Wishing for Sunny Days, Cool Sand and Beaches

I guess global warming is doing it's thing because we are getting slammed with storms. One after another...and it's been that way for weeks! Last night, a new storm came in promising 4 to 6 inches before the day was done. Tomorrow, will have a mini break, then the next storm arrives to bring on more snow. And that's the pattern for the next couple of weeks. I feel like I'm having a torrid affair with the snow-blower. (We're talking about taking it to the next level. Yowza!)

So, I'm fantasizing lately. Picture it; a beautiful, pristine beach with gorgeous white sand; waves lapping at the shore while warm breezes blow through tall palms. Cabanas adorn the coastline with personal wait staff. Then, there's me. Soaking up the sun and sipping some exotic, fruity, umbrella adorned drink, nibbling the fruit decorating the sides of the glass. No worries, no stressors, no problems, (no shovel or snow blower). At my vacation home, a sumptuous seafood dinner awaits along with an amazing, romantic evening with my hubby. These are pics that have circulated the web over and over but I think they help paint my fantasy quite well.

Birthday Weekend

Friday was my 33rd birthday. It was a wonderful day at work, followed by an average evening, followed by a dismal weekend. I'm not sure what happened, but it's certainly not something I wish to repeat.

Friday morning, I went to work in my favorite off-the-shoulder red sweater and some velvet pants (with snow boots). I was pretty cute and got quite a few compliments. When I arrived, there was a large present on my desk along with many well-wishers. For lunch, we congregated in a conference room and had plenty of conversation and cake. I went home very happy and pleased with this odd-year birth day. When I got home, my hubby was calling to say he was going to the gym. OK. Then, we he got home, he said we were going out to dinner. Nothing was really planned, he just picked a place where we could be somewhat "good" and provide variety for the kids. The restaurant was Chinese and the food was only OK. The girls seemed happy, but I wasn't as thrilled as I usually am about going out.

Saturday, we spent most of the day at home cleaning. Not exactly my idea of a send-off birthday weekend, but it needed to be done. Then, my hubby says, "Well, I'm going to the gym." After some pretty bad miscommunication, he believed that I'd given the OK for this. I certainly had not. I did not want to compete with the gym again, but here it was. The babe had a friend over and I spent the afternoon in my room on the computer. That evening, we went to a show with the babe (while Indy was cared for by a babysitter). The event was fine, it was the guilt I felt for leaving Indy with a babysitter that had me not feeling so well.

Sunday, we went to church. All was well until Hubby snapped at me in the Costco. After that, I just didn't say much (and I haven't since). It's Monday, a new week and I'm already wishing it were Friday.

PMS and the B's

It's really telling when your hubby can tell when you're about to have your visit from TOM/Aunt Flo. He asked me last night, "Is it almost your time?" and I informed him that it was due in about two weeks (PMS land). I thought all the B vitamins he has me taking would have me a little more balanced and a lot less bitchy. The bitchiness is still there (albeit not as bad) and my distance towards him is in full force (one of the other lovely side effects). As a woman, I would welcome any sort of magic/herb/medicine/pixie dust that would ward off these effects. I would especially welcome the ability to change them myself, if I could; however, most women are very much aware of the nature of their personalities when it's happening and have no way of controlling them. Today, it's a practice in control.

Yesterday, we got hit with yet another storm! This time, we got around a foot or more in the valleys. People aren't sure what to make of all this wet stuff. I say, enough is enough already. Can we just get some good old-fashioned rain for a change? I feel like I've been shoveling for weeks! Yes, it's great for the drought and the grass is going to love it for the spring and summer, but I can really say I'm done with snow. Unfortunately, we could get snow for several more weeks. Last year, we got a snow storm on April 18th. Granted, it was all melted by the next day, but still!

I'm working from home today because of it being a Quality Teaching day. Whenever I see that on the calendar, I think of the Simps.ons episode where there's a close up shot of Mrs. Crabapple talking to other teachers about Teacher Inservice Day and then the camera pans away to all the teachers drinking liquor and riding a roller coaster. I know that they're really preparing for report cards, but I do hope they get to have those days where they can "ride free".

I have a birthday approaching and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. It's one of those birthdays that's sort of in between (like eleven, fourteen, twenty-three). Your in the decade, but you're not at the beginning or near the mid point. I hope it's a good one. I went to dinner with the family last year (on my dime). Granted, it was a gift card I gave hubby, but it still seemed like I was paying for it. I have no idea what we're doing this year (if anything). I hope it involves seafood. Yum! I've been craving crab legs.

Ooo! Better Post Before Time Slips By

If I wait to load pictures, I'll be waiting forever. It's best to just do it, right?


This first one here is the tree, cookies and juice on Christmas eve. Hubby was home and then went to work the next morning. That was incredibly tough for me because, even when he was working graveyards, he's always had Christmas day off. So, hubby went into work and the girls opened three gifts that morning. We saved everything else for hubby's arrival in the evening. After the brief morning horrah, we went to my mother's and opened the gifts she had for us there (hubby met us there, once his shift was complete). By 6:00pm, we were all home and ready to open the remaining gifts. I gotta say that it was sort of nice. I wasn't expecting it to feel the same as Christmas morning feels, but I think it was even better. On December 26th, I took the babe and Indy into Salt Lake. Indy went to daycare, while the babe and I journeyed to the movies to see Enchanted with a girlfriend. It was quite cute and better than I thought it would be. The babe enjoyed it but we were both freezing! Why do they insist on cranking on the air conditioning during movies? (I know I'm not the only one who has noticed this). It doesn't matter the time of year or the number of people in the auditorium, they will crank it up as if it were 100 degrees outside and a packed house inside. And, there's no exclusion...it's every theater I've ever been too.

After the movie, we picked up lunch and then picked up Indy. She was glad to see her friends, but felt even better about going home. These are the moments where I truly hate that my kids have to be in daycare. They are loved and treated well, but I'd much rather be the one to take care of them (more specifically now, Indy since the babe is in school). From December 27th to January 2nd, the kids were home with mom. It was nice and I noticed how much improvement I saw in Indy's vocabulary. She's always chatting but much more clearly to all of us in those days that passed.

Sunday, December 31st, we took new family pictures. Now, I have to say, it's been a while. The last family photos only reflect our family as it was in 2004. Indy wasn't even thought about when those pictures were taken! Well, Miss Indy was all over the place during the session. At first, she was grouchy because she had stinky bricks in her diaper. Once I took care of that, she was in much better spirits but didn't want to relinquish the photographer's "watch the duck" rubber ducky. She took picture after picture with only a few of Indy in one place or not making a crazy face. The babe, the consumate modeling professional, took picture after fabulous picture without trouble. Family pictures were hard, but we got through it and with a few nice ones we could actually order. (Hubby actually did a bit of reordering when we picked them up on January 16th). There are several he and I took together that turned out so beautifully. He even commented last night at how these were the best we'd ever taken together. How sweet!

January 2nd was the first day back to school for the babe and hubby was off. Woohoo! (We had spent New Year's eve watching Season three Dallas Episodes and drinking Tequila Sunrises till two in the morning. (These are the kicks for a mother of two with barely a social life....it was awesome nonetheless). We took Indy into Salt Lake to daycare and the two of us went to see Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem. Fun, suspenseful and definitely much truer to both franchises than that last piece of garbage they released. Hubby and I were elated! We then to lunch at a new Thai restaurant. I had the Pra Ram (my new fav) and he had a spicy noodle dish that wasn't Pad Thai. I tasted it and it was wonderful, along with his Thai iced tea. We'll definitely pay that place another visit, even if just for take-out. Too bad we don't have a decently priced Thai place in our area. There's no reason Pad Thai should be more than $10 for lunch. Yeesh!

The vacation time moved quickly (as I knew it would) and I could sadly feel the end approaching. It wasn't the going back to work that I dreaded, but being separated from the kids (even though they were working my nerves, at times). I experience this anxiety after ever Christmas break - you'd think I'd have learned to cope by now. Hubby's first day back after five days off had him very upset, too. For all the time we've put into working on the house and making it a comfortable living space for the family, we just weren't ready to give it up so quickly. Vacation time for the summer is definitely a goal we're shooting for.

During all of this break time, I was fortunate to be home during some pretty big storms. The biggest, however, was yet to come. January 9th, I found myself working from home because I just didn't want to take my life into my hands. It was as if Someone was shoveling snow from heaven's driveway and we were the curb. Yeesh! It just wouldn't stop! (See picture)------>

By the end, we had 8 inches of cover and more to come during the week. I don't mind the snow so much when all it does is flutter down and then melt the next day. But this kind of stuff is wild! I worried that I wouldn't be able to get out and pick up Indy's stuff for her birthday the following day. Luckily, at around 3:30, it stopped. Hubby and I shoveled as soon as he got home. It's no wonder I didn't put on much weight this holiday season. I think I shoveled snow, at least, every other day and sometimes twice on those days!

Indy's birthday was a quiet affair at home with just the family. We picked up cupcakes this year rather than a cake...mainly because the Sesame Street decal wouldn't fit on the small cake I wanted to order. Oh, well. It turned out that it was perfect for a toddler and she enjoyed the Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird and Ernie rings mounted to each one. She also enjoyed receiving her Cabbage Patch "baby" and See 'n Say Farmer in the Dell. It's quite easy to please a two year-old.

This week and last have been filled with numerous emails, projects and all kinds of craziness at work. I want to say that things are calming down a bit, but I don't want to jinx myself. So, I'll just say work is work and I'll be happy when it's not bearing down on me like a ten ton boulder.

Oh, and I should mention my dreams. I've been having very intense, vivid dreams for the past month. I usually remember them with great detail and they haunt me through out the day. The night before last was the first night I didn't remember a dream, but this morning, I'm having flashes of the one I had last night (not as intense, but the images are still there). There doesn't seem to be a recurring theme, but several have been sexual in nature. Some involved my hubby and some did not. Yes, I think I'd use the word erotic and in some cases also p.orno.graphic. Others are very normal, day-to-day occurrences but still quite vivid. In two or three of them, it was hard to distinguish reality, once I woke up...as if I were traversing a plain. These were the cases were I was bummed out to find that my dream wasn't the reality. Other times, I woke up feeling like I had more to do...I just wasn't finished. Since hubby and I had a love-making session that last more than an hour last night, I wasn't surprised that I dreamed of the events. To bad it wasn't as vivid as the other dreams I've had.

I talked to our resident Shaman (she really is!) and she said that if I were interested in pursuing this, I could keep a dream journal. Most likely, though, my mind was fixating on something I subconsciously need to notice/work on/pay close attention too. I don't know if I'm ready to keep a bedside journal about any of this. As I said, they are growing less in their intensity. Perhaps I'm already working out whatever it is I need to workout. Of course, for those that are "fun" in nature, perhaps I should just enjoy them.

I'm Here!

I have lots to write and will do so soon. Been off enjoying the holidays, food, family and fun since my last post. Today was my first day back at work (oh, the build up of seventeen days is not pretty). Posts will be coming along with pictures until then, happy Monday!