Till we meet again...

I suck suck suck at goodbyes!!

Today was the last day of work for my ONE AND ONLY close work friend!

I am soooooooo sad!!!

It is really strange but as I have gotten older I do really mix work and play alot.

I tend to have a ton of friends (from meetings, etc) that I hang out with alot and talk to alot and then my work friends which are really just acquaintances.

I have gotten really close with a girl that I work with and we go out at lunch, hang out and chat sometimes after work. She is a really great person and ALL ABOUT helping others which I love about her!!!!!!!

Well, she and her fiance have decided to move back to Seattle to settle down and raise a family! I am sooo happy for her but sooooo sad for me~~~

She is a once in a lifetime friend and I just need to remind myself that there is always the phone and email even if I dont see her everyday!

Mariela you will be missed - thanks for being such an amazing, funny, helpful, giving friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You really are ONE OF A KIND and I miss you already!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love ya bunches - safe travels!!!!!

ABC's of Annster

I saw this on another blog and just had to use it for a post! Thanks Kenz!!
The ABC's of Ann...

A) Are you a PC or a Mac? PC - I used a Mac years ago but after using a PC for 15+ years now I have no idea how to work on a Mac!

B) Best show currently on TV: Biggest Loser!!!!! Season after season; it just never gets old!

C) Chore you dislike: ironing dress shirts - I will NOT do it - Walt does his own or they go to the cleaners with mine!!!

D) Dogs or Cats? Cats, cats and more cats!!! Funniest thing: I have cats and love cats and just found out the I am; to quote the doctor "highly allergic to cats"!! Oh well, I'll suffer!!!!

E) Essential "Start the day" items: Coffee!!! Black please and quick!

F) Favorite Color: purple or sometimes yellow





G) Gold or Silver: silver





H) Height: 5'7"





I) Instrument you play: clarniet (played in middle school and quit because I was TERRIBLE)





J) Job: Six Sigma Analyst





K) Kids? My kittens are my children (for now...)





L) Living where? Pittsburgh, PA (home of many champions...not just our sports teams!) LOL





M) Mom's name: Janet





N) Nickname: Annster





O) Appendix removal!!!





P) Pet Peeve: Dirty mirrors





Q) Quote from a movie: I do not have a memory long enough to give you a quote....sorry....





R) Righty or Lefty? Righty





S) Siblings: Yes; 3





T) TV shows you watch: Survivor, Biggest Loser, Lost, Amazing Race





U) Underwear: everyday

V) Veggies you like: any and all - never met one I do not like to eat! Favorite would be brussel sprouts

W) Ways you flirt: Plain old smile...works every time - I got Waliacha didn't I?!?!??

X) Expiration Dates - toss (now my mother on the other hand is a smeller; if it smells ok then eat it; NOT ME!!!!)

Y) Yummy foods you make: Angelfood cake with pineapple and chicken crescent squares

Z) Zoo animal you like: snow leopard or any of the large cats!!!!! JUST LOVE WATCHING THEM!!!! God is amazing !!!!!!!!!

Enjoy - play along!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Workin' The Boardwalk

Come and join in with Kelsey at http://kelseyandgabriel.blogspot.com/

It is Wishful Wednesday!!!!

And it is a great topic - I read it and just had to participate!!

Wishful Wednesday...

If I could go back to a job from my

youth it would be

Working At Miele's Pizza

on the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD.

I remember my first jobs - there were many throughout the years I was in High School and College. My parents said "If you live under our roof; you work. Of course, we got to use this money to put gas in their cars when we borrowed them or buy clothes that we really wanted and it taught us the value of a dollar - this is something I am very grateful for (I belive that this is what gave me my foundation of a good work ethic)!

My very first job was McDonalds and I got fired as my drive-thru drawer was $20 short at the end of my shift (my manager was only supposed to count it with us there and she did not wait for me - also she really hated me and I am not sure why - so TECHNICALLY: I still to this day say she took the $20 out)...oh well, that was the only time I was fired (25 years ago) so it is a pretty good track record :-) LOL!!! After that was employment at every fast food place created, Po Folks, Kings Family Restaurant, Bartender at the Eagles club, cashier at Uni-Mart, etc. etc. LOL!!!!

But the only one I WISH I COULD GO BACK TO WOULD BE Miele's Pizza on the boardwalk! It was soooooooooooooooo fun!!!!!!!! It was after my first year of college and I went down with some other kids I went to Cal U with. We lived on the boardwalk in a decrepid, "should have been condemned" beach house and had sooooooooooooooo much fun!!!! At the time life seemed very stressful....I saved absolutely no money from that summer, and my parents were sooo angry as they did not want me to go in the first place! But what fun......laying on the beach all day and hanging out with the lifeguards as friends and then going to work serving and making pizza at night!!!! It is a time I will always remember fondly (lots of crazy parties and crazy people) and also a time that made me realize the importance of a college education in life to get ahead!!!!! Soooooo everything happens for a reason!

(PS - The house we lived in was condemned the next summer and Danny Miele has since retired and sold his space on the boardwalk :0 )

GOOD TIMES!!!!!!!

Working!!!!!!!!!

Yeah!!!!!!!! I am sooooo thrilled to report that Waliacha is back to work today at Commercial Roofing!!!!!!!!!

I was holding my breath up until this am at 4:30AM when he left for the jobsite!!!!

Finally, after 6 months of unemployment he is back to work!!!!

It was taking it's toll on him as a man as I think it is really hard to do nothing and feel good about yourself...at least that it how it seemed. He was getting a little depressed and I am soooo glad it is over ...at least until next winter :-(

Maybe by then we can find him a new occupation! Who knows?!?!?!?

So - I am thrilled and have nothing of any more importance to report - YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Top Two Tuesday

I am playing along with Taylor for her Top Two Tuesday!!!

It's time for a wayyyyyyy fun Top Two Tuesday that I can totally relate to!!!!!!!
Only problem is how do I pick the top two?!?!?!
It is Top Two favorite things about summer!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really do love EVERYTHING about summer but my two favorite would have to be.....


Number One:

The Lake!!! The lake is Lake Mohawk and it is in Ohio...this is where my parents live and it is a frenzy of activity in the summer!!!! There is fishing, boating, swimming, skiing, jet-skiing, campfires and most importantly FAMILY!!!!
All the kids and their kids try to go up as many weekends as possible in the summer. It is only a two hour drive for me so I try to make it up every weekend!!!! Waliacha had a little taste of it this past Easter when he fished with my nephew, dad, and brother-in-law and he LOVED it!!!!!! I actually got him HIS VERY OWN fishing rod for his one year anniversary and he is sooo excited!
I cannot wait until summer is in full swing and we are back on that boat and eating smores around the campfire!!!

And

Number Two:

Flowers!

I love, love, love flowers and many people have said I am a little obsessed!!!

I will show you pics of my flowers from last year to show you how obsessed I am! I live in Pittsburgh and it is definitely not past the last freeze here but I have already planted all my flowers for the year and when we have cold nights I just bring them all in or cover the big ones. I am totally used to doing this and it is worth it to me just to get to have the flowers to look at earlier!!!

Later in the week I will post my flower pictures from the ones I just planted this past weekend - I had to get new rechargeable batteries for my camera and have not been able to get the pictures yet.

Not a minute short!!!!!!!!

Yeah me!!!
Does that sound bad?!?!!??!?

I have to start out this post thanking Jen...her past a few days ago inspired me.


She had two goals: one to get 200 people to exercise for an hour on one day and the other was to complete 99 minutes on the stairclimber. Well, I gladly joined in the first one and posted to her blog that I participated (I did 30 min on the stairclimber and 30 on the treadmill).

This is a usual workout for me on days that I do not take a class...usually at least 60 mins of cardio a day.
Well, since that post I have been hanuted by "Could I (ME...ANN) complete 99 minutes on the stairclimber?"

I think not - but it was bugging the crap out of me!!!! I did 30 min many times and a few times just did my full hour of cardio on it but WOW - 30 minutes?!?!?!?


Last night after work I went to the gym late and guess what??!?!?!?! I did it!!!!!

99 minutes on the climber and pics to KINDA prove it!! PLEASE do not be scared of my sweatty pics...this is why I will NEVER have to worry about finding a stalker at the gym...people run the other way from me there!!! LOL!!!!! Scarryyyyyy!

Just like Jen said on her post....the 99 minutes completed only stays on the screen for like one second....tried to get it in the pic but ended up with calories burned and something else....

BUT, I swear I did it and the sweatty pics are here to prove it!!! Also, with a picture of the total floors climbed!

So.....like I said in the beginning...yeah me!!!!!!!! LOL

Top 2 Tuesday

Okay - I am excited to participate!!!

This is the Top 2 Tuesday...
list your two favorite things under $15
this changes weekly for me but here are the current ones...


1. I found this treat at Big Lots...it is Weight Watchers approved...it is sooooooooo yummy...only 1 point for FIVE CUPS.....little break from regular plain popcorn...I promise it is yummy....it retails for around $2.50 for three microwave packets however I found mine at Big Lots for $1.30 and bought a BUNCH!!!!!!!!! Try it!!

2. And this new favorite...not sure if people reading this follow my blog but I had a hair mishap a few weeks back and all of mine was chopped off.......really short now.....and this Biotin supposedly supports faster hair and nail growth!! Yeah!!! It was recommended to my by the hairstylist that fixed the cropped cut and not the one who actually cropped it!!!!!!!!!! Not sure if it is working or not but I am praying it does!!!! LOL!!! It was only around $12.oo

Hapy Tuesday all!!!!!!!! Thanks for letting me play!!!!!!

Weekend Recap

What a nice, cozy, chillout weekend!

I did nothing urgent this weekend although I did a lot of cleaning!!

It was sooooooooooo nice to get the spring cleaning in full swing - I love love love a clean home!!!

It just smells soooooooooooo good now!!!

Here is a pic recap of what my doing nothing weekend looked like.

Below is Waliacha looking really proud and cute (I must say). This is Lucky my 16 year old cat that hates everyone!!! She has apparently now grown fonder of Waliacha than me....he is her new buddy and she now chooses to lay on him and not me :-(
Oh well, it is nice that SOMEONE likes him more than me!!! LOL





Another picture of the new buddies.......

And another....

Here is a picture of my WAY healthy banana nut wheat muffins....

And here is the recipe...

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/4 cup applesause
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup smashed soy nuts

Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C).
Combine oil, honey, eggs, vanilla, and mashed bananas in a bowl.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, wheat germ, salt, and baking soda. Make a well in dry ingredients, and add the banana mixture. Mix together until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake 1 hour in preheated oven. Test for doneness, and cool on wire rack.

(I followed this recipe above but I poured into cupcakes and baked for about 15 min.)

YUMMMMMMMYYYYY!!!!!!!

Here is my new china cabinet with my china (Sweet Leilani) and crystal all loaded. I am still working on the organization of everything in it, but this is the jist! I love it sooooooo much!!! I was married like 15 years ago for a very brief 6 months and this china has remained in boxes ever since....It is soo nice to get it out and display it and have a little happiness from it!! The bottom shelf is all stuff that my mother or grandmother has passed down and a few collectables....my new favorite thing in the condo!

Note: my very few Cats Meows across the top!! I would love to get more but dont travel much - if any of my bloggy friends live near a place that sells them I would gladly pay you to pick me up a few from special places in your area......

Anddddddddddd new shoes......

Andddddddddd more new shoes (these are the coolest ever - they have a metal heal with rhinestones in them and they were only $20)....

Yeah it is Friday!!!!!!!

I am soooooooooo excited that it is Friday!

This weekend I have ABSOLUTELY nothing planned and this thrills me!

I think I may walk on the path and play outside for two days!!!!

What I know is I WILL NOT set an alarm!!! And I will not work - AT ALL!!!!

Yeah me!!!

On an icky note! I do not think I have ever mentioned this by I have psoriasis!

I was diagnosed years ago by a family doctor and he advised against any medical treatment (on a side note - he actually said that tanning controls it and the only treatment would be dangerous steriod shots). So, for four years I have justified my tanning as keeping my psoriasis in check and it has. However, lately that is not the case.

I have new patches all down both legs and this Easter my niece kept saying "why does Aunt Annie have all those bo bos"?

Here is an example of what they look like...

Children are honest!!! LOL

So, I decided that it is time to go to a dermitologist and check out my options.

Turns out, they have tons of treatments they can use these days that only involve mild steroid creams and coal tar mixtures. We are starting with one of these mixture creams and seeing if it will clear them up and we will try other things after a month if it does not help.

Well, it has been about a week and they already look soooooooooo much better - I think (knock on wood) that I will actually be able to wear shorts this summer without being totally paranoid!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

I just have to walk around with bandages all down my legs so it is pants all month!!!!!!! LOL

If you or anyone you know has this, then you know it is horrible!!! It is sooo embarrasing and people look at you like you have some kind of horrible disease that is contagious and it is not. It is just ugly!!!!!! And icky!!!!!! And it never leaves you it just goes into a kind of remission and anytime there is skin trama another poatch starts (do you know how hard it is to shave your legs without nicking) LOL!!!!!!

Anyway hopefully (as mine is SO FAR only a moderate case) it will be gone soon and I can keep little patches in check from here!!!!

Also, stress makes it worse so I told Waliacha I should quit my job, stay home and have a baby!!!!! LOL
Happy Weekend all!!!!

Annnnnnnnd nothing...

I soooo have nothing to blog about..



I am stuck at work and it is sooooooo beautiful outside...like 84 degrees here in Pittsburgh, PA!!!



Tonight is date night so we will be walking the path (Waliacha and I) and then sitting on the porch and chillin'.



Sounds like fun to me!!!! Yeah!



Anyway - I will leave you with my favorite picture (as of lately) of my twin niece and nephew. When my sister was pregnant, everyone twin that approached her said "whatever you do, do NOT dress them alike!!!" Anyway, she never has and instead we switch their clothes for fun (well, I did) and I love this picture of Ryan and Alyssa!!!!! As if this is better than being dressed alike - LOL HA!



Happy Thursday All Y'all!!!!!

Happy Monday!!!!

Happy Monday all!!!!

What a fast weekend!!!! It just flew by (although they all do really - HA)!

After being a hold out for many years, I finally caved on Saturday and we had real cable installed at the condo!!!! I just think it is such a waste to have all those hundreds of channels when you can only watch one at a time and also, to be honest, I am pretty cheap! My cable bill will now cost more a month than does my cellular, gas, electric, or car insurance...something is wrong there?!?!

Oh well, now I can watch Food Network and TLC...yeah!!!!!!!



Also, this weekend I was kinda bad. I had a service committment on Sunday morning (Officers and Coordinators Mtg) and just did not feel like going (we have like twelve of these a year).
I sent an email to a member to let them know that I would not be there but I feel soooooo guilty. Oh well, I sooooo needed a break from the politics and bickering. And, Lord knows, I am not important enough that my absence had an effect on the mtg...I hope !!! Also, I keep reminding myself that I did not make up a big lie to not go - I just said I would not be there - and to me, that is progress (no imaginary deaths, fights, crises, etc.)
Let's all have a great week!!!!!!!!!!!

And I bought it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am soooo excited!!!!
I went to Big Lots yesterday to buy microwave popcorn.

They are the only ones that sell the Caramel Apple Jolly Time that is one point in Weight Watchers!

So, once I entered I saw this!!!!

Then I fell in love and bought it!!!

The fell in love and bought it part came after about five hours of "Do I really need it?", a few drives back and forth from the store and hours later.....BOUGHT IT!!!!!!!!!!

Waliacha and our good friend Joe and taking Joe's truck and picking it up today!!!

I cannot wait to see it...

I am going to work from home this PM as I cannot wait to see it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah!!!!!

BTW: I justified this purchase as.....

1. It was 70% off the retail price (seriously, I saved like over $1,000 dollars)

2. I have wanted one for a REALLY long time

3. It will make soooooo much space available in out litle condo kitchen

4. I got a "little" bonus at work this year

5. I never buy myself anything (anything big and pricy that is)

6. I am good enough, smart enough and dog-gonnit I deserve it!!!

Good enough for the justification!?!?!?!? HA HA!!!!!!! :-)

And the winner is........

What amazing odds... :-)

The winner (randomly selected) of the Big Sexy Hairspray is...

Allyson at The Blackwoods.

E-mail me your address and it will be mailed out by Monday at the latest!!!

Thanks to everyone (all three of you - LOL) who entered my first giveaway!!!

This was soooo much fun I can't wait till my excuse to do the next one!!!!!!!!!!!

Easter a little late...

If you have not yet entered my very first giveaway go here to do so before tomorrow!!!

I was sooo excited about my 1ooth post that I forgot to post Easter pictures...sooooo here they are in no particular order....

Here is the bunny (Kyleigh)...

Annnnnnddddd the bunny (Kyleigh) hopping.....

My Brother-in-law Dan with his HUGE fish!!!!!!!!!!!

Waliacha and his fishing pole....he did catch a fish (about the size of Dan's) but the picture is tooo bright and will not post - LOL!!!!
Waliacha going over to get ANOTHER worm...the baby fishies got most of his - LOL!!!!

Dan and Matthew (my nephew)

Another Walaicha...

Kyleigh swinging under the deck...

Aunt Marti and Madelyn (the new addition)

Kyleigh and Alyssa "striking a pose" in their Easter clothes...

Kyleigh posing for the camera!!!! Soooo natural, hugh? LOL

Susie's kids in their Easter best....

Annnnnndd another.....