Organization

For those of you who know me well, know that I'm the queen of organization. I can't help myself. It's the only way I function. So, this weekend I completed a new organization project. My closet. I've been wanting some sort of system since we moved in two years ago. Finally, I found a nice little DIY system at Lowe's. It's nothing fancy, just Rubbermaid. But it had all of the little components that I wanted and a low price tag. Sean helped me hang the hang rails and uprights and I finished it off with the shelving, rods, drawers and bins. I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the final result.

Now if only I could get Sean to let me organize his closet!

Blog's New Look

Notice anything different? I wanted to change the look of our blog for some time and just haven't had time to play and figure out all of that html code and other tech stuff. I found Simply Chic's blog with simple designs and very easy instructions on how to change the background. So, for now, here's our new look. It's different and still not too girlie so that Sean can blog on it too. :) I may have to play some more and see what I come up with.

My Favorites

I took these photos a few weeks ago. Sean and Winter were just sitting together on the front porch, hanging out. I do believe the saying that a dog is man's best friend. Sean loves her (so do I). She's a handful, but she is so much fun too.

Link

Assortment

We have been so busy these past weeks. Sean has been recording another CD and has spent some evenings in the studio and work has kept him moving as well. We keep finding projects to do around the house and end up decorating, organizing, and fixing way too often instead of just relaxing. And I started school this past week. Whew! What a whirlwind! In addition to the normally crazy start to a school year, it seems I have "that" class. You know, the one that makes you re-evaluate your career choice. I've heard the rumors since they were in Kindergarten and now it's my turn to teach them. It looks like I have my work cut out for me.

So, this long weekend was a welcome respite from the fast pace of life that we got ourselves into. Saturday was spent celebrating with our friends, Brian and Melissa, at their beautiful wedding. What fun! Yesterday, after sleeping in (a rare event) because Winter was at the kennel while we were away at the wedding, Sean and I fit in our old tradition of brunch together. He still fit in some household maintenance (touch up painting, hanging shelves and mirrors) at home and I spent some time at school getting things in order. Last evening, we were able to relax with his family. Today we were again able to sleep late because Winter was exhausted from her fun at the kennel (thank goodness!). Later, the three of us drove out to Mount Gretna and hiked the rails to trails. Winter loved it! She got to sniff to her heart's content, and many people stopped to say hello to her while receiving a few sloppy kisses for their friendliness. She was exhausted when we came home, so the three of us too a long afternoon nap. Ahhh! What a wonderful weekend! I feel refreshed . . . although not ready to go back to work.

Enjoy these few photos of our fluffy friend from today.

Ready to go on our excursion

Too tired from our hike to even stand up to drink

Ahh, refreshed!

Twas the Night Before

'Twas the night before school . . . and I'm feeling a bit blue. It's funny, but I get like this every year. I really like my job and I like to think that I'm a good teacher. Yet every year I get those "post vacation blues." So, here I am again at 8:40 pm on the night before the first day of school and I'm feeling a sadness come over me. Okay, I've been feeling it all day (ask Sean, I'm pretty sure he's been tip toeing around most of today). But I need to be thankful. Sean reminded me that I have a job and there are those in this country who have been out of work for some time. I also am reminded that this year I start out with a smaller class size than the past few years. Of course, I work with a fabulous bunch of teachers in a wonderful school. So, on this night before school, I am changing my tune and counting my blessings. Go away blues!

Big Dog

Winter is 8 months old today and around 60 pounds. She has truly become a little beast. Lately she has reverted to some of her not-so-acceptable behavior . . . digging holes in the flower beds, eating my petunias, stealing socks, carrying around the lawn sprinkler, chewing the watering can, chewing open a motor oil can and spilling oil everywhere. But in spite of it all, we love her. We keep saying that she's getting by on her looks. Here are a few new pictures. They prove that she sure is cute and that's why she's getting by. Enjoy!

Link

Happy "coming to america" anniversary, to me.

My mom reminded me earlier this week that we very recently celebrated our 16th year living in the USA. The exact date we arrived here was August 3rd, 1993 - or something close to that anyway. Every year at this time, a few memories glance across my mind as I recall those early days of us moving here.

1. Landing at JFK after a 24 hour flight from South Africa. We stepped out of the plane into the summer humidity, and for some reason the only thing I remember about that moment was hearing the Concorde take off behind us. It sounded like 100 tons of dynamite going off.

2. Seeing my Dad for the fist time in a few months. That was cool.

3. Feeling too tired and jet lagged to really absorb the moment, and the realization that I was in a different country on the planet.

4. MTV - the first season of "the real world" remember?

5. Beavis and Butthead. Funny no matter where you are from.

6. Thinking a big mac was just a huge meal, too much food. Now I supersize em.

7. Remembering that every time I spoke a word, my accent would give me away as a foreign person.

8. Remembering that every time my accent gave me away, I would soon be answering the craziest questions about where I was from.

Top 5 questions asked of a person from South Africa, now living in America.

1: Are your parents missionaries?

2: Are you from Australia?

3: Do you know (so and so) She/he lived in South Africa too!

4. Why did you come to Lancaster County?

5: Are you British?

6: Are there like, Tigers and stuff in Africa?

Here are the answers:

1. No. White people have been living in South Africa for 5 generations. Imagine that.

2. No. If I was from Australia, my name would be Bruce, and I'd be putting shrimp on the "barbee"

3. No. I don't have a clue who you know, or who you are even talking about. When we left, there were 42 million people in the country.

4. Because we just did.

5. No. But they sure do make great breakfast over there.

6. There are no Tigers anywhere in Africa. Tigers live in Asia.

So there you have it. I am now a taxpaying, voting citizen of this great land.

God Bless America.

Sean.

Boys

My nephews came for a visit! They live in Arizona and unfortunately, we do not see them very often. My mom flew out to bring them back to PA for about a month, so Sean and I took the opportunity to have them stay with us for a few days. If you are not familiar with little boys, let me tell you that it's non-stop action and words. But we loved it! We visited a friend's farm and pet the calves, climbed on big machines and had a picnic. We went swimming in our neighborhood pool and played on our neighborhood playground. We watched movies and cartoons. We chased Winter around the yard and played fetch with her. We read books together. We played airplane games on the X-Box. We went to the park and played on the playground, did art projects and visited the petting farm. We went for walks. We ate at McDonald's. We went to Hershey Chocolate World and Zoo America. Like I said, it was non-stop fun! Now that they are gone, I'm having a day of rest. Although, I will miss them. Winter does too. She spent some time yesterday looking for them in the bedrooms and on the couch. Where did those fun boys go?

Here are a few pics from our time together . . . Boys

Vacation

Why do vacations have to come to an end? Why isn't there someone here to make my bed for me every day or turn down the covers and place my slippers by the bed, take my order at one of five resort restaurants, or bring me a mojito by the pool? I want to go back to Mexico!

Sean and I spent 7 fabulous days at Dreams Resort and Spa in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We had a lovely suite overlooking the pool and the ocean. We would sleep in and then wander down to the restaurant of our choice to have breakfast. Then we would walk around the resort for a bit before heading back to the room to get ready for a day relaxing by the water. Sean would swim and float around while I basked in the sun or under an umbrella with a good book (or a good book that I downloaded onto my new Kindle 2). Many times we would take a late afternoon nap and then get dressed for dinner at one of the 5 restaurants at the resort. We did spend several hours one day riding ATVs and then another day down in Cabo by the marina. Sean spent a morning on his own in San Jose del Cabo, taking in the sites and snapping pictures while I lounged some more by the pool. I also treated myself to a massage . . . ahhh! The weather was a perfect, dry 95 degrees every day. The food and drinks were delicious. Life is good in Mexico.

Click to check out our photos . . . Cabo

Winter's New Do

Sean and I returned home from Mexico late Tuesday night (more on our trip to come) and were looking forward to picking up Winter from the vet where we had kenneled her for the week we were away. After last week's trauma, we were excited to have our puppy back. So Wednesday morning Sean headed off to work and I headed off to pick up the pooch. When they brought her out to me, this is what she looked like . . . (kind of like a black and white lion, big mane, skinny body).


Let me explain. When we dropped off Winter, we received the red carpet treatment. They were falling over themselves to accommodate our needs. After our horrific experience of having Winter's incision open up and thus having emergency surgery, the vet's office gave her a free stay in the canine courtyard. They also were having a vet check on her every day that we were gone. Great, we knew she would be in a good place and have time to heal. Before we left, Sean asked if they would be able to clip her down while we were gone. He specifically said that we'd like a little fluff on her, so clip her to about an inch or so. If they couldn't do it, that was fun with us. We'd schedule a grooming appointment after her stitches were removed. Sean called the vet while we were in Mexico to just check up on her. Sean again asked if they could schedule a hair cut and gave specific instructions indicating how we wanted her groomed and if it didn't work this time due to her incision, we were fine with that. I had a message on my cell when were laid over in Houston, saying that the groomer didn't feel comfortable clipping Winter at this time due to her stitches and Winter's "hyperactivity." Yes, she is a bit hyper, so we were fine with that decision. You can imagine my surprise to see my dog clipped down to her skin on her body and with a full head of hair. It was explained to me that since the groomer wasn't comfortable doing the clipping, a nurse did it so it's not as good as it would normally be. The nurse also did not do Winter's head since Winter starting biting at her (apparently something we need to work on). So our fluffy puppy is no longer. We have what looks to be a malnourished, rescue dog. Her fur is clipped completely to the pink skin in some parts, and in other parts there are clumps of thick longer hair. Why they just didn't follow our instructions to let it be if she couldn't be groomed, I'll never know. So Sean and I tried to at least make her head look like the rest of her body and this is the result of that undertaking . . .


She looks a bit pathetic. It's just hair and she'll grow out to be all fluffy again. But I'm pretty sure she's enjoying the "cooler" new do.