March 28th - The Big 10!

Happy Birthday Donovan! My nephew is now officially a 'tween' and to celebrate, I took him to Pole Position in Oklahoma City. We were the first ones to arrive and as a result, Donovan had the entire race track to himself. After his race around the track, we headed to arcade to place some games. It was a very good birthday!

March 27th - Jumping on the Bed

Who didn't love jumping on the bed as a kid. I'm a digital scrapbooking and knew I wanted to put together a layout titled, "10 Little Monkeys". That's great, but what's a layout without pictures to go in it. I called my sister and asked if I could borrow Owen to jump on the bed during my visit. She told him about it and as soon as he saw me, he grabbed my hand and said he was waiting for me to come so that we could get busy! I was hillarious to watch him and it made me wish I was 3 years old again.

March 26th - Bath Time

Bath time is always an event when you're one! The little ones received bath toys for their birthday so we pulled them out for the bath. They had so much fun playing with them they didn't have a chance to realize that they were getting clean in the process. I got some great pictures, but I really like this one of Julianna in her little hippo towell. What a cutie!

March 25th - Funny Girls

Talk about funny! Katie and Erin had me rolling on the floor laughing. I was asked to babysit for a few hours and thought I would bring a game to help pass the time. One thing led to another and before I knew it, they were on a roll with funny stories and just silly girl things. I had a blast! The best part is that I got paid to be entertained. I hope they ask me again!

March 24th - Spring Storm

It seems to happen every Spring. A big, wet snow storm that blows through the city and snaps tree branches all over the place. Fortunately, this year, the storm happened early enough in the season that the trees haven't yet bloomed so the damage was kept to a minimum. We received 15" where I live and waking up was quite the surprise. However, we live in Colorado so the snow was almost all gone within two days. Thank goodness!!

March 23rd - Thumper

New day, new pets. I was doing double duty this week and watching pets for two seperate families. During the day, I was checking in a couple of cats, Thumper and Hootie. Growing up, we had both dogs and cats in our house, but I consider myself a "dog person". Cats are OK, but every now and then I come across a cat that I really like. Thumper was one of them. He would come greet me at the door everytime I came over and just loved to be petted. If I knew I would end up with a cat like him, I might actully consider getting one of my own. IF is a big word, no cats for me!!

March 22nd - Insalata Caprese

Yummy! I love this salad, but I'm all about 'fast' food these days. When I saw that you could buy buffalo mozzarella in little balls, I was so excited! I bought a few roma tomatoes, some fresh basil and voila! I had dinner made in just a few moments. Nothing says fresh like Insalta Caprese.

March 21st - Birds of Feather

Yes, I'm a pet sitter, but generally, I watch dogs and sometimes cats. Well, on my recent job, the pet owner had two birds in addition to her two dogs. I'll be honest, I think birds are dirty and while they may be pretty to look at, I don't like them. That's not to say I didn't take great care of them!!

March 20th - Canvas and Cocktails

This was so fun!! I signed up for a Meet-Up event and Canvas and Cocktails in Cherry Creek. I had an idea what it was, but I never anticipated I'd have so much fun!! The concept is simple, walk in, grab your brush, fill your palate with paint, put on your apron and grab a cocktail. As the night progresses, the instructor gives simple, step by step instructions on how to create a visual masterpiece. In between instructions, she played all kinds of fun music and asked everyone to sign and dance along. Now, that's what I call fun and I love the way my painting turned out to boot!

March 19th - It's Snowing??

Tomorrow is the 1st day of Spring and we're expected to get 5-10" of snow today. What is that all about??? I know that we get the majority of our snow in March, but really!! I had put away my coats (shame on me) and turned off my heat (I'll never live it down) only to have to put them both back into circulation for this storm. Well, if I have to look on the sunny side, I love snow and we could always use the extra moisture.

March 18th -

March 17th - St. Patrick's Day

It's St. Patrick's Day and it wouldn't be complete without eating some corned beef and enjoying an ice cold green beer. That's exactly what I did this year and let me tell you, it was absolutely delicious! However, I have a confession. My one faux pas of the day was in not wearing green. When I picked my blouse this morning, I swore that it had some very dark green in it, but once I got into the sunlight, it was clearly brown. Oh well, my Irish "green" eyes were smiling all day!

March 16th - 3 Margaritas

Virginia, Andre' and I met at 3 Margaritas for happy hour the day before St. Patrick's Day and just the name suggests, we each had three margaritas. We had so much fun and managed to plan a camping trip in July. Here's to good friends who like to have as much fun as I do!

March 15th - Healthy Sandwich

I am so proud of myself! I went to the grocery store and bought some heathly food for once. This used to be one of my favorite sandwiches in college and for some reason, I had a craving for it again. I've been eating them all week and can honestly say that I haven't had any thoughts of fast food. Yah for me!

March 14th - Day Light Savings

It happens twice a year and for some reason I always think Springing Forward is going to put a crimp in my style. Maybe it did a little when I was younger, but it hardly phases me these days. I have to admit I didn't even know it was going to happen until the Friday before when someone reminded me to change my clocks. Now that would have been a crimp...showing up to work an hour late.

March 13th - I love Bulldogs!

How could anyone not love a Bulldog? They are the cutest dogs despite the fact that they are stinking, fat and drool everywhere. As a dog sitter in my spare time, I get to spend time with several breeds and I have to say that I truly LOVE Bulldogs!

March 12th - TVs in the Office

What is the world coming to?? As of today, we now have three televisions in our office. Mike, my boss, thought it would be a good idea to have them just in case we had to watch something imporant on the news. That makes perfect sense except for the fact that he also put TVs in both his and Pam's office. I guess that way, they can watch news all day....RIGHT!!

March 11th - School Game Night

This was my last night staying with Liria and like mosts kids her age, they wait until the day of to tell you about something they need. Well today, Liria told me that her school was having a game night and that the families were the 'players' of the games the kids made. Since Elizabeth was out of town, that made me Liria's family. Now, I'm somewhat of a wall flower so social situations where I don't know anyone, make me a little crazy. I can say, that I handled myself very well and even had a good time playing the game Liria and her classmates made.

March 10th - Clarinet Practice

As much as Liria dislikes practicing the piano, the clarinet is much worse in her opinion. I had to be the "bad" babysitter and make her practice. When I say she reminded me of myself at her age when she's playing the piano, she doesn't when she's playing the clarinet. She's horrible!! She's been playing for several months now and to be honest, she hasn't made that much improvement. She'll never know how I feel because I kept a smile on my face the entire time she was practicing.

March 8th - Monopoly Deal

Wow! I love this game! I played for the first time last August with my sister's family and was immediately hooked. As soon as I came home, I bought the game for myself, but this was my first opportunity to play it. It's great fun and small enough that I can carry it around in my purse. It's my goal to wrap unsuspectly people into playing it with me.

March 9th - Piano Lessons

Piano lessons bring back memories of my childhood. Liria began taking piano lessons and they happen to fall on Tuesday nights. I just happened to be babysitting her during one of her lessons. She reminds me of myself at her age because she can learn a song by sounding it out on the piano. She also reminds me of myself in that she absolutely doesn't want to practice.

March 7th - Tapioca

I've always been a fan of tapioca pudding, but when I discovered Kozy Shack, I feel in love all over again. In the beginning I thought I was cheating by eating something so rich and delicious. However, I read the label and it's almost the same as the Jell-O fat free so no guilt for me! That makes me a very happy girl!

March 6th - Penalty Shot

Nothing says hockey like a penalty shot. I've never been to game where I saw one in person. Talk about exciting! This was Stewart's third goal in the game and as with all hat tricks, everyone threw their hats onto the ice. The game was easily won by the Avalanche and Cindy and I had such a great time!

March 5th - Cute Chick

Today I decided to make a greeting cards for all my girlfriends. I'm a consultant for Heritage Makers so it was a piece of cake to log on, design my card and get it into the mail with the click of a button. The card turned out so cute. I said "From One Cute Chick To Another" and I had so many phone calls telling me they loved the card.

March 4th - Martha's New Do

Paula asked me to take a picture of Martha's new color since it turned out so well. Well, that was easier said that done. Martha really doesn't like her photo taken. I snaped the picture and when I showed it to her, she was actually surprised that she didn't look ridiculous.

March 3rd - Liria loves the library!

Since Liria isn't allowed to watch TV on school nights it's challenging finding activities to do if she has no homework which is what happened today. We checked with Elizabeth about going to the library and we received her thumbs up. Liria surprised me once we got there. She didn't head for the fiction section, instead she wanted to get a book on Thor and check out the biography section. To say I was impressed was an understatment.

March 2nd - Popcorn's New Haircut

I don't know what breed Popcorn is, but she's called Popcorn for a reason. She's a little puff ball of hair. However, when I can over to babysit Liria, I was shocked to see Popcorn. I didn't recognize her with all her hair gone. Apparently, when Elizabeth told the groomer to give her a good cut, she went a little crazy. Regardless, Popcorn is still a cutie!

March 1st - Drat! A Cold

Somehow I managed to come home from Vancouver with a cold. Now, I rarely get sick. In fact, I don't remember the last time I had a cold. With that being said, I'm a big baby when it comes to feeling under the weather. I just wanted to stay home and sleep, but it was my first day back from vacation so did the right thing and went to work. Lucky for me, my cold only lasted a few days.

February 28th - Drop Off at DIA

The very last thing I had to do on our vacation was drop Heidi off at DIA so she could fly home to her family in Oklahoma. I love spending time with my sister and was sad to see her go, but know she is always just a phone call away. She's such a wonderful person and I have so much fun traveling with her.

February 27th - Welcome to the USA!

They say all must things must come to an end and our 2010 Winter Olympics vacation was no exception. As we prepared to cross the border back in to the United States, we were happy to be greeted by a signed welcoming us home. Our trip was filled with wonderful experiences and it was a once in a lifetime vacation.

February 26th - Silver Medalist!

The most anticipated event for us was the last night of Short Track. It was so exciting and went the medals race for the Ladies 1000M race began we were holding our breath routing for Katherine Reutter to win. She was fantastic and walked away with a Silver. She was so excited and it was a great feeling to us too!

February 25th - Grouse Mountain

Our 2nd day in Vancouver was a free day and we had our pick of activities to do. We chose to go to Grouse Mountain which is where the The Today Show was filming from. Once again, the weather was not ideal and we missed all the breathtaking views, but that didn't stop us from having a wonderful time. We met with some others Olympic fans from Holland who were kind enough to take our picture with our flag.

February 24th - Ladies Giant Slalom

Our first Olympic activity was a medal event in the Ladies Giant Slalom. We were so excited to get to see Lindsey Vonn, Julia Mancuso, Maria Riesch and Anya Paerson just to name a few. However, the weather outside was frightful and unfortunately the 2nd run was postponed to the next day. I got this photo of Lindsey Vonn right after she crashed. Thank goodness she wasn't seriously hurt.

February 23rd - Party Like a Rock Star

Today Heidi and I arrived in Seattle to being our 2010 Winter Olympcis trip. We spent the day in the area visiting Pike Market, The Space Needle and of course the EMP Museum. Heidi is a big musicphile so I knew this was definitely a place we'd want to go to. They had a little area where you could dress us as a rock start complete with music instruments and microphone. We had a blast playing dress up and got some really great pictures to boot!

February 22nd -

February 21st - Book for Jorge

I sponser a little boy named Jorge through Compassion International. I don't write his as often as I should, but when I do, I always try to include something other than a letter. This time, I bought him a Spanish children's book. I have no idea what it's about, but if I had to guess from the cover, I'd have to say it's about a motorcycle riding rat. If I were a nine year old boy, I would think this a great book so I'm crossing my fingers he'll like it.

February 20th - Pasta Dinner

I've been in a fast food rut for over a year and am trying to break that habit. Tonight I made pasta for dinner and let me tell you, it was delicious! I'll be 40 later this year and want to change my eating habits. It won't happen over night, but this was a great start and I love to be in the kitchen so I think I'm on the right track.

February 19th - Pedicure

No matter what, I always get a pedicure if I'm taking a trip. I know that no one would be seeing my toes this time around since I'd be in a cold climate, but it's nice knowing that they look nice anyway. My friend, Michelle, traded services with me over the summer for watching her dog so I called her up and headed over to her house to get my pedicure. I love them! They are so relaxing and you always walk out with pretty toes!

February 18th - Passport Drama

Ugh!! Heidi called me the week before our trip across the border and asked me not to be mad at what she had to tell me. Apparently, this trip that I've been planning over over three years might not happen due to the fact that she forgot to update her passport with her current name. Initially, I thought it wouldn't be a problem, but everyone I talked to said we'd be lucky to get through customs with all the extra security they'd have for the Olympics. I don't recall being so stressed out, but it was a little late to do anything about so we prayed there would be no issues (and they're weren't).

February 17th - Library Visit

I am an avid reader. Now when I saw avid, I read on average of six books a week. That also includes audio books that I listen to in my car and at work. I've also recently discovered that I can check out movies too. On my most recently trip to the library I picked up all my reservered items and also a couple on the shelves that looked interesting. I only wish I developed my love of reading as a child.

February 16th - Canadian Money

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm headed to Canada to see the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics in just a few days. I've traveled all over the world and the one thing I've discovered is that it is good to have to foreign currency. On my lunch break, I headed over to Wells Fargo to exchange my American money into Canadian money. I don't remember it being such a process, but they had to fill out forms, see my identification and asked for the blood of my first born. Really, it wasn't that bad, but I was surprised it was so involved. Regardless, I walked out with cash in hand and ready to cross the border.

February 15th - New Lipstick

Anyone who knows me knows that I am rarely seen without lipstick on. I was recently shopping for my trip to Vancouver and decided that a new shade lipstick was in order. I found this beautiful shade of pink and new I had to have it. It took me a couple of days to get used to it, but now it's one of my favorites!

February 14th - Lovebirds

Valentine's Day and I'm in the presence of true lovebirds. My folks have been happily married for over 40 years. In my naivity, I asked them to pose for a Valentine's Day photo. My dad grabbed my mom and layed a kiss on her. Thank goodness I'm not a little girl any more! It was all I could do not to giggle and I'm almost 40 years old. Good for them! I hope one day that I'll find someone to love me like that.

February 13th - Baking Valetine's Goodies

Valentine's Day is tomorrow and Mom asked me to help her baked goodies for their church since she would be working all day and wouldn't have time to do it herself. I love to bake so I was quick to say "Yes!" One of my tasks was to make these lovely little Valentine Cakes. They turned out so well and were tasty to boot!

February 12 - Go USA!

Woo Hoo! The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics start today and I couldn't be more excited. I turn into an Olympics junkie every time they're on. Heidi and I will be headed to Vancouver in just a couple of days to attend in person, but for now I have to be satisfied watching them on TV. That's no problem! Dad gave me an American flag to wave during our trip, but I wanted to get a photo of it today to celebrate the my pride in Team USA!

February 11th -

February 10th - Blinker on the Fritz

My blinker went on the fritz about a month ago. My brother-in-law, bless his heart, fixed it for me when I was in Oklahoma recently. Let's say that he fixed it REALLY WELL! In other words, it's still on the fritz. It now works so well, that it won't turn off. It looks like I'll be taking a trip to the garage to have them take a look at it. Here's hoping that it's an easy and inexpensive fix!

February 9th - Yum Yum - Drumstick!

You tell me! Who doesn't love a Drumstick? I was at the grocery store in the freezer aisle and when I saw the ice cream treat shelf, the boxes of Drumsticks were calling my name. Well, who am I to ignore that call? I bought a box and went I got home, I dug right in and let me say that I wasn't surprised at how yummy it was! It brought back fond memories of my childhood.

February 8th - Let It Snow

Let it be said that I love snow! If you were to take away the cold that comes with it, it might be perfect. We haven't been getting a lot of snow this Winter so when a cold front blew through town, I reveled in it! On my walk, I happened across this adorable little evergreen and clicked a photo. I love the way you can actually see the snowflakes.

February 7th - Super Bowl Fare

One of my favorite past times is the Super Bowl. I decided that for this years muchies, we'd go the healthy route and let me tell you, there was no skimping on flavor!! I made potato skins, fruit tarts and veggies with dips just to name a few. There were absolutely no complaints, but there were plenty of compliments which always does my heart good! What was even better was wathcing the New Orleans Saints win the coveted Lombardi trophy. It was a good day!!

February 6th - Yannis

Every year since I've been working with Paula, she takes us out to celebrate the holidays. However, since she hates the holiday crowds, we always go in January. Schedules were crazy between the three of us so we weren't able to go until February. We decided to go low key this year and picked Yanni's in Greenwood Village. It's a Greek family owned restaurant and I thought I would try something that I've never had before. Big mistake! I ordered the mousakka. Needless to say, it wasn't my favorite. To my horror, Paula asked the waitress to send it back. I admit, that I'm glad she did! I ordered gyros and was a happy camper!

February 5th - Girls' Nite

There is a group of women at Arrow, my former workplace, that have been getting together on a regular basis just to enjoy each other's company. They call it Girls' Nite Out, but it's more like a happy hour. I've been invited to several of them, but with my crazy schedule, I'm usually unable to attend. Lucky for me, this time around, I was able to go. It was held at the Spotted Dog in Lone there were several new faces in the crowd. It was a great time had by all!

I'm So Late!!

Yes, if you've visited recently, you can see that I'm so late in getting my pictures posted. Well, wait no more. I'll be spending a good portion of my day getting my blog up to date.