this weekend

was an absolutely fabulous, rain drenched, adventurous, just what I needed weekend.
how's that for a concise description?

Friday
it was already pouring cats and dogs
and I wanted nothing more than to go home
straight home
do not pass GO! do not collect $200!
but I toughed it out.
went to the gym with kim
for a killer leg workout
and I'm so glad I did.
it rejeuvenated me!

when I got home, dan was already in chill mode
we caught up on
Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia
(one of our favorite shows)
4 episodes of hysterical, ridiculous comedy
tried to watch The Office
which didn't record! grrr!
need to get our hands on that.
ate a make-shift dinner of a gala apple
and an organic strawberry pop-tart like thing
and went to bed early :)

Saturday

Dan and I slept in
I don't think we got out of bed until
almost 10am
that has to be a record
Dan put on Miami Vice
{I said 'no thanks}
and brought some organic wheat bread
with organic peanut butter and some fresh fruit
back to bed with me
caught up on some episodes of Planet Green
I had DVRed (yes, those DID record properly! figures)

I spent most of the morning cleaning out the closet
switching out the summer clothes
{sniff sniff}
finally the rain seemed to let up just a little so I figured I'd brave a wet
walk-jog outside.
I swear, this new health kick has me feeling really great
hopefully this is the start of something really great
and not just a fluke
but it felt so great! I ended up staying in the driveway
because the trees were protecting me from the worst of the rain
and I only lasted about 25 min
before I was soaked through
but I did well
walking to the end of the driveway on one end
and running back :)

Then Dan headed out to meet the guys at the brewhouse
and I headed to Panera for dinner
and to chat with my favorite girls on Lifetime Moments
After that I did my shopping at Whole Foods
headed home around 9 to clean the kitchen
(a wild Saturday night for me!!)

Sunday
more cleaning
mopping
the works
then I went for another
walk/jog in the rain
came home and DJ had come by to visit
chatted with him for a bit
showered and made lunch
homemade pizza! mmm
attempted to scrap
only made a few cards and lost steam
watched too many episodes of Gilmore Girls
to admit to
while chatting on LM with the girls.
made a new pasta dish for dinner
(olive oil, basil, pine nuts, aspargus, broccoli, carrots, spinach)
got a burst of energy at night
finished the laundry, ironed, did the dishes
then relaxed a little more

it really was a great weekend.
felt great to lay around and be lazy
but also got the house cleaned
tried some new things:
like this non-dairy ice cream
its surprisingly delicious!!

and now its time for another work week

time to get to it!

be busy --> be fit and be green

this week is exactly the opposite of what i thought it would be.
working til 6p every night i thought i would be

--over stressed
--over tired
--over worked
--under worked-out
--unhappy
--unorganized

and yet the opposite is mostly true.
don't get me wrong, i wouldn't want to do this every week, but for this week, i can't complain.

the run-down

i'm back on track with working out and it feels great!
monday: shoulders & cardio
tuesday: cardio
wednesday: biceps and triceps & 1 hour zumba class with becky at night
thursday: day off
friday: legs

i also read the book Skinny Bitch this week
its a non-fiction book written by these women who are, little did i know,
trying to get others to become vegan.
i am going to do a whole post about the amazing things i learned from that book
for now, suffice it to say. i'm being extremely conscious about what i eat
{{{with a few minor slip-ups...}}}
but being conscious about what i put into my body is good.
i feel SO much better than i did even a week ago.

back into a good rhythm and that feels great.

i'm also trying to get back on track with my Green efforts
which of course goes hand in hand with eating well :)
i found a brand of conditioner that I really like so far
i got this one
$6.99 at target
not much more than i usually spend!
and my hair is manageable and shiny! works for me.

i was also in need of some new make-up as my old Avon stuff ran out
i opted for some Physician's Formula all natural make up
and I'm really impressed with that too.

still struggling with toothpaste, deoderant, the rest of my make-up and hair products. but slowly but surely i'm getting there and i'm happy with my progress.

work
it has been a bit of a crazy week there
but
i haven't had as many meetings as i usually do
george has been confined to his office
interviewing candidate after candidate
for these new positions that will fit into
the restructured version of nursing non-clinical leadership
so he stops in every once in awhile
we get to touch base
and he answers my questions
and i can update him on stuff real time
which has worked nicely

other stuff

• got to have lunch with my friend katie who celebrated her 30th birthday today! happy birthday!
• mom sprained her ankle and fractured her left foot last saturday :( still waiting to hear what they need to do. if she tore a ligament that will mean surgery! :( poor mumma.
• talked to kris today and she has bronchitis and willy's got a fever

ok i guess that's enough for now.

tootles! adeu!

beauty is on the inside...

dan and i are in our third month of living in the house

its coming along

slowly but surely

small and large projects all happening simultaneously

this--->

is clearly an example of a large project

dan got to tool around in the back

hoe on saturday digging us a 'moat' all around the house (the footings for the deck and porch will be placed in the holes).

Emelyn said we should fill it with water and put pets in there, like fish.

If we get any rain in the next week we might just have to!

so this is what you'll see if you drive up to our house right now

not so purdy

but it will be

so that's how dan spent his saturday.

i got to enjoy it a bit more, going to the second hand baby sale with kris, where we met up with emelyn and oisin. then we went to strawberry fair for a late breakfast and on to homegoods where i finally found some pictures to put above our bed.

we came home for a little while in the afternoon (aka mid-digging)... things got a bit hairy from there. kris feeling sick. kids needing to eat, matt coming over with will who was hungry... then dan dug too deep with the backhoe and hit the culvert to the garage... hauling the shop vac up... it was FUN! anyways... it was a long day. great to see friends and hug the kiddos.

emelyn was her usual hysterical self... she loves dan so much its just adorable.

at one point she's kneeling on the couch looking out at dan as he's digging in the side yard...

i said: "Emmy, what do you think? Do you like our house?"

Emelyn: "Yes. Its a lovely house.... {long pause. then a dramatic sigh} but I just can't wait for Dan to come inside the house."

me: "yeah?"

Emelyn: {long dramatic sigh, looking longingly outside}

TOO STINKIN' CUTE!

Also on Saturday, at 11:30am, Ellen and Shawn welcomed their new daughter into the world

Alannah Paige

I've only seen pictures but I can already tell she's beautiful

Danny went to meet her after work today!

Congratulations!! :)

Sunday was a little more calm.

Dan and I cleaned the house in the morning.
Then he got ready to watch football and eat steak tips with Steve, and I headed out.
Chatted with the girls care of the free wifi at Panera.

Then stopped at Whole Foods.
I was so proud of myself. I got all my groceries for the week there.
AND, I scored an excellent recipe for Acorn Squash which I went home and made.

As many of you know, I'm not the world's greatest cook (we have Krissy for that :) but I figured I'd take advantage of a cool Sunday afternoon to be a liittle adventureous... so I brought home an all-natural rotisserie chicken (like i said, I wasn't going crazy here!), but roasted the acorn squash and made asparagus.

and since i rarely cook, and since it was so gorgeous and fresh looking, i had to snap some pictures. a good opportunity to try out some settings.

the picture of the squash i actually took through the window in the oven :)


ok that's all for now. this has taken me all week to get up!

have a good night!

Your Green Education for the Day

care of Seventh Generation...

got this from their latest newsletter
(I bolded some of the especially eye-opening ones)

• Average number of pounds of paper used annually by every American: 680
• Number of trees required by every American to meet their yearly demand for paper and wood products: 7
• Percent of the U.S. waste stream composed of paper (by weight): 35
• Gallons of petroleum saved by recycling one ton of paper: 380
• Number of trees saved by recycling one ton of household printing paper: 24
• Number of annual pounds of carbon dioxide absorbed by those 24 trees: 353
• Cost equivalent of flood protection provided by U.S. coastal wetlands: $23 billion
• Medium estimate of the annual value of all the goods and services provided by nature: $33 trillion
• Annual output of the total world economy: $44 trillion
• Percent increase in U.S. socially responsible investment funds from 1995-2005: 300
• Value of all socially responsible investments in the U.S.: $2.29 trillion
• Reduction in the estimated value of a single human life by the current EPA administration: $820,000
• Percent increase in the incidence of cancer, adjusted for median age, from 1972 to 1999: 24
• Percentage of American women who will face cancer at some point in their lifetime: 39
• Percentage of American men who will face cancer at some point in their lifetime: 44
• Estimated number of synthetic chemicals currently in production: 80,000
• Approximate number of approval applications for new chemicals received by the EPA each year: 2,000
• Percent of all chemicals for which human and environmental safety tests have yet to be performed: 90
• Amount of equivalent human energy contained in 10-1/2 gallons of petroleum: 4 years of hard labor
• Approximate total amount of wind energy released by a typical hurricane: 1.5 x 10^12 watts
• Approximate total amount of current global electrical generating capacity: 3 x 10^12 watts
• Estimated amount of global ocean wave energy recoverable using current technologies: 7.5 x 10^14 watts
• Percent of total world energy output consumed in the United States: 26
  Percent U.S. energy demand grows each year: 3
• Approximate percent of additional energy needed to wash clothes in 140° water vs. 104° water: 100
• Percent increase in U.S. water use per person since 1950: 127
• Number of gallons of water wasted by a leaky faucet dripping once per second: 2,700

Thursdays with Willy

Thursday night with Willy....

Yep, you heard that right. Thursday.

Tuesdays are sooo last year ;)

yet another fuzzy shot of him... he looks good even in fuzz!

I swear this kid got bigger in the past two weeks!! He's so tall and boy-like! So smart and so sweet. I walked in, he hopped right up, grinning and then laughing, waving to me until I thought he might hurt himself!! :) You don't get a welcome like that everyday

some things about willy these days...at almost 14 months old

things he can SAY

Mama

Dada

Up (mostly just the P sound ;)Down

MORE [see Cheerio pictures and you'll see he's got that mastered]

All Done

Wow

Oooohh

Bye

Yeah

Again

Book

Ball

If he keeps making this face he'll need to learn to say "I'm a little devil!"

Things he UNDERSTANDS
(he might not be able to verbalize it, but he gets it)

Give hugs
Give kisses
Do gentle (or nice)
Want some Cheerios? [response "OOOOHHHHH!!!"]

Where's your head?
Where's your belly?Where's your nose?
[he points]

Willy NO [sometimes refuses
to listen, but he gets it]

smile for the camera (doesn't need to be said- i just have to turn it on)

get your book
get your ball

that winning smile!

blowing me a kiss :)

sweet boy!

he makes the "mwwaaa" sound too!

this was him crashing into me...

then deciding to stay and cuddle for a minute

look at those eyes

he's also moved on to CLIMBING.
kris is thrilled. i can tell!

this is his toy/blanket bin in the livingroom

he can cimb up on it

pulling up on the window sill

peering out

dad was mowing the lawn

{i wish i could have gotten his face in there too. he was just giddy with excitement that he was up there AND could see his dad!}

p.s. this kid has NO bum! LOL! look at his little jeans. too freakin funny!

plumber meets rapper :)

and the grand finale

standing on the box

TIPPY TOES!!

this kid has no fear!

and apparently knows little pain

did you see the gorgeous cut on his head? he fell smack down on the pavement in an attempt to bend over. Terri said he cried for a couple minutes and was over it! :) what a trooper!

and finally, some cheerios!!

mmmmmmmmmm

piggy!

weekend update

weekend update

saturday




Saturday I hung out with Riley for the day. I went over to her house around 7am, and we played in the morning. She loves her play mat and especially this mirror. Any doubt that she's a girl? I don't think so ;)


Look at that smile!






Cutie little face!

















kind of a funny face, but i still like this shot. look at those gorgeous eyes :)














then we went over to Grammy and Pepere's house.

poor girl had a runny nose that just wouldn't quit... as many times as we wiped it, it just kept up. but she was a trooper.











so strong.
standing on Grammy's lap.




















flying!!!!!!!!















and some snuggle time with grammy
(pepere's still recovering from hernia surgery or he'd have been hogging her ;) he did get to feed her once though. that seemed to satisfy the craving).

so we had a fun day. after Grammy & Pepere's, we met Krissy and Willy at the mall. Got some lunch and walked around a bit. Riley took in all the sights then promptly fell asleep every time we got in the car!

sunday

danny and i cleaned the house {fun fun fun}

then i headed to kohls while he started the football marathon!

i got a BUNCH of great fall stuff on sale :) so my work wardrobe won't look so pathetic.

then came home to a house full of boys (and maureen) to watch the game.

John, Steve, Shawn, Mike and Maureen spent the afternoon with us.

Mike & Maureen brought lobsters and pasta salad (for the seafood eaters)

and I made a chicken pot pie for us picky eaters.

good day spent with friends and some yummy eats!

and now its back to the grind.

another hectic week ahead.

i'll post when i can!

ugh

i really stink at this.
work's been too busy

i've been fighting this cold
or whatever it is
for too long now
sick of being congested
the sound of my own voice is driving me nuts!!!

haven't had much motivation to hit the gym
which sucks
feeling flabby
but not feeling like there's much i can do about it...

wow, i'm just a ball of sunshine huh?

in more up-beat topics-
the weekend was great

friday night-
spent the evening
at the Crop Shop in Rockland
i scrapped for the first time since June
it was so much fun!

saturday-
cleaned the house during the day
relaxed for a few
then headed to whitman
hung out at matt, krissy and will's :)
just chilling with 3 of our favorite people in the world
but- we stayed out FAR too late
got home around 2am!!!!

sunday-
slept in to compensate for saturday night
erika arrived around 11am
to color my hair
we got that started
and wilson and jollsie arrived
to watch the Pats game
i then got a trim during the 2nd quarter :)
talk about convenient.
they left after the game
i scrapped while dan watched still more football
it was a great afternoon
relaxing, cuddling, scrapping
just hanging out at home
on comfy couches that fit both of us comfortably

now its back to the grind.
another hectic week

looking forward to zumba with becky tomorrow night.
babysitting riley on saturday

good things ahead.
just gotta get there.
have a good day folks!

guess that last post title was apt

life sure is busy! busier every day it seems.

work
busy
hectic
changing
too much work
too little time
staying late
hopefully it will be getting better in the near future
some changes going on around here
don't have all the details yet...
nothing to worry about persay
just the need to adapt
which will be fine :)

working out
off and on
when i can
staying late at work cuts into the gym time
last night i went to a zumba class
with becky & her friend kaitlyn
leslie and cheri! :)
it was sooo freakin fun
its basically like dancing
short combinations (probably about 10-12 in 1 hour)
even if you don't quite get the steps
you just move
and move
sweat and sweat
we were literally dripping with sweat by the end
but it felt great!
think i'll be adding that to my wednesdays for the next 8 weeks
[thanks becky!!]

the house
we've got siding on most of the house
it looks so great!
a far cry from the garrish blue

we've done a little work on the inside too

dan hung shelves over the couches to display some of our stuff:

and here's a shot of the kitchen (sans curtains)- not sure if i got one with the hutch in there yet.

and finally a shot of some of the gorgeous flowers in our yard

these sunflowers just sprouted in the backyard (that's my kind of gardening-- no work required). and a beautiful rose of sharon bush that leslie and larry gave us as a housewarming gift! (thank you!!!)

ok more later.

i know i'm a terrible blogger!!!