Ya Gotta Love 10's

Just started ten hour days a few weeks ago, so now I go in at 6am and work til 5 from Monday-Thursday with an hour for lunch - good for dog walking since he needs some relief too in a long day. It has been quite an adjustment, but today is a great reminder of why I think I'm going to like a four day work week. I got to sleep in, been leisurely getting stuff done around the house, and am in the midst of watching "Love Actually". It's nice to just have a whole day, all to myself and then to realize that I've got the whole weekend ahead of me as well.

Think I'm gonna go to the grocery store to get that over with and then pay some bills OR maybe I'll just stay right here on the couch . . . .

Harvey Oaks

Mom invited me to the neatest soiree the other evening at Harvey Oaks Jewelers in Fremont. For some reason I can never get my hyperlinks to come through on my blog but they have a website - www.harveyoaksjeweler.com/. Anyway, they invite customers to this event where basically they have appetizers and wine and it's the only time of year they actually have anything discounted. They also buy their jewelry and place it at fair market value at the time of their purchase. Then if the market goes up, they don't mark up the prices, so that's cool. They also encourage you to make a wish list, and then they keep it on file so that when your husband or family member or friend comes in, they know what type of jewelry you like. This event was for the ladies, and then in two weeks, they have an event for the men so they can see what's on their significant others' wish lists. My mom bought a very pretty gold ring, and the neat thing with it was that stones can be added later or she can wear it as is. The gentleman that waited on us has been with the store for 31 years. He goes to shows and buys the most unique and high quality gems. He spent a lot of time with us, showing us all sorts of gems that you don't see every day, and he explained all about the ones that are more durable or more soft than others. I never realized that emeralds are one of the softest stones so you have to be very careful when wearing them. So, if you're ever in Fremont, check them out. They aren't the most inexpensive of stores, but if you make a purchase there you know you're getting something special.

November Rain

Regrouping from two weeks straight without a day off. Drill was last weekend and it was a long week prior to and since. Yesterday I basically vegged out all day and today I'm playing catch up with all the things I've let slide, including bills and blogs. Mark and I decided to take tomorrow off and the government has graciously given us off Veteran's Day on Tuesday, so it's almost like we've got a mini-vacation. The weather has been a bit dreary but it makes for a nice opportunity to curl up with a good book.

This afternoon is going to be a bit tough though, because Mom and I are attending the funeral of a woman who was like a second Mom to me. I spent many days and weekends at the Mercer household while I was growing up, and now we've got to say goodbye to Mrs. Mercer. She is definitely in a better place where there is no suffering and nothing but peace and joy, and we will see her again someday - that is a comforting thought.

Amish Friendship Bread

Ever make it? Well if you're like me and you don't cook much or hardly at all, the task seems quite daunting. It was actually pretty neat though when I gave it a shot. You get this bag of goo and for like 10 days you do all this stuff to it and on the 10Th day you bake it. It's really good - tastes a lot like coffee cake. Most days all you have to do is mush the bag but a few days you add a few ingredients like milk and flour and sugar. You then split the batter and give it to friends on the 10Th day. It's sorta like a chain letter but with food. I gave mine to the ladies at work and told them I totally understood if they'd want to toss it, but I think most of them were actually gonna make it. You can also add raisins, nuts etc to it to make it even better but I thought I'd just follow the recipe since sometimes that alone is challenging enough for me. All in all though, it was fun to watch the batter ferment and stuff and people actually ate the bread when I took it to work so it couldn't have been that bad. Thanks April for bringing me my bag of goo - it made for an interesting 10 days, and you may just make a cook out of me yet - but don't hold your breath :-)

October Already?

Behind again - much has happened these past three weeks or so - almost all of it has been a lot of fun! It's had its ups - Family reunion at Put in Bay - and downs - had to take Mark to the ER - but all in all, it's been pretty good. Thankfully Mark is doing pretty well, although they are going to do some blood work to see what is going on with him. He's feeling quite a bit better though - Thank God!

Tonight we're having a WXKR radio reunion at Mi Hacienda in Toledo. Can't wait - it's been forever since we've all been together. I'm definitely taking the camera for that one. My friend Jennifer, who is AWESOME at planning these types of events -is making a CD of old pix that we all e-mailed her - that oughta be a hoot.

Thought I'd put a picture from the old radio days on the blog too - partying with the band The Why Store back in the mid-90's - seems like only yesterday!

And of course, I had to post a picture of the wild and crazy Kruse bunch at Casual Cape on Put in Bay - what a neat place and what a great time! Two houses all to ourselves - we're going to try to do this every year from here on out, and thanks to my Mom's cleaning effots, next year we get Thursday evening free! Go Mom!!!

Memories of Summer

Our friends and neighbors, Tom and Emily, have a friend who came in August and took some pictures of their dog Sandy and also of the lake views from our beach. I swear Sandy is smiling - no wonder Noah loves her.

Said Yes to the Dress

Found "the one" - it's simple but beautiful. I love it! Thank God Mom has been there all the way to help me with one thing at a time so I don't feel so overwhelmed. Still nailing down the date, but it's definitely going to be next September or October. This is really exciting - never tried on a wedding dress before, so what an experience that was. I had tried on about a dozen before finding this one. I actually passed on it a few times because it didn't look like "me" in the bag, but once I got it on, it fit so perfectly and I just fell in love with it. Plus it was actually comfortable - I never thought a wedding dress could be comfortable but I can see me wearing it easily all evening. My sister is coming in town in a week and a half for a family reunion and I just can't wait to show it to her - she's going to cry, and I might even cry too.