What? It's been THAT long?

OK, I know that I've been busy, but this is ridiculous!  I didn't realize that my last published post to this blog was September 29th.  Sheeeeeshhh!!!  My bad, folks!

I need to get better at sitting down and writing something every day so you blog stalkers (you know who you are!) have more insight to my quirky mind!  ;)

So, what has been going on?   Family, yoga, family, yoga, work, exercise, family, yoga, yoga, and more yoga. 

OK.  End of post!   JUST KIDDING!!  lol 

The month of October started out with my cousins Valerie and Keith coming from California so that Keith could experience bow hunting (deer) North Dakota style.   He left without a deer.  lol.   Hey...that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.  However, he may have left without a deer, but he and his sister Valerie left some pretty freaking fantastic memories of what us NoDak cousins are all about. 

I took three days off from work so that I could spend time with my cousins and I thoroughly enjoyed every minutes.  Saying goodbye was tough to do though.  

The very next week was the annual Schulz Oktoberfest held at The Bunker.  As usual, it's all about getting together, having some food (duh!  We ARE Schulz's!!) and drink (uhhh...hello!!  Schulz +.Oktoberfest =Beer!).  Besides that, it's about family.  I wouldn't trade those moments with my family for all the gold in the world.  They mean everything to me!

We were missing a few this year:  Shelly, Randy, Glenn, Michael, and Joan.   We'll hope that next year brings us all together and in good health.

As I'm writing this, I just finished my first every yoga retreat.  You'll have to go to my yoga blog www.betterlifethroughyoga.blogspot.com to read all about and see just a few of the pictures from the weekend (more will be posted later).

So ya, October was a busy month for me to say the least.  Truth be told, November isn't looking much better. LOL  Oh well...at least I'm living life to the fullest and not watching it pass me by. 

Until next time my friends,

Sherry

Blizzards - North Dakota Style!

Holy Cow!!  I'm sitting here in my warm toasting house darn glad that I'm not out in this howling wind.  It's got to be gusting over 50 mph out there right now!! 

I'm hoping that everyone is safe and sound at home, snuggled in, watching movies and drinking hot chocolate (with a little something something added in, know what I mean?!).

How the heck is everyone doing?  It's been sooo long since my last post.  When I took the last two weeks off from teaching yoga, it seems I took it off from everything - including my blogs! My bad!  I've been busy as all get out - not sure doing what, but I've been busy!!  :-)

Christmas was different for me this year.  It took me a long time to get in to the spirit of things; I'm not entirely sure why.  It really didn't find my heart to Christmas Eve day. When it did find my heart though, it filled it with warmth and love.   As is tradition, we spent Christmas Eve with my sister Peggy and her daughter Karen.  New to the mix was Blaine this year.  Terry and Marna traveled to Washington to be with Wendi over Christmas so Blaine was a bit of an orphan.  Their loss!  We had a BLAST with Blaine!!   He put a different spin on the night and we had a lot of fun. 

Of course, Blaine was loving every moment of attention that we were giving him...and we were loving him! 

Christmas Day was spent with Tom's family....a little more of a low-key affair, but certainly festive in it's own right!  We had a lovely dinner of Sirloin steaks prepared to perfection by Amy's boyfriend Jared...who also made this absolutely devine creation for dessert!  Oh my gosh!  I KNOW I gained 10 lbs.  Seriously... I KNOW I gained 10 lbs because I stepped on the scale on Sunday and had a heart attack.  Yikes!

Yes, my Christmas vacation (this week) has been spent at the gym.  That is, until yesterday.   See, over my festivities and eating, I broke my back molar on a piece of peanut brittle. Smooth move Sherry!  So, Monday they put a temporary crown on the tooth to get me through.  Yesterday they called and said it was ready and I could come in any time.  I went in as soon as they called cuz...guess what...I have an abcessed tooth (a DIFFERENT tooth!)  And boy does that puppy hurt like an S.O.B!!!!  I'm on antibiotics, but it's not kicking in as fast as I'd like it to!  I, unfortunately, didn't ask for pain killers ...but now I'm wishing that I had.  Owwww!!

So, here we are in the middle of a raging NoDak blizzard....my tooth (seems like ALL my teeth at this point) are hurting, I'm stuck at home, and decided that I should take advantage of the situation and do some things on the computer.  So far tonight I have 1) updated my FaceBook page, 2) uploaded pictures 3) updated both my blogs, and will 4) spend some time surfing.  

Now, I don't know if you all remember this or not...but last year, 2009,  my Christmas was interrupted by a three day storm.  My Christmas dinner was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  This year, it's New Years that's going to be interrupted.   I do NOT like this trend at all!  Yes, hubster is over at the main farm with the cattle, making sure that they are fed and watered....IF he can get the tractors and machinery started in this storm.  I do not envy him at all.   Sooo..poor little ole me is home, tormenting my cat Boris and playing around trying to occupy myself.  Actually, it hasn't been too bad...   My dinner was a bowl of Cheerios and my dessert is Hot Chocolate!  Yum!!

Given that this is a two day - maybe three day - blizzard, I'm sure you'll be hearing from me again.  For now, I'm going to sign off and go chase Boris (the cat) around the house!  (hehehehe)

What a Wonderful Time!!

I'm home from vacation and basking in the glow of a wonderful weekend spent with family!  I cannot even begin to explain how it felt to be spending time with Keith, Valerie and her daughter JoAnne. 

Our trip started on Thursday morning driving to Fargo to catch a plane.  Thankfully we had good weather and everything was in our favor.  We had a bit of a problem getting off the ground in Minneapolis but other than that the flights went well. 

Valerie was already waiting for us at the resort.  It was actually quite funny.  We (Peggy and me) had just gotten in to our room when we heard knocking on the door to the connecting room.  I immediately said, "I'm not going to answer that...we don't know anyone here...we're from North Dakota."  Peggy said, "just tell them we're not with their party."  ~LOL~  The knocking kept on for a few minutes then stopped, at which point knocking began on our door to the room.  I looked through the peephole (yes, I work in a prison and I'm cautious!) only to see the beautiful smiling face of Val!  Oh my gosh!!  ~LOL~ 

Keith and Diane didn't arrive until Friday but by then all of us were in full chatty mode - catching up on what was going on with each other and getting to know JoAnne better.  It was heaven!  And when Keith arrived, the party began in earnest!  He cracks me up.  And Diane, what a lovely soul - such a sweetheart!

Friday found us heading downtown to check out the other casinos while Terry and Marna went to the George Jones concert.  (Nope, I didn't go - if it would've been Keith Urban I'd have been there in a heartbeat!) ~L~  The rest of us went back to the Grand Sierra and started drinking...or shall I say -continued! (hehehehe)  I had to keep assuring JoAnne that her ND cousins were NOT alcoholics.  Right JoAnne?! 

I lose track of my days but I think Saturday was spent indoors at the casino.  We adopted this little corner of a lounge and just hung out - talking about family history, memories and how we got to be where we are.  A lot of laughter, memories, and some tears too.  If only our parents (brothers Eddy and Vern) could have seen us...they'd have been proud of us I know.   I think Saturday night was also the night that they had the Fur Ball.  We started seeing all these younger people walking around in fur....some rather scantily clad I might add.  Terry and Keith were enjoying the eye candy, but there were a few guys with nice six-packs walking around too.  (Peggy noticed them, of course.....I kept my eyes discreetly averted)  (hehehehehe).

Keith and Diane had to leave Sunday morning to head back so he could get on the road. It was hard saying goodbye to them and I admit that I shed a tear watching them drive away. I hate saying goodbye!I tried to give them both an extra super long hug so that they knew how much I loved them.  I am grateful that we could spend as much time with them as we did.

The rest of Sunday can be summed up in two words....  Bloody Mary's! I started at 10am and didn't quit until that we ate supper (pizza) around 7pm.  Yes, I was a little toasted - but hey!  It was my last full day in Reno and I was going to enjoy it to the hilt!.  And I did....right up until the time we had to say goodbye to Val and JoAnne that night (we were leaving at 5am in order to catch a flight out of Reno).  I cried....just like I used to do when we were kids and she had to leave to go back to California. I am vowing - right here and now- to keep in touch via text messages, blogs, Facebook, phone calls, emails (I'm horrible at writing letters!).   I am NOT going to lose touch with her and Keith ever again.  Plus, we have the bonus of getting to know the 2nd cousins: Tanner, Ryan, Chyna and JoAnne.  I hope that when we have our next reunion (in a year and a half), that they will be able to make it. (JoAnne, it's up to you to fill them in on how wacky their cousins from ND are so they'll want to come check it out for themselves!) :-)

So, that is our trip to Reno in a nutshell.  There was lots more that happened of course, but we're under an oath.......what happens in Reno...STAYS in Reno!  (grin). 

Just another week..

..please, that is all that I ask for.

Well folks, I went through this week like a tornado on the high plains. I cannot believe that I go back to work tomorrow. I have sooooooooooo much more that I want to get done and I just know that another week of vacation would help me out. But, I also know that if I take another week, the likelihood of me walking in the doors at work would be slim to none. So, alas, I am biting the bullet and getting things ready for work tomorrow. (You know me, I like to be prepared in order to make Monday's as relatively painless as possible!).

I ended up finishing only one room in the three days left since my last post. I ended up playing on Friday and going to chase parts with hubster and then crashing a family reunion of some friends of ours. So progress on the home front was nonexistent. That's alright, I hit it hard yesterday though. That means TWO rooms left in the house; I forsee them getting done in the next two weekends. That is the goal anyways. I want to be able to enjoy my Labor Day holiday by being guilt-free of cleaning! ~L~ (It'll never happen!)

I dread walking in to work tomorrow though. I wonder what kind of drama will be waiting for me and what kind of "tudes" I'll need to smack down! ~L~

I'm pretty sure I'll be ok - will just need to breathe through the bs and go to my happy place.

It's been a while...

since my last post here in the great blogosphere. Not for lack of content, I might add, but due to an extremely busy life. I'm not complaining or offering up excuses, just explaining my lack of philosophical wisdom and intellectual wit.

Now, I'm done blowing smoke up your skirts so you can relax! ~L~

I'm on a vacation this week. Yeah! I wake up with gusto and hurridly search for the ever growing "to do" list that I've been compiling for the last month. The list of things to do "if I ever get more than just a weekend" list.

Monday morning hits and I jump out of bed at the crack of dawn, jump in to my workout clothes and head for the gym cuz "gosh darnnit, I can workout and get it over with for the day." It proved to be a good thing cuz I woke up a little bit on the "blue" side. Why? Hell if I know...might be hormones, might be feeling defeated by the "to do" list that hasn't even gotten one thing checked off of it. Anywho, the workout proved to be the anecdote as I came home and immediately tore apart my living room and scoured it from top to bottom. I cleared out the clutter and rearranged furniture, dusted, vacuumed, and polished to my hearts content. All of this took place, I might add, BEFORE lunch! How do you like those apples?!

Next up? The dreaded "catch all" space by my patio doors. Hubs like to think of this as his holding grounds for things "he might need some day." I call it junk! I dive in head first and tackle that project with gusto and complete it in record time. Once more hauling out the clutter that I'm sure will find a home someday (after it gets moved out of my basement, MY holding bin for good stuff that "might get used some day.") Am I the ONLY one that has one of those places?

Tuesday proved to be even more productive (if you can believe that!) as I decided to test my hanging skills by hanging from my kitchen cabinetry whilst washing down walls and cabinets. Tough job but mostly finished with the exception of wiping out and restoring order to the lower cabinets. (Puts that on the next list of things to do)

Wednesday? I didn't do anything on the house cleaning front, but had a day booked full of appointments in town. Wished that would have been saved for Friday, because today I have gotten absolutely nothing accomplished. I lost my momentum. On a positive note, I helped my mother-in-law with a project, managed a 2 hour workout at the gym, and spent a lovely hour with Brooke for a reflexology appointment (heaven, pureeeee heaven!)

I must be nuts to spend my vacation doing the domestic diva thing - yet again. I do this quite frequently though. I've put it down to the fact that I am a "Procrastinating Perfectionist." (Directs you to earlier blog entries regarding this rare and incurable disease).

On the list for tomorrow? Well, I have three rooms to tackle, and three days before I go back to work. Hmmmmmmmmm - anyone placing any bets on what I do??