HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY...

Leap Day!

In case you hadn't realized - today we get 24 bonus hours. A free day baby! Hours that last year, we weren't enjoying! Today is all gravy. All extra. All free. It's the proverbial cherry-on-top.

Seriously! It is!

Today I am doing something totally insane. Absolutely ridiculous. I'm not even going to tell you right now, for fear I'll jinx it. But it's something that I never could have dreamed I'd do.

Until I realized on Monday...that Friday was Leap Day. And then I said to myself..."Self, you just got handed an extra day...let your hair down and throw caution to the wind!"

So there goes my caution. Bye-bye!  SEE YA!

I'm starting early and I'm going all day long. I just might carry it through the weekend. Leap Day gives us so dang much, surely we can give it a whole weekend in return.

So tune in Monday...or Tuesday...for a full report. I think I'll have some witnesses. They'll all vouch for me. Guaranteed there will be cameras. And photographers. And yeah, the witnesses.

Call me crazy - just don't call me late for dinner Friday night.  Because I'll have some stories to tell!

Ohmygoodness!

(Attention children...do as I say, NOT as I do!)

until then - - -

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO...

awwww!

And smile and feel warm all over.

Walking into the office and seeing the teen helping the boy with his math homework.


• uncoerced
• unbribed
• unasked
• unscripted
• unplanned
• simply offered...totally on her own!

I just love it.  Makes me happy and smile and glad I've got good kids.

(Of course, then I walked back and looked in their rooms.  And THAT is a completely different story.)

So for today - I'll focus on the homework!  And the help.  And the assistance.  And the unselfishness.

And the love!

until then - - -

WHAT AN...sniff...cough...ABSOLUTELY...

AMAZING...wheeze...gag...WEEK!

So good - that even week 2 of flu in the house can't pull me down!

• passport arrived...which means international airport terminal HERE I COME!
• which leads to great trips coming up...can hardly wait!
• good news from Nebraska...my momma's surgery went AOK and she's headed home tomorrow! Love ya mom!
• dear husband is headed to see my sis...and although I'm jealous as all-get-out, he deserves a fun weekend!
• dear husband gets to watch my youngest nephew's Saturday morning baseball game (don't know who is more excited, dear husband OR my nephew!)
• the boy is almost all caught up on homework, from the week of school he missed due to the flu.
• the teen is stoked to get her new instrument this weekend (note to self, locate earplugs!)
• was asked to teach at two Creating Keepsakes University events this year...KEWL!
• said YES to both events - DUH!
• got a FUN, HUGE, NEVER BEFORE SEEN package of scrapbook goodies in the mail yesterday! (have I mentioned lately that I love my job?)
• almost all caught up on the laundry - 1 week in CA, 1 week with a sick boy, 1 week sick myself...the pile was HUGE!
• our big old boy is still hanging in there - cancer be DAMNED!
• our weather here in Arizona is incredible.
• visitors coming in a couple of weeks for Spring Break & Spring Training...LOVE IT!
• made a new soup recipe that immediately moved to our "favorite" list
• big plans for the weekend include planting tomatoes, planting gardenias, planting roses and napping...my kind of weekend!

And with that - - - I'm exhausted! Still over-the-top happy...just exhausted! The flu sucks - if you can avoid it, I don't recommend getting it. You heard it here.

And with that - I leave you with a picture of the new addition to my kitchen. A phrase I put up on the door leading from the kitchen out to the garage...


everyone loves it. There have been a few eye rolls...a few giggles...and a few smiles. But mainly, it makes me remember why I love life lately - I'm living with a house full of people that I love. And they love me right back!

(And the fact that we all share the same warped sense of humor doesn't hurt either!)

until then - - -

SOME PEOPLE...

take life just a little too seriously!

Sheesh! If you read yesterday's post about "First Class", make sure you read the comment. Added by the guy I sleep with.

Guess he wants the world to know, and me, that it is his doing that I am eligible for free First Class upgrades. Since he's already achieved "Diamond Encrusted with Ruby Accents Chairman Status" - he gets to nominate some worthy individual for special treatment as well.

Somehow he arrived at the decision that I was that worthy individual!

Thanks hon - seriously thanks! Cuz you just gotta love the royal treatment at the airport!

So I sit here sipping my 'Bucks...


waiting for my plane to board...I'll be dreaming of the trip to Rome you just promised me. I have witnesses and I have the recorded evidence!

Off to CHA - and it's the twelfth of the month. So I'm snapping pictures, smiling at the world and spreading the scrapbooky goodness that I know and love.

Have a terrific Tuesday the Twelfth!

until then - - -

MY THREE FAVORITE WORDS...

came off the printer today.

The printer that spit out my boarding pass for tomorrow morning.

And what would those words be?

FIRST CLASS BABY!


Okay, USAirways doesn't include the "baby" part...but it should. It really should. So I add it!

Frequent flier membership really DOES have it's privileges. So does the 25,000 miles I flew last year. Perks, gravy, bonuses. Whatever you call it - it's all good!

Because I soooooo love flying first class. And even though my flight is only an hour and 20 minutes - I'll take it. I'll take it for free - and say thank you as I leave!

Then I'll enjoy a Bloody Mary or a Mimosa - and most likely a sticky bun or some fruit and yogurt. All with real silverware.

Ahhhhh - I'm not ashamed to say it - I love it!

CHA here I come. Orange County here I come. I'm coming for work, I'm coming for fun and I'm bringing others with me!

(But they're not flying First Class!)


Updates and pictures from CHA to follow soon. I'm most anxious to see Scenic Route, Making Memories, Maya Road, Sassafras Lass and KI Memories.

until then - - -

EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO TODAY...

I said the two most important words I have ever said in my life.

I said "I DO".

They were important words.
They were life-altering words.
They were mentally, physically and spiritually challenging words.

And I wouldn't take them back for anything on this earth.

Suffice it to say that the birthday celebration rolled seamlessly into the anniversary celebration.

Phone calls, cards, emails, gifts, food, wine, movies, hugs, Mass, blessings, winks, inside jokes, walks down memory lane and some all-in-all great family time!

What a great weekend.

Thanks babe for 18 years. Thanks for baseball. Thanks for patience. Thanks for laughter. Thanks for love. Thanks for listening. Thanks for explaining (again and again sometimes). Thanks for indulging me. Thanks for taking care of me. Thanks for making me feel beautiful. Thanks for trusting me. Thanks for never screaming. Thanks for trying new things. Thanks for being a great dad. Thanks for never laughing AT me. Thanks for laughing WITH me. Thanks for answering my questions. Thanks for being my computer guy. Thanks for working hard. Thanks for playing hard. Thanks for praying hard. Thanks for overlooking my faults. Thanks for admitting you have your own. Thanks for letting me love you. Thanks for loving me!

Thanks for making ME into a WE.
And thanks for making WE into an ALL OF US.

I love you. From the bottom of my heart.


Happy Anniversary babe!

TOTALLY, COMPLETELY, ENTIRELY...

an awesome day!

If this is what being 41 means - then bring it on!

• cookies at the front door this morning, from my neighbor. Attached to a lime green card! Delish and adorable at the same time!

• a two-hour pedicure that was heaven on earth. Blissful, relaxing, pampering...and I left with cute toes!

• lunchtime text messages from each of the teen's lunch pals. Gotta love the "Mrs. Keuter..." greetings!

• phone calls, phone calls, phone calls and tons of emails...from all over the country. It's a good thing to have friends, and a great feeling to feel loved!

• a lime green ambush after school today, which can only be summarized in pictures...


a gi-normous cookie-cake, and the greatest lime-green-tie-dyed balloons...


do my girlfriends know me or what? bags, bags, and tissue in appropriate colors...

green necklace, green bracelets, green margarita pitcher, green tote and this...


a green passport cover for my newly applied for passport! LOVE IT!

Funny cards, funny stories, hugs and laughter. So blessed to have a day full of friends, making my day special.

The day wrapped up with some of the best news I've heard in quite a while...I'll consider it a birthday gift on a national level!!

Thanks everyone! From the bottom of my heart.

Dear husband returns home, from the snow, tomorrow night! Which means the celebration will naturally extend through the weekend. Dinner, movie and two days of relaxing. I can't wait. He can't wait. The boy and the teen...well, I think they could wait, but they don't get to!

Happy Friday...happy weekend...

until then - - -

OH THE DAY JUST KEEPS...

getting better and better.

Cards. Shopping. Lunch. Goodies. Presents. UPS. FedEx. Mail. Surprises. E-mails. Hugs. Love. Phone calls.

And it's still just Birthday Eve!

How awesome is that?!?!

Just got home from Ash Wednesday Mass. Now to pop some popcorn and have a glass of wine...er...um...water. Yeah, popcorn and ice-water-in-a-wine-glass. Let the Lenten season of sacrifice begin.

Amen? Amen!

And so, my last blog post as a forty-year-old...

until then - - -

SUPER-FAT TUESDAY...

and surviving the freeze!

What a day Tuesday was. What a day indeed.

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday - the translation of the French words Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday is the day Christians, who will be observing Lent over the next several weeks, partake of random silliness, indulging and the final hurrah-ing before today. Today being Ash Wednesday.

Here in Arizona though, yesterday was also our primary election day. So everyone was calling the day "Super-Fat Tuesday". I laughed every time I heard it.

So you can guess what I did yesterday...


I voted.

Which, in and of itself, was quite a production.

My polling place is a mormon church. Was it a coincidence that almost every Suburban in the parking lot when I arrived was displaying a "Romney 2008" bumper sticker? I think not! And I am pretty sure that everyone in that church's congregation was required to show up to vote - because they were all there with me.

So when the two ladies behind me (who were older than me and talking about how this was their first time ever voting in an election) discussed all of the attributes of their candidate, I gritted my teeth. When they broke into the "politics and religion should really go hand-in-hand" routine I couldn't take it. I turned around, smiled sweetly and reminded them that discussions such as the one they were having are not allowed inside the polling place.

Then I crossed myself and turned back around. I might have added an eye-roll in there somewhere as well. It was priceless.

So while I was tempted to walk into the polling booth and simply write in lime green Sharpie "anyone but Mitt"...I didn't. Because no one would have seen it. It would have been wasted effort. And a wasted vote. But it was fun to think about it - and fun to text my husband and tell him that's what I was going to do!

I voted, and I got the heck out of Dodge.

Onto shopping and dinner plans. I've narrowed down what I am giving up for Lent. The list is short, but it's admirable. One of the items on the list is shopping. So I had to get it out of my system (plus, I needed a few things for CHA next week). We also had dinner plans with a bunch of friends - 2nd Annual Fat Tuesday Fest - which was going to indulge me in another item on my list. Whew - all-in-all this could be a rough 40 days.

Which is kindof the idea...but my goals are lofty, to say the least!

Today is Birthday Eve. The last day I'll spend as a forty-year old. The boy marked the occasion by marking up dear husband's car.


It sat outside last night and was covered in frost this morning. We're still in Arizona...right?

For Birthday Eve - I have a day planned with Amy. A little scrapbooky fun, some lunch plans and some scheming for our time together next week in Orange County, CA. Should be big fun!

Pour yourself another cup of coffee - read the election results from yesterday (Mitt did NOT win Arizona!) - and have a wonderful Wednesday.

(oh - my mom and dad asked that I turn the music player off of AUTO START...so I did. See - almost forty one and still listening to my parents! Good Susan!)

until then - - -

THE SHOCKING REVELATION...

that I have always been a green-lovin'-gal.

The proof actually.  Discovered in the attic yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday I needed my old passport - in order to apply for a new one.  New name (married name, that is) new address, 15 years old vs. 40 years old...but they STILL need your old passport.  So I had to hunt.  And with actually very little effort, I found it. (Yea me!)

When I tossed it down the ladder to dear husband he flipped it open and commented on my handwriting.  How it hasn't really changed that much.  And then he laughed.  He said "actually, a lot of things haven't really changed that much".

As I climbed down from the attic, he pointed at the lime green t-shirt I was wearing.  He held open my old passport and pointed out that 25 years ago I was wearing...


GREEN!

Now granted, it was kelly green. Not lime green. But it was green! In fact, it happened to be an awesome cable-knit Izod, kelly green sweater that I loved! (And how about that white turtle neck under it!? Gotta love the 80s!)

So there is my proof. Proof that I'm not a new-comer to the green thing. I've done 'em all...forest green wedding, seafoam green master bedroom in the 90s, bottle green paint in the family room, and now LIME GREEN!

Love it! Just love it!

The dogs are happy today - sunlight is streaming through my front window and filling the foyer with their favorite sun spots. Problem is - the sun and the shadows are wreaking havoc on the old boys cancer lump. Meaning it looks rather disproportionate. Don't get me wrong - it's huge - but it looks rather shocking in this lighting.


And there lies the little girl - right at his haunches, ready for him to move. He sleeps and she just watches. And snuggles in as close as he'll let her.

So sweet. Just love it!

The boys just left for their day at the NFL Experience. Will be anxious to hear and see their experiences. I made dear husband take a camera, and they both were wearing their Patriots gear. Should be a fun guys day out!

I'm off to finalize my grocery list for this weekend. Party plans for both Saturday and Sunday. I'm hostessing an Uppercase Living party tomorrow afternoon...and Sunday is Scrapper-Bowl 2008 here at the house.

Have a great weekend. GO PATRIOTS!

until then - - -