Latest accomplishment...

Holy cow!!  Please go see what it is!!  I'm really proud of myself.

PLEASE click HERE to donate to a great cause.

Hi.

Remember me?

I've actually gone so far as to formulate a couple of posts in my head lately.  I just haven't had the "umph" to put them here yet.  But, I absolutely HAD to share this with you.  I'm really quite proud of myself. =)

In case you missed it, I was dumb enough to really excited to sign up for a 5K.  ME!!  A 5K!!!  It is to benefit the Ronald McDonald House/Bereavement Services at our local children's hospital.  Please consider clicking HERE to donate to an awesome cause. 

So pretty...

My roses are opening up very nicely.  By Mother's Day, they're going to look amazing.

 These beauties are also on my table.  I picked these up myself almost 2 weeks ago at Sam's Club.  I can't believe how nice they still look. 

One of my favorite moments from Wednesday...

That's pretty much how the whole day went.  I just love that baby!

Best birthday presents ever...

I got to spend the whole day with...

While we were in the yard playing, these arrived from Magnum...

Last night, Stud presented me with this, since I never read it...

45 still sucks, but these things made it a little easier.
If any of my dear Bloggy Buddies are dying to help me celebrate my birthday, you can go HERE.  And even if you don't give a rat's ass about my birthday, go anyway.  It's for a phenomenal cause.

Thank you to all my Bloggy Buddies who keep checking in with me, and sending love and support.  I'm not ready to jump back into the Blogosphere with both feet quite yet, but I think things may finally be on the upswing.  (JWG, what happened?  I'm waiting...)

Feeling generous?

Go HERE to support an awesome cause.  And, yes, I REALLY am doing this.

What a workout...

Well, we never did make it to Sam's Club.  We went to my parents' first, and I shoveled for over an hour.  Stud had come with me, but one of my parents' shovels was broken, so I sent him back to our house to get our shovel.  By the time he came back, I was almost finished.  He took care of the back driveway while I did the sidewalk in front of my parents' and both of their neighbors.  The snow was still coming down pretty hard, so by the time we finished, it needed to be done again.  I'm contemplating going back later.  Or, I'll just go in the morning.  We'll see. 

I made another goofy ass video for Suz.  Man, I wish I knew how to dub over my annoying voice!!

Check this out.  As I was shoveling, a couple of my parents' neighbors went by on cross country skis!

Only in Chicago!  We're cool like that!

After we shoveled at my parents' driveway, we were going to head to Sam's Club.  But then, instead, we went to Bestest Friend's house, and shoveled there, too.  I figured it would be a nice surprise for her when she got home from her LONG day of hell at work.  (Just to refresh your memory, she's also a CPS teacher!)  Luckily her driveway is much smaller than my parents' and Stud helped, so it only took us about 35 minutes.  THEN we were going to go to Sam's Club, but as we were getting in the car, Magnum called to say he was on his way to the house to shovel.  I decided to go back to the house so the three of us could shovel together, and just knock it out.  It was nice to have some help, and we finished in about a half hour. 

By then, I was wiped.  So, needless to say, I never made it to Sam's Club.  Guess I'm going to have to dig around the freezer and pantry and see what I can scrape together for dinner.  For once I'm not feeling guilty about not making it to the gym, since I shoveled for over 2 hours today.  I know I'll be feeling that later in my back.  Maybe after dinner I'll fill the tub and take a long, hot soak.

Oh, and just as I started shoveling at home, Bestest Friend called.  I had been talking to her on the phone while I drove from her house to mine, but didn't tell her we shoveled.  I was laughing to myself as she told me how she was going to leave earlier than usual (most nights she stays at school until 6 or 6:30!) because she didn't want to drive in the storm, and besides, she had to shovel when she got home, and she was already tired from her long day.  Tee hee!!  About 2 minutes after we hung up, my phone rang.  "DID YOU SHOVEL AT MY HOUSE?!"  I swear she sounded on the verge of tears!  She's so cute.  I hope she's already sitting with her feet up, relaxing.

Ok, NOW I'm off to make dinner!

Email of the (other) Day

My dad sent this to me about a month and a half ago.  I saved it to share with you guys, and obviously never did.  I was just cleaning out some email folders and found it again.  They made me giggle...

We're having a first real snow storm here today.  We're supposed to get 8-12 inches.  There were already school closings announced last night.  About an hour ago, I received an automated call from Stud's college, saying that the school would be closing at 2:00.  About 15 minutes later, he walked in the door.  He had his first class at 9am, but his second class was obviously cancelled.  He's not happy, since the second class is one that he really loves.  Actually, the first class is the one he likes the least.  Poor thing.

Since I have the unexpected pleasure of having my son home early, I think I'm going to make him hate me by dragging him to Sam's Club.  I missed my Saturday trip, and the cupboards are a little bare. 

A far cry from the last pictures I posted of this island, right?  I ate that last apple for breakfast, by the way, so there's basically just a basket of Cuties, and a bulb of garlic! 

On the way home, we'll probably stop at my parents' and shovel a bit.  When Magnum left this morning for his parents' house, he asked me to wait until he came home, so he could help me.  That may or may not be because I was teasing him last night about this snow.  He was more or less pitching a fit about the impending snow storm, since that means more work for him.  The last time it snowed, he ended up plowing his parents' driveway, of course, and then the neighbors on both sides of them, as well as across the street.  His dad has a honking big snow blower, so once he had it running, he just kept going.

Anyway, he was bitching like an old man last night while we were watching the news in bed, and said something really supportive, like, "Quit your whinin'!  At least you have a snow blower.  I'll be doing my parents' driveway by hand!"  Yeah, I'm thoughtful like that. 

But, I'm going to make Stud do it, instead, so his old father doesn't have to do it.  I haven't gone there yet because the snow is still coming down hard.  It's supposed to continue until about 9 pm, so it doesn't make sense to do it too early, since it'll just keep snowing.  I'm wondering if we should even do it after Sam's Club, since it's only about 1pm.  Guess I'll play it by ear.  We'll probably still stop there to say hello. 

Ok, time to find my boots, and get out into that beautiful winter wonderland!