Lazy Saturday

Sometimes you just need a day to veg out...so that's what we did.

Here's hoping everyone had a restful day!!

What Fun the Snow Can Be!

I have to share this fun in the snow with all of you - how cute!!

The snowman is cute...but look at the snowdog beside it...I love it!!

The Snow Has Arrived

Well, it's official...it snowed.  A lot....which alone is not that big of a deal.  The 4 foot ice block wall that the plow truck left blocking my driveway this morning...not good.  I kicked it, I beat it with a shovel and I finally resorted to trying to jump it, which I managed successfully after many tries.  Many.  Did I say many?  There will surely be some talk from my neighbors that were, no doubt, watching from their windows (probably with a cup of coffee and a warm bath robe).

Ok, I feel better after venting.  I am safely at work now and will block out the drive home and the idea of tackling my driveway until later.

While the snow was flying last night, it was quite beautiful!

But there was some thunder so Levi was nervous.  We snuggled.

Stay in if  you can today and be safe!!!!

Baby It's Cold Outside!!

OK, not today...it was actually pretty nice today.  What weird weather swings.  Yesterday I spent the day in PA with my mom.  On the drive up, it was a balmy 8 degrees outside (yikes!!!!)

Yes, I know that's a lot of miles on there...she's a good old girl though, I think she has another 100K in her!!

I kept myself warm with the cozy back warmer.  It is supposed to be a butt and back warmer, but the butt portion went from burning a hole in my left butt cheek to going out completely.  I hope my car doesn't catch on fire.  At least not with me in it!!  Does insurance cover that?

I also enjoyed a yummy bowl of oatmeal on the drive.

In the mix:
1 cup of oats
1 3/4 cups of almond milk
1 banana
1 handful of walnuts
1 handful of cranberries (sweetened ONLY with juice - I love cranberries and most brands sweeten them with sugar - what's the point??? - these I LOVE)

It was delicious and hit the spot!!

Mom is getting a little better, but it is going to be a really slow process.  Her shoulder was essentially hanging on my a what amounts to a piece of dental floss.  It's supposed to be attached now, but has a long way to go.  Then...shoulder #2...she is a lucky girl.  That must be where I get a lot of my crazy luck in life :-)

Today was a 1/2 work at the office and 1/2 work from home day.  I am loving this new situation.  I can be productive at work during the day, then head out and go for a run, shower, have some lunch, then jump back into it at home.  I can run down the street to work for awhile at a coffee shop or the Mexican restaurant with free wi-fi...I know, weird, but, hey, a change of scenery makes ALL the difference.

The prediction is 6-8" of snow for tomorrow...we'll see!  Happy Tuesday!

Here I Am....

I know I have been missing in action...just not taking the time I would like to stay current here.  I am going to try to turn that around...

So, the past week...

Levi and I have been sticking to our running plan.  He is VERY dramatic when we finish up though...see a pattern here?

I probably look like that too, Cooper just hasn't figured out how to use the camera to catch me in action!!!

I also tried to drive into DC.  Yes, you read that right...me...drive...DC.  For those of you that have never driven in DC, this might not seem like that big of a deal.  It is a HUGE deal.  Apparently DC is worse than New York City.  When there was a left turn option on my Garmin, there were actually 3 left turn options....no lie!  Whichever lane I happened to be in when I turned left was the left I took and it was ALWAYS the wrong one.  I spent 4 hours in my car going to the convention center that is 35 minutes away and didn't ever stop my car.  I saw some sights along the way...

All unintentional of course...but pretty nonetheless.  Let's just say that after some serious hyperventilating, some panic of not having a bag to throw up into in the car, I realized that the Metro was made for people like me. It's not public transportation because people that live in the city don't have cars, it's for people that live outside the city that are dumb enough to think they can drive into the city.  DC is not meant for driving!!!  I wanted to kiss this when I saw it:

I also made some big changes at work over the past week.  I am "phasing out", not at all in a negative way, in a very positive way.  I've been given the opportunity to design my job the way I want it.  It is starting with spending less time at the office.  I have a lot of personnel responsibilities, so this will be gradual, but great for me...a goal I am really looking forward too.  I worked for a few hours in my home office the other day.  I usually have a line of people outside my office door.  At home, I have this:

He's cuter than most of the people that are usually at my door!! :-)


Mom also had surgery, so I went to PA to spend some time with her.  She is a bionic woman!!!

That's it in a nutshell.  Tomorrow is the start of EOD posting.  Every other day...that's my goal.  I would like to eventually get to every day, but I don't want to jump into toooo big of a commitment too soon.  I have some other business plans in the works as well. so I'm learning to balance my time correctly.

I wish everyone a wonderful week!!!

Where I've been for the past week

I wish I could say I was off on some tropical vacation, but no....just running around like a crazy woman and not taking the time to concentrate on posting.  I'll get the week long recap together and post tomorrow to share....  Stay tuned!

Mindful Giving

I have been blessed with an amazing life.  No, I am not finishing up a bottle of Merlot or asleep as I write this.  I've been through many ups and downs, more in the last couple of years to make up for the next couple of lifetimes.  But, when looked at as a whole, those things have nothing on me.

To some degree, giving has always been a part of my life.  I like helping others where I can.  The start in this goal for 2011 is to make my giving more mindful, more purposeful.  I want to really think about the giving I already do and really look for opportunities to give elsewhere.

I plan on continuing my current giving - FCF church, American Red Cross, Girls on the Run.  I'm also going to reach out more - I took on my first shift at the Cold Weather Shelter in Frederick last week.  WHAT A HUMBLING EXPERIENCE!!!  That is something that made me believe that first sentence even more!! These are not people in some third world country, these are people from my community.  They have nowhere to go.  It broke my heart, but it made me feel like I was exactly where I needed to be to help and it made me take another look at my life and the gifts that I have.

Here's another chance to join me...try mindful giving.  Up your giving in the new year.