Whew!

Sorry I've been out of touch lately. Dad's here so that means home remodel time!! I kept is "easy" this time. Ok, "easier"....

Here's what we've done so far:
- removed chair rail and wallpaper from living room
- painting living room
- painted dining room
- painted family room
- painted stairway
- replaced molding in living room (floor and windows)
- replaced molding in dining room (floors and windows)
- replaced molding in family room (floors and windows)
- purchased an assload of pictures and...
- hung pictures on wall (the first things we've had on the wall in this house... in over 5 years..)
- took some artwork I bought in Egypt almost TEN YEARS AGO to get custom framed so I can finally use them
- added 2 rows of tile above the tub where the contractors screwed it up a few years ago
- ordered a sideboard to use in the kitchen so I can get rid of an old thing that was all function, no form
- rearranged furniture in dining room
- by doing the above was able to create a true reading/ music room (that also has to act as David's winter workout room. I can't have everything!!)

To do within the next week:
- build and mount headboard
- hang remaining pictures purchased

To do in spring:
- paint and install new front door and screen (that has already been purchased and is biding it's time in the basement)

Left to do to the house when budget allows:
- new windows throughout
- new carpet for stairs and bedrooms
- wood floor for living/ dining room

And I'm convinced we're living on borrowed time with our furnace so I might as well add that to the list.

At least the roof was new when we moved in!!

Whew!

Thanks Dad!!

how do you spell indelible??

Years ago when Cover Girl first came out with that "stay put" lipstick I gave it a whirl. Unfortunately my lips are pretty sensitive. For example I can't use any blistex products. There's something in there that doesn't agree with my lips. Can't do anything with menthol or peppermint oil. You get the idea. Same with the "stay put" stuff. There is something in it that just wrecks havoc on my lips. So I haven't tried any of the stuff in years - even though other companies have come out with their own versions.

I'm also one of those girls that looks best with a swipe of color on their lips. I say I look better, not that I do it on a regular basis. You know how some people just look better with mascara? Like that. The easiest way for me to look "made up" is to put on some lip stick. Which is still good 'cuz when I want to "dress up" I just put on some colored lip gloss and I'm done. You know me - that's just about as much effort as I'm inclined to put into getting "glammed up".

I decided that I'd give the indelible lip color another go. I steered clear of Cover Girl. Standing in the makeup section I saw that Revlon had an indelible gloss. I figured that'd be a good place to start.

That did pretty well. It will eventually come off but not as easily as regular gloss. However the color was a bit more pinky than the browny I was hoping for. But it still looks good. It's a keeper.

Last night I was at good ol' Walgreens and decided to see what else was out there. I again turned to Revlon. I won't lie - there was a BOGO promo. And since these things cost about $10 a pop I figured I could try two different colors with limited financial investment.

I picked up one that had two wands. One end was the color and the other was a clear gloss. I picked out what I thought was a "day" color. "Fearless fawn" or something. Then I decided for my "free one" to get a color with more punch. They have another formula that has no top coat. So I went for it and got a deep, dark red. Yes, me. I did!!

I was sure that at least one wouldn't live up to the color it suggested. So I got home and miraculously the fawn color looked great!! Woo hoo! Even if the red looks terrible at least I got one good one out of it!

As designed, the color would not come off. Not even with toner. I had to use eye makeup remover to get it off!! But now to try the red.

I don't use lip liner - which might change after this experience... It's hard to draw perfectly in the "lines". I had a few slip ups which made me resemble a three year old sneaking into her mother's makeup. But I cleaned it up and it actually looked good too!!

TWO FOR TWO!! Woo hoo!!

I went into the hubby's office to show him. I was so proud!!

I went back in the bathroom because I wondered if I put more on would it get darker?? I was playing with it for a bit and finally stepped back to admire my work in the mirror. About then the hubby walked in, and in an effort to be more spontaneous and sexy, grabbed me and planted a passionate kiss on my lips.

I went with it. I'm not gonna pass that up!

But when he stepped back I confirmed what I thought. Since I had been playing around my lipstick wasn't yet dry when he kissed me. HA! He was now smeared with dark red lipstick all over his lips and above his lips!!

Did I mention the hubby is sportin' a beard these days??

I started laughing. He grabbed a kleenex to wipe it off. It didn't budge.

I had to wet a cotton ball with my eye makeup remover and wipe it off of him. It was tricky getting it out of his moustache!!

Somehow I think I may not be getting many passionate kisses in the future! or at least he might stop to consider if my makeup is "done" before hand...

I heart funnylady

I heart funnylady from my office. On occasion she buys flavored creamer for us. I'm in the process of doing my fiscal 2011 budget along with a cup of coffee infused with Belgian Chocolate Toffee creamer.

YUM!

And that fiscal year is not a typo. I'm currently in fiscal 2010 that will end March 31, 2010. As of April 1, 2010 we are on fiscal 2011. Confusing, isn't it??

Band aids

WARNING: Personal body details below.

I have not run for the past week. And even the week before I didn't log as many miles as I was supposed to due to the blisters-on-the-arch-of-foot issue. Well this week I had a different excuse not to run at all.

See, I had, um... a skin tag. In a "private place". It appeared to be causing some of my aforementioned chafing in the nether regions. So I had that sucker removed.

And let's just say I can't run with a band aid in my crack.

I'm going to go to the gym tonight and see if I can comfortably run a few miles tonight. Sans band aid, of course. Heck, I scoot around too much on the sofa and that sucker wads up in a heartbeat. NOT comfortable!

We'll see how it goes. I really need to get movin' again since my race is in a MONTH!!!

I'm definitely not a kid anymore...

This weekend I finally got around to painting our bedroom. I know, we've only lived in this house for over FIVE years now...

One night last week I trimmed the edges while the hubby was out of town to make it faster for me to get it done in one day during the weekend. So come Saturday I painted the room with two coats. Well, almost 2 coats as I actually ran out of paint! It's not like our bedroom is huge. But I went through a gallon. I haven't used a whole gallon for any of the other rooms...

Because the room still smelled like paint and because I didn't want to move back furniture to sleep just to move it out of the way again the next day to finish touch ups I decided we weren't going to sleep in that room that night. I figured we'd leave it as it to make it easier on Sunday to finish.

So, to make it more "fun" I proposed that we pull out the sleeper sofa in the family room and have a "sleep over". Hey - how else do you sell sleeping on a pull out couch??

I didn't purposefully buy a sleeper sofa. I picked out the one I liked and it happened to be a sleeper. I say this because it's in the family room - not an ideal place to put guests. As a matter of fact I don't think we've ever actually used the sleeper portion before. 1) we have a guest room and 2) it's in the middle of the family room which is open to the kitchen. Whoever is up first (me) will be making a racket feeding the animals, watching the news, etc. It's just not feasible.

Also the family room is a small rectangle. You are required to move the coffee table to utilize the sleeper and even then you only have just enough space to walk between the end of the bed and the sliding glass door. (Thank goodness we have blinds for the slider!!)

Well, we pulled it out. I put on the only set of sheets that we have that fit it - currently our "camping" sheets. As soon as I put on the fitted sheet I remembered that last time we took the dogs camping they put big slices through it. So the fitted sheet on the sleeper has doggie toenail marks through it. Not good for use with guests, but what do I care if I'm using it??

I finished making the bed and the hubby and I climbed in. We watched some tv and when I was tired he used his trusty headlamp to read a book. (which is the same method we employ in our regular bed...)

I tossed and turned trying to get comfy. It's not possible on a sleeper sofa. I don't care what you say - it's just not. But apparently I feel asleep because the next thing I remember is looking at the stack of sofa cushions the hubby put on the leather chair beside my side of the bed. There was the unmistakable outline of a cat atop the cushions. He finally moved, as though trying to figure out how to get down. I thought to myself "good luck with that", rolled over and closed my eyes. Seconds later a huge clatter. The hubby "what the hell was that???" I guess the cat figured out how to get down after all...

Also, Nikki apparently didn't get the memo that we were downstairs to SLEEP. She kept pacing and would smack at the slider to be let out. Did I tell you there's snow on the ground here?? She didn't have to go she just wants to go play in the snow. We kept telling her to lay down. She would still wander around and come back and smack at the door. Finally at FOUR am the hubby let her out thinking maybe she did have to go since she's kept it up for so long.

Nope - she just went outside and ate snow on the deck.

We had the usual fight for leg space with cats. That's not new. We also had to listen to Liam snoring all night. He hasn't slept upstairs with us for a year or so now since his arthritis is getting so bad. So we got a reminder of why we aren't so upset at his choice of sleeping accommodations downstairs.

Then the morning came. Or rather, I decided I'd had enough and got up. And then I realized why we don't sleep on the pull out regularly. I HURT! I ached all over like I'd been beaten with a baseball bat. My hips hurt, my neck hurt. My knees were stiff. I felt AWFUL!!

What happened to being a kid when we thought it was a treat at a sleep over to get to sleep on the pull out???

Never again.

Feels like forever!

Sorry for the lapse in blogging. I have been out of town for work. again...

This time of the year is busy for us since Mr. In Charge thinks it's a great idea to combine a managers meeting, a national sales meeting all together with our biggest trade show of the year. It makes for two very tiring weeks. Yes, including the weekend.

And to make matters worse the hubby had to leave on Sunday to fly out so the pups were in the kennel from Saturday to Tuesday. : ( I hate boarding them. They're gettin' old you know!

So I was in San Antonio for these lovely meetings, etc. Yes, I was in Texas when SNOW came through! Really? People I can get that at home!! Show me some love! Give me heat!!

Ok, well only Houston got snow but it was colder than... than... well I don't know what. But it was cold for Texas. It was actually funny to watch the morning news. The headlining story for three days straight was the cold weather and possibility of snow. I think the last time they got any good accumulation was back in the 50's or something.

I actually heard this on the traffic report:
"It's going to be a very cold day out there. Remember, you're going to need your heater on for the commute!"

Seriously? She had to remind people to turn on the heater in their car?? I understand if you're not used to snow and extremely cold weather, but I'm pretty sure most smart people will figure out to turn on the heater if they get cold. Or maybe they'll just think to bundle up in lots of blankets... in their car. Geesh!

By the way - the record breaking lows were in the 30's. Yet one more thing to laugh at.

So according to the news I get the impression that people aren't too smart in that part of the country. However I will say that they were all exceptionally polite. (and they really didn't seem that slow to me...) I went running and everyone smiled and gave me a nod. Of course they're probably wondering what in the hell I was doing out running in the FREEZING COLD and all. I was in a long sleeve and capri pants and was quite comfy. (as I was running past people walking to the bus stop in Arctic parkas. no kidding...)

And I can also attest to the fact that San Antonio is THE place for margaritas. So much so that I fear I might have to take a break from them for a while. Not a lifetime ban, like whiskey... or bourbon... But I don't think I'll be touching another margarita until at least the spring!

A Family Thanksgiving

Well - I got through the holiday without any incident - even with my mother. I call that a winner!!


The hubby and I drove to Cleveland to Aunt Martha's house. We got to stay in Lossie's old room. And lo and behold - there was Keurig one cup machine and an assortment of coffee and tea options in the room!! (I knew I called her "Martha" for a reason!!) I had to clarify we were at my aunt and uncles house, not a B&B next door or something.


The morning of I decided to run the Cleveland Turkey Trot. It's a 5 mile race that I thought would be good practice for my HM. Well, the hubby had packed the camera when we left. But I assumed it was to take pictures at Thanksgiving so I didn't bring it with us to the course. Whoops! So the following pictures are with my phone. As you can see - NOT good with action shots.




Prior to the race I kept telling myself "whatever you do stick to your pace!! Don't get excited and jet out!" So what did I do as soon as I fought my way, like a salmon swimming upstream, to where the pack started to spread out?? I looked down, saw my pace was TWO MINUTES faster than it should be and decided "this doesn't feel so bad!!"


Needless to say by halfway I was already getting tired. And yes, I had finally slowed down to my original pace goal. Then, what do those sneaky Clevelandites do?? They put a HILL at the END of the race!! Who does that?? yeah - that sucked. So even though my overall pace for the race was better than I had intended I pretty much walked up the hill at the end.


But I came in 95th in my age group (30 - 34) of women!! (out of 262) Funny thing - I swear I saw a girl I went to college with at the race. Sure enough - I found her name in the results. She came in third in our age group. She's always been quite fast....

Can I just mention that I wore my skirt to run in!! I was the only skirt there! I saw no other women ina skirt/ skort! Ugh! Don't you know how much better it is to run in a skirt???


Dinner was fabulous AS ALWAYS!!! Pre-dinner I had people participate in some fun games. The first was Skip-Bo. A fun game (cards) that we've been playing since I was little. I highly recommend it. I think it's a Wally World for less than $10.


The next was a new game that the hubby and I played once or twice at home before bringing it with us. It's called Farkle. I just bought it because I liked the name!! I picked it up at Target for $4.99. I like to think of myself as the queen of cheap fun. (insert your joke here.. ; ) This is a game with dice. And thanks to GK we finally started playing it correctly. When I was explaining the directions my one cousin, Shirley (as in Shirley Temple 'cuz she's got a great head of curls!!), kept asking "where's the risk-taking it claims on the container??" I dunno. We started playing and GK started to read the directions while he wasn't rolling. He perked up and realized we weren't playing the last step!! Which is where the risk-taking was!! DUH!


So, I highly recommend Farkle too - just make sure to turn the instructions over and read the last bit on the back!!


After dinner my mom and her husband stopped by. I'm happy to report there was no incident. Although I didn't realize when they were coming and all us cousins had had quite a bit of wine. It probably looked rude but Shirley and I headed out for a brisk, sober-up walk as soon as they got there. But I think that was the better option than saying something stupid - which I was likely to do... Otherwise they just stayed an hour or two and headed out. There's no more drama when there are lots of people around. Whew!


So, to summarize:
- go get yourself a game of Skip-Bo and Farkle
- when running a race, ALWAYS stick to your pace, regardless of how competitive you are
- make sure you at least try and sober up prior to meeting with any potential firecracker family members or friends, just in case....

Am not!

Per my revelation two entries ago I will NOT be purchasing anything such as this:

'cuz it would belong to a 30+ year old woman and that 's just not right....

Although I was wondering how long it would take for them to match my "VILF" shirt... ; )

Baking tip

I have to make cookies today before heading over to the IL for dinner. Even though I've known this for a while I forgot to set out the butter for it to soften. But I'm resourceful. I found a great way to soften butter (without accidentally melting it in the microwave...)

Take the sticks of butter, still wrapped, of course, and put them between your thighs. Preferable with your pants still on, of course. Or in my case, my cotton PJ bottoms, 'cuz I'm still in them.

Every so often rotate the sticks to soften on all sides.

This is REALLY WORKING!

So all I have is: So sorry to all the skinny be-otches who don't have enough thigh meat to make this work. You should be sure to preplan your baking.

I'm just going to say it.

I've crossed to the other side. I've decided I'm on Team Jacob now.

I've been leaning this way for quite a while but felt like a dirty old lady since the kid is not even legal. But I've realized while watching trailers of "New Moon" I'm not that bad... The inner dialogue goes something like this: "Man, if I were still in high school I'd be ALL OVER that!"

Since even in my own inner dialogue I add the "if I were in high school" caveat I feel sane. Not like I'm a 33, almost 34 year old woman pining after some not-even-legal kid. I'm merely acknowledging that I would be highly attracted to him IF I were in his proper age group.

Considering who I was dating when I was 16 (a safe, appropriate age for someone to be dating a 17 year old...) this is kinda funny. DY was a blond, tall, skinny trumpet player. I believe after him came MacGuyver - a football center.

Ok, after taking a quick trip down memory lane I dated both"Edwards" and "Jacobs". And since I would call my hubby a cross between the two I supposed I could safely claim either team!

THIS is why!!!

Have you heard the big news?? Oprah will be ending her show in 2011 after 25 long, productive years!!

I heart O! I watched her in college and then went on a watching hiatus due to having a real job and not home during the 4pm witching hour. However, for the last few years, and the addition of our DVR, I have picked up where I left off watching. It's like I never left. *sigh*

Since I watch the show I sometimes check out the website. Apparently this week they did a "Make Over my Man" segment. (I haven't watched it yet. I usually catch up on Saturday mornings when the hubby is still in bed.) I saw this brief, simple list of items men must have in their wardrobe.

See, I hate clothes. Not wearing them, mind you. I'm not comfortable going around in public naked. But I hate looking for, trying on and buying clothes. However, I could handle this list for men's clothes!

I "get" men's clothes. I understand how to dress a man. Myself? Not so much....

What's wrong with this pictures???

Why is everyone concerned but me??

If you don't already know I should explain, briefly, my relationship with my mother. I guess I would say we are estranged. Trying to keep it brief - obviously there is quite the history here but most recently (as an adult) I have set boundaries that she refuses to acknowledge. Or maybe is incapable of acknowledging. Either way, I have decided I'm an adult and if anyone, parents included, cannot act appropriately then I have a right to to put my emotional (and my marriage) well-being first.

This Thanksgiving the hubby and I are going to my Aunt's "Martha's" house for dinner. Her family will be there as well as my Aunt Newlywed and her family. AM mentioned that every year she invites my mom but she doesn't come. (My relatives have similar issues with my mother. We all lover her but she's an emotional train wreck to anyone near her.) But aside from her issues that's no reason not to invite her.

Last night AM called sounding very concerned. She informed me that my mother and her new husband are eating dinner with someone that lives 20 minutes from my Aunt and decided they would come to her house for dessert. AM seemed to be treading lightly while telling me this. I think she anticipated me being upset.

I wasn't. I am well aware there was the possibility of my mother being there. I don't not want to see her. I'm just not going to go out of my way to see her. At this point in my life she is just another person I know. That's really it. Frankly I think I seem to handle situations with her fine. Over the past few years I've come to terms with that part of my life. I certainly think I can handle dessert with her and her new husband.

Now, if you're reading this and something to the effect of "she's going to regret not having a relationship with her mother" or some similar thought is going through your head please stop. The situation is much more complex than I've outlined here. Some people are so toxic that regardless of their relationship to you it is best to hold them at arms length.

I just hope that maybe this will be a turning point. That she realizes all the rest of us have a warm and loving relationship with each other and not her. Maybe this time she'll be ready to admit/ accept that there is something that she needs to change, and not tell everyone else they are the problem, and that she'll seek help for it.

But I'm not holding my breath. I anticipate this will be the way things will be from now on. And I'm ok with that.

A little embarrassed...

I have always prided myself on having a strong stomach. Things that don't bother me but appear to bother others:
- cat puke (or anything that comes out of a cat)
- blood
- medical shows on TV. (I even literally stood over the should of Dr. K, a neurosurgeon, during brain surgery once and was completely fine.)
- my dog eating his puke or rabbit poo (before we can get him to stop)

Ok, I'm starting to see a trend here:
- vomit of any kind, animal or human
- poo of any kind, animal or human
- bloody scenarios, scrape, surgery, you name it (in person or TV)

Since I've always been enamored with all things medical I'm the one that likes to watch procedures. I don't mind watching when they plunge the needle in during my blood donation. Getting stitches, taking them out..

You get the idea.

So I've become a little worried lately.

It appears my stomach is weakening.

Years ago I was mountain biking and got a rock in my knee. I remember my stomach doing a little flip as I was trying to dig out said rock. Turns out I was trying to push it out in the wrong direction so I figured that's why my body reacted that way. I was actually pushing the rock further into my knee. (For those concerned citizens out there - I eventually realized my mistake and did properly remove the rock.)

However two weeks ago I was at the GYN having a procedure done. It was painful. So painful, in fact, that I broke out into a sweat, got light headed and thought I was going to lose my breakfast. (a large breakfast at that...) They had to do the whole "lay back, let me get you juice" routine. I was embarrassed. I have NEVER fainted. It took me so long to recover that the nurse was concerned. She considered calling my husband to come get me but I assured her I only lived about two miles away and I could make it. She called me an hour later just to make sure.

I chalked that up to "girl pain". Ok - so I don't handle "girl pain" well. I'll remember that one.

Today I had to get out stitches from a mole removed on the back of my calf. I watched the nurse take out the stitches. All whooping three of them. No big deal.

Then I felt my stomach start to churn. "I'm a bit embarrassed to ask, but could you get me a cup of water? I don't feel so well."

I laid back, closed my eyes and thought positive thoughts until she returned with the water. I few sips later I was feeling better and left without incident.

But this has me wondering - is it just experiencing something on myself that gets me sick now?? Honestly I had thought about going back to school to become a PA but maybe I should rethink this. (that and I'm waiting to see how health care reimbursement pans out. I'm not spending time and money on a new degree if they can't get the health care system fixed....)

WHY???

Can someone remind me why I decided I was going to run a HM?? 'Cuz I can't remember.

I ran 10 miles yesterday!! (hurray for me!) The first 4 miles sucked because I was having calf pain. But it was a cramping kinda thing so I ran through it and it eventually went away. Around mile 6 or 7 I started to feel a hot spot on my arches... I ran through that too. I don't like doing things through pain, and to finish sometimes that's just what you have to do. Not like "I broke my leg" kind of pain, of course. But you get the idea.

I was pretty excited since I ran the whole time and my knees and hips did not give my any issues! Whoo hoo!!

Sure enough when I got home I saw I had developed a small blister on the arch of my left foot and a large blister UNDER the callus (on my arch) on my right foot. Yes folks - I have calluses in places where calluses should never be.

Then I got in the shower. I'll spare you the deets, but let's say that I had developed a "significant hotspot" in an unmentionable place. I didn't notice it until the water started running on it and it started to sting.

I'm now asking myself "why"? Why did I decide to do this? And why do I continue to run with arch calluses and blisters... and other "issues"??? This is just not natural!

But then I remember when I started rowing my hands were covered in terrible bloody blisters. In rowing that is considered a rite of passage. If you don't get blisters when you first start to row (prior to them becoming calluses) you're not trying hard enough. It's the price you pay to join the elite club called "rowers".

So I will, for now, assume that these blisters and "hotspots" are the price to pay before you can join the "running club".

Shitty initiation fee, if you ask me...

Mortality.

My dad's younger brother died of a heart attack a few months ago. He was about 51. Dad called me a few minutes ago to tell me his older brother was found dead in his chair last night. I think he was about 65. Dad's dad had his first heart attack at 52 and died at 56. See a trend?

My dad is the last surviving male in his family. He's 60.

Dad's mom died 2 years ago at 86. And dad's sister, the oldest of the siblings, is still alive. I believe she's in her late 60's. Appears the women seem to fare ok.

If you know me you know that I'm very close to my dad. This information is quite the wake up call. For years I've always kept tabs on dad's health. (and he on mine) He seems to be in fairly good health but the thought of him dying young has always haunted me.

I guess you never know when you're going to lose someone. I always assumed my family had used up their ration of car accidents. Even though, one of us could be in yet another horrific car accident and die tomorrow.

But, leave it to me to start worrying about something I can't control. That's what I do! Get myself all twisted in a pickle worrying about things I can't control or things that have yet to happen - something that might happen...

Now where did I put those big girl panties???