A Weekend in Leesburg, VA

I'm becoming a regular ghost writer. As in....I don't really exist to write. *snicker*

September and October are the WORST months ever known to anyone in the sales operations position in my current company. We work long hours and never seem to catch up on all of our work. Hence the reason I was so tired and non-existent this past month. But. Hopefully I'm back for a while now.

The past two weekends have been so much fun for me. My mom came down from PA to visit me both weekends. Last weekend we just hung out at my house because I couldn't really even stand up let alone walk. (I messed my back up again.) This weekend Mom and I went to the 72nd Loudoun Hospital Ladies' Board Rummage Sale. Would you believe they had an entire barn just full of books there!?! I ended up spending $17 for a huge box of books, 9 of which were Barbara Cartlands. P.S. Barbara Cartland's romance novels are my secret obsession. I also found a handful of old sheet music. Like 1920s and 30s old. Love it!

After the Rummage Sale we went to the Leesburg Outlets to pick up a few items. Of course we had to stop at the Yankee Candle outlet store. I found two of the most fabulous gift sets for under $10 each. Thing is, they are so fabulous I think I may just have to keep them for myself.

We then made our way into downtown Leesburg. My first time actually stopping there. I've driven through the downtown quite a few times, but have never had the time to stop and walk around. We had lunch at The Green Tree. The owner was our server! Really great food and such a cool little place. Once lunch was finished we wandered through the two antique stores across the street. Found an old skeleton key for Shayla at the first store and at the second store I found the crowning achievement of my entire day. Ready for this? I found a copy of The Vanishing Shadow with the Dust Jacket still on it! (that's a Judy Bolton mystery for those of you not in the know.) But, that's not all. I also found a Vicki Barr mystery and best of all! - The Finding of Jasper Holt by Grace Livingston Hill. Mom found that last one and I'm seriously surprised she still has any hearing left at all in her left ear. I think I honestly shrieked when she read the title aloud and asked it that was the book I had been looking for. Not too long after that second antique store, we decided it was time to head home. Well, technically it was my back and hips that made the decision for us. We are definitely going to be going back up there the next time Mom comes down for a visit though cause there are SO many other shops that we didn't even get to glance at that we definitely need to check out!

So, yeah. That was my weekend.

Oh. and then this afternoon, I shifted all my books around on my bookshelves. There aren't any more empty shelves left. *innocent look* No. I do NOT have an addiction to books. Not at ALL.

Silly Questions

Copied off my older sister at Daughter of Hope cause she thinks I'm most likely to follow in her steps. Hmmm. Guess I am.


1. What is your occupation right now? Wife, Sister/Landlord, Sales Operations Specialist, Mary Kay Independent Representative, and Piano Teacher (did I miss any?)

2.What color are your socks right now? socks? what socks!?!

3. What are you listening to right now? NCIS, of course! It's a back, to back, to back night!

4. What was the last thing that you ate? Papa John's Extra Cheese and Bacon pizza

5. Can you drive a stick shift? If I HAVE to

6. Last person you talked on phone with? Joseph

7.Do you like the person who sent this to you? I don't think I've got a choice. It wouldn't be very nice to not like my sister. (Of course, I like her!!)

8. How old are you today? 25 (yay! I'm a quarter of a century!)

9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? don't really watch sports, but I've discovered that I really enjoy watching late night Ultimate Fighter

10. What is your favorite drink? Dr. Pepper or 7-Up

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? haha! See post right before this one. LOL

12. Favorite food? Filet Mignon

13. What is the last movie you watched? well, as long as we're not talking the whole way through...Rocky Balboa...last night.

14. Favorite day of the year? every day I'm alive, actually

15. How do you vent anger? Ummm...can I not answer this one and say I did?...I tend to speak violently (as in...I would love to just knock that guy upside the head. or...can I PLEASE go blow that guy's house up!?!) I don't really mean any of it, but I do get verbally violent.

16. What was your favorite toy as a child? G.I. Joes

17. What is your favorite season? don't have a favorite. I love snow, so winter. Flowers and bright green make me happy, so spring. Warm weather and sun, so summer. Colors of all shades, so fall.

18. Cherries or Blueberries? blueberries, but only because I can't seem to eat fresh cherries anymore. I think i'm allergic. :-(

19. Do you want your friends to post this? Of course!

20. Who is the most likely to respond? Britt!

21. Who is least likely to respond? Alicia (she already did it!)

22. Living arrangements? two-story single family home. (live-in younger brother)

23. When was the last time you cried? Honestly? today. I was unbelievably frustrated with the lack of support that I get (or don't get) from my boss.

24. What is on the floor of your closet? flip-flops, joseph's shoes, the winter bedspread, and boxes

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending? If Leah reads this....her. Otherwise, I'll have to count my seester, Alicia.

26. What did you do last night? FB, watched TV, and started re-reading Eight Cousins

27. What are you most afraid of? never being able to have children

28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers? cheese

29. Favorite dog breed? that would be a Canaan dog (Boxers are my second favorite. I've got Rocky because Joseph doesn't like Canaan dogs.)

30. Favorite day of the week? Any day that I get off work on time. (NOT the weekend...I never feel relaxed after a weekend.)

31. How many states have you lived in? that would be three. (PA, FL, and VA)

32. Diamonds or pearls? diamonds. I don't care for either, but have found that diamonds match more of my clothes and other accessories.

33. What is your favorite flower? Daisies! (they're such happy flowers)

New Haircut

I needed something different. My roots were getting really bad with the yellow hair growing out and my hair was getting long enough to pull into a ponytail. Let me explain the ponytail comment...If my hair is long enough fr a ponytail, it never comes down. It's too easy to keep it pulled back. Plus, I don't really like having my hair on my neck. Weird, I know, but that's me!

So I went to a hair salon for my very first ever professional hair dye. My hair stylist's name was Paris, and she is an absolutely wonderful lady! She helped me choose the color to dye my hair back to a more normal state, then also helped me choose the highlights. Unfortunately, since I've never had my hair dyed professionally before, I had no idea how long it would take. I planned my hair dye and cut before my piano lessons this week. The appointment was for 4:30pm. Thankfully, I did go early. My lessons start at 5:30pm and I was late. I know! I couldn't believe I was honestly late to my second week of teaching piano lessons. Paris was fantastic though. She worked as quickly as she could to have my hair dyed before 5:30. We almost made it too! Not quite, though, so I ended up making an appointment with Paris for Wednesday at 5pm to get my hair cut.

Of course, the Wednesday appointment went spectacularly! I had taken in a picture that I found in a magazine of a haircut that I just adored so we did have something to go off of. And Paris, dove right in after just a few questions about the specifics of how I wanted the bangs cut and the length that I wanted the rest of my hair to be.

I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this cut! It's so easy and ME. haha. I know, I'm conceited. (it could be worse. I could tell you that Paris told me that she thinks I would be able to wear pretty much any style haircut because I have a good face for it. oh wait...i guess i just did. my bad.)

Without any further adieu...Here it is:

This is how I came home. Because I promised my bro-in-law's girlfriend pictures of the finished product, I took pictures as soon as I stepped in my house. You wouldn't believe the number of comments that I have gotten about looking like Lady Di for this hairstyle. But...that's okay because once my hair fell...I started to see the cut that I fell in love with.

This one. I LOVE it. Now, my hair is longer than it looks in this picture, but because most of it was tucked behind my ears, you can't really see the length. I will post more pics as I try out different ways to wear this haircut, but for now, would you mind sharing your opinion of this haircut with me? I will love it either way, but I do try to consider the people around me if they just can't stand the look. LOL!

A Day of Books

This weekend I was up in Pennsylvania visiting my parents and going book shopping with my mother and youngest brother, Stephen.
We started at the local library book sale where it was a Dollar a Bag day. Best book sale day EVER! When you go in, the "cashiers" hand you a plastic grocery bag. However many books you can fit in that bag is $1. Let me tell you, my mother and I have got the bag packing down to an art. Such an art, in fact, that I actually start to feel pretty bad about getting so many books for so little money. Usually I just shrug the feeling off and am just thankful that I was able to get so many good books. This time I didn't get that feeling, but I decided to request a third bag even though I was perfectly fine with just two. So I paid $3 for all of the books in the picture below instead of $2.

Not a bad haul for $3 if I may say so myself.

Next up, the Salvation Army store. They were having a 50% off everything in the store sale. I didn't get anything other than books. Yes, I only bought eight books there, but they didn't cost too much considering the 50% off deal. These eight books cost me $3.59.

Not too shabby.

And last but not least, the crowning achievement of my Saturday search for books. I have been collecting Trixie Belden books for years, but haven't found any in almost as much time. I've looked on eBay multiple times, but always ended up turning away mainly due to how much each book cost. Plus, on top of the winning bid, there is always shipping costs. Anyway, I normally wouldn't spend $6 on a used book, but in this case, I definitely made an exception.

Total tally for the day...55 books for $12.59. I did a pretty good job. Did you get any new books this weekend?

Mullet Alert

I know that there have been a number of mullet sightings made by my Facebook friends in the past year, but I have to admit that this is the first that I've seen in a very LONG time. I had seriously begun to think that perhaps I was correct in my hopes that the mullet had gone the way of the dodo. Extinct. No such luck. This mullet sighting took place at a Hardees in Pennsylvania. Just after leaving the library book sale, Mom, Stephen, Brooklyn and I stopped for brunch at Hardees. Here's what we saw.

Here's the backside.

And a side shot.

It is quite terrifying, isn't it. Have you seen any scary haircuts lately?

Blondie

That's my new nickname at work. Why? Because I dyed my hair Bleach Blonde. At first I wasn't sure what I thought of the color, but now I LOVE it. I don't think I could have pulled the color off without the cut, but it works and I have gotten so many compliments on the cut and the color!

Anyway, I needed a picture to send to my Mary Kay director so Joseph took the first three for that purpose. The last pic is just me goofing off. So, should I send Jeannie (my MK director) shot 1, shot 2, or shot 3?

Shot 1

Shot 2

Shot 3

Self portrait. LOL.

Let the voting begin!

*Sigh* I LOVE Snow

But I wasn't expecting THIS much! In fact, it kinda caused some problems in regard to Rocky. See, Rocky was supposed to be neutered today. I was supposed to drop Rocky off at 6:30am. Yeeeah, that sooo did not happen. Instead, I got up, showered, got dressed, got Rocky all together, went outside to the truck, got Rocky into the truck and proceeded to clean it off. JUST as I finished cleaning the truck off and I was seriously just putting the truck into reverse, Joseph called me and told me to turn around and come back home. (Obviously he thought i had already made it out of our development.) He told me that his dad had just called and told him about a huge accident in front of one of the gas stations that I pass on my way to work (also on the way to the veterinarian). So, I put the truck back in park and went back inside. That was a really short work day!
The "dent" in the snow next to the car is where the truck was before Titus used it to get to work.


Dog tracks! One of our neighbors from across the street had his female Rottweiler, Riley, outside in the side field next to our house. Rocky and Riley played in the field for about a half hour. So nice to have a calm worn out dog once in a while.

I wanted to go sledding, but the snow is much too powdery for it. Bummer.

More dog tracks. Riley and Rocky really were having alot of fun.

Titus' car from my front door. You can just barely see my walk to the door from the driveway. I don't have a shovel just yet so I had cleared as much as I could with my feet (by kicking the snow) before cleaning off the truck for a second time. (the second time being for Titus)
Oh well, what can I say? Despite the headache of cleaning the snow up, snow days ARE some of the best days in the world. I mean, it's not everyday that I get to work from home without my bosses complaining about it.

My Most Favorite Bag Ever

Britt from Nor-Cal Girl tagged me on a handbag meme. These are the rules:

1) Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late. No, you cannot go up to your closet and pull out that cute little purse you used back before you had kids. I want to know what you carried today or the last time you left the house. No cheating!

2) I want to know how much it cost:) And this is not to judge. This is for entertainment purposes only. So spill it. And if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, we’d love to hear it.

3) Tag some chicks. And link back to this post so people know why the heck you’re showing everyone your bag.

I just happen to be VERY satisfied with the bag that I've been carrying recently. In fact, it is my favorite bag aside from my computer bag.

1) Here's my bag:
2) This bag cost round about $30.00. I actually did not buy it. Titus did. I had been eyeing it at my Barnes & Noble bookstore for quite some time but just could not justify my spending $30 on one bag. Yes, it's a book bag, but still. Anyway, Titus and I were at the store picking up a textbook for him, a few books for me, and a gift card for Titus' girlfriend when I mentioned that I had been looking at the bag. Titus proceeded to tell me to get it off the rack, that he was going to buy it for me. Far be it from me to deny my brother the chance to get me the bag that I was dying to own.

3) I tag...

Alicia at Daughter of Hope

Jendi at Jendi's Journal

and

Jacki at Moving at the Speed of Life

When I am Interviewed...

I really do try my best to give good answers. Britt @ Nor-Cal Girl started this Interview process.

Here are the rules if you would like to be interviewed:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions


1. If you were to have a child right now (worry-free, no money issues or anything), would you want a boy or girl and what would their name be?
I would love to have two boys actually. Twins, if my prayers were answered. As for the names, assuming my husband let me name my boys, Jedidiah Andrew and Jack Lee.

2. You have the chance to spend a whole day doing ANYTHING you want, what would you do?
Definitely reading. Give me a nice warm spot in the sun, a stack of books, box of tissues (for my allergies), and an unlimited supply of either sweet ice tea or hot chamomile tea (my favorite).

3. If you HAD to lose one of the five senses (sight, smell, hearing, taste & touch), which would you willingly give up?
Smell, of course. Sight-seeing is a favorite pasttime, I need to be able to hear my babies crying (assuming #1 comes true), I LOVE food, and I'd hate to burn myself while cooking but not know it if I had no touch. Of course, the flavor of food would change a bit since half of what we as humans experience and associate with taste is actually our sense of smell.

4. If you had to eat one complete meal for dinner for two weeks, what would that meal consist of?
Steak, potatoes, and broccoli. Yum.

5. You get to have any exotic animal as a pet without having to worry about it attacking you or anything, what animal would you choose?
Hmmm. I'm stumped on this one. I kinda think maybe a kangaroo (it'd be a GREAT watch-animal) or a wombat (cause I think they're soooo cute!).

Anyone interested in joining in?

Don

Yesterday I went shopping at Giant for a few necessaries. I came home with six bags of groceries. Not just six regular bags, but six reusable bags. When I was ready to checkout, there were two lanes open other than the self-checkout. One had three people with just a few items and the other had two people with alot of groceries. I chose the line where the people had many items. The person running the lane was a middle-aged white man whose name is Don. I don't know where Don is from but he had a drawl like none other. He was extremely friendly and very capable. He bagged my groceries perfectly. Didn't complain about me using the re-usable bags. Carried on a conversation with me as he worked. I was very thankful for he friendliness. This is what I came home with.

My perfectly full six re-usable bags. Not too full, but not empty either.

This is what was in the bags.

Spaghetti sauce for the spaghetti that we had last night, with 5 extra jars. Tuna for tuna salad for Titus and I. Gluten free rice krispies and Fluff marshmallow for rice krispy treats for Titus. Chips and dip for Joseph. Salad greens, green onions, and oranges for me and just a few other things. I didn't find any GREAT deals, but the deals I found were good and helped me gather the items for the next two weeks dinner. Oh yeah! and ground beef. Extra lean, but still...ground beef. We had meat sauce for our spaghetti last night.

Pizza Fact

Did you know that you can watch as your pizza is made if you are ordering online from Domino's? I didn't. Joseph ordered pizza last night and after the order was placed online, the following screen popped up. It turns red as each step is reached from the order being received until delivery. There's even a section for when the pizza is put in the oven...and it tells you the name of the person putting it in the oven. How cool is that!?! Anyway, I just had to share the experience with you.

Totally awesome screenshot taken by Joseph with his brand new phone.

I Cannot Take Any Credit for Having Written These...

but I really have no idea who did. Let's start with:

21 Thoughts to Get You Through Almost Any Crisis

1. Indecision is the key to flexibility.

2. There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation.

3. Happiness is merely the remission of pain.

4. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

5. The facts, although interesting, are irrelevant.

6. The careful application of terror is also a form of communication.

7. Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

8. Things are more like they are today then they have ever been before.

9. Anything worth fighting for is worth fighting dirty for.

10. Everything should be made as simple as possible but no simpler.

11. Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.

12. I have seen the truth and it makes no sense.

13. Suicide is the most sincere form of self-criticism.

14. If you think that there is good in everybody, you haven't met everybody.

15. All things being equal, fat people use more soap.

16. If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

17. One-seventh of you life is spent on Monday.

18. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

19. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

21. Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.

Crazy Boys

Joseph and Tres and Titus kept me well entertained yesterday so I figured I would share a few pictures to show you what they were doing. Joseph and Tres spent the day up on my roof hanging up Christmas lights.

Up close but not too close.

Further back shot.

Wait! a random boy climbing through my bathroom window?

Dropping the extension cord over the side of the house for Joseph.

Tossing the extension cord up to Joseph. Yes, I know this one is technically before the one above it, but that's okay.

I know my blog hasn't been really anything but pictures lately, but I haven't been doing anything aside from work, decorate, and wrap presents.