Just call us Mommy and Daddy!

We didn't mention it to a lot of people but we adopted a new baby girl. Her name is Mattie. She's adorable as all babies are. She looks so peaceful when she's sleeping. We can't wait for the kids to meet her this weekend. We didn't say anything to them about it just in case it didn't work out, but it did. And come Saturday they are going to be so surprised....I can't wait.

Oh, wait. Did I mention our baby girl is a kitty? Oh yeah. She's our beautiful little furball. We adopted her last night. We decided to get her because Baxter's not always so pleasant with the kids. He doesn't want to play and he's not fond of them petting him. The kids always complain they want a pet that likes them. I had a rough time deciding if we should get one. We've been talking about it for months now. But we have officially ruled out a dog for the next few years so the cat was a winner.

Last night was a little rough at their introduction. There was hours of hissing and puffy tails, but by this afternoon they were playing together. Right now Baxter is chasing her up and down the stairs. I think they'll get along just fine. Baxter is acting all motherly, watching her every move. I'm just scared the cat is going to fall through the steps (we have open "Brady Bunch" steps going upstairs). As for the kids we aren't telling them anything til they find Mattie on their own.

Mattie got her name because we thought she was going to be a boy. Brian and I decided to name the boy cat Mattingly after my grandfather and his NY Yankees nickname. So, even though she's a girl, we still named her Mattingly, but we call her Mattie, too.

I'm so tired of studying. I should be doing more than I have been but I'm getting so bored doing it. I have tonight, tomorrow at work and Tuesday to finish. After that its game over. The test is Wednesday morning.

I weighed in last week, but I definitely haven't been counting points until today. I've been good so far today. I do so much better when I cook. Its just hard to get motivated some days to cook when there are so many good places to eat around here. Tonight I made a really awesome chicken. Its a WW recipe---skillet BBQ chicken. It was super easy. It was chicken breast brushed with BBQ sauce and topped with shredded pepperjack cheese, real bacon bits, and chopped green onions. It was only 6 points. Brian really liked it too. Its one of those meals you can't wait til it tomorrow at lunch time so you can eat it again. If anyone wants the recipe, let me know.

Ok, enough procrastination. I have got to get back to studying. :(

I lied again.

Ok, I lied. I'm not going to BodyPump. But not because I'm chickening out, but because they have no power. Brian went to cycling this morning and just when they were about to finish, the power went out. He's going to call in a half hour or so to see if they got power back. He still may go. I am not. Brian and I decided it's probably best for me to stay home and study for a few hours today.

I found out that as of 8am today, there are only four people taking the Lieutenant exam next week. Initially it was 13, but for one reason or another, nine are no longer taking it. At first I was taking the test just because. Then I was disgruntled and wanted to take the test so that I wasn't supervised by inadequate people. Now that I have a good partner, I'm starting to rethink it all. I only have four years working for the department which means if I get promoted I will be an officer for the next sixteen years and no more riding on medic units. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that. Not being an officer part but the giving up the medic unit part. Part of me just wants to take the test for experience purposes and if I fail, I fail. But now, with only four people taking it, I don't want to fail for pure embarrassment reasons. The test is in eight days. I figure I'll put in a few good days of studying and whatever happens, happens. Unfortunately (or fortunately) me being who I am, I can't just half-ass it.

I went to a new WW meeting today. I really just went to the meeting closest to me because I felt I should weigh in since I haven't in a few weeks (up 2.2 lbs, which I'm okay with after last weeks events and spending a few days eating deliciousness in PA). I normally just weigh in there and leave because I don't like the leader. I walked in and there was no receptionist so I was asked if I could weigh in after the meeting. Ok, I'll stay. I'm glad I did. Today started the first day of a new leader, Wendy. I really liked her. So, now I'm thinking about transferring my paperwork over since its closer to home and I won't mind staying for meetings with Wendy. Plus there is a girl in the meeting that started today that I think I could be friends with. Sounds weird. I feel like I'm trying to ask her out on a date or something. Ha! But she was the only one my age and from listening to her talk she sounds like we have similar personalities. I'll give it a few weeks then see if she lives close by. It would be nice to have a walking buddy or something. (No wonder guys get stressed out about asking a girl out! :) )

We worked on the patio last night and it turned out great. We planted flowers in our new flower beds, pulled up old stuff in the big flower bed and planted new things. We now are the proud owners of a blueberry bush and a raspberry tree (or bush?). I love fresh blueberries for pancakes and baked stuff and Brian loves raspberries. We think the kids will enjoy picking them next year. I just hope they don't die before then. I will post pictures of that later, along with pictures of Brian, Bella, Brandon and I at the Renaissance Festival this weekend.

Tomorrow

1PM. BodyPump. I'm really going.

Back on plan

Now that we're back home, I'm back on plan. I'm not real happy about it---I liked eating all my favorite stuff, but it needs to be done. Before this morning, I haven't visited weightwatchers.com in a while, but I was happy to see its been updated a little since last time. It seems to be a little easier to use now. Maybe it is just me.

Brian got me a new snack today: Newtons Fruit Crisps. Check them out on Hungry Girl's page. I tried apple cinnamon and it was delicious. Its 2 points for 2 bars. I put it in the microwave for 5 seconds and it reminded me of a very skinny apple pie from Burger King or somewhere. Its yummy---you should try it.

Today I'm going to try to do some cooking. If I try anything new that is good, I'll be sure to post it. If you've got any new WW friendly recipes, pass them along.

Too see life through a cats eyes

Sometimes I'd love to view the world through Baxter's eyes. He was all by himself for three days while Brian and I were in PA. After we got home this morning, he spent a few relaxing hours lounging with us. Then he was bombarded with kids. Right now, he's hiding on the top level of his cat condo with a look of fear in his eyes. Brandon and Bella are playing bakery and they are running all over the living room yelling "Boston cream filling" and "would you like chocolate topping on that?" Baxter has no idea what's going on.

Realizing Monday is a government holiday I had to go today and drop off my Lt. paperwork so I can test in two weeks. By the time that was all done, I was smack dab in the middle of Friday DC holiday weekend rush hour with a touch of rain. It was lovely. It took me forever and a day to go just a few miles. Being sleepy, I decided to take a scenic route instead of sitting on 95 staring at the back of a car. I'm glad I did.

So, there was this SUV that passed me in the middle of a downpour. Resting on the rear passenger window was a big white furry dog head. Not only was he not phased by the rain, he looked at me and he was wearing goggles. I was laughing my ass off.
I felt bad for the second dog that entertained me on the way home. I was at a red light and looked to my left to see a dog tied to a car in a parking lot. All the poor little guy wanted to do was Christen a tree trunk with his pee. But, his owner tied his lead about eight inches too short. This dog was trying his hardest to get to the trunk. He stretched the lead until both legs were off the ground. He was barking and twisting and stretching some more. I guess he didn't learn he could pee without the tree. All the work he was doing he could have peed ten times over if he just squatted. The light finally turned green so I don't know if he ever got to pee. I watched him for a good 3-5 minutes trying though.

Poor Bastard cat. Now the kids are reenacting a scene from High School Musical where they drop a tray of food all over each other. Plastic Dairy Queen ice cream cones and cakes have hit the hard floor at least a million times in the last ten minutes. I think the cat has a clock hidden somewhere counting down the minutes til they leave. Or at least go to bed. And its only going to get louder before it gets quieter. Taylor is on her way here.

The last few days

We left Tuesday morning to get to my hometown in time for my Grampy's viewing. It was kind of awkward walking in. I've only been to a handful of viewings in my life, and even fewer funerals. I walked in the funeral home with Brian like it was no big deal. My Godfather is the funeral director and always has some sort of smart ass comment. But Tuesday, he came up to me and was very serious and gave his condolences. It was weird to say the least. I shrugged it off like it was no big deal, then walked through the spacious room. I caught a glimpse of my family gathered in a huddle laughing and talking. "This will be no big deal," I thought. Everyone's in a good mood, this will just be a formality. That was until I saw to the right Grampy laying in a gray silver casket. He was dressed nicely in a suit. I think I've only seen him in a suit maybe three times in my life. He looked very peaceful with a rosary in his hands. I was very happy he looked like himself. I've been to a few viewings where people don't even resemble what they looked like alive. His old worn in white Yankees cap was cleaned up as best as it could be and resting at the end of the casket, along side of a new NY Yankees cap and a Don Mattingly baseball card. Everyone knew he loved the Yankees. I guess a guy named Butch who owns the local bar Grampy used to visit would yell, "here comes Mattingly!" when Grampy would walk in. It was only appropriate to have the Mattingly card laying on him. Butch got a kick out of it when he came to pay his respects.

We spent three hours there. There was a good showing. This was the first family member that died where I had to stand in the receiving line or whatever its called. I didn't really like that. Most of the "I'm sorry's" I heard were just as awkward as the "thank you's" I replied back with. It reminded me of my wedding where after I'd thank someone for coming I'd have to turn to one of my older family members to figure out who I just thanked. It was nice running into some people I haven't seen in 10+ years. And two of my closest friends came by to pay their respects. That meant a lot to me.

After the viewing we had a "party" at my parents house. My mom's friends set everything up while we were gone. When we got home there was all kinds of food, desserts, and drinks. Let me tell you, WW went out the window the last few days. The food was so delicious and the desserts were even better. I tried to keep my portions small, but I'm sure even those portions were high in points. I'm not stressing about it. When we get home tomorrow its game on for eating good and working out again. Brian and I have a Body Pump class scheduled for Saturday. (I'll have to tell you the story about the Spin class we did together, later.)

The funeral was yesterday. It was very sad to say goodbye for the last time at the funeral home. The service at the church was very nice. Father Albert is just so sincere and speaks directly to the family. There were a lot of tears shed, but Father had this way to make you feel better. I told Brian its like us going to the counselor and having her view a bad situation in a positive light. We were impressed at just how many people showed up for the service. The nice thing was all the people there were people who actually mean something to one family member or another. Grampy was 89 when he died, so honestly, most of his friends have passed years before. But, it was nice to see my family was supported in the way they were yesterday.

There was a nice buffet luncheon (God, do I miss PA food!) at a local restaurant after the cemetery. We have enough leftovers for the next week I think. We all needed a nap after that. Between being full and the stressful day that was had, everyone was at their breaking point.

Today, I'm meeting mom at Grampy's apartment. We are going through his stuff, really so I can find things that are meaningful to me. I want the "thumbnail" drawings we did. My dad said he found post cards I sent Grampy from school trips. Grampy was a pack rat. He threw nothing away. When we were Seniors in high school, Laura gave me a memory box as a gift. I've continued that tradition having one from high school, college, family stuff and hopefully starting today, one for Grampy. After collecting some stuff, Mom and I are going to a bead shop across the street to make jewelry. My mom is close friends with the owners. Their bead shop, The Portable Playhouse, is a non-profit business that lets hospitalized sick kids make jewelry. They used to just work out of hospitals, but recently opened the bead shop in town. If you are ever looking to donate money just because or in memory of someone, consider this organization.

Things are getting back to normal, today. Closure was definitely had yesterday and now we are picking things up and moving on. It's not going to be easy, especially for my mom, but she'll be okay. She knows both of her parents are with her now in spirit. She has good friends to support her.

Tomorrow, we'll be leaving PA at the crack-ass of dawn. We are headed directly to the kids grandfather's house in time to walk Bella to school. Her first day of kindergarten was Wednesday. We were were scheduled to work so we were going to take her to her second day of school. With all the events of this week we asked her if it was okay to take her on her third day which she was okay with. It will be an early start for us, but its worth it.

Side note, my moms cat is snoring. I've never heard a cat snore. Oh, wow, how could I forget? Yeah, so my dad went out in the garage last night without the lights on and heard some rummaging. Knowing he was the only one supposed to be in the garage there was something wrong. He went snooping around and found a baby skunk. Yeppers, a baby skunk was hiding in a corner of stuff. How the hell do you get a skunk out of the garage? He just turned the lights off and left the door open. We have no idea if it left but we didn't want to get sprayed by stink either. I looked for it this morning (Brian wanted me to get sprayed. Isn't he a nice boyfriend?) but didn't see anything. I'm convinced they sleep during the day. I think he'd be cute to see all little and furry. But then again, I don't want to be sprayed. So, who knows if he really moved out last night. I guess I should do some research to see their normal schedule of sleeping, etc.

I'll miss you, Grampy.

Grampy died this morning. I got a message from my mom the other day saying he wasn't doing well in the nursing home. She stayed the day with him and the most he would do was moan slightly when they moved him. Yesterday was pretty much the same. She called me around 1030pm to let me know they were going to meet with hospice this morning to see what they could do to keep him comfortable until he died. This morning around 7, the nursing home called to say he was doing poorly and the family may want to come to be with him. My mom and dad and my Uncle Larry and Aunt Monica all came to his side. My mom said Grampy opened his eyes a little and she told him they all were with him and it was okay. He closed his eyes and died a few minutes later.

After the past few months of ups and downs with Grampy, I was concerned about my mom and how she would hold up. I'm impressed, she's doing much better than I thought she would. On the phone last night, she told me just talking about hospice made her feel like a huge weight was lifted off her. There would be no more wondering if they were doing the right thing. Everyone knew he wasn't getting better and it was only a matter of time til he passed. The new goal was to keep him comfortable.

I think the other comfort for my mom was that Grampy was ready to go. He apparently told my Aunt Monica he was scared to die because he's hated God for so long for taking my Grandma Jeannie. I think she was only 40, maybe 45, when she died of colon cancer. They arranged for our priest to come by his room, while Grampy was still lucid, to let him know it was okay to die and there was to be no fear of his past thoughts about God. Something happened with a new (bad) secretary at the church and the message never made it to Father Albert. A girl my mom went to high school with heard about the situation, went to 430pm mass that night and all but grabbed the priest by the hand afterwards to make sure he visited Grampy. By the time Father got to Grampy's bedside, he was already unresponsive. But Father still prayed with him and anointed him. Mom told me a few days or weeks ago Grampy asked her to take "one last walk down the road to Praise the Lord." (We think he had a stroke in the middle of all this so although he was of right mind, he used wrong words. Road/street meant the hallway.) At that point he was unable to walk, but he held my mom's hand for about a half hour. Then he looked at her, said something to the effect of "I'm ready. It will be okay" and let go. We think it was then that he was ready.

Grampy was Grampy. There was no one like him. First and foremost, the Yankees came before everything. When a game was on TV or the radio, all bets were off. Don't even try to talk to him. He used to sit in his chair to watch them on TV. Every few years we had to buy him a new Lazy Boy because he would wear out the arm cushions from rubbing them when he got nervous or mad at his team.

He was kind of a loner. Not because he was a hermit, but because he didn't have time for the drama most lives consist of. He'd come to our house for a holiday visit, but when he was ready to go he was ready to go. There were no frills about him. He by no means showed off or bragged about himself. He knew when he did good and he didn't need someone else to tell him that. He built furniture like a champ. He was cheap. No sense in spending money on lumber when you could break apart pallets or some old wood cabinet and salvage the wood. Grampy has built me multiple pieces of furniture. The nightstands in the kids rooms, a headboard, a buffet table, a coffee table and a little cocktail table. Before refinishing the cocktail table it was really the kids table where he used to draw with me. Grampy was an undercover artist. There were always doodles on every piece of paper around his apartment. He used to take construction paper, take his thumbnail and "draw" me a picture. I used to trace the imprint of his nail drawing so I could "draw" the picture.

His kitchen was like a diner. My family lived in his apartment with him while our house was being built. My parents business was in the storefront below. Every night at 5pm, there was a home cooked meal on the table. There was no such thing as frozen fries. He cut them by hand and fried them on the back porch. His coffee was black as black could be. Don't touch his mug though. I don't think he ever drank out of another mug in his life. He could turn the nastiest piece of meat into a delicacy with a tap. The joke was he tapped his meat twice with his fingertips before he cooked it. The taps made it delicious. Steaks, burgers, chicken....it didn't matter. It all was delicious. And no matter what it was he made, he never ate with us. "You guys just eat." The white swinging door was shut and Grampy sat in the Lazy Boy and watched the news.

He was in love with Grandma Jeannie. I think its been 35 years or so since she died and he never showed interest in anyone else. He never remarried. Grandma Jeannie could sing and dance and play the piano. Everyone loved her. He told me stories about how they'd go the local bar and guys would come up to him while he was drinking a bar and ask if it was okay if they danced with Jeannie. He never cared. He liked that it was his wife that everyone wanted to dance with.

This may come off as rude to any of my family that may read this blog but I think he was my favorite person. He wasn't over lovey, but when he saw you, a big smile said everything you ever wanted to hear. He wasn't pushy or hovering. He gave you the perfect amount of attention. You knew when he had enough he had enough in general, it wasn't because of you. He got so excited to build me furniture. But most importantly he may have been my quietest my strongest supporter. He never came to any of my basketball games, but he'd say, "I read in the paper you did good at your game, I'm happy." When college came along he was just happy I was furthering my education. It didn't matter where or what I was going to school for. Just as long as I studied and tried my best. I got a Medal of Valor through work a few years back and he wasn't at my ceremony. But later on, he told me short and sweet how proud he was of me. He gained nothing from our successes. He didn't advertise or brag about us to anyone else like some people do to show off . He made sure we knew how he felt about us. No one else mattered. He was proud I worked and earned money and had nice things without going overboard. I was scared to death to tell him I was getting a divorce years ago, but he wasn't mad. He told me I had to do what I had to do to be happy and if its something we both agreed on then he was okay with it. I think he's the only one that I genuinely believed when that was said to me. People didn't have to agree with it. I just wanted them to support me.

I didn't know until a few years ago, but I have determined my dream guy is Grampy. Ok, not in an incestuous kind of way but a way that he'd tell you what he thinks, he's supportive, you knew he loved you and he was so in love with you there was no one else around. I feel that Grampy looked at Grandma Jeannie was "the one" for him. Its been 35 years and he still is in love with Grandma Jeannie. Ironically coming from a religious family, I've jumped off that wagon and have questioned religion a lot. I have no real view of what happens after you die. But, I pray so hard that he's with Grandma Jeannie again and not angry with God anymore.

I thought I'd be okay with this day. He didn't know it but I said my good-bye to him while he was in the hospital. Ironically, I said it when I did because the Yankees game was about to come on. There were priorities, you know. :) I'm glad he's in peace. I'm glad he's not sick anymore. He didn't want the hospital or the nursing home. He wanted his chair and a TV and a good cup of coffee. I pray he has all of that now and Grandma Jeannie. While we're down here on Earth crying and realizing we just lost something we can never get back, now its time for us to stop being selfish and let Grandma Jeannie have something she hasn't had in decades. Her "one."

So, Grampy, where ever it is you are now, please continue to be supportive. Send us a message every once in a while to let us know you're thinking about us. (He's already starting it. While I was typing this post, Brian was next to me watching a show on Travel Channel or something. I posted it, closed the computer and watched with him. Then I said, "Holy shit." Brian looked at me funny. I explained that in my blog I asked Grampy to send a message every once in a while. The building they were discussing on TV was called "Hootenannnie's." Grampy used to say that word all the time when we were younger. At the time, not having a huge vocabulary, I thought it was a word he made up. Later in life I found out it wasn't, but everytime I heard it I thought of him.)

I love you.

And with that, I want to end this with a smile (well, it will make me smile anyway). Grampy wasn't much of a singer, but there was one song he sang to us all the time when we were little. It was silly so we thought he made it up. That was til last year when I found out it was in fact a real song. It's a Polka called Too Fat.

Maybe I need to focus on what I did do

I worked out today. Ok, so it wasn't the most strenuous workout I've ever had but it was a few minutes more than the nothing I would have normally done. Brian and I went all over God's green Earth today running errands. Around 5pm, we decided to go the pool at the gym. Once there, Brian got a bug up his ass and signed in for a cycling class. What did I do? I kept my fat ass planted in a pool lounge chair. I mean, come on, I was studying my General Orders for work. I was getting smarter. Because of that, I now know exactly what to do if I need to plan a fire department funeral. I sat poolside for 45 minutes and started to feel guilty. Brian was working out and there I was baking in the warm sun. Just then, I felt a hand in my hair and standing there was Brian, slimy and gross. And smelly. But, with a huge smile on his face. "I loved it. I'm coming back Sunday morning!" Ugh. That was not what I wanted to hear. I mean it was. Good for him. But he might as well just put me in a ditch and shovel "guilt dirt" all over me. Then he asked me what I was doing. Um...studying? Then I think he asked if I was going to workout. I think that may have been when my hand swiped across my lard ass and I heard myself say, "yeah, I'll study on the treadmill or something." Did I just say that outloud? That was supposed to be an inside voice. That was what I should do, not what I wanted to do. His reply? "Ok, meet you in a half hour." Half hour? You know how many seconds are in a half hour? Like a million. This was going to be bad. I was hoping the gym would suddenly close or something. Gas leak, water main break, power outage. Yeah, power outage. Treadmills don't work without electricity. Nope, all lights were lit when I walked in.

I went in the pool locker room to change. Bad call on choosing that locker room instead of walking upstairs to the female locker room. Someone had a serious case of shitty diaper. Even the toddler who owned the diaper said so from the stall. Mom had a frantic tone of voice trying to yell to her 4-5 year old daughter hanging out on the bench in the changing area to "hand Mommy extra wipes, RIGHT NOW!" Guess Mommy wasn't expecting anything exciting poopy man's drawers. So, then, there I stand....me and stinky pants' sister. Awkward. This little girl is staring me down. Like a 13 year old boy would be but not quite as excited. I'm trying very subtly to change around her. I kept covering myself and....it was just awkward. I turned to take my bathing suit top off and put my bra on. I swear she was sliding over on the bench to be nosy. Go away!! I digress.

So, after changing the power was still on so I had no excuse. I got up on the treadmill with my big binder of General Orders and started trekking away. I was impressed. Well, until I almost fell off the back of the treadmill because my feet obviously weren't moving as fast as the belt, but after a minor adjustment I was all better. I picked a good speed, a good incline...I even started to sweat. Then Brian showed up and started talking to me. I, not paying attention, accidently hit the stop button on the left rail. Then I couldn't get it to start again and I started to cuss at it. That's when Brian said, "ok, I think you can go home. You got sweaty, you did more than you would have sitting outside." And he was right.

In counseling I'm learning all about myself and why I am the way I am. I was raised to do things well. I was raised with serious consequences if I didn't do what I was supposed to do when I was supposed to do them. (I was seriously grounded an entire school year once. Laura can vouch for me on that one.) Through my counseling we've determined I expect to be good at things. If it doesn't happen I quit. If I'm average, I have to be better than average. Its just the way I was taught by my family. You never know just how many lessons your parents "teach" you and how they affect your life. I hate the gym because I don't feel I'm good enough at it. Or, if I don't do what I'm "supposed to do" (ex. 30 min of cardio) whats the sense in doing it at all? Or, I'll schedule for a time when I can do the full 30 minutes (which never really happens). So, this is one of those things that instead of beating myself up over what I didn't do, I have to be proud of what I did do. Today I swam for 15 minutes and did 12 minutes of incline @ 4mph on the treadmill.

Be sure to read Sunday or Monday. Brian's trying to persuade me to take a cycling class with him. I'm kind of against it, but at the same time I think I should try new things. Especially since he had a big smile on his face after completing it. And, he didn't outwardly say, "Sarah, you'll hate it" which is something he'll do if he knows I'll hate something. I'm sure if I do it my ass will feel like its going to fall off, but maybe that is what needs to be done to lose the "lard ass" reference. After all, I do have about 10-15 lbs to lose before November's physical. WW alone isn't cutting it.

Speaking of procrastinating at the gym, I've now officially procrastinated enough on studying. I think Section 3 of my General Orders will be my bedtime story.

Patio update.

After a month and a half, the patio will be officially done tomorrow. We have fought back and forth with them I think everyday. We had the company come out last week to take pictures of the tiles that weren't planted down. That was when we found out the guy that owns the company (his wife came out and ratted on him) has no idea how to do stone work. He told Brian he subcontracted out because it was summer and he was busy. Anyway, they came out and fixed some of the stones but didn't do anything to secure the extremely lose tile on the step to the grass. Brian wrote a nastygram to them and yesterday they came out and fixed it but didn't "grout" the tile work that was done the other day. Ugh. Its so frustrating. Brian called and left a message yesterday and they are coming out tomorrow morning. Conveniently I will be working. So, Brian will be left to fight face to face with them. This whole process has been ridiculous, but we are happy with how it turned out in the long run. Brian's been working on rehabbing the privacy fence and built two little flower beds to either side of the step to the grass. We're planting flowers there and in the large existing flower bed, we are going to copy off Sydney and plant some vegetables and fruit next year. Hopefully it will save us some money next year. Produce has been crazy expensive around here this summer. Off the privacy fences we're going to have some flowers hanging. He's also talking about building a shed next year to hold the bikes and lawn stuff.

The excitement for today.

I think after many months of searching, I've found my "thing." And, I'm a little embarrassed to say what it is. Snood. Its this puzzle game online and its addicting. I shouldn't say its just Snood. At work yesterday, bored out of our minds, my partner and I found all kinds of games to help me become completely mindless and assist in any procrastination that needs to take place.

There was a big event in the neighborhood today. The neighbors house caught on fire. There's a firehouse less than a 1/2 mile down the street, so we always hear sirens going by our development. Today, they were particularly loud. I, being a smart ass, told Brian, who's ears were perking up to them, they were parking in our back yard. He yelled in from the patio, "yeah, they are, the neighbors house is on fire." Yeah right. That was til I went out and saw black smoke coming out their front door. We turned into those people we hate while we are working. We stood and gawked and watched the firemen run around and do what they do. Brian was critiquing them and trying to explain equipment to me. I was out there wishing I changed my shirt from what I was wearing when I went to bed this morning. (The fire happened minutes after we woke up from our nap.) I was wearing a Sinai Emergency Department EMS week t-shirt that I bought at Goodwill for $1.50. Brian had to point that out for me. I do have to say, to stand and watch a fire, it was great weather. The only place I'd rather be is at the pool. The fire was put out quickly and Brian went over to offer any clean up help this evening. They said they are getting it professionally cleaned tomorrow. Thankfully they didn't lose their house.

Other than that excitement, we've had an uneventful day. I went to the eye doctor which I've been postponing for way too long. I think my doctors a little weird, but he tries very hard to be personable. I'm impressed that for seeing me once a year, he always remembers my job and asks specific stuff about where I'm stationed. And as I sit down he always says he likes my hair. I'm starting to think he says that to everyone. The only other person I know that goes there is Brian and he isn't really sporting any hair to be complimented on.

Ok, its movie night tonight. I can't even remember what movie we are watching, but I hope its good.