Sunday, January 31, 2010

Snow Fun 2010

Well, Casey, I, the dogs, and the cats have been snowed in since Friday. It started snowing early Friday morning. By noon it was getting treacherous, so Casey and I decided to head home. The university decided to shut down at 1, and they've been shut down ever since. So, I managed to snag an extra long weekend. WOOT! When the snow was finally said and done, we had nearly 6 inches on the ground at the house. We've just basically hung out, watched t.v., and played out in the snow with the dogs. The dogs have enjoyed the snow, nearly as much as we have. I'm sure that their paws got a little frosty, but they didn't seem bothered in the least. I had to take the puppies out one at a time, because there was a lot of ice with our snow. Everything was slippery, and it was easy to fall down. Here's a little video that I made with the new camcorder that Casey gave me for my birthday. It's of Indiana, Fergie, Jack, and Trixie out playing in the snow. There's more videos of Shingo and Molly out. I'll download those and post them up tomorrow.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

So Cool!

Yesterday, I had to go to a workshop for work. It was held at the Brentwood Public Library. Let me tell you, THAT is one AWESOME library! They have the most amazing Children's Room there. I could actually stay in it all day long!! I was just completly in awe of it, so I can only imagine what the kids must think. Have a look at some of the pictures I took there.

Entrance to the Children's Room.

Tree beside the entrance. The owl is motion activated and will talk to you.

The backside of the entrance.

Entrance to the Children's Story Room.

Stone bench by the entrance to the Story Room.

Entrance to the Story Room Door.

Story Room door ceiling.

Stained glass window behind the stage in the Story Room.

All over the room, there were these huge floor to ceiling trees. There were little birds in the trees, and you could hear the chirping. It was so nice and peaceful there.

The walls of the Story Room entrance were REALLY neat too. On one side there was an animated carving of The Wizard of Oz.

I love that room so much. It makes me wish that I was a kid again!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

The Water's Fine!

After a 3 week hiatus, I finally got back in the pool over the weekend. I was worried that I had lost a lot of ground, while I was sick. I was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't all that bad. I managed to swim a 1750 meter workout on Sunday afternoon. On Tuesday afternoon, I made it through a 2000 meter workout. I even managed to get ripple drills and dolphin kick drills done on both days! I'm starting back to practice on Thursday afternoon next week. I'll be learning the butterfly stroke, working on my starts from the blocks, and breastroke. I'm not sure when my next meet will be. I was awfully disappointed that I couldn't go to the Kentucky meet, but I was just too sick. I just want to be prepared.

After my first swim on Sunday, my mood picked up considerably. I went around like some happy, laughing, idiot from that point on. I was so happy, even Casey commented on it. He's decided that chlorine is a happy drug for me. I'll be back in the pool tomorrow afternoon. I hope that swim is as much fun as the others have been for me this week.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Birthday Wrapup

I had a really fantastic birthday on Saturday! By the time I got up on Saturday morning, it had snowed about an inch more. The roads were all covered. It was SO cold and icy, that Casey and I decided to stay in for the day. Now I know that doesn't sound all birthday exciting, but I REALLY enjoyed my day. First, we went over to my Mom's house next door to have breakfast and coffee. I got some money and a cute outfit from Mom. Casey made me both a birthday lunch and dinner. For lunch, by request, he made his famous Casey burgers for me with french fries. For dinner he made the jambalaya that I requested. He suprised me with birthday desert, which was chocolate chip mint brownies and my very favorite, peppermint icecream. He gifted me with a Panasonic Camcorder with a 70x optical zoom! It will be great to make really good videos of the puppies and also on the cruise this year. I'm SOOOO excited. Now, I've just got to get one of those 32 gig SD cards!! All of my friends on my Lovearat.us board and on Facebook sent me birthday wishes. All afternoon, I stayed piled up on the sofa under my polar fleece blankets with the puppies in my lap watching Hallmark movies. I REALLY liked The Wishing Well!! It was a FANTASTIC birthday, and I didn't even leave the place!

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Where Is the Snow?

All week long, the weather forcasters have been predicting this HUGE winter storm that was going to hit us. Everyone got ready. The stores ran out of milk, bread, and various other things. The roads are all brined. Every school system in Tennessee closed last night for goodness sake. We-were-prepared!! As usually happens, when we are prepared, a whole lotta nothing happened. There are just a few flurries. I'll have to say, I was really looking forward to the snow. I wanted to stay home snuggled up on the couch with the puppies and read a good book all day. Instead, I'm at work, nodding off, drinking a cup of hot coffee.

I've always wondered why the groceries run out of milk and bread here, when snow is predicted. Is this a phenomenon only here in the south? Do New Yorkers run out and buy only milk and bread, when a blizzard is predicted? There was actually a local news story about how Purity Dairies couldn't keep up with the supply of milk demanded. The news mentioned this morning that, "if you have milk in your refrigerator this morning, you're lucky." What can you possibly make with just milk and bread? My friend Loki says that snow makes everyone hungry for French Toast. What would you make if you were snowed in with only milk and bread?

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Catching Up

Well, I was uber sick during the Christmas break. I ended up in bed with meds starting 2 days before Christmas. I was finally able to get out of bed on New Year's Eve. I certainly feel cheated of my break!! SHEESH! Anyway, I didn't do a lot of Christmas celebrating. Here's a few shots that I actually felt like taking.

The dogs on Christmas Eve snuggled in their blankets.

On Chrismtas Day, I managed to drag myself over to Mom's for our Christmas Day get together. I did do a lot of napping on her couch, during down times. Jack went over with me and had doggie Christmas cake with Mom's dog Moon Star.

The dogs made a HUGE haul from Santa. In fact, they got WAAAAAY more Christmas cards than Casey and I did!! Santa brought them a new dog bed, a new pack of Nylabones, a Kong Wubba, a pack of flavored tennis balls, and a big bag of treats! Casey got a gourmet pepper mill, fuzzy pajama bottoms, a Lowe's gift card, and snuggly house slippers. I got a new outfit, a beautiful cross necklace, a chrome diopside gem ring, a marcasite crown ring, and a Lowe's gift card. Not bad!

After another trip to the doctor's office, I was finally feeling better by New Year's Eve. I got cleaned up and Casey and I took Mom to New Year's Eve lunch at Demos' in Murfreesboro. Then we just piddled around for the rest of the afternoon. After we got back home, we went to New Year's Eve services at church. They had a little get together after services, which we all enjoyed. We had dinner over at Mom's house. By that time I was wiped out, so Casey and I went back home to ring in the new year on the couch. Here are some shots of us, as the ball dropped on 2010.

Casey and Daisy.

Me and the puppies ringing in 2010.

Me and Casey at midnight.

Friday, January 01, 2010