February 27th

Wow, this is probably the worst I have felt! Suddenly the cold which seemed to be mostly a chest cold moved up and I need to take stock in Kleenix! My head is going to explode. Nancy, my boss, told me to go to court (we had a 1:30 court proceeding) and head home afterwards so I took her up on it. I'm going to take tomorrow off I think and recuperate. When we work the weekend, we take 2 days off, usually Friday and Monday. Considering how I feel and our computer system is down, I'm going to take Thursday and Friday off and try to shake this.

February 25th

I hijacked this picture from Arthur. Knightdale was cloaked in fog today and Arthur took my camera and took a picture of the woods behind our house.

February 24th

This was supposed to be a picture of the soup that I made today but I forgot to finish the pictures! My cold is one of those chest colds that burns every time I cough. So I made myself soup - Chicken Rosemary Roasted Vegetable Soup. It is a wonderful recipe that a friend from my other job gave me but it does take awhile. You roast the vegetables for 50 minutes first. Cook the broth with chicken and fresh rosemary; then add the veggies and whatever soup noodle you like. It makes the house smell wonderful.

February 22nd

Slight change in weather today! At least we got some rain although it probably isn't making a dent in our drought. I worked alone today since Rose is working the weekend and Nancy was sick. By the end of the day, I was kind of dragging. I guess we are now passing around a cold.

February 21st

Absolutely beautiful day! I had to break out the short sleeves.

Just Me

Hello Everyone, Just me - Michele"s husband. I just wanted to stop by an invite you all to my blog. http://ephns413.blogspot.com/ We were going to share, but this is her project and I don't want to mess it up. Get a cup of coffee, stop by, listen to some music, have a good time.

Arthur

February 17th

For your birthday, you get to pick out a favorite meal and your cake. However, for the 18th birthday we go out to restaurant. Dan picked Red Lobster. Yesterday, Dan went to the Fox and Hound with some friends and then to a movie. Arthur and I had tickets to a comedy club. So we went to Red Lobster after church today. Although Dan enjoyed his Rock Lobster Tail (Arthur and Dan had to sing Rock Lobster thoughout most of the meal) and steak, he said it isn't up to the standard of RI lobster. He chose Pig Picking Cake so we went home for dessert.

February 16th

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIEL!!

I can't believe that my baby is 18 years old today!

Dan as the Michelin Man

He could do amazing tricks with the pacifier. My mother was afraid that he'd go off to college with it. Lol! Have no fear, he did give it up a while ago.

Off to school. His kindergarten teacher said that he had "a lot to contribute". I think that's a nice way of saying that he talked a lot.

Creation with the Junior High Youth group

Free at last

My baby is 18! Wow, where does the time go. Dan you bring joy and laughter into our lives. Happy Birthday!

February 15th

I went out into the yard to clean up a bit. I cut down the overgrown, dead mums and trimmed the bushes a bit. We have one that died and then on the end one looks like it's a mutant and is soon going to eat the house! Reminds me of the maneating rhododendron in RI. When we bought the house there was this HUGE rhododendron in front of the dining room window. It was so big you couldn't see out the window. One year, Arthur's cousin brought over his truck and we tied ropes and chains to it and hauled it out. I swear the house always had a slight tilt after that. Yes, we were more redneck in RI than we are in NC. Lol! Ever since that experience, rhododendron sort of scare me. Anyway, I found some of my flowers are starting to poke their heads out of the garden. I'm not sure how they are going to do since we aren't even allowed to hand water but maybe I can collect rain water (if it ever rains) and use that.

February 14th

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Arthur has been sick for a couple days - he got Dan's stomach bug - but he remembered Valentines Day. I found cards scattered all throughout the house. We don't usually go out on Valentines since it doesn't seem worth it with the crowds. We had picked up some t-bones on sale and had that and salad for dinner - Just the 4 of us .

February 12th

We had a Valentine's Arts and Crafts for the kids at our apartment community. They got to come after school, make crafts and have cake and juice.

February 11th

Spring has sprung in North Carolina!

Well maybe just a little... I noticed these along the drive into work.

I had today off and got tons done. I finished my Bible study and had some uninterupted prayer time. Sunday Arthur and I went to the gym and I'm still sore so I decided not to go to Curves. I walked through our neighborhood instead so that was about 1 1/2 miles. I made it to the bank to straighten out a problem with a new savings account we set up. I cleaned the bathrooms (we have way to many bathrooms!) since Daniel was sick yesterday with a stomach bug and gave the rest of the house a quick clean. Then I just relaxed, finished the book I had been reading "The Yada Yada Prayer Group"

February 10th

Water; a precious commodity right now. We are at stage 2 water restrictions because of the drought. No outside watering, even by hand, no carwashing, no water served in restaurants unless asked for, and on and on. It is really hurting landscaping business and nurseries. Why would anyone spend money on their yard when it will all die since you can't water it. Raleigh has a approximately 100 days of water left in Falls Lake. We actually have well water but it ultimately is all from the same place. It does make you reprioritize things - wash my car or have water to drink?

February 9th

From the outside looking in

Not as creepy as it first sounds. I was grilling and thought it might make an interesting shot.

February 7th

Spicy Roasted Chicken Legs from my favorite cooking website http://thepioneerwomancooks.com/page/2

They were excellant with the just a little kick. We had this with salad with my favorite French Country dressing from the Farmer's Market and White Shoepeg corn.

February 6th

We received the letter from Ft Riley telling us that "our soldier is coming home" ! Basically, it lets you know that you won't know anything until 24-72 hrs prior to him landing. He's supposed to come home in April or May. Unfortunatly, with that short of a notice, I doubt we will be able to be there when he lands. We'll have to wait until he gets here.

February 5th

Always leave a light on

February 4th

I changed the music! This is a new Brad Paisley song that I just heard on the radio, "Letter to Me". The first line is "If I could write a letter to me and send it back in time to myself at seventeen". If you could write a letter to yourself at 17, what would you tell yourself? From our great vantage point of maturity what would you share? I know I probably wouldn't even listen to myself since I thought I had it all figured out! Lol! It brings back a lot of memories when as the song says " it’s hard to see past Friday night". I'm not too sure what I would say to myself - anyone have any great insight?

February 3rd

Yes, it is a sad day in Patriot Land. However, Rose is glad she can take the Patriot banner down and just have the painting in the living room. We went down to Rose & Joe's for a Superbowl party. I brought cheesecake. It's the first time I have ever made cheesecake and it actually was good! Unfortunatly it is all gone so now I guess I'll have to make another cheesecake! Lol!

February 2nd

Arthur and I had a good day today. We didn't really have to do anything so we rode around and looked at some neighborhoods in Wendell and then tried to find a junk yard (to get a side mirror for Arthur's car). He spotted this beaver dam in our travels. Arthur had praise and worship practice and then we went out to dinner to Cinelli's. He wanted their Antipasta and I was craving their Chicken Monachina. It's been awhile since we have been out with just the 2 of us! BTW, Arthur has lost 24 lbs and Dan's lost 18 lbs.