One Day of Blogger Silence

It's Official

My Son has been sworn in with the Army. He will no longer be coming here for a visit so we can celebrate his upcoming birthday. I'm disappointed, that goes without having to be said. He's sorry that he's disappointed me, yet at the same time, he's looking forward to making something of himself. Don't get me wrong, I'm also looking forward to seeing what this can be for him. It's a great opportunity for him to really become something he's never dreamed of and he can go places and see things (good or bad) that he'd never had an opportunity to do. He's going into the medical field and when he comes out, I believe he'll be a nurse. They gave him a huge sign on bonus that if he had turned that down to still come here, I would have probably smacked him for being stupid. He leaves May 9th for basic training and will be at Fort Benning, Georgia. After Basic Training, he'll then go to one of two medical training facilities in Texas for his AIT. That training will last for 16 weeks. Once he has completed his basic training and AIT, he'll have a 30 day leave. Only 10 days of that leave are personal days. He'll be required to spend several weeks back at the recruiting office talking to other Army hopefuls. He's not excited about doing that though. Since he'll only have 10 personal days, he'll come here and spend most of them with me. I'll more than likely be driving him back to Canton so he can see his sister and nieces and nephew. (He hasn't seen his sister since he moved to Florida a year and a 1/2 ago and hasn't seen his nephew or new niece at all yet). I'll be able to travel to Georgia to see him graduate from basic training at the end of his 9 weeks there. His 10 personal days to come here won't be until sometime mid or late November. I told him last night when I spoke with him, that the next time I see him, he'll be a buffed up soldier. I doubt he has any real concept of what he's really in for. I now get to be one of those parents that drives around with a bumper sticker stating that I'm a Proud Parent of an Army soldier.

taking a blog vacation

not sure when I'll be back on here...if at all...but I'll come visiting.

The Alphabet of me

Just a little something I "borrowed" from Celtic Lady.




a- Available or Single? –Single...as in not married, but defenately in a relationship and VERY happy to be here.
B- Best Friend? – That would have to be Cheryl...I've known here now for 14 yrs..she and I have been through alot together.
C- Cake or Pie? – Pie as long as it's boston cream
D- Drink of Choice? – Water...always has been
E- Essential Item? – Hmmmmmm...not one thing to me is that essential so my answer is good health
F- Favorite Color? – Blue
G- Gummi Bears or Worms? – Bears
H- Hometown? – Canton, Ohio
I- Indulgence? – CHOCOLATE!
J- January or February? - January...my birthday month!!
K- Kids and names? – Daughter Heather, Son David
L- Life is incomplete without? Love, family, friends
M- Marriage Date? – my first was 08-27-1978..(lasted 15 yrs)..no marriage date thought of in this relationship...(yet)
N- Number of Siblings? – one big sister
O- Oranges or Apples? oranges
P- Phobias/Fears? – I like to say I don't have any...but there are things that make me uncomfortable..like elevators and really long tunnels...but I don't freak in them.
Q- Favorite Quote? - Hmm...can't think of one
R- Reasons to smile? - when I think about my grandkids
S- Season? – Summer
T- Tag 3 people? – Not tagging anyone.. If you want to, do it and tell me about it!
U- Unknown Fact About Me? – I really am a shy person
V- Vegetable You Hate? – most all of them
W- Worst Habit? – I interrupt people while they talk...I don't mean to..I just do,
X- X-rays You've Had? – Teeth, left hand. back..
Y- Your Favorite Foods? always will be chocolate....but seriously I love sweet potatoes
Z- Zodiac? – Aquarius

I finally did it

No one has cut my hair since my Daughter has been a hair stylist. Since I've moved here, my hair has gotten out of control. Well, today I fixed that little problem and here are the before and after photos.................(if the stupid things will open....this is twice I've tried).

The Jefferson Memorial

The weather was simply fantastic today. It was very sunny and a high in the low 80's. Bob and I took the Subway into Washington, DC and walked to the Jefferson Memorial and all around the tidal basin. I was surprised at how very few people were there. I just figured that as nice as it was, that there would be more people. Guess since there wasn't anything special going on like the Cherry Blossom Festival, that was why it seemed so empty down there. I'm sitting here this evening looking pretty red in the face and across my shoulders. I knew I was going to get alot of sun and didn't care to apply sun block. I wanted to get some sun. I never peel so I didn't care if I got a little burned. (I know what you're going to say.....skin cancer and that I should have used something...well shhhhh about it.) If I know I'm going to spend a great deal of time in the sun, I do wear a sun block. (But that's not what I wanted to blog about)

Here are some of the photos we took today. Bob took most of these since he was using the digital while I was using my 35mm camera. I loved using the zoom lens he bought for me at Christmas. I can't wait to get those developed. I got some good photos of a few airplanes coming in for a landing at Reagan International Airport that is close by. Hopefully, I'll have those 3 rolls developed tomorrow. For now though....here are some of what we saw today...........

Photo Scavenger Hunt

This week's theme is STEPS..............

I tooks this photo a few months ago when I was downtown in DC. I thought it was a fitting photo for today's theme.

Before, during and present photos of the basement project

Glass butterflies

I have tried and tried to post these awesome photos, but the best one never opens on my end. I hope it opens for you because I think they are pretty awesome. I recieved them in my email and wanted to share them.

What time will it be?

I find this truely amazing. this info was in an email for me this morning and I just had to pass it on so my appologies for those of you that I have your email and now you are seeing it twice.......


"At Three minutes and Four seconds after 2 AM on the 6th of May this year,

time and date will be 02:03:04 05/06/07".

"This will never happen again in our lifetime."

It's the simple things in life that amze me I guess.

Now..just a small update on my Son............... He passed his physical and they also told him it would be fine for him to continue on with his trip here. I was hoping the Army would offer to pay off his small fine he has and get him completely signed up then just do a payroll deduction. He asked and they said no. So, once he gets that fine taken care of and his trip here is over, he'll get completely signed up for the Army. Again, once I know more, I'll update again.

How observant are you?

Your Observation Skills Get A B+

Your senses are pretty sharp (okay, most of the time) And it takes something big to distract you!

How Observant Are You?

Mixed emotions

So my Son informs me that he's joining the Army. He's been to a recruiter's office and has already taken a test. He has to go back at 6:30am Monday for his physical. He's taking his Flight itinerary with him to show that he has prepaid tickets to come see me on May 11th. We are hoping they will hold off sending him anywhere until after his visit here. I have mixed emotions about this, simply because he has done this 2 other times in his life and has found reasons to back out every time. He swears though, that this time he's going all the way with it. My son, throughout his adult life, has floated from job to job and spent numerous lengths of time unemployed. This June will be 2 years now that he's been down in Jacksonville, Florida and working as a plumbers assistant. Well, that has come to a screeching halt. He was fed up with the goings on with the "so called" plumbers they assigned him with and went to talk to the owner of the small business to "inform" him of the goings on that these plumbers were doing. It has been difficult for David as he gains knowledge of the job, to know that the plumbers were doing things the wrong way. He eventually told the owner that he couldn't work like that and the owner said that was fine because he had 2 other men he could replace him with. About 8 or 9 years ago, my son got into some trouble and now has a misdemeanor on his record. This has prevented him from gaining employment in several areas. I know this is the driving force behind his decision to enlist in the Army. I'm all for him joining the military and will support him fully. I just wish he was doing it for different reasons. With things the way they are right now in our military, it's scary knowing where he'll end up. I know though, that him ending up in Iraq or Afghanistan could be well down the road after proper training and schooling is done. I'm just hoping now, that nothing interferes with his visit here next month. I don't know when I'll get the chance to see him again otherwise.

David is also upset because he doesn't know what will happen with his dog. This dog is my baby too. He's lived with me since he was a 6 week old puppy and has turned out to be the best dog we've ever had. He has the most gentle personality ever in a dog. When I moved here, I gave cerebus back to David since pit bulls are outlawed here. If his friend/roommate Phil doesn't want the responsibility in taking care of him...(cerebus has allergies and tends to be expensive to care for from time to time)...then he'll have to figure out a place to turn him over too. It's heart breaking for both of us because we don't want to loose the dog. He just turned 4 years old on Easter.

This is the newest saga for my blog. I'll post updates as I know them and if I feel free to share them.

Photo Scavenger Hunt

This week's theme is "Hobby". I really struggled with this one because I like to do a few different things, but I really don't have a Hobby. I like to read and I like to crochet and I also love photography...yet I don't believe I do any one of these items like a person would if it were a hobby to them. I chose to photograph my small book collection of John Grisham novels and my John Sandford novels. I mainly chose these because I received new john Grisham novel for Christmas (which I haven't read yet) and I just recently purchased a new John Sanford novel while at the grocery store check out yesterday. ***there are 2 of the same John Grisham novel because Bob and I were going to read them at the same time then compare our thoughts on the book at different stages of reading it, but he was too busy and never read it.***

What's new

Things have been pretty busy for me since I've been home. It's been a week today that I've been back here in Maryland. I had no time for rest either. Here's a run down of what I've been up too.

Saturday..... The day started by us having to be at Bob's Brother's house to receive a delivery from the supply store of 16 sheets of drywall and accessories to go along with drywalling. Oh and the delivery came at 8am!!!! I really can't remember what else we did the rest of the day.

Sunday.... Easter. We spent the morning here just the 2 of us then went to Bob's Brother's house for dinner. That was a nice afternoon and early evening.

Monday.... Back to work in the basement. No rest for me...nope. We started right away hanging the drywall on the ceiling. Talk about hard work. Now I'm only 5' 4" and have little to no upper body strength. It took all I had and what extra I could muster up inside to push up on that sheet of drywall to hold it in place long enough for Bob to get enough screws in it to hold it up. We made great progress and got alot done on the first day.

Tuesday.... I went to another job sight Bob is working on and helped him with the installation of a drop ceiling in thier basement. (alot easier than hanging drywall). That was short lived though, because we spent the rest of the afternoon in the basement I'm working in hanging more drywall.

Wednesday.... Yep, you guessed it....hung more drywall.

Today (Thursday)...I went grocery shopping this morning then met Bob over at his Brother's basement around noon and hung more drywall. The room is looking fabulous. I think I'm going to be spending tomorrow learning the fine art of "mudding". Joint compound looks easy, but I'm sure there is a method to be learned. I have 20 hours of work in so far this week. That doesn't seem like alot, but holy cow, I'm realizing how hard this hanging drywall really is.


I'm sure I'll be posting again soon. I've just been so busy this week that I haven't been on here. I'll be sure to come visiting too.

Fun photos

Watch this cool video

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-1246174515665636969


Click on this link and be amazed. It takes about 9 minutes to finish but trust me, it's well worth it.

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Wow, I haven't posted for the photo hunt in ages. I'm back home now and on my own computer, so I'm ready to get back in the swing of things.

Today's theme is CLEAN. This is a photo of the new jacuzzi tub that my Bob installed in the bathroom of the addition he's been working on. I chose this photo with the anticipation of being clean in the new tub. It's hard to tell by this photo, but the granite surrounding the tub is very awesome. It's a dark brown with lighter specks of tan in it. I can't wait to see the finished bathroom. Here's a peek at the shower with matching granite tiles. If you enlarge the photos by clicking on them, you can sort of see the colors I'm talking about.

****EDIT****

I should mention since I wasn't clear.......this bathroom is not ours (unfortunately). It's from an addition at a house that my Bob has been working on for the past year and a 1/2. I really do wish it was ours.

Back Home

I'm now back in Maryland!!! I left yesterday and had a wonderful drive. I surprised Bob since I told him that I'd be home on Friday. He was very happy to see me. My last week at my Daughter's was very busy and I didn't take time to post. I'm back now and expect to be post regularly again. Oh...and the problem I was having logging it to Blogger wasn't Blogger at all. I signed in just fine here on my computer. That makes it less of a chore to post when I can sign in without a problem.

I get to go to Bob's doctor's appointment with him to see how much longer he has to wear the aircast on his broken leg. It's healing and only a little sore now. He's hoping the Doc says he can wear it only when he feels the need....I'm thinking the Doc will tell him to continue to wear it. We'll see soon.

Isn't he the cutest kid ever

Bob bought my grandson this hat while he was here and he looks so cute in it!! I just thought i'd share this with you.

I can't just leave this one photo up..I have to add new ones of my newest granddaughter too.........