All I want for my birthday is. . . . .

A trampoline!!  This trampoline to be exact: (ok, not with the green and yellow pads though)

I had a trampoline just like this when I was younger.  One of my biggest regrets in life was just throwing it out when my mom sold my childhood home.  I had nowhere to store it though.  The trampoline itself was still in perfect shape, it just needed new spring pads.  If only I could go back to the day when we placed all it's parts at the end of the driveway.  It makes me want to cry thinking about how I just tossed my beloved trampoline. 

Now that I have a home of my own, all I want to do is go out in my backyard and play on a trampoline.  Our backyard has the perfect spot for this trampoline I desire. . . .well it will have the perfect spot after a few trees come down! I've begged Gus to buy it for me for my birthday but the almost $800 price tag on it seems to be an issue (there are cheaper trampolines out there but I won't settle for anything else). I guess I'll just have to save up and buy it myself, just like I did with my first trampoline.

I realize I'm not as young and acrobatic as I used to be but I really think a trampoline would fix that!  Yes, I see stars when I do a cartwheel or a handstand these days.  Yes, I had several "incidents" on my first trampoline but all were fixed with a quick trip to the ER.   Honestly, I only had to go to the ER once and that was after my dear friend, Becky, used my body as the trampoline, instead of the actual trampoline mat. OUCH!  I went flying off into the woods a few times, once face first, but I always managed to land in a manner as not to injure myself. 
 
I figure I can save up the money just in time for spring!  Who wants to be on my trampoline party guest list?!?  =)
 
 

FIRE!!!!

I tried to set my kitchen on fire last night.  Thankfully, I failed. 

I was making dinner and got a little distracted after I started heating the pan with the oil.  By the time I threw the ground beef in the oil was way too hot.  Oil was suddenly popping and spewing itself all over my stove.  I grabbed the pan, hoping to pull it off the heat so the oil would calm down, but instead the flame from the burner caught some oil and flared up.  The oil in the pan also caught fire.  So, I'm standing in the kitchen with flames shooting from the burner while holding a pan that is also shooting flames!!  Gus was there but his first instinct was turn on water in the sink to which I gave him an "are you an idiot, this is a GREASE fire" look.   He turned the water back off immediately. 

I stood there holding the pan with a flame at least 2 ft high for what felt like 5 minutes but in reality was like 45 seconds and then the fire went out on it's own.  WHEW!!!  I was actually impressed with how calmed I stayed considering dinner was on FIRE and only an arms length away from me.  Luckily, the ground beef was fine and dinner went on as planned. 

This is totally my life though.  I actually enjoy cooking and baking but in general, I totally suck at both.  Every now and then I have small successes that seem to impress my friends and family but trust me, those are few and far between.  The first time I ever made dinner for Gus, I ended up melting a plastic purple plate to one of the burners on my apartment stove.  I also made him a cheesecake once but forgot to add the sugar, GROSS!  He's pretty used to my failures now and we can both laugh them off but in the beginning it was pretty embarrassing!

What are your biggest cooking or baking blunders??

I'm still alive

I lost my blogging adrenaline and fell off the wagon!  I promise I'm coming back though. 

In the mean time, here are some super cute cookies I made a few weekends ago.  All of my old high school buddies had a little get together.  I made cookies for the party and for all the guests to take home with them.  My friends were a little overwhelmed with my domesticness (I made up that word) but I think the cookies were a hit! 

This isn't the best picture but I forgot to take any others!! 

Yummy little footballs!!!

And my favorite, UGA helmet cookies!  I'll admit, I was pretty proud of myself with these.  Too bad we've been having a miserable season! 

I've been a bad blogger

I apologize it's been almost a week since I last posted.  Life has been a little crazy with my grandmother in the hospital and my mom leaving town very quickly to be with her.  Work has also been busy lately. 

The good news is that my grandmother was released from the hospital today!  YAY!!   My mom and aunts have decided she absolutely cannot live on her own anymore though.  Her memory is really getting bad and they are afraid she won't be able to pay her bills and keep up with her medications if she is alone.  They haven't told her this though and it will be very devastating to her when they do.  I pray they can find an assisted living place that my grandmother will enjoy as much as her condo. 

Today I spent the morning walking a golf course and watching my brother play in a US Open qualifier.  It was absolutely beautiful outside this morning.  I was only there for 9 holes and he wasn't doing great.  I'm really hoping his day improved after I left.  I'm very anxiously awaiting news on the outcome but it will probably be a few more hours before all the players finish up. 

The next few days are going to be spent getting myself ready to drive up to VA.  My niece's 3rd birthday is on Friday and they are having a party for her on Saturday.  Then on Sunday, my sister-in-law is going to be induced to give birth to baby #2!!   I am so excited about this trip!!  I absolutely adore my niece and I can't wait to see her! 

The soon to be birthday girl

Prayers, Please.

I need prayers for my grandmother.  Yesterday morning she was taken to the hospital via ambulance, again.  This is about her 6th trip to the hospital this year.  It's the same problem, she's throwing up and can't keep any food or drink in her system.  Currently, she only weighs 89lbs.  The doctors can't ever seem to figure out what is causing her stomach to refuse anything put in it.  

I have two aunts, one who lives in FL, Aunt D and one who lives not far from my grandmother in NJ, Aunt L.  Well, Aunt L happened to be in FL visiting Aunt D for the holiday weekend.  When they found out my grandmother was in the hospital again they tried to get to get flights from FL to NJ but due to the holiday weekend they couldn't.  They hoped in Aunt D's car and headed north, stopping in Atlanta  to get my mom.  After driving through the night, they all made it safely to NJ about 8:30 this morning. 

The doctors did some testing on my grandmother today but we still don't have any answers as to what's wrong.  It's just so frustrating that she's been to the hospital for the same thing so many times this year and we haven't made any progress diagnosing or fixing the problem. 

My mom and sisters are starting to consider whether my grandmother should continue to live alone or if it's time to find somewhere else.  My grandmother is fiercely independent and the loss of that independence will really hurt her spirit.  I can't imagine she will willingly go anywhere else.  She loves her condo, her kitty, and her fabulous neighbors.  At 89 she has a better social life than most people I know.  She plays bingo a couple times a week, plays cards once a week, goes to the movies, to plays, etc.  Her friends are wonderful to her and always make sure she has everything she needs.  She also still drives although somewhat infrequently and only short distances. 

My biggest fear is she'll move to an assisted living home and lose her vibrancy and love of life.  When my grandfather was still around my grandmother was a very shy woman.  She wouldn't go to a new store on her own, had very few friends of her own, and pretty much just kept to herself.  My grandfather died almost 23 years ago though.  About 5 years after his death my grandmother decided she no longer could keep up with their large house and bought a condo in a "retirement community".  All of a sudden she was a whole knew woman.  She changed from this quite, reclusive woman, to the life of the party.  I'm convinced if she hadn't moved to this community, she would have passed a long time ago. 

Please pray the doctors find out what is wrong and have a way to treat her.  If she could get her strength back she could easily still live on her own.  I hate being so far away but I just can't go up there right now.  My plan is to go in July and I'm really praying that she will be feeling better by then.  I would greatly appreciate any thoughts and prayers for her.  She's very much the glue that holds our family together. 

I F*ing Hate Friday

This week I'm going to change it up a little. . . .I F*ing LOVE Fridays before a holiday!  Our office closes at 3pm on holiday weekends but my group has usually vacated the building by 1pm.  It's nice to have a 3 day weekend plus a half day on Friday! 

Gus and I don't have any fun exciting plans for this weekend which is fine with me.  I'd like to take my e-ring to get it cleaned and dipped.  Last weekend when I attempted to bake the chocolate cake I somehow managed to get chocolate deep down in the setting of my ring.  OOPS!!!  Note to self - take off rings before baking!  I'm sure if the weather is nice little miss Roxey will get a few walks in.  Roxey loves to take walks.  She knows exactly what drawer we keep her leash in and when we ask if she wants to take a walk she runs over and sits below that drawer.  It is so cute!

I do have an update about my GPS - it finally shipped!!!!  Apparently, the amazon website just likes to stress the heck out of buyers though.  If I track my package on the amazon site it still says the estimated delivery date is June 11 but if I go to the UPS site it says the estimated delivery date is June 1st.  . . .big difference there!!  I am ridiculously excited about getting something I never thought I really wanted!  I can't wait to use it. 

In honor of Memorial Day weekend I would like to thank all of the soldiers and their families who have stood up for our country over the years.  I know I don't have the courage to do what they do and I admire all of them.  I have a dear friend whose husband was severely injured during his second tour of duty in Afghanistan.  She has handled his injury far better than I could have.  Her strength through the last year has been incredible.  She is truly an amazing wife and mother. 

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend!

Why Amazon, Why?!?!

On Sunday I purchased this lovely GPS from Amazon.com

Amazon is apparently holding it hostage though and it's stressing me out.  The purpose of buying the GPS now is so I can use it when I drive to VA for my niece's 3rd birthday in June.  The estimated delivery is between June 7th and 11th. . . . .since I leave in the early morning hours of  June 10th, this could be a big problem.  Since when does it take Amazon almost a week to ship something?!?!  Yesterday I decided I'd just go edit my order to pay for 2 day shipping but by the time I tried it told me my order was being packaged for shipping and couldn't be changed.  grrrrrrrrrr.  I really thought 2 and a half weeks was more than enough time to order something from Amazon but apparently, I was wrong.  I will now spend the next 2 weeks stressing over the delivery of this.