You are my sunshine

Fixed the leak all by myself. Opened the pool. Life is good.

Saturday I invited some friends over for a little get together. I bought Aiden and Alyssa a kiddie pool and Alyssa absolutely loved it.

I never met a kid with so much personality. She always makes me smile.

Overall, I enjoyed/struggled through one of my most productive weekends. I received two new blisters from lawn mower I borrowed since ours decided not to work this weekend and had this conversation with my love:

Him: It is a brand new lawn mower. Did you put gas in it?

Me: Eat shit

Him: Haha. I miss you baby

Me: I miss you too, especially on days where I cut the grass.

Him: I guess so

Blonde Genius

You know as much as I want him here with me all of the time. Today might be one of the days I am kind of relived there is an ocean seperating us. So he does not know what kind of mischief I am getting into with our home and my car.

Yesterday I finally opened my pool, meaning I paid someone to open it. When I came home, I still needed to vaccum and fill it with some water. I started filling it around 6pm. At 10pm, I noticed the water level did not change much. I headed out there with a flashlight and stepped in a nice little puddle.

My pump was leaking. I called them first thing this morning and very calmly said:

I paid $250 for you to open my pool. If I wanted a leak in it, I would have opened it myself


They immediately sent someone and told me they took care of it.

LIARS

I walked in the door around 6:15pm and my pump was still leaking. I located the problem. You see there is a spout on the bottom of the pump to drain the water in the winter time. It needed a cap. I went into the shed and miracously saw the cap laying there. I twisted the cap on tight and water still poured through due to a crack on the side of the cap. I repeated my motto over and over again in my head that if you want something done, do it yourself.

This doesn't mean I will do it correctly, but I will solve the problem. I decided to wrap thick electrical tape around the cap many, many times. I then took the cap outside, tried it again.

Still leaking.

It began leaking from the top of the cap as well. I wanted to stop the leaking. I called Barrett and asked him if he wanted an entertaining trip to Lowes He said oh yes.

At Lowes, I ran into a friendly customer service rep, Chris, who asked if I needed help. I asked him how much patience he had left in the tank and he responded by saying, a lot.

I then proceeded to explain my problem with a water bottle. I told him I just wanted to jam something in the spout to slow it down or stop it. I suggested a caulking stick, a sock, a bouncing ball.

He thought for awhile and came up with this solution:

I arrived home and proceeded to coat the cap with this stuff. Right now I am letting it dry and attempting this one more time, probably again at 10PM.

While I am waiting for it to dry. I share this other story with some hesitation.


My Regional Sales Manager and I met with a potential client for lunch in a small town outside Nashvegas. The lunch went so well. While walking out, I started searching for my keys and could not find them. We reached my car and one of the guys raced inside to go look. The other lady yelled "I see them in the ignition".

I left the car open and running for our entire hour lunch. The four of us could not stop laughing.

And I am still laughing...I think that might be enough story time for one day.

Rant

Oh I am blogging well before 8am and from work. I need to vent in order to put it in the past, move on, and have a fantastic day with my Regional Sales Manager who flies in this morning.

I dropped my clothes off at the cleaners on Tuesday morning. This would be my third attempt at trying to find a decent cleaners. Maybe my cleaners back home spoiled me rotten. They knew my name, never paid more than $30 (and I brought in weeks of clothes at a time), and sometimes they even carried my clothes out to my car.

Tuesday morning's conversation at the dry cleaners:

Me: When will these be done?
Lady at Cleaners: Definitely by tomorrow
Me: How much do you think it will cost?
Lady: Probably around $30

I stopped by yesterday in the only 5 minutes I had to spare in my day around 5PM.

NOT DONE

So I needed to be there at 7AM this morning because I needed my business suit.

Lady: It might be a little more than what I told you.
Me: How much?
Lady $75

HOW IN THE HECK CAN YOU BE OFF BY $45!!

Ran out of fruit this morning so I thought I would treat myself to breakfast at Starbucks. Bought their oatmeal and definitely will be the last time I buy oatmeal from them.


And time to start my day.

Feel the love

You know that feeling when you walk in the door and realized you haven't peed all day and immediately race to the bathroom.

Well that happens to me everyday.

As soon as I walk in the door, I let the dogs out and run to the bathroom. However, I cannot tell you the last time I used the washroom in complete privacy.

Everyday I forgot to close the door and every single day after work, I have two puppies trying to jump on me while trying to do my business.

You think I would learn my lesson.

Looking up...

I swear he is my good luck charm. Today I heard his voice for the first time in about 2 weeks and we spent the entire 20 minute conversation laughing so hard, my mouth started to hurt.

After our conversation, I gained another client at a time where I needed it the most.

And nine years later, our fighting/arguing is at a bare minimum because of honesty and laughter. Before he left, we talked about communication. I said:

I do not care about emails, flowers, or phone calls, just make sure you write on my FB wall once a week to let me know you love me and/or you are alive.

Seems simple enough. Oh its been over a month and of course I let it slide until I saw him writing on one of our best friend's wall for his birthday.

Our first conversation in two weeks started like this after our initial greetings:

Me: So I saw you can write on Brandon's wall, but not mine?
Him: (loud eruption of laughter)
Me: Do not laugh at me. I only asked for one thing before you left (I start laughing)
Him: (continued laughter)
Me: (me yelling his FIRST, MIDDLE, LAST name)
Him: I just wrote Happy Birthday
Me: Well you know you can write that on my wall every once in awhile too

Well he wrote Happy Birthday on my FB wall. We're still 4 months away from my actual birthday, but boy did it make my day.

The laughing did not stop. I shared how Daisy brought a dead bird into the house on Thursday night at 1AM. And how I always kill flies that get into our house with our kitchen towels and now Dakota likes to grab the kitchen towel out of your hand and bury it in the backyard. We think she's confused on whether the towel is the bad guy or the fly.

Or how his dad forgot to pick me up for church on Sunday. And when I walked into church 10 minutes late, he let out his infamous chuckle. No worries, he bought breakfast afterwards to make it up to me.

So after an amazing weekend of laying out at the beach, hanging out with both families, and visiting my alma mater, an amazing phone conversation, and a pretty good day at work, things are definitely looking up.

I hope this lasts for awhile.

Deliver me from cupcakes.

Last night I baked cupcakes. I love baking. Its an instant source of happiness.

I love baking cupcakes because I love passing them out to random friends, clients, etc. Today I passed out 15 cupcakes to clients and made sure I saved 3 for Super Jeni and her two kiddos.

In what might be a huge break through...I only ate ONE cupcake.

HUGE accomplishment considering I normally eat close to 4-5 each time I bake. (Did I just say that out loud?)

My mom always tells me if I didn't work out, I would probably be the largest woman ever to weigh in on the Biggest Loser. I am a horrible eater.

And since I am very much into P90X, I convinced myself I should probably eat well too. Hey, only 2.5 months to R&R. I can do this.

In other self-control news, no coffee this week! Only orange juice or protein shakes. I typically NEED to have at least 1 cup a day.

Although fighting off cupcakes took a lot more "self-talk" than the coffee.

Nightly Routine

My nightly routine:

Wash face
Brush teeth
Face moisturizer
Chap-stick

My new routine:

Wash face
Brush teeth
Face moisturizer
Chap-stick
Hand lotion

Why hand lotion? Calluses are beginning to form on my hands from lifting weights. Ah, I hate calluses and I am too stubborn to go buy gloves.

His other PL is now home on R&R. With no family or significant other around just yet, I invited him over for dinner tonight. I made a yummy pan seared chicken with veggies.

In return, he brought over a pull-up bar for me to use while he is away. Setting up the bar was the highlight of my night, by far. I even did a little dance.

What is wrong with me?

So lonely

I am beginning to notice how much I miss company. Do not get me wrong, I have amazing friends here, but everyone does have their own life. I admit it, I get lonely at times.

On Wednesday, one of my dear friends Leslie called. She and her husband are moving down here in a few weeks. Her hubby, Barrett, is one of my love's very, very good friends from WP.

She asked if Barrett could stay with me for the weekend. I, someone who loves company, responded with an enthusiastic "Yes!".

And let me just say how nice it was having a man in the house again.

He cut the grass for me on Saturday (Yes, that is right, I cut the grass on Monday and it needed it already on Saturday), changed a few light bulbs and bought me dinner on Saturday night.

Now this might sound crazy, but I slept like a baby knowing Barrett, a big strong Army Ranger, was sleeping in the other room.

I also made him do P90X this weekend and even he woke up sore this morning :)

Time to get ready for another long week at work.

P90X Week One

I just completed my first full week of P90X.

Now you may think its the muscle confusion that produces results. I disagree. Its actually the ridiculously hard workouts. I did not take a picture on the first day. I ended up taking a picture today because I just got my camera back this week.

I would love to show you my "before" picture, but let's face it, it will look much better next to the "after" picture.

My favorite workouts:

Kenpo- It takes me back to my kickboxing days. And I find this to be one of the easier ones becuase my kickboxing class was sometimes insane.

Core Synergistics- The entire workout concentrates on the core, whichout you really noticing.

Yoga- I hated yoga. I walked out of 3 yoga classes in my life because I thought they were just plain boring. The basketball/soccer player in me wanted more.

However, I do love Jennifer Anniston (and her body, geesh!) and I convinced myself I will like her if I continue to do yoga.

My least favorite:

Ab Ripper X- Only 18 minutes. Only 11 moves, 25 times each. But even my new boyfriend Tony collapses after this workout. Hate is a strong word, so I hate you Ab Ripper X.


I workout upstairs in our office and the girls love looking out that window so they usually hang out with me while I do my workouts. However, sometimes they get too close to me and over the past week, I probably kicked Dakota and Daisy around 3-4 times each.

Keep on truckin....Keep on laughin...

I truly believe God not only knows I have a sense of humor, but at times abuses this knowledge.

I walked into the house after an awful day of work. I pulled into my driveway and noticed my jungle of a yard. I needed to clear my head so I took the girls for our usual 2.5 mile loop.

When we walked back into the house, I saw bloody paw prints behind Daisy. My heart broke. I learned today from Super Jeni that dogs can get 3rd degree burns on the bottom of their paws in the summer time from the pavement.

I filled my bathtub with super cold water and soaked my baby's paws for about 5 minutes. It helped tremondously and she seemed to enjoy it.

Next up on my list, my awful grass. I gave in and called a locksmith. After some research I realized the lock on my shed is un-pickable.

Forty dollars later, I was finally able to cut my grass. And you bet I mumbled swear words under my breath every minute for the entire 2 hours it took. As I began to clean up, I looked down on the floor of my garage. And what did I see? Clear as day?

The keys to my shed.

I may or may not finish a bottle of wine tonight by myself.

Screw you Mommy.

After a 12 hour day...I knew walking into our house, the girls were not going to be happy with me. Even after a 2.5 mile run this morning at 5:30am.

My normally sweet and obedient Dakota managed to break into the pantry and eat some of the paper plates. By the time I took Daisy out of her cage, they nearly knocked me over in excitement.

I let them calm down for about 10 minutes. Leashed them up and put on my rollerblades in the garage. I heard them jumping more than usual at the garage door to the house. When I reached to grab the handle. Locked.

I definitely did not lock it. With all their jumping, one of their paws must have hit the lock.

I rollerbladed a mile to my life savior, Destiny's. Not home. Headed to my friend Laurie's house to use her phone to call Destiny. No answer. A few minutes passed and I saw her car pull into her street. I chased her down (still in my rollerblades) and she of course laughed at me. Mostly because I was laughing at myself, saying, "My life is a mess sometimes".

I hate locking myself out. Which reminds me, I still need to get my lawn mower out of the shed.

P.S. My girls, currently wrestling outside on the deck. Their bodies just banged into my kitchen window.

P.S.S. I still rollerbladed with them for another 2.5 miles tonight.

Anyone looking for two very calm and obedient puppies? Going for a good price...

All grown up

Being an adult....very overrated at times.

Like when it comes to cutting the grass. I changed into my mowing the yard clothes and could not find the keys to our shed anywhere. I hauled my butt over to Home Depot to see what they could do and apparently my lawn mower in our shed is more secure than our home.

How about when you're not only an adult, but an alone adult in the military? Last night around 2:30am, my good friend and neighbor called. I heard her house alarm going off in the background. I jumped out of bed, grabbed Dakota, and headed a block down the street.

I did not even blink an eye when she apologized for waking me up. Are you kidding me? We are in this together. I know what its like to live in a big house by yourself. Turns out her fire alarm suffered a malfunction. Better safe than sorry.

And to think, a year ago, I lived at home and worked at my dream job making some good money. I bought whatever I wanted. My mom, the laundry nazis, kept up with my dirty clothes, and my daddy definitely protected me from the bad guys.

With work, the economy is beginning to hurt our business. They shut down 5 locations and of course our branch is on the radar, meaning I am on the radar. I NEED to be on top of my quotas and paperwork. I am feeling the pressure. To put icing on the cake, our Regional VP will be visiting tomorrow morning. I worked last night for a few hours and again today. I am very nervous.

I wouldn't change where I am at for the world, but adulthood is responsiblity. I hate changing lightbulbs (random, I know) and cutting the grass every 5 days. Our conversation today:

Me: I cannot wait until summer.
Him: Why?
Me: Until the sun kills our grass and I no longer have to cut it every 5 days.
Him: What?!
Me: You heard me right. I am not watering our grass. If I water it, then I have to cut it.
Him: You are forgetting about Big Tom
Me: DANG IT!

Big Tom = His father, a man very obsessed with yards including mine.

Being an adult can be fun. Yesterday morning, I finally completed my boudoir photos. The amazing photographer gave me a sneak peak last night and I love them! Let me tell you, getting your picture taken for 2 hours, very exhausting.

And this might sound crazy, but it flelt like an intense ab workout for most of the photo shoot.

Speaking of workouts, I am still going strong with P90X and am finally in the addicted, kind of enjoy it phase. Once I hit 90 days, he will be home for R&R :)

Paranoid

One of the things I am most paranoid about: Oversleeping

I ran youth baseball tournaments a year ago where I run the actual tournament 6am-10pm then head back to the hotel to finish another 3 hours of work. I actually set 4 alarms including my cell phone, my work cell phone, hotel alarm clock, and the good ol' morning wake-up call.

I still set two alarms, sometimes three.

You can guess what I did this morning. Yep, overslept. For some reason, my puppies picked today out of all days not to wake me up at 6am. Of course most days I run my own schedule, but today I had a 7:30 phone conference with our new Regional Sales Manager.

I jumped out of bed around 7:15. Luckily I am able to phone in from home. About midway through the phone call with 15 of my colleagues, Daisy managed to break into the office and howl at me. The colleague talking said, "I do not know what that was".

Thanks Daisy.

This morning, even after the conference, I felt I never caught up on any of the work I wanted to get done today. I ran around all morning like I was still late for something. I HATE when your alarm decides not to go off one morning.


Switching modes. While finishing some reports from home, I came across this story on NBC's Nightly News. It is for my mommy bloggers out there:

What is a mom's work worth?

There is actually a calculator on there. Pretty cool. I am curious to see how much a working mother of two puppies is worth? Especially after rainy weekends with lots of muddy paws.

Cookies

When I think of cookies, I think of round, chocolate goodness.

Tonight I decided to bake cookies for this month's care package. In the past, I hated baking. I always found a way to mess it up, but as of late, I might even consider myself a baking goddess.

I found a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips and followed the recipe closely on the back. While checking on the cookies at the midway point, I noticed pancakes.

My biggest fear when baking cookies.

I immediately grabbed the bag and scanned each ingredient. I did everything correctly. Then I noticed at the bottom of the recipe reading:

"Spread batter in greased pan. Cool completely in pan; cut into bar"

BARS? You said cookies. I wanted cookies. And if you wanted me to bake bars, please change the recipe to "Reese's Chewy Chocolate Bars" not "Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies"

Week Twenty

While talking last night about deployment, my two very good friends and I agreed how time seems like it is flying by since the guys left.

Except when we look at the big picture. They come home in December.

I promised myself and convinced myself I will thrive during this deployment by having things to look forward to each month. And let me just say, its going to be an amazing two months.

May 5th- Cinco de Mayo Book Club
May 9th- Jazz on the Lawn

May 22nd- My college radio station's alumni basketball game
May 24th- BRET MICHAELS!

I am a classic rock girl at heart. During college, I ran a classic rock radio station. That and I am addicted to Rock of Love (whew, admitting I have a problem is the first step)

May 30th- Pool opening and throwing my friend Tiff a birthday pool party

June 6th- Super Jeni's Baby Shower

June 7th- His sister moves in with me for the summer.




Over the years of traveling to WP, holidays, etc., we became best friends. Katie is a year away from her doctorate in physical therapy and needs to complete 3 clinicals. She actually picked FC for her first clinical to live with me while he's away.

June 13th- CMA Festival


Oh so many good things coming my way. I love summer.

I started P90X a week ago. Yes, I did say I would start May 1st, but I hate Monday Moring Dieters (I will start exercising on Monday). And let's just say, I wanted to cry during yoga this morning. Muscles I did not know existed hurt me today. And if I stand for too long, my legs start shaking. I love this feeling.

Continued.

I decided to leave my bedroom door open last night. Our bedroom lies off the kitchen and I know Daisy likes sleeping on the cold floor.

I lifted my head this morning around 5:45am to the buzzing of my alarm. I saw white just outside my bedroom door. I smiled at Daisy after I realized she only woke me up once around 12:30am.

As I turned my head back to the pillow, I saw Daisy again? She was sleeping right next to me. I immediately jumped out of bed and walked into the kitchen to look at my floor.

White stuffing from their huge bed everywhere.

I did not care. I actually left it there for over 2 hours while exercising and getting ready this morning. I was in such a good mood for actually getting a decent amount of sleep last night, the huge mess on my kitchen floor did not phase me.

Victory = Me