Eli Stone premieres tonight!

This preview just fascinates me for some reason. I'm sure it's a flashback to my 1980s George Michael crush (before he turned gay on me)... You can be sure that I will be watching tonight!

Life Lessons Learned From a Dog:

1. If you stare at someone long enough, eventually you'll get what you want.
2. Don't go out without ID.
3. If it's not wet and sloppy, it's not a kiss
4. Be aware of when to hold your tongue, and when to use it.
5. Leave room in your schedule for a good nap.
6. Always give people a friendly greeting.
7. When you do something wrong, always take responsibility (as soon as you're dragged out from under the bed).

Crafty weekend

So, I managed to get my cards and a couple of scrapbook pages done yesterday afternoon, but I think I'm suffering from a creative block. I just wasn't feeling it and the layouts aren't anything spectacular. Maybe that's because I didn't take a lot of photos this Christmas? (Hard to believe, I know.) Or, maybe this paper isn't working for me... I picked it because I was going for a retro look, but I realize now that's not really my style. Oh well, I guess there's no such thing as a bad page...

It's still cold outside - 2 degrees now. I just went out to start the car and let it run for a few minutes. My 3-day weekend is almost over. I did get a lot of rest, but not too much else to show for it. Linguine with white clam sauce, salad & garlic bread for dinner - yummy! Back to work at 7:00 am tomorrow!

Baby, it's cold outside!

Brrrr! The current temperature is -9 degrees and 'somebody' had to try out her new winter coat! Haven't gotten much accomplished this morning except for a wonderful breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast and then a two hour nap!

Happy Saturday!

It's over!

Success! Inventory is over and our results were better than anticipated! Our goal was to have no more than a '.91% to sales' in missing merchandise; the actual results were a '.46% to sales', cutting our goal in half! I'm happy, our employees are happy and my bosses are happy; so happy, in fact, that they gave me a 3-day weekend! Whoo-hoo!

Therefore, I'm home today, getting some much needed rest, catching up on laundry, paying some bills and spending some quality time with Bailey. I don't dare venture out - the weather is bitterly cold with temps hovering around 0 degrees. There's no relief predicted until the middle of next week. In fact, it's supposed to get colder tonight and tomorrow!

Sooo, I'm thinking that the majority of this weekend should be spent in "crafting mode". I have several pictures from the holidays to scrap and I need to make some cards for my online swap group. That should keep me busy. But right now, I'm feeling the need to nap with my little dog - she's waiting...

Sunday morning

So, I had my day off yesterday and only half of it was relaxing. I had to take my car into the repair shop for a quick $280.00 fix. My car had been acting up by routinely quitting in the middle of trying to start, so that I had to turn the key off and try again. Now, I'm no mechanic, but my gut instincts were telling me that one of these days I'd go out to start the car and nothing would happen - I'd be stuck somewhere with a broken starter. So, long story short, the mechanic checked it out, confirmed what I had suspected and replaced the starter. I can't complain; my little Kia has been paid off for almost 6 years now and rarely gives me problems (unless I cause them myself). Still, with all of the ice and snow, I find myself entertaining the idea of trading it in for a 4-wheel drive, something like a Toyota Rav4...

The rest of my day was spent doing laundry and napping with Bailey. Mary called shortly before 5 pm and invited me to join the family at Grille & Gill for dinner. Because of my crazy schedule for inventory, I got dressed and went, figuring I wouldn't see them for the better part of a week. I had the mixed grilled - salmon, crabcakes and shrimp. Yummy!

After dinner, we all came back and picked Bailey up for a trip to PetSmart. (Nobody really needed to go to PetSmart, it was really just an excuse to get her out of the house and take her for a ride in the van.) On the way home, Jeff decided to drive through McDonald's for a small ice cream for - guess who? {Sigh} Their love affair with her continues...

all work and no play...

...is the story of my life these days! My store is getting ready for inventory and all I can think about is work. Thankfully, by this time next week, we'll be done! In the meantime, it's work, eat and sleep. When I get home at night, I barely have the strength to grab something to eat and walk Bailey before collapsing! I didn't even have the strength or desire to enjoy the wonderfully unseasonable temperatures this week - upper 40s, in January! The snow had all but melted, so of course, it's snowing tonight and we are back to winter-like temperatures, with freezing, slushy snow all over the place again. Ugh! I'm looking forward to the weekend - I actually have a day off!

January 1st

I have always greeted this day with such excitement and optimism. A clean slate, a fresh start, new beginnings, an annual 'do-over', if you will... On this day, more so than any other, anything seems possible! For example:

• one year ago, I was a smoker
• one year ago, I was newly divorced
• one year ago, I was a slave to my job
• one year ago, I was still in Arizona, frantically planning my move to Iowa

My, what a difference a year makes! Yes, anything is possible on January 1st.