13 from the Playlist

In my younger years I was a complete lover of music (mostly rock-n-roll) but as I aged this passion kind of faded out a little ~ probably due to a slowing down of partying, which, to me, went hand-in-hand with music.

Music has again become a big part of my life and I can only relate that to the “newness” I am experiencing in a new relationship.  I love lyrics, while he, being a bass player, loves the music.  (And yes, I am finally learning to hear the bass within the music)

13 songs from my playlist (copied from Becky’s playlist)….  songs that I love & have recently touched me!

1.     Drops of Jupiter, Train

2.     I’m Yours (“our” song), Jason Mraz

3.     Iris, GooGoo Dolls

4.     Glycerin, Bush

5.     What it’s Like, Everlast

6.     You were Meant for Me, Jewel

7.     Love Song, Tesla

8.     Meet Virginia, Train

9.     Outside, Staind

10.   My Own Prison, Creed

11.   Ain’t no rest for the Wicked, Cage the Elephant

12.  Drive, Incubus

13.  Name, GooGoo Dolls

Long Weekend Highlights

What a long, wonderful weekend…

Weekend highlights….

Thursday night Ron finally got in from work, about 2 hours later than planned. He was pretty tired from an extra long day so we just hung out for a bit with the crew of teens that collect at his house due to his two boys.  Ron slept early and I read most of the night.

Friday morning I headed off, as usual to take Sam to school. Her plan was to head to the varsity game Friday night and I had to pick her up at midnight (it was an away game which entailed 1.5 hours of drive, as well) at the school.  Ron & I did the DVD thing Friday afternoon and then late afternoon headed out to Christiansburg.  We ate chinese buffet, bought mice for his snake, equipment to fix his amps foot pedal, fizz balls for the big tub (he has a nice big tub and said an absolute necessity for the tub was to buy fizzy bath stuff) and a few added goodies.  Running around took much of the afternoon and around dark we decided to hit the river and sit there to wait for Sam to get back from the game.  It was fun just sitting next to the river and letting time pass.  Good quality getting to know eachother time!

Saturday morning we had to get up early and take Sam over to her friends house in Radford, where she planned to spend the night ~ so this time we spent the afternoon in Radford. We hung out at the park for awhile and had Pizza at Sal’s.  Very good pizza, too ~sicilian (square).  On the way back from Radford I had the urge to take a dip in the river.. which I did, and happened to run into two Copperheads and a big water snake in about a 1/2 hours time!  Ron claims to have seen even a few more water snakes while I was swimming, which he didn’t mention, so as not to scare me.  (Thanks) Needless to say, after discussing, I’ve pretty much decided I might not go there anymore, even if it is a pretty cool little swimming hole with mountain fresh water!

Sunday was a little more relaxed.  We had planned on heading to the flea market in Hillsville, but we were both pretty into just hanging out at his house, so after lunch at the Mountain Restaurant in Meadows of Dan, we did just that.  I was checking out the fizz balls and debating on that nice deep hot tub when we realized the fizz balls actually gave birth to little dinosaurs!  What a hoot that was ~ and of course we immediately had to check them out…. Ron filled the tub for me (adding yummy liliac oil) and we each dropped in a “fizzy egg”  And the results were….

The Big Tub with the lilac oil & fizz balls

Baby Dino's!

After laughing a good few minutes at the results, I enjoyed my nice long soak!

Monday went by quickly.  Sam had decided to stay an extra night at her girlfriends but I did have to bring her to her 4 hour cheer practice at noon and pick her up at 4.  (Lots of Sam driving this weekend!)  In between the 12 & 4 trips, I cooked a lasagna for the crew at Ron’s.  Once back at Ron’s about 9 last night, the lasagna was pretty much devoured and it was time to wrap up the weekend and get ready for the week.

And, here I am now, Tuesday morning, 5 a.m., waiting to wake up the girl for school, for a new week & ready to focus on the job~hunt again!

Friday Fill-in

And…here we go!

1. I feel very tired right now!

2. Getting dolled up for a night out is always fun.

3. Right now, I can hear these things: A TV or radio somewhere in the background & my dog scratching & sighing periodically

4. Ron is home for the long weekend and I’m glad that the long weekend has finally arrived!

5. The last time I checked if my daughter was up for school yet was 10 minutes ago (& every 10 minutes for the past 3/4 hour), and she wasn’t, of course!

6. I’m going to savor every moment of this Labor day weekend.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to seeing a movie (hopefully at the drive-inn if something good is playing), tomorrow my plans include just spending all day at Ron’s and Sunday, I want to go to the big flea market in Hillsville!

13 Things about my (step) Dad

Mom & Oz

My step-dad is going into surgery tomorrow to have his heart rhythm fixed, so I’m doing my 13 all about him….

1.  His nickname is Ozzy (not “the” Ozzy, but I have to admit it was quite cool to have an Ozzy while I was in school)

2.  He grew up in Hingham, Massachusetts

3. In his younger days he played hockey, and drove a Corvette & a Harley.

4.  He raised me since the age of 6 or 7, but met & started dating my Mom when I was 4

5.  He is very hardworking

6.  He is also pretty darn smart

7.  He is retired now, but spent his working years as a dedicated union electrician

8.  He has lots of hobbies ~ motorcycles, fishing, Nascar and building antique cars.

9.  He is quite talented at the building of the antique cars and has won many awards with this talent.

10.  As you can see in these pictures:

11.  Due to the Nascar hobby & the car building, he goes away on car show & race trips quite often.

At a car show...

12.  He is a dedicated husband, father & really loves his grandbabies!

13.  Us Virginia people are sending prayers and much love that the surgery goes well & the big heart gets better!

Taking care of business

As posted March 28, 2006 ~ on my old blog (I’m slowly trying to move them over…)

28 March 2006 12:43 EST | Posted by chrisseas-corner Taking Care of Business
My birthday came and went without incident. I got home from work and decided I wanted to go out – so I treated myself to a birthday dinner for Samantha and I. We went to the 99 Restaurant. I had my all time favorite, French Onion Soup, for my appetizer and then for dinner I had a seafood medley which was yummy. Shrimp, Scallops and Schrod with a newburg sauce and crumb topping. Sam had a steak burger which was so big it could have fed both of us. She brought 1/2 of it home. After dinner we drove next door and took Friendly’s Sundays (with extra hot fudge) home for desert. We enjoyed. Samantha wanted to go to a restaurant that wasn’t in Marshfield – so as not to be seen going out with her mother! I got a kick out of that… remembering when… she got the old “too bad” response to that one.
I woke up this morning and do not feel any older. I’m wondering when I’m supposed to feel like an adult. General consensus is that you actually never feel different mentally. When I was young I remember looking up to adults and wondering what I was going to be like, not knowing that I’d be the same exact person. It’s kind of strange when you think about it.

Today is my niece’s birthday – Isabel. I find it very hard to believe that she is already seven.
She was born a day after my birthday and I can already tell how much of an Aries she is…
Here are a few pictures.
Samantha is on the left and Isabel is on the right. This was taken by my sister during one of Samantha’s visits to Mass. when we still lived in Virginia. I’m not sure of the date but I think it was probably at least five years ago. Samantha looks to be about Isabels age now. Looks to me like they didn’t want to go to bed… or do you think they were up to something?

We are definately up to something.... Summer 2001

My beautiful niece, again, summer 2001

Five years older, 2006

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY TO ISABEL

Ok and now for a Puppy update:
I couldn’t leave the puppy in the kitchen this morning – she whimpered and whined so much about being locked in. She made her first little barks, too. I couldn’t leave with her making all that racket, being in an apartment, so I gave in and let her out. This was an error in judgement but what could I do? Now she will know she can whine and get her way and she will probably make a mess on my carpet too. But… what was I going to do, I ask again? I had to get to work and I couldn’t leave her barking. Yesterday she did ok. Today I guess she realized what was going on. I put her in the kitchen last night for sleeping and she managed to knock the gate down in the middle of the night. I found her curled up next to Samantha at about 3 a.m. She is just so dang cute! I don’t know how she got up on Sam’s bed. Sam said she didn’t lift her and she hasn’t yet been able to climb or jump up on the furniture… well… I guess maybe she can now.
Yesterday I bought a handheld carpet cleaner. It was only like 40.00 and it works great! I cleaned up a few of her little spots and there is no smell and no stain! I’m thrilled with this little machine! Couldn’t go without it.

Rubie, Toby, Parker Boy

Our current Dog, Parker

I am in love with German Shepherd dogs.  I think it stems from my father giving me one when I was a little girl.  Her name was Sheila and I believe (I don’t remember this real clearly) that we had to put her to sleep because she bit a neighbor friend of mine.  I don’t think I was even yet in kindergarten, but loving the Germans has stuck with me all my life.

I introduced Samantha to German Shepherds a few years ago ~ and she too, now loves them. Unfortunately we haven’t had great luck ~ the first two we had both were hit by cars and killed and a week or so ago the Shepherd we have now (pictured) was hit as well.  He is ok but has a ghastly gash on his rear leg and I’m praying he makes it without developing an infection.  There is exposed bone and it’s quite ugly.  I’ve been treating him with some left-over antibiotics and hydrogen peroxide, and so far so good.  I can see it healing, slowly.

Rubie, our first, we got in March of 2006.  Here is the post from my old blog ~ as written, March 26, 2006:

Rubie
Samantha got a German Shepherd puppy Saturday. She is 7 weeks old and pure-bred. She really is a dream dog…. so very awesome. German Shepherds are so smart and I can already tell she is going to be brilliant and our best friend! We’ve started training her and even though I’ve read on-line that 7 weeks is too young to expect her to be trained, she really is picking right up on it. We take her out every few hours and she goes to the bathroom right away. The few times that she tried to go inside, we caught her before she got finished and were able to run her outside where she could finish her duties. I bought her a gate and dog bed this afternoon. She will be alone from 9am – 2pm everyday and she will be staying in our little kitchen area during these hours. In essence this will work just like crate training because my kitchen is rather small.
She is so very much like a real baby. She whimpers and whines, doesn’t bark yet and is still unstable on her feet. She doesn’t like to leave our sides. She’ll come over and curl up at at our feet (if standing) or curl up tight next to us (if sitting). So far her main activity has been sleeping, with a few little bouts of energy every hour or so.
She is just so very precious… I wish you all were here to meet her! Everyone we’ve come across with her has just adored and praised how pretty she is. Samantha is so very proud to have such a great little puppy! Her name is fitting, Rubie, for she is truly a precious little jewel!

8/1/9

I’ve got someone new in my life and it’s been quite a whirlwind situation. Today is our “1 month anniversary” ~ on the phone last night he told me “you women are funny creatures, you remember that type of stuff.”  Too true, we are and I did!

Ron works out of town, so I only get to see him when he is home on the weekends, but since 8/1/9 we have spent every weekend together. I’m pretty happy, at this point….

This past weekend he had to work both Saturday and Sunday, so I headed to North Carolina to spend the night there. We had a great time.  We went out for seafood and I actually tried raw oysters.  I love steamed oysters, but the thought & the texture of a raw one just couldn’t, wouldn’t & shouldn’t have convinced me to try them.  Ron somehow convinced me, amazingly enough…  after he fixed it all up with horshradish & tabasco sauce.  Wow, it was terrific and really surprized me! Now I want more…..

It was a quick trip ~ I only stayed Saturday night. Sunday he had to work all day and then travel to another job site in another part of NC for Monday ~ but it was well worth it.  I checked out of hotel at 11 and drove back home.  Looking forward, now, to this upcoming long Labor Day weekend!

Friday Fill-in

And…here we go!  (click that link if you want to play today!)

1. He was amazing, intriguing, exciting & new to me!

2. Storms & weather changes are what I look forward to most this time of year.

3. My best friend is a true friend & I’m very thankful for her!

4. I feel like a “volunteer” taxi-cab driver (yes I have a teen) to be honest with you.

5. Appearances can be fun.

6. The last person I gave a hug to was my daughter Samantha ~ and Ron too.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to doing nothing until midnight when I have to go back to my taxi~without~pay duties (thanks to the football game), tomorrow my plans include seeing Ron either at his work site in NC or his home here (either one is fine with me), and Sunday, I want to do the same as Saturday!

Clearly

Well I had another Clearly Chrissie moment, which for those of you who don’t know, is when my blond comes out and / or I  completely make an ass out of myself… or I simply flush my keys down the toilet.

Sam has had cheerleading practice every evening this week and she has cheer camp Thursday thru Saturday 9 – 4 p.m.  Sam had asked if I could pick up her friend Kimberly Thursday morning, as her Mom would already be at work when they had to be there,  and I agreed that this would be fine.  So, Wednesday evening I took Samantha to her evening practice, as usual.  I usual stay in the parking lot and read because right now the drive is just too far to make coming home again worth while.  Usually by the time cheer is done all the Mom’s are waiting and in the past, we have gotten to somewhat know each other (thru car windows) while waiting.  Both Lauren & Kimberly’s mother have almost the same red car.  This year, the girls have decided to run a mile on the school track after each practice, so us Mom’s have been following them down to the track, if we see them heading that way, so they don’t have to walk back afterward.

Wednesday I pulled up next to Kimberly’s mothers red car and started talking with her.  She had gotten her hair cut to the shoulders and I told her it looked nice and we mentioned how it would be really hard to run just one of those laps.  I told her that I smoke cigarettes, which can’t help and she admitted she did too, although Danielle doesn’t know about her smoking.  We sat and waited a few more minutes on the girls.  When Sam got to the car I mentioned to Kimberly’s mother that I would be picking Kimi up and she looked at me blankly and said “Who is Kimberly?”

Oh Myyy Godddd!  Embarrassing!  It was the wrong mother!  Now there are three mothers with almost the same red car. I might have caught on when she told me Danielle didn’t know about her smoking…. but nooooo  ~ chalk that up as just another Clearly Chrissie moment!

13 Times I’ve been afraid

As originally posted March 23, 2008 (from my old blog)

1   Visits to the Dentist (which I am doing today and tomorrow to get my tooth fixed from the seizure fall).

2   As a little girl I saw what I thought to be the Virgin Mary (it could have been an angel or an alien) glowing in the corner of my room. I closed my eyes and when I looked back she was gone. But… she had moved to the bottom bunk of my beds. I could see the glowing jutting out below me.

3   I was very sick in 1996. A team of Doctors came into my room to tell me they were going to let “machines” do my breathing for me for awhile because my body was just too tired to do the work. I remember screaming No and I just knew that I would never wake up.

4   Any time I have had to go up in front of a Judge.

5   Every time I fly in an Airplane.

6   I was flying home to attend my Grandmothers (Dad’s side) funeral. We had to change planes once. About 10 minutes before landing in PA airport the cabin filled up with thick black smoke. We had to land and make an emergency exit, luckily we were close to the airport. It turned out to be the AC unit in the cabin… BUT I had to get back on another plane, which wasn’t very fun!

7   When the labor pains during childbirth got Real Bad!

8   As a child I was sleeping on my top bunk and laying on my side next to the wall. A green hand reached up from the crack between the wall and the bed, again from the bottom bunk, and grabbed my ear.

9   Saturday when I had the seizure while on vacation.

10   911.

11   Getting pulled over by the police.

12   Having the police driving directly behind me.

13   As a child I had two recurring dreams on a regular basis. The first: I was still only crawling at this point, I crawled over to pick up a fluffy white feather and it turned into a big black hairy spider and started scurrying toward me. The second: There was a devil that lived in the crawl space basement we had and he would come up the drain when I was having a bath. I was very young for this one too.