Monday Mashup

• I had to turn on the a/c Friday.
• We are going to have a "wintry mix" this afternoon and tonight.
• In between, we had some tornado drama during the football games yesterday.  Luckily no one was hurt. Or worse.
• I used my new pink drill and built a whole shelving system for my closet.
• I need a manicure.
• I am getting my place all Feng Shui'd for the new year.
• Today I shall finish my thank you notes.  That is a sworn statement.
• I am so happy that Argo won all those awards last night at The Golden Globes.  Most deserved.
• I need to start training for the Nashville Half Marathon.  Yikes.
• Robin Roberts on Good Morning America is a true cancer warrior.  Such an inspiration.
• The Bird informed me that we are not supposed to double space between sentences when we text.  Really?  Who knew?
• I am old.  And getting older by the day.  I consider that a very good thing.
• How's your day shaping up?

Tuesday Text, Parentexting™

What our Memorial Day looked like: 

The funny thing is, I never laid eyes on her, either.

How was your weekend?

Big Doin's

Aquarius Horoscope
For The Week Starting May 7, 2012


 It is about time to put to work some of those inspired and imaginative ideas you have had lately. Everything that is pending should be settled to your satisfaction this week. Someone or something is being replaced now with someone or something much better and much more practical. Changes made now will work out just fine for you. Changing your own methods now can only enhance your image with friends and/or fellow workers.


Soooo.  I guess sometimes these are more germane.  I gave notice at work last week.  I am moving back to Middle Tennessee after living in New York and Connecticut for the last 30 years.  Just let that sink in for a minute.  I will work until June 30 and move at the end of July.


 My children support this wholly, and I am both thrilled and anxious.  But things have all fallen into place, and apparently, the planets are lining up appropriately.  I am moving to Tennessee!  Squeeeee!


Now, how about you?

Murphy's Law Haiku

take a day to rest

in my bed then loud loud noise

new gutters all day

St. Joseph

When we decided to put the house on the market, we were leery. I don't think there are many places in the country that haven't been touched by our economic debacle current trying times. But the older I get, the less stuff I want. And the less space I need. Even when The Bird and Augie are home, they are rarely at home. So it was Squazz and MPM who were left sitting there. I loved our house. Loved it. But it was a money pit. And way too big for us doddering old farts empty nesters.

So we put it on the market and held our breath.

And then I just buried a little statue in the back garden.

Upside down.

This is a lucky St. Joseph.

He has sold many a house.

Nurse Nancy lent him to me.

And I followed the explicit directions she sent me.

And we sold our house.

In the middle of a very bad market.

I don't consider myself a superstitious person--

Nor a photographer, for apparent reasons.

(But in my defense, I only had my iPhone)

And when we get our check after the closing today?

I might just say another little prayer.

To my new man. Joe.

Read about St. Joseph here.

Now I must get back out on the deck.

There are neighbors here at The Complex who need to be observed...

This-n-That Thursday

Observations from my new abode:

• This condo is about half the size of our house.
• We weren't sure we were doing the right thing when we put our house on the market. I am happy now.
• I feel like I'm on vacation. A vacation where I am carrying stuff around all the time.
• My back hurts.
• The biggest change is for Dora. Dora is our dog who thinks she's a human.
• Now that we have no yard, Dora has to be walked many, many times a day.
• I think I've lost 5 pounds since Monday. This is good news.
• I wonder if I'll miss all my stuff we put in storage. I'm betting on "no."
• Today I am going to finesse The Bird and Augie's rooms.
• My Blisters sent us the most beautiful basket of flowers as a housewarming. There is even a bird's nest in it;)
• Our deck overlooks the pool here. The Gladys Kravitz in me takes much pleasure in this.
• The neighbors are all quite friendly. Squazz is a little leery of a couple--I find it amusing and am hopeful it will give me something to blog about. How sick is that?
• When something doesn't work, the concierge comes and takes care of it. Same with burned out light bulbs.
• Have I mentioned I feel like I'm on vacation?

Moving Day?

April 05, 2010

Aquarius: Today's Daily Horoscope

Try not to worry too much about everything that is going on around you -- even if (as is likely) events are constraining your actions. It's just one of those days, and things do get better soon.

I am going to use this as my mantra today. Wish me luck....

What does yours say?

A Good Friday

The greater the level of calmness of our mind, the greater our peace of mind, and the greater our ability to enjoy a happy and joyful life.

-Dalai Lama

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends.

I shall be packing.

Calmly. Packing.

This-n-That Thursday

Sorting+Reminiscing+Donating+Packing+Storing=Downsizing:

Keeping the baby shoes...

Spring Cleaning Chez Mental P

There once was an old lady in Connecticut,

Who had so much crap she could just spit.

She awoke one fine day,

Surveyed her nest in all its disarray,

And promptly made lunch plans.

What are you doing today?

A Disorderly Home?

Did you know you could get arrested for this?

Apparently a woman in Atlanta found out the hard way.

Kinda made me stop and take stock of this place.

I need to get to work on this mess.

Actually, she was just having a big party that got out of hand.

Including a little homestyle strip club in the basement.

Wonder how much money she made.

Our basement is pretty roomy....

A Day in My Life

Mrs. G hosted a fun theme day. Yesterday.

I forgot, so you can see mine today.

A day in my life. In pictures.

Don't be jealous.  Really.

Coffee in Fred and Bessie cup.

I love my Keurig K cup.

The Bird puts on her tiara and goes to school.

Treadmill. See that fan button?

The best feature ever.

Self explanatory.

Laundry. Something new and different.

Work.

More laundry.

Discovered in bowels of son's closet.

Naptime.

Yup.

5 o'clock.  

The Queen is tired.

Such a busy day she had what with all the napping.

Mama's treasure chest.

Good night.

Thanks Everyone!

After all the kind advice and encouragement I've received from you all today, I've been able to complete my desk clearing project.  Seriously.  And I actually found some books that I ordered from Amazon.  They came three weeks ago.

Has anyone read any of these?

We won't discuss where everything went, or what a certain corner of my bedroom looks like now that my office is so beautiful.  Nor will we discuss the state of the drawers in the bathroom.  I am ashamed to say that Squazz has one half of a drawer and maybe a third of a shelf.  The rest of that real estate is mine.  It isn't pretty, but I'll think about that another day.

By the way, what is is with all those wine comments?  

Flower Watch Friday

I love to practice in my garden.

I do different things every year with my little waterfall planter.

This year's purple and lavender theme made me happy.

Catmint and daisies are always a pleasing combo.

Squazz and I are co-hosting an engagement party here this weekend.

Our gardens decided to give up the ghost this week;

Just in time for Saturday's festivities.

These were once beautiful pink geraniums and bacopa.

They graced a balcony railing on the front of our house.

I threw them in the yard waste pile yesterday.

This clematis was beautiful.

You just have to take my word for it.

I swear: blooms like saucers.

I had to cut it back yesterday.

And this?

This is the waterfall today.

It was as if every bloom just gave up and vanished overnight.

Oh wait.

Here we go.

They'll probably be gone by the end of today.

To petunia heaven.

The roses?

Nope.

I may get another round of blooms out of them yet.

But not by Saturday.

At least we have these happy guys.

And the sunflowers are always good.

Maybe nobody will notice the lack of blooms around here.

I hate to go get mums this early in the season.

But I may have no choice.

Sigh.

Well, we always have these festive visuals.

Am I the only one out there suffering from a dearth of flowers this year?

Maybe they are in Mental Pause too.

Like Mama, like flower?

Domestic Diva

Welcome to the Mental Laundry Room.

It is your basic domestic destination.

This vista greeted me yesterday when I entered with the 

9,459,767th load of the week.

Let's look a little closer.

Oopsie.

Hmmm.

I wondered what happened to that glass....

And may go some way in explaining this mystery.

At least Augie leaves me some tips.

And some chap stick.

Nice things to fish out of the dryer.

Not so much.

Gah.

Maybe this college thing is gonna be good....

This-N-That Thursday

I think we need to do a little housekeeping and catching up here in Mental Land.  It's been a busy spring what with my rugrats (proms, SAT's, lonjry), my blog hopping, work, Fred and Bessie, Twittering, blog hopping, grocery shopping, cardio.  You know, life.  Anyway, I thought we'd take today and get up to speed.  Oh, and that Hot Flash picture has nothing to do with anything, although it may become my own personal logo.  Kind of catchy, no?

How is everyone doing with our little fitness challenge?  Have you upped your exercise quotient?  I have always done some form of exercise, but I think sitting at a desk and blog hopping working all day has a great deal to do with my new blubber issues.  So in that regard, I am making a conscious effort to move around a bit more during the course of my daily life.  My goal is to sweat for at least an hour each day.

Water.  I have doubled my consumption, and I swear my skin already looks better just 4 days in to this.  I add lemon to it to make it all fancy, plus I read somewhere that lemon is a detoxifying agent.  It may very well be, but I just like the flavor.

Problem:

Wine.  Sigh.  While I am not swearing it off entirely, I have to say that I am feeling like it may have made a difference already.  Alcohol is sugar, and your body will work to burn that all off before it even gets to fat-burning mode.  In addition, when I drink wine, I tend to eat more.  So, in order to jumpstart my own return to fitness, I am not having any cocktails for a week or so. You can do as you please.  I think it might be a good idea to try to eliminate at least one sugar or fat vice when you want to move the scale in a backward direction.  I hate to admit it, but I do feel better these days.  Sigh.

As far as diet goes, I have always been a fairly healthy eater, so I am focusing on smaller portions right now, and really feel no different in terms of deprivation.  First of all, starving yourself doesn't work over a long haul.  It's the type of food choices you make and the quantity.  One thing everyone can do is add more fiber.  Dr. Oz is all about fiber; he says women need at least 25 grams per day, and most don't get half of that.  I just love him.  He might even qualify as my secret boyfriend like the ones Mrs. G is always lusting over talking about, but that is for another day.  Make sure you eat lots of veggies and lean protein, and you will feel a difference.  Both in your jeans and your demeanor.  I swear I am in a better mood....maybe because I'm not struggling to breathe when I sit down to blog hop work.

Other items I need to discuss:

Can anyone believe the story about that poor woman who had a baby on a plane?  In a galley kitchen?  And then had to fly three more hours afterwards to get to New York.  Yikes.

What is the consensus on Sex and the City?  I was never a fan of the series, so I'm not exactly in a big hurry to go.  But I'm open to reviews.

What is your favorite commercial these days?  I love those Ocean Spray Cranberry ones--you know with the two guys in the cranberry bog.

Does anyone have anything fun planned for the weekend?  I need to live vicariously.

Well I guess that's it for now, but please try to head over to Kacey's Wine on the Keyboard to vote on your favorite "motherhood" submission.  You don't have to vote for mine, just pay her a visit.  All the pictures are really great.  Serious.

Monday Meme

Well, this front yard/back yard meme has eluded me for a nice long time.  I must say I was happy not to be tagged because for most of the year, if you look out either our front or back doors, it is none-too-exciting.  Winters are loooong in Connecticut.  But Country Girl Kate has finally done it.  She wins the prize for the best views hands down.  Check it out.

This time of year is always a celebratory one.

Everything looks so fresh and green.

We moved to this house three years ago.

The only thing I could think of was how we needed a pool.

So practical when the pool season is, maybe, 5 months long.

Squazz wasn't so sure.

~~~

We put in this small pool.

Peace reigns throughout the land.

The Back Yard - Mental View.

The Back Yard - Moo View.

The Front Yard.

All View.

I love this Dogwood.

I am not tagging anyone in particular, we are very busy with our bovine buddies, and will have an update on their activities tomorrow.  A hint: they had a little visit with our friends of Cocktail Corner yesterday.  

Things got, um, interesting?

Codependent Computer Mama

I got an Apple MacBook about a month ago.  I still have an hp desktop that I use as well.  I switch between the two of them all day long. (I work from home arranging online content partnerships.)  Many of you have asked me how I like the new computer; I am really enjoying the Apple, and cannot tout it's graphics and fun-ness enough.  But I still like my PC.  Sigh.  I don't see me being a one-or-the-other person any time soon.

Please don't tell me how messy my desk is.  I know it.  And, no, I don't smoke.  The lighter is for my candles.  Sorry Asthmagirl; I like to have candles burning on my desk on gloomy days.

Aren't those heart-shaped post-it notes cute?

And I found the Spearmint Altoids when I cleaned my closet.

It was almost as fun as finding a twenty dollar bill in my coat pocket.

Almost.

This is the present view behind me in my office:

I bet you think my desk doesn't look so bad now.  Do you?

Since it's behind me, I don't dwell on it so much.

In an effort to avoid aforementioned office, I cleaned Augie's closet yesterday.

He was at school at the time.

Now his closet is very clean.

BEFORE:

Um, son, you need to take the boutonniere off your tux before it gets shoved in the closet.

AFTER:

I think I've had enough of the closet madness in this house.

Time for office cleaning.

Has spring-cleaning fever hit anyone else out there?