all the free alcohol he had trouble reading the menu.


Due to the problems reading the menu Blinky was not real pleased with the dandelion greens he received with his meal.

The last picture here is Blinky tucked in and sound asleep for the long ride over the Atlantic.



I also need to make a correction from a statement I made in my last entry. I assumed that brother Joe had taken Blinky home, but I was later informed that Dad became extremely attached to Blinky over the course of the trip. I will ellaborate more on that later.

Blinky's debut

For those of you who were not aware, Blinky traveled to Europe with my family. He finally sent me some pictures so I will post a few every day or so. Here is Blinky trying to go to Dublin, according to brother Joe he caused quite a ruckus with security since his ticket clearly stated he was traveling to Barcelona.



Once that was cleared up Blinky was on his way to Barcelona and off to his first ride on a plane.




That is all for now, I will post additional pictures later. I don't want to give away the whole story all at once. Now I just have to convince Blinky that it is time to come home, he really seems to have bonded with brother Joe!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend is about over. It has been pretty good, no rushing around, no being in the car for hours, no obligations. Just a nice three day weekend. We did go to the Breakfast Club on Sunday night for a breakdance competition. That was reallly awesome! It is unbelievable how those guys can move! I told Joe that he has to get me some tapes so that I can learn some moves. Next thing you know I will be pop'n and lock'n in the next competition. Go Judi! Go Judi! Ok, maybe not anytime soon, but one can dream...

I found a really bizarre Santa on the web today. Check it out here. I don't know what is wrong with people. Who through this out during discussion and then who was like, that is a great idea! Let's get that into production immediately! I guess I think it is just a tad creepy.

On a cross-stitching note I did finish up part 2 of Alpine Seasons. Here is a picture



I have been timing myself on this one, since I inevitably get the question of how long it takes me to do a large piece. So far I have about 35 hours into this one and it is not even half way done. Looks really good though, I can't wait to get some of the outer circles of this complete!

Alrighty then, off to move Joe over on the couch so that I can get a little more done on this bad boy!

Joe went to Philly

Joe went on a short jaunt to Philly this week, business of course. He left Wednesday morning and came back to see me Thursday... oh it is just so hard to sleep when the man is not around. So you're probably wondering whose bed this is then? This was Joe's comfy bed at the Ritz Carlton where our fair city's 2nd largest bank housed him for the night. Can you believe the nice pictures he gets from his Treo?? My phone sucks. Anyway, i digress...






So here is the main lobby of the hotel, which in its former life was a pretty nice looking bank. I think I might wonder where all my money was going if my current bank had this much marble on the walls.











Here is the last picture that I am going to torture everyone with. Joe just had to send me a text Wednesday night of his yummy desert at this fantastic restaurant that he and his banking buddies went to. The name Bliss says it all I think.

OK, boys and girls. That is it for tonight. I have got to get to sleep so that I can do lots of nothing on my long weekend!

Fun Cruise

Seems that everyone is on the cruise but me. I got a call at work today from brother Joe, Mom, and Dad. They said they are having a really good time. I tried to have them email some pictures so I could post them here, but they can't do that from the boat. I suggested an internet cafe, but I guess they are just too busy having fun!

The picture on the left is their route. They are the pretty arrows that start in Barcelona. Must be nice!

Rebecca and David are there too, but when the rest of the crew called they were already in there room. Sounds like party poopers to me! :-)

Stuff

Looks like I am slowly figuring out to use some of the tools on this blog... I guess I am just technologically challenged as some of my friends may be aware!

Life seems to be plodding along. Work has been a bit stressful the past two days, but that is to be expected with the end of the month. Joe is in Philadelphia tonight so I am on my own... Cindy came over to keep me company for a bit as Mike is out of town as well. Thanks Cindy!

I did finish up a Christmas ornament that I was working on, hopefully I will get a picture of it for all to see. It's really cute!

Joe purchased a shiny new Dell laptop and he is super excited so you all should ask him about it. I continue to purchase a lot of small items to make up the difference.

Ok, very sleepy and need to get some sleep. Good night!

This is our crappy back yard! I sorta let the weeds get out of control back here. I did do some weeding this weekend so the very tall weeds in front of the windows are now gone. I guess that is some progress. 

This was from last weekend. So pretty I just had to take a picture, except I almost passed out from the heat! 

Joe took this picture a few weeks ago. This praying mantis was on top of my car in the garage. 

Frustration

I really wanted to post some pictures I had taken in the yard, but I am stumped! Joe has finally allowed me to download the appropriate programs, so of course now I can't get it to work. I have been messing with this stuff for an hour and I give up. So picture of my weedy yard (soon to be unweedy) and some pretty yard bugs will have to wait. Stay tuned... it might just get exciting around here.

virgin

I finally decided to start a blog. I have been tossing the idea around lately and I thought it might be fun for family and friends to see what an exciting life I really lead, plus I have this urgent need to conform. I am not sure what will be here as of yet, except a lot of run on sentences!

Stay tuned and let me know what you think.