It looks like he's beating somwthing. I'm gonna tell everyone it's Smitty 

Smitty 

Matt likes this pic cuz it makes the fish look big 

One of these is Matt's 

Happy Summer Solstice

Sunrise: 4:19 am
Sunset: 11:43 pm

Happy summer

We had this kitty show up in our backyard today. He turned out to be our neighbor's cat, but I felt so sorry for him cuz he was lost. I didnt want to take him to the pound, but I didnt really want to keep it either, thoug I probably would have just so I knew he wasnt going to die. I think Jackie had a crush on him. She was very enamored with him. He was a short haired gray kitty with gold eyes. He was kinda pretty. But there was a little girl who loved him and wanted him back. I should go to bed. Matthew is probably already asleep and probably a ittle ticked off at me. Oops. Well, good night.

I had a very odd, pre-apocalyptic dream last night. We were at war. And when I say we I mean my family and I. And At first we were all fight on the same side, in kind of a futuristic city. On the tops of the tall buildings. Thnk Futurama in 3-d and not animated. And suddenly the people we were fighting against tuned into one person that was both my mom and my brother in the same person. Dont ask me how. Usually the people in my dreams are actyally a combination of the essences of multiple people, in this case it was mom and lew but they were also fighting beside me, my sister and dad in seperate and individual essences. ANd the person we were fighting, I shall call it Mew, was shooting arrows at us and then decided to light the arrows on fire and started the whole city ablaze. And one of the arrows landed on my foot, or in my foot rather, and my dad put it out and broke of the end, a la Braveheart. So flash to the future and I am on crutches, still with the arrow in my foot cuz no one would take it out. So finally we are at the hospital and the only person they could get to do it was my Aunt lisa. So dad was in the roo with me and Aunt Lisa sqeezed out the arrowhead but only half way. So my dad just yanks it out of my foot. And I wake up and my my damn foot hurts where the arrow had pierced it.

Dreams are weird.

I have decided that I am just going to have to make use of my sleep mask. I feel dumb wearing it cuz I have always thought they were stupid but now I am finding them necessary. I dont know why our apartment seemed so much darker than the house does. I dont remember having this much of a problem last summer.

I got my Jem t shirts in the mail today. I am so excited. I am going to wear the pink one to work tomorrow. It is the small things in life. Something has to keep me happy, or I will go insane with work. I am going to be working 6 days a week this summer. Probably till I go on vacation in August. I have told them that they need to be making sure that these new girls are prepared for that because I will not be working during that time. I am going to HAVE to take some time away frm the store. Especially concidering the fact that Lori and Ralph will have been gone two weekd prior to that time. I am not working. Screw it! Kay, have to sleep now. Sleep mask here I come.

Stupid sun. we still have an hour before it even sets. I have myself convinced that it doesnt affent me but it does. Just like in the winter I tell myself that I am not more tired because of the dark, but I am. There is still an hour and a half before it even sets! I cant get to sleep. I am all wound up cuz my stupid body cant tell that it is 10:30 and I need to get to bed so I can wake up for work tomorrow. Stupid sun.

Painting

We have started painting. They got a lot done. Pretty much the whole salon side. I will try to take some pics when it is all done. We got most everything put back up today. Not all of it but most of it. We'll do the store side this coming weekend. But I have been inhaling paint fumes all day. I have the most monsterous headache right now. Blah. We started getting a llittle loopy too cuz we had a couple of perms goin on today too. Perm fumes and paint fumes mix together and it smells like poo. Literally. Bad day. And go figure the day we have the salon torn up is the day we are busy back there. Figures. That's alrigt though. The store looks so good now. I am so excited. Its a merlot, and tan and navy blue color scheme. Looks very rich, and classy. Instead of stark walls. Well, anyway, I have to go change we are going out to the lake tonight to fish and cook out so I will talk to ya later!

I'm gonna have a busy day on August 6th/7th. Matthew will get in at 8ish. and then Lew and Amanda get in at 12:20ish. So I can go get Matthew, take him home, let him unpack, turn around, go back to the airport and pick up the dweebs. I am so excited. I'm gonna go from having an empty house to a way full one. K, I have to get ready for work. Boo. I dont want to go. Yesterday we pulled everything down off the walls cuz we're painting the store some new colors. So Tpday we get to go and put it all back up on the walls. Yay. What fun. Like I dont have a hundred other things I need to do.

Lets add to my misery

Ok, I need to vent a little here. So if you dont want to hear me bitch, then skip todays entry.

So I have another girl quitting tomorrow, in the terms of quality work it will be like Hives on a 90 degree day, totally not missed and worth as much work wise. But now I am back down to four people to run the store so this means I am back to six days a week. Which sucks, its not like we couldnt use the money but I am already getting burnt out and I am not even close to my three month mark. Usually it takes about 3 months for me until I need to take abreak. And I have until August before I can take that break. If Amanda and Lew werent coming up I probably would have worked throught o December and that wouldnt have been pretty for anybody. So I guess it is a lesser of the two evils thing or something. Yes, i have to work 6 days a week, but I am making more money and we can defineately use that. On to complaint #2. I have no alone time to be with Matthew. I know I need to talk to HIM about this, but I cant until we can get some time when it is just me and him, not me him and Smith. Yes, I know that Matthew has been gone and they havent seen each other in a long time, but he has been here since Friday. I can only stnd so much of him. He is a really nice guy and I have nothing against him, he just tends to get on my nerves, especially when I am in a bad mood from work. And Matt gets upset with me because I am not "in the mood" when we finally go to bed, well I have been sitrting there trying to put up with his friend, by the time we get to bed all I want to do is go to sleep and hope that tomorrow he wont be at our house. NAd we dont have to cook for him. I cant even feel comfortable in my own house cuz we always have someone her. Now, I dont want to have Matthew all to myself all the time, because Lord knows that I would have to lock him in a closet, but let me have at least one of my night's off with my husband, not my husband and his friend.

Okay, I think I am done. I just needed to get that off my chest before I went mad. I need to let this out before I talk to Matthew or else I will end up turning it into a bigger issue than it is cuz it really isnt that big of a deal, it just needs to be addressed befor eit does become a big issue.

I love having something to look forwarf to. Amanda, and maybe Lew, are coming up in August to visit. Yay. I need to figure out how to do sleeping arrangements, I only have room in the spare bedroom for the aormatress. Of course there is the fouton in the basement, I would think that it would get cold down there. And plus the litter box is down there so you would have to deal with Jackie being down there. Oh, well, I have a couple months the figure it out. Yay. Visitors, to my house. I am so excited.

I'm Back

I have returned. e had a pretty sucessful trip. It was mainly an education trip. We had classes all day Wednesday and Thursday. We took a little detour to the dollar store and spent $350. HeeHee at the dollar store. We got all kinds of stuff like deodorant and tampons and razors and travel stuff that you might neeed a drugstore to buy, but there are no drugstore in downtown Anchorage. So we are looking to change that. Dont know where we are going to set it up at but we will find a place. Cori quit while I was gone. Always while I am gone. I cant expect her to go against her parents. But maybe she should! No I understand, they want to her to go to school ionstead of work. In the long run, it is in her best interest, but I am back to working at night and I am a bit peeved about that. Any way, we took this class on how to use the internet to expand your buisness and this guy is like an internet buisness guru. He's made something like 40 million with his buisnesses. Anyway, he was talking about the stuff that they are working on producing using the internet, like A rierigerator that has a specific place for say, milk, and it is programmed to know how much your milk weighs so that when it reaches a certain weight, it will go on the internet, order your milk, and it will be delivered right to your house. And then there is a chip that will go in your car that will signal when your service engine light comes on it will connect with your mechanic and make an appointment to have them come out to your house at night (or whenever you slepp) to fix your car in your driveway while you sleep. And this one is my favorite. They are developing a Tv That has the capabilities to let you touch the creen if you are watching a show and like the shirt they are wearing or lamp or couch or shoes or whatever and you just touch the screen and order it from the internet and have it sent to your house. Isnt that cool? Just something to think about. I need to go get ready for work.

I know I dont have a lot to be stressed out about and i know that I do this to myself most of the time. I just want my mommy. There are just times in your life when you need your mom. Or ANYONE at this point, but especially your mom. I wish I could just skip this conference and go home. I have to go to stupid Tacoma instead. Boo. I want to stay home and wallow in my own self misery. I am so coming home for Christmas. I got an invitation to Kim's wedding. I wish I could go. It would be worth just coming home for the weekend! I am seriously thinking about it but I dont have the money. If I find an unbeatable rate, I am going. It would be such a blast. Well I have to go get ready to go to the airport. I am so tired this flight is gonna suck.

We just got back from Eilson (we being Stephanie and myself, matt is still there.) I knew that seeing him would only make things harder. I just want to cry now. I was fine. It was only six weeks. And now I only have a week and a half left and I am cryin my eyes out. I couldnt get myself to leave. To be able to touch him, and smell his cologne and hold hid hand for only two days and then go back to our home withouthim. Shouldnt have evn gone. What will I do when its 4 monthes intead of six weeks? It will happen. I hate being alone. Good news though, Rachel is working in the mall again, down at ales. So we went to lunch on Wednesday. We decided that we were gonna pick a day and make it a weekly thing. I have missed her so much. She is seeing an army guy now. So she was askin my6 advice. i dont know if I can give that advice, I mean look at me, I cant even go six weeks. Stephanie says its because its our first TDY. She says they are never easy, but you do get better at them. Her husband just got back from Japan not too long ago and now he is up there at Eilsen. And they have a little daughter. We got along really well. We have a lot of things in common and are tastes are similar. She is Amanda's age. NAd a nurse. She's nice, they're from Texas.

I suppose I should get to bed since I wont get any sleep tomorrow. I have to be at the airport at # am. So I guess I will either write tomorrow or when I get back from Tacoma.

I would just like to say that it is very difficult to type with this cat under my arm, but she insists on sittling on the arm rest rather than my lap. cats. Anyway, I was pretty depressed today. I wanted to be home so much. I couldnt even get a call through till like 5:30. I kept getting this message that all the circuits were busy and this was on a land line from work. I couldnt even send out a fax to New York! Guess everyone in AK was calling out to their moms. Oh well, I did get a hold of her eventually. Well, actually she called me but details people, details.

I dony really have a lot to talk about. I am going to Fairbanks this weekend to see Matthew so this week is going to drag! I'm gonna drive up with Stephanie Coffee. We just met today. We have talked on the phone but we thought that we should meet before we spend 5 hours in a car with her 2 yr old daught, Cadence. It is so funny cuz Cadence is so small. She is very dainty, so is her mom. But I just think, what if Malea had been that smalll. Calvin would had killed her by now. And that was all I could think about while this woman was introducing herself to me. I felt like a jackass afterwards. Oh, well. Last time we talked she was telling me about her friend that did an at home spray tan on her and it kinda ended up blotchy. So she wanted to know what I thought , so when she came in I had a different picture of what blotchy looked like, so I was like "it doesnt look that bad." And she kinda made this face at me and there behind me was the girl who did it. Open mouth, insert foot. Nice first impression, huh? So I tried to cover it up, but it didnt work, oh well, it was past, and I think I felt worse about it than the situation called for. Oh, well, something to joke about later I guess!

Tuesdays are always better

Yoday was a little as Tuesdays tend to be. Jessica will not speak to me, as if that hurts my feelings any. And I am told that she feels picked on and singled out. But i keep saying that if you are inside my walls then nothing is personal, its just buisness. And I am making that very clear.

And I figured out what was wrong with payroll. Ralph was working on it ALL day and he was startin to freak out like major. Cuz if the stylists wanted to they could get nasty and start demanding HUNDREDS in retro active pay, but it turns out that our numbers were right and I was right about that calculation it was doing that we werent aware of. Every service has a set value in the computer. so if you overcharge say a color which is set at $90 and you charge $100 then you will be on the plus side $20 but then we were running a sale and haircut were at $30 instead of the set calue of $40 so on every hair cut the computer is setting you back the $10. So the numbers in the chart werent reflecting those deviations fromthe set value until it calculated the total of all the services that stylist did. so it wasnt adding up across the table because there wasnt a column that said"this is how much you undercharged/overcharged." SO it is all good and I am a genius. Well, not really but i was pretty proud of myself cuz I figured it out. And I know Ralph was happy cuz he was trippin on this all day and was sure that something was screwed up. This program we use is really awesome and you can do a loy with it but it is not perfect. The company that makes it actually bases its upgrades on our questions cuz apparently we send in the most questions and we find the most flaws with their program, in the world so their upgrades are because we found something wrong with their system. Cool huh? I was looking at their "what's New" update book and there are a couple of things in there that were my questions. I was excited. Dont you think we should get a piece of that profit? I mean it is one of the fastest groing salon programs in the world. I want a piece of that pie! LOL. Anyway, I had a much better day today. so Now I must go to sleep so I can go in tomorrow and do it all agan. Plus Lori's back tomorrow. So I will have PLENTY to do!

and cuz I am trying to figure out how to get a pic in my profile like evryone else does. 

And so she doesnt feel left out, my sister :) 

My mommy 

My daddy :) 

I love her facial expressions! 

Proud Auntie Em 

Yup. MY little brother 

my little brother. 

Addison 

our gate 

Llyod and Flyod 

My side 

Matt's side 

isnt it the cutest 

my watering can 

this is my rock garden. Imagine totally overgrown with grass and you will know how much weeding I did. 

We decided to plant some Violas for those of you wondering. To Amanda's question, we are not allowed vegetables in our backyard. I dont know why but we arent. So flowers and the occasional flamigo will have to do.

I think I suffered a stroke today at work. Actually we have come to call them seizures. It is when we get so frustrated with these girls who work for us that our brain swells and begins to leak out our ear. At least thats how I felt today. i seriously thought I was going to flip out. To start it off I couldnt get payroll to come out right. The computer's figures didnt match my calculations and I dont have any idea why. I do need to get them turned in to our accountant by tomorrow and I have no numbers to fax her cuz I cant get them to come out right. ANd them I have this girl who doesnt know our brain from her butthole cuz I believe that she's thinking with the wrong one. It took her a good five hours to do a simple order on makeup. A task that would have taken me a max of 30 minutes. And that is allowing for customer itteruptions. I keep saying tit would be faster if I just did this stuff myself, but I am delegating more and letting these girls do it. So I was getting frustrated with that, because I know that tomorrow I am just going to have to do it myself anyway. And this same girl checked out a salon client and didnt charge her for the $115 cut and color that she got done. Instead she rang out the 11.90 Redken hairspray and some various nail polishes that added up to $73 or so dollars for which that client left a $10 tip. Now I would think that would tip her off that perhaps this woman had a salon service done but no, she claims that she didnt know. Malu did call me tonight and told me that she was able to contact the client and get the $115. So I dont have to think about that anymore. And then this same girl clocked off a half an hour early saying she didnt feel good and then went back to the salon so a stylist could play with her hair. DONOT leave MY salesfloor and tell me that you dont FEEL good and then go back to the salon. If youdont FEEL good then clock off and GO HOME! So I wrote her up. Twice. In one day. Ralph is gonna have a seizure when Malu tells him that in the morning. I think I am losing my effect or something. They used to be scared of me. Now, I think they are getting comfortable which just doesnt make sense to me cuz I am more of a hard ass now then I ever was before. If anything they should be scared now cuz i could boot them ALL and that store would run fine. But I can tell you this, if I dont get resultas in ONE weeks some people will looking at the want ads. mark my words. I hate firing people but this is riduculous. Maybe that is what they have figured out, that I dont like to do it so they think they are safe. Well, that will be changing. They will ALL know that their heads could be on my chopping block.

Anniversaries

atthew came home this weekend. I think that he is feeling pretty guilty about missin our wedding anniversary. We went to Pizza Hut on Friday when he got home, and it kinda came up. but I told him it was ok since he was there tonight, Friday. And he kinda had tto think for a second and I just grinned at him. And the light bulb came on. So he was figuring out what year it was and I was giving him a hard time, like, its kinda a big one, I said. He's like 5 years? Has it been five years? Yep, I said five years ago tonight we were at prom. It was hard for him to believe. LOL. What a cutie. I love him so much. I hate being away from him. Even if it is just 5 hours it is so hard. And the fact that he is so close doesnt help. But we had a great weekend. The weather was beautiful on Friday and Saturday. We worked in the yard all day on Saturday. It looks so nice now. SExcept for the bare spot where we re-seeded the grass. But we worked really hard. I will try to post some pics later. But we planted flowers and I weeded. I am SOOOOO sore though. But it is worth it. I think we have the best looking yard! I will try to get those pictures posted though. And I realized I never posted the ones from when I was home so I will try to do that too. But I am starting oa new shift at work this week. I will open every day but Tuesdays now. I need to get on a new sleeping schedule. But if you need to get a hold of me I am at the store from 9:30 am to 5:30-6 ish Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Tuesday is still 1-9 and Sunday is the same 10:30-6 and Friday and Saturday offf but come tourist season I might add some Saturdays once and a while. Especially with Ralph being gone. But I am going to hit the hay. I will work on getting the pics up tomorrow after work.

Im probably goin to Tacoma for another show here soon. Lori hasnt said anything about it to me but Ralph told me today that she had brought it up. But I need to go to bed now. I dont really have anything to talk about and I have a meeting at 8:45 tomorrow. Sucky.

5 years

Jackie is pissed at me tonight! After this afternoon when I changed her water and put fresh litter in the box she thought she was queen of the castle. Then we took a bath. And she hates me! Oh, well, she smels a lot better now. I think we neeed to do it more often cuz she is getting dandruff. Poor little baby.

I wish I had more to talk about but I dont. Saturday is me and Matt's 5 year anniversary. 5 years we have been together. 5. But you knnow what it feels like it has been a loy longer than 5. In a good way, though. Like we have always been together. I guess thats a good thing though. That also means it has been 5 years since i gradated high school. Whoa. Now there is a reality check. I have been out of high school for 5 whole years. Thats crazy! Whoa, I'm gonna have to go ponder on that for awhile. Catch ya later.

Imagination

I figured it was time to update I know it has been awhile. I lived throught the rash. It was some sort of allergic reaction, but they cant know for sure what it was from except the it was probably not Jackie. I went the doctor and she said it was either something I was eating or something I was using. Because of the nture of the rash. It wasnt on my face or on my back so I figure it was my soap since I dont use it on my face ad I dont scrub my back with it like I do the rest of me just cuz I cant reach as well! LOL. Anyway, she gave me some meds to take and I quit using that soap, and my lotion just to be sure. Since I dont put that on my back, it could be the culprit but I do use it rather extensively on my face so there's a predicament. Better safe then sorry I guess.

Matthew is gone so I am sole provider of care for the cat so far I am doing well. I have remembered to feed her and change her water and I have even emptied her litter box. We will be taking a bath tomorrow. Wish me luck. She is a heck of a lot bigger than the last time I gave her a bath. As we speak she is playing inside of a plastic sack. She loves that game. Then I pick her up and carry her around the house in the bag. She is entertained by that.

I dont like being alone here. I hate being alone anyway, but I dont like it in this house all by myself. I dont do well by myself. Friday I went to the mall just cuz I cant stand to be by myself. I am too dependent on other people's company. I have to be around people. I dont know how Amanda can live by herself. I hate being by myself. Even when I am in a pissy mood and I dont want to be around anyone, I still need to know they are there. So I spent a few hours at the mall, just kinda window shoppion and people watchin and I went to the store for a little while. It is just too quiet. Even with jackie, it is too quiet. I hate the quiet cuz then my brain takes overt and it has the tendency to dream up all kinds of shit. I am the same as my dad. He would spemnd hours alone in the combine and just let his mind go. He would have conversations with people and all kinds of stuff. He would get into an argument with mom, in his head, and come home all mad at her for something he dreamed up in his head. I'm, the same way. My mind gets going and before I know it I have killed off my entire family in car accidents and stuff and I am in the corner bawling cuz my family is dead. I'm psycho like that. I think about the day when They tell me mom has died or dad. Or Matthew has gotten in an accident and I am suddenly all by myself. Nad I cant stop crying cuz I have convinced myself they are dead. Thats why I hate to be by myself cuz I cant shut my brain off. I have this imagination that wont stop. Only 5 1/2 weeks and Matthew will be home.

Mumps

Alright people, I am dying. I have been sentenced to a slow agonizing death by itching. I have broken out in hives, I think they are hives. Caused by some unkn0wn allergen. I hope its not the cat. I love my kitty... Anyway, it started out on my arms and has spread all over my body. I thought it was the cheap dryer sheets and then I thought It was my lotion so I quit using both and still I am slowly scratching my body away. I am pretty sure I am going to lose my mind. I'm glad I dont remember having the chicken pox. I hope its not anything other than a reaction. But It has been going on for about a week now. So I should go to the doctor, but it is a riday. We will prolly end up gpoing to the ER cuz I cant lose anymore sleep. Do you have a fever when you have mumps? What is mumps? I got vaccinated for that so it shouldnt be that. Can you get Chicken pox twice? What about small pox? I am going to die. Farewell world. I must go try to rub calamine lotion over my entire body. If anyone has some miraculous treatment for itching I am open to anything at this point. Oh, and baking soda isnt strong enough.

My Response

Disclaimer: I dont mean to upset or piss anyone off. Dont take what I say personally, just undestand my, our point of view.

I dont want anyone to think that for a second, that my health is not in the front of my mind. I know what is wrong with me and I have to live with that everyday, but I am NOT gong to be the reason Matthew spends the rest of his life doing something he hates. Because while everyone is so proud/happy/excited for him to be in the Air Force, he hates it. There are so many things that you cannot BEGIN to understand because you ahve a civilian life and that is all you know. We have spent the last four days discussing every angle of this decision. Nothing has been decided yet bacause we understand that things could be very different in three years. By then a lot of things will have changed and hell, we might even have a kid to think about by then. We dont know. But He doesnt want to do this forever. And MS or no MS I am NOT going to force him to do it. Matthew knows what he is giving up and he knows what he risks on BOTH sides of the coin. But you cant compare missing a few birthdays cuz you had to go to Illinois on buoisness to missing the birth of your child because you are at war in Iraq or Korea or wherever. That is our reality. And twenty years of waiting for that phone call that will send him to the other side of the world... We are not making a rash decision and in fact we have made no decision. Just because I write it here doesnt mean it is written in stone. I appreciate your input and I know that you are only doing it out of concern, but it is a decision that, when it comes time, we will make on our own. Whatever Matthew does he will be good at. And if he wants to get his degree and work on airliners then that is what he will do and that is what he will be good at. And when he starts classes in the fall you will see that we are not making foolish choices with no thought behind them. This is a world you cannot understand. And I do not need to be reminded of te benefits that he would be giving up. I live with that everyday of my life. Everyday I wonder if this will be the day that I wake upand I cant walk, or if this is the day I will lose my sight. I dont need to be reminded of that. And I am not attacking anyone. I am not trying to be a bitch. And I am truely sorry if I hurt anyone, because I DO know that you are only trying to help, but I must make it clear that we are weighing the pros ad cons. And be happy that we have started three years earlyand not a month before the decision had to be made.

Alright I am going to try this again the last three times I have tried to post blogger wouldnt work.

So, Matthew is going to Fairbanks for 6 weeks. Over our first wedding anniversary. I cant say that I'm surprised. I was prepared for this when he told me that he was going to Australia. So I was prepared. I am not happy, but I know that it is part of my job and I knew that it was going to happen. Matthew is going to get out after his six years cuz he cant stand that thought of missing anything else important. He knows people who missed the birth of their first (or any) child. I cant do that by myself! So now we are discussing where we want to go after this. Anyway I have to get ready for work. I will post a better message after work but i am running a bit late today.

Hola todos

I have returned relatively unscathed. I had a lot of fun. It was different from what I thought it would be. Lori was pretty disappoint cuz apparently this year the show was hella smaller than it ever has been. But she said that was a good first show cuz I didnt get overwhelme and it can only get better from here on out! But the best part was that I was a ble to bond with Lori and ralph. To Matt's liking, Ralph was able to come up. matthew didnt like the idea of me and Lori out on the town by ourselves and he said he would feel better if Ralph could go and then he was able to clear it with his PO and came up on Friday night. So I got to know them a little better and now I have a "history" started. I always felt a bit left out cuz I was the only person in an upper position that didnt have a history with either one. Like Malu, she's worked for Lori for like 5 years and Brandee has worked for her even longer than that and they have stories and stuff and I never did and now I do. Like I am now on the inner circle instead of just on the outside of it. It was like me toes wre touching the line but i couldnt get in, now I am. Yay. But I have to get to bed I am still tired. I think I got ten hours of sleep this whole weekend and I had to wake up early to take Jackie to the vet this morning. She is getting de-clawed and spade. (sp?) My poor baby. Se has to stay over night in the hospital. Oh, my poor little baby. I want her back! I feel so bad for putting her through it. If she werent tearing up my rugs, I might not have doen it but she was so I did. But i have to go to bed. Adios.

I feel like i just got home but i have to leave for Seattle tomorrow. I am still tired from being on Iowa time and now I am going to lose another hour this weekend. I just need to pass out and sleep for a couple of days. I wanted to sleep in this morning but I woke up around 8:30 cuz I kept hearing these loud noises and I thought Jackie was tearing up the house. Turns out it was the ice/snow cracking on the roof and crashing to the ground. It was so loud. So I said forget it and got up. i needed to pack anyway so I figured I might as well. And we found out that our cable package was expanded. We get our hook ups through the housing partnership thingy and they expanded our package to include Starz and Encore so I have been watching a lot of movies lately. I finally saw Daddy Daycare and Jersey Girl which are both cute little movies if you are in the mood for a cutesie type movie. Anyway, I need to get to bed so I can get some sleep. So long until I return from Seattle. And then I will have something interesting to talk about.

The mirror

Today I got dressed and like I always do, I looked in the mirror to make sure that I didnt look stupid but today was different. My mirror and I have never been good friends. We have VERY different ideas about how one should percieve reality. I prefer imagination from the neck down, and have since about the fifth or sixth grade. My mirror on the other hand has this twisted idea that a true reflection is more beneficial. What does my mirror know anyway? So there is alway a twinge, however slight, at that first glimpse. It doesnt matter what I'm wearing or how good I look there is always that twinge. But this morning, I stood in front of my mirror and I was proud of myself. It was a good thing I hadnt done my make up yet cuz I even teared up a bit. Because this time I saw a person, not a blob in tight jeans. I saw curves and I saw a slimmer waist and I saw what i have been working so hard to achieve thesae last three months. And I was proud of myself. I actually felt good. About me. And that is a feeling I have not felt in a long time. And it just strengthens my resolve all the more. I cant even imagine the feeling I will have in December when I put on that dress. I dont even care what size it is anymore. Because nothing can compare to what I felt this morning. So we are 33 lbs down only 67 more to go.

Back to work

Well, as of tomorrow, my vacation is over. That is ok though, it was a good one and I am ready to go back to work. I was so completely bored today. I need work to entertain me. It was so depressing today. Yesterday was a beautiful day. It was "warm" and sunny and Matthew and i got a lot done aka grocery shopping. and today we wake up and it is snowing. It has been snowoing all day. We have to have gotten two to three inches at least. But I was so excited to come back and it was nice. yeah, and the weather is great in Iowa again. nOw that i am gone. Well, fine, be that way. I dont care. At least I am home with my hubnby and that is all I need. Well, i should head to bed I took some sleeping pills and I think they are starting to kick in. Have a good Monday people.

Oh, have I told y'all about our neighbors dog? Well, when they leave they lock it in the basement? Yeah I told you. Anyway, apparently they have gone somewhere because that damn dog has been barking in whimpering all freakin day and it is REALLy starting to piss me off now. before I was annoyed, now I want to go and put it out of its misery. You would think the damn thing would figure out after 12 hours that no one is coming to let it out! Itis this stupid little mixed beagel lookin thing and it is sooo annoying. And I cant tune it out anymore. Usualy I can ignore it but after 12 hours I just cant do it anymore. It is coming through the vents so you can hear it throughout our house, No matter where you go you can hear that damn dog! Grrrr!

No Place like Home?

It has been so strange to be here. I have missed it so much and in so many ways nothing has changed. But in so many more infinite ways everything has changed. or it might be more realitic to say I have been the one thing that has gone through an enormous change. I went out with alot of myfriends from college, you know Katie and those guys and then my Wal-Mart people, and it was just wierd to be there. You know, it was like I was standing on the outside of the circle and I thought to myself, "I dont belong here anymore." These people, who were so very important to me dont mean as much to me right at this moment as they do in the memories I carry with me everyday. I mean I still love them all and they were such a big part of my life, but I just stood back at looked at them, and they were in the same place I left them a year ago. And I feel like i have moved mountains in the time I am gone. But one thing has remained constant, and that is Katie. We havent seen each other in almost a year and yet we are together and it is as though nothing has changed. We have this special relationship that doesnt know time or distance. Its a friendship that picks up right where it left off as if you had never left. How lucky can a person be to have found a friendship like that? Twice. I married one of my best friends the day I gave Matthew the rest of my life,but Katie is truely my best friend. And I miss her everyday. I wish that I could bring her back with me. I think her and Rob could have made an awesome couple, but now Rob is gone too, so that doesnt really matter. But you get what I am saying. But I am ready to go home. I am ready to go back to my life, my job, my kitty, and I am more than ready to go back to Matthew. I miss him so much and I need to be with him. He is my heart and I cannot live without him. This has been a tough trip in many ways. I miss my husband terribly for first and foremost. But some of the things that I have learned about myself, the person I used to be and the person that I am now have been both painful and a blessing also. So I will return to my home, Alaska, and I will look back on memories because they are built up as inattainable perfection in my head and that is how they are going to stay, even if reality can't measure up. So thank you Iowa for reminding me of where my roots are and where I have come from and thank you Alaska for showing me who can be.

Leaving on a Jet plane...

Ok peeps. I am going to work and then it is off to the airport. So you will be without bl09s for awhile when I am home! Love ya and see ya tomorrow!

We went to the start of the Iditarod yesterday. I had a good time tool a few pictures. Not a whole lot though cuz it was all the same thing. There were 80 racers and they were introduced every two minutes, their name and where they were from and their sponsers. But it was an experience. Next year we know to just stand up in the parking garage, you have a better view and there are less people. There was this one old lady and her granddaughter... We got there almost 2 hours early and stood in the cold to get a rwally good place. We were right on the fence and between 50-100 yards from the actual start line. And this old lady and her little miscriant pushed us out of the way, Smith got moved away from the fence and this old lady was all up on Matt like it was her right to be there. I'm like excuse me, we waited for this spot you can go somewhere else.so with Smith out of the picture they were both able to get right up on the fence. We stayed for a while and then I gave our spot to some nice people behind us who didnt touch me once. Ordinarily I would post the pictures but since you can se them starting thursday, I dont want to. Besides you have seen all the pics I am bringing home so there have to be some new ones! Ciao.

I have decided t5o go to the start of the race tomorrow. I dont have anu idea when to go cuz I havenever been to anything like this before. They are going to open the mall at 7:30 cuz they say a lot of people will be there. the race starts at ten I want to go early cuz I am going to try to film it cuz mom said that she would like to see it. But on the other hand I dont want to stand in the cold for a supper long time. I will have to wear my long johns for sure though. I wonder where i put those? Anyway, so hopefully I will have a tape of it so everyone can watch. But dont get too excited. I dont know if I will be able to. But I will give it my best shot! C'ya in 6 days!

Stupid snow

I should have known it was too good to be true. Lately it has been so nice out and a lot of the snow was melted and I didnt have to burn gas in 4 wheel drive... and I havent been wearing a coat cuz it was nice out. Then I wake up and we got 5 inches of snow through the night. Which I guess is good since the Iditarod starts on Saturday and there is snoow for the puppies to run in, but still... I see the Friday when I egt home it wil be 41 degrees... Wow...I havent felt that warm isinceSeptember or October. M y idea of warm and why I wasnt wearing a coat was cuz it was a balmy 36 degrees. Anyway, I have to take my shower now so TTFN.

My brain no longer works

I have GOT to go on vacation! I am such a spaz lately cuz I just have so much on my mind! I am trying to get the store ready for when I leave. And it is NOT an easy task. I didnt think my job was that difficult but apparently it is and no one gets how to do it! How hard is it to order the stuff we need? I guess its easy for me cuz I know 90% of all the products we carry w/o looking it up on the computer. And when you have as many products as we have that is a major accomplishment! So anyway, I am in a billion places at once lately, and Ralph isnt much better and together, I'm surprised we still have people working for us cuz we are both on edge right now. We are very similar me and Ralph. We have the same drive to get stuff done and the same intemsity for work I think that why we get along so well. Anyway the point of telling you all of this is to tell you what happened last night.

Lately I have been forgetting to do stupid little stuff that I have been doing since I started. Like the other night I forgot to shut a cash drawer when I left and Ralph called me to see if I was alright cuz I forgot something like that. So last night I was so intent on not doing anythjing like that that when Cori and I left for the evening I did not check my bag to make sure I had everything. Cuz I carry around this big black shoulder bag with my purse and my organizer and my water jug and stuff. Well, I got out to my truckand went to pull my billfold out cuz I always do before I leave the ramp so when I get to the gate I'm not diggin for my ID, anyway, I couldnt find my purse. It had fallen out of my bag in the cabinet under the counter. No big deal except my store key was in my purse. So My ID is locked in there withit. Great, so I was gonna all Ralph cuz he only lives like 5 minutes away and he would have come to help me except my phone was dead and I couldnt find my charger. So I go back inside to find a security guard. Usually there are like 10 of them everywhere, after wandering the mall for 45 minutes I was nearly in tears cuz I couldnt find one. I couldnt call Matthew cuz my phone didnt work and I had no change to use the pay phone since Ididnt have my billfold. Thakfully the girl at the Peircing Pagoda was still closing her kiosk and she called security for me. Well, they dont have a key to any of the stores so they couldnt help me. The girl let me use her phone to call Matt and he had to come get me. He brought me home and we picked up Smith and he drove Matt's truck back and Matt drove mine. I was so upset. I was crying by the time Matthew picked me up from the parking ramp. I thought i was stranded there. I guess I used up all my luck not getting killed in the back of the base!

Oh, and Cori told me that when I leave for lunch the new girls talk about me and say how mean I am and that I am a bitch. HeeHee. I was like "Do you think that I am mean?" She said no, of course. I am not. I am only a hardass when you dont do what you are supposed to do and you atand around and talk. I dont have time for that nonsense! I have a store to run and like I told one girl tonight, if you dont want to do what I tell you to do then you can leave I will find someone who will. They have to realize that they are dispensible. I have 10 other little high schoolers who want to work for me so I will hire one of them, and if they dont want to do it next week I will have ten more. I am tired of being nice, cuz that doesnt get anything done. But if you do what I ask you to then there is no reason for me to be upset with you. But I still need to get away. Ralph told me that I am supposed to take it easy until I leave and to enjoy my vacation. Cuz I told him that I was feeling guilty about leaving. So now he is trying to get me to relax before even leave so that I wont think about work while i am gone. Sorry, guys, but that wont happen. Like i said before, bare with me! K, see ya in a week! Well, eight days. Ah, 8 days! Ah! AAAAHHHHH! I am coming home in 8 freakin days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A view worth the risk

Alright tonight in my search for a good viewing spot to watch the Northern Lights I jouneyed to the back of base. Now to illustrate this I have to tell you that "the back of base" is a bunch of wildness with a road through it. Its where we go fishing and crap like that. i have only driven back there once and that was when mom and dad were here and it was the middle of the day. This was the middle of the night, all by myself. And as I later found out in a truck with about 1/8th of a tnk of gas left. Which doesnt sound bad but when you drive an SUV in 4 wheel dive that doesnt get you too far. Anyway, here I am convinced that I am going to hit a moose while I am trying to watch the sky and not drive off the winding roads, I think "you know I should have brought my phone with me." Duh, moron, you think of that now? So there I was in the middle of no where, by myself with no phone. So I come up over this hill and there in front of my was the most amazing sight I have seen thus far. Over the hill and just above the line of trees were the Lights, a sparking green. they werent really bright so the camera didnt pick them up, but It is a sight I will not soon forget. In the end it was all worth it. I just wish that the camera had picked it up. I guess you have to have a VERY good camera to get the picture down here. In Fairbanks it is really easy to get that picture cuz its so much brighter, but it is a memory that I will carry with me.

America's Next Top Model

I have a new guilty pleasure and it is watching the bitchiest show on cable, Top Model. I love it. I have been sucked in. Really what I like to see is the photos at the end from the photo shoot. Some of them are really cool. So that is my new guilty pleasure.

I have started setting aside outfits to bring home. Mainly I wanted to pick out cute dress clothes. I got this cute pink stiped skirt that goes really good with my pink pointed boots. Ralph and Mark were giving me such a hard time the other day cuz I have changed so much since I have been here and since I have been working so closely with Lori cuz I have absorbed some of her in me. Cuz I came to work one day and I was blingin. I had the rhinestone earrings, braclet and rings. And they were like, "Them people in Iowa aint gonna know what to do wit you. They'll think you been hangin round those city boys too much." I just brushed it off you know, but then I thought about it, you know I have always had that in me. I love the sparkley stuff, I love dressin up and lookin cute. But I see so much more of Lori in me than I realized that I had. I dont know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I think we are a lot alike in a lot of ways and I think that is why I have done so well in working for her. And that excites me. I mean here is this strong woman who has gone through the same thing I am going through and has perservered and is successful and I am learning so much frm her. I have been so lucky in my life to have been surrounded by such strong women all my l;ife and to be able to come here and meet her and have yet another strong role model in my life... I feel very lucky. I feel lucky to have had, and continue to have, all of these wonderful women to look up to, and then to come here, away from those people thatI know and I love, and be able to find the happiness that I thought I had to leave behind... How lucky am I?

Everyday shines brighter and lately I have had a hard time seeing that because I have not allowed myself to open my eyes and look around me. I havent allowed myself to accept this place as my home for fear that I would be betraying my Iowa home and everything that it stands for in me. But I see now that by doing that I am in fact betraying even more. The past in past but the future is now. Be yourself without forgetting either one. Now I look around and I do feel at home. I am an Alaskan and I am an Iowan. Iowa is a place to visit, to remember, to love. Alaska is a place to live, to grow, to learn, and to love.

Ever notice how thoughtful you can be when you need to sleep.? LOL Love, hugs and kisses. I'll be there in 12 days. Cant wait.

Love

You know I have been thinking, again, n ot much on TV. But seriously it is both extremely amazing and extremely sad this thing called love for instance. Addison wasnt even a person a couple of days ago, (I know fetus person whatever for the sake of my discussion put those thoughts aside and just follow me here) She wasnt even a person and yet she had so many people who loved her. I mean I havent even seen her yet and I love her . But at the same exact time, there is was a child being born to a woman with no one and a heart too small and closed for that child. I mean you dont even have to be there to explode with happiness from being loved. I have gotten quite a few emails from people, family and friends, telling me that they cant wait till I get home and it is always ended Lots f love or Love ya and those little words make me so happy. I thought that I was the only one who was excited besides my mom and dad and Amanda and Lew. I know thats dumb and I should knopw better, but you know actually EXCITED. It makes me feel so good. And to have the capapblities to love so many people so much but in such diferent ways. I mean I love Matthew and I love Amanda but in VERY DIFFERENT ways but I dont necissarily love one more than the other. And that is just amazing. so here is to love. Yay for being for everyone, even if we dont realize it. Heehee.

I have to get out of the house more.

Its the bebe!  

A Baby is on the way!

Julie's water broke last night. As of right now no baby but hopefully it will be soon. I think she is goin on about 12 hours now! I will get to see my niece when I come home! I am so FREAKIN excited I could absolutely burst right now. I will never make it through the flight home because I will be dead from having to wait a minute longer to be home. I am going to miss Matthew SOOO much but OMG I am ready to come home! Auntie Em is on her way!

Please read "I love sales" to know the significance of this picture

they are these in the dark brown
And FYI Delias still has them at $52 down from $70

I love sales

There is this pair of boots I have been DYING to have since I saw them in the fall Delia's catalog. But they were too expensive. Then I saw that the Famous Footwear above our store had them but they were $80 and I couldnt bring myself to spend that money. Not now. So every day I would walk past they and long for them. So I went in there on Thursday and they were on sale for $50. I decided that I ould go ahead and buy them cuz I had about $30 left on the Simon gift card I got from Laurie for Christmas. And they still had my size! I took that as a sign. So I brought them up to the counter and was chatting with the guy and I told him how I had wanted them and didnt buy them and that I walked by everyday on my way to work. He goes, "oh, really? Where do you work?" I said "LA Style. Right below you." He goes, "well, I cant give youa mall discount or anything, but these boots are going to be 50% off tomorrow. I'll just give you the sale today." I almost hugged the man. I was SOOO excited. I was like"you made my whole week!" He was impressed that he made my week. SO I got my $80 boots for $25. You cant beat that! And I have $5 left over; Yay. I will try to find a picture of them so you can see.

The countdown is on

I now have 20 days until I once again get to see the land of Iowa. I am bursting with excitement people. You have no idea.

And Lord know I NEED this vacation. To give you an example of what I mean, yesterday I went to work, as always. I was late because they had shut dowqn the gates and no one could get off base. Still dont know what happened but Matthew is supposed to be finding out for me. Anyway, to make a long story short, I went four hours of work wearing my shirt inside out. And NO ONE not even me noticed. Cori came in a 5pm and she lookes at me and she goes, "Emily, is your shirt on inside out?" ANd in fact it was. I cant even dress myself anymore. My mind is on a thousand other things. BUT I am doing well on being the store manager. We are ahead of schedule on our tasks that had to be completed before Lori got back from LA. Which means that I dont have to go in a work tomorrow. Yay. That makes me happy. We are going to go get our taxes done and then I will clean this house.

Nothing else exciting has happened I guess. I got a Valentine from my mommy and it arrived on V-day. Mom was amazed. Matthew bought me roses. They are so pretty. And we went to supper at TGI Fridays where my eveningwas a bit spoiled by the cuddling gay couple in the booth behind Matthew. That didnt bother me so much as the pink ballon they got a hold of. they were younger guys. Anyway, I will leave that there. Not to piss of any gay people or anything but it was gross and I would have felt the same way if a chick was doing the same thing.

Anyway, 20 days people. 20 days. I almost want to pack now! But I know that I am going to spend too much time while I am home worrying about what is happening at the store. I cont help it and I ask your understanding ahead of time. That store is my life, and its hard to walk away for that long. I'm sad I know it.

A drop in the bucket

I have been thinking alot lately. Mainly cuz there hasnt been anything good on tv. But I have been thinking. I love all the support everyone is giving me and I am proud of myself for what I have done so far. I really am. I am just so afraid that I am going to disappoint someone. Mainly, me I guess. I look at myself and I dont know who I am anymore. I mean, yes I am me and I know WHO I am character wise and all of that, but I just seem to be a little lost. Maybe because I am syill tranitioning I dont know. But I am confused and a little disgruntled I guess. I am mad at myself for not caring how I looked before. But at the same time I was always proud of myself for accepting who I was, but in doing so I was also killing myself. And her I am in a quandry of self confidence and self deprication. I mean it is goos for me to make the reaolve that I have and I know that y'all are behind me and I appreciate it but know this... to a girl who was nearing 300 pounds 23 is just a drop in the bucket. Lets not get too excited. But at the same time I SHOULD be excited and that is what confuses me. Why am I not? Because I know that there is still a whole bucket left? Probably. Is that being realistic or pessimistic? Only time will tell I suppose. Anyway, Blue Collar Weekend is on Comedy Central and I want to watch Ron White so Catch ya later.

Weight Loss Update

I am 23 pounds lighter. I feel I have more energy and I seem to be sleeping better. I cant wait to see how I feel in a couple of months. I have decided that instead of forcing some numerical goal on myself this is what I want:

At the end of the year is our anniversary sale. We get all dress up to the nines. I want to walk into Mariposa (which is a clothing store somewhat similiar to Vanity where a person of mysize would NEVER find anything big enough to constitute anything but a sock) I want to go there and buy a sparkly pink dress for that anniversary sale. I am not asking to be tiny. But they only carry sizes up yo, I think its 10. That is about ten sizes smaller than what I am right now. So that is my goal. I dont care about how much that is. By December I want to buy a new dress for the sale/Christmas Party.And now all of you know it too. So there is more pressure.

I think that is what helps, not wanting everyone here to think less of me cuz I quit. And I know that they wouldnt let me quit. Froilan is a hard ass and I need that. But I have to go to work. Lots of stuff to do and so I am going in on my day off. Yay.

Update

I figured I had better start updating all of you before you start sending out a mob for me. The move went smoothly. And we are all unpacked. Well, I am, Matthew has a little left to go. I hope that you were all able to view the pictures and such. Jackie continues to be a terror around the house. But she "is only a kitten" as I am told numerous times.

We went and saw WWE at the Sullivan Aerena on Sunday. We had a good time. I yelled until me voice gave out. Matthew would have had a better time if he werent so worried about his car being towed. We parked in a bar parking lot and it was posted for customers only, so he was worried.

I have purchased my tickets for home. I am getting VERY anxious to go. I dont want to be away from Matthew, but I need to go home. It is a trade off I guess. I will be back here for a week and then me and Lori leave for Seattle. Ralph is trying to get me to take more athority and be more "crunchy" as he puts it. So he is test running me as the top dog at the store. I have to pretty much run the store. He wants to know what I can handle and IF I can. That is my task for the next month. To be the store mananger. I have already had to fire someone this week. No that was last week. I have to fire another one tomorrow. This one I want gone. I am getting pretty good at it. LOL.

Um... what else? Matthew is working as an SP this month. It's the base police. Kind of unnerving to see an M-16 strapped to his back!

It has started snowing again. Everyone, I use that term loosely, was worried that the dog races wouldnt be able to start down here, they would have to move the starting point further north because there wasnt enough snow for the dogs to run. But was got quite a bit the last couple of days so that shouldnt be an issue anymore. I think that is all for now. Later.

Not blonde anymore 

She likes to climb...Anythng 

Chillin on the couch 

WWE pictures

Alright people. Bottom line is that I am tired. So I dont feel like putting up more pictures here right now. ANd Probably not tomorrow either. SO if you want to see the pictures from WWE and of the house now that we are all unpacked you can go to the following site.


http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=68188770806&page=1&sort_order=0

And should it do what it did last time then the email is ermwhitmer@yahoo.com and the password is matthew. Enjoy the pictures and the other albums if you would like. I will post some of the better pics onhere a little later if you dont mind waiting. There are some of me and Mat also. Take note of matthew's hair. Tell me how it looks. I did it. Ok. I will leave you with that for now. I have put in a 14 hour day today and i just want to go to sleep now. Ok it was more like 12 but i am exhausted. SO I promise to get some pics up in the near future. Thankyou for your understanding of the situation.

Time for Sharing

I figured I had better update everyone since I was disconnected from the world for awhile. First off, the move went rather smoothly. There was just one hitch. It was the entertainment center that has been cursed sinced the day I bought it. I aplogized to the movers in advance for that EC but they just laughed. What? You dont think I'm serious? I thought, Yeah, just wait. So they thought that they could get it out in one peice. I knew it woulnt be that easy. It was too tall to fit down the stairs. Out the door it was fine, just not down the stairs. So one of them thought they could lower it down with straps from the top of the car port onto the top of the truck. But they didnt know how to get down from the truck. SO I suggested that if they thought they could do that then they could do it over the railing of the balcony since it was closer to the ground. "oh, no. that wont work." They said. So what did we do? We waited for Matt and Smith and then those two were on the ground, and me and two movers stood on the balcony. We flipped the EC upside down, flipped it to the 3 on the ground and lowered it off the balcony and into the truck. Dont tell me it wont work! I wish I had a picture of that. Us handing that down... Must have been a sight to see. So other than that we got moved in fine and I am ALMOST unpacked. 2 more boxes left I think. There will be more pictures of our decorated house.

On to Jacky. She is our new baby. First, we found her from an ad a lady was seling them for $50. So Matt went and met with her and she said that she was just giving them away. So he fell in love with a little black and white kitten. At this time we were still in the apt and not set to move for a couple more days. Fine we could pick her up when we got into the house. So Matthew called her and set up a time to pick her up and then the ladies mom called and told him that she didnt want the two remaining kittens to be split up so she was taking both of them. Matthew was heart broken. I hadmnt seen her yet but I was disappointed too. So Matt left a message saying how disappointed he was, and a day later her husband called to tell us we could come get her. So we named her Jacky and she is our baby. She is a kitten full of energy. Too much sometimes.

What else? Work is going good. I am set to go to Seattle with Lori to a show there. And then I will be in charge of purchasing from our Western suppliers. So I will travel to shows on Laurie's behalf and pick out new items and check out deals and such. I will mainly be dealing in Seattle, San Diego and Las Vegas, occasionally. But I am excited.

I am getting excited to come home. I have my time ok'd from work. I will go home come back for 3 days and then leave for Seattle. TOO MUCH FLYING!!! But i am so psyched to come home. I cant wait to see the new babies! I am broinging home presents for them, but I wont say what. Dont want to ruin the surprise. Well, I might just send Janessa's. I dont know why i wrote that I am just thinking "out loud". I didnt realize how much I needed to go home until it was almost time for me to go! Like 6 weeks. I dont even have my tickets yet! Yikes! I am such a procrastinator. I thought I was doing so much better at that! Anyway, I am sure that is enough info for right now. I will keep up on those pics!