Guess Who Has Snow

Guess who got snow. Wonderful cold snow. This morning it was beautiful fluffy white snow falling down. This afternoon it was bitter cold and not quite as fun. Late this afternoon, the sun came out and it was pretty out.

My mom wasn't able to leave for home today so she is still here hanging out with us. We did a ton of shopping yesterday and I'll fill you all in on what we did later. We got a little shopping in today and then have sat around and ate and watched 12 hours of the Hallmark channel. It's been a TV marathon. I'm almost tired from doing nothing today.

Cowboy has informed me that tomorrow is house cleaning day. Boy is it needed.

Finally a Three Day Weekend

I'm finally taking a day off. I was out of the office most of Wednesday and today for a business meeting. And I'm taking tomorrow off. However, there is still a lot going on at work and I hate not being there even for a day but I need a break.

My ear is finally better and I can hear. Thank the Good Lord that is over. There was a lot of pressure in my head that is gone.

My mom is in town and we are working on wedding plans tomorrow. I can't believe that the big day is only 30 days away. It seemed like it was just yesterday that we were getting engaged and now the big day is almost here. I am so excited. I commented to Cowboy today that our big day was just around the corner. He said, " Don't worry, I'll be there". He doesn't say it but I think he is getting excited.

I'm looking forward to showing my mom all the plans that I've made and letting her be a part of what is going on.

Random thinking going on in my head, in case this doens't make any sense.

The Cost of Vanity

Isn't it amazing what women pay for vanity? There are manicures, pedicures, eye brow waxing, bikini waxing, fake fingernails, teeth whitening, not to mention make-up and hair products. We will have our hair colored, hairs plucked, faces hydrated and squeezed. And oh so much more.

Keep in mind I am not a girly girl. I have rough heels and bushy eyebrows. I get my hair done about one to two times a year. I break my fingernails weekly. And just recently my toenails finally grew out the polish from my last pedicure.

So for the wedding, I've decided that I want to be a little girly. I want my hair done, toes and feet pretty and great fingernails. But I also want to have a tan to make my pink dress look a little prettier.

So it's off to tanning I go. I haven't tanned for 10 years. I use sunscreen and haven't laid out since the 80's. The whole thing is a new experience. More high powered beds that tan faster. My first time I went I stayed for 6 minutes, then 8 minutes, and another 8 minutes. So Monday night, I thought I needed to go for 9 minutes.

Here is the real cost of vanity....a red body, as red as my candied apple jammies. I radiate heat and I'm sure I glow in the dark. I know, I know. This is so unhealthy. I didn't sleep well because of my vanity and my jeans were so uncomfortable today. No more 9 minutes. No more bright red. I should be done but I want to look good in my dress. Maybe 7 minutes.

Ear Trouble

Let me preface this by saying--gross body gunk, read at your own risk.

Seriously, I can handle a lot of pain before I start complaining. I only have Tylenol in my cabinet and never take any other over the counter medication. But my freakin' ear hurts! I was cleaning my ears out this morning and discovered that I had a ton of ear wax. Gross! Yuck! Most likely a symptom of not taking allergy medication for weeks, when I needed to.

I was able to clean out my right ear but just as you shouldn't, I used a Q-Tip and shoved what must be a gallon of wax deeper in my left ear. My ear hurts. It feels all clogged up. The pain goes down the side of my face and to my neck. I'm so tempted to get a paper clip and fish it out. I know, that's not the answer and the last time when I tried that I hurt my ear drum.

I tend to want to "fix" my ailment with very unconventional means. I'm trying to be patient and use some ear drops that I have from a couple of years ago. I'm really going to try to keep foreign objects out of my ear. This might be the hardest thing I have to do.

I just want it to get better quick!

My Girl Turned 19

My girl turned 19. Where does the time go? Cass is my oldest niece and is very special to me. When she was younger, she would come to grandma and grandpa any time that I came home for the weekend. We would do everything together. I remember putting makeup on her at 2 years old. When she was little, we used to take bubble baths in the jacuzzi tub by candle light and talk. She would sleep with me and kick me out of the bed. I would have talks with her at length about life and boys and the likes.

One time when the flu went thru the house, she woke up in the middle of the night and puked before she could get out of bed, being the good aunt, I caught it in my hands. I would do anything for her.

I'm so very proud of her. She is a good and kind person. She's in school to become a nurse, the first in her family to go to college. I want the best for her.

Happy Birthday, Cass! I love you.

Tree Day

I woke up this morning to the sound of chainsaws buzzing over my house. Today was tree day at the ranch. A tree service was at our house earlier this week when Cowboy struck up a conversation with the tree climber. The climber cut trees on the side and they decided to top our walnut tree today. This guy was amazing to watch. He was very good at his job and seem just as comfortable in the tree as he was on the ground. We had a big branch hanging over our roof and Cowboy did not want anyone walking on our roof. They didn't step one foot on the roof and didn't hit the house once.

In this picture, you can see how high up the guy really was. And I didn't get him at his highest point.

You can start to see the pile of brush left behind. To get a better price, Cowboy agreed to take care of all that was left behind. We also will burn the wood next winter. Cowboy was out side all day working in the yard and did an awesome job of getting it all cleaned up.

At some point , this big boy showed up. Cowboy had me try to find his owner.

All this boy had on his collar was his rabies tag with the vet clinic name and number. His vet was from Manhattan, only about two hours away. I called the clinic and amazingly, they found the number and had the owner information. I asked if he could possibly belong to a couple named Nate and Karen (a couple that recently moved into our neighborhood from Manhattan). No it wasn't theirs. The clinic said they would call the owner and have the owner call me. About 10 minutes later, Will called saying that he got a call that I had his dog, Casey. Casey was supposed to be saying with his friend. Come to find out, Nate was his friend and Casey got out of his back yard. I told Will that I would walk Casey back.

When I went outside and called to Casey, he responded and we walked home. What a great ending, especially since we live very close to a busy street and the outcome could have ended tragically.

Work of a different kind

I took the afternoon off today. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled and just decided that I would take the whole afternoon off to finish a few wedding details.

I stopped by the bank and got Cowboy added to my checking account (not that he will have access). We needed to be able to have some conveniences with depositing checks with both our name on it etc.

Next, I was off to the grocery store to look at flowers. Everyone recommended that they were the best for flowers for the wedding and price-wise they were. I was able to get all of my flowers ordered for the wedding. I'm going to have Gerber daisies similar to the color above for the bouquet and then in single vases on the tables. Check that off the list.

My next stop was the linen place. The table cloths are ordered and will be ready for the big day. They are brown with the exception of the cake table which is sage green. Check that off the list.

Then it was off to the doctor. Time of a physical--fun fun and a script for allergy medication. I haven't taken it for a couple of months and with the change in the weather, it's time to start again. I'm scheduled for a mammogram. They told me the place I'm going has the new digital technology--no more boobie smashing.

I'm almost exhausted after getting all that done. Cowboy and I are going to grab a quick bite to eat and then it's time for Survivor. Whew, I'm tired.

What's Your Name??

What's in a name? What's your name? Do you like your name?

When I was growing up, I hated my name. I thought it sounded old ladyish and there were never any other M's around. I don't really recall having an opinion about my last name. It's short and simple. No one misspells it and no one mispronounces it. So here is my big dilemma, what do I do with my name.

For the past 24 years, it has been my professional name. I've been at my job for 15 years and the community knows me by that name so there is some professional recognition associated with my name.

My name connects me with my family--there are only three of us left besides my parents. Both of my sisters changed their names so besides my parents, that leaves me and my brother and his only son. I like my last name. No I love my last name.

So what do I do? Do I change my name, keep it the same or hyphenate it? I tell Cowboy he's already had 3 Mrs. W and I'm not sure I want to be the 4Th. (His name is even more simple than mine). I'm leaning towards hyphenating it so no one doubts our connection ( not that it really matters to anyone but us). I don't think I can give up my name. I don't think I want to give up my name.

I have 39 days to decide.....oh, what to do.

Oops!

I think I spoke to soon. Poor Sadie, again had the runs all over the kennel today. Cowboy, the quick thinker, had taken out most of the bedding that we keep in the kennel for her. She had one blanket left so the mess wasn't as big to clean up. But still yucky and not fun. Poor baby, tonight her dinner will consist of white rice and pepto.

On a positive note, Cowboy went to get the pepto and came home with MangoDango sundaes from the custard store. Yummy.....

My Valentines's

Since we were both busy on Saturday, we celebrated Valentine's Day yesterday. It was a great day. We were able to sleep in and cuddle and talk. One of my favorite times of the day is talking to Cowboy in the morning before we get out of bed. I made breakfast for him since he always makes it for me. We then went shopping and just dinking around.

I wanted to go out for Italian buffet, yummy, yummy. We stuffed ourselves and them came home for a quiet time. It was a good day.

Sadie seems to be feeling better. Yesterday was a better day for her and today she seems to be fine. I really think it was a case of rotten food. We'll have to keep her away from that side of the road.

My poor baby is sick.

My poor baby is sick. Yesterday morning she seemed to be fine. I had left for the day to run all my errands and came home to a funky smell. I went to let Sadie out of her kennel and she raced for the door. I let her out and she pooped and pooped and pooped some more. I went back up to the kennel and she had pooped all over her kennel and had scooted all the blankets to the front of the kennel. I felt so sorry for my poor baby. I don't know how long she had been in the kennel with poopie blankets.

You should have seen me trying to clean them. My gag reflex is not good with smelly poo. I had to stop a couple of times to regain composure. So not good!!

We got her bed cleaned up and when Cowboy got home, gave her a bath and got her cleaned up. I think she had gotten into the garbage from the people across the street. Their back yard faces our house and they dump scraps against the back fence.

This morning about 4:30a I heard her racing through the house. I got up and let her out and again she pooed and pooed. When I let her back in, I went to the kitchen to get a drink of water and guess what. A huge pile of poo there. Poor baby, she never has accidents in the house. We were up several times from then on. In and out she went for the next 3 hours. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep.

She seems to be fine at this point. Poor baby.

Busy Wedding Day

Today was a busy day. Cowboy had plans and so did I, just not with each other. So much for a romantic Valentine's. We'll spend our day together tomorrow, supposedly doing nothing just hanging out but we all know how that will go.

Cowboy left early around 8am. He went to an auction today with his "girlfriend' (aka. the neighbor that he spend lots of time with). I got to sleep in, actually not sleep but read in bed until around 9:30a. Then it was up to meet my friend, Dr. T, at the bridal shop for my dress fitting. I barely made it there in time. It took about 10 minutes to get the dress fitted. Dr T was a little late.

Cowboy came in to spend time with me....more later.


Okay, I'm back. We have this on going feud about who spends more time on the computer so just to show him, I got off. He went to get back on his so I'm back.

So back to my day. After the dress fitting, it was off to the mall, flower store, the rental store, Hobby Lobby and Pier One. What a busy day. It gets me closer to being finished with the wedding plans. I'll post a few pics of all that I got later.

Since my dress is pink, I need a tan. So I found a tanning salon and went there for my first session. Tanning has sure changed since I last went, 10+ years ago. No more 30 minutes in the small tanning bed. I was in and out in 6 minutes and get to go an unlimited number of times over the next 30 days. (Don't worry, I don't want to over do it, I just want a little color.)

I'm pretty darn excited about the wedding.

It's Back

Survivor is back. Yipee. Hip-Hip Hooray. Be assured that I will be watching every Thursday night and someday, I swear I will be on that show. Did I ever tell you that my ex-boyfriends son was on one season of the show. It was years after we broke up but it was cool to actually know someone on the show.

On a side note, I sent out my wedding invites and have gotten tons of compliments on them. But the most exciting part is that I am starting to get the RSVP cards. It's like Christmas in the mailbox.

However the RSVP cards are also a puzzle. I sent out two invites, one for the wedding and one for the reception. I forgot to put a place on the RSVP card for the respondees name. Lucky I caught it after only about 10 invites and wrote in tiny letters on the back who it belonged to. But today I got one back from who knows. I guess I'll be surprised.

44 days but who's counting.

He Sings

I don't know if I've every blogged about this yet but Cowboy sings. The night I meet him he was singing karaoke. He sings to me every morning, well not actually to me but for me. Well, not actually for me, but I get to hear him every morning. Some mornings I get the oldies:

"We had joy we had fun, we had seasons in the sun" other mornings I get country:

"Cowgirls don't cry, so ride baby ride"

but my all time favorite is when he makes up words to all the songs that he sings. Sometimes it will be about me, sometimes it will be about Sadie but it's always funny, quirky and just entertaining.

I've started looking forward to hearing him sing every morning, so I'd like to think it's just for me.

Need I Say More?

Really, need I say more?

I am one lucky woman!

An Awesome Dinner

Another stressful day at work. Enough said. Cowboy called and said he was planning a good dinner and it would be ready when I got home. An awesome dinner was waiting for me. Grilled pork chops, ribeye steaks, and deer steaks along with fresh veggies and homemade cherry wine. It was all very good and melt in your mouth tasty. What a good man! Way to spoil me baby.

What? You are doing what tomorrow? Golfing????!!!!--explains the dinner.

Busy Day

Today was a good day. I accomplished many tasks today. I finished making curtains for my friend. (Don't be to impressed, I've had the material for 6 months).

We have a row of bushes in the back part of our yard. It is overgrown and needs to be trimmed really really badly. I started working on it today. I was out there for about 3 hours and only made it through about 1/10th of the row of bushes. It think this will become my project for the next summer. (or two)

I was then able to sneak in a nap. I love napping. The world really needs to nap daily.

Then on to wedding invitation. Amazing, I thought it would only take me couple of hours- 4 hours later I was finished. Cowboy told me that planning a wedding was my second job. He said he is already calling me his "wife". I love that word coming from him.

I feel like I was very productive today and didn't leave the house. I love days like today.

On a side note, I am really sore. The work out from Friday is catching up to me (not to mention the hours out in the yard!).

Randomness

Yes, that my niece, Lil Miss standing in a milk can. She is a little thing and is currently undergoing some test to find out why she is so small. She is no longer on the growth chart, well below. She's also had a few health problems in the past couple of months. We are all praying that the doctors will find out what is going on and she will grow and grow.

So how can you resist that adorable face. We were laughing at her. We went on a three mile walk this morning and she was so tired when we got home. She was watching us but had a hard time keeping her eyes open. She finally went to her bed and took a nap. What an adorable baby!Today was pretty relaxing, something that I really needed!

It Friday!!!

Let's talk about all the good things that happened this week.

1) I got to see my favorite brother, sister-in-law and my very special niece.
2) My wedding dress arrived (I just have to pick it up).
3) I reconnected with an old friend that is supercool and I'm excited to see her again.
4) Three of my girlfriends came over for dinner tonight and we chatted for hours
5) I made it to the gym twice.
6) The work week ended!
7) I get to sleep in tomorrow.
8) Another week of my single life ended and I'm getting closer to being a married woman.

I need to celebrate the good things.

On the Other Side

I have read several blogs where people have lost thier jobs. It's a sucky economy and I really feel sorry for anyone without a job at the current time. I'm on the other side and I don't like it. We had to make some tough decisions at work today and we are going to have to lay some people off. No jobs for them. I feel bad for them and it's such a schmucky feeling to know that I have some role in making that decision. However, it's let a few go to save a lot or have a program fail and have a lot of people lose their job.

My back is tense and my jaws are tight, all signs of the stress that I feel. I'm not sleeping well and am just tired. There are some days that being a Wal-Mart greeter look very appealing.

Going On

No sense in blogging about what a sucky work life I have right now. It will get better, it has to since I won't be running out and finding a new job anytime soon. So going on....

Tomorrow is going to be in the 50's, a perfect day to play a round of golf. A day that I would love to be out of the office hittin' em long and straight. I came home last night and found a confirmation for a tee time on the table. Really??? My name was on it but I'm pretty sure I won't be the one to check in and dust off my clubs.

So on the way home, I call Cowboy. Here it goes the loving banter:

Me: I can't believe you are playing without me.
Cowboy: Well it will be 50 degrees, what do you expect.
Me: It's just not fair.
Cowboy: You better get used to it, that will happen a lot this summer.
Me: You know what I say to that, you better get used to me and my Wii if I have to get used to you playing golf without me.
Cowboy: Golf and Wii are not the same. I can't play golf with a Wii player.
Me: We'll have to discuss that before we get married--it may be a deal breaker.


I want a Wii so bad...it may help my golf game (right?)

Consumed

I am consumed by work. It's really out-of-control.

Tonight I'm waiting for my little brother and his family to arrive. Little Miss has a doctors appt tomorrow. They will be a welcomed break from the stress of work.

Hopefully, tomorrow I can blog more about what is going on with me.

Another Productive Day

Today has been a pretty productive day. I will be out of the office most of next week and needed to get some work done so I was up early and in the office for a couple of hours this morning. Sadie went with me and ran all over the building, I think she had fun. Probably more so than me.

I was able to get quite a bit done that makes me feel some better about the week ahead. I did bring a few things home with me to help me stay caught up.

This afternoon I broke out the sewing machine. I'm going to a baby shower next weekend and the Mommy-to-be wanted some burp clothes. I don't know about you but I think they turned out pretty darn cute. I hope she likes them.

I finished putting together my wedding invitations and now just have to finalize the address list, print the addresses and stuff the envelopes, I think I'll make my goal of getting them out this week.

I've made a pretty good dent in the laundry and that will get completed as I watch the Superbowl. Which, by the way, I love the Superbowl. It really doesn't matter to me who is playing but "GO CARDS".

One last thought for the day. Cowboy and I were watching TV together last night when out of the blue he says "You are the best woman I know. I know I give you a hard time most of the time, and you take it from me but I want you to know that you are the BEST". Sometimes, he can do it. He can give compliments, there is hope for more.