"Summer" has finally hit West Michigan

I enjoyed my nephews baseball game on Saturday without wearing a coat or a sweatshirt -- needed sunscreen and a shade umbrella instead.

Sunday night dinners by my sister's pool have begun.

Butch's Beach Burrito in Grand Haven is open.

Graduation Open Houses and weddings have hit the pages of my calendar.

Relaxing afternoon's spent reading by the poolside and watching the kids enjoy the water is on the agenda (preferably sitting in the hammock chair while I watch).

The bottles of mosquito spray and sunscreen are easy at hand near the back door (and since the blood-suckers are so terrible this year we really need it).

Rico made his first purchase of a sunburn relief treatment this year (he and his brother need to switch sides of the field when coaching a 3 hour baseball game on a super hot, sunny day -- coaching first base the whole time means he had a pretty funny tan line).

Ahh, summer. Whatever the calendar says, I say Summer is here!


P.S. Please send good vibes to my sister's dog, Abby. Her nose started bleeding this morning and they found out her cancer is out of remission. She's at MSU getting a mega dose of chemo tonight. Love her.

The ABC's

The last 3 weeks have been hard. Losing Killer has really thrown me for a loop emotionally, and I'm stuck in a place I don't want to be. A sad place. An angry place.

The ABC's of me lately are:

A = anxious
B = bitter
C = crabby
D= defeated

about as far as E = effervescent and F = fun as it can get. I know this. I realize it's a problem, but...

It's silly, really, because I have so much in my life to be grateful for. I just can't seem to "see" it right now. I'm working on getting a better grip on things, but I can't seem to dredge up anything worth blogging about in the meantime. Until then, blue skies.

Missing her

It's been one day since my baby-dog went to heaven and my heart hurts. Tears come when I expect them and also when I don't. The rain falling from the sky suits my mood. I miss her.

I know she's not suffering now, but, in all honesty, it didn't make it any easier to come home after work and not have her standing there when I opened the door. It breaks my heart.

Missing her.

Putting Your Best Foot Forward?

Image Source: here

Today was an exciting day at work -- it was the day they announced the winners of the "Put Your Best Foot Forward" contest. This was a contest that was thought up by the head muckety muck at work, and the plan was that you had to wear your most expressive footwear to work and submit a photo to enter to win the contest.

Normally something like this would rank right up there with celebrating "Talk Like a Pirate Day" (which yes, we have celebrated at work before) in my mind -- and by that I mean I was thinking "WTF are they thinking?"

And then I read what the prizes were going to be: iPad 2s and $100 AE gift cards. PLURAL on each of those prizes. As in more. than. one. of. each. prize.

I gotta admit that got my attention.

Both of those sounded very appealing. Very. But, and here's the problem, I don't have any shoes that could be called -- by any stretch of the imagination -- expressive. I'm a tennis shoes and flip flops kind of gal, and that's not something that's going to get a ton of votes for originality.

So I decide I'm going to pimp out a pair of tennis shoes with my Relay For Life and American Cancer Society bling. It's a way to express support for a cause that's near and dear to my heart at work. Normally that's not allowed because showing any support for anything like that is frowned upon as solicitation. (Can you tell I don't agree with them about what constitutes solicitation?)

So this opportunity is exciting. Bling out a pair of shoes, feature something I'm proud to be a part of, and maybe win a prize. BONUS!

Here they are in all their blinged-out beautious-ness:

What do you think? Rico was laughing at me as I was pinning all the bling on after I got done doing my nightly workout on the treadmill. I believe the work "dork" may have been uttered (or maybe I just imagined it -- I truly don't remember). What I remember is that I was getting made fun of. But hey, it was the best I could do, and I was pretty pleased with how they turned out. So I wore them to work and I jingle-jangled around all day with my Relay For Life spirit out there for the world to see.

AND I WON. I won big -- you're lookin' at a grand prize winner, baby! I won an iPad2 today at work! Woop-woop!

Today was a good day to be at work. :)

Here were the runner's up that scored the gift card prizes:
And no, the second pair of shoes aren't stretched out because of an photo problem -- they really were that large. Size 22 I think -- the poor girl had to stuff towels in the fronts of them to keep them on her feet. And it was pretty humorous to hear her clomping down the halls in them.

(Relatively) Guilt free shopping

(Relatively) Guilt free shopping -- why so few takers? Why? Why? Why?

Have I got an opportunity for you: shop without the guilt and support a great cause at the same time. I'm having a Silpada party on Thursday -- go to the link at the end of this post to BUY, BUY, BUY.

Did you?

Fundraising is tough. Especially with the economy like it is in Michigan the last couple of years. I'm having a Silpada party on Thursday to raise money for the Relay For Life (American Cancer Society) team that I participate on and I'm thinking it's going to be a bit of a bust.

I thought last year's turnout was lame -- but this is looking even lamer (more lame, whatev).

The Silpada rep I work with is awesome and loves to donate all her profits to the cause -- she sincerely hopes each year we'll have even better sales so she can donate more and more. I love her. Laura (Cooky) is awesome.

Sigh. Too bad I don't have a broader pool of silver loving friends who drool -- like I do -- over the Silpada catalog. Too bad we don't all have lots of discretional income. I get it, I do. Money is tight. We're currently a one-income household so I really get it.

But it's for a great cause. And that's where I get stuck. I really believe that we can make a difference in the fight against cancer. And I know women love jewelry -- so why not buy now and combine the two?

(And here's where I'll get on my soapbox a bit. Because I can't do it in person I'll do it on my blog.)

I'll do what I can to raise money for the American Cancer Society -- a non-profit that funds so much cancer research that they're second ONLY to the U.S. government in the dollars spent. That's right. That much. Breast cancer, yup. All cancer, yup. They fund so much cancer research that they're second ONLY to the U.S. government in the number of dollars spent. Straight up.

So I volunteer for the American Cancer Society at Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (in memory of my mentor Judy Junewick Horrigan) and I'm on the committee for the Relay For Life of Lowell (in memory of Judy who participated with me in my first year of Relay, and in memory of my Grandpa, and this year in celebration of the life of my puppy-dog.). And I volunteer at the Tee Off for Breast Cancer golf outing which raises money for the ACS.

I believe we can make a difference. This week, I'm making a difference by buying some sterling silver bling:

http://mysilpada.com/sites/lauranne.oconnor/private/content/home.jsf

Too bad I'm not a better salesman (or any kind of salesman at all, really). But let's fact it, I'm not much of a people person and schmoozing just isn't my forte. And ya gotta schmooze to bring in the dough -- even if it's for a good cause.

I'm a much better volunteer than I am a fundraiser. I'm an excellent volunteer. :)
Here's hoping the few books I have out to friends will bring in lots of orders. Fingers crossed.

Compliment?

"You have white and fluffy skin." (This has nothing to do with the gratuitous photo of baby Jack -- I just couldn't resist his sleeping baby cuteness.)

WTF? Seriously? What the heck does "You have white and fluffy skin" mean?

I think I snorted as I laughed. I just didn't know how to respond. Fluffy? White? I'm a freckle-faced wrinkled mess of dry-from-the-harsh-winter-skin. How does that equal white? And WTF is fluffy when applied to skin?

I won't say who came up with that awesome compliment tonight as we were watching TV... He knows who he is. And he's not even on migraine meds and he's speaking crazy crap like that. But he was serious. Oh my.

I'm going to say it was a compliment, okay? And he's not the only one with issues tonight.

I lost a day this weekend. I don't remember anything that we did on Saturday. I've been thinking about it since earlier today, and I seriously can't remember what I did. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have anything to do with being white or fluffy... just aging and tired... and a bit stressed. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I do remember Sunday. Breakfast out -- where I scored the Triple Bacon Sampler (yes, it's true, I did). After which we went to Goodwill where I scored two quilts: one really cute Pottery Barn one for camping/beach going and one in basic red for the oldest nephew who has grown too tall for a "throw" to keep him warm while watching TV. His poor tootsies get cold now because his feet stick out (that's what you get for getting taller than your aunt!). Following the trek to Goodwill we stopped at Target, then had coffee and a no bake cookie at the local bookstore, and then picked up the my baby-dog from home for a thrilling trip to the laundromat to wash the "new" quilts post haste.

And then we had just enough time for a mini snooze before we went to my brothers for a family dinner. We even made baby Jack get up to socialize with the fam. You have to get him up -- he's 3 weeks old and he just sleeps all the time. Sleep, sleep, sleep. Silly baby. Suffice it to say, WE WOKE HIM UP.

Here's Jr. saying "Queso!" (that Spanish for "Cheese!") with his newest cousin, Jack:


And here's Jackie Moon saying"Queso!" too...
Hee hee.

Yesterday and today

On any given day this is what my dog is doing when we're at work. Doesn't she look comfy?

Yesterday my baby dog had another 1L+ of fluid removed from her chest. Go here to find out the back-story if you're interested.

Today I'm looking at a groggy doggy who has some lovely patches of shaved skin on each side of her body. A doggy who has some unidentified yellow substance dying the skin of said shaved spots. Ick. Really? What the heck is that? Couldn't they clean that off? I guess that's what the parent's are supposed to do, eh? I'll get right on that. (Or I'll ask Rico if he'd mind taking care of that.)

Every day she's here is a gift. And this past month has taught me to really appreciate it. Even when she's stinking up the room with her smelly, smelly gas. (OMG who would think a dog could be so gassy). Love, love, love my dog.