Catchin' Up With Nub

I bet you all thought I fell off the face of the Earth, didn't you? Well...no....not exactly. Skip was unable to work for about a week & a half, so I had the store to myself for that time. I basically went to work, came home & forced myself to eat something (anything) & went to bed. It's not easy running a busy little store all on your own for a day or 2, but for an extended period it's....well.....draining, physically & emotionally. Skip has rallied beautifully, but I'm still feeling the effects. I'm just sort of blah & going through the motions right now. I don't blame Skip at all, please don't get me wrong! I'm just feeling how difficult running a retail store on your own can be. I need a vacation or at least a day off where I'm not running around to my own various doctor's appointments (I've got a lot going on there, but that's another story ~ I'm ok, but figuring out what's going on), trips to the vet (Stella the kitty either has a kidney infection, UTI, or her kidneys are failing because of her age ~ let's hope it's not the last), doing laundry, etc. I just plainly & simply need to re~group. Thank the powers above that next weekend is Memorial Day weekend & the store is closed on Saturday, Sunday & Monday. I'm thinking of doing a day trip up to the main Yankee Candle Company store in South Deerfield, MA (Lori....do you want to join me? I'll be calling you! Phinney...do you want to meet me there?)

Anywho...yesterday, my mom, aunt & I went to a young (or at least young to me, she was born in 1982 ~ LOL) cousin's bridal shower in Bethlehem, PA. It has gotten to that point where our cousins kids are now all getting married. They're all young enough to be my own kids, but old enough to be getting married ~ WOW! She's a cute little thing (as you can see by the picture below...that's the nicest bridal~shower~ribbon~bouquet I've ever seen made!), quite bubbly, has a great smile & just all around sweet. Her mom (also my cousin, obviously) is 1 of 8 kids (5 boys, 3 girls) & her 2 sisters & her mom (my great~aunt & the bride's grandmother) were there. The 3 girls I mentioned are so funny (especially Patty) & all are fabulously crafty & great at baking ~ look out Martha Stewart! Later on, my great~uncle Jack (the bride's grandfather & my grandmother's brother) showed up (he's in the other picture below with my great~aunt, my mom & my aunt). It was wonderful to see him, as he's now 87 & his health, unfortunately, is really starting to fail. My grandmother would be sooooo pleased that we got to spend some time with him.

That's enough rambling for me for now. I must now get off my butt & continue on with the 42bazillion things that need to get done. And if you're wondering about the picture above, that's taken from the deck behind my house & shows the view at night, down the valley to White Plains, NY. Hope all is well with you...if any of you are still out there reading my blog....I hope I haven't lost all of you! LOL

This and That

I've been meaning to blog...really I have. It's just that I've been really busy & not much to write about. I didn't want another yawn~fest like my last entry. So....what the heck have I been up to?

Work, mostly. That & laundry, watching stuff I've TiVo'd...& sleep. I'm finally feeling better, but my right ear is still majorly clogged ~ like having a cotton ball stuffed in there or something. I really must e-mail my doctor to tell him it's still like this after all this time & also inquire about some test results. Making a mental note to do so after finishing this entry.

Today was a day off for me...at least off from working at the store. I've been bopping between the computer (trying to catch up on e-mails & at least trying to read other journals ~ sorry if I haven't commented in a while or even today, but trust me, I am reading!), doing 500 pounds of laundry, changing the sheets on the bed, working on the St. Patrick's Day cards for this month's card swap (yes, Phinney, you are getting one! :D), yada, yada, yada. I've gotten a lot done, but have been bouncing around like crazy...gotta love my ADD!

My book club read a book last month called Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst & I highly recommend it ~ it was fabulous! This month we're reading The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill by Mark Bittner. It's a really interesting look into one man's interaction with a flock of wild parrots in, of all places, San Francisco (Carly & Grove, have either of you seen this flock or even know about it? I'd love to hear your take on it!). I've got the video for it, but haven't watched it yet, as I want to have read at least most of the book first. Speaking of videos (we've got Blockbuster Online which is like Netflix), I've also got The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio but I haven't watched that either. Should be good. Can't say that I've watched any truly memorable videos lately since I've been watching so much on TiVo. The last thing I watched was 1408 with John Cusack, but it was just OK.

As for the Governor of my home state, New York, all I can say is that I'm disappointed. I personally don't care what people do sexually behind closed doors. It's none of my business & I plainly & simply just don't care. However, when someone goes around supposedly "cleaning up" prostitution rings & taking the high road & then goes & does something like this, it seems awfully hypocritical to me. Too bad this had to happen, Mr Spitzer, I feel much more worried about the state of your marriage & family life than I do about the state of our fair state. Carly has many of the same thoughts on this subject as I do over at her blog, Ellipsis. She's written about it much better than I ever will!

Grey skies are gonna clear up...

The weather here in the NY metro area certainly does NOT feel like mid-October. In fact...today it was so humid, it felt more like August. For the most part, it's been very warm & un~fall like around here. I do like crisp Autumn days & nights, but absolutely hate the bitter winter cold & all the bundling up it takes just to step out the front door. I also hate the dreary grey, overcast days & shudder at the thought of rain...it depresses the heck out of me (there is such a thing called S.A.D. or seasonal affective disorder). Forget it if it's going to snow...I get all panicked. Skip & I talk about getting an RV when we retire & travelling around, following the nice weather & seeing the country.

Took this picture yesterday on my camera phone & was just so thrilled with it when I saw it here on my computer that I had to share it. I'm standing outside our new store on a break around 5:00~ish & thought the clouds looked pretty cool.

Please bear with me in regards to posting here, reading & commenting on other blogs/journals, catching up with e-mails...whatever on~line stuff I used to do on a very regular basis. Skip & I don't get home until about 8:00 or 8:30 every night because we don't close until 7:00 & have a few things to do before leaving & then have a 45 minute drive home. I then trudge through the front door, walk the dog (if she hasn't gone to the store with us), eat, walk the dog again, & collapse in bed by 10:30. This is the first time since Sunday (I think) that I've gone on~line at home. While at work it's pretty quick to look something up or glance at my e-mails while I eat 1/2 a sandwich. I shouldn't even be doing that much!

S'all for now.....gotta get some sleep. Morning comes fast....

These boots were made for...being tired!

A very quick post today, as I've got to run out in a minute to meet my mom & aunt for dinner & hubby will be honking the car horn soon. Wanted to check in though & let you all know that I'm still alive, although exhauseted! Yes...those feet you see above are screaming at me to get off them & relax. I took the picture on my camera phone yesterday outside the store & although I love my new sneakers, no matter what I wear on my tootsies, I think I'd still want to pass out after being on them almost non~stop for 9 hours. Thankfully we'll be going to winter hours (10:00~6:00) the first Monday in November (which happens to be my b~day) & then we're just going to leave it at those hours for good. I actually fell asleep on the couch today for 2+ hours & really feel like I could sleep some more, but I don't want to be wide awake at 3:00 in the morning, twiddling my thumbs.

Some good news...I'll have a little break from it all on Saturday. I'll be having my first face~to~face meeting with Albert my wonderful friend from San Francisco who I met through AOL Journals. I can't wait! Plans are still in the making, but it looks like we'll be meeting somewhere in NYC around midday. I'll be sure to take some pictures & fill you all in ~ well, at least those of you who know him will want to check it out.

Gotta run....or crawl.................