No need to worry...

Not sure if I shared or not, but a few weeks ago I started having SVT attacks. 2 were long enough to send me to the ER, once in a lovely flashing ambulance. My heart has decided to run marathons without alerting the rest of my body.  So anyway after I felt like an idiot (right or wrong) the ER docs said I was having episodes of SVT. I need to see my doctor, the problem is my doctors office was flooded after a nasty Nor'Easter came through and so I had to go to another doctors office instead. The Army's health care system frequently leaves a lot to be desired, I am very greatful that I have it though. So I saw another doctor who said sorry I can't help you, you need to see your Primary Care Manager, now 2 weeks later I finally have an appointment to do just that.

I've been having frequent crazy heartbeats pretty consistently, sometimes it feels very hard and fast sometimes I get very strange butterflies/fluttering in my chest. It is concerning. I am doing the "exercises" the Dr's reccomend to make the SVT stop, and it's working, although it's not very convenient or practical to bear down while someone is sitting in your office. It makes for akward glances and quite a bit of 'splannin.

I hope today I get a few answers along with the referral I've been working on getting to the Cardiologist....

The girl who scheduled my appointment today didn't think I was very funny when I was explaining how irritated I was with the health care system, apparently they don't like it when you say "they're killing you". Okay enough rambling...

Oh and Mom if you're reading this, eveything will be fine!

Dining Room Makeover...finally!

Ok so here goes... months later and with a few odds and ends to still be picked up and placed in the room, I am finally ready to show you our dining room makeover...

Before

I think all in all it looks so much better, I definitely need a new rug and few more art pieces, for now I'm happy though!

So much to catch up on!

I swear when I get home after homework, cooking dinner and what seems like never ending Christmas decorating, I will be catching up with you my dear Blog. I am seriously behind, but I have LOTS to share...

Now how do I check to see if "V" is reading this Blog??? I would love to share my gift ideas for him!

Have I told you...

how much I love you lately? If not I'm sorry and I do, very much so!

Do not pass this up!

One of my favorite Blog friends Jen over at Tatertots and Jello (which by the way sounds good because i'm starving) is having 2 AMAZING giveaways over at her Blog right now. So run! Don't walk and enter here for a TWILIGHT Giveaway and here for the CUTEST ADVENT CALENDAR EVER!

Oh and I ordered something from Jen's Etsy shop for someone on my gift giving, but I can't say for who or what it is just in case they may be lurking around the ol' blog here...

Just not feeling it...

I'm trying I really am! I love this time of year I swear I do, but I'm feeling a little 'holiday block'. I'm just not feeling all the usual[ feeling I get this time of year. I feel very rushed and I feel like there is WAY too much to do and I just don't have the time to get it all done. What do I do?? How do I get the good feelings back? I think today I will take the time to get organized or at least some idea of organized.

What may help is that I got my Ornament Swap partner from The Mrs.! This is exciting! I love meeting new people on the blogosphere and how fun it will be to read and find a perfect ornament for someone I don't really know!!

Hopefull she's a T-Bow fan and I can get her this, lol, like I've just ordered myself!! Or maybe she's a Twilight Fan and would like this! Or she could be a dog lover and this ornament from Etsy could be perfect!

Hmmm, I guess I will just have to wait and find out.... maybe I'm starting to feel the holiday spirit a little after all!!

Draggin...

I am seriously draggin' butt today. Getting up at 5:30am yesterday morning and not going to bed until 3:30am this morning, oh wait and waking up at 6:30am again, may be killing me today. The real point though is that 'M' and I

LOVED NEW MOON!

Oddly enough this is one of the few books to big screen jobs I've seen where they stay pretty close to the book. I was very impressed. I'm being good and not giving anything away for those of you who didn't have the luxury of staying up at unnatural hours to see the movie, but hurry up and go see it, it's worth it.

Adventures of a 'cool mom'

Okay, so I'm being "cool mom" and 'M' and I are going to the midnight showing of
NEW MOON!

Now I'm not one of these creepy mom's



but I do like a good teenage Vampire love story as much as the next one. I like even more the fact that my daughter said she would rather see the movie with me than to see it with her friends, I'm verklempt.


So I can only imagnie the buzz of the blogospher the next few days!!

Okay off to do some actual work today!!

I would rather be here~

Life has been keeping me pretty busy these days. I’m starting remember fondly those days over the summer after the big move when, I knew no one and I was COMPLETELY bored. Now my clean house is not so clean, my clean kids, well I’m not sure if they’re clean anymore, I’m too busy trying to get dinner cooked and homework done. I keep trying to remind myself that this is what I wanted. I wanted to be busy again; I wanted to have something “to-do”.




I miss it here in blog land. For me it’s a peaceful place that I have been neglecting for far too long!

I really wanted to show you all my dining room makeover but my dining room is currently the home to “V’s” best friend who just moved to the area and is looking for a home. So until he finds one or I kick him out the photos will have to wait!

Till later blog land!

Stranger's in the night..

V and I are currently working opposite schedules, it sucks. We now usually have one full day together, Saturday, well it's a full day as long as you look past the fact that he has to sleep until 2pm so he can stay on his night shift schedule. The whole thing stinks. I feel like I am back to being a single Mom just like I was when he was deployed. I get up at 6:30am when he's going to bed and I get the kids ready for school and head off to work myself, he get's up around 3pm when the kids are coming home from school and head's to work at 4pm and hour before I get home. The whole thing is very taxing and it's definitely putting a strain on us.

My new job is okay, I really am not sure if I like it and it's pretty hard to explain why I feel that way. Hopefully I'll like it alot more when I get a full paycheck next month. In the mean time I am going to console myself with the dream that Daddy Warbucks is going to walk through the door any minute and I'll be rich...

The sun will come out tomorrow... unless it's overcast...

A year in the making!

V and I worked on some of the outdoor decorations for the house on Friday, above is the door alcove we "lit up" all spooky!

Below is the decoration I've been waiting a year to put together after seeing the idea at The Curious Sofa

I just love her! She came out super cute!

I'm hoping we can put together a few more fun things for outside. V would like to put some ghosts out and Lowe's has a cute Halloween fence idea.

Day 1

I survived Day 1 at the new job, seems like an okay gig, we'll see how it goes in the next few weeks.

I have BIG plans for this weekend, most of them include more organizational items for 'A' to help him adjust better to the idea of me working. For some reason my working is making him incredibly anxious and I would like to find a way to help him feel more comfortable with the idea.

Okay off to bed so I can be bright eyed and ready to go in the morning!

I think reluctance should be a 4 letter word...

courtesy wsvn.com

That's how I feel about the new job I took today, reluctant.

I was offered 2 and accepted the one with the better pay and less of a chance of weekend work, and yet still I don't feel good about the deal.

 I'm trying to think back to when I started my last job to see if I felt the same way, but it was so long ago I don't remember.

Maybe it's just the idea of the unknown that makes me nervous and the idea that I may miss being a SAHM even though I never felt comfortable staying home.

Who knows maybe this will be the job I was waiting for all along..

I can't keep up!

There are so many amazing blogs out there I just can't keep up reading them all! I've only been away 2 days and already there is way too much to catch up on!! How do you handle it? I really need to manage my time better so I can fit in some blog reading time!


In the mean time I am working hard to finish the re-do on our dining room. The paint has been done for a few weeks, the new chairs are in, and I've been staining the wood on a mirror I picked up a couple of months ago to hang. I just need to find some artwork and figure out the curtain part and I will be set! I was thinking of going with this idea over at The Lettered College, I've saved the link for a really long time even before the big move!

OK I leave you with the before pic of the dining room, hopefully soon I will have an after to share!

It must be said!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN!!! Jen over at Tatertots and Jello has been such and amazing Blog friend! I've said it before and I'll say it again, if there was anyone I would choose to sit down and eat a bunch of cupcakes with it would be Jen, she has such an amazing spirit and she's just so FUN! So please take a moment and go say Happy Birthday to Jen, and you'll also have a chance to win a Sprinkles Cupcake mix, see how great she is! On her birthday she's doing a giveaway!

Stool re-done

So my fabulous sister gave "M" a stool for her vanity when we were down in Florida last month. It needed to be spruced up a bit for the re-do that we're going to eventually do in M's room.

Before....

"M" working hard with the spray paint...

Almost done...

Okay, the base looked great but the fabric was not working, it was just a little to brown...

I let "M"pick out any fabric she wanted, not my favorite, but hey it's her room...

While she was at school I recovered the cushion...

Here is the finished product, honestly I may have to see if I can't convince her to find a different fabric, I'm just not loving it, but hey it's her stool.

I think I got my craft on...

For some of you goddesses of Modge Podge and Duchesses of Spray Paint crafting comes easy to you, but for me not so much so I'm still beaming over my success with the projects below so I decided that I would join in with the fun over at Today's Creative Blog where everyone's getting their craft on...

Go check it out

What to do when you have no job and you're bored...

I've been wanting to get my hands on the glue gun again and make a few Fall & Halloween decorations for the house. Now that I have a ton of free time with the kids in school and not working it helps keep me busy!

I saw a video on HGTV for a Halloween Wreath, so I grabbed a few supplies at the Dollar Store

$1 Christmas Wreath

Spray Painted Black with spray paint left over from another project

$1 Black Halloween Garland to fill in the cheap wreath's bare spots

The wreath with the garland, it definitely helped fill the wreath out

The garland had black irridescent bat's on them which I thought was kind of cool

$1 Black glitter skull, I picked up 3, and in the back you can see a bag with small skulls, there are like 8 skulls in there for $1

I set up the way I wanted the wreath and then hot glued everything on

Here's the finished project, I really liked how it turned out!

Here it is on the door, I used a $1 store wreath hanger that was originally gold, but I also spray painted it black.

I saw a really great centerpiece at Michael's a few weeks ago when I was in there so I copied it...

I grabbed a Styrofoam pumpkin with a 40% off coupon I had so it was $4

I cut a whole in the top, I went for a jagged cut hoping that it would help hold the flowers in the grooves.

Picked up flowers at the dollar store and Michael's had a $1 sale on a few, there's are 4 bunches total

I literally just stuffed them all inside the pumpkin

Probably one of the easiest projects I've done

There are a few more projects I have in mind including a few things outside, hopefully I can get it all done!

Life is

sweet! This weekend was a good one! I did manage to get all of my indoor Fall/Halloween decorations out, and I've started the first of a few projects I wanted to achieve. "M" had a friend sleepover and I went out with a few girl friends for dinner. I love weekends like this.

This weekend should prove to be pretty busy. I need to make a follow-up doctor's appointment, I have 2 job interviews and I need to get a WHOLE bunch of PTA stuff I fell into accomplished. It should all keep me very very busy!

I need to get quite a few pictures up here that I've taken specifically for the blog and just haven't had time to get up, but hopefully tomorrow I can get it all done!

Tooting my own horn...

Today to try and help myself out of my rut I went way out of my comfort zone. I rode my bike all the way to the beach and back... it was just a quick 5.8 miles EACH WAY!!!! It wasn't easy and on the way there I had to take a slightly scary bike path, but the point is I MADE IT!!! Once I got to the beach I sat on one of the benches on the sidewalk and just watched the water, I kind of got a little teary because I feel myself changing. In a good way! I've been a smoker for most of my life but I've been cigarette free for 2 days now! I haven't had caffeine in 4 days. I can't say that I feel healthier, but I know I'm getting there.

So here was my view from my where I was sitting extremely proud of myself watching the water...

I do love my new hometown! I have so much available to me here!

There are no words to explain...

what a funk I've been in for the last few months. This move really took a lot out of me and I didn't want to face it. I love our new home and the area around it, but I went from having a full time job and a busy social life to stay home with the kids and building new local friendships. It's been busy and boring all at the same time. Now the kids are back in school and they're slowly starting to adjust and I have started a course to get my Real Estate License and I'm looking hard and heavy for a job, and it's starting to feel more like "normal".

I've missed blogging but I've been so blocked by the funk I was in that I didn't feel like I could write, shoot I didn't even want to.

I am going to challenge myself to pull out of this funky mood! Tomorrow hopefully if I make a pledge to get out and get some exercise and get moving early I will feel more motivated and less funky! And I am forcing myself back here to get more of the funk out here where I have the freedom to say what I really feel and express myself.

What a whirlwind!

Man I have missed this place!

We've had company the last few days and then the kids and I are off to Florida on Friday for 2 weeks to visit family and have "D"'s 15th Birthday Party!!!!

I really need to get some pics up here that I've taken in the last few days... I'm hoping I will find some time to do that tomorrow after we drop our company off at the airport!

And the winner is!!

Kelly! Kelly you'll have to email me your info since you don't have a blog :) (email me at rubybeaner at gmail dot com)

Well that was fun!!

Today I am determined to be more productive than I was yesterday. Not that will be hard considering I did NOTHING yesterday!!

Would it be weird to invite the gas station attendant over for coffee?

The kids are really sick of hanging out with me and each other all day. Unfortunately our neighborhood does not seem to have a lot of kids in it, so that's making it even harder. I think it was easier when the kids were younger to introduce them to more people, I mean playgroups make it so easy, but it would be pretty awkward dragging my 15, 13 and 9 year old to a playgroup. I attempted to sign the kids up for swim team here but by the time we got to it the team was already to far into the season and we will be out of town for 2 weeks. I attempted to sign them up for music lessons, but they don't start until September. It doesn't help that they've had such a very long summer with the move.

"V" and I are felling the loss of our social network as well, it's been an interesting move for all of us, and the first time we've all had a hard time getting to know and meeting people. We miss the BBQ's and the crazy parties (see here) and just the ease of being to call up friends to go on different adventures with us, We're a social family and this is definitely not been easy for any of us to get used to.

Thankfully I don't feel completely crazy after talking with another friend of ours who moved shortly after us, they're felling similar, which let's me know I'm somewhat normal, and not quite the neurotic person I feel like I may be portraying to people...

I have decided to draw names first thing in the morning for the giveaway :)

Please don't

go and get in on the Giveaway over at Tatertots & Jello, because I really want to win all of things being given away, but if you do go, make sure you read all about how cool and fun Jen is! I just want to pack my bags and hang with her for a few days!! Of course we would eat cupcakes and Jen would show where I go wrong when it comes to Modge Podge and we would be friends forever!!

If you must enter ( and you really should) just don't brag to much if you win, I will be jealous, unless you like making me miserable...

One final day...

Ok today is the last day for the Giveaway! I'll be announcing the winner tonight!!

Go here if you missed it!

Shhh...don't tell

I want to go to this so bad it's not even funny.... but I would have to go alone.... "V" doesn't seem too excited to go. I don't mind going alone but, I would rather go with someone, that always makes everything more fun (you have no idea how bad I wanted to say funner there but my Mom occasionally stops by and she would have made a comment).

So decisions... do I throw forth the $75 (or more) to go by myself or try and convince "V" to go with me... on a work night.... decisions decisions...

Off to read more of this... hopefully I don't have coke fly out my nose again from laughing at his writing... it stings a little.

Adult talk...

Tonight I went to a book club meeting. I had a great time and it reminded what it was like to talk with other adults. I've been forgetting that there are people in the world who I don't need to remind to brush their teeth or yell at to stop fighting...

I went to the library and grabbed a few books on the Virginia Real Estate Exam and Real Estate in general. Both books I picked up look a bit formidable.... we'll see how the reading goes down.

Ok, now if I can get "A" off the computer and into pajama's I may make it to be before 1am!

Weekend in review..

Here's what we've been up to...

I spent a little time at the Water Park... just to the left outside this picture is a woman who I noticed when I put my phone down after snapping this pic, was coming out of her bathing suit top in a MAJOR way... thankfully I was there to alert her... we both laughed for quite sometime!

"A" was grounded for driving me nuts... don't judge me... everyone has their own way's of parenting...

"V" made me coffee in my favorite coffee cup... I drank a lot of coffee this weekend...

I started reading a book for the Book Club I've decided to join... so far so good....

Unfortunately there are no nudists colonies close to where the Army has decided we need to live so I am forced to do laundry.... way too much laundry...

"V" decided that he would add some accessories to his new "toy"... this involved me holding up said "toy" for about 45 minutes very uncomfortably while colorful words could be heard coming from my garage... good times...

Another accessory....

And another... apparently all of these accessories add up to new dining room table chairs soon for me so I guess I can live with it!

I spent a lot of time watching TV with "A"... this would be okay with me if his favorite show wasn't The Nanny.... ugh....

"V" being awesome as always fixed my super deal table and it is now safely ensconced in the living room... not sure that it will be the final resting place for this table, but we'll see....

"V" and I were out and about pre-scouting for the dining room chairs when we ran across this huge mirror on sale... reg price $169, marked down to $74 and after another sale we paid only $16.82... LOVE it!!

We ate Sushi... it was YUMMO!

I cleaned the messy dining room. Hopefully I will begin to pull the wallpaper in this room next week!

I hope everyone else had a GREAT weekend as well!!