Busy Day

Just a quick hello. Georgia is doing well. She was scratching her ears a lot last night and they smelled funky to me. I knew she had to have ear mites or an infection. I was right. We took her to the vet and the poor thing has two very bad ear infections. She has her little ear drops and should be fine soon. She weighs 32 pounds and the vet said she is a wonderful dog. She was very calm when he worked on her ears and when they cut her nails. I think she is so starved for attention that she will take it any way she can get it.

I got the trim in the hallway painted and Irv got the windows in the living room done so we are making progress. Georgia now has white paint on her ear, her whiskers, her side and her tail!

We worked on walking on a leash today and on how to sit. It's going to be a long slow process...because she has had no training at all, but we have all the time in the world. Michael and Bern came over to meet her today and just love her. I think everyone will. She a special little girl for sure.

Tomorrow it will be fourteen years since the tragic Cary-Grove High School bus accident. We lost seven students from our high school that horrible morning in 1995. I will write about it tomorrow. If you want to read about it before then, just Google Cary Grove Bus Accident. Have a nice evening and I will chat with you tomorrow.

Tomorrow one stinky little dog is going to get a bath!

Georgia Is Here!

We couldn't have scripted this evening better ourselves! We let Wrigley and Georgia meet each other on leashes in the driveway. It was windy and rainy so we moved indoors. Within two minutes the two of them were playing as though they had known each other for years!

I sat and signed papers and Irv kept an eye on them. They ran from the couch to the love seat chasing each other and chowing on each other's necks. Back and forth. They knocked one of the cushions off! Down the hallway, back and into the kitchen. We couldn't stop laughing. It was awesome. Not that I want that kind of play in the house, but tonight was special.

The foster mom left and the play continued. Once in a while she would go to the door as though she were looking for her mom, but she would come right back. She has a lot to learn, but we are very patient and we will teach her. I can't wait to take them for a walk tomorrow morning if the rain has stopped.

Sparky would stand back and bark at them when they were playing. Then Georgia would follow her around the house and Sparky would look at me like, "What the heck is this thing that is following me?"

They have taken a couple of breaks, but it is 9:35 and the play continues. We are debating whether to crate her tonight or not. Her foster mom suggested we do that, but we'll see.

Right after that last picture, I ended up on my back on the floor with Georgia licking my face. She seems to be pretty happy.

Well, time to get ready for bed. It's going to be a busy weekend here. We have trim to paint tomorrow....not sure how we will do that with the dogs running around, but we will figure it out!

Doggie Update

Our little rescue dog is on her way here, but traffic is really bad, so they won't be here for quite a while. Irv and I are both nervous believe it or not.

I think it's just because we don't know what to expect. We've always had puppies and Georgia is a year old already. She's had a rough life and it will take time for her to feel comfortable in our home.

We are hoping for a fairly smooth transition. I'll let you know later tonight or in the morning how things are going. Isn't she just so cute?

The End Is In Sight

Everything is starting to fall into place for our "Boo to the Flu" Halloween campaign at work. The orange bracelets I ordered arrived Wednesday and I spent most of that afternoon and yesterday dividing them up to distribute to our 2000 plus students and staff. Quite a task in itself.

They are cute though aren't they?

The costumes are done!! I am so glad. It's been a crazy couple of weeks running back and forth from my office to my boss's office. I would go to my desk to check e-mails and phone messages, handle what needed to be handled and then run back and sew for a little bit and then repeat over and over throughout the day. I wanted to keep up with my work as much as possible, because I hate being behind.

Anyway, you remember the hand sanitizer costumes. My boss and another staff member will wear these.

Here are the germs that our four nurses will wear. They'll be wearing green or purple tights and long sleeve t-shirts under them. It should be pretty funny. Keep in mind I did not create the character. It's straight off a picture on the Internet. I could never come up with something like that!

Now I am just waiting for the t-shirts to come in so I can get those out to the district office staff and the principals and assistant principals. My daughter's marketing company did them for us. They are black with a white ghost and say "Boo To The Flu" on them. They are really cute.

The plan is to wear this stuff the Friday before Halloween. It is our effort to keep flu prevention in the forefront. We don't have any confirmed cases of H1N1 in our district yet, but Irv's little Catholic school has 2 confirmed cases this week. We know it's coming, but the more we can do to remind the kids to cover their coughs and wash their hands, the better off we will be.

There is a high school in our area that is closed this week because 1/2 of their 2000 students called in sick the other day. They don't have any confirmed cases of H1N1 yet, but just a lot of sick students and staff.

So say Boo To The Flu and have a great day!

Painting, Coasters, Coffee Tables and Another Guest

Irv and I are moving at full speed on our living room painting/redecorating project. We are washing, patching and sanding all of the trim after work each day in the hopes that we will be ready to paint it over the weekend. That would be so awesome.

When we are not washing, patching and sanding trim we are doing other things. I am making holiday coasters. I have 18 sets made and I am in the process of sealing them today. Then I just need to put the cork on the back and they will be ready to list. Sorry for the fuzzy pictures, but I have the shakiest hands sometimes!


When Irv isn't washing, patching and sanding trim, he has been working on what is going to be our new little coffee table. Remember this little old wooden toy box I showed you a while ago? It had two loose legs and a broken hinge. Here it is before Irv started working on it.

And this is how it looks in the garage right now. It's been repaired, sanded and primed. It's just waiting for me to decide what color I want it.

The top is very warped, but I am going to leave it like that. I like the funkiness of it. Great non-word.....funkiness!

It's either going to be the dark yellow or the dark blue. I'm undecided. What do you think?

Oh....different topic. We MIGHT be having a little four legged visitor stop by Friday evening to meet Wrigley and Sparky. Her name is Georgia and she is a one year old Border Collie/Lab mix. She is in a foster home right now waiting for her "forever" family and we are going to see if we might be it. She is being fostered about an hour south of us, but her foster family is going to be passing through our area on their to a town north of us and they offered to stop by so we can see her. Our application has already been approved, so now we just need to see if she is the right fit for our little "pack". I'll take some pictures and share them with you if she visits. Could this be Wrigley's new playmate? We shall see.....

Count 'em Up Kathy

As I packed up my bag yesterday morning with my lunch and snacks , I started to wonder how many calories I was loading into that bag for the day. I really already knew the answer and it was TOO MUCH!

Even though I tend to eat fairly healthy, I also tend to eat way too much. Add that to the fact that yesterday was the first day in ages that I walked the dog, and add to that the fact that I am stopping at Starbucks every day again.....it's no wonder that the pants I put on that morning were a bit on the t-i-g-h-t side.

There is such a simple solution to this issue, I don't know why I don't do it. On Sundays I use to pack up daily snacks in the proper serving size for the week. That way when I packed up my lunch I could just grab what I need. I would make a couple of small salads and put them in containers ready to grab.

Another easy thing to do is when I put leftovers away that I know will end up being a lunch for me during the week, I really should divide them and put them in a couple of small containers instead of one big container. Like yesterday, the one container held WAY MORE than one serving of pasta and low fat Alfredo...making it an unhealthy, fattening lunch.

I also like Greek yogurt for a snack....that would be an awesome snack, but I also like to add some fruit and granola to it making it not so low cal. I am thinking about making that my breakfast a couple of days a week instead of a snack.

I wouldn't even mind the Starbucks every day if I could get the rest of my eating under control. Even healthy low calorie snacks becomes unhealthy when you eat more than the proper serving size or when you consume 3-4 snacks a day rather than two.

So, today I will do better. I packed my lunch and snacks last night, and paid close attention to the serving size. I am only taking two snacks with me...one for the morning and one for the afternoon. I will walk the dog when I get home from work before I even turn on the computer, because once I turn that computer on....neither the dog nor myself will get the exercise we both so desperately need.

I am going to try to get up when the alarm goes off and get back to my yoga and pilates in the morning. I can't believe how limber I feel when I am doing those things regularly. I stand straighter and just walk taller. It's pretty awesome and I need it.

Truly, no matter how many times you have tried to exercise and eat healthy and fallen off the wagon....it's okay. When you can, just get back on and try again. Even eating healthy for a while now and then is better than never eating healthy at all. Same goes for working out and walking.

Well, now that I have myself so totally psyched....I think I will go grab a snack...all that talk about food has made me hungry! Just kidding!

The Perfect Houseguest

Casey the kitty came to visit Thursday night. Irv was off on Friday, so I called him late in the morning to see how Casey and our dogs were doing and to see how his ceiling painting was going. All I heard when he answered the phone was, "Get out of the (bleeping) paint!"

"I can hear things are going well," I said. :)

You tend to forget how curious cats are when you haven't had one around for a while. The dogs were terrified of Casey after she smacked them both in the head when they got too close on Friday. She doesn't have claws, so I'm sure just their canine pride was hurt.

Casey didn't do anything that cats don't normally do. She was very well behaved....for a cat. I was quickly reminded though of the things that drove me crazy when I had cats.

Here are a few:

Dogs eating cat poop
Cats sprawling out on the kitchen table
Cats walking across the stove when you are making dinner and the burners are ON
Cats having to lick every glass, cup, plate, bowl, knife, fork, spoon, pot and pan you set down
Cats wanting to help you put on your make up in the morning
Cats intentionally knocking things off tables because they think it's fun to hear them hit the floor
Cats that make a game out of jumping on the counter and having you put them back down on the floor
Cats that can jump back up on the counter faster than you can stand back up after putting them on the floor

Cats are cute and cuddly, but somewhere between the loss of our last cat and this past weekend the antics I once thought were adorable have become not quite so cute.

I told Irv that I really don't want a kitten anymore and he agreed. I also told him I don't think I want a third dog and he said, "I do".

Hmmmmmm.....woof, woof, woof?

To Carve or Not To Carve....That Is The Question

The answer is simple. There is no way in h--- I am carving another pumpkin ever in my entire life!!

Do you carve pumpkins for Halloween? I don't. Even thinking about it might make me puke. As a child I had a very strong gag reflex and lots of things made me almost throw up. The fact that strong smells bothered me, seeing yukky stuff bothered me and touching slimy things bothered me...made pumpkin carving sheer torture! If I wanted a pumpkin though....I had to clean it out myself.

Wikipedia Photo

So I would sit and gag and cry and almost puke every Halloween, but I would clean that friggin' pumpkin amidst the laughter of some not so sympathetic siblings and parents. I remember one year doing it with a close pin on my nose!

Tresa and Irv

Tresa, Me and Michael

I did my best to put my pumpkin carving phobia aside when my kids were little, but Irv did most of what I was unable to do. Once the stringy smelly goo was out of the inside, I was great at scraping it clean with a spoon. I had to have a nice clean inside with no sign that the yukky stuff was ever in there.

Matt

Just thinking about pulling that top off and seeing all of that stuff just makes me shudder. I can smell it right now and there isn't a pumpkin anywhere in site!

Angela at Pickles On Pizza did an awesome "bejeweled"pumpkin this year. Maybe I should try that. Or maybe I should just go down and get my little lighted plastic pumpkin from the basement, sit him in the window and say Bah Humbug to Halloween....or is that Christmas?

The funniest thing is....I LOVE pumpkin pie and can eat a whole one myself!

Quaking Grass Green

We went to give blood yesterday, and for the first time ever, my iron was too low to donate. I was SO very bummed. To make me feel better I went over to Caribou and got a chai....all better. I made an appointment for next Saturday and absolutely have to eat better this week. Broccoli, spinach and all that high iron good stuff!

Remember how I was so set on the mossy Sassafrass Green for the living room? Well I had all my color swatches with me in the car on the way to get the paint, and just kept looking at them. I entered the store still undecided. I looked at the greens separately and with all of the accent colors that went with them....and guess what....I didn't end up getting Sassafrass! I ended up with Quaking Grass instead. The accent colors are all so awesome...brown, blue, yellow....I can have so much fun with it.

I got the first coat done!! Chee hoo!! The pictures aren't great, but you'll get the idea. It's such a HUGE change! Here is the hallway when it was the khaki color....

And here it is in Quaking Grass Green!!

I might do the second coat today if my hands will let me. Man, I forgot how much work painting is. About three quarters of the way through I was ready to throw in the towel for the day....but I didn't and I'm glad. Just one coat to go, then trim and it will be time to decorate!

I am off to the grocery store and then I'll decide if it's going to be a painting day or an etsy day. Have a great Sunday everyone!