What a pretty day!

It has been gradually warming up here. We've had a cold winter so far by GA standards. My dog Samantha loves the cold, although I think she enjoyed the little bit of sun we got, too!

Is she dead?!?

Ooops, she caught me sneaking pics of her!

(Scooby voice) "Hey Mom!" (She's kind of...not the brightest so we always imitate her in a Scooby Doo voice!)

OK, enough of pets for now.

Trying to Get Back Into the Routine

I've been off the computer for a few days...I came down with some sort of flu virus that landed me in the hospital Wednesday and Thursday. Usually I'd be ok but with this blood thinner I have to be really careful. So today I am feeling lots better but still tired. I got some things done around the house, got some groceries, and also taking care of my sick husband. He seems to have what I did. Luckily, my kitty Bella is feeling great and snuggling me all the time.

The good part is she sits on the arm of my computer chair the whole time I'm here and all I have to do is lean toward her or make a kissy noise and she snuggles. The bad part is, she farts a lot. HA! Sorry to be so blunt, but it is true and phew! Sometimes runs me out!

I thought that was a good funny to end on today.

Birthday Girl

Since we didn't get to celebrate Mom's birthday last year due to her throwing out her back, we made sure she had a good time this year.
She invited our friends and neighbors and had a good time. Mom made some pot roast, which everyone brought something good to go along with it. I think everyone enjoyed it. The girls sat down afterward for a chat, some tea, and a nice warm fire.

Mom was so mad about the candles, we gave them to the checkout girl to put back and she misunderstood and rang them up! HA!

I wonder what she wished for?

Mmm, cake.

My happy and beautiful ageless Mom!

Welcome...Snow?

Well, today was cold and had a pretty dusting of what some may call "snow", (It really just looks like a heavy frost) but it certainly wasn't what I had hoped for. In Georgia we have a ridiclulous interesting concept of what is bad winter weather. We get some pretty nasty storms here...but winter weather...not so much. When I heard they were guessing forecasting that there would be snow, I even took down my Christmas wreath (about time anyway...) and put up my little snowdudes in hopes of a few inches.

Needless to say they did not work, and I didn't even attempt to take a picture of our little snowshowers, for fear I would be laughed out of blogging forever.
My dog seemed to enjoy it coming down last night though...she is part Lab, part Husky according to the vet, so she enjoys the cold weather. We went out about 9pm last night and rolled up what we could into little snowballs and watched her fetch it and eat it.
Today was just mainly the dusting and some icy roads, which I will say I don't like. Last year we had about 8 inches where I worked, and the ice was crazy trying to drive.

This one above is a picture from last year of the Publix parking lot near my work. Fortunately when I took my lunch and went down there, most of it was melting, but boy, was it hard to walk on!

This one is of the parking lot at my work, which was a solid sheet of ice. My car is the middle one, which I carefully glided into my space that day. It took almost 2 hours to get to work and I even slid off the road once and had to have a police officer push me far enough to get traction again. Embarrassing.

I worked in a salvage yard, and had told my boss how pretty the totaled cars would look when they had snow on them...which he scoffed at...but I think he grudgingly agreed when it finally snowed. :)

Today seemed very fulfilling to me. I got up about 8:30am, and my husband came home because he didn't have any work so I got to spend the day with him. Of course, no work means no $$$ for that day, so it is good and bad. He took me to the hospital to get my bi-weekly bloodwork done, and that went very well. Was in and out quick and didn't pass out. Next we ventured to the Dollar Store, where I got some more plastic bins to put under my sink in the bathroom. I organzied under our "guest bath" sink today and threw out a whole trashbag of stuff we didn't need and not quite sure how it got there to begin with...so onto my bathroom cabinets, which are even more unbelievable of a challenge.
I also did some laundry, which I DID NOT take any pictures of, as it was also a disaster. We had a great steak dinner, complete with sauteed mushrooms, cheesy mashed potatoes (instant but good) and a dijon wine sauce that I made out a recipe book my mom gave me.
So now I am just enjoying some pistachios (My mom will kill me for not getting her any) and smelling my latest crafty project that is behind me on the sofa table:

A pretty basket I got at the beach one year, some votive holders and tealights that I already had, and the only thing I bought were a few scoops of scented rosehips from a local shop.

At first I had a scoop of the rosehips in a hurricane glass, with a round votive holder sunk down in the middle. I still have two of those kinds around the house; one on the kitchen counter that are scented sort of like a Mocha, and then one in the bathroom with a scent called "Sleeping on Snow". It smells like really fancy but light perfume!

The basket behind the couch has the "Spice" scent which smells like Cinnamon. I can smell it when I walk into the house, and now with the candles lit it wafts over to my computer desk from time to time. And everyone loves cinnamon, right? Such a nice, homey scent for the winter. And we are expecting snow this week!

Happy New Year!

Today I worked on staying inside and cleaning a bit. So far I have done dishes, "fixed" the vacuum, (which really means just taking it apart and cleaning it...it's a Bissell Pet Hair vac so it has to have the filters cleaned from time to time) done a few loads of laundry, and made a grocery run. I've also been walking on my treadmill the last couple days to try and get my exercise. I have been scared to get even the least bit out of breath since I've been out of the hospital, but I know it will do me good. Did a little over a half mile today on it, plus walking around Walmart probably ended up being a mile! I can't believe as of January 1st it has been 4 months since I was admitted to the hospital. I am down to getting my blood drawn every two weeks instead of twice a week, and soon will be able to go to once a month if my INR is steady. I have found a support group for people who have had Pulmonary Embolisms called DailyStrength. It is not great to harp on it all the time, but I have days that I really struggle and it helps to know there are other people out there with the same problem.

I just have to keep reminding myself: