Simply Misery.

Misery is one of my all time favorite, disturbing and scary movies! Of course, it's been years since I've seen it -- but Stephen King knew what was going on when he wrote that! I also love Kathy Bates and think she did such a great job acting, especially when she knocks out that guys knees and legs which makes him unable to leave her.

Now Stephen King has done scary like never before with his newest big movie: 1408 Movie. The movie has amazing stars like John Cusack and Samuel Jackson. The two actors alone would get me into the theatre! However, this one might be a little too scary for me! I'm going to have to wait to see what the critics say. Plus, I might have to send a few friends to watch the movie and give me feedback.

The last time we went to a scary movie I ended up staying up for two weeks straight. Of course, with me having so many deadlines due over the next few weeks that might not be such a bad idea!



I watched the scary trailer and every light in my house has been turned on! The premise is that a guy loses his daughter and then he's faced with supernatural experiences and faces his own mortality.

Check out the scary trailer for yourself: (Hint: Make sure the lights are on and you are surrounded with people).



1408 Movie is sure to be the next big chartbuster of a movie. Check the website for dates and showing times - if you dare!

I can't believe...

what the weather has done. Over the past hour it's gone from being around 75 degrees to around 50 degrees out. I know there's a storm brewing and I just wish it'd hit instead of looming around for the next few hours!

Stephen King

That's all I have to say and I'm sure you instantly think scary. One of the most recent Stephen King movies that I saw was "Misery". Kathy Bates was amazing and I kept rewinding where she went crazy on that poor guys legs. Yikes. Makes you want to appreciate the people who take care of you a little bit better!

Now Stephen King has done it again! 1408 Movie is a new movie that hosts John Cusack and Samuel Jackson. John Cusack loses his daughter and is faced with his own mortality. He ends up being trapped in a hotel room where many others have lost their lives.



When I saw the trailer of 1408 Movie I was instantly scared and decided to make a run for almost every light in the house. I'm just glad that Shawna and Graem are in the same room. Of course, now they'll probably think I'm crazy!

Just check it out for yourself:



Didn't I tell you? That's damn scary. I will more than likely not be attending this movie! If Shawna wants to go -- it's going to be all her! Maybe, I'll just stay home and take care of Graem! Of course, this one might even be too scary for her!

Puzzles.

Graem does such a good job at puzzles! Right now she likes being challenged by putting the pieces of three puzzles on the floor and then picking between the three puzzles.

Yesterday, I read an article about the things a kid needs to know before going into Kindergarten. You bet, I'm going to print that sheet off and make sure she's ready to go!

Scary.

I remember when I was younger and watching Friday the 13th. The story line was always pretty scary but being a kid and spending most of the time alone made the story even scarier.

To this day I can't watch a scary movie or hear a scary story without having terrible nightmares or staying up all night.

Now, I hear that there's an all time scary movie out there called: 1408 Movie. It stars John Cusack and I'm sure it's going to be EXTREMELY scary.


The difference between back then and now is that I have two other people living with me! Plus being a parent I feel that I have to be strong for Graem and show her that there are very few things that are scary.

Of course, I'll probably have my head buried in my shirt during most of 1408 Movie!

Check out this scary stuff:



Okay, I'm a wiener. Just the trailer alone has me biting my nails and it's broad daylight and I'm surrounded by people.

I'm absolutely doomed if we end up going to this movie. At least if I can't sleep I can get some much needed work done.

Hmm...maybe this is the way to get my deadlines done in time!

No softball.

Well, after fueding since we got home we've decided to skip out on a freezing cold softball game and hang out at home.

It's dark and gray out and it feels like it's going to rain anyway. God knows getting beat by the other team and getting hit by lightening might not have made the best night!

Good ole' Roxanne!

I have always wanted to see The Police in concert. I remember back when I was younger they were playing at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City and I wasn't able to get tickets. Plus, I was way too young to attend the concert by myself!

Now, I see that they are once again doing a worldwide tour and I'm ecstatic. I was able to see Simon and Garfunkels last concert and I'm not about to let this one pass me by. The reality is...you never know when a famous group might stop touring or one of the members might retire.

In rock of course they typically get upset with each other and swear touring together!

I'm looking forward to the upcoming release of the police cd set! My favorite song has always been "Roxanne".



The other day I heard the song on the radio and I cranked it up and rolled down the windows.

Of course, Grammy thought I was nuts and kept saying "Mommy's crazy." Too bad Graem isn't old enough to go to concerts. This would be a great one to take her to! God knows, the last time we took her to the Indigo Girls Concert things didn't go to great!! (Lesson learned, bad moms.)

She just hasn't been hit with "The Police" bee yet!

Just another day...

in paradise. I'm finally home after a long day at work and find that Graem has not taken a nap and Shawna's trying to get a check for $20,000 for our upcoming IVF.

God, I hate it when other's lifes are as chaotic as mine.

Why can't we just get back on schedule?

The plastic surgery professionals!

My dad is a plastic surgeon in The Bronx and Brooklyn. I'm sure he does a great job but I can't imagine that I would ever be his patient. Way too weird!

For the most part I'm pretty content with my body even though it was put through the ringer when I was pregnant. I'm sure it will never be the same.

When I was in high school people would get nose jobs for graduation gifts! To think I just got a bike?!? What was my father thinking?

If I were to ever need rhinoplasty I'd want to go to the professionals, a place that had a great reputation, and a nice facility. I can honestly say that I wouldn't trust the local doctors in Ithaca and I would want to go to a bigger city with higher standards and better facilities!



Rodeo Drive Rhinoplasty is located in a boutique setting on Rodeo Drive. It's the most comfortable surgery setting you will probably ever find. The doctor's are seasoned professionals and there to help you with all of your plastic surgery needs.

Maybe I should pass on the contact information to our friends Alex and Dominic who are located in Los Angeles. I'm sure they have a list of plastic surgery needs!

This post sponsored by: Rodeo Drive Rhinoplasty

Way too early.

I didn't get very much sleep last night. We're transitioning Graem into her big girl bed and she didn't go to sleep til late last night.

This morning she woke up early and didn't seem to go back to bed very good.

I hope the transition goes a lot smoother tomorrow.

I was just saying...

how upset I am over Margot getting paid every two weeks instead of every week. For some reason I think that New York Labor Law must have changed. I thought it was pretty distinct that employers had to pay their employees once a week.

Then again I guess I've been at jobs and been paid twice a month.

Either way, it's going to be hard getting used to the transition of one big paycheck every few weeks. I know it saves the company money...but still!

An online payday loan might be in our near future! Not only can you do it all online these days but you can get the cash in a flash!

It's the perfect solution if you need the money and you know that payday is just around the corner but can't bother waiting.

Yikes - payday.

Today we had our staff meeting and my boss said that they are now going to make payday every two weeks. Yikes. This could be good or bad. Of course, for the first few weeks it's going to be hard since we're not used to doing it that way.

But after that we might actually be alright.

Feast or famine.

A new set ...

of golf clubs would be the perfect father's day gift!

Shawna's father and grandfather used to be avid golfers. Her grandfather stopped golfing when he had to have both of his knees replaced. Her father just became more occupied with boating and decided one hobby was enough!

Shawna doesn't play much anymore either. I think we're always so busy but also she just never gets together a group of people to go golfing with.

We were just talking last night about her going out with Jill or some of our other friends and starting a game. She could even join the league.

I've contemplated

going back to school. In my profession they offer a Masters program in Landscape Architecture but I'm not sure I'd benefit from it unless I wanted to teach college or university.

In most cases getting a higher education means going to classes during the day, staying up late at night working on assignments, and no income while attending school.

That's not the case any longer! Capella University makes it easy to get your online phd while working full time. You can attend their online university and they have many different degree programs that you can enroll in.

In fact, I have a few friends that are attending online schools and it's fitting in perfectly with their day to day routines - including a full time job!

This (or “the following”) blog post was (or “is”) based on information provided by Blogitive. For more information, please visit Blogitive.com.

The last time...

we went to a concert was back in October. We had purchased the concert tickets for a good $45 a piece and had gotten the best seats we have ever been able to score for an Indigo Girls concert.

We figured it was the perfect oppourtunity to introduce Grammy to our favorite all-time group.

Boy, was that a dumb idea!

We forgot that the time on the tickets is just when the doors open and by the time the actual group got up to sing it was close to 9:30pm.

They got two songs into the concert and Graem started throwing up profusely! Having baby barf all over us we exited immediately.

To say the least...the next time we see a concert we will be calling the local babysitter!

Today's agenda.

When I'm done with work we are planning on heading out to the Farmer's Market. Of course, by then I'll get home and Graem will be rady for a nap and Shawna won't feel like leaving the house.

WHy does it always work out that way??

Great job, Charles Brown!

I've always made it priority to get my teeth cleaned and checked every 6 months. I have a pretty good dentist and really nice dental hygenist.

However, if I lived in Alexandria I wouldn't have access to Dr. Gardner and Chris and I'd probably have to switch over to another fine doctor.

I've heard great things about Hayfield Dental Care. Most recently Margot's brother talked about his experience with Charles Brown DDS PC.

Dr. Brown has preformed thousands of procedures including crowns, root canals, and surgical procedures. So I'm sure he could probably handle my simple cleaning and x-ray every 6 months!

Something that's very important to me and speaks volumes of Dr. Brown as a dentist is that he has ZERO complaints with the Virginia Board of Dentistry. That's absolutely amazing!

Charles Brown has received numerous awards locally and even as a Resident.

Another great thing about Hayfield Dental Care is that they are accepting new patients and also open to emergency situations.

Give them a call and remember that you only have one set of adult teeth - so take care of them!

Light at the end of the tunnel?

Well, not this Monday but next Monday I should be done with all of my deadlines. Of course, that's a good week away.

Ugh. I'm exhausted and I know I can't keep up with these 50-60 hour weeks.

They're kicking my butt.

Work again.

Yesterday I got into work at 7:00 in the morning -- this morning about the same thing. I ran into my boss and we talked about the deadlines and how I should have asked for help.

The thing being...there's noone there to help me!

We're all too damn busy.

They always find us!

I constantly talk about how much work there is for us to do. This morning I'm working a twelve hour day and I barely have time to go to the bathroom.

However, I know our business is constantly about being active in the community and marketing ourselves positiively.

At some point we might be interested in getting more sales leads so that we can land some bigger and better projects.

Martin Worldwide specializes in gathering information about a companies demographics and location and finding the best leads for their business. They use many different databases to provide you with the hottest leads that might take advantage of your services.

Now, I just have to talk my boss into getting a website for our company.

Baby steps, I guess!

Credit, baby!

We are constantly looking for good credit cards. Most recently we ran our credit report and realized that we had a lot of bad credit cards that had high APRs and didn't offer us rewards that were still open.

Mint credit cards offer a 0% interest credit card. This of course is the best of all credit cards!

We figure that you have to spend around $10,000 to get a $50 gift card and it just isn't worth it in the long run! We'd much rather have a good card where we pay 0% on balance transfers or they offer us 0% for a certain amount of time.

Too bad we can't find a credit card that will offer us $20,000 of interest free credit!

This post sponsored by: credit-cards.mint.co.uk

too much work.

This morning I woke up and I couldn't go back to bed. So I decided to go into work. Isn't it horrible when you work a 8:30 - 5:00 day and you feel bad for not working enough?

I know I should just get over it...but the reality is these are my projects and they have deadlines that I'm responsible for.

To insure or not to insure?

Since we live in New York State we are mandate to have car insurance. New York State is a no-fault state.

We have had State Farm Insurance for the past ten years or so. I used to have Geico but when Shawna and I got together we started getting the married prices and then we added the house, and life insurance and for every insurance you have it is suppose to drop your premiums 10%.

At this point we could be paying so much more than the other companies out there and we wouldn't even know it! We just assume that because we got a good deal ten years ago we are getting a good deal now!

Car insurance has increased over the past year. What's frustrating is that even though our cars are older we're paying more! How do they figure that out? I mean would you think that as you get older and go longer without accidents and your cars become less valuable that your insurance would go down?

Yeah, right.

Thriftyscot.co.uk offers a great website where you can learn about just about everything that has to do with finances! They have sections on credit cards, insurance, loans, mortgages, managing debt, and banking and saving. They also offer great articles about debt and mortgages.

Knowledge is power! So get the knowledge you know to make the right decision on your finances and insurance!

This post sponsored by: Thriftyscot.co.uk

Weekend where are you?

Last night I was in bed by 9:30pm. Shawna came home and tried to talk to me...I have no idea what I might have said!

This morning I woke up at 5:30am and got the bills paid. I had drop off because Shawna is subbing.

Addiction.

We've had the distinct misfortune of having a loved one who is addicted to narcotics and alcohol. We never realized the signs until it was too late and our loved one was hospitalized for a side effect of his addiction.

The reality is... it could have been a lot worse.

What we learned along the way is that addiction is there and arises when you least expect it. There's also times when you don't want to admit it ... but relapse can occur at any time too.

I'm always glad to see rehabs that specialize in a certain area. The rehab that our loved one went to dealt with his profession. That way he could go back into the same setting with some tools for how to be drug and alcohol free.

There is also a alcohol treatment center for women called Orchid Recovery Center.

For me this would probably be the perfect place for rehab because I believe that women and men have such different struggles. It would be nice to have a safe space and not feel threatened by others who might not have the same background.

This post sponsored by: Orchid Recovery Center

When will it stop...

When will there be a time when I feel complete with work and I'm on top of my game? I swear when I started I felt like I could clear my desk every day and walk in with a new task or assignment on my plate.

Now I just feel like I'm constantly cleaning up the mess of others and trying to slide in personal time in the spaces in between.

We're so proud!

Graem has really been an answer to our prayers. Not only is she a funny little girl but she's borderline brilliant! Not just in our eyes either. At some point we will probably get her tested to see exactly how smart she is.

In the future we plan on trying to provide the best education and challenging environments that are available.

We might even invest in a innovative tutor to help her with topics like math and reading. Score Learning Centers are the industry leader and have provided tutoring services for years.

This post sponsored by: Score Learning Center

Softball tonight

I just realized that we have a late softball game. God those games are brutal. Not only does our team get killed scorewise but we're all old, fat, and out of shape --- so the next morning we all feel like we've been run over by a dozen mac trucks.

The hook up!

We've always been a pretty diverse family and it's always been important for us to surround our child with education. Part of that is learning about other peoples cultures and lifestyles.

That's why I'm pretty excited about the chance to check out some Bollywood videos on YouTube!

AapkaVideo.com has set up an Indian Video Sharing system that allows people to exchange videos from all topics including: Bollywood, cricket, music videos, places of interest, and more!



Not only is this a great chance for us to teach our daughter about different cultures -- but I am sure we can enjoy the videos too!

This post sponsored by: AapkaVideo.com

Another day...

at the grind. I tried to get in early...but it just wasn't happening. I have enough work to keep me slammed for the next two weeks. I just realized that I will be taking Graem to school tomorrow and working late.

Tonight's softball and so it might be a late night considering that we don't start the game til 8:00!

Drop the pounds.

After I had Graem I lost about fifteen pounds. People couldn't believe how good I looked and I couldn't believe how easy it was to drop the weight! Had I known that I would have lost weight by having a kid I would have done it much sooner!

I've never much of a calorie counter but lately I'm wondering if that isn't the way to go along with a little exercise.

Now I can get a free calorie counter online! That way there's no reason why I should not be watching what I eat!!

Calorie counting and losing weight have never been so easy!

MyFitnessPal.com offers a great website to help you get the weight off. Especially, with my family reunion right around the corner! God knows, I don't need aunts and uncles talking about how fat I am.

This post sponsored by: MyFitnessPal.com

What a day...

Today we went to the park and went swimming. Graem had a great time! We also had a picnic with L&L and afterwards ended up checking out the creamery.

This evening we watched way too many domestics on Wife Swap and now it's time for bed!

At least

the good thing about me working so much this weekend is that I'll have a nice paycheck. Of course, I just worked enough to have a little over forty hours last week.

It's so hard to miss a day or two and try to make it up on the weekend. It seems like it's nearly impossible! Even when I come in during the morning and on the weekends.

I think the trick is to do morning, weekends, and evenings.

Just call me a Ms. Robot.

I'm glad ..

that Shawna's been taking care of all of the house stuff and will be taking care of all of the banking stuff coming ahead. It seems like there's always been a lot of stuff that needs to be done and so much of the time I work and she handles it!

How did we ever do it all when we both worked?

Oh boy!

We are in the middle of refinancing our house in order to pay for infertility treatment. Our infertility center is now offering a program where you pay $20,000 and they give you two years of infertility treatments (you still have to pay for the $3,000/try medications!).

If you get pregnant and have a healthy baby then you don't get your money back. But if you do not get pregnant in the two year period then you get $20,000 back. It's a pretty risky program for both sides. But we figured we've put almost double into trying to have a baby and so what's another $20,000.

At least if it doesn't work this time...we get our money back and it won't be as devastating.

Friday we went to the bank and talked to the bank manager about a second mortgage our house. They can give us a great rate of 5.25% plus include all closing costs. We figure we'd do a 5 year loan and we would have payments of around $380. They looked at all of our bank accounts and we have to upgrade to a premier checking account in order to do the refinance. Basically the difference is that you have to keep $500 in the account at all times.

One thing that we really wanted to understand was loan penalties. If we were to pay off our loan in a shorter term that was noted would we be penalized?

Also, I wanted to know if the recent interest rise would affect our mortgage rate!

NationsFinance.co.uk offer some great financial information and articles and they also offer an online search engine for credit cards, loans, mortgages, banking, and insurance.

This post sponsored by: Nationsfinance.co.uk

Bright and early...

this morning I was already at work. I know it's a holiday and I should have just slept in and not worried about all of the deadlines and stuff that I have to get done.

But it's easier said than done. I've never been one to sleep in and since I was gone two days last week I feel like I have more work than ever just accumulating on my desk.

We've been through this before...

I'm talking about drug rehab.

A few years back when we were dealing with one of our family member's addictions it was one of the hardest things on me. I can only imagine what our loved one was going through.

Thank God we were able to find a good place that was able to cater to the drug and alcohol addiction and also touch on the other areas that were surrounding the addiction such as depression.

StopYourAddiction.com offers a 28 day drug rehab program for people who want to get their lives on the right track and free from drug and alcohol.

This post sponsored by: StopYourAddiction.com

So much work...so little time.

I feel like I have so much work to do. Even at home I see tons of housework that needs to be done. I'm thinking that maybe we should just hire back our old housekeeper but then I'd also have to work 3 more hours just to afford her to come every few weeks.

Augh. Why can't we just be independantly wealthy again?

I love hot!

That's why we're considering doing another hot and beachy vacation! Of course, we've got to schedule it more strategically next year. I think it'd be more appropriate to schedule it for the January/Feburary months when you are tired of Ithaca and ready to move to the West Coast!

Florida Vacation Rentals sound so appealing! After spending our most recent vacation in a noisy and crowded hotel I think we'll really be able to appreciate renting a vacation home.

It would have also been nice to just stay in for the night and be able to cook a meal in the comfort of your home. At the hotel we had to dress up and after a long day on the beach -- that's the last think you really want to do!

Orlando.com is a great website for anyone who might be traveling to Florida. They offer discounts and traveling tips and hints to the best entertainment, lodging, shopping, and food!

So much for a holiday weekend?

I know it's suppose to be a holiday weekend but I have a feeling I might have to go into work again tomorrow and Monday. I'm trying to catch up from last week when I was out Tuesday for Shawna's surgery and Friday for mine.

Hot!

Today it was actually pretty hot outside. It's was around 80 degrees when we were at the farmer's market and it actually got hot enough to get sweaty!

Of course, that can be a dangerous things since the hippies at the farmer's market aren't into deodorant!

Need a good dealer?

I'm talking about a coin dealer of course!

One thing that never loses it’s value is us silver coins and other precious metals! Even when our stocks are floundering you can always look to silver, gold, and precious metals to maintain their value.

Monex Deposit Company offers silver, gold, and other precious metals for delivery or they will make arrangements to have your metals stored privately and securely at a bank or depository.

I didn’t realize this but Monex Deposit Company (MDC) is an industry leader. They sell gold in two forms: coin or ingot. The world demand now exceeds the supply demand for gold - which makes it a pretty smart investment.

Especially with the economy doing so poorly and people losing all of their investments with the stock market!

Have I mentioned?

How much I love a good nap? I love that Graem still takes naps every day and that by 3:00pm she's ready to lay down and sleep for a good 1 1/2 hours or so.

She get so cuddly. Of course, sometimes she wakes up and she's not in the best of spirits!

We're back!

I went to the grocery store this morning when Shawna was getting ready and blogging. We decided to hit the farmers market and saw a few friends that we haven't seen all winter.

We then went to Lowes to pick up stakes for the garden. Shawna went over to Verizon to bitch them out about our stupid contract with them.

Now it's time for nap!

Yipee!

Yesterday we went to the bank because we're trying to get a loan for the InVitro refund plan offered through our fertility center.

I was so happy to learn that I had a very high credit score. The highest is 900 and I found out that I had a 797!

The night before I had run our credit reports online and although New York State offers free credit reports I was saddened to see that they wouldn't give me my credit score unless I paid the website.

Now, I've found a website that offers free credit score online! Not only can you do this all online but they also have valuable financial information on how to repair your credit and a "Credits Secret Bible".

They also offer some great contests online that you can sign up to win!

I'll be watching you.

I absolutely love The Police. Over the years one thing is constant and that's their great music! I can hear a song from 20 years ago and love it just as much as I did when I was a kid and heard it for the first time.

Just the other day I heard "Roxanne". Of course, I had to belt out the crazy lines and I swear Graem gave me a look like I was crazy. Mission accomplished!



Now the police have done it again - they are going on tour and they have a new Police CD! The two disc cd set will come with all of the old favorites.

The great thing about this is that they are currently giving these two great CDs away to 100 lucky winners! I hope I'm one of them because that means I won't have to spend Grammy's monthly food money on the CD set!

Here are the song titles on the new Police CD:

Disc: 1
1. Fallout
2. Can't Stand Losing You
3. Next to You
4. Roxanne
5. Truth Hits Everybody
6. Hole in My Life
7. So Lonely
8. Message in a Bottle
9. Reggatta de Blanc
10. Bring on the Night
11. Walking on the Moon
12. Don't Stand So Close to Me
13. Driven to Tears
14. Canary in a Coalmine

Disc: 2
1. Do Do Do de da da Da
2. Voices Inside My Head
3. Invisible Sun
4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
5. Spirits in the Material World
6. Demolition Man
7. Every Breath You Take
8. Synchronicity I
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Walking in Your Footsteps
11. Synchronicity II
12. King of Pain
13. Murder by Numbers
14. Tea in the Sahara

Get the new CD while you still can. This is sure to be a collector's edition! This would also be a PERFECT father's day gift!

Hmm...considering Grammy doesn't have a daddy...I'm thinking she should get it for her Mama for Father's Day!

This post sponsored by: ThePolice.com

Surgery

Yesterday I got out of surgery after about 40 minutes. They found one small polyp that was 2mm. They used a magnified scope to find the polyp and I was glad they were able to cut it out then and there.

I was pretty crampy after surgery and we went for Vietnamese food afterwards.

Then we went to the bank to try to get the $20,000 loan, to the grocery store, and to pick Grammy up.

Last night we had L&L over for dinner and a movie.

When I was nursing...

I was constantly looking for the date that I pumped the milk. We had a system where I would put the date on the bottle with a dry erase marker. Half of the time though the marker would get wiped off.

I came up with the idea that I should invent some custom labels for nursing women to write the date that they pumped the milk.

The labels would be bio-degradable and easy to remove from the bottle once the milk had been used.

Over the years I still have not seen this idea used and it might be the start of a million dollar idea!

CustomizedStickers.com offers a great variety of stickers and labels for just about everything. Maybe I'll check out their catalog and see if they have the labels I'm looking for!

This post sponsored by: CustomizedStickers.com

Surgery.

Well, Margot's in surgery and I'm just going to post a few entries on her behalf! The doctor seemed really nice and pretty funny. He showed her the tube that they were going to use for the procedure and I thought she was going to pass out!

Poor girl.

At least she'll be able to eat after the procedure. She was drooling over my water!

What are we going to do with that girl?

We were just talking the other day about what we should do with Graem when she gets older - during the summer. She's a smart kid and we want to constantly provide her with oppourtunities to enhance her mind.

We might look at the summer program offered by Score Learning Centers.

Score has been in the business of teaching younger people for years. They are industry leaders and really tend to know what works with different children.

As a parent we always want to provide the best for our little girl.

This post sponsored by: Score Learning Centers

Ready or not...

Well, we're in the hospital now and I'm getting ready for my surgery. I must admit I'm getting a bit anxious and just hoping that it all comes out alright and that I'm able to leave the hospital today with a clean bill of health.

Buy me.

Everyone who knows me knows that I've become obsessed with blogging online. I write about just about everything from bowel movements to boob jobs and I've been bringing in some pretty good money!

In fact, our most recent vacation to Cancun was paid for from all of our blogging money over the past few months!

I've signed up with a few online pay-to-blog groups and my favorite one is PayPerPost. Not only do they have the best offers and the most advertisers but I love the sense of community that they offer. The people that work there are responsive and really have a passion to present the advertiser and blogger with a great product and service.

Now they've offered bloggers and advertisers something called PayPerPost Direct. Advertisers can choose individual websites or blogs that they might want to advertise with. Instead of paying a large amount (sometimes up to %50 with competitors) advertisers are only being charged a %10 surcharge, plus the amount that blogger might be requesting for the review.

For a blog such as this one with a page rank of two I think the going rate would be around $25 or so.

So if you're an advertiser and interested in me doing a write-up keep your eyes glued to this website for more information.

I promise to do your company justice -- especially if the price is right!

My week is almost over!

So I stumbled into work today and I'm so damn exhausted. I'm trying to work 40 hours of work into three days. I plan on being out of work tomorrow for my colonoscopy. Of course I was also out of work Tuesday for Shawna's surgery.

When it rains it pours.

It looks like I'm going to have to spend time this weekend at work.

Augh.

For the person that has everything...

I never drank hot tea until I moved to upstate New York. I don't know if it's the snow, the freezing cold temperatures, or just the northern thing to do...but I do enjoy a cup of hot tea!

I actually had a delicious cup of Jasmine tea last night since my throat is a bit sore.

Since the whole family loves tea we have a section of our cupboards that are designated for our different types of tea.

A few months ago we brought some Russian tea that we found in Ithaca to Margot's Dad. They seemed to enjoy it - but we realized it was probably pretty easy for them to find in Brooklyn!

A great, new, unique gift idea is offered through a great website called: FullBloomTea.com! They offer some great tea blends and tea pots. But the great part about the tea drinking experience is that you have a beautiful floral blooming right before your eyes as you experience your drinkable floral bouquet!

This is the "Let love bloom" tea and floral set:


This would be the perfect gift for us to take to Margot's dad after he undergoes his next chemo round. Not only would it bring a smile to his face but the cleansing tea would also be good for him.

What a nice day!

I can't get over what a beautiful day it is outside. Of course by noon I'm going to be ready to collapse face first into my keyboard. I'm going to pick Graem and Shaw up at 10 or so. Both of the cars are here at my work because Shawna couldn't drive yesterday since she was heavily sedated.

Maybe I'll be able to pick up a few shots of espresso!

Damn computer and damn Windows Vista.

The only thing that I can say is that I'm pista at vista! It's such a piece of shit. Every time you open more than one windows explorer window an error message comes up and says that it's out of memory.

C'mon my old Gateway 366mhz could do a better job than that?!?!

I'm exhausted and hungry.

What in the hell was I thinking coming into work so damn early? Am I nuts? I should have just gone back to bed and slept through the night, woken up and went into work like normal people - at 9:00.

What a pain

A few months ago we were part of the TJ Maxx credit card fraud. It was such a pain in the butt because not only was our credit card information jeopardized but we had to get new cards from three different banks!

Of course, Shawna never gets her cards pinned and so she's had our local bank/ATM card but unable to use it as debit to get cash out of the ATM!

Sometimes I wonder if credit cards are really the way to go...

Then I think of the 0% Balance Transfers that we have received over the years and how they've really allowed us to be financially solvent!

ThriftyScot.co.UK offers a great financial website and I can really appreciate their education information and articles on "Cancelling old credit cards" and "Credit ratings."

It's financial institutions like this that could really give you the financial information you need to make wise spending and financial choices.

This post sponsored by: http://www.thriftyscot.co.uk

Peace of mind

We are now looking at doing an infertility refund program at our local fertility center. It's $20,000 and we've been looking for a good loan that offers a low interest rate and will allow us to borrow $20,000.

In the past, we've worked with huge credit card companies and local banks.

But now we're going to consider working through loans.co-operativebank.co.uk. They are an ethical bank that stands behind the environment and people's human rights.

As a gay woman who values the earth and the world around us... this is of value to me.

By accepting their money I wouldn't have to worry that the money they are making off of me is going towards something that I am morally opposed to.

It's all about thinking outside of the box these days and Loans.Co-Operativebank.co.UK has done that.

Kudos.

This post sponsored by: Loans.Co-Operativebank.co.UK

Early to bed...

Early to rise. Too bad we're not getting in the early to bed thing! This morning I woke up at 2:00am and just can't stop thinking about work. I thought I was going to be able to work more today but Shawna's surgery went much longer than anticipated.

So now I'm 7 hours in the whole for the week and I'm not working Friday because I have my colonoscopy.

That's why it's 4:00am and I'm at work!!!

My love-hate relationship...

with credit cards! We have used them so much in the past and they've really helped us be able to buy things when we didn't have the money.

This of course can be a good and a bad thing!

Over the past few days we've been talking about doing an outcome based infertility program with our current fertility clinic. Either we can take out a second mortgage on the house or we can do it through our credit cards.

Preferably we'd like to get into a very low interest loan and then pay it off monthly. We've done this in the past with balance transfers and just tried to juggle the debt.

CardGuide.co.uk offers some great information and allows you to search for the perfect card! In fact, we might be interested in some of the cards they offer for our upcoming $20,000 purchase.

Augh...it makes me sick just thinking about it!

This post sponsored by: CardGuide.co.uk

Back to the grind...

Well, I knew it would be hard to wake up this morning and come into work. But I never realized how hard! I thought I was going to come into work over the weekend but that didn't happen!

Now I have so much stuff to do I don't even know where to begin! Not to mention, I have Graem tomorrow because Shawna's going to be in her surgery.

Hopefully, I can at least get organized today!

Yowzers!

We don't have many single friends but if we did...we'd want to spread the news about winning a date with Mirelly Taylor!

Not only is Mirelly one of the up and coming actresses of the 21st century but she's starred in movies and shows such as: "Numb3rs", "Serving Sara", "Kiss me again", and "Las Vegas". That's a pretty impressive resume for such a young and beautiful actress!

You can check out Free videos at GoFish.com and find out how to enter into a contest to win a free date with Mirelly.

Plus, you can watch these awesome videos starring Andrew Firestone! He's the hot guy from "The Bachelor"! Not only is he great looking, but he's wealthy too!! That's my kind of guy!

He's trying to promote a series of funny mini-shows called "Seduce a celebrity." You can see these clips all on the website and they are so funny!

Take a look here at one of the many free videos that is offered on GoFish.com!



This is some noteworthy information that's not only hilarious but you can also get a hot date with Mirelly! Take advantage of this and don't let this hot date pass you by! Or you could end up single for the rest of your life with no prospects of a wife/husband in sight!

Back!

Well, we got back from Cancun a few days ago and it was absolutely amazing! It was a vacation well needed and aside from a terrible rash that I think I got...I feel great!

Of course...that doesn't mean that I'm ready to go back to work Monday!

Looking to invest...

I just received my retirement payment from my employer the other day and I'm always looking for different ways to diversify my portfolio.

Venture Alliance Partners is a new equity investment firm that has a proven track record of success! They've only been around since 2006 but their porfolio speaks volumes.

This post sponsored by: Venture Alliance Partners

Superstar, Hayfield Dental Care!

I've heard great things about Hayfield Dental Care over the past few months. Now there's another person who is singing Hayfield's praises!

The person blogging had a broken tooth and she went into Hayfield on an emergency basis and ended up getting superior care!

I can't even tell you how impressive this is.

I know if I were to break my tooth I'm not even sure who or where I'd go. God knows my little, old, retired dentist probably wouldn't answer his phone if I called with an emergency! Much less offer emergency care!

Too bad HayField Dental hasn't decided to move it's offices to upstate New York or I'd probably be one of the first to sign up!

2

That's right...just two more work days and then we're off to CANCUN!!! I'm going to do a countdown before work each day and after work each day.

Just in case you forget --- we're almost free!!!

YAH!!

I'm home.

I've never been so happy to see my girls!!! I must say that during the day I miss them tremendously...but with it being so nice out all I want to do is come home and play!!

With that said...I'm out of here!

Woo Woo Universal!

I can't wait til Graem gets old enough for us to head to Orlando, Florida. In fact, just a few weeks ago we were talking about how much fun we had when Shawna and I went with my Uncle and Aunt.

I'm sure she's going to love seeing Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Last time we went we enjoyed Universal Studios. It seems more geared for the adults. I didn't realize how much Universal Studios Tickets were until I saw a commercial online!

We came across a great website OrlandoFunTickets.com. They offer some great deals and discounts on just about every type of entertainment offered in Florida.

Last time we went we enjoyed Gatorland --- I think Graem might be too scared of the alligators to enjoy that!!

Dinner!

I love going out to eat. Of course the part of it that I don't love is paying for it. We've been pretty bad about eat outs over the weekend and we're going out again tonight. The thing is...we don't have food in the house and it makes no sense to go out and make a shopping run at the grocery store because we'll just be leaving in a few days.

So it looks like we'll just have to try to eat dinner cheap.

Heading home...

Okay, these 11 hour work days are absolutely killing me. Even though I was in the car for 5 of those hours...I'm exhausted! I'm finally heading home and hopefully, we can just hang out, watch bad tv, and go for dinner!

This will be the first year...

That I don't have a mother for Mother's Day. That's really a weird concept to me at this point in my life.

However, I'm guessing that we will do something special for Mother's Day when we are in Cancun. Typically, in the past many people send flowers to their mothers or take them out to eat.

DotFlowers.com offers a great selection of flowers and also gift baskets for people that are on a diet and can't eat flowers. Just joking.

They offer same day shipping in case you might have forgotten a special birthday or holiday and you can do all of the ordering online and know that it's been taken care of!

Peace of mind is everything!

Looking for a host?

We've had our website up for a few years now. It's been quite a hit with family and friends and of course it's been a great way for us to communicate what's going on without having to send out a personal email to everyone!

When we started the website there really weren't many companies out there who were offering hosting services and so we decided to go with GoDaddy.com. Now of course, there are many other websites available and they offer much better service and rates.

If you're looking for dedicated servers to host your website or information...look no further. TheHostingNews.com offers information on hosts and also gives tons of other information on dedicated servers.

I've been trying to talk my boss into starting a work website where we could do a business profile, contact information, and even have pictures of some of our past projects for prospective clients to look at.

It might even be a great place for our existing clients to offer feedback and we might even be able to do something with a password protected ftp so that we can transfer files electronically instead of constantly using a courier.

I'm sure TheHostingNews.com would have some great information on how to make all of this happen. Of course, since I'm the IT person of the company I'd be the one that'd have to set it up and figure out how to keep it maintained.

Just another thing on my plate...

Maybe, we will wait on this one.

This post sponsored by: TheHostingNews.com

Stuck.

Well, I hate that it's such an awesome day out and Grammy and Shaw are hanging outside and I'm stuck in meetings all day. It seems like the weekends always go so fast and then by the time I get home the sun is just starting to go down and Grammy is in a pretty prime mood.

Maybe I should quit my day job and just blog all day like Shawna.

Just do it.

My dad has been trying to get his citizenship ever since I can remember. Last I heard he had hired an attorney for about $10,000 who was a professional in this area. My dad reqested some papers from me and my brother.

I haven't heard anything else...but I'm assuming that he still isn't a citizen.

Now becoming a citizen has never been easier. He can now apply for US Citizenship Online. USCitizenship.info helps people become US Citizens.

They can save you over 90% in fees and know how to create urgency in getting your request approved.

It sounds like this company really knows what they're doing and they take matters into their own hands without hesitation.

All of these years my dad has been paying social security and taxes into the United States government. It's time for him to become a citizen so that he can get back all that he's put into the system!

Finally, a company out there that takes citizenship as seriously as I do!

This post sponsored by: USCitizenship.info

Have I mentioned...

JUST A FEW MORE DAYS TIL VACATION? I can't wait to take Grammy to the beach and just relax.

Have I mentioned that our hotel is 4 1/2 stars, is all inclusive, and has all you can drink PREMIUM alcohol?

Didn't think so.

Business networking.

We have so much business that we're all working tons of hours and we've even had to hire a few people over the past few weeks! Although, we don't do any marketing my boss believes in staying in front of the community and networking.

Masterseek is a perfect networking website for companies like us! We don't actively want to or need to advertise but we want to make sure that our information is readily available.

They offer an easy to use website and you can search profiles anywhere in the world. This could be especially helpful if we're looking for a special product and unable to find it online. We could check out this business search engine and receive contact information, management information, products, and their website.

It's all about who you know these days and I'm glad I came across this great networking website!

Just a few more days...

the countdown has begun! I have two more days of work before we leave for Cancun. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to take a break from everything!! No work, no housecleaning, no talk of babies or sperm.

Only beaches and swimming is in my near future!

Yipee for me.

So, Shawna's turned into quite the blogging machine and she's always looking to make a dollar. I've just about given up on doing any blogging for money because it's gotten way to complicated and you have to write way too many words, for way too little money.

Saturday she gave me information for Bloggerwave. I must admit it's the easiest blog-for-money website out there!

The offers are great and you don't have to write a novel for $2.50!

I was glad to see that the oppourtunities are easy and not about DWI attorneys or Breast Augmentation.

Thank God for the "New kid on the block"!

Out of town today.

Well, I'm in Oswego for most of the day today. I was out of the house by 6Am and don't expect to get back home til probably 6 this afternoon. These long days aren't too tedious - the hard part is being away from the office and imagining all of the emails and phone calls that are piling up when I'm away.

Mother's Day.

Mother's Day is right around the corner and I think I have the perfect idea for Shawna's gift. We were shopping at the outlet mall this weekend and she was really looking for some bras but we couldn't find any good ones that weren't a fortune.

I just ran across a great Lane Bryant coupon that offers 20% off your purchase. That way I can purchase her a few great bras!

Everyone knows this family is a sucker for some good coupons! That's why we've already bookmarked CouponChief.com! They have some great coupons and I've found that they work and haven't expired!

This post sponsored by: CouponChief.com

ARRRR

Okay, you know it's bad when you are driving on your way to work and you're singing "The Pirate Song" by The Backyardigans.

The pirate, the pirate, the pirate says "ARRRRRR".

Our poor parents must have had to sing Mr. Rogers Neighborhood!

I love it!

Shawna's always looking for ways to market her business and also get the word out about our blogs. She's always looking for new information on social media.

I'm going to pass along Britopian to her. It has some great information on how to create a good blog and also information on SEO and page rank.

We threw a party over the most recent update where two of our blogs went up to a page rank of 3! If we could just get more information on how to increase the other two blogs - we'd be all set!

This post sponsored by: Britopian.com

50 hours in 4 days.

Well, I guess the good thing is that I'll be getting paid for a full week even though we're heading out Friday!

The bad news is I'm going to be one very exhausted puppy boarding the plane Friday.

Good thing I'll be able to sip on margaritas and live in luxury for a week!

We should look into this.

At work most of our book keeping is handled by the secretary. That used to be fine when we had someone who was really good in the position and had been there for years.

But we have a new person who isn't entirely on top of her game.

She's not good at payroll and tends to mess up pretty often.

At this point I might suggest that we hire accountingparadise.com. They offer accounting and payroll services for small to medium companies like ours.

They were designed by someone who had a small business and so he/she knows the struggle that we're having that are related to accounting!

The good thing is that the system would be streamlined and consistent throughout instead of having a few different people working on the accounting like it currently is.

This post sponsored by: http://www.accountingparadise.com

Back to work..

After a great weekend I'm back to work. THis weekend was jam packed and I feel like we did a lot! Although, I left this morning to head to work and realized that our house is filthy!

Shawna said she'd try to pick up over the next few days before we head on vacation.

Get published.

We have a few friends that are writers and their publishers are always looking for the best deals when getting book printing. Now they can check out book-printing.co.uk for an instant price engine.

Book publishing made simple. The way it should be!

Check out this press release:

Triple Whammy for www.book-printing.co.uk

It's FREE, It's Instant and it gives the cheapest prices.

Book Publishers of all sizes have been drooling over the amazing new instant price engine created by the clever folks at Trade Print Europe.

Now it is possible to obtain instantly over 40 million price variations for a book printing project without speaking to anyone.

In the old days (yesterday!) a publisher could wait a week and still not get an answer!

Not only can the book publisher obtain as many prices as they like, they can be confident that the end product is superb.

Trade Print Europe only use a handful of long established and trusted partners from Easern Europe and beyond.

The benefit is that not only can you get instant prices, top quality products and the lowest cost, you can do so safe in the knowledge you are dealing with a registered United Kingdom company who will also offer account terms subject to status.

It's a win, win, win situation for self publishers and serious book book publishers everywhere. Why? it's becuase these guys will deliver worldwide.

This website has set the standard for the rest of the industry to follow........and at this stage there is no close second.


This post sponsored by: book-printing.co.uk

Finally.

I'm so glad it's a weekend. My brother is here and we've been pretty busy today to say the least. Despite the overeating at the farmer's market we were actually able to make our way to the outlet malls where we spent WAY too much money.

The good thing is I ended up getting 5 new pair of pants for work.

Gotta spend money...

to make money. I'm sure you've heard the old saying.

Shawna's the buyer in our family. She's always searching for good deals. Whether it's on the internet or in the store - that woman can smell a bargain from miles away.

That's why I'm sure she's going to be into the newest bidding site - bid4prizes.

I'm dying to get my hands on the new iPhone. I've heard it's absolutely amazing. However, I just can't justify spending $400 on myself - for a phone! That's why I'm hoping that I win one with the newest Bid4Prizes.com auction and giveaway!

Of course, we don't have tons of money to spend on auctions and that's why we love Bid4Prizes.com! The winners of the auctions aren't always the highest bids - but the most unique.

Now, that's something we can do.

We're pretty unique!

Bustin' out of here.

And going to a meeting of course. I'm off to Cortland. The biggest redneck town in Central New York. I absolutely love being the only minority in a populated area.

It feels great.

Now I know how Shawna must have felt when we were in the Philippines!

This website needs some help!

So I must say that I've gotten involved in all of the hype and quite concerned about the page rank of my websites. We have four websites total and I realized that two of them went up in page rank and two went down!

That's why I'm thinking about placing a bid for placement one of of the hottest new web directories out there - BigWebLinks.com!

They have a PR7 and I can easily get my websites to be the first listing you see. I wouldn't have to compete with all of the big corporations that spend thousands on advertising.



Not only would this add to my link popularity - but this might just give me the boost that I need right now.

This post sponsored by: BigWebLinks.com

Sleep.

Well, I really could use about three more hours of sleep these days! This morning I had to wake Shawna up to look for a subbing job. There computer system is so screwy. Most of the time time the system calls us over about 100 times a night. Last night she didn't get any calls and when she went on the computer to get a subbing job it said they were "being viewed by another user" then there weren't any left.

Stupid system.

Hawaiian Vacation Packages

This year we're going to Cancun, Mexico. But we can never get enough of the sand, beach, and hot weather. More than likely, over the next few years we're going to stick with the nice beachy vacations.

More than likely we'll choose from a few different Hawaii vacation packages.

Since we're traveling with a kid we have to make sure that we choose something that's kid friendly where Grammy will enjoy it. When we go to Cancun we're going to take advantage of the aquarium. They even have a program where Graem can swim with the dolphins. She's so excited and she's been talking about it for months!!

Of course, if we were to go to Hawaii I'm sure they'd have much of the same things. I also like to know that we'd be supporting local eco-tourism. The whole idea is that tourists support areas that are being preserved as rainforests or tropical areas.

We would also like to go somewhere that is in the United States. When traveling abroad it's always such a pain to have to go through customs and updating passports.



Check out this press release:
Growing Ecotourism Industry In Hawaii Protects Environmental Assets While Increasing Profits
Ecotourism is nature and culture based tourism that is ecologically sustainable and supports the well being of local communities. Commercial entities have become a positive influence on the environment because they promote a tourism industry that is environmentally and culturally sensitive while increasing profits. The availability of vacation accommodations through online resources such as HawaiianBeachRentals.com affords tourists the opportunity to plan a customized, environmentally-friendly vacation.

Maui, HI (PRWeb) December 30, 2006 -- According to the Hawaii Ecotourism Association (HEA), ecotourism is nature and culture based tourism that is ecologically sustainable and supports the well being of local communities. Commercial entities have become a positive influence on the environment because they promote a tourism industry that is environmentally and culturally sensitive while increasing profits. The availability of vacation accommodations through online resources such as HawaiianBeachRentals.com affords tourists the opportunity to plan customized, environmentally-friendly Hawaii vacations.



Recent statistics published in dBusinessNews reveal that visitor expenditures in Maui totaled 3.1 billion dollars in 2005 and 2.9 billion dollars in 2004. Maui's tourism sector is sound and growing, as evidenced by the fact that hotel occupancy is well above average for the Hawaiian Islands. Since Maui's economy is tourism-based, practicing ecotourism protects valuable environmental assets while luring savvy travelers to experience the raw beauty of a Pacific Island. Visiting an online vacation site is the simplest way to plan a customized trip to Maui or Kauai based on the principles of ecotourism. Jeff Berzolla of Hawaiian Beach Rentals states that, "We have traditionally specialized in providing our customers with alternative trips to Hawaii allowing them to stay in unique places and helping them coordinate the details of their dream vacation, be it romantic, active or relaxation focused. Also, our staff enjoys living and playing in Hawaii. Time off is often spent visiting the units we rent to our customers, whether they're Maui vacation rentals or condos on Kauai, to better understand the Islands and the beautiful paradise we share with the world."

According to Wayne Nastri, the western regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than 95 million dollars has been committed to Hawaii within the past year to correct environmental violations while preventing future pollution. Clearly, capitalists and tree huggers are now teaming up as opposed to being at odds, finding it more progressive and profitable to protect the environment rather than exploit it. Environmentally responsible hotels known as "green hotels" use energy and natural resources in environmentally-friendly ways and give visitors a realistic Hawaiian experience without compromising the world around them. As a result, breathtaking natural wonders such as the majestic Na Pali coast can be found just steps away from many Kauai vacation rentals. Hawaiian vacations offer hiking, boating, snorkeling and whale watching in an unaffected, natural habitat. Since it is the incredible flora and fauna of Hawaii that lures vacationers, it is in the best interest of big business to protect the environment to keep the visitors coming back.

According to a recent poll of HEA members, to be considered as genuinely engaging in ecotourism, Hawaii travel operators need to minimize the negative impact on Hawaii's natural environment, cultural heritage and local communities, as well as maximize the positive impact on these factors. Additionally, rental operators must foster an appreciation of Hawaii's sense of place among staff and visitors. The spirit of the land is referred to as "aina" in Hawaii. Kauai condo rentals and hotels are sensitive to this "aina" because they are built with special care to have the least impact possible on the precious local land and wildlife. Securing such accommodations is easy with the online help of informed locals. Jeff Berzolla further says, "We like working with folks that have a passion for travel and want a customized experience that only a local person can help coordinate. Hawaiian Beach Rentals offers accommodations such as vacation homes, condos and hotels, as well as airfare and car rentals to customers wanting to travel to Hawaii. We want to help our customers have a unique experience in Hawaii so we can show them what Aloha is all about. Our services include the most up to date local information about Hawaii and the ability for customers to quickly and easily pay for their vacation online via a secure payment process."

A savvy traveler seeking information about ecotourism-based excursions to Maui and Kauai can visit HawaiianBeachRentals.com for additional details. Take advantage of technology to plan the most unique, socially-conscious trip of a lifetime!


This post sponsored by: www.hawaiianbeachrentals.com

Augh.

I just found out that I went over on vacation time. I'm hoping that my work offers some kind of berevement time. I mean even aides at Shawna's old job that had been there for a week got three days.

I'm kinda bummed because I'm going to have to take our Cancun vacation unpaid.

Shit. I wish our secretary would have updated our vacation balance.

Take me away to Cyprus!

We had some friends a few years ago who moved to Cyprus. Our friend, Jacob, got a great job there. The last we heard they lived in a huge house and were doing really well.

I've heard that North Cyprus Property really is beautiful and you can get a nice sized house with a pool in the lap of luxury for a under $200,000! That's absolutely unheard of these days.

Check out WellEstates.com. You'll be able to see the great properties for sell and you'll be shocked how much you can afford!

This post sponsored by: WellEstates.com

This morning...

I could barely get out of the house! It seemed like I was moving in slow motion. Even waking up to turn off the alarm I must have snoozed four times before actually getting my ass out of bed.

When is our vacation again??

BackGam'n

When I was a kid my father taught me to play backgammon. I know the basics and could probably play a game...but I would need a refresher course.

Backgammon and chess are games of skill and wisdom. I'm pretty good at games and puzzles and most times I beat Shawna and Graem at board games. (Okay, that's not saying much!)

Now there's a new place on the web that I can hang out called BackGammonMasters.com! They offer a great website where I can learn how to play backgammon again and receive the refresher course that I so badly need.

They also offer tournaments where I can play other people online and options to play for real money.

Hmm...maybe I should take up backgammon and quit my day job?

I guess the best idea would be to get really good, go up against the best, win a little money and then slowly leave my day job!

Of course, I'd have to listen to 'Life According to Jean-Claude' to get any real tips on how to play backgammon or how to cut onions. He's just your typical cool cat that has a good head on his shoulders and a huge sense of humor!

Take a look at this hot daddy:

Sunshine!

The past few days have been so great. This weekend we worked on the yard and played outside. Yesterday was sunny and a little windy and so we went for a walk at the park and around the pond.

Today seems a bit cloudy but sunny nonetheless. I have a feeling that spring is trying to peek right through the clouds and bitter winter.

C'mon, you can do it!

Yikes.

We have no idea what the upcoming few days hold for us. We weren't going to try to conceive this month. Shawna wanted to take this month off since things have been so crazy with traveling etc. The she peed on a stick and it looks like she's back in the game.

The lines were pretty dark and who knows ... she might even ovulate this month. So "game back on".

If the lines are dark today and her bloodwork comes back alright she's going to head to New York City for the next few days.

Here's hoping.

Back to work.

Well, it's early and I'm still tired. I haven't been able to fully catch up on my sleep and I think I'm just running on fumes. I keep telling myself only a week more til vacation.

In 9 days I'll be sitting on the drink sipping delicious beaches!