How Was Your Easter?

Ours was pretty good - the weather decided to go crazy for the weekend and be nice for a change so our friend Ray was able to come and spend the holiday with us. As planned we did the Easter dinner on Saturday, we ate at Chicago's which was fun. The 3rd picture is David's beer - he decided to be adventurous and order the Blue Moon which is a foreign beer. When it arrived at the table with a slice of orange on the side, not to mention it was a strange orang-y color itself it everyone pretty much agreed it should've stayed in it's own country. Ray considered it an affront to the beer world and Jackson thought it was a bit girly. And no one was surprised by the taste which was Awful. We went to Michael's after dinner, I DID get my 30% discount as planned - I bought more yarn of course.  We ended up at AC Moore's too as that's where Ray likes to get his picture frames. On Easter David and Ray went out to breakfast and I went out walking since the weather was still great, then we drove around so Ray could take pictures of barns, a hobby of his. I went to bed after lunch and they were gone when I got up. They ended up eating at the chinese buffet as most of the restaurants here are not open on the holidays which I find pretty odd. Work was stinky busy - which really sucked I might add. Ray left Monday morning after he and David did breakfast again, we were so glad he could make it out here though. I finally finished my latest sweater, I'll post a picture tomorrow and I'm busy scouting for my next project. I HAVE to stop buying yarn as I can't stuff another skein in my grandmother's dresser!! The last picture today is of the snow we had last week, since it's melted I thought it MIGHT be safe to post it!

Spring? What Spring?

I'm still refusing to take pictures of the snow we got that, thank goodness, is currently melting but not quick enough. Even Jackson cannot stand the sight of it. Some areas around here got over a foot and with the rapid melting everything is quickly turning to mud. I've been walking outside a lot, I go to the gym if it's nasty out but it's hard to justify being on a treadmill in a basement when the sun is shining outside. Not to mention the Equipement Vultures lurking about.  Jackson loves to go too, the picture I posted today is a horse farm  we walk to and stare at the horses who tend to stare back. Jackson would dearly love to own a horse and talks about it constantly lately. I'm off for today and then am scheduled to work a 12 hour shift for Easter but Ray will be out this weekend and I'm glad. We're doing dinner tonight and then Easter brunch tomorrow -they can do whatever for dinner. I'm almost done with my latest sweater and am already scoping out my next project. I'm also plotting to go to Michael's tonight after dinner as I have a coupon for 30% off my entire purchase between 6 and 9pm. I told David if we go out to dinner around 4:30, we should be done in time for me to use my coupon!! David said he's getting a little tired of planning his life around coupons to Michaels. That would be Too Bad For Him.

Spooky!

Yes, I know that it's a different last name, but how many Julia E's are there? I have not taken any pictures of the eight inches of snow we got last night because quite frankly, I have seen enough snow. It started a few hours before I left for work and even with leaving early, I just barely made it. The road outside of our development was a mess  to put it lightly, there were cars stuck all over the side of the road both sides and a big yellow school bus sitting sideways across the lane. The woman in front of me slide a bit foward and then gracefully back to the side of the road. Jackson got the day off today and he was a bit cross about it since today was supposed to be a half day. He's afraid they'll tack on one more day to the end of the year which is what they do here, we've heard one year they were attending during the summer so the seniors could graduate. We don't have much in the works for Easter, the weather might be too bad for Ray to come out and I'm working a 7 - 7 that day so we'll probably do our easter dinner thing on Saturday.

Working At The Carwash...

You would think with all the rain we get lately we wouldn't have to go to the carwash but I suspect they use cinders here too so we spend at least once a week to clean the vehicles. Yesterday was our 23rd anniversary, I can't believe it's been that long! I was off for it but had worked the night before so we didnt' do too much but go out to dinner and then a little shopping after that. The weather has warmed up somewhat but still dips below freezing at least twice a day so we're constantly battling a thin layer of ice around the yard. I find it a bit more disconcerting because you can't see it until your sliding down the driveway. David has gotten a part time evening job at the gym here and starts tonight, just a couple nights a week. He still has the other jobs but has been unable to start them due to the weather and other people. The masons, electricians, etc here are a strange bunch - from what I understand this is a "depressed" area but try to get anyone to show up or even give an estimate! It seems to be quite commonplace that guys will show up and then disappear for months on end which can be quite maddening. Work continues to be work but has been more enjoyable surprisingly enough since I'm not working in the ICU anymore. They said they would orient me there when they had the help but since we're short on telemetry and basically working with a skeleton crew if we're lucky most nights (even the supervisors have been working staff lately) I doubt that will happen anytime soon. So I just roll along.

Vicent's Version Of A Hot Tub

Boy, has it been a slow week around here. I've been busy with work and going to the gym - I didn't think I had the time for that until I MADE the time for it and now manage to get there at least 4 times a week. Of course even this gym has lurkers - those daily regular that get on the same treadmill every day at 8:05 for 27 minutes,etc. When a new person shows up and gets on "thier" piece of equipment it throws them off entirely and they descend into annoying behavior. I had one already go to the desk to ask the woman to come and look at my time in an effort to get me off. Bah. The weather is finally turning warmer (in the 30's) so I've been doing a lot of walking outside also. I have my bike here, but I don't know if I'll use it, there's no shoulders on these roads and when the Hideout Security Posse isn't about people don't slow down at all. Geez, I guess that's all for today!

Life In The Burbs.....

David and Jackson are heading back from WV this morning, a good time was had by all I understand. Jacks spent most of the weekend over his friend Becky's house with Becky and her parents who seem to think the world of him. David went to see some of his friends and they stayed at the hotel on our favorite exit. I just hung out with the animals and got some things done that I can't do when the troops are here, like clean and wax the wood floors. The dogs were no help at all, normally they're stuck to the couches like glue but the second I got done waxing they started romping around. I screamed at Charger who's response was to tuck his tail between his legs and then proceed to walk ALL OVER from one end of the house to the other so I had to pretty much buff it again. We got a smattering of snow again this morning, it seems every night it snows just enough to cover and then melts off by the end of the day. I got a surprising letter from our Sea Monkey this morning who is mulling over re-enlisting!! Wow, I was a bit surprised since we've all been hearing about Working For The Man for the past four years. Maybe the Man ain't so bad after all! And yes, there is a girl involved, but isn't there always?

Grey Skies Are Gonna Clear Up Put On a Happy Face

Hopefully soon! I'm at a strange stalling part of my life I think - this week was not good at all. My skills are not up to ICU standards so I'm back to PCU for now which was a personal blow (who ever wants to hear they're not good enough??)BUT I happen to like the telefloor and it's staff better so the whole thing is neither here nor there. I did tell the supervisor that maybe I'm just not ICU material and there's no crime in that. The vet called about Charger - all his blood work came back normal, she says she's doubts there's any mite problem so the whole upshot $130 later is simply I have a Bald Assed Spaniel, a rare and exotic breed. the vet suggested we retest in two or three months so I might just sign Charger up for Hair Club For Men and they can give him a little Butt Hairpiece. David and Jackson headed off for WV to visit friends this weekend, I'm off for a couple of days so I told them if they were ever going to do it now would be the time. Having the house to myself is so nice, it would be nicer if the hospital was not currently on the answering machine trying to get me to come in. I went out walking and will be taking the house apart tomorrow I think, I was thinking about a fire but the weather has warmed a bit so maybe not . David called to tell me it's snowing a bit there, he dropped Jackson off at Becky's house and is gettting ready to call his friend Keith so they're busy bees this weekend. They're there until Sunday and I don't go to work until Sunday 11pm so this whole thing works out well. I bought a new digital camera at Tar`get The French Store - I got a good deal on it. But it's currently in WV with the boys so you'll have to wait until Monday or Tuesday for any new pictures. Until then I've got my feet up and my tv on!

Going Going Gone!

Since nobody wanted the poncho, I modeled it one more time and then it was bundled off to The Salvation Army where it will hopefully benefit someone legally blind. Actually, it doesn't look too bad in this picture, does it? Too bad, it's gone. Today the temps are in the high 50's, it's strange with all this snow on the ground (still over a foot) that spring is literally right around the corner. The locals have told me that snow can last all the way through April and the local weather channel has predicted the temps will be back in the 20's by tomorrow which will  freeze the place into a giant ice rink. I attempted to take a picture of our slush-pile yard but my camera is doing that Bad Thing again where it's just a black streaky blur. I'm hoping it will clear up again like it did the last 3 times but there has got to be a limit on recoveries somewhere. I bought a pooper-scooper at Petsmart today, our dogs have limited yard and it looks like there was a crap party there. They both seem to crap thier weight daily and with the snow it looks beyond horrid. Speaking of horrid, David took Charger to the vet this week as the bald spot on his ass has not improved at all. They did blood work as the vet thinks it may be a thyroid condition and we are waiting to hear back this week. My mom has said that low thyroid runs on her side, so I guess he takes after my side of the family. His buggy rolly eyes must come from Dave's!!

Just Another Day In The Neighborhood

David is taking a CPR Course today at the Episcipalian Church. In true David fashion he got the times wrong and showed up for services this morning. The Reverend invited him to stay, but David declined as he had planned on learning how to save lives, not be saved. He went back at 1pm which would be the correct time, forgetting about the guy who's coming to look at the boat he's selling this afternoon. So guess who's showing the boat - just how I wanted to spend my day off. Work has been aggravating lately, I'm not taking ACLS until June which I'm very unhappy about - the nursing supervisor screwed up my schedule and with us being short right now there was no way she could even let me off for one night. So I am pissed. The weather has warmed up a bit today and  all this snow is starting to melt, I can hear the ice sliding off the roof  - I guess walking next to the house today is not the best idea. Adam wrote and he's out at sea and will be for at least another month if not more. This isn't sitting well with the new girlfriend but there's not much he can do about it. Oh, well, I hope that boat guy gets here soon.

Still Looking Good!

Not much going on in my world this week. I finally finished the poncho I was making and am not overly thrilled with the results, especially with all the work I put into it. I think the yarn I used was too thick so instead of looking like a very sophisticated garment suitable for city wear, it sort of looks more like, well, a horse blanket. A VERY ATTRACTIVE HORSE BLANKET, I'll post a picture of it and feel free to contact me if anyone wants it,but I think it will be ix-naying to the local Goodwill so someone less fortunate can look like a fat toad. Of course after having made that last statement the chances of anyone requesting it are probably pretty slim.The snow is still here, all 14 inches or so. It snows a bit each day and I think the difference here is it NEVER melts. So inbetween working shifts I shovel. Jackson had his first full day of school in the past few weeks, every day he either has a delay, gets out early or they just cancel it entirely. The delays are still considered a full day - what they do here is just shorten up all the classes so they get a full day in. Speaking of which - it time to wake the student!

A Lion In Winter

Actually, more like a Pansy In The Snow, but who wants to burst Vincent's bubble?? He accidently followed me outside this morning and then was back on the porch in about 3 minutes. He must be a Buddhist cat as he never once strayed from the path, haha. We got about a foot so far, I was out bright and early this morning digging my car and deck out. I'm glad I don't have to go to work til 11 tonight as by then everything will be plowed and salted. Jackson is still in bed, they got out early AGAIN yesterday - he was home by one and it didn't start snowing until at least four. He finally got his report on the black plague handed in - of course he waited til the last minute - my foot was out the door on the way to work would be about the time he decided to ask for any help. So I have no idea what it was he handed in, but hopefully something that will lead to him being a 10th grader. He's still liking his haircut, it was such a big change he said some of the kids thought he was a new student until he took his seat in class!