Monday Musings

I love alliteration! :)

So...it's been a while...I actually intended, hoped, dreamed and planned (I also love redundancy) to blog last week.  Every day, I thought, this is the day.

And every day, I was WAY too busy to blog.

Stoopid job.

Just kidding...I really like my job.  Really I do.  I mean, it has it's down days...like every job out there...but for the most part, it's not horrible.

But the last two weeks, have been slammed.  I appreciate the busy-ness...sometimes I wish the busy-ness was just a little more steady and not all at once, as it usually is.

Anyway...

I have decided that 2012 is the year I'm taking control.  My first step was taking control of some financial decisions.  You see, I hate making financial decisions...and I hate pricing stuff like insurance, etc.  It intimidates me to no end.  Basically because I've never paid attention to anything.  Truly, when I bought my house, I signed documents that I semi-understood...but my main concern was the bottom line.  If the monthly payment fit my budget, then all was well. 

So, last week I *finally* closed on my house refinance...still semi-understanding what I was signing...maybe with a little more knowledge than the first time...and with a new homeowner's policy...which was my other step in "taking control".

A couple of weeks ago, I decided I had put off going to the doctor long enough.  I won't even tell you how long it has been that I've been to the doctor for anything other than sickness.  I won't tell you because I don't know.  I *think* it's been less than 5 years...but I couldn't put money on it.  So, I called a new doctor's office to set up a physical...which ended up being a nightmarish event.  Evidently you can't just become a patient...you have to come to a "new patient" appointment and then they will schedule a physical (or whatever you are pursuing, unless you are sick, I guess).  To me, this read as their way of collecting two co-pays...but whatever.  My new patient appointment was last week...and to my surprise, the PA decided to go ahead and do the physical.  Mostly because she couldn't code the appointment to anything else...which I kind of thought about beforehand...but what do I know.  "Taking control".

I'm not really sure what else is on this "taking control" list...definitely some improvements at the house...and really working hard to control my eating...and getting in the gym more often.  All of my 2012 goals are part of the list...so, we shall see how this all works out.

Today, I'm thankful for a beautiful Saturday...and a rainy Sunday...but I am not digging the COLD today. 

Yes, it's snowing in the mountains today.

Take that, Spring! ;)

Happy Monday!

Blogging Fail

So, what does one do when you have a built in blogging topic for 30 days...hoping that this will get one back into the blogging routine?  Well, if you are me, you do nothing...and fail miserably! HAHA!  Yes...my 30 Days of Thankfulness continued on via my Facebook statuses...but never made the transition over here to the ol' blog.

And what do I have to blame this on???  Pinterest.  Yes...I've become a hopeless Pinterestaholic.  And what's even worse is that I've brought my BFF and sister into my addiction.  So...now we are all addicts.  Almost every night I snuggle down in my bed, turn on Gilmore Girls or whatever Christmas movie is featured that evening, and scroll through the countless pins.  And my lunch time has now become one big Pinterest-fest.

However, Pinterest has also inspired several Christmas gift projects...which I can't go into right now...because certain people who may be receiving these gifts may or may not read my blog...so, you'll have to wait in great anticipation to see what Pinterest inspired me to do.

And I'm hoping they all turn out...because if they don't...I don't know what I'm gonna do! ;)

Finally the weather in NC has turned cooler and I can begin to feel like it's almost Christmas!  I mean, for me anyways, it's hard to be in the Christmas mood if I'm wearing flip flops and t-shirts.  Which, yes, I wore on Monday...and the mountains had snow on Tuesday.  Welcome to NC!

Christmas also means a month of running around...church events...family events...gift buying & wrapping.  While I love Christmas and everything that it represents, I h.a.t.e. the general busy-ness of the season.  And everything that I do has such value that it's hard to give anything up.  So...when you see that blur...that's me running by! :)

Tomorrow, I'm very excited to say that we are headed to the mountains to pick out a Christmas tree.  We used to do this every year when I was younger.  Several weeks ago, I told Mom & Dad I wanted to do this again and we decided to go this weekend.  Dylan has never picked a tree in the mountains...so I'm very excited to share this with him.  Plus our tree will be much fresher than if we pick it out around here...meaning that hopefully it will last a little longer and not make me scared that it's going to burn my house down!  I love having a real tree...and Dylan isn't particular about many things...but he is VERY insistent about having a real tree!  One of the blessings of living in NC is the close proximity to Christmas tree farms galore! 

Hope you all are doing well.  I feel like the worst blogger ever...I never post and I almost never read.  Although, sometimes I read and don't comment...which is probably even worse!  I hope to see you again soon! :)

Where in the world has Jenn been???

I'm hoping there's at least one or two people out there that have been wondering where I've been!  It's been well over a month since my last blog...which was really more of a "I'm taking time off" post than anything.  Things here were stale...bo-ring...and I do somewhat have a life outside of this virtual world!  I have to watch myself...sometimes I allow myself to be sucked in to the computer world and it keeps me from investing myself deeply enough into my "real" world.

Anyway...so, what have I been up to since my last post?  Well...let's see...

 - I dog-sat my parent's sweet Basset Hound, Cookie.

She is quite possibly the most people-dependent dog I know.  She doesn't like to be left alone...and she really could be more appropriately named "Shadow"...because that's what she does!  But she was a very good house guest and we will probably have her again over Labor Day Weekend when Mom & Dad go to the beach!

 - Then...I took a trip to Florida.

We drove.

In a church bus.

With 20-some kids.

Now, normally from Winston-Salem, it would take...oh about 10 hours to get to Orlando.  Maybe 12 if you factor in bathroom breaks, traffic, meal breaks, etc.

When you factor in a broken down bus, sitting on the side of 95 for an hour and 4-5 hours sitting in a McDonalds just off 95...then the trip takes more along the lines of 18 hours.

We left at 8:30 on Sunday morning...and arrived in Orlando at 2:30 in the morning on Monday morning.

BUT, our time in Orlando was great.  We did Vacation Bible School for the children living at the Orlando Rescue Mission...got to do a few mission projects for the Mission and prepared a meal for the residents on Friday night! 

AND, on Thursday we went to Universal...which was sooooo much fun.

And then...we came home.

We had rented two 15-passenger vans at the airport in Savannah to get us to Orlando...so we had to pick up the bus in Savannah.

Which never quite worked right...

But was making it OK until we hit traffic on 85...only about 45 minutes from home...which is where the bus died AGAIN.

So...we left Orlando at 8:00am-ish...and I walked in my door at 12:45am Sunday morning.

Needless to say...traveling to Orlando on a bus is not in my plans anytime soon!

So...on to what I've been doing...

 - Dylan stayed in Orlando for another week after we left to visit with his grandparents, an aunt & uncle and his cousins.  He had a great time...and wasn't ready to come home...even though he'd been gone already for two weeks! 

And I hate to say that I think I have a Floridian on my hands...he loves Florida...the heat and all. 

So...he's scheming to go to college in Florida.

My heart is breaking...

;)

 - Dylan flew home on Saturday...and then I left on the following Wednesday after work to head to the beach for 4 glorious days with my BFF.  This was my view for most of the day on Thursday...

We had the best time...lots of time spent on the beach...lots of movie watching...just a little bit of shopping and a whole lot of good times.

Quite honestly, I didn't want to come home! :)

 - This week Dylan has started soccer again...so, we have gotten very busy...very quickly. 

Dylan is the middle guy in white with orange shoes...my phone doesn't do good long distance shots! :)

School starts again next week!  Seems like just yesterday we were celebrating Dylan being done with exams and school work!  And now, I have a SOPHOMORE in high school!  I keep asking myself "How did that happen?" :)

I'm not sure where this blog is headed from here.  I'm debating.  I don't really have time to read a lot of blogs...so...I'm just not sure at this point.  So, I'll check in from to time!  Hope you are all well!

What I've Been Up To Wednesday!

OK - so that's not a real meme or anything...but it should be! :)

I've been super busy the past few days...I haven't had much time to do blogging or tweeting.  I do check Facebook...it's a little faster than everything else...

So, what has been keeping me busy?

Well...since you asked...

Friday I decided to take the afternoon off.  I needed it.  Plus it was the last day of school for Dylan.  BUT, Friday was happened to be one of my "busy" days.  #1 - We pay bills at work on the 10th.  #2 - My boss (who does payroll) is out this week...so all timesheets had to be entered & submitted to him before I could leave.  I think he knew that I needed the afternoon off, though, because he gave me the payables on Thursday afternoon so I could have the first step of processing done...and I was super efficient on Friday morning - so I got out of the office around 12:45ish!

I had to get my license renewed. :/  Thankfully, I ONLY had to wait an hour...which is an amazing feat in and of itself.  The only thing is that they mail you your license - so I have no idea if I'm gonna need to beg for a new pic or not!  I'm pretty sure I have a fairly stupid smile on my face because they also don't tell you that they are getting ready to take the picture.  I predict that my pic will be featured on a "yes - these are real driver's license pictures" e-mail list or website! ;P

So...after that, I decided to go swimming at my parents house - they have one of those 12' diameter intex pools - which is good enough for me!  Dylan was already there and my brother-in-law & niece were already swimming when I got there!  Ayden was still napping, but when he woke up, he joined us...and we found out that he is a wanna be fish! :)

Friday night I was supposed to go to a graduation, but there was a really bad storm and I didn't want to chance it, since it was an outdoor graduation.  Plus, the high school is not really equipped parking or traffic wise for all of the people who show up for graduation - so I figured I'd have to park a mile away and that traffic would be insane.  So, I opted out.  Dylan went to the church to play Nerf wars and I stayed home and finished some touch ups in my bathroom...that I painted three months ago! :)

Saturday morning, Mom & Dad came over to help me work on my flower beds...or lack thereof.  Also, my brick walkway was in desperate need of some "help".  Dylan & I took it up a week or so ago...so we needed to get it back in.

This was my front flower beds before:

Actually, I had already done a little bit of work to the flower beds - on the corner of the house, I used to have cana, which is a great bulb to put in a place where you don't mind it spreading and growing a bit...but mine had spread & grown to be a bit out of control.

THIS is my front flower beds on Saturday after we worked in them:

And, since Saturday, we have finished putting the brick walk in AND I now have mulch!  The only thing left is to add some pretty flowers and it'll be all done!  I do plan to move the hosta out from the porch railing a bit and move the smaller ones out into the larger bed area, but since they are already grown up and blooming, I'll have to wait on those!

Saturday afternoon, we had family pictures made...

And then I went to a graduation Saturday night...one that didn't start until almost 9pm!!!

Sunday was a "veg" day (Dylan & I have been working our way through Psych on Netflix) and we finished putting in the brick path.

Monday was work, work, work...followed by work, work, work at home...because...

Tuesday night I had a Scentsy party! :) My BFF is a consultant and I agreed to do a party to help her out a bit. 

And Dylan & I had dental appointments yesterday as well!

So...yes - I've been super busy.  I feel like that's a running theme here on the blog lately...I have about a week when I can update and read and comment on other people's blogs...and then I get busy and have to ignore it for several days...and THEN you get to read my novels! :)

I don't see things slowing down for a week or too...but hopefully I'll get by here again soon!

Happy Wednesday! :)