THIS WOMAN NEEDS A MASSAGE!!

Well today I had 2 temps to help me organize the storage area at work. They did most of the work, but I was tugging and pulling boxes for them to lift and stack on the shelves we had. The 2 temps and I worked from 7:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. (we had an hour for lunch) on that storage area. It was alot of work but it got done and it looks marvelous!! I can't wait until my one boss gets back from vacation on Monday to see his reaction. He told me before he left that it probably would take a month even with help to get it organized and we did it in 1 day!!

Potting up the plants at work today!

Today I get to play in the dirt at work! No I'm not an excavator, but I am a gardener! I bought 14 plants for the office and this morning I will put them in new pots, fertilize them and get them to the appropriate offices. Atleast I love doing this and will have some fun!!

Play this Game of "Your Favorite Things"!

I saw this game on another person's blog and it looked fun! Give it a try!!

Sport: Competitive Horse Jumping
Game: Scrabble
Color: Emerald Green
Movie: Scarlett Pimpernel
Broadway play I have seen: Les Miserables
Broadway Musical I have seen: Phantom of the Opera
Song: Just the Way You Are~Billy Joel (it was our wedding song)
American city I have visited: New York City
Foreign city I have visited: Derry, Ireland
Book: For My Daughters by Barbara Delinsky
Children's Book: Little House on the Prarie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Classic television show: Mr. Ed
Recent television show: CSI (any of them)
Actor: Pierce Brosnan
Actress:
Perfume: Pleasures by Estee Lauder
Food: Steak cooked medium
Dessert: Cherry Pie ala mode
Chain Restaurant: McCormick and Schmidt
Local Restaurant: Miros
Car: Mustang
Condiment: Ketchup
Kitchen Appliance: AGA Stove
Home Appliance: Computer
Beauty Product: Powder foundation
Piece of clothing: Long black evening gown
HGTV Show: Curb Appeal
Food Network show: Paula Deen
Author: Dorothea Benton Frank
Male Songwriter: James Taylor
Female Songwriter: Sarah McLaughlin
Holiday: Christmas
Ballet I have seen: Swan Lake
Disney character: Cinderella
Flower: Roses
Alcoholic drink: Mojito
Non-Alcoholic drink: Unsweet Tea
Magazine: Victoria
Animated movie: Lion King
Television network miniseries: North and South
Season: Spring
Male vocalist: Josh Grobin
Female vocalist: Nora Jones
Day of the week: Friday
Household Chore: Vacuuming
Ice Cream: Eddy's Vanilla Bean
Candy: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Artist:Claude Monet
Quotation: The Earth Laughs in Flowers- Ralph Waldo Emerson




Now, how about playing too?

Today I went plant shopping for the office!

The office needed some real live plants. I offered to go shopping for some plants, which I would pot up, water and fertilize. I really don't like fake plants especially since our office is suppose to be "green". I bought 10 plants at Home Depot and I still need 4 more. I bought palm trees, dracena, rubber plant, bird of paradise, peace lilies and 2 other plants I don't know what they are. Tomorrow morning I will repot these plants and place them throughout the office. It should look so much nicer and cozy!

Miros Spanish Grille was a hit!!

John and I went to dinner at Miros last night with our friends from the neighborhood and it was wonderful!! I don't know why in the 4 yrs. of living here we hadn't eaten there before. I had Churrasco de Cerdo, which is:

Seasoned pork tenderloin topped with chimichurri sauce, served with black beans, plantains, and white rice.

John had Mero Azafran, which is:

Grilled fresh grouper fillet with sauteed jumbo shrimp in a light saffron sauce, served with spanish white rice

I also had my first mojito and it was wonderful!! I love mint and this drink is so refreshing!! For dessert John had the chocolate lava cake and I had 3 meal cake, which was to die for!! I am putting this restaurant at the top of my list!!

The company was wonderful too! Our neighbors are such exciting people. They are traveling alot of the time. In the Fall they are going to VietNam and Cambodia. This spring they had gone to South Africa and late Spring to Mexico. They showed us a map of the world when we stopped by their house before we went home and there are so many little brass pins where they have been. They don't brag though about all the things they have done, they tell you such interesting things about the places they have gone!! They have brought beautiful artifacts home with them from where ever they have visited too! I was especially interested in the Raku pottery, which was just exquisite!!

I just took a walk around the garden and I thought I'd share!

I think the Carolina Jasmine is taking over our lantern!! I guess the Carolina Jasmine loves the column and lantern!!




This hosta blossom just looked so beautiful there in the garden. It is blooming on my Avocado hosta I planted last year.




The Rex Begonia has grown about twice it's size so far. I am going to take some cuttings from the back to make other plants.




My banana tree has grown so much over the last few months-just had to share!!

It is a little overcast today here in Charlotte so I thought it would be a great day to take photos! Hope you enjoy them!!

New Book

Starting a new book today! It's called The Richest Season by Mary Ann McFadden. Here is the Amazon blurb on it:

A quirky charm takes the place of easy answers in this midlife tear-up, originally self-published by debut author McFadden. A neglected corporate wife for 25 years, Joanna Harrison rebels when husband Paul receives yet another move-necessitating promotion. Before they go, with her children grown, Joanna gets in her car and leaves their upscale Jersey digs. Ending up at Pawley's Island, S.C., Joanna meets Grace, an elderly artist who has a house on the ocean and needs a live-in companion. A floundering Paul heads to Pawley Island to try to woo Joanna back, but soon has further crises to face. Skillful plotting keeps pages turning, and McFadden quickly has readers rooting for intriguing Joanna, on the cusp of change.

Picture of a Lake in NJ where I used to live

I just thought I would share a picture my son-in-law took when we were at the wedding in NJ in June. This lake was about 15 mins. from my house. The wedding took place on an island called Vesper Island at a 4-H camp. My girls and the bride were campers there every summer. It is so beautiful there! Alot of people don't even know that these beautiful places exist in NJ. Northwestern NJ, where I lived had some really amazing and beautiful places. Enjoy!

The Office Move is all Done!!!!

Well the moving van moved on out of Myers and Chapman at 6:30 Friday evening-YAY!! They were able to get everything done all in one day, which is amazing. They said I had the office and warehouse amazingly organized and made their job much easier and smoother. I don't know about that, but I do know I worked my behind off!! I worked on Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and then on Saturday from 8:00 to 12:30 p.m. There is a little glitch with the phone but nothing that can't be fixed early on Monday. The voice mail isn't showing when there is a voice mail but you can retrieve your voice mails from your cell phone. They guys will just have to do that until they have it reset. The internet is working, the phone (except for the vm retrieval), the fax, copiers and everything else is working just fine! I am relieved this is over and looking forward to moving on in my job. I have officially retired my role is "moving coordinator"!!

Laundry Room Tile Job

Finally done with the laundry room last night! I can now try and relax a little when I get home from work (aka the looney bin for this week). Just thought I'd show y'all what I've been working on.

THE OFFICE IS MOVING RIGHT ALONG

Well the office is almost all packed up and ready to roll on Friday!! Everything is finally getting done and all ready for the new space. It hasn't been easy motivating 25 guys to pack up all their things and move to the new space. They really like the new office, but they want everything done for them. A few of them have been really helpful. Yesterday I was ready to change my name to anything but mine-LOL!!! We have had a lot of kidding around though and little tricks played on each other-that has been fun. One estimator tried to get out of his office but someone had rolled their dolly of crates blocking his door (this was done on purpose) another project manager came back to his office filled totally up with crates (this was also done on purpose). Fun stuff like that. It has been kind of like leading 25 kindergarten children through a candy store!! I probably won't be posting on my Blog until either Saturday late or sometime Sunday. See y'all then!!

Re tiling our Master Bath 7-13-08

This is where I have been all weekend! We had tiles coming up on our master bath floor, so I pulled all the loose ones up, coated them all with adhesive and reset them. That took me almost all day Saturday and part of today. I lifted and reset about 56 tiles!! Needless to say my back, legs and knees are shot tonight!! Ouch!! As you can see they are all done and ready to grout tomorrow night after work. I also started to break up the cracked tiles in our Laundry Room. The tiles couldn't be matched so John started ripping them all up. After I finished with the Master Bath I'll start putting the new tiles down in the laundery room and grout them. This is all in prep for putting the house on the market. I can't wait for those 2 rooms to be done! It looks nice though.

John's Ride-along at Lowe's Motor Speedway

John getting in his suit for his ride along




John speeding by in his Napa Car at Lowe's Motor Speedway




John and his girls at the Lowe's Motor Speedway

The girls had given John this ride along gift for Father's Day. He had a really great morning going 180 mph!! The girls wanted to give him something unusual and they did-he had alot of fun after his heart got going again!

Gloomy Day Here in Charlotte, NC

Today is rainy and gloomy out! TGIF!!!! My office is moving to its new location in 1 week. I hope everything goes smoothly. I have been the moving coordinator and it hasn't been easy that's for sure! Trying to move 26 men and 5 women never would be fun or easy!! So far everything is right on schedule and I hope it stays that way!! Everyone have a great day!

Terrible Thunder, Lightning and Rain storm

Oh my on the way home from work today there was a terrible thunder, lightning and rain storm!! I could hardly see and my trip home took 1 hr. I don't know how much rain we got but it had to be a few inches in a relatively short time. I was very glad when I pulled in the garage. The lightning was beautiful but frightening at the same time!

We really liked the Realtor that came to our house tonight. She will be doing some comps and some research for listing our house. It will be listed in about 1 week. She really loved the house and said she was really excited about selling it. She and I have alot of similarities in our lives too! I'll keep everyone posted!

Shrubbery clipping today

I managed to trim and shape 24 shrubs today! My lower back is really feeling it. I just took some Aleve and Tylenol for it. John went behind me and picked up all the trimmings and there was alot!! The front gardens look wonderful now. With the house going on the market and Jenny's wedding it looks so much better.

ENJOY SOME FIREWORKS PICS I FOUND ON-LINE!

Just saw these fireworks pics on line and thought I would share them with y'all for the holiday!! ENJOY!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe and fun 4th of July!! We are going to a picnic at Megan and Ken's house. We will be the only ones there, but it will be nice and relaxing. We may go to her neighborhood pool if it isn't too crowded. I hope everyone takes a moment to say a prayer or send some thoughts to our service men and women who are making our country safe! ENJOY!!!!

TEDDY IN THE TUB!!

Well last night I tried to soak my toes and do a mini-pedicure-Teddy, our Golden Retriever had other ideas!! Here I am soaking my toes in the whirlpool tub and Teddy hops in the tub, plunks his behind down and stares at me!! I gave up the idea of a pedi of course, and gave Teddy a bath. He looked marvelous when I got done and he definitely smelled better too! Just thought I'd share my funny story!!

Keep us in your Prayers

Well my husband found out yesterday that the 2 underwriters we underwrite for are pulling out of NC. That leaves us with one and they will probably cancel all agency agreements in NC too because of the economy. He'll look for another job, but at 54 that isn't easy these days and also because of the economy. We have faith that something will come our way but we are probably going to put the house on the market too. We will have to wait until Jenny and Kevin's wedding is done because it is all set up for our house. We might put it on the market now anyway with a closing date after the wedding, which is 8/30. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers-every little bit helps.