Friday, March 31, 2017

Getting crafty..

Ugh, it's late. 12:43 AM to be exact. I can't sleep. When I got up this morning my coffee maker wasn't working. So, as suggested by a friend on FB, I watched some YouTube videos and figured it out. It took a while though. Not what I wanted to be doing on my day off that's for sure! I then had lunch with Wendy at Applebee's. I went to Michael's and got some paper. Then went to Marc's to get the makings for a Big Mac Casserole. Right now I'm eating low carb as Paul and I are in the Diet Bet which ends April 10th. The Casserole turned out amazing!!



Paul picked up Winston's ashes and paw print today. I couldn't believe they came in so fast. We're already looking at puppies online. Helps with the grief I guess.

I have a couple of special friends that have birthdays this week so I made them each a card.

At first I used a cute background but it was too busy. I do like using doilies on cards.
This one is for Lisa who is one of the sweetest people I know. The cherry has some Glossy Accent I put on and needs to dry.
I've been using my Instant Pot a lot lately. I made a bad ass pulled pork the other day. Turned out way better than the first time and I also used a different recipe..

Had it over mashed cauliflower
I also finally used some seasoning I got for free at Penzeys Spices (they are always giving away free spices). I made up some chicken for chicken salad..

Ruth Ann's Muskego Ave is AMAZING!

Well, that's it for now. I have to go to work in the morning so I better get some shut eye. As always..

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Hey-Hey

Hi there,

Today's a new day. Not a good one, just new. I posted my grief stricken blog post on Facebook the other day. I didn't plan on it. Actually, I wasn't going to say anything at all because I wasn't sure how I could handle all the "I'm sorry for your loss" etc. It was nice to see so many people cared. I decided I've posted enough about our little guy and our grief on Facebook and thought today..Hey! I've got a blog and I can blog what I want to!!

The weekend was just a lot of crying and wandering around the house trying to figure out how to deal with our little man gone. We didn't turn on the tv. Saturday after we left the vets office, we started drinking. That was around 3:00. Sunday Paul went to the grocery store early in the morning and when he came home he was quite choked up about the fact that his little buddy wasn't here to greet him. Paul found that he could read in between his bouts of grief and I found that when my eyes weren't blurry from tears, I could knit! So I did.



Yesterday morning Paul went for a run (which he usually does on Monday's) and he ran into some ladies that run all the time. So they asked him how his weekend went and he kind of fell apart. Got teary eyed explaining about Winston. When they got to our driveway he said "I bet you don't ask me that question again" and they chuckled.  I went to work yesterday, as did Paul. I kept busy at my desk and tried to avoid people. Some people are harder to avoid, they mean well but I don't need to be crying at work. So for the first time in a long time I got caught up on some things I've been meaning to and actually worked 7 hours! I usually only work on Mondays and Wednesdays until about noon or so.

Today is a lot harder with our little guy gone than it has been. I went for a run this morning. Even with music playing it didn't help with the emptiness I'm feeling. Plus, running gives you way too much time to THINK!

Paul texted me (he's not usually a texter) after I got home from my run and said he's having a tougher time today. Yep, me too.

I find tea helps. I have some wonderful Tetley Salted Caramel tea.


And my TobyCat is trying to help,


which he does when he isn't being a brat and chewing my pocket pages or climbing on the home entertainment center..



Usually on Tuesdays I volunteer at the assisted living in my neighborhood, but I got a text yesterday that there's an influenza going around so no one is leaving their rooms. To be honest, this was meant to be!
If I wasn't obsessed with Facebook, I never would have known that yesterday was my friend and walking partners birthday. Ugh! I felt awful! I won't forget again that's for sure. So, since I don't have to volunteer today, I'm going to make her a card. I'm in my craft room and I'm going to turn on Alexa and play some Rolling Stones or Beatles and get my craft on!

Thanks for listening and as always...

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Our hearts are broken..

they don't just ache, they are broken. In 2002 we brought home this little furball who changed our lives forever...


We named our new Yorkie, (after much debate and searching through dog name books etc.) Winston. After Sir Winston Churchill.

Smart? Oh my God he was so smart. We'd say, go get your giraffe, and sure enough, out of ALL his toys (and he had boxes and boxes) he'd bring his giraffe. Or his rope, or his green ball. He was THAT smart. Paul's mom used to say "there's a little boy in there, if only he could talk".

Back in January, for the first time in years, he peed in the house. I immediately took him to the vet as I knew something was wrong. The doctor discovered bladder stones. She suggested we remove them as soon as possible so we scheduled surgery for the following Monday. In the meantime we had blood work done to insure there were no underlying problems before the surgery. We got a call on Sunday saying his kidney levels were so bad, they couldn't do the surgery. Dr. Letosky said he was working on only 20% of his kidneys and to keep an eye on him. So, he did really good for a month and a half. Wanted to play ball and catch all the time..

Whenever Paul came home, Winston would grab his favorite toy and run to him, knowing Paul would try to take it from him, and then the tug of war would begin. This video was in January right after we found out Winston had kidney failure...




Our little guy LOVED camping..





Nothin' like lying in the dirt :)

He loved holidays...

2013
Halloween 2012

He always knew which gifts under the tree were his. He just knew.


He loved a good nap..


Not only a good nap, loved his dad more than anyone!
He loved walks..

Walking with grandma Dory.

And we just LOVED him so much..



He loved Paul so much.

It's going to be long time, a very long time before we don't get up each morning and think about him. Walking around the house thinking about him.

You'll be in our HEARTS forever little buddy!


Thursday, March 16, 2017

WILW

Hi everyone,

I know, I know..it's Thursday and I missed posting yesterday. But, I still have lots I'm loving so why not post What I'm Loving Wednesday on Thursday, huh? It's just a day!

I'm Loving...new friends. While on our recent vacation to Cancun we met the nicest couple. I'm loving these new friends..

Dean and Vivian
I'm Loving...for my birthday a few years back, my sister Wendy gave me the most thoughtful gift. She knows how much documenting my life through pictures means to me. See if you recognize the tune..


See the little mouse in the bottom right corner getting ready for her picture? I treasure this and every once in a while as I walk past it in the family room, I turn it on and just watch. Thanks Wendy!

I'm loving... that my boss came through surgery fine and dandy. He had to have surgery due to diverticulosis.

I'm loving... the sunny skies today. We've had some major cold air with snow the past few days.

I'm loving... my Facebook groups: Addicted To Knitting, Women Over 50, Project Life Obsessed, Brenda Novak's Book Group and a slew of others.

I'm Loving... my new dishwasher! My old one leaked all over the floor and the inside racks were burned and melted.




I'm Loving... my new Kindle Paperwhite. It's light as a feather. Although I LOVE paper, this really came in handy while reading by the pool in the bright sunshine. Somehow I seem to read faster too...I know, weird right? LOL


I'm Loving... these two. Giving them as much loving as I can. Winston (15 yrs old) has kidney failure and is working on about 20% as of January and we just found out this week that Kitty (14 yrs old in June) has a tumor in his mouth and it's an aggressive form of oral cancer.

Just giving lots of lovin'. Lots and lots xoxo


As always...


Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Vacation maniac here...

My last post was about our cruise we took with the grands. Well, we planned a vacation get away months before the cruise was even mentioned, so we definitely feel like vacation maniacs over here since we just got back from an all inclusive on Wednesday.

Early last fall I mentioned to Paul that I would love to get away from the cold, snowy Ohio winter and venture somewhere warm just for a week or so. He agreed and we did get to fly away to Riviera Maya, Cancun. We stayed at the Valentin Maya Resort and I can't even begin to describe how relaxing and fun this past week has been~although I'll try.

When Jenn got wind of our upcoming plans, she called and asked if her and Dan could horn in. The 4 of us had a ball!

Now mind you, Paul is more of a tourist and wants to venture off sightseeing wherever we go. I can't believe that he actually enjoyed relaxing and is thinking of doing the same trip next year. We did go to Chichen Itza and see the Mayan Ruins. That was our touristy thing and it satisfied his sightseeing cravings.
Here's some pics from our fun, relaxing week.

Saying goodbye to the white stuff!
This is the way to start a vaca in the morning on the plane. Hey! There's coffee in there!

The resort was gorgeous! Lush greenery along with little paths leading to the restaurants, the beach or the pools.

Heading to the buffet



Dan and Jenn


Our Chichen Itza adventure:
When we left the resort it rained for the 2 hour drive. Then it cleared up for the rest of the day. It was a wonderful experience and our guide was amazing!




A little further away was the Cenote Well which is a sacred well where many of the human sacrifices were held. This is where they put body remains...ewww. It didn't smell but it sure looked rancid..


Another sacred well, ik Kil Cenote is a well where sacrifices were not allowed and swimming or diving is encouraged. We all wore our bathing suits but Dan was the only one that actually swam. We just didn't want to deal with wet suits and all the drying off, changing, etc. He loved it though!


That's Dan in the center looking to his left
A view from the bottom looking up
Dinners were amazing. We had choices of restaurants including a buffet, Italian, French, Mexican, and Japanese.
Paul's ready for his Mexican cuisine
The making of fajitas was really impressive.
Paul and I had sushi for the first time at the Japanese restaurant. It was VERY good.
The spinach ravioli with gorgonzola cheese in the Italian restaurant was TO DIE FOR!
The whole place and atmosphere was so relaxing. I felt as if I was on another planet tucked away from everyone and everything (although we had free wi-fi lol).

This is the lobby as we walked in the front entrance.
 We found some very unusual critters. They looked to us like Lemurs but we found out they're from the raccoon family.



They also had some beautiful birds..I wish I got some pictures other than this one..


The whole facility was gorgeous! Even the public bathrooms were a sight to see with pools and fountains inside!
Reminds me of a spa
Our room. To the right was the bathroom..all marble!
Here are some pics of the grounds..

Just on the other side is the pool. It has these little cabanas so you can sit away from the sun if you wish.

They have little cabanas on the beach too but I think you pay for those. 



This is pretty much what I did EVERYDAY. I brought too many clothes as we only got dressed for dinner LOL. 

So I saved the best for last (in my opinion on a level of fun). We met an amazing couple, Vivian and Dean from Chicago. Our last day and night we spent with them-mostly at the pool.

Vivian and I in the pool
It was Dean's birthday so they brought him a cake and sang Happy Birthday at the french restaurant.
One of the pools


So the last day we went pool bar swimming! Kind of like bar hopping but we swam from bar to bar. We met some more friends along the way and our last day was really, literally a blast!



We had a good size group.



Under the falls I go








So, you get the idea..that the pool was fun! And, right now we're under a winter storm warning and we're getting lots of snow so here's a bit of sunshine and warmth!

As always....