It's Official

Well at least I have the offer and I have accepted it. On Aug 11th I will be going back to work part time 10 days a month. I will be doing the same old stuff I have always done. Working for a broker instead of a manufacturer this time though.I will be representing a product I have represented before too. So it should be a cake walk.No pun intended.
My dear friend has offered to watch Bella 3 days a week and I am so excited to have a loving secure home for her to be in. She loves to play with my friends daughter and talks about her all the time. So it seems to me that it was meant to be. God does that for me a lot . I have a need and he supplies it. He is so Awesome. I am always amazed at the way he works in my life . Not always as I expect or want but ALWAYS as I need.That's why I shine

Bedtime and err uh Routine???

Yesterday we went to the gym. Which in itself is not abnormal. What is abnormal is what Bella came home with. She was riding along in the back seat and started singing surprising clear. However the little ditty she was singing was not familiar to me . As a matter of fact it kind of took me by surprise, oh I 'd be used to old favorites like "God's big backyard" or "She'll be coming round the mountain" but this was NEW & um well quite advanced for a 2 year old.

She did the dance that goes with it when we got home. I was a bit concerned with the ending and wondered where on earth she got it. So i asked to which she replied "at the gym". So I am thinking she is hanging out with older girls learning rap and dance routines which scared me so I seared online to find out exactly what song it was and if their were any other "suggestive" type lyrics. Then I found out it was this!

How funny,cute,strange is that. I have not decide which. Feel free to leave me a comment with your opinion. She seems to really like the doll and has requested that we get the the"pink" one. We looked on eBay and the are about $25 for one or you can buy a lot of 12 for $50 . Maybe I'll buy a lot and do some eBay myself.

Now on to the Bed time part of this Routine.Bella has a book read every night at bedtime. Her fave changes with each trip to the library. Right now it is this one.

Last time it was "Professor Bumble and the Monster of the deep" She is so funny . Acting out all of the actions and what happens in the stories . I love reading to her and so does Adam. We usually trade off nights . Lately he has been doing it a lot more so he has more time to spend withe her. She love playing and reading with her daddy.

Mountains of majesty

OK let's get real. NOT majesty but a huge mountain. I had so much laundry from the In-Laws visit and not doing ANY laundry since they got here last Wed. I had all of our bed clothes ,rugs and what seemed like every single towel and article of clothing we owned to wash. So I asked Mom for back up to watch Bella and off I went to the laundry mat. Believe me it is not something I look forward too. I actually dread it A LOT!!!! Since I had 9 regular loads of laundry and 2 loads in the big 55 lb washers I had no choice. Well I could of spend 3- 8 hr days at home washing ,folding ,hanging up and putting away all the while chasing Bella. Instead I spent 3 and 1/2 hrs and $25 in a hot sweaty stinky laundry mat watching American Gladiators(the only show they ever have on when I come here ? Curious?) in between folding mountains of laundry.The only thing I find depressing is now I have about 4-5 hrs of ironing. I'll probably wind up doing what I usually do (be a slacker) and get up in the morning and iron as I need it.

Whew! well enough about laundry,today is a new day. I must clean my house. I have play-doh in my floors not to mention enough hair to make an entire dog. Dishes to put away and washers to re load. Beds to make,tubs and toilets to scrub,mirrors to clean and a fridge to clean out. In my spare time it would really nice to clean out the inside of my car as it is gross too.Hopefully I can wrangle my 2 yr old and accomplish all of these tasks.

Tomorrow will be a fresh day I hope. I'll wake up to clean clothes and a clean house and be able to take Bella to the park or swimming since we have not been yet this summer. I am missing spending fun times with her since the in-laws have been here. I have been tyring to feed my inner self with small joys. Like shopping alone,getting in and out of my car in 5 seconds in stead of 5 minutes,going to the bathroom by myself,taking a shower without worry of a crazy person roaming my home. Tomorrow it's time to get back to being a fun Mommy who plays in the floor with Mr. Potato head ,reads books and plays candy land.

This is what OLD looks like.

I turned 40 yesterday and we went up to the north side to stay in a hotel. It was so late when we left and Adam &I both had a long day so I knew there would not be a lot of excitement. We checked in and I jumped in the shower while my Dear Husband went to the Bonefish Grill and picked me up dinner. He go the room free through his work so they provided dinner for him at the hotel. Believe me I got the better end of the deal. Then we watched the nice 42 inch flat screen while I had a lemon drop . It was a nice relaxing way to ring in OLD.

Then we had to get up this morning and get back to real life. I got a call last week about a part-time position with a company I used to do business with. So I had a interview with them today at 9. I had to drop Adam off at work and race over there. It went well and last and hour and a half. Then I had to race home to take my Mother in-law to Sam's club for some vanilla. I guess she pays a lot for it in Connecticut but then again she pays a lot for everything there.

So the in-laws left this morning after Sam's club. They are going to make the 12-14 hr trip in one day and they didn't even leave until around 11:30. So it's going to be one long day for them.Linda was crying when they left. She really misses Bella when it's time to go. Bella kept saying "Where are you going Grandma" "Papaw why do you have to go home?" However before you know it we will be on our way out to see them in November for Roger & Erkia's wedding.

It was supposed to be a day at the gym but the daycare ends at 1pm and doesn't open again until 4pm so I guess I can forget it until tomorrow. Tonight I have asked Mom to hang with Bell and I at the Laundry mat. I hate to go there but it makes it so so easy to get the mountains of laundry I have done in no time.That leaves tomorrow open for gym and cleaning the rest of my filthy house.

I will leave this post with a few closing shots of the hotel we stayed in and the view out the window. It was way better in person . Not to mention you can see my reflection in the window as I took the shot. Oh well you get the idea right?

Not quite official....

I'm still 39 until after 11pm tonight. So more than likely I'll ring in my 40 years asleep. I'll be needing all the sleep I can get after yesterday's shindig at University Park. I planned to have it here because all of the kids could play and keep themselves occupied on the really cool brand new playground equipment.

The photo does not do this behemoth justice. It has a Rock wall and tons of other cool stuff. This however is where planning went wrong. After 2.3 seconds on this playground my poor dear friend Mynde's daughter Ally fell off of it and broke her arm. So they were off as soon as they arrived to the nearest hospital. Then they had to eat yucky hospital food and spend a beautiful sunny day with their 3 kids at the hospital. So much for planning huh!

On the bonus side last night on my way home(with TONS of extra food) I called said friend and told her I was dropping off the excess to her house. I got a really cool birthday gift.

She was a very very good chooser. I had actually been at Jungle Jim's (one of my fav place's on earth) with Adam and saw these and fell in love.Then poof my friend saw them and thought I'd like it.

I do I do I do I do <----- Sorry I got carried away and broke into a rousing rendition of an ABBA favorite. I guess it's because Mom and I went out Thursday night and saw the movie "Momma Mia" We were in NYC in May a got tickets to see it on Broadway and TRUST me it was totally awesome. You know it was great when (except for the Greek scenery) the actors were better (in our humble opinion) that the likes of Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan.

Tonight after Adam has spent ALL DAY (8 am to 6pm) at the Brickyard we are planning on going to a hotel he got from free from his work.He is to pooped to pop and I will probably spend the evening watching TV and taking a shower. Oh well at least I'll not have to wait on anyone and get to relax which if you know me is no small feat.

As promised earlier below are a few pictures I got at the party before my battery bit the dust.

You say it's your birthday.... It's my birthday too ya!

Well the big 40 has arrived. I had a ball yesterday at our little get together and I will post a few pics(I didn't get many...bad photographer..no batteries)when we get home from church.

Produce...It's what's for FARMERS

My dear friends Mynde & Ronda have been posting this week of their astute agricultural skills. They have proudly been displaying vegetables in various stages of growth. They (well one of them) has even planned a deluded "farm life" complete with barns,farm houses,farm hands and big country dinner tables. On one hand I commend them for teaching their children where fruits and vegetables come from and how we can use God's soil to produce his bounty. I am sure the kids are loving that part of it,even if they wouldn't even consider their lips touching any portion of said veggies. The girls do live in Hancock county so I guess they can consider themselves a tad more "country" than me since I am about 3-4 miles away in the the big metropolis of Indianapolis.

I however prefer to get my produce from places like Sam's club or Marsh heck I might even get frisky and go to Costco. To me it kills several birds with one stone they have really cool stuff like canned goods,Meat, frozen veggies,prepared meals if I'm feeling lazy.

Yes my "farm" is the mall or the Babies R Us(not Toys R Us mind you) I go there to hunt and gather all types of goodies. Marked down clothes for next summer or shoes. I don't get to do it very often as I usually have to drag my "farm hand" with me and that's not conducive to bargain hunting for sure. Yesterday thanks to my in -laws I was able to go out "farming" all by myself and s check out the bumper crop below.

including two bathing suits and a cover up for under $20 not to bad for a 1st harvest!

They're Here

Adam's Mom and Dad arrived last night to much fanfare from Bella. She misses them a lot and looks so forward to their visits. She has ran then ragged already. She wants them to read to her non-stop,play her chutes & ladders or candy land,play picnic and camp out with her in the "tent".

I too get very excited as this means I get a few rare minutes to myself. I am going to go get my nails done. Meet and old friend for lunch today. My mom and I are going to dinner and a movie tonight. Because it is usually I that gets to do all of the above games and reading. We have been trying to do about 15-20 minutes of "school" every morning . We go a new study guide and we work on numbers ,letters and phonics. So far she is loving it and she gets a new reward sticker everyday when she completes her lessons.

Today is also her Art class. Grandma and Papaw are taking her to it too. I think it's the day she gets to make a tye dye t-shirt. Last week we went and she made a spray painted hat and a glass painted coaster. We get to pick those up this week. After art class they are planning on taking her out to lunch. I for one wish them good luck. She can be quite a handful at a restaurant. I look at it this way...they will be fine it's 2 against one right?I took a few pics of the aftermath last night. I guess Papaw was wore out! . I also included one from oh so long ago at her baptism. Look how she has grown!

Random Acts of... Bella

Yesterday was kind of relaxing. We played around in the backyard. Bella was not up for Photo's Until I break out the Drew Carey glasses. Then she turned into a little crazy nut. See Below

Trust me she will be soooooooo thankful I took these pictures when she is 15 and she has her friends over. I Cannot get this child to hold still for any amount of time. Proof that I am in serious need of a tripod like this one ASAP.Then she can run jump and act a fool and I can still get a good shot since I'm not chasing her down.It seems to me stationary things are the ONLY thing I take pic's of that look pretty crisp.

So I guess until my friend Ronda has a manual class for the special ed I am out of luck. I LOVE taking flower shot's and playing around with them in photo shop though. I can make them much more real. They seem to pop off the page.

My in-laws will be here soon. They were leaving Youngstown,Oh area this morning around 8:30 . That should give us enough time to go to the gym and get home to get lunch and nap out of the way before they arrive.I am cooking Chicken Broccoli Ziti for dinner tonight. I may even get crazy and make a cake too. I bought some Raspberry Jello with hopes of playing around with a Raspberry Butter cream icing. Duncan Hines used to make a wonderful Raspberries & Cream cake and icing to go with it. I have NO IDEA why the quit as it was GREAT. However my large bottom thanks them for it, since I won't be eating it now.

We went to meet my Mom for lunch yesterday. I got and pizza and then picked her up and we went to the Shawn Grove park for lunch. It was really fun,Bella got to play and Mom &I got to talk. I grew up right down the street from here at my grandparents house. I'll include a few "Old North side" Photo's including one of their old house.

I may get really crazy later and see if I can dig up and scan a "old" photo of the house. It was so awesome on the inside. Huge staircases,pocket doors and stained glass windows. I sure do miss the old place...not to mention the people who lived there.

I'm on a roll.

I decided,just like my friend Ronda I'd like to do a mosaic of my photo's too. I thought that I would do some of my cakes just just for fun. Here they are...

Next I think I'll try and do an age progression of Bella. That will take a bit more time to scour for photos ,because in about 2 months my baby will be THREE. I cannot believe it. Maybe a mosaic will bring me to terms with it.Then again maybe NOT!

This was fun!

I found this on a blog and decided to try it. It was very fun and says something cool about me with someone elses photos. Try it and post it to YOUR blog.





The instructions to create the mosaic are:Type your answers to each of the questions below into Flickr Search .Using only the first page, pick an image.Copy and paste each of the URLs into the mosaic maker.
Questions:
What is your first name? Rebecca
What is your favorite food? El Azabache
What high school did you go to? Manual
What is your favorite color? GREEN
Who is your celebrity crush? Vin Diesel-Did you SEE THE picture!!!
Favorite drink? Lemon Drop Martini
Dream vacation? Mediterranean
Favorite dessert? Key Lime Pie
What do you want to be when you grow up? Travel Reporter
What do you love most in life? GOD
One word to describe you. Bold
Your Flickr name. Bella

Going back...

While surfing through some old photos on our hard drive yesterday I thought I might post a few on here to share for a good laugh or two.
OK so this one is photoshopped but it makes me laugh just the same . I did it for a 1970's outing we went to once.

The Photo above is of Adam & our dog Sally's 1st birthday with us. She was 4. Now she is 14 and my dear husband was 25 but going through a mid -life crisis as he decided to dye his hair blond. Let's just say everyone was doing it back then and I am SO glad he didn't like it. Although I will admit when it grew out a little and was 2 tone it looked better. Not much but a little.The above shot's are of our garden at our house in Greenfield. I miss the place as it was nice quiet and rural. I DO NOT miss driving 20 miles for the nearest anything. Now of course they are up and coming and have things like Cracker Barrel,Starbucks and O'Charley's still no mall but hey way better stuff than when we were there (1997-2003)

Then their is my personal favorite the "What choo talkin bout Willis" pose. I guess it's quite funny how some things change yet they still remain the same.I still get some shots of me with that look.Till next post I shall keep my self busy with laundry and cleaning my humble abode as my in-laws arrive on Wed for a fun filled week of crazy. Wish me luck!

Good Morning

Ok well it's been a not so good morning but I am trying to be positive. I have a horrible chest cold and Bella was at the Dr. yesterday with a nasty cough. Well it looks like I spent $25 for the Dr. to tell me she is fine just draining and nothing in her chest. I am not so lucky and having been hacking up all morning.

My poor dog Sally is having issues again though. We had her teeth cleaned and scaled about 2 weeks ago because her face had gotten swollen. Turns out when our vet had her under she discovered a tumor on her spleen. So since she is 14 we decided not to spend the money as it may have spread to other areas. However the Dr. said she may be around 3 more years it all depends. We got up yesterday morning and her face was swollen again. So I am going today to get more antibiotics . The Dr. thinks we should try this before we try anything else. Problem is the dog won't eat Peanut Butter or Cheese AT ALL anymore because she is so used to having pills being hidden in them. This time the vet is calling in liquid. I sure hope it works.

Bella is supposed to have Art class today but I am feeling so yucky and I have to go the grocery today. I am thinking about cutting class. I hate to because Bella enjoys it but I am not up to art class,grocery and Gym today.

I will leave this post on a positive note though. Our back yard is trying to come together. Maybe by the end of summer it will be all we want it to be. Adam has been pressure washing,next comes stain for the play set and the fence. Then we need to roto- till all the back gardens and start fresh next year. We have a Yucca that is as tall as our stinking house and the clematis the previous owners left has NEVER bloomed. When we lived in Greenfield we had an awesome garden but it is A LOT of work especially now that we have Bella.So wish me luck !

Yes... I am a slacker

Well at least as blog posts are concerned. I had a busy week this last week. I have a Geo caching dinner on Tuesday .Went to the Gym on M,W & Friday and did Water aerobics on M&W too. Bella's art class was on Thursday . Where she made a really cool coaster and spray painted a hat..the next Banksy I tell ya. Then I had a finance meeting at church on Thursday too. That's enough to get you brain pumping.
My wonderful mother took me out to a nice grown up adult dinner on Friday night.Then we went to see this movie. In 3-D none the less, how cool 2 grown women look in a pair of Drew Carey glasses whilst watching a flick.
My Saturday was NOT pleasant. We were going to go our to lovely Hillsboro Indiana where I lived off and on from the age of 2 till 12 and spend Friday and Sat night. Until the DH tells me he has to work Sat. Trust me with the weather we had it was for the better. So Mom,Bella and I were up early Sat to head out and it was pouring buckets. We called to confirm that the reunion was indeed taking place. Yes,so of we go into the middle of nowhere. Every single road we turned on after getting of the highway was flooded. We're not talking slight rain here but a river to cross in the middle of the gravel roads. After heading thru about 4 like that we hit at least 3 that we totally impassable either because the river was now a lake in the road or the road itself had just washed away and there was a post in the middle of one road to warn that indeed the road was GONE.Long story is we made it and Bella was an absolute pain the the butt the entire time. She wanted to play with this little boy and she was dragging him around until he stood up to her then it was a battle. Fight over the ball, fight over the chairs,fight over the side walk fight over the golf cart. She nearly drove me up a wall. I can't blame her she was very tired and it was well past her nap time so we finally gave in and headed home. On the way my cousin Lisa called to remind me that she was having a cookout for her daughter in law's birthday . So we made a quick detour and went over there for the remainder of the evening.
The good news was since we didn't camp at Hillboro we were able to go to church on Sunday. We have been out of town for the last month on weekends so it had been awhile. Pastor Bev was at camp this week so Emma was the guest speaker . She did great and reminded me that I have seeds for Christ and I need to be faithful in passing them out to others so that they may know his love as much as I do.She will be leading our bible study this week to we are on David so I am sure it will be very interesting. The bad part is I missed Miss Goble's scavenger hunt this year. It was on Sat and she said that they had to wind up doing it at the mall with all the rain we got. I enjoy it so much it's a shame we missed it. I love having the photo book of memories that I don't have to put together too!
The Dad's group have banded together again to work on being better Dad's with the help of Christ and his word. They met Sunday night and had a good time. Even if I was the first wife to call her husband(someone had to find out if the dogs had been fed). They are planning a church camp out with the kids and I am 100% positive they will all have a ball.
My neighbors are on vacation this week so I am collecting their mail. I'd love to be on the beach in Florida right now that's for sure. My dog has a swollen face again and I am worried we are going to have to take her back to the vet and get her tooth pulled. Whew it was $200 bucks a couple weeks ago just to get them cleaned . I am telling you we cannot afford much more.
I am waiting on pins and needles tonight is council at church and after I read my report(treasurer) I am running off with the girls on a much needed girls night out. Nothing super exciting just McAlisters but sweet tea and fellowship/friendship sounds like a ball to m . It's so rare that we get to spend time without our kids and get a chance to talk with one another like adults .
I better shut up and get to cleaning my house or I may be late to a very important date!

What a weekend

We left home on Thursday afternoon headed for my Mom's side of the family's reunion. It's down in south eastern Kentucky. We drove to a little town called Dry Ridge the 1st night and stayed in a hotel. Then up bright and early on the 4th to go the rest of the way down. We stayed at a cool KOA campground at a nice little cabin they called the lodge.

It POURED rain the entire way there Friday. We had planned to go to Cumberland Falls State Park to get a level 5/5 Geocache but Adam was bummed that we would have to do it in the pouring rain. I told him it was now or never and we can't let a little rain stop us. So Mom took Bella with her to visit our family and we headed off to find the cache. We got to the place without problems but headed in the wrong way. When we finally managed to find the right approach into the area we had hiked about 1.5 to 2 miles up and down some really rough terrain. Raise your hand if you were aware that Yellow Jackets live in the ground? Well I know now ,4 stings later. We had to run with all our might to get away from them. Not easy after a 2 mile hike. Then I found at least 6-7 ticks on me at different times during the hike. Over all it took us 2.5 hrs to get it but it was well worth it.

Then we head back to civilization and meet up with the family. Where Bella promptly gets sick all over the place. So instead of going to the family fish fry we went back to the lodge to relax. Well, that didn't last long ,My other cousin called on the way in his car's alternator was going out. At least he was able to make it to the campground. We were able to find a parts place open on the 4th. So all of the family came back over and brought the part from the city and they had it in in 15 minutes. So much for relaxing. We hung out all night and talked .

We got up Sat and started cooking some things for the reunion. Then headed over to the next county for that. It was fun but it's very rural and hot without A/C so we were not there for very long.

Adam,Bella and I went back to the cabin to play and go swimming. It was fun but the water was really cold with all of the rain they had.Then everyone went to the fireworks we put Bella to bed with Mom and watched Vantage Point,It was really good. We both started watching it at the gym and couldn't finish it there so we sat in the tent (we put one up and never slept there due to the rain)and watched it.

Sunday we got up and headed home via Cincinnati. Adam wanted to find a few caches. I wanted to go to Montgomery Inn and to Jungle Jims. We had a wonderful time but it was back to reality of the grocery,laundry and the gym yesterday. I love to go away as much as I hate to come back and put everything away.

I guess I'd better get ready for it since I'll be leaving Friday for my step side of the families reunion in Hillsboro this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing so folks I have not seen under good circumstances for awhile.

I 'll leave with some inside shots of our cool cabin at the KOA

Whew is it Tuesday again?

I tell you what it seems like I am standing still and the day's just fly by past me. I spent most of Monday cleaning my house. For some odd reason it seems as if I do this every single day and I never ever never ever ever get it done. Why is that? If I were a rich blogger like some I know I'd just offer you a free gift card or zune and you could tell me why that is. Better yet if I were a rich blogger I'd just pay someone else to do it whilst I play in the yard with Bella.

We are going to church today to pick up some bills that need to be paid. I am sure Bella will want to stay around there and play at the playground. She's been coughy ,sneezy,dopey and Grumpy this week so I know she shouldn't but the poor kids going stir crazy in the house with me.She even had to miss gym last night as punishment for running around here like a crazy kid yesterday doing among other things,peeing in her bedroom floor(the ONLY room in the house that has carpet)biting me,robbing God's piggy bank,coloring her legs with markers.Soon I will be able to laugh all of these things off and just take photos of them to post here. I am not to that point yet ,trust me.

Then tonight is my night to take Shelley dinner and being the big slacker I am I've opted to pay the Pizza guy to make her a healthy nutritious dinner tonight(yeah right).I also am planning on getting a manicure & pedicure at some point today. This is one thing I can do that makes me totally relaxed and after a few days with a sick Bella I need that. Not to mention that the gym totally kicked my butt last night. I did cardio on the bike for 23 minutes and it nearly killed me. I think it's because I waited till the end of the day . I prefer to do it early in the day as I get a few moments to myself and it gives me energy for the rest of the day too.
We leave on Thursday to Kentucky for my Mom's side of the family reunion. We are staying at a lodge in a KOA campground so I know it will be fun. Adam is planning on putting up a tent in the yard so Bella and he can "camp out" . We are also planning on going after a really tough level 5/5 geocache this weekend while we are down there. So I better be prepared for a good workout while we are down there too. It will be nice to see the folks we only see one or two times a year. A bonus is this cache is at Cumberland Falls so we will get to see some really beautiful scenery too.
I better shut up and get packing huh?