What a difference a YEAR makes...

To say I'm a blogging slacker is an understatement. It's not that I've had nothing to write about (believe me, I have), it's just that life has been so hectic lately that it's hard to find time to sit down and summarize it all. So here's my lowly attempt to cover the last years worth of events.

1. Savannah Birthday trip

Last September, I decided that years of not doing anything for my birthday were over and that it was finally time to do something memorable (Jeremy didn't agree, but we'll get to that in a minute). So, some friends and I planned a trip to the GORGEOUS city of Savannah, GA. My friends Bryan and Ben flew into Raleigh from Washington, DC and Colorado. The three of us made the 5 hour journey to Savannah to meet Zac and Shannon who were coming in from Alabama.

This could be a stand alone post and probably should have been. We went to a piano bar, had cigars on the river, did our best Forrest Gump impression, visited Tybee Island, fed alligators and talked to parrots. It was an absolute blast and one of the best birthday celebrations I've ever had thanks to a group of great friends.

1st night on the river

On River Street in front of the bridge.

Eating at the crab shack after visiting Tybee Island.

2. I'm dropping the "O"

That sounds kind of cold. It wasn't meant to be. After the whole birthday trip (and a long time before, really), I knew there was something wrong in my marriage. I'm not going to delve in too deeply here, but we decided right after I came back that we should probably go our separate ways. At first it was very mutual, then it wasn't, and now (9-10 months later) I think we're on good terms. Jeremy is a fantastic person. He's funny, incredibly intelligent, and a very hard worker. There are some negatives that I won't list because it's not necessary. He's perfect for someone, just not me.

3. Gaining a Zo

Moving on to more positive things, back in October I got a new puppy. I had no intention of getting a dog. While visiting my friends Ward and Lisa, I met Ward's cousins, Dennis and Nicole, who breed dogs. Now before you flip out, I DID NOT BUY a dog. Repeat: I DID NOT BUY a dog. We were simply sitting around discussing animals and I was telling them about Tobey, my maltipoo that passed away and literally broke my heart. No, really...it hasn't worked right since. That's when Dennis said that he had a little schoodle (schnauzer/poodle mix) that had lost one of her legs and he would be willing to give her away but only to a good home. Of course I had to go see her. That was it...game over.

These are old pictures, but she's my baby girl and has completely captured my <3.

4. Moving on to better things

There are lots of good things on the horizon. Without going into a lot of detail (I don't want to jinx any of it), I have an interview Friday for a job that I think I might actually be able to enjoy and there's a chance that I'll be selling my house. Well, not exactly. I'll be leasing it to someone who has the intention of buying it. That's what I'm hoping anyway.

One very positive addition to my life has been the new guy in it. His name is Clint and I'll tell you about him later. Just know that he makes me incredibly happy. So anyway, cross your fingers and say a little prayer for me that everything will work out for the best. I'm not going to necessarily pray for what I want, I'm going to pray that whatever will improve my life happens.

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Oh so crafty...

Caught the painting bug again. Don't know what came over me but I decided I just had to paint some artwork for around the house. This won't be a long post (even though it's been so long since I actually posted ANYTHING), but just a few pics to show you what I've been up to.

It was so pretty outside, I decided to set up my art table on the porch and listen to some tunes outdoors.

Monogram

Monogram

Been wanting to do an Elvis painting for my art studio to match my Michael Jackson one. It looks a little off, but I'm pretty happy with it considering I'm terrible at painting people.

Hope all is well in blog-world. I'm off to go get ready for Jim & Beverly's pool party :) Gonna be fun!

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Let me tell you how great my little brother is...

My little brother may be the cutest kid alive....Scratch that. My little brother IS the cutest kid alive. Don't argue, I'm right about this. Although I've probably mentioned him before, I'll pretend that you have no idea who I'm talking about and introduce him. His name is Derek and he's a handsome, blonde-haired, blue-eyed 10 year old. Seriously, I think my mom saved up all the cute genes and gave them to him. How did I end up a hazel-eyed redhead covered in freckles and he gets a tan just by thinking about going outside. It's not fair I tell you!

Enough of being jealous of a 10 year old. On to this weekend. Just like his namesakes (Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez....and yes, I did name my brother when I was 14) he loves to play baseball. In fact, he even plays shortstop...gets me all verklempt I'm so proud! And he had a game this past Thursday. He's been a little scared of the ball when he goes up to bat ever since a boy on his team got his nose broken by a pitch. Hey, it would scare me too if I were him. But he did really well and paid attention to the pitches as they came across the plate. Here's a photo that I got of him up at bat. (Note to self: I really have to get in the habit of carrying around a camera instead of using the one on my iphone.)

Did I mention that I LOVE the fact that he's a lefty?! I think he got walked here, but a walk is as good as a hit, right? After the game, I told him that since he did so well playing that I would pick him up from school the next day. No greater words could be uttered to a kid his age.

Sidebar: I love my new job (so far.) I can't complain too much about it especially since they just spent $2,200 on a new computer for me. But let's face it, there will probably be a run-in with the sales guy I work with. Mainly because I get the feeling that he's entitled and thinks he shouldn't do certain aspects of his job that he should have been doing all along. But that's another post entirely. I'm getting off track. The reason I brought up that I love my job is because I can work extra hours M-Th and get to leave early on Friday. Great, right? So I left at 12:00 on Friday and went to pick Derek up EARLY!!

The smile on his face when he walked into the office to meet me was priceless. (I also ran into my 6th grade english teacher and surprisingly she remembered my name. It's surprising because that was back in 1995—I think—and I came in during the middle of the year. Good to see her though and she really hasn't aged at all.)

Let me also say that Derek is one of the sweetest kids you'll ever meet. I told him it was his day, we could do anything he wanted (right after I had lunch of course.) So, I asked him, "what do you want to do?"......Derek: "Well, what do YOU want to do?"....Me: "No, no, no...this is your decision. We can go to a museum, go see a movie...whatever.".....Derek: "Let's go see Grandma first."

So precious, I swear. Since I was starving and he's always hungry, we went to Pizza Villa to grab a bite to eat. When I went to take a picture of him, he looked angry, so I told him to smile. This is the expression I got:

Good enough I suppose. After taking in the greatness that is pizza crackers and a pizza, we went to visit Grandma at work. That's right, my grandma is 72 and still working. Ca-razy lady.

After visiting her, Derek decided that we should go to a museum. The Museum of Natural Science in Raleigh to be precise. Ok, fine by me. He picked this particular one because he had just learned about dinosaurs and wanted to see if they had any. This was right after he told me that a T-Rex has 6 inch teeth. (Random, but cute) We set our course and were Raleigh bound. As I drove, we played bowling on my phone. I say "we" played because Derek played for both of us and would tell me what I scored. I still think that it was suspicious that he always beat me.

Not sure what hit him in Goldsboro, but he wanted to see if they had any 3-D movies at the movie theater. Ummm....ok. Shrek in 3-D just happened to have a show in 30 minutes. After careful consideration, he chose the movie instead of the museum. After all, he said, the museum is gonna be there later. The movie might be gone.

Sidebar: Holy 3-D movie prices! Ridiculous. And we got popcorn and a drink because: 1. Derek is always hungry...2. He had a bad taste in his mouth? Mmmmk...sidebar over.

The movie was really cute and the 3-d effects were very well done, actually. I could tell because during one part Derek leaned over and said, "Woah...that was cool."

Anyway, to sum this whole thing up (it really wasn't supposed to be this long), I'm thinking of making this a Friday tradition. Can't really think of a better way of spending a Friday afternoon than with the world's cutest kid. Well, I'm off to work in my garden. Hope everyone had a great weekend :)

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Hiatus...

Just wanted to give a little update to prove that I'm still here! Things have been so hectic lately with the new job and just getting some things done around the house.

Still waiting on some direction at work. Hopefully that will happen sometime tomorrow. Gotta work on a marketing plan and maybe (just maybe...fingers crossed) ordering a new computer. For the record, I hate PCs...I'm totally a Mac girl. We shall see though.

At home, just the usual. The garden is really doing well. Already harvested some squash and the tomatoes are just about ready as well. Who cares about that stuff though, right? I'm waiting on the cantelope and watermelon!

I'm kind of bummed that a bunch of my friends are heading to Vegas to visit Mike and Steph this weekend. Not so much bummed that they're going (happy for them), I'm mad that I can't go. Seriously...who plans to go across the country on a whim and expects everyone to be able to drop everything and go too?! That being said, if anyone wants to donate $900 to the "Send Jewel and Jeremy to Vegas 5 Months Earlier than Expected" fund, just let me know! No...really........

On another note, somebody needs to inspire me to crochet again. One thing that would help is to make me jealous of something that you made so I feel the need to try to make something better (and usually fail). I just have no drive to do it lately and it's irritating.

Now, back to pretending to work until they actually give me something to really do. Here's to hoping that I don't get caught blogging at work!

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Magnificent Monday! Except for LOST ending...

Who would have thought I would be saying that?! But really, I've had a great weekend and the greatness has rolled over into Monday.

We had an absolutely fantastic time with our friends from Vegas, Mike & Steph. Got to introduce them to some of our local cuisine—El Norteno, The Flying Shamrock, and of course, MY KITCHEN! No...seriously....stop laughing.

It really was wonderful though. Entirely too short if you ask me, but we managed to have a blast...we even snuck in some bowling! If all goes as planned, we'll be visiting them in Vegas in 5 months! Fingers crossed, people. Fingers crossed!

I was kind of bummed after they left yesterday though. Mainly because it's such a downer to sit at the house on a overcast Sunday when the previous 4 days had been filled with so much to do. I did manage to get my house the cleanest it's been in months and I finished the last season of Arrested Development. Got to get ready for the movie, you know! Not all of Sunday was gloomy though. My loving hubby did make me some homemade bruschetta featuring fresh basil from my very own garden! It's the first thing we've eaten from it and it was soooooo goooood! Jeremy was amazed. Seriously...amazed. He couldn't believe how much of a difference there was between dried and fresh basil. Amaaaazzzeeddd.

AND I finally got to see the finale of Lost. Oh how I love that show. I hate that empty feeling I get whenever I get so engrossed in a story and the lives of the characters and it comes to an end. It feels like a friend died. Well...in this case they did.

I have really mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I think they did a brilliant job of tying up the end in relation to the beginning. I love the attention to detail with the opening and closing of Jack's eye to begin and end the saga. I cried throughout the finale, especially as they each remembered what had happened to them. I also cried because I won't get to see Richard, Jack, and Sawyer all in one place again (man. are. they. hot.) But there's still so many unanswered questions. I feel like we don't know what happens to a lot of the characters and how they end up there. And what about all the mysteries of the island?! Seriously...what.the.heck? Who built that flippin' statue? Where was Walt and Michael? I'm still so lost....oh....how ironic. I get it now.

Almost forgot...started my new job today. Kinda scary, not gonna lie. Really hope I can live up to their expectations, but so far I LOVE being a marketing director. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

Anyway, I'm off to find another show to become obsessed with. Don't think it will be nearly as intense as this was. Thanks, Lost.

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The transition...

And so begins day two of the great transitional vacation. Not much of a vacation if you consider doing nothing but housework a vacation. I'm so jealous of the people who stay at home all day. Well, sort of.

The problem with housework is that I have ADD. I have a hard time finishing one project before noticing that something else needs to be done and leaving to go do it. Make sense? No, doesn't to me either. Let me explain. I had every intention of making a list of things that needed to be taken care of and I didn't even get around to making a list. I went outside to water the garden (15 min. tops). It was then that I noticed some vines sticking out of my hedges. I was only going to trim a few vines! What ended up happening was a 30 minute knock-down, drag-out with some overgrown weeds that needed to be put in their place. Anyway...while putting up the hedge trimmers, I was grossed out by walking into a spider web (nobody looks cool after walking in a spider web) and decided that all them had to die. This led me to my front porch (eventually) where the exterior of my house grossed me out even more. Cannot believe I let it get that dirty.

After making the problem worse (and more apparent) by trying to sweep the dirt off the wall with the broom I was using to exterminate spider webs, I was forced to get the scrub brush, dish detergent, and hose. Two hours later, the front of my house is incredibly clean and oddly enough, lemon-y fresh!

It was around this time that I realized I hadn't done ANYTHING to clean the interior of the house. Sucks because that was my initial intention. Sooooo, after Jeremy got home, we took a break then he mowed the back yard while I tackled the mildew-breeding ground that is my bathroom. It may not be lemon-y fresh, but I'm a pretty big fan of clorox scent too.

All this stuff obviously needed to be done at some point anyway. It's all accelerated by the fact that my friends, Mike and Steph, are coming down from Virginia today.

Aren't they adorable? They're from Vegas, but Mike has some sort of military contract job in VA and Steph is visiting, so they're going to visit us. I'm so excited. We had soooo much fun when Mike and Brian came down in January, but it's going to be even better with a little more estrogen in the house. And since I don't want them to think we're icky slobs, major cleaning needs to be done. Wow...that makes it sound like I'm an icky slob when I don't have people over. That came out wrong...You know what I mean though. I have a level of controlled chaos in my home. This doesn't mean I have to subject anyone else to my chaos. People could get hurt :)

Well, back to cleaning. Interior this time, Jewel. INTERIOR.

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NBC...you're dead to me...

Ooo...that rhymes.

Dear NBC,

If you needed help with your programming schedule, all you had to do was ask. Obviously no one there is capable of making an intelligent decision that pleases your consumers. That's why your ratings have dropped tremendously.

First, you got rid of Conan. Do we need to address this subject again? He's more popular than ever thanks to your bonehead decision to keep Jay Leno around. Seriously? President Obama was funnier than him at the White House Correspondents dinner....and he's not even a comedian! But hey, it's ok. Conan has a new show and you had to pay him millions of dollars AND he's on tour right now. Good one, NBC.

Second, you got rid of Law and Order. HELLO??? Why? I LOVE Jack McCoy. No....really. I would have 10 million of his babies. Well, maybe not, but I still adore him. How dare you remove my weekly fix of Sam Waterston from the airwaves! So what if the ratings were down. It's probably because you screwed with the schedule and put Leno in PRIMETIME! Yeah, who's the genius who came up with that one, NBC? That really worked out well.

And now I see on Yahoo that you're canceling Heroes without a freaking finale!!! SERIOUSLY? I might agree that the writing has gotten rather poor lately and it was all downhill since the first season, but at least finish it up. What's the point of even starting a season if you have no intention of finishing it?! This must have come from the same guy who decided that Leno would work in primetime.

In conclusion, I hate you NBC and you're dead to me.

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