Well actually it's Wednesday for most, but it's my Monday.  Wednesday's are my Monday's and Sunday's are my Friday's.  Today I woke up feeling a little sick on my stomach and now that I'm at work, I'm feeling better but am also feeling very emotional for some reason.  Maybe it is hormones, maybe not, but it is very strong and I'm not much liking it.  I already teared up a few times reading emails and blog entries that normally wouldn't phase me in such a way.  I hope to get into a better mindset soon, I have work to do, afterall. 

We had a good memorial weekend.  I worked Saturday and Sunday and then Monday Sami and I went out to sell her cookie dough.  It's the first fund raiser for her cheerleading and we actually get 40% of the proceeds to go directly to Sam's uniform, which is 200.00!  I drove her from house to house, as houses around here are very spread out and she sold 250.00 worth, meaning we already have 100.00 off her uniform!  Excellent, if I do say so myself.

I made my first big boo-boo at work.  I did an obituary for a little old black lady... except, I pasted a picture of an older white gentleman onto her obit.  I feel really bad!  It was a simple keystroke error, the man's picture was saved under 10246372 and hers was saved under 10246377, so I apparently keyed a 2 when it should have been a 7.  I couldn't tell it was wrong by the name either, because we do proof at the end of each day, because it was a black persons name and didn't really indicate either a woman or man.  But... this really a huge mistake if you think about how the family must have felt.  They had the obit running for 3 days (about 600.00) so we gave them the whole thing for free and corrected it for the 2nd and 3rd days.  I didn't get into any trouble at work though, thank heavens, because it's happened to everyone at one point or other, or so I hear.  Still... I feel horrible!

Well I managed to survive another sleep over party!  They are getting worse with age.  Gone are the days when Mom could plan the games they play, instead it's truth or dare (with Mom downstairs hoping the dares aren't going to somehow affect her) and dance till you can't dance no more.  Oh, I forgot to mention hide & seek in the dark, which quickly turned into playing under the hose at midnight!  I tend to feel bad for the underdog in the crowd.  There was one little girl that just seemed timid to me and seemed uncomfortable around these rowdy girls... but Sam assures me that she isn't and when I'm not around she is just one of the girls.  Probablly so.  All in all they are a good bunch and seem to be true friends.  Ashley:  lives next door to us.  She reminds me of me when I was her age and although I hate to admit it, is slightly obnoxious, probablly the troublemaker of the group.  Kayla: Sami's best friend, quiet, yet coming into her own.  She spends most weekends at our house, so she is "at home" at our home.  The sleepover was given for her, as she is moving away. Lindsey: a natural beauty with a contagious laugh. This little girl laughs at everything and I think she is the clown of the group.  She is very outgoing and people are drawn to her. And Katie: Actually acts a little younger than the rest, a little niave, the one that I thought was the underdog.  From what I hear her family is very religious.  I met her parents though and they seem to be very mainstream.  Last but not least, my Sami:  The true 13 year old who doesn't want Mom to bother them, unless that is I'm dishing out money or driving them somewhere!

And there you have it.  By noon, I had kicked them all out and I headed to work.....      

Wednesdays are slow at my work.  It's my Monday and the work load begins to get hairy on Thursdays - because the weekend is quickly approaching.  Did I tell you I now work for the newspaper?  I completely and totally love it!  I compile this website and on the weekends I do obituaries.  Both facets of the job are very interesting and I can't really decide which I like better.  Both are creative and use my computer skills & creativeness, triplefold.  I lucked into this job.  Truly lucked right into it and now I don't want to do anything else.  Things do happen for a reason.  My Mom was a firm teacher of this and in positive thinking.  I've always believed her and this is yet another example in my life of the truth in this statement!  I "fit" so well with my new job! 

Things at home are well.  I have Monday's & Tuesday's off and mostly spend those days doing housework and my crossstitch or reading.  All of the things I truly enjoy.  Both Kevin & Samantha are off doing the school / work thing and I love love love having some time to myself.  I work weekends, but I enjoy my work, so it doesn't much matter.

School lets out in a week and a half, 8th grade on the horizon!  Where did this school year go?  As you can see from her Spring school picture, she is growing in leaps and bounds.  She's not my little girl anymore... she is quickly approaching womanhood.  She will be in high-school & then graduating before I know it.  She is already talking about working at the end of this year, when she is fourteen.  I'm not sure what the legal age to begin work is in Virginia, but I'm thinking it is right around fourteen.  I'm not looking forward to being a Taxi-cab but this too, is on the horizon.

Samantha will be going into 8th grade as a cheerleader!  She tried out a few weeks ago and made it.  She is so very excited.  I think back to when I tried out, and didn't make it and am releaved that she didn't have to live through the let-down that I did. 

Kevin & I are up & down, as usual.  He is a Taurus and I, Aries, the Ram.  In case you didn't know, Rams & Bulls tend to lock horns.  All in all things are,  well though.... as long as we each compromise... which I admit is sometimes hard.   I haven't yet informed him that Samantha is having 5 girls over for a going away sleep-over for her best friend Kayla on Friday night.  Today is Wednesday, I know, and I guess I have to break the news to him this evening.  I try to pick the most ideal time, the best mood possible, for telling him things like this as he is likely to not be thrilled, yet at this point in the game, unable to stop it.  Slightly unfair of me, I know, but we each must work our way around obstacles. 

I still love my farmhouse!   Especially on Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays, while it is spotless due to my days off.  It quickly goes downhill by Thursday and I have to deal with a mess thoughout the weekend, while I am working.  But I am working and Monday soon follows again, Thank Heavens! 

We have a new German Shepherd, Toby.  He is a BIG boy at only 6 months old.  Our cat had kittens too, but we only ended up with one of them.  She had three but the first was stillborn and the second died last week.  She was sick for about a week and wouldn't feed of Mommy, so Sami and I were feeding it with a dropper, but regardless of how much we would feed it we watched her get weaker and weaker.  There wasn't much else we could do except make her as comfortable as possible until she fell asleep for good.  RIP again.  I feel like animals are dying all around us.  Believe it or not, but Toby & Tabby get along  like best friends!  Toby is also quite protective of the kitten! 

Everything else is well!  I swear to do better with my posting, I promise!  

Two Names You Go by:
1 Chrissie

2 Mommy

Two longest car rides:

1. Massachusetts to San Diego CA & back

2. Florida to Michigan & back

Two Favorite Holidays:
1.  Thanksgiving

2.  4th of July

Two favorite beverages:
1. Dunkin Donuts coffee, iced or hot

2. Pepsi

 

Two questions you'd like to ask me?

Loose Leaf Lady interviewed me last week....  and after a week of putting off actually answering them, I finally got it done.  Don't get me wrong, I wanted to play and requested she interview me, it's just that, as usual, life's too busy and after work I usually don't even want to think - so I don't.  But I have, as you see below:

Question 1. Tell us something you think most people don’t know about you that would surprise them.   

ANSWER:  When I was little I wanted to be an oceanographer & as an adult, had I down another road, I probably would have liked being a police officer or EMT person.  I didn't really do the college thing, but sometimes wish I had and would have chosen to study law and become a “defense attorney”.  Maybe in my next life...    

Question 2. If you could change 3 things about yourself, what would they be and why?    

CHANGE 1: I wish I had concentrated and dedicated myself in high school & had gone on to college (refer to above question for what I would have majored in, science or law).  I wish I could go back and realize at such an important time in life that  it is such an important time… it’s not all about fun.  Even though I sure did have a lot of that! 

CHANGE 2:  I wish I had nursed my daughter, just to have the experience.  She wouldn’t “suckle” and I didn’t really try very hard to make it work.  I got frustrated.  When I hear others discussing how great it was, I get a little jealous that I wasn't able to.  Also when my daughter was born they cleaned her up before they gave her to me.  I had to wait a good 7 minutes before they handed her to me.  If I had the chance to do it all again, I would have just reached out and grabbed her.  I did, however, get it all on videotape! 

CHANGE 3:  I would like to have a different body type.  I have a “pear” type &  I tend to be larger up top and although I love my legs, I wish I had a bigger bottom and a smaller top, which I think makes people look smaller.  I also wish I were a little more graceful or feminine. 

QUESTION 3.  If you had to wear a costume for a day as you went about your daily activities what would it be and why? 

ANSWER:  I would wear a mimes costume and go the whole day without saying a word.  I love peace & quiet and this would be ideal!     

Question 4. What’s under your bed?

ANSWER:  I have a georgeous cherry wood sleigh bed but unfortunately the frame is broken, so the mattress & box spring are sitting within the head and foot board, directly on the floor.  The mattress & box spring are high enough that you would never notice the difference, but there obviously is nothing under it… except the floor, that is.    

Question 5. Who would play you in the movie? What would the plot be? Would it be a comedy or drama or other? 

ANSWER:  I have been told a lot that I remind people of Drew Barrymore, so she would have to play Chrissie.  The plot would be along the lines of the Life Styles of the Rich & Famous and it would obviously be a fantasy!

For those who want to play:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview Me" (and an email address).
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Well....  this week has been a nightmare....  I live in the same county as the now infamous VA Tech.... Blacksburg.... Montgomery County....  my daughters middle school went into lockdown on Monday.... after the mass shootings.... today Christiansburg got bomb threats.... the towns offices are under lockdown.... people taking advantage of the chaos....  24 hour coverage of the events...  horrific to watch this all unfold.... it's happening here.... shocking.... in these peaceful mountains.... peaceful people.... the atmosphere feels alot like it did right after 911... this time the catch phrase is.... We all are Hokies today.... we all sit by radio's at work.... listening to the press conferences & talk radio shows.... discussing the worst mass murder in U.S. history.... bits of information create a picture.... insanity.... rant against rich kids and religion.... Friday we will  wear Hokie colors.... in tribute.... orange and maroon.... RIP.... 

How unexpected of you to drop by!  I have not dropped off the face of the earth, rather just have not been in the mood for writing.  The night before my birthday, March 27, Becky came over and had commented to Kevin that I hadn't posted since February 9th.  That shocked me, for it doesn't seem like it's been quite that long and I immediately thought to myself that I best get back into the swing of things.....  

What is going on in my life since I've last posted?  Well let's see....  I turned 39.  My birthday week was actually very eventful for a change.  Like I said, Becky came over and hung out the night before.  We hadn't seen eachother in awhile so there was alot of catching up.  The next day we tried to run some errands, but instead wound up on the side of the road with an overheated engine.  Her car was fine sometimes, when coasting or going downhill, but the minute we would start to climb a hill the temperature would climb right along with the car.  We had to stop quite a few times to let it cool down and after doing this three or four times, the car decided it no longer wanted to cool down at all.  We gave up and headed back home after joking that I spent my birthday on the side of the road.  Connie, Kevin's Step-mom, took me out to lunch the day after my birthday.  That was very special to me that she wanted to do something special for me.  We drank a carafe of wine and enjoyed a nice lunch.  Our lives are very parallel in ways.  We are, after all, both with Walker men!  The next night, on the way home from work, I managed to hit a deer.  This was the first for me.  I had many many close calls, but this one was just dead-on and I just couldn't stop in time.  

The deer turned out to be a blessing because I got a new car out of it.  Not brand new, but new to me and I really, really needed it!  Some of my old car can be seen here.  My new car looks like this... only mine is black.

We also got a new German Shepherd puppy.  His name is Toby and he is solid black and very handsome.  I will post photo's the next time I post, which hopefully will not be in two months this time.  Until then....

Love & Stuff,

Chrissie 

I'm slowly but surely catching up with my Blog Fodder entries.  This is Blog Fodder #9. 

Rob wants to know:

Name a sensory input(s) which trigger a mood change be it uplifting, depressing, poignancy or remind you of a past event or period in time. Examples - the smell of an aftershave or perfume, a song, a baby crying, the sound of a vegas slot machine, the feel of clean sheets, the taste of a childhood drink.

Ruby, our German Shepherd, was killed Saturday, 3 days before she turned a year old.  I’ve been wanting to do a post for her but I haven’t really been able to stomach it yet.  My daughter, on the other hand, has been busy doing things for Ruby in Ruby’s name since Saturday. 

She has framed pictures, planned a hook rug for her, created a Virtual Memorial, began writing a book & a song about Ruby and plans to paint a painting of her.

Right now my mood change would have to be a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and a strong sadness, occurring whenever anything to do with Ruby (or any dog for that matter) comes my way.  Just the little memories... ie:  throwing away scraps and not giving them to her, pulling up in the driveway and not having her jump all over the car, her neighbor doggy friend coming looking for her, opening my front door to look out and she is not laying right in front of it….. protecting us and trying to be as close as possible.  I never knew I could feel this way about an animal – I’m not a huge animal lover although I tend to own lots of animals, thanks to my daughter!  I wonder how long this Sensory Input Trigger Feeling thing will last? 

Catch up time – I’ve got three Blog Fodders past due.  You don't know what Blog Fodder is?  Well then...  visit here  to find out.  I have 3 posts to catch up on.  You really aren't required to participate every week, but I want to do them all, it’s a challenge.

The topic is:   How does one handle work, home and family (or a combination thereof) without having a nervous breakdown?  And was asked by Melonie at The Joy of being Melonie.  

My answer and it only takes a small list of words for this one:

Multi tasking

Anit-depressants

Love

Humor

Energy

Fun

Patience

Brilliance

Alcohol

Organization

Optimism

And on that note….. and in celebration of all us who do.....  

One day, a little girl is sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly notices that her mother has several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast to her brunette hair.

She looks at her mother and inquisitively asks, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?"

Her mother replied "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then asked, "Momma, how come all of grandma's hairs are white?"

Sami is snowed out of school today, as a snow storm has begun this morning!  Yeah…  Finally!  They, being the forecasters, aren’t sure how much we are due.  I have heard conflicting reports and everything from 1 inch to 5 inches.  I know this doesn’t sound like a lot, and it doesn’t really for me either being from Boston and all, but up in these mountains winter weather is a big deal!  The area seems to paralyze when snow & ice are even mentioned.  There is no calm before the storm.  School closes before flakes even begin and grocery stores are filled to the max with panicking people.  Me… Of course, I love it!  I look out at the winter wonderland and just can’t begin to describe the feelings I get.  To me, the whole world is just stopped and covered in a blanket!

The ice storm I posted about, the week before last, wasn’t too much of a problem.  We did get quite a bit of ice, but they were able to get it cleaned up faster than usual, it seemed.  We lost power for about 4 hours but we lost it at about 10:30 pm – so I read in bed for about an hour and then fell right to sleep.  Samantha had a friend spend that night and they managed to get to bed earlier than normal too.  It’s kind of scary how we relay so heavily on electricity.

Been forever and a day since I posted, I know it….  I haven’t even visited my own blog or anyone else’s for that matter.  Got to get back on top of things.  I have two Blog Fodders to catch up on and I plan to do both at the same time, but not right now.        

We are getting our first real batch of winter weather - but it's ice, not snow.  I am not as fond of ice due to very possible power outages.  Massachusetts gets more snow and Virginia seems to always be ice.  I know it has something to do with the temperature and probablly the elevation, as well.  I'll keep you posted on how things end up.  They were claiming 3 inches of snow at one point too, so who knows.  Looking out the window though, it's beginning to look alot like Winter!

1.  All Work & No Play

2.   I have a thirteen year old girl who lives on the computer, barely giving me a chance to get in here in the evenings.

3.  I have about 90 hours of shows taped on my DVR that I need to watch and wipe out

Blog Fodder #7 - Come on, give it a try!

Karen askes 

It's hard for me to pick between these two choices....  slightly Ironic, isn’t it?  I lean more toward common sense being more important but then again without some the intelligence to back it up, where is the common sense coming from?  Lessons learned?  Everyone has the tools to be intelligent, the hard part is learning to use what you have.  At times intelligence might even stop you from using your common sense.   Kind of a vicious circle.  And how about this?  If I could add Survival Smarts to the question this would be my pick.  

Life is just one big long lesson!  

Intelligence is based on IQ testing, which can be very controvercial.  Not all people test the same, some are intelligent in some areas while others in others.  

Common Sense is a whole! 

(Yes, you will have to sign up, but it just takes a few seconds and the test is very worth it.) 

I took the test last January and I have an IQ of 124 - right int he middle of "gifted" and "superior".   Here's a little chart in case you want to check your's out!  

My IQ is pretty good.... but....  Honestly though, my own personal Common Sense likes to play tricks on me. 

Chandler, the boy who got hurt at my house Friday night is doing ok.  I saw him last night and his arm is all wrapped, from sholder to wrist and he has to go get the bandage changed every other day but he is a strong boy and is withstanding it.  His Mom too is a trooper and was more worried about how worried about how I was.  She did wonderful.  Had it been me in her place and it being my daughter, I would have freaked!  I sent Chandler this today (but had the florist but boyish type colors in it:

It all started when I agreed that Samantha's almost step-brother (Eric's girlfriends son) spend the night so that they could go out and also agreed for Sami to have a friend spend the night from school.  So we have one eight year old boy and two thirteen year old girls - what kind of a combo do you think this would make? 

Well it started just fine.  They played freeze tag and hide and seek and when it got dark they played flashlight tage and went over and jumped in the hay across the road from us.  I had already done dinner and was sitting down crossstitching and the kids had come in and were playing around in our upstairs open area / computer room.  There's a paneled glass door that closes off the open area upstairs to the actual stairs which is kind of nice because they can play music, dance, rough howse, whatever and I can't hear it. 

Suddenly I hear smash.  Yes there goes the glass door and Chandler comes down the stairs with blood gushing from his arm and a tear spaning his entire forearm and going right down deep to the bone.  I have never in my life seen anything quite so gruesome looking.  He was so brave though, simply came running downstairs yelling "call 911" and the girls screaming behind him didn't help my panic in the least.  I called and the volunteer resque squad took over and took him to the hospital.

55 stitches that little boy had to have.  I'm not feeling too wonderful over the whole thing, I can't stop seeing it all over and over in my mind! 

You probablly noticed, right away, that I again changed the photo on my side panels.  I like to change these every so often, for some variety and I hope you enjoy seeing the different views.  Feel free to comment on which you like best, worst, why etc...

CHANGE IS GOOD

1. Finish tune-up on the car
2. Open presents with Kevin’s side of the family
3. Clean out the room of boxes that I’ve still not unpacked (most of which if I haven’t touched by now I probably doen’t even need, but we’ll see)
4. Put up my new medicine cabinet (can you believe neither bathroom has a medicine cabinet in it?)
5. Christmas Thank you notes
6. Clean out computer room
7. Buy a computer desk of some sort
8. Install Kevin’s computer where my new one is currently located & Set up my computer across the room from his
9. Network them together
10. My bedroom needs help
11. Clean out my closets (I’ve got clothes in three different closets and they need to all be merged into my bedroom closet)
12. Use my little Carpet Cleaner on the living room carpet to clean up the spills that have already accumulated
13. Vacuum both sets of stairs

I seem to lose my Blog Fodder entries all the time.  A few weeks back I lost an entry twice in one morning but did finally get the third version published.  This was about the same time that my other computer shit the bed and I bought a new one and also about the same time that I began writing on Word first and then pasting into Tripod.  Today I went straight to Tripod.  I was just going to shoot off a quick entry but it turned into a rather long post that I was ready to publish, when walah….  “Internet Explorer has encountered a Problem and will Close Down – you may loose whatever your working on.  May lose?  Try your about to lose it, for sure!    I repeat,  can you say &*%%^$^%$&&* - I can, and very loudly for that matter.

Blog Fodder  #6  was submitted by Kimbofo  - who also coincidentally was picked as Michele’s Site of the Day yesterday.  Congrats to her!    

Kimbofo wants to know “What is your most memorable meal? Why?”

This is a goody for me because food is one of my absolute favorite things of all times!  In giving this one some thought, I was originally going to post about Lobster and the fact that every birthday of my childhood contained a Lobster Dinner at a restaurant on the night of March 27^th.  But I thought of something more memorable and it just has to be Sunday dinners at my Nana’s house.

Every Sunday, since I can remember, Nana and Papa have been cooking for their crew.  In my younger years we would all sit at the dining room table and eat together, but as the population in the family multiplied it became more of a “come in and let Nana fix you a plate and then find a seat and eat”.  My Papa, who recently passed, made the best soups of all time!  What I wouldn’t give for a bowl of his soup right now.  Each week his special soup was a little different, depending on the ingredients in his fridge and each week it got better & better!  Papa was so proud of his soups!  My Nana, makes the best dinners of all times and there is nothing but pure love that goes into her preparations!  Love for all her many children.  Here is my Nana, you can just see it in her, can't you?

Did some blog reading yesterday and I visited my friend Becky.  Not only was I quite entertained catching up on some of her entry's, I also found a few things I'd like to pilfer and give her credit for at the same time.  She pilfered from others, which is the way of the weblog world and makes it oh so fun!  Becky loves to do Meme's and I have no idea where she finds them all, but they all look so fun to do.  I don't do alot of them but some catch my fancy and here is one of them.  I'll be doing another one later in the week too, but this should be first as it's a tribute to 2006 and it's getting further and further away each day.  06 was not only when I started blogging (& in January) but it also was quite the year for me.  I went through both trials and tribulations and had much fun & many smiles!

The ideal is this.  Go back into your archives to the first post of each month and simply copy your entry title and first sentence of each entry.  It'll give you a brief look-back on your year and I gaurantee once you get started reading your archives you'll have a hard time stopping.  At least that's what happened to me. 

This is how my 2006 shaped up:

JANUARY

My IQ = 124

Click here to take the test
IQ TEST  

FEBRUARY

Nana

Nana – by Chrissie
Mother of nine and nine had nineteen
James thru Trish with seven between  

MARCH

And now I'm feeling like today is Tuesday.....
 

Except for the fact that Idol was on last night!   I thought the show was a little on the boring side. Without further delay, here is my reaction to yesterday's displays of talent.  

APRIL

Goodbye Puppy
 

I hate to do it, but I'm getting rid of the puppy! If you want to see a pic of the pup scroll down.







APRIL FOOLS  

MAY 

Forever and a Day
 

Well Hello there and how are you? Haven't seen or talked to you in awhile. Hope all is well!  

JUNE

It would only happen to Chrissie
 

Again I've got another "it will only happen to Chrissie" entry's, seems to be happening quite often.... considering the keys going down the toilet a few weeks ago. It might become a regular feature!  

JULY

Go to the Head of the Class
 

Not me. I've been held back.

AUGUST 

Coal Mines & More Mountains 

Got back last night from a long trip to Kentucky.  I had never been and it was really a nice drive.  

September

Outdoor Open House

Becky and I took a ride over to the new house Friday afternoon and I finally got some snap shots to share!  

October

Have You Missed Me?
 

Honey I'm home!  I finally have my internet at home, a dish for TV & a phone too (I had my cell phone but didn't get much signal unless I went out on the porch). 

November

Forever and a day!
 

That's how long it's been since I posted last.  I know, I know, Get with it.  Sorry guys - busy life is getting the best of my time. 

December

Mouse Matters
 

We have a new wireless mouse & keypad.