I just got back from a haircut. I always feel so much better after a haircut :-) My hair was getting long and heavy again and when I get it cut, all the curl seems to bounce back. I've been wearing it shoulder-length which is great cause I can put it back but it's not an over-whelming amount of hair (I have really thick and fairly curly hair and it gets over-whelming after it reaches a certain length). It's windy out there today and there are fire warnings up. There was a fire in a townhouse down in Germantown REALLY near where I used to live - It took 3 other homes with it but the whole row of townhomes needed evacuated. It was an improperly disposed of cigarette on the deck that started the blaze. The windy, dry weather here certainly wasn't a help either. I just hope all my old neighbors are 'ok' and that no more fires break out. Hopefully we will see some calmer and more Spring-like weather here soon!

I didn't mean to let so much time go between my last post and now! Justy starts back to Pre-K soon (this coming Monday) so knowing he's doing healthy activities there will make me feel better about my online time. I signed him up for Kindergarten last Friday. I still can't believe that - Both my kids will be in school full-time next year. It's kind of sad but at the same time I'm kind of ready to move on to the next chapter and I'm hoping I can spend lots more time volunteering and maybe "substituting" too at their school next year. I used to be a Software Tester (before being a stay-at-home Mom) and it paid well but so many of those jobs have been "off-shored" since I was in the industry. That's 'ok' though cause Testing Software "put bread on the table" but it wasn't something I loved. Working with kids, now there is something I think I'd love - We shall see! Tomorrow Justy and I are going to a "Shamrock Suprise" - It's one of the County's Dept of Parks and Recreation programs and they will have St Paddy's games, crafts and a snack. I signed the boys up for a "Sports Sampler" camp (through the same entity) this coming Summer too. It's an afternoon day camp for a week so that should help them run off some of their "little boy" energy! Robb and I talked about the Little League thing and we ended up signing both boys up for T-Ball. Robb signed up to help Coach and he's hoping if he's more involved that maybe he can help tone down the hyper-competitive atmosphere but we shall see - It was pretty competitive last year! On another note, we bought a tiller this weekend. Robb wants to grow corn, blueberries (we bought some bushes from a farm in Missouri and at least one of them is already 3 years old so we should be harvesting some blueberries this Summer) - I'm not sure what all else he wants to grow but he's definetly into it this year! It was fun harvesting our own veggies out here last year :-) Speaking of growing season - It is WARM today - I have Spring Fever so bad!!! I have my shorts on and all the windows are open and the ceiling fans going and I'm going to get the carpet shampooer out after I finish blogging here and at least get my bedroom all cleaned up - The dog has kind of been "bad" in there! I bought a huge new Lazy Boy sectional sofa (we're going to move our current sofa bed downstairs) and a beautiful Pennsylvania House dining set but more about those later I have talked enough for now!!! Hope you are all having a great week :-)

It finally feels like Winter here! Now, if we could just get some snow that would be really cool - Especially in time to watch the Winter Olympics :-) Speaking of watching sports, I watched the Super Bowl on TV last night - That's nothing too special in and of itself but my Dad and my Sister actually got to go to the Super Bowl in Detroit! My Dad is a HUGE fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers and my sister got some tickets online last week (actually a whole package deal with flights, hotel, 2 parties, etc.). Needless to say, my Dad was THRILLED!!! I haven't heard back from him yet on how it went but given that the Steelers won I'm guessing he had the time of his life!!! They are planning on departing Detroit late this afternoon so I am anxious to hear all about it ... Right now we are deciding whether to sign up Robbie for Little League this Spring ... Don't get me wrong, I want Robbie to play sports - He's practically always involved in some Sport (he's playing basketball right now) but our town's Little League is excruciatingly competitive (we were the Little League World Champs back in the mid-80s) and I thought the whole Little League experience was over the top competition-wise given the age of the players (Robbie played with 4 to 6 year olds in T-Ball last year). People aren't supposed to be keeping score at this level but they were (at the "end of year" picnic the coach told us how many games we had "won") and because Robbie wasn't considered one of the "star" players on the team he got to play just as little as the coach could get away with given Little League rules and he didn't get any infield experience whatsoever (I think he should get experience all over the field considering the level of play). I was an extremely unhappy Mom while he played (or rather didn't play as he got waaaay more "bench time" then his team-mates - I feel that should've been shared equally too but there were some players whom I don't remember ever sitting out on the bench) but I kept my mouth shut thinking it would be unsporting to mention it. I've spoken to other parents about the whole experience and the feedback I'm getting is that our town's Little League is extremely competitive and we're likely to run into this sort of thing again with another coach. I'd just as soon skip Little League given there are enough other sports and leagues that are MUCH better for just having fun and learning fundamentals (including the PVYA league he's played Soccer on and is currently playing Basketball on - I'm MUCH happier with PVYA) but Robb grew up on Little League and his Dad was a coach and all I think he feels pretty strongly about Robbie playing and I want to respect that. Still, I felt really frustrated with the whole Little League experience last year. Sign-ups are on Wednesday so I don't know what we're going to do - We shall see!!! Goodness, it's windy outside here and it feels much colder then it's been - I think I might go finish blogging over by the fireplace - Maybe Winter is finally here?!!! I hope!!!

It got COLD here - How long that will last though I'm not sure but it finally feels like January and it's sunny and WINDY today! Not much exciting going on here ... I'm trying to find a V-Day gift for Robb but he is hard to buy for and his wish list on amazon was depleted at Christmas ... I'll figure it out ... I just checked out foxnews.com and I see Hamas won the election in Palestine - Now this should be and interesting story to follow ... I can't imagine what it must be like to live in the Middle East amidst all the violence. I do hope someday they can achieve peace but given the current situation ... It's definetly something to keep an eye on. On a completely different note, I can't believe it's almost lunchtime - I'm hungry for some reason ... I hope everyone is having a great week!!!

Goodness, it's STILL not Winter here yet! We did get a bit of blowing snow on Saturday evening but there was zero accumulation of it. I think we are supposed to get some rain this evening. Not too bad I hope - We've definetly been getting rained on and after a dry Summer that is good! On a totally different note, I got my ears pierced yesterday :-) Well, maybe I should more accurately say "re-pierced". I had my ears pierced like 30-odd years ago (and got an additional set of holes when I was a teenager) but low and behold as an adult I wasn't wearing earrings in them and they grew partially closed. I just got the one set (the 1st piercings on the main part of my ear) re-done. It didn't hurt much at all - It was like a pinch on both ears and I was re-pierced! The (piercing) earrings I got look like little daisies with a blue stone in the middle and white ones all around it and then, for AFTER the 4 to 6 weeks I need to wait for them to re-heal, I got some medium-sized hoops. I'm anxious to put them in as I thought they'd look cute especially when I had my hair pulled back in a pony. So that was fun! Today, not much going on. I'm doing laundry, I have my class at Church tonight and tomorrow I really do need to go grocery shopping already ;-) I've tried some wonderful new recipes this past week that I found on the Kraft Foods Web site. I like those recipes because they are mostly homemade without being a ton of work - Something you need on a busy weeknight!

It is positively Spring-like here! I'd say I have Spring Fever only this weather is kind of weird given the time of year ... I volunteered over at the School Tuesday morning but alas that will be last time for awhile given Justin had his last day of Pre-K for the Fall term today (and I'm not allowed to take him to Robbie's School while volunteering). Justin will go back to Pre-K sometime in March for the 9-week Spring-term (and I'll be able to volunteer again at Robbie's school then too) but for now it's a hiatus for us ... Hey, sometime while Justin is on break too I'll be signing him up for Kindergarten next year (then next year I'll be able to volunteer all I want over at the School :-) Goodness, I can't believe both my boys will be in School all day next year - Time flies! I had my "Rite of Acceptance" on Tuesday evening at the Church. That just means I want to keep studying to learn more about the Catholic Church - I'm not Catholic yet! That would come at the Easter Vigil Service. Robbie had Basketball last night. I'm still not sure what I'm going to sign him up for this Spring - if anything! I'm actually thinking about Swimming Lessons (indoors of course) over at the College. I'd like to get him in Boy Scouts but it's kind of late in the year for that but definetly in the Fall. He's done a variety of Sports now I think it's time for something a little different. Sigh! I'm in the mood to drink an iced-tea out on the front porch and then shop for some Spring clothes! Where are you Winter?!!

I hope everybody had Happy Holidays!!! I survived them somehow!!! I was feeling just rancid over the holidays - First my mood - Then I survived the holidays and got a really bad cold (Justy got really sick too with a double ear infection but he's finishing up his antibiotic today) ... On to happier times now I hope!!! I just wish it would turn back into Winter already - I had bought some new Winter clothes and it's just way too warm outside to wear them. Hey, at least the roads are safe to drive on being this warm! I bought a work-out tape at Target yesterday (a cardio dance workout that came with a free pedometer) and started that today - Whew - That was a GOOD workout!!! I really like to dance and thought I'd be more likely to stick with it if it was something I enjoyed. Right now I'm not sure if I'm going to do the Nutrisystem diet or not since my diet is about as good as it could be now and I confess I mainly liked the pre-prepared aspect of Nutrisystem (albeit I do have a soft spot for chocolate and coffee and I also need to watch my portions) - It's the exercise component I KNOW that I'm missing and I hope I can stay with it! Oh, speaking of coffee, Robb got me one of those Senseo coffee makers for Christmas that uses the pods and makes 1 or 2 cups at a time and BOY is that GOOD coffee!!! The coffee even has frothy stuff on the top like a Cappucino - YUM!!! It's good to be back blogging here :-) Tomorrow morning I go to volunteer at Robbie's school and it's been a few weeks since I've been over there too with the break and all so I look forward to that ... Hope you all are having a GREAT Monday!!!