Goodbye Uncle John....

You will be missed. The Marker clan reunions will not be the same without you. Who will go in the water in their clothes because it is too hot? Who will be the friend to all?

Rest in peace and know that you are loved.

In the Dark....

Early this morning Paige started barking, not continuous but several times. I told her to stop but she wouldn't. That's when I realized that the table fan and the fan on the central air weren't making any noise. And, my clock was not lit up.

Uh-oh.

Power outage.

Must be because of the thunderstorm we were having.

I realized what was irritating Paige. The battery backup for the computer. Now I turn my computer off every night but leave the battery backup on. So I came to the office and turned it off. Grabbed the flashlight off the desk hutch and went to the living room to look at the one clock that runs off of batteries.

5:05 a.m.


OK, I had planned on going in early today so being up this early would have worked. After all I am wide awake. But I can't see to get ready. I'm not about to take a shower in the dark. And, putting on makeup..... No thanks.

So we go back to bed. Needless to say I do not go to sleep, just toss and turn and can't get comfortable. A little while later I decided to get my cell phone and see if it has an alarm I can set. It does so at 5:30 I set it for 6:15 just in case the power doesn't come back on. Then I look out my bedroom windows and the neighbor across the street has a light in his kitchen window.... so is it just me??? Still too dark so I get back in bed.

The alarm goes off at 6:15 so I get up and look out the window again. Another house across the street has a light on. So I take the flashlight and go to the basement to check the breakers. All OK there so I know it just isn't me. Now the houses behind me that are on the same transformer.... one house I can't see any lights because the main room in the back has no window facing my house, another area is a porch they don't use and the only window in the back I've never seen a light. The other house behind me.... the couple are on vacation so no lights at all! I went onto the screened in porch and looked at the house to the east of me. It doesn't appear that they have lights either.

So it is now close to 6:30. I use the cell phone to call work and tell Vicky that I just might be late.... She laughs and says they'll see me when I get there. I'm looking out the front window at this time and the guy across the street is getting ready to leave for work. So I run to the front door and yell at him. He was nice enough to come over and open the garage door for me, let me back my vehicle out and close it again. I just can't get it to stay down when I put it down with no electricity.

It is now light enough that I can sort of see to get ready for work. Makeup was a challenge in the dim light but they said it looked OK at work. When I was getting ready to leave, I couldn't find my cell phone. Well, I finally found a phone that would work without electricity and called the cell. Found it!

And, off I went to work. Got there on time :)

One of the service directors also lives in this area and he was also without power. About 7:45 he told me that he was headed home to hook up their generator when his wife called and said it was back on. Big relief.

When I got home at 4:30, the clock in the kitchen showed it had been back on for 9 hrs 10 min. That put the power coming back on around 7:20 a.m. About 5 minutes after I left.

And, the rest of my day.....

was just "out of sorts".

Meh.

Happy Anniversary Mae and Tom!

I had the privilege of attending a celebration for a 60th wedding anniversary today. Tom is my Mom's cousin and I've known them all my life. It was a good time.... seeing family I haven't seen for awhile. Also had a chance to catch up with several acquaintances of my parents from years past.

Their daughter did something rather unique. She had guests either bring photos or memories to write about. She had the supplies there for creating scrapbook pages. Some pages had been done prior to the celebration and were already in albums. Such a nice idea. I found a picture earlier this week with the 3 of them in it so I printed it and took it along then made a page right there!

I've been doing digital scrapping for 5 months now and took the liberty of doing my layouts for today already. I'd like to share those layouts. Here's the double page spread.



A close up of the left side:


And a close up of the right side:


Here's hoping there are many more years to come!

It's Been A Long and Rough Month....

It actually all started in April with my doctor's visit. Because of some information I shared with her she ordered a cardiac stress test and Holter monitoring and a visit with a cardiologist.

The stress test was May 1 and I picked up the monitor after the test. I wore the monitor for 48 hours. On May 9th, I saw the cardiologist. He didn't like the results of the stress test. With the amount of exercising I had worked up to last year, he felt I should have been on the treadmill a heck of a lot longer than 4 minutes.... Basically, my heart rate got to the target level too fast. So he wanted me on meds and ordered a heart cath. I had the cath on May 15 and had some restrictions for 48 hours. Other things (such as strenuous exercise) were limited for 2 weeks. The results of the cath were overall good. Arteries are good, heart is healthy. But I have a heart that "spasms".

I had a follow-up appointment with the cardiologist on May 23. The condition I have is normally found in smokers. I'm not a smoker. So he couldn't tell me why I have this. I'm on a medication twice a day and will see him again in August. I may not have to be on the medication forever though so I guess that is good news.

On May 27th I had an appointment with my regular doctor again. She had my results from the cardiologist and based on his findings, she does not like my cholesterol numbers. So she upped my cholesterol meds. And, now my BP is considered "low" so she cut my BP meds. We talked about the causes of a heart that spasms..... I asked her if second hand smoke could do it. She said "yep". My mother smoked for the 1st 30 or so years of my life as well as when she was pregnant with me.

I also had a mammogram on May 19th (results are clear!) and the other female on the 27th (no news is good news!).

Then there was the eye doctor appointment on May 8th. Not much change in my prescription but I could bump up a level on my bi-focal. I decided to get new glasses because I have been having trouble with both pair I have now so she bumped the prescription. On the 16th I went to pick up the glasses.... As the girl was doing final adjustments to fit me, they broke! The girl I normally work with on adjustments wasn't there that day so I said I'd be back on Monday and pick out a different frame (I had tried on about 30 to get this pair!!!). Went back on the 19th after the mammo and found a pair. They came in on the 23rd so I picked them up before going to the cardiologist appointment. So far, so good considering my fav girl wasn't there to adjust them. I wasn't able to get there this week when she worked so I'll run over on Monday. I think they are off just a little but not enough to cause major problems. Oh yeah, I look pretty good in them ;)

I'm about doctored out now.....

To top off the month.... On my walk with the dogs Thursday night, I fell down. Hard. On stone. Wanna see?





Now, don't go blaming my babies.... they didn't have a thing to do with it!

I ache all over but other than the leg, I'm "unmarked". Here it is today...



Pretty, huh?

Boy am I glad tomorrow is a new month....

Is it rabbit hunting season yet?

Every time I turn around this weekend I see rabbits!! They are all over the place. Of course, when the dogs see them, they.go.nuts.

In a matter of 5 minutes I saw this...

back yard...



same guy...



front yard...



this guy running down the street...



back to the back yard...



now off to the side and the neighbor's yard...



close up, excuse the screen...



and the neighbor's yard. there are 3 rabbits in this pic, 2 close by and 1 off in the distance...



Just awhile ago, they were out there again. This time one was right next to the patio enclosure and when Paige put her paws up on the window sill, it took off.

Oh yeah, we saw one flat on the road during our walk last night. Could be a wild summer...

Has Spring Sprung in Ohio?

I've been able to take a few walks this week since there were some days with mild temps and no rain.

The one thing I look forward to every year is this tree in a neighbor's yard. On the 16th it looked like this:



Close up:



On the 18th, from a distance walking towards my house:



and closer to it:



And today from my driveway:



Here's another tree I saw on my walk last night:



Yep, I think spring is here.....finally!

My emotions are better....

Talking to Dad last night really helped.

Even though it was only cataract surgery, I was worried about him too. Just being so far away and not able to be there at times like this bothers me. With losing Uncle Bill and going to the visitation Saturday, I was just on overload. Now that I know the surgery went fine, I feel much, much better.

sigh............

Ever read your horoscopes?

My horoscope for the day....

You're feeling a bit overdrawn, emotionally speaking and would probably rather have a quiet day at home than have to deal with all the madness of the day. Still, you should get past it without losing your mind!

How true this is! Let's just say that yesterday was very emotional and draining. Because of that I did not get much sleep at all. So I'm physically tired and emotionally drained.... I should be doing housework and laundry, the regular Saturday things that got put off because of the funeral visitation.

Guess I'll just do what I want today. Scrapping sounds nice and relaxing....

**********

So much for doing what I want today....

So far I'm on the 3rd load of laundry. Also have put some stuff away so the house is looking a little neater.

I really wanna scrap.

Rest in Peace, Uncle Bill.....

A wonderful man passed away yesterday.

A wonderful father, grandfather, uncle and friend.

Anyone who met Bill loved him. He was funny, entertaining, smart, witty, and an all around nice guy.

His first career (that I knew) was as a high school teacher and basketball coach. Know how many of the young men he coached still called him "Coach" 30 years later? Lots of respect there also.

His next career was as a salesman for LaChoy Foods. The people he met and made friends with during that time was also astonishing. He's got friends all over the country and this was long before the internet!

I was lucky enough that he married my mom's sister. Growing up, we spent many wonderful times in Archbold with their family. His 3 children are like siblings to me. Sue and I are only 14 months apart in age so have always been very close. Her kids call me "Aunt" even though I am just a cousin....

12 years ago on Leap Day, my aunt passed away and now her DH joins her. I hope that they are forever together....

To one of the most loyal OSU Buckeye fans I have ever known....





Say hi to Woody!

Love you always!

Blizzard is OVER!

Well, the forecasters were pretty accurate in one regard. The snow ended right around 4:00 this afternoon!

This was what I woke up to this morning....




At 9:30 my neighbor cleared my driveway....




By 1:45 we had this much additional snow....




And after it was all over around 5:00....




Aren't these the cutest faces ever?







I do have to admit that I love the look of untouched snow....





My cousin stopped by around 5:45 tonight and shoveled the sidewalk and cleared some of the driveway up by the garage door. It was his friend that lives across the street that had cleared it earlier so he didn't have as much to clear as he thought. He said city streets weren't all that good but that's the usual around here.

I'm staying in yet tonight and we'll see how things look tomorrow. I don't have to go out, but there are a couple errands I could do.

Hopefully this is it for the year.....

but something tells me it won't be!

Beginning of a Blizzard in Ohio.....

We had a winter storm watch then warning for this weekend. Late afternoon it was changed to a blizzard warning. When I left work at 4:00 it was snowing but not too bad. The streets weren't too bad and there was about an inch of snow on the ground.

Of course, Pepper and Paige were enjoying the snow....

Here's Pepper just having fun!




Here's both of them checking out the neighbor's back yard.




And, here's Pepper playing in the backyard 2 hours later.




It is still snowing, the roads are snow covered and the plows haven't been out yet. I'm guessing we've got a couple of inches. Tomorrow is supposed to be blizzard conditions. The warning is until 4:00 p.m. Who knows what we'll wake up to!

Thank goodness I have no plans to go away this weekend. My cousin and his sons will be clearing my driveway but we decided Sunday would be OK especially since this is a storm with a 1-2 punch....

I.am.SO.ready.for.spring.

In Like A Lion.....

Out Like A Lamb?

I can only hope!

Well, not exactly true as Sat and Sun were rather nice days. In fact, On Sunday I took the dogs for a walk to check out the construction of the new swimming pool.

But today..... ugh.....

Rain all morning then it turned to an icy rain and sleet. When I left work at normal time, I had to get help to open the doors of my SUV. Completely iced over! With the defrosting going full blast inside the SUV, I attempted to scrape the windows. After about 20 minutes I got enough of a view out the window to drive home.





I made it home in one piece. Here's the SUV after the trip home on the slushy/icy streets.




Around 4 1/2 hours after I got home I went out to the garage and noticed that most of the ice was still on the SUV!!!

And, one of my favorite photos to take.... my hens and chicks although this time they are covered with ice.





Oh yeah, we're supposed to be getting snow on top of this.

And, needless to say the river is already flooded so there's a very good chance we'll have more flooding like we did in February....

Is it spring yet?

You Will Be Missed....

A wonderful, vibrant, fun-loving lady passed away today.

In 2002 at the St Jude Benefit in New York City, I had the honor of meeting her (along with some other friends I met on the internet thru our love of the show As The World Turns.

Here she is with one of my favorite actors on the show, who sadly is also no longer with us. Ben Hendrickson aka Hal Munson.


And, our dear sweet Laraine with her daughter Melissa, and the young man who played Paul Stenbeck at the time, Scott Holroyd.



Rest in peace, Laraine.

I missed a whole month!

January was such a busy month that I didn't blog even once! I went to Michigan for a weekend with some SS friends and had an awesome time. Last year there were 12 of us and this year there were 24 of us. Tiffany surprised all of us and had a mystery guest.... Cowtown Stacy all the way from Fort Worth Texas! Thank you Tiffany! It was a joy to meet Stacy. She is as sweet in real life as she seems on the board. The other new girls at the retreat this year.... awesome ladies! Now I've got even more terrific SS friends.

And, I finally got to thank SuiteSioux for leading me to S&S (the previous incarnation of SS). All because she posted some info about S&S on the AOL CM Consultants board. Thanks again SuiteSioux :)

Work was busy trying to catch up with my work and training the new payroll clerk. She is doing an awesome job and I can now spend the time doing my job.... which I do love!

I've also started working out again. Easing back into it because not exercising for almost 5 months is not a good thing. I didn't gain much weight back during that time probably because of all the stress but I have noticed that my cardio stamina is not quite where it was in August. It will come back and I hope to get rid of those last few pounds.

I will have to blog again tomorrow. My small town is under a flood warning. We've got flooding like I've never seen before. I did get a few pics tonight before it got dark and I hope to get more tomorrow. The river hasn't crested yet so I'm sure it will still be there.... There were evacuations and I even read that sandbags were being brought into town. I've never seen that before! I'll update tomorrow

Reflecting on 2007......

There have been a lot of ups and downs.

This was the year that a favorite uncle was diagnosed with cancer. He valiantly fought the disease only to succumb in August. Uncle Mike, you are always missed....

Thankfully my dad is still cancer free. I'm thankful for that every single day.

I made some lifestyle changes starting with joining a gym in January and working with a personal trainer. Because of the changes I made in my eating habits and the exercise I was able to lose 20 pounds and 13 inches in 8 months! I feel great and have been told that I look great. And through all of the turmoil of the last 4 months at work I have not had a major weight gain.... just staying within a 3 pound range :)

Work has been a roller coaster. Basically since a co-worker's 2 week vacation (which was the same time as my uncle's death and funeral) I've been working 48-50 hours a week. I blogged about it before so no need to go into it again but the end is in sight! The new payroll clerk has been hired and today started her 3rd week. She is progressing quite nicely considering she was thrown into the fire with 2 holiday weeks in a row and a vacation day for me next Monday! I think things should be back to normal by mid-February and I can't wait!

One upside to all of the hours I've been working has been the overtime pay. Because of that I have been able to get myself into a better financial situation. I've loosely followed Dave Ramsay's "Total Money Makeover" after reading the book this summer. I feel very good about being able to pay for various purchases with either cash or a check. I have paid off my car loan and the HELOC. I have closed 2 credit card accounts leaving myself only 1. I'm now building my retirement fund.... I still use it for internet and gasoline purchases but the money is there to pay that bill when it comes :) What a great feeling!

On the fun side, I had several long weekends away this year. First was SSMI in East Lansing, MI on the campus of Michigan State University in January. I met some wonderful ladies and had a great time. Next up was SWON in London, Ontario, Canada in July. Again lots of wonderful ladies and a fabulous time. Then in August, a few of us from SS spent an afternoon at the Longaberger Homestead. Lots of shopping and eating and some new friends. That Michele.... she talked about the OH Fall Retreat so much that day that when work went to hell in September I signed up! Nothing like a weekend in Amish Country, Ohio to rejuvenate a person. Even more wonderful ladies and again a great time! But best of all was the weekend visit with Diane. She came from Grand Rapids MI to see me and the kids. I will return the favor summer 2008!

Of course, Pepper and Paige have been the lights of my life this year. Without them I'm sure the last few months would have been unbearable. I was away from them for more hours than usual and I can tell that they were affected. They missed me as much as I missed them. Oh yeah, they are at my feet as I type this.... comfort at its finest.

Last of all, I'm thankful for the friendships I've made online at ScrapShare. Some of those have carried over to real life. Love ya ladies!

Now, I'm really excited about 2008 starting with.....

SSMI II in 4 days!

Happy New Year to All!!!!

Naughty or Nice?????

You Were Nice This Year

You Were 25% Naughty, 75% Nice Okay, so you weren't *entirely* nice this year But Santa doesn't expect a modern girl to be perfect You were good enough - and you'll be rewarded for it

Were You a Naughty Girl or Nice Girl this Year?

When it rains, it pours.....

Last Monday I was offered a promotion at work. Seems the payroll clerk had decided it was time to move on. I was offered her job with a raise. I turned it down.

You might ask why. Well, I love the job I do now. That job has a lot of stress and I mean a LOT. I don't need that in my life. No amount of money would be enough.

Needless to say, she only gave 1 week's notice. Her last day was Friday. Of course, they haven't had time to fill the position so I will be doing her job for awhile. I hope they can have someone in by mid-December at the latest. I reminded them that I have time off scheduled for early January which includes a Monday -- payroll prep day. And it also is the week after 2 weeks of holidays which are no fun....

I am sorry that the payroll clerk left. I considered her a friend. She had been there almost 18 years. But even if she hadn't resigned, the health problems she had in September are flaring up again so she probably would have been off this coming week anyways. She did say that she wants to get the health issues straightened out before she makes any decisions about what to do next. I wish her all the luck in the world and she will be missed.

So it seems that I will be in work-hell again for awhile. Because even after they hire someone, it will take them time to be trained so I'll be expected to pick up the slack. For the next couple of months it will be 50-60 hour work weeks. Of course, the extra money will be nice. And, like I told the HR gal, I won't have time to get depressed this holiday season which will be a good thing.

So, don't miss me too much while I'm gone ;)

Halloween..... for Relay for Life

My employer raises money for Relay for Life. One of the fundraisers was wearing a Halloween costume for fellow employees to judge in 3 categories - Scariest, Funniest and Most Original.

I wore my costume and paid my entry fee, made me feel good to donate that money to Relay.

Now I don't know if I won anything, that will be announced tomorrow but if I don't it doesn't matter....

This was a quick and easy, out of the closet costume. I used to do something like this in college, only thing missing is my jug of "moonshine"..... in fact, I used to wear these bibs over 30 years ago. Thanks to my recent weight loss, I CAN wear them again :)



Dad if you see this.....

Do you recognize the jacket?????

:)

Edited 11/11/07: No, I didn't win a prize but then again, I didn't expect to!

T-Minus 12 Hours.....

Until I leave for the 2007 Ohio Fall Retreat!

I've never been to Holmes County, Ohio, also known as Amish Country so I'm excited about that. I'm also excited about seeing old friends and meeting new.

But, I do hate the packing!!! Got the scrapping stuff packed, now to pack the clothes.

Best of all, 4 straight days off work. I need it so much after the last 2 months.

And, yes I do have my pictures packed :)

Look-Alike???

This interesting website was posted on SS. Of course, I had to try it :)



This was my 2nd try. My first try had me as looking like my mom by 7%..... I used different pictures of both Dad & I but the same pic of Mom.

May have to find some pictures of me as a child and my parents as young adults to see what it says....