It's still cold and icy...

The cold and snow continued this morning. I managed to stay in and try to stay warm. One of the issues I have with living without a thyroid is that I can chill quite easily, and once I am cold, it takes time for me to warm up again. (Along with that, if I get too warm... I cannot regulate it and I get overheated. Rarely is there ever a middle balance to it.)

When I get stressed... the cold issue increases for me. I was very stressed last night... in hearing that my brother and his family are going to ride out the flood at home after being asked to evacuate. They did it last year... because they only had a 5 minute warning. This time, they came around very early door to door and asked people to leave. They brought some of their appliances and cars up to my sisters. What really stressed me was that my brother dropped his phone into a puddle... and there is no insurance on it. He's on my brother-in-laws plan and he would have to purchase a new phone at full price... or maybe with a 20% discount. They have had their phones for a year. I told him to go on ebay and buy another one to replace it and I would take him through how to activate it when it came.

I'm off track here... that was One stresser for me. The other is the fact that several people that I love and tons of people that I know are going through a tough night and day, waiting for the rivers to do what they will to a sweet little town that is still recovering from a 100 year flood from last year. I was up til the wee hours of the morning, on facebook and on several other websites, watching the river gauges and praying. I finally had to quit around 3ish sometime.

DH knew that I was stressed... and he quietly got up for work, dressed and filled his lunch box without waking me or Nolli. He even left me the sweetest note about it. I did wake up at 6:30, and he was long gone. So, I walked Nolli and we went back to bed to watch the early morning news. Because I was so cold... I stayed in bed until 11 this morning trying to rest and get warm. Tonight, we are trying to relax... I'm trying to stay off facebook... I want to see pictures and I have a friend that works at my old church... she's been taking pictures of the Skookumchuck River all day. If the river goes as high as they think it will... this is gonna be a bad one!

I'm exhausted... thank goodness for leftovers for dinner. DH is such a good man!

Thanks for reading... Be blessed! ~Suzanne

What a day...

We woke up to an ice storm this morning... the same one that hit the midwest. Poor Ham was up early and called the *"a$$hat" to let him know what the weather was doing. The a$$hat told him that the weather was just fine down his way... (which happens to be 80 miles south and a much lower elevation) and that he had better not be too long in getting to Philly this morning. He has no idea of all the closures and liberal leave notices are on the tv, let alone how thick the ice actually is. Ham got up and got going on the road by 6:30. I spent my morning praying.

(* asshat - One who has their head up their ass. Thus wearing their ass as a hat. Asshat -taken from the Urban dictionary )

I have continued to work on boxes in the guest room. I have worked at sorting all my Christmas storage bins. I have a huge stack of boxes ready to go to the loft in the basement. Ham finally got to the lights on the windows tonight. We have finished Christmas... finally!

I pretty much have most of our everyday things put back into place. Tomorrow, I will really dive into deep cleaning, with moving furniture and polishing everything. Ham has to be on the road really early tomorrow, thankfully I have his lunch ready to go into his cooler. Just ordinary, everyday stuff.

Tonight, I will spend the most of the night in prayer... lifting up my home town as they batten down for another great flood. My brother came to my sisters tonight, they were bringing their appliances and cars to the hill for safe keeping. They had water in their home with the last flood and this one is suppose to be worse than that. With all the snow the Pacific Northwest has had it's now going to melt along with the 6-10 inches of rain that they will get... not a good combination for an area that really just began to recover from the flood from Dec. '07. Please join me in lifting them up in prayer... along with the rest of my family and also my home church. If the dike does not hold... the lower level of the church will have water up to the ceiling. My sister said she would keep me posted.

PS~ I have several friends on facebook... if you all can, please post so we all know what is going on!

Thanks for reading... be blessed!
~Suzanne

A Quiet Day

It's been a quiet day around here. Ham had to get up at 5:30 to be out the door at 6:00 for the drive down to Philly. (Per new company policy, the first hour and the last hour of his drivetime is now on his own! Grrrrr....) After getting everything ready the night before... it doesn't take me long to assemble his breakfast and lunch. And today... little dog slept in... it was too early for him to go out.

I did the usual domestic chores... and tried to go back to sleep around 7:30. I was watching the Today show with little dog curled up next to me to keep warm. That lasted until about 9:00am when Ham called. He wanted to know if he had any open warrants for his arrest... his Area Supervisor told him that he had looked him up on the Maryland Court System and that he had open warrants. I told Ham, that... a) there were no open warrants at all... b) the only thing that would be open would be for child support... and c) his Supervisor was an A$$hat that was being a friggin jerk and was extremely unprofessional!!!

I must have stewed and fussed and fumed around here for a good hour... it's a good thing that I am so far away from the head office.... That took some rude, impudent NERVE to 1) actually look someone up that you work with, and 2) actually tell them about it and admit to looking up everyone in the company!!!! What a total a$$hat.

On a lighter note... I went to the flower shop today. It was extremely quiet. J had received the first shipment of Valentine's product and it was great fun to go through it and shelve it with her. After we were done... we did the right front window and it turned out lovely... for really having nothing to work with. We did a huge wicker vase filled with two-tone pink peonies on a pink backdrop covered with white tulle. It is very pretty and screams "Flower Shop" as you drive by.... Oh, to have the money to buy this little shop and transform it into something wonderful... that would be a lovely thing.

Tonight... we are in the midst of an ice storm. The snow came early and coated everything... then it started to freeze. Now we have a heavy, frozen fog coming down... it should make for an interesting morning with lots of delays. Ham has to drive to Philly again tomorrow at the request of the a$$hat. I made something really good and easy for dinner... Hawaiian Meatballs, herbed rice done in the microwave, and fresh peas. It hit the spot and was ready as soon as Ham was done cleaning up from a dirty day. I also made a huge bowl of buttered popcorn... done the old fashioned way, on the stove. It just tastes so good that way, with real butter and good salt. The perfect anecdote to a rather rough, but quiet day. Ham has walked Nolli tonight and says that the driveway is coated with ice... poor guys.

Thanks for reading... be blessed!
~Suzanne

I am not #1 anymore!

Everyone who knows me, knows that I love and adore my pets. My own Mom has said that if she believed in reincarnation... she would want to come back as one of my dogs. (I am not kidding... she really said that!)

I love and spoil my dogs. When I had my wire fox terrier... Dottie, she was a frequent flyer. I took her along with me when ever I could. She loved the ride down to the tarmac, and the handlers loved taking her because she so enjoyed it. She would stand in her crate and look for me... and wag her tail with all she had once she spotted me. She was a lot of fun and I miss her.

When I adopted Canolli, I was single and living with a different partner... and even tho it was a total of 3 years that we were together, Nolli was what brought me the most joy and was the glue that was holding us together. When I left... I took the him because I knew that my former partner would not be responsible and give him good care.

When I first started to go out with Ham... having him meet Nolli and seeing if there was any kind of issue was important. They seemed to hit it off... and in the course of the past year, that relationship has blossomed. Ham gives him treats, prepares his dinner for him and lets him lick the spoon when he's done mixing his food for him. They play and do tug-of-war and tag. Ham takes him out at night for me.

This past weekend, we were snuggled in, watching tv on Saturday night. It was cold and we like to watch tv in bed when it's cold. Nolli will often get up on the bed and lay across my end of the bed. Sometimes, he will want to snuggle... and he will gently come up for hugs and kisses. I had left the room to get something to drink and came back to find this:

That cutie-patootie had taken my place! He got all comfortable and warm on my pillow next to Ham. What on the heck???

I do acknowledge that it's my own fault for spoiling that little guy... and it's my fault for giving up being top dog... (altho as far as obedience when outside... Nolli still listens to me, Ham just hasn't done the leash training with him.) So... yeah, I get what my Mom was saying.

Thanks for reading... be blessed!

~Suzanne

Still in De-Clutter Mode- Sweet Sunday Love

Still working on various projects within this little house. All the Santa's have gone back into storage. I've been trying to work in collections...and only half of my snowman collection has been boxed up. I will get all them boxed and put into storage by the end of the day. Then I will begin working on the tree... some of the ornaments will go back in the boxes and bins they came out of and others will be going into storage in the guest room closet because they are wax.

I am so looking forward to getting everything clean and straightened up. I miss having everything back in it's normal place. Once that is done... I can begin to work on some old and new projects. I just can't do it until I get things back under control and livable again.

DH has been home for the last 4 days. He's been very helpful in the kitchen, he's made breakfast once, he's helped with shopping, and he's done dishes several times as well. He has been wanting to learn some of my cooking techniques and he's done well in observing (and eating!) We will be going back to our regular life (and programming) this coming week. He's also gotten enough stuff moved that I can actually park in the garage... wooohooo! That's some real progress. I can't wait to get finished in the guest room as well!

Off to get to work on stuff!
Thanks for reading... be blessed!
~Suzanne

De-clutter

Yep... that's what I am doing today. I finally realized what was "eating at me" for the last couple of days. It's all the clutter... so I am at it with a vengeance today... cleaning all the way. My Mom would be so proud!

And while we are at it... DH is going through the house again on a project to keep this little house warm. We have discovered a few more air leaks and DH scored some good heavy plastic to remedy the situation. I am amazed at how a few simple things can make such a huge difference. He also added new weather striping at the front door, half of it was missing. I knew I felt cold air at my back when I was sitting in the kitchen! All of this will make such a difference in our heating bill. Already there is a difference in how often the furnace kicks on!

My next project will be the desk and bookcase in the computer area. DH had some of his work stuff here for a long time. He has moved off to a new desk, but hasn't taken all of his stuff with him. It's going to find a new home in the other office area very soon. I am very ready to begin my "early spring cleaning" in all areas. (My sister also does this at this time of year as well.)
So... I'm off for now to keep cleaning! Thank you to my friends who have lifted me up in prayer... it's working!

Thanks for reading... be blessed!
~Suzanne

The New Year

I've actually been in a contemplative mood all day. Everyone always does the "resolution list" but I don't really like to... because I set myself up for failure. I rarely ever remember that I've made a list, let alone try and either stick to or do something about it. It's just the way I am wired these days.

So.... I guess I will try to do the thing that I try to do everyday... breathe deep and slow, pray more... in conversational prayer, and try and listen. I will try and add praise music, that use to be a major part of my day when I drove to work. I don't get in the car much these days, that music needs to come inside for the winter.

And... try to find my patience and my sense of humor and joy. I had great joy a year ago... and I had great joy 7 months ago. I am not sure what changed... (more likely-ME!) but I want that back again. (I'm pretty certain it has to do with all my medicines and not taking them right now.)
And to find a job that will suit me and meet our needs. That's all. Remember me in your prayers, I do need them... this has not been the best day for me. Thank you.

I appreciate your reading my post! Be Blessed!
~Suzanne