Later

I am obviously taking a hiatus from blogging. I don't know if I will return to blogging or not. As I have said in the past, I do just about all of my "keeping up" on Facebook now. If anyone would like to keep up with me on Facebook, look me up under "Joy Earle Rianhard" (my real name) and send me a friend request. I wish everyone well, and see you around!

I received the "One Lovely Blog" award from Merle.

The rules of the "One Lovely Blog Award" are as follows, Accept the award
and post it on your blog together with the name and link to that person.

Pass the award on to 15 bloggers, new or old with names and links. Then
notify the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I don't know if I know 15 bloggers, so I will just pass this along to everyone on my blog roll:

1. Fred

2. Sonia

3. Peter

4. Nik

5. Mike

6. Jack

7. Linda

8. John (my dad)

9. Lora

Thanks, Merle!

Ding Dong The Witch is Dead

My office manager (who is a heinous bitch) has been on vacation for the last few days. We just found out today that she won't be returning to the practice. Cool!!!!!!!

I have no idea if this has anything to do with the threatening letter situation or not.

There is speculation that she may have been embezzling money from the practice. It wouldn't surprise me.

My supervisor has been promoted to the position of office manager, and I think he will be a much better one than the last one!

A Weird Situation

I just found out that my boss has been receiving threatening letters at his home. For reasons not shared with us, they suspect an employee or someone related to an employee. I don't work for a big company, we only have about a dozen or so employees including the 2 doctors. This is very creepy. I hope someone doesn't show up one day with a machine gun and "go postal"!

The Bucs Suck

The Bucs did not do better against Buffalo, nor did they do jack s**t against the Giants. Not a good start to the season!

We had a great weekend with my Mom and Dad. We went to the beach (gorgeous day) and visited the Florida Aquarium in Tampa.

I have a couple vacation days to take before the end of the year, so we are planning a trip to Victoria, TX for Christmas. We will stay with my parents while we're there. We'll get a chance to visit my Grandmother, who isn't getting any younger and rarely gets to see us and Trevor.

Well, have a great week everybody!!!

Visiting

Well, my Mom and Dad are here visiting. The house is still fairly clean. They took us out to dinner last night and we may go to the beach today. Trevor is just excited that his Grammy and Grandpa are here!

Maybe the Bucs will do better this week against Buffalo.

An Exciting Weekend

I spent this weekend cleaning my house in preparation for my parents' visit next weekend. Now I plan to watch the Tampa Bay Bucs destroy the Dallas Cowboys (I hope)!

Confessions of an Ebay-aholic

The CSN concert was awesome! They did all the songs you would expect and then some. 2 sets, approximately 2 - 2 1/2 hours of music. We really enjoyed it!

Sorry I haven't posted more often, but I have been busy on facebook and shopping on ebay. I love to shop on ebay - I have found some really great vintage clothing items very reasonably priced. Some of my favorite clothes are things I got on ebay (shoes too)!

We are getting ready for Labor Day weekend in Key Largo, as we do every year. Then 2 weeks later my Mom and Dad (Trevor's Grammy and Grandpa) will be here for a visit. We can't wait to see them and i know they are looking forward to seeing their grandson.

Trevor has just started VPK. I don't know if this is offered in all states, but in Florida they have a Voluntary Pre Kindergarten (VPK) program which is state funded. It is every Monday thru Friday from 9:00 - 12:00. I also pay for "wrap care" meaning I take Trevor there around 7:30 - 8:00 in the morning and I don't have to pick him up til 5:30. It is cheaper to have him in VPK with wrap care full time than it was to have him just in preschool 3 days a week!

Come Sail Away

Crosby, Stills & Nash tomorrow night - babysitter is lined up, we're good to go!

We are going to Key Largo for Labor Day weekend - hope the weather is good.

I just booked a Carnival Cruise for next May. It will be our tenth anniversary, so we are treating ourselves to a vacation without Trevor. My parents will come stay at our house and take care of Trevor while we are gone. I can't wait! Neither of us has ever been on a cruise before, so it should be an experience.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Bills and Concerts

I am so sick of paying bills. I just got paid today and sat down at the computer to pay bills and now I'm depressed. Most of my paycheck is gone... but at least I am working and can pay my mortgage and bills, even if there's not a lot left over!

Well, it's official. Aerosmith has cancelled the remainder of their tour, including the make-up appearance here in Tampa. I will be able to get my money back for the tickets thought, and that will help with the bills!

Our next concert will be August 22 - Crosby Stills & Nash. It's in a smaller venue and should be an excellent show. Will keep you posted.

Plans for this weekend - clean the house. Probably no beach this time because it's supposed to rain all weekend.

Success

Our camping trip was a great success! we have a Ford camper van with electricity, water, a fridge and a/c so we were very comfortable at the campground.

We got to the campground about 5:00, set up camp, did a little exploring (Trevor did, anyway), grilled steaks and baked potatoes, and roasted marshmallows. Then we went into the air conditioned camper and watched a DVD then went to bed. Trevor slept on the floor in a sleeping bag, which he thought was really cool.

The next morning, we got up, packed up, and headed to the beach. It was a beautiful day and the water was nice and warm - we stayed for 3 hours and Trevor and I got sunburnt.

All in all we had a great time, especially Trevor!

Weekend Plans

Trevor has his first pool party coming up on Saturday and he's very excited about it! After the party we are heading down to Fort DeSoto Park, about an hour away. We have reserved a campsite and are taking the camper van to stay overnight. We plan to grill out and roast marshmallows, then hit the beach on Sunday morning. Should be a good time and relatively inexpensive.

My Addiction

I was notified by my dad the other day that I have been a very bad blogger. I agree. i could make all kinds of excuses why it's been so long since I posted, but there's really only one reason. I blame it wholeheartedly on my addiction to Facebook. I am on there all the time, much more frequently than I am on Blogger. I am already friends with some of you on Facebook - if anyone else is on there and wants to be friends, email me here and I'll look you up.

I don't intend to stop blogging. I enjoy it, and I enjoy reading all of your blogs and commenting on them.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Concert Update

Well, we didn't get to see Aerosmith last night after all.

I had received an email that the show was going to be postponed, but on Friday the local radio station assured listeners that the reports of the show being cancelled were false and the concert would go on.

We dropped Trevor off at the babysitter's and drove to Tampa (about 45 minutes). As we were approaching the location of the concert we realized that there was no traffic, so we suspected the show had been cancelled after all. Turns out it was. They are supposed to reschedule their appearance here in Tampa, so hopefully we will still get to go.

Since we had already left Trev at the sitter's and were all the way in Tampa, we decided to do something else rather than just go home. We called a friend who knew someone that was having a party so we went to that instead. It was fun, but it wasn't Aerosmith!

Latest Concert

We are going to see ZZ Top and Aerosmith in concert tonight. It should be a good show. We saw Aerosmith once a few years ago and Steven Tyler was pretty impressive. I hope tonight measures up! Will give you a full report!

Random Stuff

I have been dieting for two weeks and have lost 5 pounds! If I would just get off my lazy ass and exercise, I would have probably lost 10. oh well...slow and steady wins the race, right?

I am so addicted to Facebook, it's not even funny. I am currently involved in 2 farm games, Mafia Wars and a Pirate game. Way too much time to waste, I guess.

Trevor's swimming lessons start up again on the 29th. He has been practicing at the beach and is so ready to see Ms. Olivia again!

I recently had to replace my alternator to the tune of $300. Now I am over my budget this month and pretty broke. At least all the bills are paid!

My iguana escaped a couple weeks ago. Fortunately we got her back after a couple days. The neighbor's dogs alerted us to her whereabouts.

A Good Deal

I got an email today that my subscription to the newspaper had expired and I needed to renew right away to avoid an interruption of my paper.  

I realized I was paying $60 for the year to get the Saturday and Sunday papers only.  We never even read the Saturday paper, we really only want Sundays.  So I decided to call and ask if we could cut out the Saturday paper and get a cheaper price.  

I was initially told that the price I was paying was the price for Sunday papers only and that Saturdays had been thrown in as a bonus, so they couldn't go any cheaper.  I told the gentleman that it cost us $1 per week, therefore $52 a year, to get the paper out of the machine down the street.  I said we would prefer to do that than overpay for a delivered paper.  

He then put me on hold so he could speak with his supervisor about getting us a better deal.  When he came back on the line, he informed me that he could get me the Sunday paper only for $48 for the year.  I took the deal! 

See, it never hurts to ask...I'm thinking about doing the same thing with the cable company!

Swimming Lesson Update

I told Trevor earlier that it was time to get ready for swimming lessons.  He replied, "I don't want to go!"  I was like, "What!?  You don't want to go?"  He said, "I don't like Mr. Lyle.  I only like Ms.  Olivia."

I couldn't believe it - he is usually dying to get to swimming lessons.  I told hubby about it and he said Trevor had told him the same thing earlier today.  We had also noticed that Trevor wasn't doing as well in the lessons during the last couple sessions with Lyle.  He wasn't showing any fear, he just wasn't doing what he was supposed to nearly as well as he had been.

We went to the pool and I asked Olivia if there was any way Trevor could get into one of her classes.  She said not this time, but next month he could.  

We asked Trevor if he wanted to wait 3 more weeks to swim with Olivia, or swim today with Lyle.  He opted for Olivia.  So for a $20 fee, we pulled Trevor out of this session and signed him up for next session WITH OLIVIA!!!

We'll see how he does.

My Little Swimmer

Here are some pics from Trevor's last swimming session in May.  His teacher's name was Olivia and he adored her!  We signed him up for lessons through June as well, but he has a different teacher this time, named Lyle.  More pics to come.

Gay Marriage

A topic that came up in conversation among some friends recently: gay marriage.  Do we believe that two people who want to make the legal and emotional commitment to each other should be afforded the same rights and the title of "married" whether they are a man and a woman, two men or two women?  Or do we believe that "marriage" defines a relationship between a man and a woman only and cannot mean anything else?  How do we determine which is the "right" answer? 

A Trip to Lakeland

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend.  

We went to Lakeland, FL on Saturday to visit my husband's older son from his first marriage.  Zac is 36 and has been in and out of jail for most of his adult life.  He seems to be doing pretty well this time, he's working and saving money and staying off drugs (so far).  Zac will be in my prayers because I really hope he makes it this time, both for his sake and my husband's.  

We did our normal thing on Sunday - went to the beach.  We were too lazy to put the boat in the water this weekend, although it would have been a perfect day for it.  Oh, well, there's always next time!  

We are going to Key Largo next weekend for Memorial Day.  We will drive halfway down in our camper van, then stop at a truck stop and sleep for a few hours.  We will get up Saturday morning and get to the Keys early, so we will have all day Saturday, all day Sunday and come home Monday.  It is about 5 1/2 to 6 hours total drive time to Key Largo from here.

Weekend Update

Happy Mother's Day to all!

We have had a great weekend.  Yesterday we hit the beach around 11:00 AM.  We had hoped to go sailing, but there wasn't enough wind so we just stayed at the beach.  We got home around 1:45, showered and went next door where our neighbor was having a party.  We hung out for a couple hours, then our babysitter showed up at 5:30.  We went out to a restaurant and had some drinks and appetizers, then went to a movie.  Yesterday was our 9th wedding anniversary!

Today we slept in, then went to Mother's Day brunch at a country club here in town.  We had eggs benedict and mimosas and all that fancy brunch stuff.  Now we are prepping to hit the beach again and hopefully do some sailing today.

Too bad tomorrow's Monday!!!

Swimming Lessons

We just got back from Trevor's second swimming class.  He is in lessons all month, every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.  Trevor has been in the water practically since he was born, but has never had any swimming lessons before.  They started him out in a class with 2 other boys at least a year older and one little boy about the same age.  They were trying to teach them to put their hands together in front of them and kick with their feet.  The other kids were picking it up quicker so today they put Trevor in a class with smaller kids who were more at his skill level.  He may not be the fastest learner, but he is having a blast.  He cries on the way home because he wants to swim some more!

Parrotheads in Paradise

We saw Jimmy Buffett in concert last night.  It was a great show as always!  A Jimmy Buffett concert is basically like going to a huge party with great music.  We had lawn seats, so we sat on the grass behind the regular reserved seats.  Everybody around us was friendly, beach balls were being batted around, we danced and sang, hung out and drank beer, and had a good old time!

We almost didn't get to go.  We had our regular babysitter all lined up, but when I called her that day to confirm the time, she said she was just getting ready to call me.  It turns out she was very ill and had just returned from the ER.

So I called a coworker who has a teenage daughter who sometimes babysits.  Unfortunately it was the last minute and she already had plans so she couldn't do it. 

We ended up calling a friend who lives in Tampa who actually was available.  The only problem is he lives 45 minutes away and doesn't have a car.  We drove to Tampa to pick him up, brought him back to our place to watch Trevor, then drove back to Tampa again for the concert.  Then this morning I drove our friend back to Tampa yet again.  That's a lot of driving but Buffett was well worth it!

Art

This is a picture my 4 year old son painted in preschool.

A Mad Tea Party

My almost 4 year old son had a tea party yesterday.  It was really cute.  He had his little table and 4 chairs set up.  Each place had a cup, a plate (really a coaster) and a napkin.  He served crayons for snacks, and carefully placed some on each coaster.  He then pretended to pour "tea" from his cup into all the other cups.  The best part for me was the guests.  In one chair he had a big plastic lizard, in another his toy phone, and in the third chair he had one of the attachments to my vacuum cleaner.  Now that's imagination!

Repairs

I drove home from work yesterday and when I pulled up to my house I saw two cop cars and two other cars out in front and several people standing around talking to officers, my husband among them.  

So I started to freak out a little, parked jumped out of my car, and walked over.  first words out of hubby's mouth, before I could even ask what happened, were, "Look what some a**hole did to our fence.  

I looked down and saw that the board that runs along the bottom part of the fence right there had been pulled loose from the fenceposts and even broken in one place.  Also our garbage can, which had been standing right in front of the fence, was totally smashed in.  It was obvious someone had hit it with their car, most likely backed into it and then took off.  

Pissed me off, but should be easy to fix.  Now I have to fix this myself, can't call the landlord anymore - welcome to home ownership!!!  

The cops were there because hubby had called them to report the damage.  One of the other cars saw the cops there and stopped to report some totally unrelated incident of I don't know what.  The other car stopped because apparently the occupants of the two cars knew each other.  Whatever.

Happy Spring!

Sorry it's been so long since I posted.  I had wanted to post some pictures from the ski trip, but am having some difficulty with that right now.  So, onto other things.  

My dad did a post about going back and reading old blog posts that you had written.  I started reading thru some of mine and decided this one could use another go-round.  I'll use it to embarrass Trevor when he's older.

It's hard to believe it's the first day of spring.  This year is just flying by.  We have already been to the beach a couple times (though not in the water) and it seems like last week we were wearing coats and bitching about the cold!

Piano Men

Billy Joel and Elton John were awesome.  The show started at 7:45 and went on 'til about 11:oo.  They started out together on two grand pianos facing each other.  They opened the concert with "Your Song", then did 3 more together.  Then Elton took the stage and did a set of about 10 of his own songs.  He is a hugely amazing piano player, and very entertaining.  After that, without a break at all, Billy Joel came on with his band and did about 10 of his songs.  He is a great piano player too, but he also rocked it out with the guitar and twirled and threw the mikestand and stuff like that.  Really fun!  At the end they came on together again and did six more songs, ending with "Piano Man".  Terrific show!!!  

Catching Up

We are basically all moved in to the new house.  There are still shelves and pictures to be hung and boxes to be unpacked, but we are totally out of the old house and into the new!

Next big event - concert next week.  Billy Joel and Elton John.  Together.  Two of my faves on the same stage at the same time - should be awesome!

Trevor is adjusting well to his new school.  He has been a little clingy and whiny when I drop him off, but once I'm gone he does fine.

In this economy I thank God every day that I have a good secure job and a house which I can afford to pay for.  Life is good!

We're Back In One Piece!

Well, we made it back from the ski trip relatively safe and sound.  3 of us on the trip came down with colds, but that was pretty minor.  There were no real illnesses or injuries. 

 I did ski into a wooden sign, like an idiot, but fortunately I did not hurt myself.  

Trevor had a great time learning to ski.  He learned to go fast, but didn't really master stopping.

Pictures will be coming soon!

Now to concentrate on closing on the house and packing and moving...

100th Post

I know I haven't been posting much lately, but have been sooooo busy.  I have been packing for the ski trip, packing to move, working, etc.  

For those of you who don't know, the "Ski Trip" is an annual event in our family.  my mom and dad, sister and brother and law, another couple (friends of the family), hubby, Trevor and I all meet up in Colorado and ski for a week.  We always have a great time.  This year Trevor will be in ski lessons for the first time.  I am excited to see how that will go.  

I have also been packing for the move.  My kitchen is filling up with boxes and my house in general is a mess.  Oh well.

We saw The Eagles in concert last night.  It was an awesome show, they sounded great!  I found out today that my two bosses had also been there and our seats weren't that far from each other.  We didn't see each other though.

I will post again when I get back from Colorado!

What Crack?

The crack in the wall is no big deal.  It's a concrete house and they shift slightly.  Everything is a go-ahead, except our closing date was pushed out to Feb. 8.  Yay!!!!

_________________________________

O.j. Simpson died and went to hell.  The Devil met him at the gate and said, "I don't know what to do here.  You are on my list and you obviously have to stay, but I have no room for you.  OK, here's what we'll do.  I have some people who weren't as bad as you so I'll let one of them go, but you have to take their place.  I'll even let you choose which one."

O.J agreed, so the Devil opened the first door.  Inside was Ted Kennedy and a large pool of water.  Ted kept diving in and coming up empty handed.  Over and over he dove and kept surfacing with nothing.  Such was his fate in hell.

"No," said O.J., "I'm not a very good swimmer.  I don't think I could do that all day."

The Devil then opened the second door.  Inside was Al Gore with a sledgehammer and a room full of rocks.  All he did was swing the hammer, over and over and over.

"No good", said O.J. "See, I have this problem with my shoulder.  There's no way I can break rocks all day."

Do the Devil led him to door number three.  Inside was Bill Clinton, naked and tied spread eagle on a bed.  Bent over him was Monica Lewinski doing what she did best.

O.j. stared at Clinton for a moment , then said, "Yeah, OK, I think I can handle this!"

So the Devil says.......

"OK Monica, you can go now."

House Update

Well, the house is coming along.  We had home inspections done on Tuesday, and I have been running around like crazy trying to get paperwork together for the mortgage broker.  The bank (seller) wants to close on Jan. 26.  Apparently that is really fast.

Anyway, the inspections went well, except for one potential problem.  They found a crack in one of the outer walls of the garage.  It may not be a big deal, but it possibly could indicate a major problem.  So we have to have someone else look at that, which we are doing tomorrow.

This would all be a lot easier if I didn't have to work!!!

Good News

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was thinking about buying a house for the first time.  Well, I'm not thinking about it any more, I'm doing it.  We found a house we like and have been negotiating with the bank (it's a foreclosure).  They finally accepted our offer, so we are ready to go!  We are very excited about the new potential purchase.  The new house is in a different town, 11 miles from where we live now.  It will still be nicely centrally located for my job.  The only downside is that Trevor will have to change schools, but he's only in preschool so it shouldn't be too traumatic.

I also finally got an email issue resolved that has been plaguing me for weeks now.