Gone Fishing!

We are on our way to Arkansas, and I'm so excited!! Those trout do not know what they are in for! We get to see Daniel and Priscilla and his uncle John and Aunt Teresa. Also popping over for a few days are Tony's aunt Judi Fay (on his dad's side - love her!), his uncle Paul and his cousin Sarah, and his aunt Mary and uncle Bill. So, I'll be missing from the blogosphere for about a week. I don't think I have the patience to blog from my Crackberry, but I promise lots of pictures and tales of the fish that got away when I return!

Pain, pain, go away...

...please don't come another day!

I feel so old - not because of my age, but because of the way I feel. I hurt all the time. It's been almost two years since my double knee surgery, and the pain is there more now than it ever has been. *sigh* Some days are ok, but it interferes with my life too much. There's pretty much not another surgery they can do unless I become handicapped, because of the severity of the surgery and the complications it creates. I just pray that technology advances and some new treatment or surgery will present itself.

Yesterday, I had a good meeting with my dr. about pain management, and she put me on an additional medication - a painkiller/anti-inflammatory med for arthritis sufferers. Arthritis! And that seems funny to me since I have told several people that I wish I had a cane for my bad days. Good grief, I feel like I'm falling apart! Hopefully, the new med will interact well with my current med and greatly reduce the amount of pain I'm in!

30 and flirty and thriving!

Yesterday was my good friend Melissa's birthday, and she turned the big 3-0! Us WASPs -wait, I don't think I've ever talked about the WASPs, have I? Sidebar!

The WASPs (It's a secret, so I'm not going to tell you what this means, but it for sure does not mean White Anglo Saxon Protestants!) are a group of my great friends and me. Over the years, gals have been added, and we've grown to nine! We are pretty varied in age, jobs, and families, but we all have good fun and friendship in common. We get together weekly for lunch on Thursdays, and we also usually hit happy hour once a week. We sometimes celebrate holidays together, and we always get together for a WASP birthday!

(not my fave picture, but it is the most recent of all of us)

Ok, so back on track, us WASPs got together for Melissa's big day. It was such a pretty day, so we met at Los Tres Amigos on the patio for some beverages. Together, we all got Melissa cash and lottery tickets to get her in the mood for her Vegas trip next month, vino and these awesome stemless wine glasses from Pier 1 that have a little chalkboard for writing names on them. I want some now (check them out)! We played a game, and we made her wear a silly visor that Amber made. She also made us all cute koozies, and I got a cake - which we never do for birthdays!

Then we went bowling, and Melissa's sister joined us with a friend, and some of our guys came too. I sat it out this time. Why? Well, we all got kicked out of the office early yesterday on account of the gorgeous day, so I treated myself to my first professional mani/pedi in a loooong time. I couldn't mess my nails up by sticking them in a bowling ball!! I even let the girl talk me into a flower design on my big toes for the first time ever. They are pretty cute!

(bad cell phone pic)

I'll try to add more pictures from the bday extravaganza if I get any before I leave work.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Edamame - such a yummy, healthy snack.

Crape myrtles - love them all, but purple is the prettiest. C'mon spring!

Gucci Eau de Parfume II - Tony picked this out for me a few years ago, and now it's all I wear!

The Target circular - Sunday morning ritual.

Circle E Candles - Bird of Paradise is the best!

Juicy Couture tracksuits - so super comfy.

Oreos - with milk, of course.

Big Love - love, love, love that show!

Hoyt Hartmangruber (our best friends' son) - adore that little guy!!

PerezHilton.com - guilty pleasure celebrity gossip.

The Eagles - seen them in concert twice!

Naked Juice - Black & Blueberry Rush is my ultimate fave.

Fireworks - 4th of July will be here before you know it!

Fresh cut lilies - so pretty.

Fried egg sandwiches - add a little ham, and they are extra delicious!

Pinot noir - love a glass or two with dinner.

My bed - it's a struggle to get out of it everyday.

Ash Wednesday

Today starts the Lent season, and for such I've decided to give up pasta - a huge staple in my diet. I love all pastas, and I even love to snack on it raw. I know, I know - that's weird, right? My husband thinks I am a nut, but I still love it all the same. Last night, for Fat Tuesday, I filled up on baked cheese tortellini, and I'll have to survive on that memory until Holy Thursday. 40 days of no pasta - yikes!!

Under Construction

So, I'm really proud of myself for editing the html on my page to get a 3 column layout. Unfortunately, it created a new slew of issues for me, and hopefully I'm going to be able to tackle them when I get home. Please pardon my mess!

Update: I think I got everything fixed!

I ♥ Kate Winslet!

Did you see her acceptance speech last night? I love, love, love her! She is so elegant and poised, yet still so genuine and real. It was so cute and sweet to see her acknowledge her parents like that! She's such a class act, and as she is my favorite actress, I was thrilled to see her finally win! Yay!

Thank Goodness it's Friday!

Yay! This week has finally come to an end! Roxy went to her new home on Wednesday night, and yes, I cried. :( She remembered Lupe right away from all her time spent at the shop, but Lupe's husband Teddy was another story. She growled and barked, but she started warming up to him when we gave him some cookies to feed her. I got a good report yesterday that Roxy and Astrea (Lupe's husky) got along famously. Lupe said they played until 4 am before passing out, and they ate together and everything! I'm glad to hear she's doing well, and at least I get to hear about her progress. And, if for some reason she doesn't work out, I will take her back in a hearbeat! Riley and Gidget have been total slugs since she left, and I kind of forgot how lazy they normally are!

We are going to do lots of work on Fort Smith this weekend - wreck out a wall in the kitchen and hopefully the bathroom. I finally got the layout of the kitchen worked out. Tony and I happened to have a huge brain fart when we were planning the exterior, and we didn't have the window in the kitchen shortened...so we ran into a problem putting the cabinets where we planned. After hours of drawing it out, and an extra trip on Monday to measure again, I created a layout that will work.

It's now one week until our annual trout fishing trip in Arkansas. It's a tradition with some of Tony's family, and it is so much fun. But what makes this year extra exciting is that we are taking our friends Daniel and Priscilla! They live in Lubbock, and we don't get to see them as much as we'd like. Tony and Daniel went to school through high school together, and they are great friends. Daniel and Priscilla got married almost two years ago, and she is such a doll. We have so much fun when we get to spend time with them, but this will really give us a chance to get to know her better. There's not a lot to do in Heber Springs but relax and fish, and we always come home with a ton more than we can actually eat. Hopefully, one of us will catch a monster this year! Ever since I learned that the 40 pound world record trout was caught there, I've wanted to see someone in our group catch a whale!

Floating along the Little Red River...only one more week!!

Gidget's Favorite Place...

... is anywhere she's snuggled up with Tony!

Step-Child Update

Switching gears, here's the step-child update - Roxy got spayed last week, so she had to spend one night at the vet's office. I feel bad for saying this, but it was nice for me and my babies to have some alone time together. When I went to pick her up, the poor thing was so scared that I had to coax her out of the kennel with a lot of sweet talk. It took her a minute, but then she realized it was me, and she was so happy that I came back for her!

I think we have found a home for her, too. We know the lady, so we know she will be loved and have a great home. Lupe and her family also have a playmate for Roxy - a husky. I think that's pretty important for her because she loves playing with Riley and Gidget so much. Once Roxy is recovered from the surgery, we will introduce her to her new family to see if it's a good fit. And I am really dreading it.

I love her so much! I've now taught her to shake, and it's so cute...my two don't even know shake! And she melts my heart when I see her sleeping on Riley's bed at night because she looks so happy. My heart wants to keep her so badly, but my head says that three dogs are just too much for our busy lifestyle. Plus, Tony is just not really on board with three dogs, but he would definitely let me keep her if I asked.

This experience has taught me quite a bit. Finding Roxy a home and getting her to trust us has been so rewarding, but I don't know if I have the heart to ever do it again. I have become too attached. I teared up when Tony told me he had a new home for her, and I know that I will bawl buckets on the day she leaves us...if my heart lets that happen. But I'm pretty sure my head will win this battle - my head always wins. =(

I'll end this episode with a happy note: Kayla and Shawn (my sister and brother in law) are coming to visit tomorrow!! It's our brother Bryan's birthday, so we are going to do the traditional family get together at Mom & Dad's. I haven't got to see them since Christmas, and I am really looking forward to it! =D

If blogging was a job, I would be fired!

Geez, it's been almost two weeks since my last blog! Bad Jordan! I've gotten into genealogy, and I'm kind of obsessed with it right now. I'm sure that sounds so nerdy - ha! My sister in law, Ashley, has been working on this extensive project on the Moreno side of Tony's family, and it's incredible to see the amount of information she's compiled. So, I've been playing around on Ancestry.com, which lets you access all sorts of public records - census, births & deaths, immigration, etc.

So far, the neatest thing that I have come across - am I'm still floored by it - is the passenger manifesto from 02/20/1957 where my grandfather brought my grandmother and my two aunts to America for the first time. My dad wasn't even born yet! See, my grandfather was in the USAF, and while he was stationed in France, he met my grandmother - Andrée Demé. They married in France, and had a child together (my grandmother already had a daughter from a previous relationship), and when my aunts were 9 and 4 months, according to the manifesto, they came to America for their first visit!

They returned to France, and my dad was born there about three years later. I think he was four or five when they moved to the US, and then they were transferred to Germany. It's very hard to trace my dad's side of the family since my grandmother's family were (and are - I still have three great aunts and a great uncle there) in France, and my grandfather's grandfather grew up in an orphanage. Plus, both of them are now deceased, so there is no way to get any information from them. My dad does have some things that he got from the house when they died, and I'm going to start working that. It's so interesting, and that's kind of why there's been no blogging lately...if any of you actually care. :)

My personal fave

My favorite commercial from the Super Bowl last night was the golfing E*TRADE baby. I just love that little guy! "Why don't you try reading the rules, shankapotamus?" Too funny!

His other one was cute too!

What was your favorite?

Happy Birthday Beauty!

Today is Rachel's 27th birthday!! In her honor, today is also embarrassing old school picture day! The scans are not that great, but this was before everyone had digital cameras!

Clowning at The Plex

All dressed up for HHS prom

At the lake - man, we're hot!

Out at the Kobs

First trip back to WF after the move

I wish I could take you to Samurai or send you some Caramel Sundae Crunch, but it's not in rotation right now. I miss you, love you and hope you have a wonderful day!!