Keeping things on the low.

Initial plans would have had us at a campground in Western NY right now, but instead we are here in central NY in the dreary darkened day overcast with RAIN.
After letting the pups out, (my normal routine), I noticed that Riley was just a bit more focused on the back fence then normal. At first I couldn't tell what his issue was, but when I viewed out the window, which gave me a view of the neighbor fence I saw it. There on the neighbors fence was a possum.

 I totally get why they call it playing possum...this guy NEVER moved the entire time we were out and it was another 20-30 minutes before he moved after that.

Cool, but creepy. It looks like he has a wound on his head in this enlarged photo. Poor guy has no where to go. There are DOGS on every side of this strip behind our house. I wouldn't be surprised if he got his scrap from one of them.
I hit up the grocery store early with the hopes that maybe we could take Gavin's school day off to venture to the woods for a hike or something, but rain changed these plans. I love saving on my grocery bill and this trip was no different.  Here is $200+ in groceries.

I paid $120-. Best score was 50 cents on Dog Food. I am not nearly as skilled as those Extreme couponers seen on tv, but I never have purchased 100 bottles of mustard either. There is at least 8 days of meals there and lunch for our trip to the Theme Park tomorrow. (We are off on an adventure Saturday).

Today became a perfect day to lay low with my son and watch movies, dance to the 80's and blog. We had already rented (FREE) the move Super 8 the night before, so it was perfect for movie time. Its an older movie about an Alien and kids who save the town  It was okay, great effects.

 After my last evening shift this week, I decided I miss my family much to much to keep working those crazy hours and regrettable wish I had not agreed to do another one in the next few weeks. It is amazing how out of whack you become when you change up your routine from not working and  go to work. I spent Thursday catching up on the cleaning and made an entire day of it. (The house still looks far from where it should be). My oldest son had fixed a broken sprayer in the kitchen sink on Tuesday and I am hoping he will spend more days this summer helping with these Honey Do lists.

It has been broken for at least 6 years. It took Nick all of 30 minutes.  Yeah Nick!
I have been good about managing my eating this week and have lost a few pounds. My attempt at better eating...

 I have several pounds to go, but I am really focusing. I made it to yoga twice this week and did some Zumba too. Keep on Keepin on.

In addition to looking at some more changes in my physical shape, I have been doing some more soul searching about career and submitted an application for a position that appears to be a nice match for my skills and different from what I had been doing. Hopeful for a least an interview although I do not plan to return to work until September or October.
At any rate, I wish I was telling stories of trips I am on right now and not stuck on the EVERYDAYS of my life as unexciting as they currently are. My mother for example just returned from an amazing week in Paris. Her travel log is not a picture of her incredibly boring lunch....but I have to remind myself.

TTFN!

BLUR....goes a week

Have you ever just had some days in your life that have came and went so quickly you nearly can remember what you did? That has been my week.Sunday I started Transformation with church. It is a seven week program.In addition to Sunday warship,  we meet weekly in small groups and we are transforming our lives. Each week is a new area of change ie..transform. This week has been spiritual growth.

My Spiritual goals include; 1.Spending some time everyday with God and 2. Tithe (I am so awful at this). Our small group is at Sandy's and Jenny, Tammy and I are doing this all together. After our first group Tammy, Jenny and I all got ice cream.....this could be bad, especially since the physical change isn't for a few weeks yet. There are 8 of us in the group total. 7 women; Me, Sandy, Tammy, Jenny, Danny, Johnnie Lynn and  Kelly  (whom I just recently met) and one male, I can't remember his name. Poor guy. It's all be rather interesting....
I worked Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving very little room for much of anything else. I caught myself up on Thursday and had a mandated meeting on Friday. I signed myself up for this Healthy Women Freebee on Thursday night that sounded like supper fun...but all of my intended friends to join me missed registration. I decided not to go. It is the beginning of a series so I am hoping I can do the next one. I did some homework from my Albany class, and spent Friday afternoon, (It rained all DAY) doing digital scrapbooks at Studio J.
The weekend was a blur of activities all relating to Close to My Heart. Friday evening was our Hearts a Flutter consultant club and Saturday was our Team Meeting.

 Kate and Sandy at H-A-F consultant club.

 Judy.

My new friend and new Consultant Donna.          And of course Lara.
Pictures of our team meeting,

Love these ladies. We always have great fun and learn lots of things. Here are my projects.

Here are some more...

Sunday was AMAZING:
I meet up with Sandy, Danny and Sandy's daughter Liberty at The American Dinner in the Village of Liverpool for an early breakfast before church, and if I could figure out how to pull up my video from my phone I would post on the scene I came into at Church. The choir was singing "Happy" and we all sang and started dancing. Then the youth choir sang and we danced with drums made from rain barrels. Plus I ran into a friend I have not seen in years. She was standing right behind me. The service was amazing. I had a great day that followed despite going into work at the inpatient.
Monday came and went, I attended small group on Monday evening, and we are now working on PHYSICAL! I made a commitment to get back to the gym, loose 20 pounds and watch my calories. Tuesday I made it to the gym, I am dedicated to a week of YOGA! I worked Tuesday evening and it was a total dysfunctional disaster, ...It was a really crummy. In an attempt to be more creative and try something different, I lost total control of my group and basically NO ONE LEARNED ANYTHING. I am dreading going back again tonight. I am not telling my "I told you so" husband about my crummy night. I have some yoga and shopping planned for today before my 8 hours this evening. Sorry this post was a jumbled mess. TTFN

Happy Mothers Day.

Let me start by wishing you Mom's a Wonderful MOTHER's DAY!! I hope it was special.

Saturday began with 8 hours of work, although somehow I miss read my mind or my clock and was 15
minutes late..A-DUH!!! I also double scheduled myself for next week. How can someone who ONLY works a few hours a month get it so WRONG???
It was however, late or not an EASY 8 hours that I will gladly see in my paycheck next Thursday. I work today as well,...and tomorrow and Wednesday and Friday. I thought I was working Thursday...but that  is the day I messed up. At any rate I will be working a lot, and I have to shove in a lot quickly for todays blog.
First up..Happy Mothers Day!!!
I was blessed with several gifts on Mother's Day. Both the material and with people I love.

My Mother's Day STASH!!! Yes, that is 3 Benjamin' s....everyone already knows I will NEVER SPEND IT ALL ON MYSELF....we will simply ALL be blessed with a little extra cushion this week and next.
But let me back track just a little. I think I offered up some of my Friday...well here is a little end result from my cleaning and organizing too.


It will never stay like this. I do have another problem on my hand however. Apparently basketballs need baths in bathroom sinks and they bounce at vanity mirrors of their own FREE will.

We now have a broken bathroom mirror. There is no way to simply replace the center mirror. I am feeling more and more like the "Crack" house. I should take a picture of the old toilet seat holding the broken fence door up on the side of the house, or the mattress and sand filter we have not been able to dispose of sitting on the side yard for about three years....YEP!!! WE ARE WHITE TRASH...nothing against those who can relate...I say it proudly...but I am NOT PROUD!!! Truth is we have A-LOT to do.
We did make some movement and were the last house on the block to mow the grass....but we have much work to do as of yet.
>>>>>WOW I sure do DRIFT.. Saturday after my 8 hours I was whisked away to a nice dinner at UNO's with the Boys.

After dinner we stopped at a carnival in the parking-lot of a K-mart....(I am not going to say a thing, but does anyone else think that is ODD???)

 This is what they looked like before the ride...not looking so well after.

The boys loved it and after some rides, we ATE the biggest FRIED DOUGH ever. I had some pictures on my phone, but they didn't load. I'm not sure why.
After ALL that fun...Mark went to The Turning Stone to meet up with friends and I went to bed...I was pooped!!
Mother's day was amazing. The weather was perfect for coffee and newspaper reading on the patio, which I enjoyed. Then church, which was AMAZING and the first service in being TRANSFORMED and a nice BRUNCH at Denny's. (Nearly everyone else in the world thought so too, it was PACKED).

 My Church gave every mother a rose. Love it!

 Mark's Peanut Butter and Chocolate pancakes.

The Big Breakfast was so yummy...even though it took us nearly two hours to sit, get and eat it.
After Brunch we took the dogs for a walk and to the dog park. Some signs of spring along the way..

 The Geese...which seems to be both a sign of Spring and Fall...enjoying the water in the Spring and Flying South above our heads in the fall.

 How about this guy......This may come as a surprise, but I am NOT a fan of snakes. I am not one of those ewww...I can't even look Yuck..snake people, but I am far from one of those WOW...isn't he so cool lets try and catch him so we can hold him people either. What was so incredibly interesting about this and the two others we saw on our walk along the lake is I have NEVER seen one let alone Three gliding gracefully across the water.  Honestly I have not been hiding under a rock, I simply just was NOT looking. Possibly a good thing as I might NEVER have taken a swim at some of the area lakes if I had known there was a chance I could swim up face to face with this guy. What I did find was I was mesmerized by their speed and graces as they moved about the lake surface like it was glass. I just never thought they were animals that would enjoy or seek out water. Mark thought I was CRAZY I'm sure and he was not at all as interested as I was, so I took some more pictures and quickly caught up with man and dog dragging my little Peanut who will gladly take the time to sniff yet another blade of grass as I ponder my surroundings.

 Even if I am not a Snake person, I will admit these guys were pretty cool.

I watched as these two Geese squawked on the shore line then suddenly took flight to land here near a solo goose out on the water. They made quite a splash and several others soon joined in. Bullying isn't only in the school.....YOU STOP PICKING ON HIM!!!! I shouted more to myself then anyone else...Peanut might have heard..but that green patch had some serious doggy messages to read and he didn't even lift his head.

 Ever since Peanut was attacked in the larger dog side of the Park, I have been acutely aware of him when we are in there and when I saw a Husky that looked similar to the one that attacked him I rushed to pick him up and we were soon visiting with pups just his size....He thinks he is big and bad with the big dogs, but if a dog his height try's to get in his face...he runs like a chicken...This little one was just the right size.

After some park, some back yard cleaning, and some relaxing... Mark and I searched out a new Vanity at Lowes. I always feel so HANDY when I am at places like Lowes..Like I can suddenly build my own house from the ground up. It always seems so doable when at the store...of course we all know I am not even close to being SKILLED...I asked the check out clerk if Lowes offers any classes? He looked at me like I was from space. He had no idea, and his friend he asked was just as clueless. The only thing he could say was that his parents had learned to tile here once... Mark and I had a good laugh about the whole thing, maybe we will never become BOB the Builder, but it is fun to imagine we could.

Pretty busy week, now I have to DRESS appropriate, no sweats today for work. I do not miss having to dress up and quite enjoy spending entire days wearing the same thing I could have easily worn to bed the night before...(did I mention I am not proud of my Trash status?) Anyways I am off...TTFN