Help Count backyard birds

http://www.birdcount.org/

I found this website through The Women's Outdoor Wire, that they are looking for volunteers to count backyard birds.

I love my garage

So we did get a little bit of snow/ice mix. This picture is taken out of computer room window. (smudge on window that needs cleaning)  The good news is that we were able to put both the truck and the car in our garage. For those of you who have seen our garage at apt complex, know that it was chock full of Rick's stuff and there was no way to even fit our second kayak let alone a car.  Now in our new house with double garage, we got to put them both inside the garage and out of these elements.  It also helps that Lori, previous homeowner, left the keorsene heater in the garage so it is a heated garage.  Nice to keep your car warm, but down here it is only needed a couple really cold days. I told Rick that it will useful come the springtime when possible hail storms happen and now we have a place to safely put the vehicles.  It was also good to have the boat close by so we could clear the snow/ice off the cover.  It was weighing it down and could possible tear at the windshield.  The birds are going nuts on my birdfeeder. It was full this morning but now it is quite a bit down.  I love watching them and their chubby bodies pecking at the seed.  Brier is on the couch all snuggled up next to Daddy.  I just had a nice big bowl of beef stew with a couple drops of hot sauce. Delicous.

Right on the border to get ICE! Ice baby

Goal

It is a little goal and probably you are saying to yourself, "that is nothing" but to me, I reached a little goal this morning and I am so happy.
I made myself a realistic goal by week 3 I would be walking 30 minutes. Week 1 was 10-15 mins. Week 2 was 15-20 mins, and this week was 25-30 mins. I did it! I had the treadmill set for 25 mins this morning but as I got to 20, I still felt good so I advanced it to 27 mins. My heart rate was good and I felt so good. I kept mentally telling myself to go for 30 mins and then I found myself increasing the minutes up to 30. It seemed easier this morning maybe because no one was in there with me, (except Hank for five minutes) and I could relax and meditate on my goal.
Next week I wrote down 40-45 minutes. I CAN DO IT!

Happy 50th Birthday MPOM

I hope the Wicked Whoopie Pie will be worth it! I use to watch Phantom Gourmet back when I lived in MA and saw the Whoopie Pie on the show.  I remember anytime we needed to have something for Girl Scout or school bake sale, Mom would always make Whoopie Pies.  And now I am craving one!
Leave a comment if you love Whoopie Pies too.

Our Friend Art and Rick looking dapper in their suits.

Posting this because Art was visiting here for two weeks and he left today.  He came down to SC to escape the harsh New England weather, but needless to say we also had cold temperatures here last week.  Today was up in the 60's but of course it is the day he is going home. He did help out with cropping my blinds and by helping Rick replace bulbs for out back door light.  I am thankful that he visits.

Birds

I got a bird feeder for Christmas. It was the type of present where we are walking through Lowe's and I said to Rick, I would like a bird feeder for Christmas. I picked out the one I wanted, he paid for it and it is now hanging up on our iron pole out in front of the house. (I will have to take a picture of it)
I love watching the birds. Yesterday we had color! Two red cardinals, along with their females (not much red color, and two blue jays were all in the front yard. I think I must of been a bird in another life because they mesmerize me. I now want a bird bath and another bird feeder to hold different seeds. One of my future woodworking projects would be to make a bird house!

Hurting Enviroment

I don't mind using plastic bags at grocery stores because they serve another purpose when I get them home and have to pick up after Brier in the yard. That has changed with the new house. I find I can take one bag, pick up the poo, and then throw it up in the woods where no of us goes walking. But then the bag has poo smell so I end up throwing the bag in the garbage. I need a new way to pick up poo, and not use a plastic bag.
I do use my green cloth grocery bags, but I often forget them back home. The trick is to put them in my car for when I do go shopping. I love those bags since they hold so much more than plastic and the handles are studier.
*footnote- I just saw idea in this months Handyman Magazine to stuff your grocery bags inside of empty tissue box instead of throwing it out. That is double reusing!

I don't want to work, I want to bang on the drum all dy

A new start

hopefully this will get me motivated

I could fall asleep right now (3:53 pm)

I think after these short weeks we have had that I am losing steam mid week and feel like this week is dragging.
I vividly remember my dreams last night (which may mean that I never got my REM sleep). I was first in a Army tank getting ready to level my house but I remembered that I needed my drivers license and Social Security Card to prove who I am. Then I asked Rick how to work the tank and he said something about "turn it to ash". I mentally remember the word "ash" but can't remember word for word what he said. It was so weird that I asked him if he told me "ash" in the middle of the night. Of course I got a crazy look followed by a snide remark about "ash" and had to explain my dream to him.
My next dream involved deep snow and we were out camping but there was no camper there only a car and someone was in the car sleeping in my blue sleeping bag.
The final dream I can also vividly remember I was on a set of beautiful long marble stairs and there was a Spanish male dancer off in the distance dancing ballet alone in a dim lit hall. From the stairs I could look over the balconey and see him dancing. It was just the two of us at first and I was crying watching him because it was his last performance. He was sick and would die soon. I remember his family coming down the staircase next to me and they were all speaking Spanish so I could not understand them. The dancer from the hall floor said something up to them and they all turned to me smiling. It was if he just told them we were engaged or something.
No I am not having an affair with a Spanish guy but what vivid dreams.

Resolution continued

I was doing laundry last night and found my fortune cookie paper in my jeans. We went out to Mr. Fongs Chinese Restuarant on Saturday. It is no where near as good as Hunan K and is in a strip mall. All Chinese restaurants in this area are either in strip malls as take out or buffet style restaurants. We haven't found a good sit down meal one yet.

Anyway...
My fortune read, " Adjust finances- make budgets, to improve your financial standing." So it got me to think of what I wrote in this blog about my resolution. I really have to stick to this money/budget thing. I just need to get a handle of what comes in, and what goes out.

New Year's Resolution

Why should I make one when I never fulfill what I say anyway?
I could say that this is the year that I will lose the weight. Yeah right, or I could say my New Year's resolution is to get more financially on track but it is hard when R is still unemployed. The good news on that front is that there was an article in the local GoUpstate newspaper that said there is a shortage of welders and graduates of the welding program he is attending at SCC Development Center in Union, they can typically make between $17 to $20 an hour with one graduate earning $28.00.
Then I remembered what Robbie told R during the Christmas party. I am looking forwrd to the say that our financial future is more solid. My 95' Ford Taurus is still trudging along (Thank God) but I would really like a new car. Hopefully 2010 will be prosperous for everyone but my New Year's resolution is to try to use my checkbook more, instead of depending on online banking.

What do you keep your heat temp at?

I was talking to my cube mate Claudia about wearing my CPAP and how the other night I woke up with a wet chin. It was because the temperature in my bedroom was cool and the warm moist air from the CPAP formed condensation inside my mask. She asked what temp I keep my heat at and I told her 58 degrees. Neasha, my other cube mate, was in shock and said she keeps her heat at 74 degrees. I would die if it was 74 in my house. I think it is easier to breathe when it is cooler.
I am anticipating the arrival of our friend Art, who loves the warmer weather- which is why he is coming to visit us from New England. The only thing is we will have to turn up the heat when he comes for his health and well-being. He gets chilled very easy but it is just for two weeks so I can sit around in shorts & tshirt while he is here.
When it got cold in our house and we would say to Mom, "Maaah, it's cold in here", and she would reply, "well go put a sweat-aaah on". I miss the thick accent from home. "What are you retaaaaaarded"?

Boom De ah Dah

I was reading someone else's blog and came across this commerical which I find awesome. I love Stephen Hawking saying in his synthesied voice, "Boom De ah Dah"
What is your favorite commercial? You either love her or hate her. I love Flo from the Progressive commercials. "I like cashmere socks"

Road Rage

Gotta love this classic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFx4Ff3aNFc&feature=player_embedded

quoting Beth from work

Beth is talking to Neasha who sits on other side of me (Claudia on right, Neasha on left) telling her how dry her Christmas tree is and how she has to fill the water and spray it to keep it moist. She said, "it is drier than a powderhouse". I have never heard that before.
I wrote some of these down after hearing someone say it here in SC:
Done did it
drunk as a cricket in a hubcap
Don't you fret none
How's your Mom-an-em?

I went out on the internet to look some of these up and this is what I found:

As tasty as a lard sandwich and a glass of ice water.
He’s all vine and no tomatoes.
If brains were gasoline he wouldn’t have enough to ride a motor scooter around the inside of a doughnut.
All his biscuits ain’t done.
So sick I’d have to get better to die.
Too thick to drink and too wet to plow.
That really chaps my gizzard.
If wishes were fishes we’d all have a fry.
So dry the trees were hunting dogs.
The devil owed him a debt and paid him in son-in-laws.
He got the fuzzy end of the lollipop.
Two days older than God.
Hidden in the basement like a crazy aunt.
Handy as hip pockets on a hog.
All hat and no cattle.
Dumber than dirt.
Older than two trees.
If ya’ cain’t run with the big dogs...stay on the porch.
Like a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest.
Like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
Tighter than bark on a tree.
Like ugly on an ape.
Dumb as a box of rocks.
Ugly as a mud fence.
Crooked as a dog’s hind leg.
Like a gnat in a hailstorm.
Dumb as a box of hammers.
Beat him like a rented mule.
She could talk the legs off a chair.
He’s all hat and no horse.
She said that he’s all cattle and no prod.
If that ain’t a fact, God’s a possum.
So dry the catfish are carrying canteens.
He’s so busy, you’d think he was twins.
He’ll squeeze a nickel till the buffalo craps.
It’s so dry, the trees are bribing the dogs.

Little hidden Peas in French

pois caché

That might not mean anything to you but it is what Mom would make in her large Corningware casserole pan. She would put the hamburg beef down first, followed by a layer of peas and then topped with mashed potatoes. It is "Shepard's Pie" when made with corn but Mom always called it s'pois caché.
She also taught us the wrong way to say "colander" To this day I am not sure if it is Co-lander or Coll-ender. I only wish I could hear her speak French again, or sing it like she use to.

MATH

Rick is in school going for his certification in welding. The class is being offered by the local community college but it is tied into Quick Stops, which is run by Unemployment. Supposedly it is also being funded by Nuclear Power Plant they are building up in NC so they can get qualified welders at $22 bucks an hour. I look forward to the day that I don't have to water down my laundry detergent to stretch it and can actually afford "TIDE".
In the meantime he is driving me crazy trying to figure out his math problems. How come math is so difficult? What do I care about X+Y=Z? Does that really make my Footlocker orders with new Reebok EasyTones ship any faster? NAH!
By the way, the shoes do make your butt firmer.

Men bashing at work

I probably will get sent to HR for this but I just posted this little sign in my cube:

Three Wise Men....seriously


I think it is funny so I put it up. If I lose my job over it, just means someone took offense to my sense of humor.

Christmas in New Bedford

I remember going to Clasky/Common Park when I was little to see all the Christmas Lights. I am glad they brought that back again. It's also great to see NB Voke help with the displays.
I remember going to see Mitch Miller downtown with the annual Mitch Miller Sing a long. I loved hearing Mom sing louder than everyone else. It was great to get the community together caroling. We still have the carol books in the piano seat. The Christmas tree in front of the library was always pretty. I think it even snowed one year. Downtown use to put lights up on the telephone poles it was never put up early (before Thanksgiving). I remember poinsetta plants in Dad's window, before the remodeled front.
I thought the fishing boats use to put lights up on their masts but now I remember it was probably for First Night. I did see play Scrooge one year at NBHS.

Post-Thanksgiving Praise

Sometimes there are things in this world that just make me have to stop and Thank God for who/what I am and all that I have. My procrastination on doing this just shows you who I am. Better late than never...I will be late to my own funeral.

I am a happy, healthy woman who has a wonderful husband, a new home to come home to everynight, two families (O'Malley/Doty) who care about me, a job that is challenging yet pays me for my hard work, and food in my fridge. I was listening to the Christian radio station here and how there are so many people who don't even know where their next meal is going to come from that it just made me pause and give thanks to God for the things I do have.
Even with Rick still being unemployed, we are covering our bills and we were able to buy a house. He started school and is getting happier that he has purpose to his life again. The holidays are here and even though money is tight, we have the ability to give our family gifts this year. I even might send out Christmas Cards this year! Not that anyone noticed I didn't send them last year. But that is just one of the little things that I have to be thankful for this year. Money might be tight, but we are able to buy food and stamps. (or we need foodstamps!)
Happy Post Thanksgiving Everyone and Love you all to pieces (or to the Moon and back)

Big Black Boots

I was reminded of those big black boots with the metal buckles we use to wear when we were kids. Mom had a big "State Fruit" basket in the basement with all the boots in it. We would have to dig through them all to find a pair that fit us. I remember snow days when we would all want to go outside (or Mom would make us go outside?) and have to fish around for boots. She would put bread bags on feet with elastics to hold them up and then our snowsuits and finally the big black boots with those metal buckles. There was no insulation in those rubber boots so how come we never got frostbitten?

Holiday Traditions

I wonder how did Mom and Aunt Diane do it? Thanksgiving with all of us O'Malley's + the Allain's + Memere & Pepere. It is unthinkable how it went off so smoothly every year. I think Martha Stewart would be proud. We always brought our "play clothes" to Aunt Diane's to change into so after we ate, we could go run around the yard. I remember being on our best behavior or else...
I do not ever remember a store being open on Thanksgiving let alone getting up at 4am to go "black Friday" shopping.
Our new tradition is doing Thanksgiving early so friends can come over and still have their own Thanksgiving. The other thing Rick will always do is brine the turkey. We find it comes out so juicy and tender that it is worth doing. We tried the Martha Stewart cheesecloth method this year and forgot that she took the cloth off at the end to brown up the skin. No big deal but Rick really didn't like that method much. He tried Tyler Florence's easy cranberry sauce. 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon stick, cranberries and orange zest & 1/4 cup of orange juice. Cook over medium heat about 15 mins until the cranberries burst. We will never eat canned cranberry sauce again!

Chalazion

I've had this thing on my upper left eyelid for sometime now. I swear it was bad mascara that seeped into my oil glands of my eyelid and has caused this thing called Chalazion.
I went to the Opthamologist the other day and he kinda said, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". A Dr. who did not want to cut my eye open only to find it is more tissue than swollen oil gland and not have anyway to cut it out. I was happy with the diagnosis since this does not cause me discomfort, itchy, or any other symptoms.
It is just one more charachteristic that makes me unique.

Rick's Birthday

Do you know how much I love this man? God definatly smiled down on me and showed me how a man is suppose to love me. It was his birthday last Thursday, the day before pay day. All I got him was a card and made him a Betty Crocker bundt cake. He doesn't want material things. To him the best gift is ...(well that is private) but it does not involve money. Just love is all he wanted.
Even if I had lots of money, I still would want to give him something. All he wants is love....I can give unlimited amounts of that.

Cute Kids

We saw the cutest little kids today working at the Panda Chinese Restaurant with their parents. The little girl was probably about 3-4 years old. Rick told me to turn around and look at the way she was using the chopsticks to eat. Her little fingers holding the big long chopsticks and using them like an expert. He said if it was him the food would have been flying around everywhere. Then some ladies got up and left and the little boy, who was about 5-6 yrs old, got up and walked over to clear off the table. This was all without his parents saying a word. When our food was ready the Mom said something to the little girl. She got up from the table went over to the walk in fridge and hunted down our 2liter Sprite from the back of the fridge. Her whole body was in the fridge pulling out the Diet Coke, Mt. Dew until she found a Sprite. Precious little thing. I said to Rick, "are you sure you don't want to try to adopt a little korean/chinese girl?"
Just made you think of all the kids who are brought up in their parents stores (or O'Malley's Tavern) like me.

Throat hurts

This is only because I am due to go home in two weeks and now I am coming down with something? I have a Dr. appt tomorrow am and it is for follow-up on BP and bloodwork. I better not get sick while I am home. Nothing is worst than feeling like crap around the holidays.
Michael Lynn -Balloon Animal, probably will remember the Thanksgiving eating at his folks in Swansea and then stopping on the Braga Bridge to throw up. But that was all his fault for giving me strep throat!
Sorry.....

Ghost shows

I love Ghost Hunters just because they are from Rhode Island and it my connection to back home. Plus one of the livelier ghost was in the New Bedford Armory.
There are a few other shows that are Ghost shows, but GH gives credibility by trying to "debunk" the claims. I like to hear the voices and see if I can see what they see. I have never had a paranormal experience, but I bet if the bar was still open, there were ghost there.
Rick is not a skeptic, he is a believer. He had quite a few "experiences" in his grandmother's house. His sister refused to go there that was how spooky it was.
Last night there was a new show on Discovery called Ghost Lab. This one looked believable. I just have to stay awake long enough to watch a whole episode.
Call me mystic but redheads back in medevil times were considered witches.

thanksgiving back in MA!

I am so excited. I had originally picked Thanksgiving week off but had to give up those days to use for funeral. The other girl who took my vacation week has now been moved to another team. The rules for taking time off is only two at a time. She is gone so I get to have Thanksgiving week back! Which means, I am coming home for Thanksgiving. I am so excited. I miss everyone and will get to spend some time with Mom. Maybe even do a "early" Christmas with the kids.
So JOMIII and Cathy...we will be there for Turkey Day!
See you then,
xoxoxo