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Trying to remember that there is always a reason, always something that makes you smile during the day- recognizing the event, person or situation that made you smile will make your day seem that much better.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Spending time

Today I got to do something that I haven't done in years
I spent the whole day with my mom and dad by myself.
Lest I don't mention it enough... I love my husband with all of my heart and don't know what I would do without him but we are mostly a package deal. Which is a good thing...mostly.
I haven't been down to visit my parents alone in what feels like forever and in the past even when I was, my sister was here so we would have to arrange time to see the kids and she would just show up in the mornings occasionally so it wasn't just us. Today was just us.
My mom and I played. We dyed paper and fabric with ink and shaving cream, went to the craft store and just hung out... Chatted without being interrupted a million times. It was awesome!
We all went out to dinner tonight and had great conversation. We watched a movie when we got back and really I just got to enjoy their company without having to share them with anyone... It was kinda nice.
I am hoping to see my brother tomorrow to hang out with him...but am not sure if that will happen or not...but I will see him and his boyfriend in a couple of weeks because they are joining us for our trip.
Today just has reconfirmed that I made the right choice coming down here and has filled up my heart and produced many many smiles.
Hugs and love to all of you!!

Friday, September 28, 2012

Smiles

Today has been an amaZing day. For the first time in a while I finally feel like I can breathe.
I was spontaneous and threw caution to the wind.
I got on a plane and surprised my mom for her birthday.
I think she was kinda bummed earlier in the week that an offer on the house didn't come through.
We talked last night and I heard it in her voice that she needed to just forget for a little while and knew that I wasn't going to be able to wait two weeks when we went away.
Months ago, I told her about a birthday trip to Jamaica with me and my brother and his boyfriend but last night I decided that she needed me now.
So despite it being the end of the month and not quite being at goal I took a deep breath and told hubby that I really felt that I needed to do this.
I booked a ticket this morning and got to Maryland around three this afternoon.
My dad picked me up at the airport and we walked into the house. She was drying her hair getting ready and she came out and saw me and started crying.
She said she knew that she could always count on me to know what she needed.
We hung out on Georgetown tonight had dinner with my brother and his boyfriend and as we were all sitting at dinner and I saw the smile on her face... I knew I had made the right decision.
I needed a reminder about balance and the fact the that you work so you can live...not live so you can work. So as I get ready to go to bed knowing that a few hours of work are needed tomorrow to finish off the month I find myself thanking her once again for her wisdom and continuing to teach me life lessons.
These kind of smiles are priceless and we never know how many we have in a lifetime so I am going to remind myself to make sure I am not missing them.
Hugs love and lots of smiles to all of you

Friday, September 21, 2012

Yep

Saw this on a friend's facebook page today.
I feel like I am spending so much time trying to catch my breath that I forget to sometimes just let it be.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Smiles this week

I got the best surprise in the mail today...
A very nice post card from one of my friends....in Virginia..
Nice to know that she's thinking of me in her adventures (love ya Skippy...it was a great picture and has a predominant space  on the new refrigerator).

Hubby came home last night...
He was up north in "the county" where they grow potatoes...
Lots of potatoes..
He came home with seventy pounds of potatoes..
So if anyone has any good recipes...please I am begging you to pass them on!

Short one today....I am going to go try to catch a quick cat nap before he comes home and we head out to the grocery store!!

Hugs and lots of love to you all!!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Pondering

I preface with, in NO way is this intended to be political.

I got sick on Tuesday...
Mostly that nasty gross middle of the winter congestion, coughing ick (I know it's only September...it's gonna be a long one).
I decided to go to the doctor...not to let it get away from me.
Actually got to see the doctor (not a Physician's Assistant or Nurse Practitioner) always a bonus.
They will bill me because of the way the new insurance works...no worries (easy for them to say right?)
It's bronchitis...a couple of inhalers, some really good cough medicine and an antibiotic were called into the pharmacy by my house.
I went back to work for a couple of hours.
I checked my flexible spending card to see how much money was on there so that the cost of the prescription doesn't come out of my pocket...
we set it up so that the amount of our deductible is deposited in to the account, so while the money is still coming out of our pocket it's pretax dollars..blah blah blah...
Fast forward a couple of hours to the drive thru at the pharmacy.
Lady comes to the window
I give her my name
She finds my scripts and says that will be $407.12
I almost fell out of the car.
I asked if they ran it through the insurance.
She said yes.
I handed over my card, thankful for the foresight of putting money into the account and drove away.
I came home and looked over the merger offerings that I had just spent that much money and thought
For some, that's a whole month's grocery budget
For some that's the cost of heating their house (for a month or even a whole season)
For some, that's their rent payment
For some, that's two car payments.
For some that's gas money, day care money, bill money...the list just goes on and on.
But for most people, that is an awful lot of money to plunk down at one time, just to feel better.
While I know that I had prepaid for this and am thankful to be in a position that I can do that I know many who cannot.
What do they do?
What if the medicine is for a child?  How do you chose between feeding them and making them better?
I don't know what the solution to this all if but I have read multiple facebook posts and articles in the last several weeks about the horror of government run insurance and how there's no way that it will work.  
But I have to ask the question- is what we are doing now working?  Is private insurance really the answer?  There has to be some way, and I don't know what it is, to take the decision out of getting medication or feeding your family.  Some way that people don't need to decide between heating their house and making sure that their kids have medication so they can breathe correctly.
It is something that I have been thinking about for the last few days and I am not sure where the solution lies, but there has to be something better.  Anyone out there have any thoughts??
Hugs and love to you all!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Lazy Labor Day Lobster Lounge

Labor Day weekend means many things for different people...
The end of the summer...
The beginning of fall
Back to school
One last hurrah..

For us it means spending the long weekend with hubby's family.
My sister in law and I decided four years ago after a long summer of trying to schedule some "fun" time and not being able to make schedules mesh that we needed something to mark the end of the summer...
One weekend of fun, sun, comfy clothes, drinks and lobsters.
And so, the Lazy Labor Day Lobster Lounge was born.
We rent a bounce house for the kids...
Buy a whole bunch of food...
Bring several pairs of super comfy clothes and just chill for the weekend...
This year was no different...
Giggles abound from the kids who loved the bounce house and were on a sugar high from the cotton candy...
There was lots of snuggles, lots of Auntie nic and Unkie's yelled...
We even played soccer in the bounce house...
Adults partook in some beverages..
No we did not drink it all!!
We had several camp fires...complete with roasted hot dogs...and s'mores


Lobsters...of course

And the guys even put on a couple of fireworks shows for us.

It was a lovely weekend with the family....
We did a lot of laughing...
A lot of jumping..
A lot of snuggling..
There were some tears when we had to leave...
But also, great big hugs and someone telling us that it was the best weekend ever.
I don't know how many more years we will have this one weekend that we don't let anyone else intrude upon, but it definitely will be one of the best memories I will have of the kids growing up..
Hugs and love to you all!!



Monday, September 10, 2012

Anniversary Weekend

Every year, in August, hubby and I make time to go away...
A quick weekend trip most of the time, but sometimes, the stars align and we can get away for a bit longer than that.
Many of you who read often know that we like to travel.
We just don't travel very often alone :)
It is just the two of us at home (well and four very needy cats) but there is something about being out of the house and away that allows us to relinquish all the stress of every day life and just relax.
It is a time for us to reflect on the past year and reconnect.
This year was no different.
We spent five days at a Bed and Breakfast in New Hampshire.
Now, we are not bed and breakfast people.
We try to be.
I want to be so badly sometimes.
I like the romantic notion of going away somewhere that isn't a sterile hotel and entering someone's home.
Getting to know others who are on vacation.
Sharing wine, playing games, eating breakfast etc.
In reality, many of these places just aren't for us.
This Inn was a good compromise.
They had a little cottage that we rented and we went in for breakfast and a game of chess every morning.
It is an area where we have been many times, with many people.
It was nice, to just relax.
Pretend to be tourists.
Take in the scenery.
Talk.
Those in depth and not so in depth conversations that happen when you are driving with someone that you barely have to verbalize something and they know exactly what you mean.
Those moments when you realize that you are both thinking exactly the same thing.
Laughing together about something silly and stupid.
Crying about the loss of a loved one.
Sharing stories that for some bizarre reason haven't been shared in the last twelve years.
Stopping to do some silly little roadside attraction simply because there are no time limits, no place to be, nothing to worry about missing.
Holding hands and taking in the scenery without saying anything at all.
Goading each other into trying something that hasn't' been done.
Compromising on activities
dipping your toes in the cold mountain water, knowing that there is no place else that  you need to be...but more importantly that you would rather be.
The casual drape of his arms around my shoulders, or my arm wrapped around his waste.
Smiling and laughing
Not talking about everything at home, 
Not stressing about anything.
But at the end of the weekend...what was the best of all...was looking at each other and realizing that although life is stressful,
Although we may yell
we may fight
We may get stressed out and crazy...
We still really, really like each other..
That sounds like a silly thing, but when we get caught up in the day to day craziness of work and the house and all that goes along with it...we sometimes forget..
The trip allowed us to refocus, communicate and enjoy each other's company...
It is a tradition that I know we will keep up every year...
because sometimes, you just need to take that step back and remember why it is that you are walking on the same path...and that you really do enjoy each other's company.

hugs and love to you all!!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Nice relaxing weekend??

Not exactly...but at least we were productive...
Hubby is going away for the week so the plan for the weekend was to just lie low and enjoy spending time together.
We were off to a great start on Friday...went out to dinner and came home and watched a couple of movies..
He was out of the house early on Saturday to run some silly errands and a drs appointment...
Came home and went to the grocery store and to Walmart.
Picked up a bunch of stuff since we have been gone for the last two weekends for an extended amount of time ( I still owe you posts on our anniversary weekend...and our Lazy Labor Day Lobster Lounge)..
Opened the fridge to that nasty, the fridge isn't cold enough smell..
You know the one right??
Well, the freezer door had been left open (both of us swear it wasn't us...so we assume it must have been the cats :) )
After cleaning up the mess that was on the bottom of the fridge, we shut the doors and hoped..
Well, it wasn't meant to be....the fridge wasn't getting cold.
So off this morning to another one of those great home improvement stores to see what we could find.
After deciding on a fridge that was the opposite of what we thought we wanted, we decided to take the floor model.
Problem #1: Hubby's truck is in the shop..
So my wonderful husband, who is an engineer by training, said no problem...it will fit in the Jeep...just need to take the doors off.
Problem #2: Where to put the doors once they were off.
Tie them to the top of the roof...
After a precarious ride home, it was time to remove doors, shave some of the trim, move the existing fridge and get it inside.
To say it was a tense few hours at my house would be an understatement...but the fridge is in and turned on...
It is cooling off and we were able to save a bunch of stuff by using the old dorm fridge in the garage.
He's off to the land of potatoes for the week and I am snuggling with the kitties.
So not a relaxing weekend...but we will not have to worry about the fridge deciding not to work anymore and we got a good deal on it..
I hope that you are all doing well!! I miss you all and send happy thoughts and positive vibes out on the back of the cool fall breeze that's blowing today!
Hugs!
Doesn't he look proud of himself...