ODAAT

Wow!!!! I now remember the use of one day at a time....doing this break-up thing really sucks especially when you have to see each other all the time.
Anyway, it is a little easier today than it was yesterday and tomorrow will be even easier.
I just need to remember that everything happens for a reason and Walt was not the person for me....and the lesson I have learned is when there is an issue at the very beginning GET OUT then and it will be easier than having to get out months later. I should have waked away after that first month....oh well, again...LESSON LEARNED...
Please Please Please will all hot and available men line up and I will be with you shortly.....
:-)Love, Ann

It's official....Wallyacha is gone....

OK! It's official. A week after X-mas cards went out....Walt and I are done.
I will be fine...just feels a little sucky right now.....lesson learned is, listen to your heart...if you have to work wayyyyyyyyyy harder than the other person...it just isn't worth it.......
So, looking for a new fish!!!
Or maybe just swim in my own school alone for a while!!!
This too shall pass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
....I'll keep ya posted............

My 100 Loves

I was recently tagged to complete a list of 100 things I love. I have now realized that my life is wayyyyyyyy wonderful and my perspectve on life is sooo much improved. This was a piece of cake to finish and I probably left off at least 100 more I oculd have added to the list. Read on.......
1.God
2.Family
3.Walt
4.my cats
5.pretzel chips
6.laughing cow cheese
7.cleanliness
8.rollercoasters
9.bare feet
10.sausage balls
11.catalogs
12.abandoned buildings
13.vacation days
14.ocean
15.lemons
16.tanning beds
17.salsa
18.hermit crabs
19.hot peppers
20.holidays
21.double-bubble sugarfree gum
22.waterfalls
23.sand/the beach
24.salads
25.magazines
26.swings
27.baggy sweatpants
28.kissing
29.hugs
30.kazoos
31.spiro the dragon
32.blue cheese
33.exercise
34.purple
35.yellow
36.painting
37.laughter
38.honey
39.sunrises
40.reindeer ears
41.easter egg hunts
42.scavenger hunts
43.spinich dip
44.guitar hero
45.Monopoly
46.brick walls
47.rock climbing
48.chocolate
49.fortune cookies
50.angelfood cake
51.cabbage
52.life
53.coffee
54.big pens
55.nature hikes
56.old corvettes
57.home depot
58.chocolate whipped cream
59.turkey
60.new friends
61.old friends
62.flee markets
63.craft shows
64.hummingbirds
65.butterflies
66.gardens
67.anise
68.fun slippers
69.butter and sugar sandwiches
70.fresh herbs
71.baking
72.Friends of Bill
73.tweezers
74.dhalias
75.ivy
76.campfires
77.movies that make me cry
78.cold side of the pillow
79.hearing my nieces and nephews voices
80.my ipod shuffle
81.Pittsburgh
82.the green M&M girl
83.Kidrock
84.weddings
85.my divorce
86. a clean car
87.a fan when i am sleeping
88.Lake Mohawk
89.Summer
90.Chicken Tortilla Soup
91.Having my hair brushed
92.Survivor
93.winning
94.sled riding
95.helping others
96.independence
97.babies
98.Bethel Bakery cake
99.Lemon heads candy
100.Kennywood

Gingerbread House

What a fun night!!! We finished our first annual Holiday gingerbread house!!! I usually make the kids do one of these with me but since everyone is older now and involved in cookie baking at Thanksgiving, I made Walt do it instead. It was soooo fun! Above is our before and below is the after. PS - Kudos to mom as her cake decorating skills I observed while growing up came in handy here!!!!!!!!!!!!

Homemade holiday treats

One of my favorite things about the holidays is making homemade gifts to give to friends and family. I love making hardtack candy and biscotti. Although the biscotti baking has not yet commenced for the year, I did get the hardtack done and WOW!!! What a project! I ended up finding these cute little containers to put it in and made around ten double-batches all together.
Recipe is...
3 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup karo light syrup
1 cup water
food coloring
Lorraine oil flavoring
2 greased cookie sheets
powdered sugar

Stir together all the above until the sugar melts and then bring to a slow boil while stirring. Insert candy thermometer and boil until temperature is 250 degrees...add food coloring without stirring (the boiling will mix the color in). Continue to boil and when it reaches 300 degrees remove from heat and stir in Lorraine oil flavoring.
Spread half on each greased cookie sheet and as it cools, score candy and break into pieces. Drop pieces into powered sugar to coat - this keeps the candy from sticking together.
Here is just a little example of what I made...

12 Years!!! 12/9/96 Go God!!!

WOW! It is soooo hard to believe - today is 12 years!!!

Ask my family and they will probably remember it like it was yesterday. What they had to witness is not easily forgotten - living amends!!!!

The key to EVERYTHING for me today is I never have to be that person again......ODAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats to God/fellowship/me.....life is amazing today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Action for the Day: Today, I'll give back to the program. I'll call a new member, volunteer to put on a meeting, or make the coffee."

Christmas Card Pic - WOW! What a fiasco!!!

WOW! What a fiasco!!!

It took two days and a whole lot of scratches to get the annual kitten picture to put in the Christmas card this year!

Last year mom and I tried and were only able to get them all together so I had to photo shop the Santa hats on the cats heads.

This year, with Walt's assistance and blood (Kidrock scratched the crap out of him), I was able to get an amazingly cute pic that has everyone!!!!!! No photo-shopping necessary!!!! Walt is holding Kidrock and I have Lucky and Angelica. The only issue this year was that I did no electronic preparation so when the time came to get the picture quick - my camera timer would not work. After reading the instruction manual, we were able to get a great pic then next night. You will get to see this work of art if you are lucky enough to get a Christmas card - LOL.....

Also, see this pic below...not sure if it is serious or a joke........verrrrrry interesting - LOL!

Love the Holidays!!

Spent the holiday weekend with the family in Harrisburg eating (thanks to Kerry and her AMAZING Thanksgiving meal and everyone elses contributions) and cookie baking. It was great!!! As always, we had sooo much fun and THEY got sooo much baking done!!! As for me, I am officially hooked on the Guitar Hero video game and the Wii Fit....at first I sucked really bad at Guitar Hero and then started getting good. I think I missed my calling - too bad I do not own one so I can practice at home!!! It's probably for the better that I do not purchase one also or I think I may never leave home - LOL.
Matt and Dan went hunting for deer - I have not gotten a report yet but as soon as I hear if they got one I will post it...ickky ickky but they enjoy it and from what I hear it needs to happen.
Wally was sick all weekend - I felt bad. Of course, I initially thought he was faking it (stage fright with having to spend the entire weekend with people he had not met yet) but I have come to decide that the poor man really was soooooo sick....I think he ate for the first time in four days last night. I am soooooooo glad he is feeling better!
Oh, and I officially joined my new gym and I am more motivated than before to get hotter if that is even possible (meaning if it is possible that I could be more motivated not that I could be more hot-that is not possible, ha ha). I will let you know, but sooo far I am loving my new gym Complete Fitness after one days workout!
Have a great Tuesday!!!!!!!!

It's the 2008 Christmas Tree

Here is the beautiful 2008 Christmas tree that Walliacha and I picked out and decorated. Best lookin' tree I have seen in a while!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also.......Happy and SAFE Turkey Day and love to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

X-Mas Tree Found!!

It's official. I have found (not just I, Walt and I), put up and decorated this years X-mas tree!! It is soooooo beautiful!!! The puddy tats love it too!!! We called Home Depot first and no trees yet....then went to Trax Farms and they only had the EXPENSIVE firs so far.....then went to Simmons farm on Route 19 and found our perfect tree!!!!!! I will post pics as soon as I upload them to the computer.
Also, I have found a new gym. Anyone that knows me, knows I love my gym...it is a little hole in the wall where everyone spits on the floor and stares at themselves in the mirror.....the problem is when the hole in the wall gym raises its prices to cost the same as a "real" gym, I gotta go to the real gym!! LOL My membership expires at the end of the year so this weekend I tried a few different gyms to decide where to go. LA Fitness was horrid!!!!!! I felt completely screwed-over when I left there....it was that high pressure sales and just awful!!! I would not go to their gym if THEY paid for my membership!! However, after I had given up hope that there was goodness left in the world I used a trial workout pass at Complete Fitness and I am hooked. I can't wait till the end of the year when I can switch!!!! If you live in Bridgeville, completely bypass even looking at LA Fitness or at least RUN FAST AND FAR when they start leading you to the section to the left of the front door where the negotiate their price (and tell you that today ONLY they will waive the 150 dollar initiation fee-that is the crock they use to get you to sign today)......it is the WORST FEELING in the world......Check out what this poor girl went through there ICKKY
and come down to Complete Fitness - they are soooooo nice and everyone was great!!!!
Oh, and PS, we did not get to ride horses last Saturday as it seems Rolling Hills Ranch has closed for the season.....oh, well better luck next year!!!!!!!!!!

Almost Friday!

It is almost Friday and life is good!
Wally is back in the picture - we had a good discussion and I guess no matter what you do or how well you know each other - quarrels will happen - and the silent treatment is getting shorter and shorter so that is progress. And - although I like to believe that I am - I am NOT perfect either and Walt really is one of the greatest men I have met to date with wayyyyyyyyyyyyy more positives than anything!!!
Plans are to go horseback riding this weekend with Jamie (I will be using my gift certificate from April). I am soooo excited. We will be going to Rolling Hills Ranch in S. Hills. I have only gone a few times but it is always fun. I just have to be sure to ask for the horse named Glue....I do not have any ambition at all to go for a ride on Lightening or Wind - LOL!!!!

Boys Stink!!!

Well, it's final - Boys stink! After yet another spat yesterday and "darling" Walt getting his fight on, I finally and officially quit trying. When he fights, its ...shut off the phone and disappear....this is not a healthy or adult way to argue and now for the fifth time I am finally done. He hung up on me yesterday afternoon and I have not heard from him since so when and IF I do....I will not be answering.....oh well, we made it to the 6 month mark....good enough.

So, I guess I am single .... Well, I am done ranting and maybe someday I will bump into a cute Normie at the Grocery store or gym and have some exciting dating stories to tell. trying to LOL :-}

Happy Birthday to Aunt Marti a day late!!!!!!

Also - Happy Birthday to Aunt Marti a day late - sorry I did not enter a blog yesterday!!!! I hope she had a good one!!!!!!!!!!!

Grateful for Dads.....

There are things today that I am grateful for that in the past I NEVER thought I would say that about.
For example - my father teaching us to drive a stick-shift car and making us take our driving tests in a manual car. To this day, so many people are amazed that I can drive one and I know that I will not purchase a car that is not manual.
Also - my father being the handyman that he was; growing up I got top watch him fix everything from our cars to the toaster and TV. This mindset has followed me through life and I am soo grateful for that.
An example is that I have been having issues with a warning light in my car. I have a Chevy Cavalier and first I googled the error light and tried to replace my DRL fuse. This did not resolve the issue. Then, over the weekend someone told me I had a padiddle (paddidle itself brought back A TON of memories from high school, etc.) however I knew what I had to do.
I went to the auto store and looked up my car and year and found and purchased a new front headlamp. Then I got out my handy-dandy instruction manual for the Cavalier and following the steps in the manual changed my headlight!!!!! It was sooooooo fun - my mailman thought I had no clue but I sure showed him. And best of all - they both work now!!!!!!! Now I am trying to decide if I should "pimp my ride" using the really bright lights since I now know how to do it. LOL
Anyway, shout out to dads of the world making their little girls learn important life skills!!!!! Thanks Dad for the confidence and skills to try to fix anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TGIF! WOW! Long time no post...

TGIF! Wow! Long time no post, hugh? I guess that flu really knocked me out.
I am back to feeling great today - thank goodness!!!
I was just discussing Christmas with my little sister and we have this family tradition where we all pick a name out of a hat and just buy for just that one person.
Well, she brought up the kids (her kids, my little nieces and nephew) and said "don't buy anything for them this year - they don't need anything". This started the discussion about when we were kids and my mom would tell Grandma and Aunts not to buy for us cause "they don't need anything" and we would be incredulous! What is she saying that for - LOL - of course we need things - LOL!!!!
So that ended that discussion right away - I said "see, now you sound like Mom" :-)



Oh and on a more important note - in case you are not aware - today is NATIONAL PICKLE DAY!!!! so enjoy for me!!!! I am guessing someone from a pickle company invented this holiday - not sure - but, hey - what a great celebration it could be!!! BTW - :Once you are a pickle, you can never again be a cucumber"

A report and pics from the weekend at Mom and Dad's

Walt gave Kyleigh a little recorder to play and she loved it....much to her father's dismay, I think she will definitely be in the band - HA-HA!

We got some cute pics of Alyssa and Ryan eating their rice cereal. Ali enjoyed it a little and Ryan slept through the WHOLE thing!!! LOL

And last but not least....Susie sent me pics from Halloween of the kids. Kyleigh was supposed to be BigBird but got defaulted to Penn State cheerleader when she would not go near BigBird's head. Ali and Ryan are a ladybug and tiger respectively....pics follow...have a great Thursday.

Wally's lead....

The lead Friday night went really well....Walt looked stunningly handsome in his newly tailored suit and did a great and honest job with his lead. Afterwards everyone went out to Pizzaz for a little dinner and conversation (a great end to a great night!).

This weekend Dad and Walt finally put the rocks back on the wall that Dad had fixed last year...it looked great when they were done.....

I apologize for not posting before this but little innocent Kyleigh (seen below).....

is not as innocent as you would think. :-) It's amazing how a little innocent and adorable little thing can carry such horrid bugs around....so we all had a little flu Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. Actually, I guess either me, Kyleigh or Mom could have given it to the others so it may not even be Kyleigh's fault this time! I will DEFINITELY get my flu shot for Thanksgiving! LOL

Oh Yeah - AND Happy Halloween!!!!

1 Year Anniversary!!!!!!!!!!

Woo hoo!! Happy Happy 1 Year!!!!
Happy Anniversary Walt/Wally/Walliacha!!!
I am soo proud and happy for you!!!
You and the "Big Man above" should be so proud!

Tonight Wally will be doing his lead at Beth Clair and EVERYONE should come!! I am sure it will be a good one. NO LONGER AM I A THIRTEEN-STEPPER!!! HA-HA!!!

I am so happy and proud....enjoy it - a year will never come along again (God willing!) :-)

Halloween at Hunting Ridge

It's now official!!! It's almost Halloween!!!! Walt and I finally carved pumpkins last night...what fun that was! We each did a little one and a big one...obviously I was the judge and so I won the contest...pictures follow. We did have a minor (or major) bo-bo part way through when Walt did not know his own strength and broke the little green pumpkin carving knife (that he is using in the above pic) so he then proceeded to get a giant drywall saw to carve the pumpkins with!!!!

The pumpkins are as follows.....

Walts smiley face and mustache face.....

and my witch and one tooth pumpkin....

You be the judge!!!!!!!!!

In closing - I got this adorable pic of Angel and Kidrock sleeping together on the chair......soooooo sweet they are hugh???? Who does not love a cat!!!!!!?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Halloween Decorating in Harrisburg

Hi all and Happy Monday!

Just writing to post some great pumpkin pics from the past weekend...

The first one (cute green pumpkin) is my work pumpkin...I did it myself!!!

You gotta love it, hugh?

The next two are the ones that the kids and I did tpogether in Harrisburg...Jessica did the spider in the web...Matt did the skull...Jessica's friend Logan did the smiley face....and I did the cat (suprise hugh?)

Oh my, and the best part of this post....first let my start by saying "I remember when Jordan was just born"...now cut to present day where Jordan is WORKING - yes WORKING!!!! Up early EVERY Saturday morning and answering phones for the car dealership....check her out - I AM SOOOOOOOO PROUD!!!! WOO HOO! Ain't she just soooooooooooooo cute! I got to go pick her up at work Saturday afternoon...WOW I am getting old!

Gotta get to the Hope meeting now....TTYL (I am getting good, hugh girls?)

Meet Bridget Donna

OOPS - Meet Bridget Donna....almost forgot!!!!!!!!!!!

My best friend all through high school, Subie, had a baby girl on HER birthday (what a great 40th b-day present, hugh?) ...

Congrats Susan, Jim and Nicholas on the new addition to your family - is she amazingly adorable or what?!?!?!?!?!??!?? Big brother Nicholas is holding her in the pic below......

I just want to point out (as Subie pointed out to me) that we are the same age - so there is still plenty of time for a mini-Ann or Andy.......LOL!!!!

Hi again - It's Friday y'all!

It's Friday! It's Friday! Woo hoo it's Friday! Wish I was there .......... ahhhhh beach.........

And the market is STILL crappy - it is everything I can do to not call my 401k company....it is really hard to sit and read the stuff on the news and internet about the economy and stocks and falling this and that and not want to get out quick!!! But, according to excellent advice from my father (my financial advisor :-) ), I am ignoring it all and not touching anything! SCARRRRRY! I guess this is when I can be REALLY grateful that I have nothing to lose (LOL)!!!

On a lighter note, life is good as always....got my babies (cats), got my dude (Wallyacha), got my family, got a roof over my head, got lots of food in the belly, and got my health .....what more do I need?? NOTHING!!!!!

Absolutley HAD to share this with you....check out this CREEPY AD (it's real too that's the scary part-just give him a little Thorazine and he will be fine.....LOL)....

For the weekend plans....a little spagetti fundraiser dinner from Pasta Too with Wallyacha on Saturday and DCM meeting in Butler (voting and everything) on Sunday. yippee!!!!

As for the spagetti dinner - look at this creepy ad....

See ya next post - keep your eyes off the stocks..........

WOW! What an economy!!

WOW! What a day! I was gonna blog about the crappy economy and my 401k that is dwindling down to nothing and I just got a call from my boyfriend Walt (affectionately known as Walliacha by my family) and he told me that he got laid off. He works as a roofer and apparently work is slow right now so he is off to the unemployment line. Oh well, sometimes life gives you lemons, hugh? Hopefully he will start seeing it as a vacation instead of a personal attack...time will tell! Maybe now I will be able to get him to cook dinner every night when I get home from work instead of having to eat at midnight....LOL....also, time will tell!

Hi all!! It's Monday again - back blogging after a fun-filled weekend with my brother at my parents house. Hung out at the lake and had a day long campfire (anyone who knows the pyro in me knows that I enjoyed that) and then went to Uhrichsville, OH for Aunt Kathy's birthday celebration. It was a fun time for all - especially Aunt Kathy!!

Got some race pics to post - the first is me nearing the finish and the second is mom (also nearing the finish). Sadly we did not finish at the finish line in that order - I was definitely last out of the family - HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!

Oh, and also, I got an adorable e-mail from my sister since they took my niece Kyleigh to the pumpkin patch and farm this weekend in Columbus, Ohio....is she not the most amazingly adorable and sweet child you have ever seen?!!??!?!??!?

Non-Guilty Chocolate Cookie Drops

Little extra....CHOCOLATE COOKIES DROPS
great fat free recipe for some NON-GUILTY chocolate!

Mix together...
1 box fat-free brownie mix
2 1/2 cups wheat germ (found in the cereal aisle)
1 cup low calorie OJ

After well mixed, drop 1 T size cookies onto a cookie tray and bake each tray at 350 degrees for 10 - 12 min.

Each one is only around 25 calories with tons of fiber....you can eat 2 for 1 point on weight watchers - gooooooood deal!!!!!!!

They are DELICIOUS even though they look like meatballs (this is what my boyfriend Walt calls them) My entire family is hooked on them!

Woo Hoo It's Friday

WOO HOO!!! It's Friday! I figured I better get something in here as it is Friday and I always talk about my exciting life so you cant leave Friday blank, right?

Does anyone else think that women are sooooooo much more reliable than men - I had this discussion with my sister this AM and it just seems that women do what they say they are going to do/when they say they are going to do it. That's all I am looking for......ha ha!

Apparently my little brother Matt has been ripping on my finish time for the Great Race so we have cordially invited him to "smoke" our times by running the Turkey Trot with us over Thanksgiving...we will see what happens!

Tonight, one of my favorite girlfriends Erin will be giving her lead at my homegroup Beth Clair so anyone who knows what I am talking about should come - it will be a great one - I PROMISE!

I will be heading up the parents house this weekend (without "the man" as he has "to work") so I will get some good lake pics to post of my fun weekend.

Reporting in with love...

New to Blogging

Hi! I have decided to start blogging so that family and friends can keep up with my hurried and hectic, full life. Ha-Ha!

Only partly kidding...I just quit smoking a year ago, started exercising, lost over 50 pounds and starting dating someone new.

Things are"A-Changin"!!! Anyway, a friend of my sister's has a blog for her family (recently gave birth to quads) and after reading hers realized what a great way it is to keep track of progress and growth in our lives. Not to mention post pics and share with family and friends. So, hopefully this is just one of the MANY posts soon to come!

I ran the Great Race in Pittsburgh (10K) last Sunday with my mom Janet, sister Kerry and niece Jessica. We all finished. Out of the four of us; Jessica was first with 1:04:12/Kerry second with 1:11:51/mom third with 1:12:04/and me bringing up the rear with 1:14:02. However, just a year ago I had been smoking for 20 years so I am quite proud just to have made it across the finish vertical!!!! I will post pics as soon as I have them.