Alright already

So I guess life marches relentlessly forward. Nothing new, I suppose, or I would have mentioned it a long time ago. We have a new grand-dogger and a new grand-car in the family... is that worth talking about? Well, Ringo and Misty Blue would say it is. Ringo is an Italian Mastiff who has joined the Lemoine family. He is a wonderful, four-month-old gentleman who shares my birthday (Feb. 28, send money and presents please) and who only occasionally poops on the floor. Very very cute. When I get home to my own computer, I will add a photo of young Ringo here.

Then there's Misty Blue. Buddy went down to Ontario in a high-speed, risk-filled, hair-raising five-day odyssey to bring this baby home. She's a beautiful '74 Challenger all done up in the best of 1978 style, including air-brushed designs with moonscapes and haunting faces and crushed velvet. Wonderfully retro. I shall also post her picture when I get to my own computer.

What else? Working. Reading. Watching summer TV. Life is good. Family's good. Weather's good. 'Nuff said for now...

April winds down

As April winds down and we wait for Mayday, it has again become fun to wander around the perimeter of the yard to see which plants survived the cold, dry winter and which ones are showing their pretty little faces through the soil. Looks like most of the peonies made it -- might have to replace one but it's a bit early to be sure. I have decided one thing though. If nuclear holocausst strikes the earth and their are no living human beings around, the planet will become one huge dephinium garden. They just take over if you let them. I can't believe I once planted them here -- they would have found us anyway!

We looked after shiny-eyed Livvie last weekend so that her family could go see the Harlem Globetrotters. What a cutie pie she is. Grampa and I enjoyed her immensely.

Otherwise, work is becoming more and more stressful. I'm a wreck at the end of the day. So much to do, so little time, so many interruptions, looming deadlines -- it makes retirement look more and more attractive these days.

Weather's been nice. Judy's home from her camp for a week and losing weight like crazy. Makes me lonely and scared that I'll be the only Fat Sister left. So I have to use that fear to get in gear myself, let my big sister lead me in righteous ways.

Nuff said. We'll see where that goes. Here's a picture of Livvie taken last weekend -- she was fooling around on Gramma and Grampa's bed. Also, if this works, a picture of my fabulous niece Jody, GREAT nephew Darien and GREAT niece Justine, taken on Justine's 18th birthday (April 18, so her champagne birthday!).

Finally it's Friday.

Finally it's Friday. Well, by that I mean it's Thursday and a long weekend, so it's as good as Friday only better because I don't have to work on Friday. Got it? Good. I should work tomorrow though. We are so busy, sickeningly, depressingly, overwhelmingly busy. There are projects on top of projects and they're coming at us from every direction at lightening speed. Overwhelming, truly. And not looking good for easing up any time soon. So I continue to come home dead at the end of the day, with the energy to do nothing but sit in front of the telly and eat bad food choices. I am terrified that I shall wake up dead of a heart attack one of these fine summer mornings. But if that happens, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll go find that chick on Ghost Whisperer before I cross over to the light, and I'll have her get in touch with y'all. So, I wanna share my inspiration, my heart beat, my pride and joy. These are recent shots of my goils. I wanna live because it sure is fun watching the grands and the godchildren grow into such little characters. Here's Asia (the spine-bender), Cassidy, the toe-toucher and Livvie the little purple duck-girl.

Cleaning house

What a lovely weekend I am having. According to plan, I've not stepped one foot out the door since we got home from Swiss Chalet on Friday night. Well, except to grab the newspaper out of the mailbox. So, I'm alternately cleaning my office, making it worse by far before it gets better. Sorting through stacks of paper that have been here for 10 years or more. Shredding some, garbaging the rest. It feels so good to purge things from your past.

Drinking too much coffee, though. My normal consumption is down to one or two cups a day. But this is feeling like a two-pot day, for some reason. The sky is grey, and I'm trudging around in my dreggiest get-up. Yup. A two-pot day for sure.

Used the treadmill yesterday for the first time in eons. Felt good. Might do a bit more today, to see if I can work my way up to 15 minutes -- hahahaha -- how bad is that!!

Back to the purging project. Wish me luck. One of these mountains of paper could fall on me and I'd be dead.

One at a time, maybe?

So that worked. Maybe this will work as well. Here is one of the world's best Godsons. He is near the top of a very elite bunch, given that we only have four Godchildren, and three of them are girls. But I know of other Godsons, not all of them my own, and so there are a few that share his elite station. They include a few nephews, and his own brother -- the charming, amazing Benjamin. Here's Daniel, and his mom Rebecca -- now safely home and having avoided our big snow! We had fun, and we're thankful we had a couple of days to share.

I did promise pictures

Don't know what went wrong. I tried to put pictures with that last 'snowy' post, but they disappeared into the ether. It appears that techno-savvy is passing me by. But I will try again...

I asked God to send us some snow…

and boy, did he ever! Sometime in the dark heart of the night, the clouds opened and the snow came forth. And fifth. And all the way unto eighth or ninth! It's been falling all day, too, so the driveway we shovelled this afternoon needed it again tonight. And it is lovely. The big red truck chews her way through the ruts on the streets, and my car -- the aforementioned Subaru -- would do the same. But I have felt sorry today for those folks driving ordinary front-wheel-drive cars.

So we had loverly guests for two days. My trusted friend and confidante (forever my friend -- she knows all my secrets!) Rebecca and her son, our pride and joy, our eldest Godson, spent two short days with us. Many good times, many good laughs -- and a couple of pictures you see here -- and they're gone back down the road. Sigh. Why is it that good times fly by, and lousy times linger?

I'd go home for lunch but…

It was a long day at work today. I wanted to go home for lunch, for a nice break, but can't until the snow melts. Why? No, it has nothing to do with driving a dogsled. No. The parking lot follies have begun again outside my office window. As soon as the snow falls, the yellow painted lines disappear under a coating of ice and snow. We all turn into fools out there. People forget where they should park, where the lines normally are, and they just take to abandoning their vehicles willy-nilly. It's great fun to watch, but it means I can never go home for lunch again. Because it cuts the parking spaces in half, and I'd have no place to abandon the Subaru when I got back to the office. Sigh. Long days ahead.