Halloween

I love handing out candy to the kids on Halloween. Somebody should tell them that. I saw a bunch of kids running around the complex, 2 showed up at my door as I was leaving for the gym they were the only group of kids to knock on the door. Pat got no one as I was working out. To make matters worse I had a horrible workout thinking of all the cute kids I could be giving candy to, how cute the costumes are. seriously It doesn't really matter what the kid is wearing they are normally sooo proud of the costume. It could be a hand colored paper plate but it's what they wanted to be and they are normally happy. but I only got 2 trick or treaters and apparently one of the neighbors had already slammed the door in their faces. Seriously just don't answer the door is it that bad for one night.

Work on the other hand was great. They did it up even more this year then years past. their were more games and activities. Claims didn't dress up but there were plenty of others dressed up along with me. I unfortunately spilled on my white costume at lunch so I changed out of it early, but I got to dress up that's what matters. Hopefully tomorrow I will find one of the seasonal Halloween stores and go find a really cool costume for next year. (does that count as spending?) Then again maybe not.

Another day of traffic

Normally traffic only hits me really bad once or twice a month. This week it got me two days in a row, way to show the company I want to keep my Job.

Unfortunitly my coworker's situation has gotten worse (for the families). He confessed. He is trying to get teh confession thrown out saying it was coerced, but he confessed. I couldn't think of much worse right now, they have already been through so much.

A dose of reality

Today was a sad day.

From the beginning it was awful, purely from a selfish standpoint, traffic was horrible. After 40 minutes I finally turned around and went a different way to work. At least I only had to backtrack 2-3 miles but I passed by my apartment complex at 7:50 or so. in all it took 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to work today. Little did I know this annoyance would pale in comparison to the rest of the day.

My coworkers family was apparently in the midst of a tragedy. her daughter's brother-in-law's wife went missing. I was optimistic that she would be found/return home. Unfortunately that will not be the case. In the afternoon her body was found near her car. I have read similar cases in the newspaper but to have such a tragedy touch the life of a coworker was a shock. Now I can only hope that the family is spared any further pain. I wish their was something I could do for them. but keeping them in my thoughts will hopefully be enough.

To add to the ambiance of the day my boss came to visit. He was definitely not himself. I am left to wonder if he is worried about his job or if he is worried about having to lay off people, probably both. Either way it was a little unsettling.

A friend whom I told about the layoffs sent a message that the main office in St Louis had already let go 200 employees. It;s a heck of a start though I'm a little relieved that they jumped on the plan full force, no use sitting around fretting forever. though maybe ignorance is bliss, I guess I'll find out when the layoffs are over. I guess this is the way the economy is going. Hopefully we can make it through fairly unscathed along with our friends and family.

Today's steps;

Layoffs

Nothing good can come of this. Enterprise is laying people off. No dates or #'s have been released to the public (or employees).

I am foolishly optimistic. I don't see getting cut in a first round. They will likely concentrate rental management a little, most of the cuts will likely be fellow administrative employees. The difference is in the actual position I hold. I am one of 2 now at the insurance company, however their are 2 claims centers. Cutting back likely will not work in my case as in the others in similar positions (except for the big insurance companies). The danger in my position lies in the fact that I make slightly more then I should. They could replace me cheaper however hopefully the fact that I do a good job and the insurance company seems to really like me should be enough. If it is not I can look back at this post and laugh at how foolishly optimistic I was. Then move on to some heavy job searching.

It is making me think about my financial situation. We only have one loan left, It's a big one but if it got really bad we could defer it. At this point we have very few monthly bills that can be canceled, cable being the only one that comes to mind. It has always been my goal to pay down the debt to a point that we could live off one paycheck while saving the other. This would really lessen the stress of times like these. I mean for one we would have a good size savings account and for the other we wouldn't have to dip into it if either of us got laid off. Unfortunitly for my goal the threat of a layoff came a little to fast. We likely have another 2 years before we can even hope to have a budget like that. If we can get 3-4 more years (5 preferable) out of our cars we may even be able to buy cash for a (very) used car.

I suppose i should share this goal with my husband as it is his cash too. I don't see how he could disagree.

Today's steps;

Lazyness

First I have to say Happy Birthday to Mom.

Now my lazy day!

I slept in today. That is an accomplishment for me. Normally I can't sleep past 700am, today I slept to a blissful 9:30am.

After I checked in with Pat to see where he was (he was in PA driving home). I went to the gym. I did a full workout for the first time in a LONG time. It was hard, I was very sleepy during the workout, strangely it was at it's worst 30 minutes inn. Normally no matter how tired I am 15 minutes in I feel great and enjoy the rest of the workout. I wonder if it was the sleeping in.

After I showered I welcomed Pat home! It was great to see him again (I know he was only gone 48 hours). After he showered we settled down and watched football and ate chicken wings and Pizza, below is a photo of the horror of me eating chicken wings. I cannot eat them like a normal person as I refuse to eat the skin. You can see the skins piled with the bones on the plastic lid next to me, I'm working on the poor 'flapper'* in my hands. of course I washed all this down with a healthy serving of apple crisp and ice cream.

In the end I spent most of the day sitting on my couch with Pat. Next week I'll avoid any football that does not involve Purdue. Because Purdue is doing so bad they likely will not be on TV and I'll have a football free weekend.

* apparently when you order wings the legs are the legs but the other parts are called the flappers, they are the only parts I eat. Pat prefers the legs but will eat any wings offered if they are tasty enough.

christmas shopping

I an determined to get my Christmas shopping done early this year and so far I'm off to a good start. Mom K and Dad K are done, Lillie is done, Jason will be a problem but the baby will be done Monday. David and Angela will be done as soon as this week, Zach I'm not sure if I'll buy something or send $ for them to spend on him.

The Rodman's are no where near done the only clue I have is for Dad R. Everyone else I'll need help.

Not that I have an abundance of Idea's for myself though I gave mom a good one! I should keep a list that I can add to but I don't so when I'm asked i just don't know what I want/need.

Impressionable

I read this morning that Stacy had made apple crisp, she posted it on facebook. For some reason I could not get the craving out of my mind once I had read the blurb. I made the apple crisp and enjoyed a fresh hot batch with the last of the vanilla ice cream.

Now I wonder when I became so impressionable. Is it just when food is involved? I do LOVE to eat and the apple crisp was a great idea. It was delicious!

So now every one leave messages on good deserts or other activities and see if I go do them!

Today's steps; 14500

Foiled

The gym was finally open and I was relieved to know that the next holiday is Thanksgiving. I can get back into my gym habit and keep it up. I was taking it a little easy to feel out what my 9 day hiatus had done to my fitness level. I have to say it wasn't looking good. Then I see Pat walk up to the gym. He doesn't work out so I was wondering what he could need. He was looking for the laundry detergent, I told him that it was in the trunk of my car and told him where to find my keys.

I thought nothing of it as I pumped up the intensity a little. 10 minutes later he's back and in a grumpy(er) mood. He didn't find the detergent and apparently went across the street to buy some but couldn't find any. After a scant 20 minute workout (less then 200 calories) and I was done.

Any guesses where the detergent was? Yes, In the trunk of my car.

I guess I had to balance out the happy Pat post with a grumpy Pat post.
Today's steps;

Why I Love My Husband

I awoke this morning, turned on the light and sat up in bed. I was not quite ready to face the cold of the apartment. I looked over and Pat was looking at me and smiling. I laughed and asked what he was smiling about. Your beautiful was his reply.

It's 6:30 I just woke up and I'm in my new space ship footie PJ's. Only a husband would say that I was beautiful at that moment and not every husband at that, it was appreciated. I realize that I have a wonderful husband that not only loves me but is not offended by my weird sense of bed ware. I love PJ's and in the winter warm and cozy rules. That means for the most part they are not sexy, Pat loves (likes) them anyway!

I'll try to get a photo in my new PJ's. I hope they have some Christmas themed ones in a few weeks that would rock to open gifts in candy cane/Santa footie PJ's.

Today's Steps;

Day 9

The gym was closed again today. I haven't heard of the holiday but it hardly matters. I'm getting restless. I wish I had found the time to exercise in DC or even made it on Monday. I feel like I will be starting over from scratch.

I should be grateful that it's not a 6 week sentence like Angela and be glad that it will be over tomorrow. It's just not enough to make the anxiety and restlessness go away.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Zach and Me

This is a Post about last weekend.
He actually looks like he's not sure what to make of his Aunt Sarah. I'm not so sure either. Mom went to get him at 7 am, I was already up so the timing was not a problem, however I did not sleep well due to the cold in the hotel room. I look as tired and beat up (and happy) as I was.

Zach was a good boy and did not pee on me though I did get nervous after a while and put a towel down just in case. I was happy to hold him for the first time (I waited an extra day to make sure the cold was gone and not contagious). He seemed to be content no matter who held him so we got along just fine.

Financial Diet

I have been on a little bit of a spending spree the past few weeks. Today starts the financial diet that I really need to go on. I did need some new work cloths (and still do) I have been going a little more spendy then I wanted. So for the next few weeks I will be curbing my spending and paying more attention to what is purchased. Some of it was gifts (with a few more gifts to go) the rest was cloths for work and now I need a spending break to recover and break a bad habit before it starts.

For some reason ever sense we moved I have been spending more money then I ever did in Hackettstown and I can't figure out why. If you know please pass on the secret, I really want to save for a nice camera and at this rate I'll never get one.

So here is to spending, I'll miss you terribly but don't hurry back.

Home again

The PJ's I love so much from my post a few days ago went on sale as of today. The Target in Gaithersburg did not have the sizes I wanted, I checked last night. When I got back to the hotel I realized that they were not on sale until today so it really didn't matter at that time.

I went to grandma and grandpa's house to have some extra time with them before I left. (Every one else left early that morning). It was nice to sit and chat with Grandma but Grandpa was a sleepy head and I only got a few minutes with him as I also wanted to get on the road early. Next time I want some time with Grandma and the puzzle table. I didn't get any puzzling at all this weekend.

The ride home was uneventful (thankfully as their were allot of cops out). It only takes 3 1/2-4 hours which is nice. Lucky me my local target is right on the way home and I stopped and found the PJ's I wanted and they had the sizes I wanted (I got one for Lillie, I'm not telling which one). I'm so excited my new ones glow in the dark!!

I pretty much napped the rest of the day. It was a good day.

Today's steps;

Apple Picking

Saturday was a Beautiful day in DC. I went with Sheryl, Jason, and Illana (I hope I spelled that correctly) Apple Picking. Though I did not pick apples for myself (which I later regretted) I did pick a few for Sheryl and A few for myself to eat. Apples right off the tree are DELICIOUS, definitely better then the store. I'm already planning on apple picking at Sutzes with Lillie and baby girl in the fall (or maybe 2 falls from now).

After rushing home to make it for dinner (I was told it was at 5PM, it was at 6PM). I Made it with an hour to spare and had time to take photo's of the roses that were still in bloom in front of the apartment building and meet an accomplished gardener. His flowers were still blooming strong (Including a few Irises). I didn't take photo's of those because he was still working with them but they are (were) nice.

Anyway dinner was great and We got a almost full family photo that I will post as soon as I get it. Hopefully in a few years we can do this for Grandma's 85th birthday and have everyone! One large family celebration and hopefully a photo.

Today's Steps;

Bright Idea's

I awake this morning and wrote my directions to DC. Unfortunately Pat did not like g-map's directions. He said I should take 295 all the way down to the bridge, which then merges/changes into I95. As I was driving down Rt 1 I see that I can hit 95 as well as 295. I figured if it was a good thing to just skip the jump to 95 part way through NJ, taking 95 from the beginning would be a even better thing after all it runs parallel to 295 and I end up on 95 anyway.

Apparently there are 2 95's in NJ. I95 and the NJ turnpike.

Anyway part way down 95 I realized I was heading into PA. So I called Pat.

'remember how you said to skip the jump from 295 to 95?'

'what did you do' pat says mistrustfully

'well from rt 1 you can also hit rt 95'

'NO! you didn't' (he actually cut me off)

'well if I was going to end up on it anyway, isn't that your lessen from this morning?'

'Don't blame this on me!' (silly husband your always to blame).

'Well If you hadn't wanted me to stray from the directions. . .'

'this is not my fault' he says.

'yes it is so help me fix it'

He did and I made it in 4 hours. But the excitement had just begun. As I walk into the building and up to the elevator I see a guy pushing a baby stroller. I almost didn't look at him at all but I looked at his Wife, My sister in law. I looked over at David wondering how/why/what (I was confused). Zach is just under one month old and I couldn't believe they would drive 11 hours with him. Lucky for me I was wrong!! They came out to surprise Grandpa for his 90th birthday. Apparently the whole family was surprised not just Grandpa. I did get shown up arriving at the apartment Judy answered the door expecting me and flipped that they had brought the baby. I don't blame her the baby takes top billing despite the fact that he likes to pee all over everyone.

Poor Lillie is unable to travel so she was the only one who couldn't make it. She was very upset. But we celebrated Grandpa's birthday and had a great time (wishing Lillie could be here with us).

Boy am I glad my cold went away fast!

Decisions

I have decided to postpone the trip by one day. I will be feeling better tomorrow and will be well rested for the drive. Plus If it gets worse over night I'll just stay home. I really want to go and I think it will all work out.

It has been a LONG time sience I have had a cold. Unfortunitly the tiny little cold I have developed (yesterday) may prevent me from all of my weekend palns. No I'm not that sick, I just want to make sure my grandpa stays healthy.

It's his 90th birthday on Friday. I was going to drive down to DC to celebrate with him, My Grandma, my parents and Aunt Judy (who I don't get to see often). But a simple cold can be very not good when your 90. Apparently Grandpa's last cold was very bad, and I dont' want to give him a cold for his 90th birthday. That would be awful.

My Mom is going to call me back today after discussing with Grandma the possiblity of me coming out for her birthday in 2 weeks (Halloween). We shall see what they say, I guess I'd feel better if it were a full blown cold. Then going would not be an option at all.

If I can't go i'll also miss out on seeing Sheryl and going to a fall festival. Pumpkin and apple picking, corn maze, sigh I told Pat to find me one here but I don't hold out much hope. It would be more fun in DC.

Today's Steps;

The Fitness Fight

As I was getting ready for the gym today Pat was griping that I go to the gym 5 days a week. Actually I go 7 but the weekends apparently don't count because it's not encroaching as much into his time. Anyway, I told him he would be even more pissed when I kicked his ass skiing this winter.

He laughed and said ' All the fitness in the world won't fix your psychological issue with skiing. It isn't going to make the mountain smaller and your still going to be scared.'

I glared at him as I walked out the door. I realized while on the treadmill that after the first few runs I'll show him up (the first run or two is needed to conquer my fear of skiing). Then I'll get the last laugh.

Today's steps; 15614

Ode to Breakfast

I love breakfast foods. I could eat them all day.

The first is Mom Rodman's Holiday egg casserole. I'm not sure what's in it, I have the recipe somewhere but it is delicious. Every holiday she cooks it up for the family. I would bribe her to leave out the mushrooms but because she won't I just pick around them. Thankfully I get this breakfast every holiday and I don't even have to cook.

Gingerbread waffles are another Holiday favorite. They taste just like Christmas and even Pat likes them! The recipe is by Rachel Ray and maybe I'll Post it this year when I make them.


Regular waffles I make when visiting my parents has to be on the list of breakfast favorites and while I don't make them all the time it's not a holiday recipe so I make them more often. I like making them with whole wheat flour and strawberry topping. My mom even freezes the leftover to eat after I have gone home. Thought she isn't a strawberry fan so she eats them plain.

My go to weekend breakfast is a supped up scrambled egg. That's eggs scrambled with ham potatoes and veggies. Another breakfast pat will eat and actually enjoy. It's quick easy and delish.

Anyway I just enjoyed my breakfast and wanted to share my favorites. let me know what yours are (maybe I'll try them).

Today's Steps;

Drama Drama Drama

I checked the step counter this morning and it missed 3000+ steps. How do I know? I started my workout with 5000 steps and only got 6500 in my 65 minute run. in a 60 minute workout I get 1000 steps so I am recording my actual steps and putting the missing steps next to it on my previous post. I haven't figured out what I will do for the spreadsheet, maybe I'll just add in the 3000, that is the minimum missing.

Now I need to figure out why that happened, today I got 11000+ during my workout so it worked just fine.

Today's other drama very much amused Pat, he really should be more supportive.

On my way to the bank I noticed a funny looking beetle on the passenger side window. I rolled down the window (which was a feet on it's own as I have manual windows). After the window was down I went about my drive hoping it would fly out the window or get close enough to get blown out. It outsmarted me by crawling down the door and landing the floor of the car.

After coming out from the bank I shook out the jacket that he was crawling on before I lost him. I didn't see it come out but also did not see it any ware else.

As I was driving home I glanced in my rear view Mirror and there he was sitting on the headrest right behind me. (please take the time to picture me leaning forward enough to get away from the bug but not so far that I can't see him in the rear view mirror).

Because I was driving I had to take my eyes off him frequently, unfortunately he disappeared leaving me to wonder if he was crawling all over me or if he had jumped to the back of the car.

Pulling into the complex I gave Pat a call. I asked that he come down, I promised he would find it funny, boy did I.

He came down and checked me over to make sure the beetle was not on me any ware. Then I gave the rear of the car a quick once over. I didn't see him so I reorganized the grocery bags (awaiting recycling) in the back of my car as pat was laughing and making fun of me. once I had most of them in the one big bag I noticed the beetle on the door jam of the rear passenger side, and screamed. Pat LOVED that! Seriously I'm not afraid of it it just surprised me.

Today's Steps;

PJ's

I LOVE Pajamas. All colors, patterns, styles and most fabrics (they must be soft). One bone I have to pick on the PJ industry is the lack of footie PJ's for adults. Seriously, they are worm, soft and cozy.

Most of the time even in the older kid section they are missing. I found a pair a few years ago at Target in the Boy's section that were nice. So I had a pair, unfortunately they eventually had to be tossed out and I have had a hole in my closet ever sense.

Today I filled the hole. During my shopping excursion to Target I spotted in the Girls section a pair of footie PJ's, Pink, With hearts all over! (yes I really am 30) I grabbed the XL and though I did not have time to try it on It looks like a good fit. I will find out for sure tonight. and will wash them for wear on Saturday. Maybe I'll post a picture, after all I need to convert more people into the cause.



Today's steps; 12870 + 3500 (missing steps)

Wait What Day is it?

This morning I did not want to get up when the alarm rang (or beeped). Pat unsympathetically informed me that it was indeed Friday, not Saturday as I had hoped. Finally about 7:50 I finally got myself up and going, Pat on the other hand decided to go back to bed. A very unusual move for him.

Upon getting to work mom R gave me a call. She was checking to see what we were up to. I informed her that we were working, she seemed a little confused. Apparently I was not the only one that really wanted it to be Saturday, only she thought it was, I just lied to myself. She was going to invite up to meet her and dad for dinner in PA. but because we were working we couldn't.

I told my coworkers about the date issue, they unanimously agreed that it should be Saturday and we should all go home! I don't think the companies we work for would agree.

I did give her a mission while she was in Gettysburg. Hopefully she will find what I want, sadly Boyd's bears was purchased by another company. Apparently the Huge 3 story barn that houses thousands of bears has been scaled back to only 2 stories and they are not as crammed into the store. I really loved that store and hope by the time I get back there they are up to their former glory, it would be sad to see an anemic version of that store that I once spent 3 hours in. and by teh way I could have spent even more time there, sigh.

Extra Time

The gym was closed today. Normally I get a little bummed that it's closed but it's only for one day this time so I was going to enjoy the extra time in my day. I spent all morning "spending" my extra time. I could go to the library, do some shopping, or walk around the neighborhood. Seriously I spent allot of time pondering what to do with my extra hour.

In the end I used it for cleaning the apartment, sucky I know. But I was loosing to Pat in the new chore chart and I couldn't have that. Plus it's nice to have a clean(er) apartment.

Pat will not be happy when he realises that he's lost again. but don't feel too bad for him he can still get caught up tomorrow, he won't.

Today's Steps; 4021

The Conversations of my Marrage

First I have to say I got Pat, good (see the haircut post).

I called from work in the morning asking if he needed anything from Trader Joe's. He listed off a few things, all needing refrigeration, so I let him know that I wouldn't be able to get them. During the day I decided to wait until the weekend so I could get everything he wanted.

I got home and let him know before I left for the gym that we would go together this weekend. After I got back I reiterated the story.

As we were cooking dinner together he turned to me and asked if I had gone to Trader Joe's.

'what did I just tell you 10 minutes ago?'

'um. . . '

I then fill him in on the details, again. We will go together this weekend with a cooler! I think he finally got it, on the 3rd try.


Then a few minutes later a different conversation all together.

I set reminders for almost everything on my cell phone. Seriously it's the only way I remember anything.

My phone rang the reminder ring and I was baffled. What could I possibly need to remember tonight? Then it dawned on me.

'Pat is it the 8th?'

'It's almost 8' he replied

'No is it the 8th of October' I asked again

'what' he says

'Is it the 8th of October'

'Yes'

(I can't wait until we are 80, then again maybe we will learn to communicate by then, The hearing-aids can only help)

Anyway I realized that it was Anne's Birthday. I gave her a call and got all caught up while Pat cooked dinner.

Stealing Time

Pat called me as I was leaving the office, he was going to be late getting home. YEA!

This meant I was able to steal a few extra minutes at the gym. I only took 15 but it felt good. I was surprised to see he wasn't home yet, Even with the extra time at the gym. I was able to shower and get dinner done before he walked through the door. I was a stellar wife tonight!

** I feel that I should note that Pat is not often home late so when he is, it's nice to have extra time to work out or watch TV shows that he hates. I do like when he's home it's just nice sometimes to have time with out him, so don't worry!

Today's steps;

To Grandmothers house I go

It is all set, I'm going to DC for Grandpa's birthday. I can't beleave he's going to be 90! We will celebrate both grandpa and grandma's birthday at the same time as they are close together. Originally I was going to go out for grandma's birthday but it will work better and feel like more of a party with the rest of the family (or as many as can attend).

I also will take the opportunity to hang out with Sheryl whom I haven't seen in who knows how long. She is going to a Autm festival with her friends and I happily offered to tag along (after she asked of course). It will be a nice weekend trip.

I told Pat that I was definitly going and he said ' I know I read it on your g-mail status'

How sad is it that he found out about my trip from my e-mail! I guess I should have told him before changing my status message. Lesson learned for now, I'm sure it will be forgotten soon.

Today's Steps; 7775

Review

For our anniversary Pat and I spent the night at a bead and breakfast in the Delaware water gap. It was called the Shepard House Bed and Breakfast. It must have been painted since they posted the web page, online it is white, in person it is olive green. Not as minor of a detail when you are looking for the house. (Also the photo is from the back of the house). Anyway once we found it we checked in and went to the room, it was very pretty but also very small. The attached bath was small as well.

After checking in we went to the Blue Tequila for dinner. Pat found it online and thought it looked good. Unfortunately I didn't check the web page. It was Mexican food but it seemed to have a strange pumpkin spice to it. My chicken was chewy and Pat's pork was greasy. I made fun of Pat for choosing a restaurant for our 4th anniversary that lined it's tables with paper, but we got a free movie with the dinner. It's too bad the speakers were tuned to the TVs by the bar. But that made it a silent movie, vintage right?. Pat didn't say much about the dinner until we left. He then informed me that he felt the food was like school cafeteria food, YUM! I told him he had better do a great job for our 5th Anniversary.

Then back at the room it was evident that they had not turned the heat on for the year. I suppose for a romantic evening it's not such a bad thing that we did not want to leave the bed, but seriously it was for all the wrong reasons! We had to huddle together to stay worm, Pat wondered why we didn't go camping after all, If we were going to be freezing all night why not do it in a tent. He had a point, it also would have been quieter as our room must have been right next to the house kitchen we could hear the cooking (or cleaning the kitchen or both) from our room. It was LOUD!

The Breakfast was good we had cantaloupe with blueberry yogurt dressing, An egg and cheese casserole and a blueberry muffin for dessert. I did wonder where the meat and veggies were, but it tasted good so I'll give them a pass. No we can't, I really missed the veggies and Pat missed the Meat. In case you were wondering the food was worm but the room was freezing (62 degrees). I really think if you are having people pay to stay at your house you should keep it at a minimum of 65-68 degrees.

Each component on it's own was a little disappointing but the time we spent together was nice. So after it was all said and done it was a successful anniversary. Though maybe I'll help plan next year.

Today's steps; 11283

Mini-Vacation

Camping is out, Hiking is out.

The bed and breakfast should be nice anyway. Oh?! what am I doing writing the morning we are leaving for the mini-Vacation? It's a backdated post, not that I didn't have time to write on Saturday. I was too busy watching Purdue loose to Penn State. I am not surprised it seems as though Purdue can not get over some mental hurdle that keeps them from ever beating Penn State no matter how good we are and how bad they are.

Leaving late also allowed me to take my Gym time, which I really needed.

Today's Steps;

4 Years

In my 4 years of marriage I have learned a few things.

The in sickness and health vow is one of the most important! Pat and I are in relatively good health, But when it we are sick it's great that we can help each other out.

Bribery works miracles. We were going to go camping for out 4th anniversary unfortunately Pat may have been bitten by another tick. He is on antibiotics and I don't want to be camping with him sweating at night (not sure if that's the antibiotic or if it's Lyme disease). Either way it's too cold, he'd freeze to death or catch pneumonia. So we are going to a bed and breakfast (tomorrow). Hopefully with a hike in there some where.

Diet- When one person's diet changes so does the spouses. (unless your insane like my sister and cook 2 meals every night). Pat has chosen a low carb diet twice in his life. The first was to help fight off the Lyme disease and now just in case. No more easy pasta dinners or rice side dishes, I really like carbs, sigh.

Acceptance- Their are things you have to just accept about your spouse. Pat for instance has to accept my random comments. I think he has learned to love mine. I am still trying to accept his hockey/football habit, don't worry I'm getting there.

Traditions- Every family has them. You need to accept some and merge others. In my family we move Holidays/celebrations to when ever they are convenient, normally the weekend before or after. Pat has learned to accept this. He is a good sport. Come to think of it I'm not sure of any odd traditions the Rodman's have. I'm sure some will come to me later.

Today's steps; 12046

3 years, 364 days

I awoke this morning to Pat wishing me a Happy day before our anniversary. I'll leave the disbeleif for tomorrow when we hit the actual day. (The neighbors that just moved in accross the hall are getting married 10/4, Pat told them that it was a good month, I agree).

I'm working on training fellow employees on a compter program and frankly it's not my favorite. Actully I have avoided it for too long. It's not that I mind training people, it's just that I don't know the programs that well and that makes it more of a reading off a page. Not really teaching. The more I do It the better/easier it will get.

All other changes to my job have been embraced by me. Some obsessivly. I just need to get over the training hurdle and I'll be the ideal employee again, says me.

Today's steps; 9425

Danger, Danger, Danger

It seems every fall I get a little heavy handed with the snooze button. Though it started a little later then normal it has started to happen again.

Today however was different. I must have missed the snooze button and hit the reset button. effectively turning off the alarm all together. Lucky for me Pat awoke at 7:05, unlucky for me I still had to shower and get ready for work. I would love to say I got ready in record time but that did not happen. I left the apartment at 7:20 and still had to get gas (Pat borrowed my car and left it empty).

I would like to think I learned my lesson about the snooze button, but I'll bet it will be hit again tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be more careful.

Today's steps; 4376