I forgot to post this great police officer's picture. This was leaving the New England 300. I was snapping pictures of everyone and everything. He was great and told us he'll see us in September (he's right). 

Rhiannon and Avery.  

Jason, Avery and Jen. Aren't they the cutest family ever? 

She was born to be a musician! 

Doing what he does best! 

Look Ma, no hands!! 

Hi there Ibelle! We had a fun birthday party for Isabelle's second birthday. Here she is soaking in the pool. 

Happy Birthday Isabelle!

My daughter, Rhiannon and my niece, Isabelle, last year on Isabelle's birthday.

the first glad to open 

But I love my Tod's!!

Take the quiz: "What type of designer handbag are you?"

Brighton
You're Brighton. You are always in style and very ... bright. You tend to look on the good side of things. Stay that way!

This Italianelle pepper is bigger than the pepper plant! It's kinda obscene. ;) 

Morning Glories.I took this picture this morning. 

Launch this

Can someone tell me the utter super duper importance of launching the space shuttle? Don't we have bigger priorities on the PLANET?

What an incredible weekend. We cut and split a bunch of wood. We also took time for some R & R. I just love weather like this! 

As most of you know....the hubster is unemployed for the first time in *cough*49*cough* years.
He just said to me...."I have pent- up earning potential!"

LOL

Save my breasts!

I walk into the dojo last night for kickboxing and there was a guy that comes once and a while, thankfully not often. Let's call him Killer. He's about 6'7", and ALL muscle. (If you cut off his head he's cute.) Anyway, I dread classes when he's there. Just kill me. A month or so ago we ended up being sparring partners. Killer is so incredibly powerful, it's impossible to keep up with him. I ended up telling him to find someone else to partner with, I just couldn't take it.
Well LAST night half of us lined up, holding big pads, and the other half would take turns doing a jumping snap kick (think Karate Kid) into the pad. So I'm bracing myself for impact as Killer prepares to do his jumping snap kick into the pad that I'm holding. He just about knocked me over. Not only that, but the pad gets slammed into my boobs and friggin' kills! I signal to the sensei that I'm having a hard time holding the pad so that my breasts don't get injured. Sensei shows me how to hold it, and clearly sees that my boobs are on the large side, so there's basically no way in hell that I can hold the pad without suffering to some extent.
Sensei hollers "Guys, be a bit more gentle with the ladies." (roll eyes)
Killer looks at me and I tell him that I'd like to keep my breasts. I think he was stunned by my bluntness. Another guy took a turn with my pad and I told him the same thing, although he was mildly amused and made a gesture that he'd like to keep them too. *snort*
I'm thinking they should have an all women's kickboxing night or something...

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK, Is This Thing On??

151 days, 11 hours, 51 minutes and 49 seconds smoke free.

2878 cigarettes not smoked.

$512.62 and 21 days, 23 hours of your life saved.

WOO HOO!

I forgot to tell you all what happened a couple days ago.
Hubster called me at work to tell me that he had just shot himself a porcupine. Now, before you get all righteous and tell me that is cruel, I need to tell you that Jethro has 'loved' 2 porcupines in the past, and the last time it ended up costing us over $2K in medical bills for him.
This porcupine was out in broad daylight, in the back yard.
What's funny about this is that Hubster shot it with his .357. Blew the thing away.
My hero.

NHIS - before all the people got there. I didn't take an 'after' picture, but trust me, it wasn't pretty. 

This is where we were seated, right across from Jr.'s pit box, and you can see the entire track. That would be Tony (Smoke) Stewart's #20. 

What a day! Michael didn't win, he actually didn't finish well at all, but that's ok. Smoke won and there's enough love in my heart for him too! I did get a SWEET Michael Waltrip seat cushion though.

This is Michael Waltrip. My favorite NASCAR driver. I am going to see him tomorrow. I'm beyond excited! I'm taking my camera...hope to get lots of great pictures! 

I'm feeling even better today! On Sunday I get to see all my boyfriends! Ok, so they aren't really my boyfriends. The weather isn't cooperating. It may rain (downpour) on Sunday! I want to see my very first NASCAR race! *stomps feet and runs away*

I'm feeling better today (thanks a lot for asking). Still have a bit of a sore throat, but I think I've beat it. I left work yesterday morning and slept for most of the day. Now I'm back at work...how fun.

This!is! how! my!throat! feels! right! now!!!!!

Bats are cute

Night before last I went into the kitchen and saw a large moth flying around, only it wasn't a moth, it was a bat. I am not afraid of these little creatures, although I use to be! I woke up hubster and told him that we had a guest and he needed to help me escort the bat outside. The smart little bastard (the bat, not my hubby) disappeared. Off to bed we went, bedroom door shut tightly behind us.

Last night, just as the sun set, the bat appears again. Flying from the living room to the kitchen, back and forth, and then, disappears above my head somewhere. We flip on the flashlight and the cute little bugger has squished his body between a beam and the ceiling in the livingroom. He's so adorable!! He starts flying again, so hubster opens the front door and waits for the bat to fly out....no.such.luck. And we're really lucky that all of the bat's friends didn't decide to join him inside!! The bat squeezes his body back into the hole by the beam.

Hubster offers to use a screwdriver like a stake through the little guy's heart. Ummm, no honey, thanks though. I made the executive decision that we were going to save this bat and not harm a hair on his little bat body. I suggest pinning a mosquito net 'hat' up there to catch him.
Hubster gets the step ladder and the hat and some push pins and proceeds to tack the hat around the beam. The bat was eager and got into the hat immediately!! Yay!!! Hubster takes the "bat in a hat" outside and sets him free!! As he's flying away, another bats joins him in flight. I heard other bats singing "Allelulia", it was beautiful.

The good news is: I'm going to NASCAR on my birthday!!!!!!

The bad news: I'm just coming down with the crud! I'm going to eat aspirin and drinks tons of tea. Please send me healing thoughts.

Kickboxing class last night KICKED MY ASS. The sensei was a tyrant! But it feels SO good. I've got to have the strongest gluts and thighs around!! Now if only the fat would magically melt off my body!


I didn't have a problem with Stellamonster, I commiserated with one of the other women and her and I were partners.

Morpheus

?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??

I really think I have Adult ADD. The bad thing is, I don't believe in pills to fix it. I can't seem to stay focused on one thing for very long, and it sucks!!

What was I saying?

My dilemma

I'm probably going to go to hell for this, but I can't help how I feel!
So...tonight is Thursday, kickboxing night. I love the class, really I do. I love it so much, even though I feel like I'm going to die 25 minutes into it, I still love it. My problem is this.....Stella. Stella is SO the problem. There's not a word to describe how irritating she is. She's a very large, very masculine woman (not that there's anything wrong with that) with a very huge and loud obnoxious mouth. She has a gap between her two front teeth. Her toenails are too long. She has a loud obnoxious mouth. She memorizes everyone's name so she can constantly chant/cheer for you. Did I mention that she has a loud obnoxious mouth? It's a pretty small class, when we have to find a partner to work with, why is it that I get stuck with Stella 9 times out of 10? When we are running back and forth sparring, I cringe as she says "Beat me Karen, beat me!", "Get closer to me!!" Kill.me.now.
On Tuesday Rhiannon got stuck with her, but out of the kindness of my wonderful-mother heart, I traded with her so that I was once again stuck with Stellamonster. We had to sit on the floor facing each other and lock ankles. Kill.me.again. We had to do some ab work, which is fine, but by the time we got done, my ankles were drenched with her sweat. EWWWW!! I won't even take you to the subject of body odor. (you can thank me later)
This must be a punishment for something I did in a former life. Please say a prayer for me, thanks in advance.

Hollyhock 

"Almost" an only child

With friends and family around me with new families, I've been thinking lately about how I grew up. I was an only child for 10 years. 10 years is a long time to live alone with your mother and father. I had cousins to play with, but I didn't have a sibling to live with. My brother and sister came 10 and 12 years into my life.
Almost everyone I know grew up with siblings. I've heard about the fights, the fun, sharing beds and bedrooms, fighting about sharing beds and bedrooms. I didn't have that. I have no idea what it must be like to wake up every morning and have a sibling to detest or love. And you know what? That's just fine. I don't feel like I missed out on anything really. My parents took me many places. It was great to get into the car and just go for the day. It always ended up with a roadside picnic and ice-cream somewhere along the way. We went camping every summer, what a blast!
Mom says I use to bug her to have a baby, so I could have a sibling to play with. I don't remember it that way, but I'll trust her, seeing she gave birth to me. My parents tried to conceive sooner, but couldn't.
I was ten and she gave me a baby brother. I loved him very much, but I was 10!! I was too old to PLAY with him. Then she gave me a baby sister when I was 12. 12! I loved her too, but I was MUCH too old for baby siblings. I was a babysitter to them, an authority figure. I got to watch them fight and play and share a bedroom. Sometimes I didn't like them much either.
Then I went on to college and they just kinda grew up. My parents had two families. Weird how these things happen.
When I hear my friends and siblings trying to decide if they want another child, I almost always mention that I was an only child for 10 years, and it was just fine. While I wouldn't wish away my brother and sister, I certainly would have been fine if my parents didn't have another child. Being an only child means that you get all the attention. Being an only child also means that you don't have a playmate there for you all the time. In the end, if you only have one child, don't think you are robbing them of anything. But, if you do decide to have another child, have it sooner rather than later!!

(I know you tried your best Mom. Love you!)

No complaints!

The three day weekend was incredible. The weather was superb!! I feel very fortunate and blessed. We did do quite a few things around the house, but still managed to get in a bunch of much needed relaxation. I feel recharged.

Caption me!

a rose in my garden

a different rose

We suck our thumbs!!! 

Look at these two, how could you NOT love them?  

Coffee anyone?

When I worked in Corporate America my slogan was "Women make policies, not coffee." Now I've downsized myself and I work for a teeney tiny company. I'm the first WOMAN to get into the office in the morning, and it has always been my role's responsibility to make the coffee. When I first worked here I was APPALLED that I was expected to make the coffee. Now I justify it by making DAMN sure that I drink a cup of my sacrifice every day.
I've begun making the coffee the night before, so all I have to do is flip a switch when I get in in the morning.

I've decided that when the new owners take over, I'm no longer making coffee.* It makes me feel icky !!!!!







* I'm also making the bathroom upstairs the WOMEN'S bathroom...no more sharing with the opposite sex.

Today starts my birthday month!!