Last Entry of 2009

I know that I have been down right horrible about posting on any kind of regular basis here lately. I've been horrible about picking up my camera on a regular basis which I'm sure is helping to keep me from posting. Anyway, it has been a year of so many things I'm not sure that I could sum it all up in just a quick posting, so I will pass on trying to. I do hope that everyone has a great start to 2010. Stay safe, enjoy and maybe I'll find the motivation to pick up my camera and start shooting again here soon.

Happy New Year! Bring on 2010!

Christmas eve

Christmas eve, originally uploaded by torri_g.

We are at one hour and ten minutes till Christmas day, and I figured any picture and post was better than nothing at all. It has been a very busy week here with shopping, baking, and just a little of everything else that can be thought of, but finally there is slow down time. I suppose if I wasn't so tired I could maybe come up with more than I've had a wonderful day, but I am very tired. I do have just enough energy to say this though...I love Todd and our girls so very much and they have made today just one of those perfect busy days, and I can't wait for tomorrow morning and the terrific Christmas that I know is waiting to be had.

So with that said...Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope that the day is filled with lots of laughter, and time spent with those that you love. See you again after Christmas!

Snow before Christmas!

Snow, originally uploaded by torri_g.

We have snow here in Arizona! Well not for to much longer though. The storm clouds that brought the snow have cleared off and the sun is shinning very brightly so it is melting and just about gone. However, I did make sure that I woke the girls up so that they could see the snow on the ground and see it for a few minutes while it was still falling. Two of the three said that was nice and went right back to bed, and my Sweetpea stood there watching if for a little bit because she loves snow at Christmas time.

I hope that everyone is having a great week and is ready for the holiday.

Feline, Furball and Feathers Friday

Mia, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Mia's Christmas wish? Please let them all be for me and please let them all have yummy things for me to eat! Oh and Santa you should probably make sure that I'm up to let you in because little Mia doesn't care for anyone just thinking they can walk in the house.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Self

Self, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I'm sitting here tonight and thinking about the day and figured that a self portrait would be most fitting for this entry. There aren't to many of those on my computer but I had shot one on my cell phone earlier in the day for some reason. Oh wait it was when I was trying to not think about other stuff which I will share here tonight.

Back in October 2008 I found a couple of lumps while doing my monthly self examine. Mammogram and then a second...oh and then a third one just because they couldn't seem to figure out just how to get all the angles done the first two times...and then the words I wanted to hear. Test results "Negative". Leap forward to April and suddenly there is another issue and I wasted no time getting in to see the doctor. After several months of frustration finally the referral arrived and in June I was able to be seen by the breast specialist. An exam, an ultrasound and finally the diagnosis and the words I had wanted to hear that all was well and just need to keep an eye on things.
Well today was the next appointment, and man in the last 6 months things have been added to the list of issues and there was a very short time of worry today while waiting for test results...but once again the words "Test results Negative" were the best words I would ever want to hear. Things have changed yet again and my doctor isn't sure just how soon she wants to see me again because of the rapid changes that are going on, but for today and right now my mind is at peace that I got to hear the wonderful word "Negative".

I may hurt like heck tonight because of all of the testing and exam and I'll be the first to say that a mammogram hurts like hell, but I will be in for my next one whether it is 6 months from today or one year from today, and I will go in to see the doctor as told to also. Tonight I would like for that to be at least 6 months from now, but I won't know exactly when she wants me back till next week sometime. She wants to be able to look at everything that was done today and compare to 6 months ago and one year ago and make up her mind based on that.

So I may have dreaded going today but I did it...now I'm going to put on a million layers and hide before someone else wants to do another test that leaves me in pain. For a Monday this one wasn't to bad and I hope that everyone else got to hear words that meant a lot to them. Have a good week!

Simple Saturday

Sunrise, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I've been so busy the last couple of weeks that it didn't hit me till this morning that I hadn't picked up my camera since Thanksgiving day! The cell phone camera has been with me at all points in time and has been the only one that has gotten used...how very sad really. I did get a good work out with the canon camera today taking pictures at a birthday party for a friend and I'm looking forward to sitting down tomorrow and checking out the photo's.
Tonight's picture was taken at sunrise Monday morning and I kept thinking about posting it but since you can look at the blog and see that I never did get around to it. I'm debating if I'm going to get around to doing the yearly countdown to Christmas on the blog. Heck I'm debating if I'm ever going to get any baking done early this year or be spending lots of time the day before baking as much as I can stand. Good news is that all things are starting to slow down around here as we get closer to the holiday and I am really looking forward to the slow down.

Alright, I think that is enough of a ramble from me for one post. I hope that everyone has had wonderful Saturday and that there is a very relaxing Sunday in store for all of us.

Feline, Furball, and Feather's Friday

Gypsy Rose, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I've been so busy this week I almost forgot about Feline Friday! Thank goodness I always have a ton of pictures in archive to pull from, because I think if I tried to take a photo of any of the animals today they would be nothing but huge blurs. This picture though was shot with my cell phone so not the best as far as quality but I love it because it show a happy Binky Sue with her girl Gypsy Rose.

I'm a little rushed here so just going to keep this short...if you want to join in and play along just post your own and leave a link in comments. Enjoy a wonderful weekend and hopefully I will get some time to post more this coming week.

Feline, Furball, and Feather's Friday

IMG00292, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Before anyone should ask...no we didn't get another dog. This little guy is Midnight. Midnight has an owner that doesn't seem to care if he is out running on the streets or not. The neighborhood children do care though and seem to think that every time they find Midnight out running the streets, that they need to bring him here to my house. Midnight actually had to come in the house this week for a short time because of the weather and me having to wait for his owner to get home. Guess what though, Midnight was right back out running the streets the very next day. I'm going to say once again here...if people don't want to take care of their animals then why do they get them?? I'm sure yet again this afternoon the kids of the neighborhood will bring Midnight back here and I'm pretty sure they are hoping that I will just keep him for good at this point in time. I can't though and I'm hoping that enough times of having to deal with me that his owner will get a clue in their head. I'm not going to hold my breath for that one though.

Alright so it is Friday again and that means time for all of the great felines, furballs, and feathers to come out and show off. If you want to play along all you have to do is post your own and leave a link in comments by next Friday. Have a great Friday!

Village (wordless)

IMG_8244, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Busy

image, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Well here is it Tuesday already and it just hit me that I haven't posted anything since Saturday. So not the best picture but it is at least a quick can post photo or the mountains and the weather we had here yesterday. Pretty busy week going on here but will at least try to post new photos even if it is a return to wordless posting. Oh and yes the picture was taken with the camera phone and I still have no idea why it changes size settings seemingly on its own.

I hope that everyone is having a good week so far.

Just about done

Plucky, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Wow this holiday weekend is going very quickly! So before it is over I feel I must post at least one last picture of the holiday and it should be of Plucky the unlucky turkey. It has been a very good holiday weekend here, but I'm starting to look forward to Monday coming.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Saturday and I'm going to try to make sure I get a new picture shot of the girls for Sibling Sunday tomorrow.

Feline, Furball and Feathers Friday

Mia and Angel, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Mia and Angel just chilling out. I forgot all about this picture till today. It was taken a couple of weeks ago and just really kind of fits for the day after thanksgiving. Just a bunch of chilling out going on around here for most of the family. Only bad thing is that Trinity is sick and it has been a very long day for her and trying to get her stomach back to a calm level. I'm not sure just what has triggered this for Trinity but I have a guess that maybe someone got a hold of something in the yard that she shouldn't have Wednesday night. Trinity is doing better for the most part, she did eat this after noon and was able to hold it down for several hours. She has kept drinking and just laying around giving me her killer pitiful looks for most of the day. Hopefully tomorrow will bring the real turning the corner on this for her.

Anyway, it is time again for Feline, Furball and Feathers Friday. If you want to play along just post your own and leave a link in comments by next Friday.

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving and have a wonderful weekend.

Plucky Happy Thanksgiving

Plucky Happy Thanksgiving, originally uploaded by torri_g.

No guest poster for tonight. I know I'm late in the day for posting this but I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Since it is my favorite holiday I have to of course share the now traditional naming of the turkey and my own list of what I'm thankful for.
I think everyone knows about the girls tradition of naming the turkey and this year it was Binky Sues turn to name the bird. Mr. Gibbles was discussed but last year it was Gibby so that name didn't last long. Chip was tossed out there and kicked around for about 30 seconds, but then the name came to her...Plucky! So last night as Plucky was pulled out of the fridge to be checked he got his name. For something that used to bother me I think now the thought of cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving without a name would just be wrong. Plucky wasn't very lucky and probably isn't going to last all that long in this house, but he was very tasty! I am getting to the point tonight though that if I hear the "Bird is the Word" song one more time I very well may scream.
Binky Sue and Little Bug felt that art work was needed to honor poor Plucky. If you cant guess today was a day filled with silliness, laughter and all those great things that make this my favorite holiday.

Which now moves me into my list of what I'm thankful for this year. I'm thankful always for my silly girls who make me laugh till my sides hurt. I'm thankful for my Retired Army Guy, the 20 years that we have spent together, the laughter and even the tears that we have shared, and all of the silly holiday memories that we have created over the years. I'm thankful for the health of my family. I'm thankful for prayers that have been answered in the course of the past year. I'm thankful for family, and for friends who are there when I need them. I'm thankful for being found by friends this past year that I thought I would never hear from again and the pleasant journey of catching up that has gone on. The list of things could go on longer but I'm pretty tired and think it is time to just call it a day here.

Once again I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that it was a day filled with lots of laughter and silliness.

Guest Poster Sweetpea

IMG_7830, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Oh here it is the night before Thanksgiving and boy are things busy in the house with the baking and cleaning. So here is Sweetpea to share with everyone what she is thankful for.

Hello, I guess for this year I'll say that I am thankful for my family for being with me all my life. I am also thankful that I do not have school for two days, and have more time to stay at home and get some extra sleep. I'm thankful for being able to enjoy the holiday with the people I know and love, and be able to do some more cooking. I am thankful for all those things, plus the fact that I have a four day weekend to finish my projects that are due December. Okay, well thanks for reading (*gasp* an other thing I'm thankful for), and have a Happy Thanks Giving. Sweetpea

Guest Blogger Binky Sue

IMG_7877, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Continuing with the "What I'm thankful for" and Binky Sue is tonights guest blogger.

Yo! Dis is Binky Sue in the hizhouse! Wat up dawg?

No, just kidding. So what am I thankful for? Hmm, good question. Actually there are tons of things I'm thankful for. But I'm sure you the readers want to stare at a bunch of words that never end so I will try to remember to keep this sweet and simple. Like PIE!

Well. I'm thankful for my family who are always there for me and there to make fun of me whenever I have a blond moment. I am also thankful for all of my buddies out there who are more than willing to drag me out out of my house and do something "fun."

Lets see. There is more. I'm grateful for having scholarships for me to be able to go to college to better educate me and make me a more well rounded being (before the holidays!) I'm grateful that my teachers are the cool ones that you actually learn something from than the ones that make you work, work, work and not understand a thing! I'm also grateful that I am able to see different spectrum's of where my future career will be at. I am also thankful to be in the Lions club where I can make a difference in the community.

Even more stuff. Wow. Don't worry I think this is the last of it! I'm also grateful that I have such an awesome job! Sure the pay is minimum wage and 1% tip of what the house makes. But I think this is a job where I am more than happy to work at. The people there are great and funny! I have wonderful bosses. One of them, she's sweet and awesome and loves peanut butter-applesauce cookies! The other manager likes to poke fun of me. Seriously, is there the words ,"TARGET" or "EASY PREY" on top of my forehead? And the final one....well he doesn't talk much, he does help me out when the place of my work does get busy. Hey! At least he is not the type who likes to yell and scream.

Okay I call it quits. your brains have probably has had enough! Thanks for reading.

BYE! BYE! Binky Sue OUT!

Guest Poster Little Bug

IMG_7686, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Going with guest posters this week and a set topic...What I'm thankful for. So I'm going to hand the keyboard over to Little Bug and let her share with you.

Hiya's Little Bug is here today. This year I am thankful for many things.

1.Family that cares and loves me even with all my dizty clumsy like moments.

2.Friends, because what are we with out over protective caring friends at school every day.

3.CHOCOLATE & BUTTERMILK PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whats life like with out these things.O.O (I want some now)

These are just some of the things I am thankful for. Thanks for your time. Babye.

Framed (A wordless week)

Through the window, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Das Boot (A wordless week)

Boot, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Feline, Furball and Feathers Friday

Angel, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Fluffy Desert? (A wordless week)

Fluffy, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Warmth (A Wordless Week)

IMG_7998, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Horses?? (A Wordless Week)

IMG_7824, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Taxi!! (A wordless week)

IMG_7827, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Sibling Sunday

Fall Festival of Color 2009-1, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I'm just not keeping up here as well as I would like to the last couple of weeks. I'm going to try this week though and I have a good amount of new photo's to share even. I've been trying to get myself and my camera out for short bursts of time to relax and the never ending attempt to get my mind to settle some.

Anyway this is sibling day not about me time. The Fall Festival of Color was this weekend and I have to say that the girls and I were a little bit more than disappointed. We do understand that the wind played a huge roll with this weekend and why they couldn't do a lot of the things, but this morning was perfect and to only have two balloons show up for the early morning ascension was just sad.
Sweetpea and Little Bug went out with me for the Saturday night glow, which wasn't to bad...it was just cut short due to the winds. We wandered around the park and listened to some pretty good music, and bought some to expensive treats, but it was for a good fund raiser so that is good. Yes Little Bug is still on those crutches! No I didn't make her go and walk all over creation with those, she wanted to go! Tuesday we finally have an appointment for her to be seen now that everything Tricare has been straightened out. I'm guessing x-rays are something that is needed, and that she is going to have even more time on the crutches since she still can't put any weight of any kind on it.

Sweetpea had a good week and says it is really feeling like her senior year now. Of course what could help make it feel real finally? The order for the cap, gown, and announcements was turned in Friday. Hold on let me get my best happy going on here....woohoo. Nope not working, oh well maybe later. I am excited for Sweetpea and this being her year, it is the cost of everything that leaves me less than thrilled. We went with a smaller package this year and are not far below what was spent last year. Oh yeah and they increased the sales tax which was just wonderful! It is done though and that is all that matters till April/May time period. Sweetpea's Friday was made even better because of progress reports coming out and her having very solid good grades this time.

Binky Sue is feeling the stress of juggling school, work, home work, life. She completed her middle school observation and is trying to get her high school and elementary school time jump started, to bad no one seems capable of calling her back. So the plan for this week is go directly to the schools. Yes, she is planning a sneak attack called just show up in the office and see what she can get done. She has started making sure to take time on what seems to be her one free day of Sunday to enjoy things. Be it spending time with family in the wee hours of the morning for the balloons that don't show up, or spending the afternoon hanging out with a friend at the mall or just at their house. The art of taking time to decompress is what she is quickly learning. Oh and last weekend she for the first time complained about why do the weekends go by so fast!

Alright that is all that I can think of to write about for the girls this weekend. I hope that everyone is doing well and has enjoyed a great weekend spent with those you love the most. I'm going to try to at least post new pictures every day this week. Hey any entry without words would probably be great after this long rambling thing.

Feline, Furball, and Feathers Friday

Waiting for the phone to ring, originally uploaded by torri_g.

The most pitiful look of the week goes to Angel! I'm not sure who she is waiting on to call her, but at least her and the blue tooth device are ready.

So it is time again for all of the animal friends to come out and play. If you want to play along just post your own and leave a link in comments by next Friday.

Just a thought

IMG00160, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I would love to have just one clear thought this week. Heck I would love to be able to type one word without having to hit the back space key! I know it is only Tuesday and there is still so much left to this week, but I've already had enough! Dealing with Triwest has left me this way, and the joy of all of it is I still need to get an appointment made for Little Bug this week, and still can't get anyone to deal with me. JOY!! This morning was a couple hours of my life either on the phone or in the local office that left me with the feeling of I'm just not speaking the same language or the right one. Of course I'm not sure what would be the right one. I do keep hearing the following words though..."Well you do have coverage it just isn't the one that you paid for, but the good news is that we will retro-activate it to the first of November!" Oh and that is great, wonderful and any other number of things but...we paid for prime coverage and I expect prime coverage and the difference is that until that retro-activation happens we have standard coverage and that means deductibles to pay and that pesky extra 20%, and then pray that you will reimburse for it after the retro takes place. Hmm...and we bothered making sure that we took care of all of this before why???? Little Bug is still in pain and can't put any weight on her ankle and I still can't get anyone to set an appointment with her till this is all fixed! Great!!

Yep I'm a bit on the pissed off side of life here this week. I'm actually having thoughts of bad things that can be done with a set of crutches...to bad Little Bug needs those to be able to get around with! My next thought is that come Thursday morning I'm taking Little Bug to the MTF and just walking in to see the Dr. that she saw last week. It is Dr. R who Little Bug has seen for the last 5 years, and I'm sure hearing the tale she would be more than willing to share a few choice words with some people about all of this.

Alright, I'm done venting for now. I hope that everyone is having a good week so far.

Feline, Furball, and Feathers Friday

Mia, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I know this should have gone up last night, but I just didn't get around to it. Mia was finally willing to let me kind of take a picture of her. I had to be fast because she just doesn't seem to care for the camera pointing at her recently.

Short entry, but if you want to play along all you have to do is post your own and leave a link in comments. I hope that everyone has a great weekend.

Falling behind

IMG00140, originally uploaded by torri_g.

It is turning out to be one of those kinds of weeks here.(Yet again, like always) I'm finding that every time I think about trying to get out with my camera for a couple of hours that something comes up and but an end to that real quick. This week has been a sudden fluctuating schedule with Binky Sue, tons of other stuff, and oh yeah Little Bug. Little Bug is in a partial cast as of yesterday. No she didn't suffer yet another injury, it is because of the ankle injury from two weeks ago. She finally got off of the crutches last week and moved to using the air splint when she felt she needed it. Well, yesterday was her first day back in PE and after just a couple of steps of jogging she knew something was wrong. Her pain was horrible, and she lost the ability to put any weight of any kind on it. So off we went...well after a couple of phone calls to see if anyone could tell us where "it" was that we needed to go to. Luck was on my side and we got to see Dr. R who has been Little Bugs doctor for the last 5 years. Little Bug is now wearing a removable cast on the leg. It is molded to the shape of the foot and the back of her leg and kept on with ace bandage wraps. She is back on the crutches, and will have to be seen again next week. Without being able to see anything, due to the instant new bruising on the foot and swelling Dr. R believes that it is very possible that Little Bug has a very fine stress fracture, which of course will take a little longer to heal up right. Little Bug is not happy about any of this. She has the note for PE that says nothing until further notice now. She also has the coveted key for the elevator at the high school. Well, she doesn't want it but trust me there are other that would want it.
So busy week and already know that there is another busy week for next week. I still need to spend some time finding out just who we are supposed to take Chey to see, probably going to involve lots of phone calls and time being on hold. I'm kind of wondering if something got messed up with paperwork that we turned in with the first quarterly payment. Right now I know we have the coverage, but not the one that was paid for and we have no listed PCM in system, and we had to pick one before they would take the paper work.

Sorry, I'm rambling now. I'm going to go ahead and toss in with this that tomorrow is seven weeks for me. Oh wait let me throw on here that yes yesterday I cracked and opened that pack that has been sitting here since September and smoked a cigarette. But this time I am still counting all my time, because it was one and seven weeks ago it would have been the whole pack plus some. I'm learning and trying and every day it will just take time and I'm not giving up any time soon. However, I may give in every now and then.

Alright if I get a chance I'm hoping to get out with my camera and get some new pictures, and hopefully I will get a little bit more back on track here.

A family night out

Out to dinner, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Tonight we went out for dinner as a family to MBFG. It was something that all of us really enjoyed. Tons of laughing went on while there tonight and we were all so full the thought of needing to be rolled out to the car to go home was actually talked about. I can say that Binky Sue works at a great place, and all of the people that waited on us tonight were wonderful! Our server now has a best friend named Little Bug because with that NY style cheese cake with baklava, our sweet server brought out a small cup of very rich chocolate to drizzle over it. OMG!! Trust me rich isn't even a word that comes close to describing it. WOW...oh so good, but only something that I could have one bite of.

The reason for dinner out tonight? Well, the girls wanted to celebrate their Daddies retirement from the Army. Only about 3 more hours left of him being active duty. When he wakes up in the morning he will be part of the retired Army ranks. I know it really has been twenty years, just like us being married for twenty years this year. It just seems like it passed so quickly. Which sitting here thinking about some of the years just doesn't seem like they could have passed quickly at all. There is a new journey about to get started here, and I look forward to making every new step not only with my Army Guy, but with all of our girls.

I hope that everyone has had a great and safe Halloween!

Feline, Furball, and Feather's Friday

IMG_7554, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Last Friday Miss Gypsy Rose crossed yet another major milestone since she came to live here with us. She spent six straight hours out in living areas of the house not only with the people, but with the dogs too! Now as soon as Binky Sue had to leave for work she hid for a bit behind and under the couch, but she eventually came back out and joined me on the couch. Because if you are a scared kitty cat who isn't used to spending that amount of time out of your comfort zone you really want to be next to the person who can offer the most protection from those big dogs and Mom of the house is the best one. Of course Gypsy had to have a bit more of a fort built up around her to make her really comfortable, oh and the laptop to lay on for extra warmth. Once again it was a happy moment on the path to healing this kitty cat.

So time for all of the great animals that fill our hearts with love and bring smiles to our faces to stop by. If you want to play along, all you have to do is post your own and leave a link in comments by next Friday. Everyone have a great weekend.

Thinking Thursday...A journey to stop smoking

This week is getting away from me and before I forget to post, I'm just going to do this real quick. SIX weeks! I'm at six weeks of being a non smoker as of today! I really am feeling good, and am sure that come the end of this box of medicine that I'm going to be ending the medicine. I need to see what life is like without it again, and hopefully it will mean the end to some real upset stomach issues that I have been having lately. So you only have two more weeks of this post on Thursday. I really need to start working on getting out and getting new pictures to post on a regular basis.

Sorry for so short with no picture, but I hope that everyone has a great Thursday!

Mindless Wednesday

IMG_7572, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Sunday's sunrise was beautiful! The same can not be said for this morning however. I would have to say that this morning sunrise was more of gray, green, yellowish. A very stormy looking sky for sunrise today. Of course we were expecting this for today and after the high winds that tore through the area last night taking out power, I'm really kind of surprised that we have a roof on the house. You know you have a really good wind going when it can make the whole house vibrate and sound like there is a train running just outside the walls. No kidding while I was trying to fall asleep last night, I put my hand on the wall which is an outside wall, and could feel the thing vibrating with the roaring wind. The power for what I'm guessing would have been at least most of base was knocked out by the wind last night, but they were quick to get it back up and going again. Only about 2 hours from power outage to power back up. It should be interesting taking Binky Sue out for class this morning and seeing just what damage was done and what debris is laying on the roads.
Oh and if the weather men are right there may be the season first opportunity for pictures of snow on the mountain tops, and our high is going to be 30 degrees less than yesterday. I'm not going to whine about being cold though...not yet anyway. : )
Anyway, I hope that everyone has a great Wednesday!

Sign of cooler days

IMG_7566, originally uploaded by torri_g.

The Arizona broom bushes started making their change last week and sure enough we have much cooler temperatures. Oh and as of today we have a return of the gusting blowing winds too so sometime in the next couple of days I'm pretty sure that the tree in the back yard will lose all of its leaves and the broom bushes will make it look like it is snowing. I'm hoping to get with the camera and see what fall colors I can find, and if that doesn't work then at least I have the colors of the hot air balloons to look forward to here soon.

I hope that everyone is having a good week so far.

Sibling Sunday

Oh it is Sunday again and here I am with no picture of any of the siblings. Well, that is not completely true. I have tons of photos of them in archive but not on this hard drive...and I'm being pretty lazy here today...and don't feel like moving to get to a hard drive where I might find a picture or a hundred that could be used. Yes that is my excuse and I'm goind to stick with it!

Anyway for some news about the siblings:

• Binky Sue is steadily learning to juggle school, work, Lions Club, home work, and new for this week...class room observation. She is starting at her old middle school, and when they remember you by your voice I think it can be said that you made an impact in their memory. Great for Binky Sue is that it was good memories. So she start working on getting her ten hours of middle school observation done. She also has set up with a friend who is getting private tutoring due to back surgey to get her two hours of alternate done. Binky Sue this week also got that first pay check and that feeling comes with the very first one. So all in all things are going pretty well for Binky Sue right now.

• Sweetpea this week was just pretty calm life wise for the most part. Well at least until report card was put in Mom's hand on Friday. I don't think I'm going to get into that one here at all other than to say we talked. Photography class for Sweetpea this week had her developing her first roll of film and with mistakes made good lessons were learned. I haven't seen any of the pictures, but I am hoping to see some soon since I love seeing how she views the world. Oh and that dreaded announcement order stuff landed in my house for this year! Good grief just so not sure I'm ready for all the fun of that order of announcements, caps, and gowns brings with the school. Before Thanksgiving break is the due date though, and I'm going to have to be ready no matter what.

• Littlebug was pure clumsy Littlebug this week. Crutches for the 5th time in her 14 years. It is the 4th time injuring her left ankle and I'm wondering if it is just more prone to injury because of how many times she has already hurt it. This was yet again a gym injury, you know the same class that brought us emergency room tag, and Littlebug won because she got to make a trip to the ER. Oh all the great times she has had in gym, and I personally can not wait for this class to be OVER! Due to changes for the freshmen this year, she thankfully will only have to take 1 semester of gym, and then I swear I'm never letting her anywhere near one again! Well, at least not until she is grown up and moved out. Two weeks of solid crutches use and then probably 2 more weeks with air splint. I guess the second base plate meant bussiness. Oh and yes Littlebug also had a report card come home on Friday, and I'm not going to say more than we talked.
  

Now to be fair to Sweetpea and Little Bug for the most part they had good report cards, it is just for one there is a huge problem in the making and for the other one it was basically that straw that just snapped the back because of seeing same words on hers.

Alright I think that is it for this week. I will try to make sure and get a new picture of all three of the girls together for next week. I hope that everyone has had a great weekend, and that there is a great week ahead for all of us.

Feline, Furball, & Feathers Friday

Gypsy Rose, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Gypsy Rose has finally laid claim to a favorite spot out side of Binky Sue's room! This is a great thing to celebrate! Gypsy has been spending more and more time out of Binky Sue's bedroom recently and with her laying claim to a favorite spot brings her willingness to stand up against any other animal that tries to move her from it. We still haven't had her spend to much time with the dogs, but we have had to do really tiny baby kitty steps with Miss Gypsy. By the way her spot is right in front of the corner section chair, just a little off of center for watching the television on the carpet. Don't walk there while she is out or she will have to chase your foot.

Friday again means it is time for Feline, Furball, and Feather's Friday. So time for all of the great animal friends to come out and show off how wonderful they are. If you want to play along all you have to do is post your own picture and story, and then stop by here and leave a link in comments by next Friday.

I hope that everyone has had a good week and have a wonderful and safe weekend!

Thinking Thursday...A journey to stop smoking

IMG00044, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I didn't forget about this last week. It's just that Little Bugs birthday took center stage, like any birthday should.

Last Thursday I hit the one full month mark of no smoking. Which mean as of today I'm at the month plus. Excuse me for just a minute...YAY!!!.
Alright now that I got that out of my system. I'm starting to notice that at some point in time during the 9 weeks that I must have learned something, because even with all of the stress of life here lately I haven't wanted that cigarette. That is the best thing of all really. Learning other ways of dealing with things.

Anyway, I'm going to keep doing the Thursday posts for at least the next 3 weeks. Which is how many more weeks I have to take the medicine before it becomes my choice for maintenance. I hope that everyone is having a good week and have a great Thursday.

Crazy Monday

Clouds, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Mondays aren't always the best kind of day anyway, but add a couple of hours with Little Bug in the clinic waiting to get x-rays of a swollen, bruised up ankle and it is less of a great day. Little Bug is on crutches for the next couple of weeks because of a level 2 sprain to her left ankle. I was happy that we didn't have to head to the ER today, but the urgent clinic was insanely busy. She is doing okay tonight after napping for a while once we finally got home. Tomorrow should be interesting for her out at the high school though. I'm thinking for the next couple of weeks till she can drop the crutches she is going to be exhausted every day coming home.

I'm not sure how this picture is going to look, but since the only camera I have had handy the last couple of days is my cell phone camera, it is just going to have to do. I hope that everyone had a good Monday, and that tomorrow is an even better day.

Sibling Sunday

IMG_7488, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Ah Sunday! I'm so glad to see you on the calendar today. This last week was one of those crazy busy weeks and I still have the feeling of needing more sleep. Little Bug and Sweetpea were on fall break, which I thought would have made for a calmer week but boy was that thought wrong. Binky Sue had a week of juggling classes, work, home work, making calls for getting observation hours done for a class (hopefully she has also remembered to e-mail her teacher about needing a letter for the base middle school). Little Bug wanted her birthday portraits done, had a friend that came to stay for a couple of days, and then the whole birthday party. Which I now know that 7 14/15 year olds are louder than just about anything I can think of. It all went well though and Sweetpea and Mom just sat hiding out for a little bit till they all seemed to have enough sugar in them to balance out their already naturally hyper. No joke they got quieter and calmer with the more sugar they ate. I swear sometimes watching the kids at the parties is like watching a science experiment unfold, but Sweetpea and I enjoyed watching it.

Alright, I think that is going to be about it for this week since I need to get going here soon. I hope that everyone has had a great weekend, and that today there is lots of time spent with those you care about the most. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Feline, Furbal, and Feathers Friday

Angel and Gypsy, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Just a real quick for tonight and a promise to come back either later or first thing tomorrow to add links to Carly and Dylan. Angel and Gypsy are currently hiding from the 7 extra 14 year old that have taken over the house tonight. After the current noise level drops down to just 2 extra 14 year olds I might be able to coax them out of hiding again, but I'm not going to make any bets on that. They know the noise level that has happened to the house tonight.

I hope that everyone has a great weekend, and remember if you want to play along just post your own and leave a link in comments by next Friday.

Update:
Yes I know it has taken me all day to get back but I have been very busy. As promised though here is the link to Dylan over at Carly's. He was busy with yarn, and keeping his Mom amused while she was sick. Super cute pictures so click and check them out.

Happy Birthday Little Bug!

Little Bug, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I have only thought about sitting down and getting this posted a million times today, but before I run out of time I'm going to say...Happy Birthday to my Little Bug! Of course I've actually said it do her about a million times since it rolled over to the 15th, but one more time with a post all about her. Or maybe it will be all about me and the fact that I'm oh so very tired right now after this insane busy day. I will try to get Little Bugs portrait shots posted for family and friends to be able to see in the next couple of days or as soon as I have enough time to sit and finish working on them. I hope that everyone enjoyed a great day, and join me with yet another Happy Birthday Little Bug!!

Sibling Sunday

Little Bug and Sweetpea, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I'm glad that I caught this picture late Friday night when there was some goofing around going on, because Little Bug really has lost her happy this weekend. Friday marked the end of the first quarter and for these two it means Fall Break Time! They will be off this whole week, and Little Bug was very happy about that because her birthday is this week. She very skillfully negotiated her way into having a boy/girl party, and the invitations were delivered Friday.

Sweetpea is just happy to be done with projects and have the whole week to do nothing. This last week saw the arrival of the ever dreaded cap, gown, and announcements order stuff. November is the deadline once again to have it all ordered and I'm so happy that they not only raised their prices, but the shipping and handling fees, and the taxes! Gosh we are so lucky! Speaking of things senior year related...I'm going to need family and friends to start giving thought to what portraits you want of Sweetpea. If I missed sending you a link to them let me know and I will correct that. I really would like to see her senior portraits go out sooner than what I did last year.

Binky Sue...well she is done with her math class and couldn't be happier about that if she tried. I think next term she may make sure that the math class she is in isn't accelerated. She worked her first shift this past Friday and was exhausted when I got there to pick her up. She is happy with her schedule for the next week though and looking forward to getting that first pay check.

Other than that there really isn't to much else about the siblings, but that is way more than I've really had in a while about each of them. I hope that everyone enjoys a wonderful Sunday surrounded by those you care the most about.

Feline, Furball, and Feather's Friday

100_8653, originally uploaded by torri_g.

This morning brought a major shock to the house and has left everyone pretty upset. When I uncovered the birds this morning I didn't see Puff in her cage. Which of course lead to a frantic search, and then a sudden stop by me to think and go back over to her cage and look. Puff I'm very sad to say has passed away. Looking at everything it looks as if she for some reason tried to curl herself up in a food dish, and possibly smothered herself once getting stuck. There were lots of instant tears in the house since all the girls were out helping to locate her since I had first thought she had gotten out of her cage. Little Bug is taking it very hard since Puff was her little buddy. The girls are going to take the day to deal with the shock of what has happened, and figure just where they would like to take Puff to bury her. Tomorrow may not be much better for girls because I would like to have Puff laid to rest by then. It is an odd day for me since I keep expecting to hear her scream at the other birds about their noise, or to hear the sound of her bells as she chirped into them. Of all of the animals in the house, Puff was the one that was happiest making you smile because of her never ending antics.

I've debated with myself today about putting the link to Carly and Dylan for this week, and I'm going to hold off till next week to post it. It will be a fun post for next Friday to go with the pictures that I was going to use today until the day just went bad. So everyone try to have a good weekend and hopefully things will go better this coming week and I will get back to a normal Feline, Furball, and Feathers Friday post with links.

A short delay

I'm sorry but there is just going to be a short delay for Feline, Furball and Feather's Friday. I promise by tomorrow night I will have it posted. Today has just gotten away from me because of Army Guy having a bone marrow biopsy done, which meant up very early and on the road because just about everyone likes it an hour and a half away from here. Then trip back and local errand running, oh yeah and talking to girls about what is going on and when we will get preliminary diagnosis. Which means for anyone who might be waiting to hear from me that there where no results other than blood work and the bone marrow biopsy will tell the whole story.

Since this is turning into a post about Army Guy anyway, just let me tell everyone that he did great. I'm sure that he was, is, and is going to continue to be in a good deal of pain...but he had that doctor and nurse trying so hard not to laugh and then finally giving into laughter. Yes I was in the room with him for the procedure and really pray that is not something that he ever has to do again. For that matter no one I know needs to ever have that test done. I was in awe of Army Guy today, oh and I managed to not cry for him during it.

Anyway, I will get a picture of one of the many animals and get the Friday post up tomorrow. Tonight I'm just to tired, and probably have to many thoughts running through my mind. I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Friday, and this weekend I hope there is lots of time spent with those you love and remember to laugh lots.

Update: As of Tuesday October 27th all but one of the bone marrow test had come back normal. Meaning no cancer cells, and no myeloproliferative disorders. Just don't ask me to explain what it is that is going on with Army Guy's blood.

Thinking Thursday...A journey to stop smoking

IMG_5791, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Another week done, and I'm now at 3 weeks of not smoking. I saw Ms. K. A. for what will be my last time and got my month 3 of medicine. After the third month it is up to me if I want to stay on the medicine or not and does not require having to see her to get it because there are refills on this one. She was very happy with my progress and said I should just be counting it as a 5 weeks of not smoking. I pointed out to her that just wouldn't be honest because there is that one day in there. Next Thursday will be the start of the third month pack of medicine and I can honestly say that I may not continue with it much past that. The good thing is that once I'm done with the third month, I can choose to drop the dosage that I take daily after that or just drop it entirely. Thinking down the road has me debating dropping to just one pill a day and see if any of those sneaky urges come back, and then drop from there. I'm getting to far ahead of myself on that though and it is better to stay focused on just one day at a time. So three weeks and I'm going to give myself a great big YAY ME! Next week will be my big milestone...the first time to ever reach the one month mark. Heck I may have to throw a party or something...oh wait that is Little Bugs birthday so there will be a party already. : )

I hope that everyone is having a good week, and I'm sorry about the lack of brand new photo's and spars posting but there have been lots of things going on which I may or may not post about at some point in time. Have a wonderful Thursday and hopefully I will get busy working on a photo for Feline and Furball Friday before midnight tomorrow.

Monday morning

Artwork by Sweetpea, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Yet again the weekend passed to quickly. Of course having all but one person sick with flu I really would have liked for this weekend to take a little extra time and give everyone the possibility of feeling better. Sweetpea is the only one not being taken down by the bug in right now. I was doing a good job of out running it till late Friday night. Saturday I tried to keep going, but come Saturday night that was it for me. Binky Sue and Little Bug seem to be feeling better, but like said I would really like for them to have a little bit more of a weekend to rest. It is Monday though and time for heading back to the school that had 21% of the student body out last week because of flu and flu like symptoms. So I'm just going to cross my fingers, hope and pray that we can be done with the flu in this house. Now with that said excuse me while my body tries to make up it's mind if I'm going to have a hot flash or a case of the chills. I hope everyone has a good day, and try to avoid the germs that are flying around early this year.

Feline, Furbal, and Feathers Friday

Angel, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Just real quick for today since the crud that has been making its rounds through the house is finally winning and taking me down for the count too. Angel isn't worried though because her girl Sweetpea is only fighting with allergy issues. Only thing Angel needs Mom for is to either remind someone to do something for her, or to get those blinds open at the right time for prime bird watching. So the rest of us can feel free to sneeze, cough, and blow our noses as much as we want. Heck she doesn't mind if we run a fever, just as long as she can get access to us to curl up on whoever is running the fever, because it would be a crime for all the heat to just go to waste. Don't bother complaining about body aches to her though, because she just doesn't have time to listen to that, there are toy balls in the back hallway to bat around and tease the heck out of those furballs with. Angel was kind to me though and actually sat still for a change for me to get a picture of her, so any blur to it is because of me and having a chill or two while trying to get the camera as steady as possible.

So it is time again for the all the great felines, furballs, and feathers. If you want to play along just post your own and leave a link in comments by next Friday.
I hope that everyone has a great weekend, and look of for the the crud because it is super fast moving.

Thinking Thursday...A journey to stop smoking

IMG_6781, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Please excuse me this morning while I'm a bit of a smarty pants with my choice of picture for my new weekly Thursday post. I had the thought go through my head that I was zooming along with the stop smoking journey and for some reason this picture that I shot earlier in the month of Army Guy's bike came to mind. So just why would I think about his bike and this picture and my stopping smoking? Well, I guess because of the thought it may not look like all that much, but some times looks are deceiving. It might not look like it is going very quickly but when I stop and take a look at the over all it really is. I am again at the two full weeks without smoking a cigarette. When I take a look at the bigger picture though since August 31st I have smoked 5 cigarettes. Wait a minute five, just five? Yeah for someone who has never smoked that number is way to high, but for me and how much I was smoking per day, this is huge! So here I am at week six since starting the medication, 5 weeks since the quit date and I can say that in the last 4 weeks I have had one day with 5 cigarettes. I think I'm doing great!
Alright I will stop with all of the week counts and other crazy number things...oh wait there is still one more number I want to share. That 1 cigarette in the pack...it is still sitting in that pack. I think when I finally hit the full month count I'm going to celebrate by throwing it away. Until then though it is going to continue to sit and be my reminder.

I hope that everyone is having a good week and see you again next week for hopefully a post that will make more sense than this one.

Happy 20th Anniversary Army Guy!

Thinking, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I should probably make sure and put wedding anniversary in the title. Oh wait, you know which 20th anniversary comes first. So many miles since this day all those years ago. I know I used a picture of you on here and you hate that, but it is one of my favorites and it is my blog.

For the last week I have in my mind tried to figure out just the perfect thing to type here, and it has just lead me to thinking about so many things. The tiny apartments when it was just you and me at the start of the traveling the world with the military. The look on your face when each one of our daughters were born. The tickling, teasing, tormenting Daddy that you were just bound to be. I've thought about all the laughter that has been shared between us, all of the tears and oh so many other emotions. I know I loved you then, but I'm sure that I love you even more now. So what do you say to we renew for another 20 years?(Umm...you better be nodding your head yes for that one sweetheart.)
I love you Army Guy and do look forward to seeing just what new adventures we will face together. Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!

Monday again already?

IMG_7102, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Just doesn't seem like it should be Monday morning again already. The weekend had slow feel but just to quickly was done and I'm not ready for it to be Monday again.
There are lots of things going on this week, and hopefully I will find a little bit of time to get out with my camera. Would like to see about getting back up into the canyon area's one more time before all of the butterflies are gone.

I hope that everyone has a good start to the week.

Sibling Sunday

IMG_7039, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Finally a picture of one of the siblings. This entry will probably not be all that long of one, but since Binky Sue had such a happy week it really needs to be shared. Binky Sue got a job! So needless to say that after spending the whole summer looking and hoping to get one she is very thrilled. Monday she walked into open interview times and she walked out being hired. She will be hostess at a soon new to be opened restaurant. The name of the new restaurant? My Big Fat Greek Restaurant. She did her orientation Thursday and this Tuesday starts her training. They are not officially open till the 5th of October, but do have some events starting next weekend. Binky Sue has her black, on black, with black uniform all set, and really can not wait to get started. She is also getting close to being done with her first term math class, which I think she is happy about because doing the 8 week version versus the 16 week course has been pretty insane on the homework side.

Sweetpea, and Little Bug continue to be just settled in for the quarter which is quickly nearing an end here. Little Bug has been keeping Mom busy with the seemingly never ending "Mom can I go here?" or "Can I go do this?". This weekend was her first football game with friends and I can say that she and her friend had way to much sugar and made it feel as if there was something wrong with my car because of the bouncing around. I got them home though and at some point in time in the wee hours of the morning they both actually finally slept.

Alright that is it for this week. I know I could probably do more but instead I'm going to get back to sitting chilling out watching a football game with Army Guy here tonight. I hope that everyone has had a wonderful weekend spent with those that you care the most about.

Feline, Furball, & Feathers Friday

Kiki, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I love taking pictures of Kiki! Unlike the lovebirds, Kiki just likes to take her time walking from place to place. Probably because her flying skills are horrible! Actually her flying isn't the biggest issue that Kiki has, it is the landing or in her case the crash landings that are the huge issue. Never seems to fail that Kiki will find the trash can to land in, or the water dish for one of the four legged animals, or even worse...the walls! So unless she is trying to escape me and the water bottle for spritzing her for bath time. Kiki is very happy to keep both her feet and all her feather's on the ground, which makes for a much easier photograph to be taken of her.

So it is Friday and time for all the felines, furballs and feathers to shine. No pouting pictures this week because they were so pouty that it would break hearts to see them. (This is actually not a joke since Trinity was in her "poor me" routine just about all week long.)

This week Carly stopped by with Hendrix showing off a new perspective of the world. Great pictures of a wonderful cat!

So now time for how to play along. Grab your camera and take a picture of your feline, furball or feather friend, post the picture and then stop by here and leave a link in comments. It doesn't have to be done today, just by next Friday.

I hope that everyone enjoys a great weekend and see you next week.

Thinking Thursday...A journey to stop smoking

IMG_7068, originally uploaded by torri_g.

YAY ME! I'm right back at one full week of not smoking. Hmm...I feel as if I have been here before already. Oh yeah, I have been! I'm going to celebrate anyway because it was easier to get through this week one than it was the first week one. I've had less urges and thoughts about smoking this week than I did before last Wednesday. So maybe this is getting easier to do. I'm really happy with myself for not having the feeling of needing to give up on this journey. I'm happy that slowly but surely I'm learning new ways of dealing with stress feelings, urges, and the boredom feelings that used to mean time to smoke. So one week down again and the goal of hitting week two next Thursday and going even further this time. So there is still the lonely one cigarette sitting in the pack from a month ago, and the thought of throwing it away has crossed my mind a couple of times, but I'm not ready to do that yet. Maybe right now that is my security blanket, or just a way for me to visually remind myself of what I want to achieve.

So goal for the next week, just once again take it one day at a time and learn to deal with whatever gets thrown my way.

Fun...Some assembly required

IMG_7109, originally uploaded by torri_g.

Yesterday while driving Binky Sue out to the college I noticed that the park was filling with trailers, and figured I would drive through and check it out on my way heading back home. The trailers are all pulling in because it is time again for the Fun Festival in town. Today we drove through because they are doing the some assembly required to...well to everything. All the trailers with "City of Fun Shows" on them and my thought today was a lot of the people out there working don't look like they are seeing the fun with this whole thing. Wait that is because they are working on the some assembly required part of the show, and I don't imagine that climbing the outside ring of the Fire Ball ride is all that much fun on a pretty wind day. I also can not imagine that trying to get the 70x30 canopy tents set up would be all that much fun either. By this weekend no one will think twice about those things though because everything will be up and running and there will be real fun to be had, and lots of yummy carnival food to eat. While I do hope to get out and get some night photo's of everything all lit up, I will once again be skipping on heading over to the carnival though. When what will seem like the whole town converges into Veteran's Memorial Park, I would rather be anywhere else.

Simply Tuesday

IMG_7069, originally uploaded by torri_g.

I'm happy because I was able to get out of the house this morning with my camera, and headed out to Huachuca Canyon after dropping Binky Sue off at school. Some flowers, some butterflies, and tons of bees. Hiked about a half mile up the canyon looking for the butterflies and whatever else I could find, and then hiked back down to the car. Wasn't going for anything to long because of needing to get back into practice with the knee, but was very enjoyable.

I hope that everyone has had a great Tuesday.