Surprise visitor and a lizard!

What a week I've had!  JR's birthday was February 2nd and he had to work (of course!), so he decided he wanted ham dinner for his birthday, but we would do it on Sunday.  OK, no problem, I can do that!  So I'm just lowering the rack in the oven to accommodate the ham when I hear the garage door open and he's home.  He was scheduled to work until 5, but had called to say he had gotten out early because he had a wicked headache.  Super, worked his birthday AND the day after, both weekend days, and then gets a killer headache.  Happy Birthday to him!  The door opens and in he comes, but wait, there's someone walking in in front of him.  OH.MY.GOD.... it's Kaitlyn!!!  I just about had a mini heart attack and couldn't stop yelling and jumping up and down!!!  Kaitlyn's mother-in-law-to-be had emailed me on Facebook before Christmas to ask me what airport would be closest to fly her into because she was thinking of getting her a ticket to come for a visit, but I hadn't heard back from her, so thought she must have not been able to get time off from work, etc.  Come to find out, Drew (Kaitlyn's boyfriend) had actually gotten her ticket for Christmas and surprised her and then they all managed to plan the trip and surprise me!  The boys didn't even know, so Chris heard me screaming and came running out of his room to see her standing in our kitchen too!  Connor was so excited to see her!  What an amazing surprise!!  We had the BEST week!  We got lots of sun time by the pool, hot tub, hit the beach one day, went to The Bubble Room on Captiva for dinner, I got to bring her to my new favorite restaurant for lunch, Cheddars!, had lots of fresh fruit smoothies, and she got to shop at some awesome bargain stores!  She got some cute clothes and got to get a few things at her favorite store - Vera Bradley!  And the best part, it was the Vera Bradley outlet - twice as big and lots of bargains!  She was in heaven!  We also had lots of memorable Connor moments - she definitely got her Connor fix :)  I absolutely love having visitors come so we can show them where we live now, and how beautiful it is down here.  JR's favorite part of having visitors is to show them around.  And of course I'm getting so much better at finding places now, so we only missed a couple of turns here and there on our way to the beach!  And then she just happened to get stuck here for two extra days because of winter storm Nemo and no flights going anywhere!  Darn!  She left yesterday and arrived safe and sound back in cold Vermont last night.  I'll bet she is missing the sunshine and warmth already!

So this morning JR left for his PetSmart company-wide meeting in Orlando.  They're staying at a hotel on Disney grounds, and they even get a private concert from Bret Michaels!  Oh boy!  The boys are not very excited about that, but hey, something to tell the grandchildren some day?!  So, Tim's wife, Julie, had a great idea to surprise the boys with a Valentine's Day gift basket, since we won't be with them on Valentine's Day.  We were going to order a Disney basket to be waiting for them in the room when they arrived today, but their prices were RIDICULOUS, so Julie had a great idea that we could make our own and hide it in the car.  A few weekends ago, the two of us went shopping and got all the stuff for the basket, Kaitlyn helped me assemble it before she left, and our plan was to hide it in the car and when the boys were an hour or so into their trip, to call them and tell them to check the back seat.  Chris helped me to hide it in the car, and it was hilarious!  Kaitlyn and I had a Twilight movie marathon the night before she left, so we were up until almost 3 am.  Needless to say, I was running all day yesterday on about 3 1/2 hours of sleep and was trying SO hard to stay awake last night so we could plant the evidence after JR fell asleep.  I ended up having Chris wake me up around 11:30 pm, because I couldn't keep my eyes open, and we went out to the garage to put the basket in the car and realized that JR had cleaned his car so much that there was literally nothing in it to use for hiding it, so we hid it in the garage and planned to have me distract JR in the morning AFTER he had loaded the car with his stuff.  Jacoby hates it when anyone leaves for a trip - as soon as he sees the suitcase and bags, he gets all nervous, pacing around and following you around the house.  Perfect distraction!  While JR was in the shower, I woke Chris up and told him the plan was for me to yell there was a lizard in the bathroom and that would be his cue to run out to the garage and put the basket in the garage.  I'm telling you, I think I missed my calling and should have been an actress!  I nailed it!  I had him looking for the non-existent lizard for just long enough so Chris could do his work.  The "lizard" was in our bathroom, so Chris could get out, do the deed, and get back in with no problem.  After they were on the road for about an hour, Julie set up the three-way call and we told them about the fake lizard story, and the surprise in the back seat!  We found these really cute pirate hats and eye patches at the dollar store, and got them beer, munchies, Mickey and Donald Duck Pez dispensers, and a bunch of other cool stuff.  There's a great store down here where you can buy individual bottles of beer, and we think that will be their favorite part.  We got them these really cute t-shirts on clearance at the Disney Store - one says "I'm with Tweedle-Dee" and the other "I'm with Tweedle Dum" and we told them they have to wear them and send us pics!  They already sent us a pic of them driving down I-75 with their pirate hats on!!  Friday morning, "the two Julie's" will be heading out to meet them in Orlando to go to Disney, and I can't wait!  On my last blog entry, I gave more info. on our trip, so I won't bore you with repeating myself.  The boys are excited to see Nanny and Papa Daly this weekend, and the puppies will be too!  I'm so thankful that they are able to come over and stay with Connor!

Well, off to finish cleaning the house!  It's strange having the house so quiet right now - JR on his trip, Chris at work, Connor at school, and it's just me and the pups!  Going to enjoy it while I can!

Birthdays are coming!

I can't believe that Connor will be turning 20 in a month!!  Where did the time go, seriously?!!  I honestly can't believe that I've had this amazing little dude in my life for 20 years already.  I still call him my little dude, because he always will be, no matter how tall he gets, how much facial hair I have to shave off his adorable face, how deep his voice gets, etc., etc.  So, last night, we had a big issue in our house - his digital voice recorder (aka, the yak back) broke...  it was the first thing he thought of when he went to sleep last night, and this am when I woke him up for school, before his eyes were even all the way open, it was "mom, are we going to get my new yak back today, because mine broke last night!"  After we dropped Chris off at work, we headed to Target.  Well, Target only had an RCA DVR, so we headed down the street to Walmart and there it was, the Sony DVR, thank God!!  He was a trooper going to both Target and Walmart, and the great news is that we have like 3 Walmarts and probably 4 or 5 Targets not far from us, so we had options if they didn't have one at our closest one.  Another perk of living in Florida!  I was happy we only had to hit two stores though.  Now he's happily in his room with his computer, recording all kinds of cool new sounds :)

So, JR will be celebrating his 45th birthday on February 2nd.  Yes people, he will be equal age with me again, after those long 3 months of me being 45 BEFORE him!  To celebrate his birthday, he will be attending a 3-day meeting in Orlando for work.  Ha ha, just kidding, he really will be attending a work meeting in Orlando for three days, but not on his birthday, a week later.  The fun part is that I will be joining him with friends of ours, the Jakicic's, and we will be spending two ADULT DAYS (wahoooo!!) at Disney - something we haven't done since our honeymoon almost 24 years ago!  Tim Jakicic is also a store manager for PetSmart, so after the boys get done with their meetings, his wife (also a Julie) and I will be driving up to meet them.  We're going to hit Epcot and the Magic Kingdom - can't wait to check out the new Fantasyland!  It will be SO nice to get away for a few days alone.  Big thanks to my mom and dad, who will be coming over to stay with the boys while we're gone!

I'm still looking for part-time work that I can do from home, so if any of you out there know of anything, please let me know!  It's so hard looking for this type of work on the internet because you just don't know what's real and what's a scam.  Some of the scams stick out like a sore thumb, but some of them sound like they could be legit, but after further researching them, they turn out to be scams too. I'm sure something will come up!

We're very thankful that we live where we do, especially after the frigid temp.'s up north this past week.  Thinking of all my Vermont friends and family and hoping you're all staying warm!

Moving right along

Going on five days of my new life of eating healthier and exercising and everything is going great so far.  I've exercised 3 out of the 5 days, so I'm happy with that.  Plan to start walking this coming week.  Waiting for the pool heater to get fixed, then I'll be back to my water aerobics, which is my favorite form of exercise.  I HATE to sweat, so LOVE water aerobics.  It is also much easier on my knee and back being in the pool.  The temp. in the pool right now is a balmy 67 degrees, so um... no, I won't be getting in until the heater is fixed, thank you very much!  I'm very excited to get back into the pool though, because I totally kick major ass with water exercise.  I plan to get my workout up to an hour over time.  Will start at about 1/2 hour and work up from there.  Tonight for dinner, Chris marinated steaks yesterday and grilled them for us tonight, and I steamed green beans and we had some alfredo noodles, but I cut the butter in half and we use 1% milk, so they were OK to eat.  I also had two glasses of white wine, which is my "treat for the week".  Again, not going to starve myself and deprive myself, because from experience, I know that doesn't work.  It's all about knowing what you need to do, and doing it effectively, not idiotically.

So, kid update.  Connor got his latest report card on Friday, and he has all A's and B's!!  We are SO proud of him!!  He is rocking the LIFE Academy, and he is just so amazing!  We have an appointment at the end of the month with Voc. Rehab. to find out what they're all about and what the future will hold for him regarding employment opportunities.  I also have his IEP meeting this coming Tuesday, so can't wait to get the update!  Chris has decided (of course, you have to remember that he changes his mind pretty much daily...) that he is moving back to VT this summer.  His plan is to find a job here and to save up enough money to get himself back there.  Apparently he and a few of his friends are going to get an apartment together.  We'll see how that goes.  I hope it works and he can be successful.  He really wants to go to culinary school, which I think he'd be great at.  However, we kind of need to rob a bank or find someone who wants to donate to a great cause (ha ha!)  Seriously though, culinary school is very expensive. I told him he needs to look into grants and student loans; that's how JR and I both put ourselves through college.  We paid on our student loans for years into our married lives.  That's how you are successful, by doing it yourself and paying for it yourself.

Lastly for tonight, I'm looking for part-time work.  I really need something I can do from home, as I need to be here for Con after school, and during the summers.  I really don't want to do the whole medical billing or transcription thing, but it's in the back of my mind.  I would really love to take in an infant, just one thanks, to watch here in our house.  I've signed up with Care.com, so we'll see what happens there.  If any of you know of any work at home opportunities, PLEASE let me know.  Thanks!!

Time to go - JR and I rented a movie from Redbox tonight - The Five-Year Engagement.  Hope it's good!

Time for change!!

So, the hubby and I are sitting here tonight, watching The Biggest Loser.  I feel so bad for these obese kids they have on the show this round.  It's hard enough being an overweight adult, but how much these kids get picked on is so sad.  I think it's great they're having kids on the show though.  I usually don't like to watch this show because it reminds me of the "biggest loser" I am.... people talk about how hard it is to quit smoking, to quit drinking, well take it from me people, quitting eating too much is the same damned thing!   It's all the same thing.  And it's all about starting with baby steps.  Right now I've got a lot of weight to lose, and I am very out of shape, and I'm very serious about getting myself to a better place.  I know how great I feel when I'm lighter and more active.  It's funny, I thought with moving to Florida and not working, I'd be much more active than I actually am.  Well, that needs to change.  I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, because people hardly ever keep them.  I do believe in making yourself healthier and more active, and that's what I need to do.  I have obstacles in my way, my bum knee, my low back pain, and of course the good 'ol heart palpitations that always strike the worst when I exercise, but I will persevere and I know my knee and back will both likely feel better when some of this unwanted weight is GONE!!  Not going to say "I'm going to lose 25 lbs. by _____ date", that never works.  It's a slow process but it can and will be done!

While I think The Biggest Loser is a great show, and most likely very motivational to many people, I won't continue to watch it because it's just not for me.  I can't wait to start feeling the muscle aches and pains that I know I'll be feeling for the first few weeks.  Bring it on body!!

Stay tuned.  I think blogging about this journey will be very therapeutic and motivational for me :)

My first entry!

So here goes nothing!  I've decided to give this blog thing a whirl.  I've always wanted to start one, but never had the time, or I should say, never took the time.  I decided to really start it unfortunately due to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School last week.  It made me think about how life can change minute by minute, and that if you really want to do something, you just need to do it.

Speaking of spending time, we just had a great Christmas!  Every year we say we're going to cut back on what we buy for the boys, and this year I'm proud to say that we did just that.  With just JR working, we have to be extra careful with our spending.  And we all know it isn't about the gifts or how much you spend anyhow.  My parents came over on Christmas Eve and I went to church with them.  After church, we came back to our house and had munchies, our annual tradition.  Connor got up at 6:45 am on Christmas morning.  He poked around under the tree, found a box that made noise when he shook it, and proceeded to place it on the breakfast table announcing "I'm going to open this one from Santa first!"  He didn't open it though, he waited for everyone else to get up and also waited for the OK from us to go ahead and open it up.  He was SOOOO excited because the present was the Marbleworks game that he wanted, and Santa had won the bid!!  Con had written his letter to Santa and asked him to please bid for this set on eBay for him.  He was really, really hoping Santa would win the bid, and he did!!  We could have saved ourselves even more money by just giving him a few other gifts, because this one gift truly made his Christmas.  We got Chris an electric guitar, because that's what he asked for.  He was equally happy!  Later in the day, we all were like, hmmmm, did we make a mistake?.....  he really, really likes to play it.... a lot..... :)  We finished up presents, and I finished making my annual cinnamon buns.  After we ate breakfast, which ended up being more like brunch, we had a few hours to relax and enjoy our gifts.  Mom and I prepared dinner and we had a yummy feast!  To end the day, at 9 pm, we watched my favorite, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  A great day all around!  My parents stayed until the next day, heading back to Melbourne around 1 pm.  JR had to work from noon - 10 pm, and around 4 pm, I was exhausted and ended up taking a nap, which is a rare thing for me.  Chris watched Connor for me.  It's amazing how exhausting Christmas is!

Today, I was feeling lazy, and sometimes you just have to have a lazy day.  It was JR's day off and his turn to sleep in, so Connor, Chris and I watched old Nickelodeon cartoons.  I then decided it was going to be a full-on lazy day and we watched movies and TV shows all afternoon.  It felt great, and you just have to do that sometimes!

Looking forward to the next few days, as JR has a few days off around New Year's.  We'll be un-decorating the house and cleaning, oh yay!  I love the decorations so much, but have to admit that I like it when the house is back to normal too.  It will be a quiet New Year's Eve for us, as it always is.  In our entire lives, we have gone out to parties twice.  We would much rather stay home and be safe on that night.  Plus, we're lucky if we can stay awake until midnight!  That's where the "wrinkles" part of this blog name idea came from :)