Had a fantastic time yesterday. I threw a surprise housewarming pot-luck party for Michell in her new condo. There were 23 people there (including Michelle and Brandon). We all met in a parking not far from her house and had a caravan to her place. Brandon knew about it, and it was his job to have the camera ready and keep his Mom away from the windows when I called to tell him we were on our way.

After we all got there and were assembled in the driveway, he went in and said he had a surprise for her and made her close her eyes as he led her outside. Oh my gosh, when she opened her eyes, I thought she was going to pass out. It was so funny. Along with family members and other friends, there were at least six or seven girls she works with.

I've got to tell you though.. it's been a very long time since I've planned a party, and we had wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too much food. I made two 21"x12" trays of lasagna, someone else brought five pounds of hot dogs and tons of hamburgers, potato salad, green salad, strawberry pretzel jello, tons of different types of appetizers, taco chili... and on and on and on. Plus... dummy here (not even thinking) bought SIXTEEN 2 liter bottles of pop. Hummmm... almost enough for a bottle for each person... duhhhhhhhhhh... and two cases of water. Well... outside of the appetizers, there was a ton of food left over. BUT... we had some beautiful weather and had a great time.

The only problem with having this party was that I (like a dummy) had to use the money I got from the pet insurance that was suppose to go to Care Credit to put it together. I didn't realize that, even with a pot-luck, it would be so expensive to have a party (of course a lot of it was my own fault since the lasagna was really expensive to make). I was lucky that I got the pop on sale for a buck a bottle (Pepsi products)... but that was still $16. Oh well... I guess I'll just add Care Credit to the list of things that fight to get paid each month. I still have two months interest free, so maybe a financial miracle will happen between now and the end of that time period. Plus, I still owe JoAnne $152, but (if I ever get any hours) we'll deduct that from my pay. Unfortunately, I only got 3 1/2 hours of work last week, and it doesn't look like there's going to be much more than that this week. Oh well.. I'm hanging on to the faith that God will get me through this... He always has, and I can't believe He will drop me on my head now.

Gidget is still being a putz. I swear sometimes she has MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder). LOL In the mornings, she is just as sweet as can be... cuddly, wanting to be stroked and looking in to my eyes with the most precious eyes that make her look like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth... but then... come afternoon and she's totally different pup... all wound up and looking for anything and everything and even nothing to bark at. I've had to close the front door and living room blinds so she can't see the squirrel outside or the person who is walking two doors away on the street or the neighbor outside. It shuts her up when I close them, but it sure makes it dark and gloomy in the house. At night, she's calm again and generally pretty good about just hanging out until bedtime. But, at bedtime, she plays this "in and out" game. She'll do that until I finally just let her yip in her room and ignore her. Until I got to the point to realize this was a game to her, she had me up and down from bed to let her out and in for up to an hour and a half or two hours before she'd calm down. The funny thing is, until bedtime, she'll sleep on the chair or next to my computer for hours without having to go out once.

And then...... there have been times at night that she really DID have to go potty. Sometimes I can tell she really has to go, but for some reason (at night) it takes her forever, and I can't (in good concience) make her stay in her room (cage) knowing she's got to poop. Sooooo.. that's when I do go along with her antics. Unfortunately, twice this past week, after she's pooped, she's had some stuck on the hair on her butt (I really have to get JoAnne to come out to shave her), and she HATES having her butt touched. So normally I'll put her in the laundry tub and turn the water on and (on occasion) I can get her cleaned up, but... the last two times in the laundry tub... as soon as I took the rag and tried cleaning her butt... she got that evil streak in her and tried snapping at me (the same look and attitude I got when I was going to let her sleep in my bed... which is why she doesn't sleep in my bed).

So we go from the sweet little princess to the queen of darkness and everything in between during the course of one day. Nope... she certainly is no Mike. I REALLY miss my boy... he was the epitome of cool, calm and collected, and soooooooo easy to get along with.

Ok... gonna get going. I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Take Care and God Bless.

Love, Hugs & Belly Rubs
Joanna, Angel Mike and Gidget (aka Sybil)

There's not much going on around here, but then again, I guess boring is better than bad. LOL I'd much rather not have a lot to report than to have bad stuff to report.

Miss Gidget is doing well. It's odd because since she was so sick, she seems to have changed a bit. It's nothing I could put my finger on, but maybe she's matured a little. I'm thinking she knew how sick she really was. Don't get me wrong, she's still a pain in the butt sometimes (like now, wanting to go out when I'm doing something), but all in all, she's doing much better in the way she's acting.

It was a beautiful day yesterday but really cold last night... winter jammies and the furnace. I don't know what I'm going to do when winter gets here if I can't even handle a beautiful Fall night.

I'm throwing a surprise housewarming party for my daughter on Sunday. I think I've mentioned before, she bought her first home... a beautiful condo. I'm really proud of her... she did it on her own. She's come a long way in the past couple of years, and I'm hoping she's learned some valuable lessons through all of her mistakes. Anyway, I can't afford to give the party on my own, so I made it a pot-luck. Twenty people have rsvp'ed so it's going to be a big one. Even though it's a pot-luck, it's still costing me a small fortune. I got the money from the pet insurance, and I've had to use that not only for theh party but to get through the month. Even if I had sent Care Credit the entire amount the insurance paid, I was still going to have a hefty balance due to them, but now that I'm using the money for this, it's going to be even a larger balance. It seems I'm getting myself in deeper and deeper in debt. Like the old Tennessee Ernie Ford song... "Saint Peter don't ya call me cuz I can't go... I owe my soul to the company store." Normally, I wouldn't have used that money for anything except for what it was meant for, but I didn't realize how much money it would cost me to throw a "pot-luck". Another line of the song... "another day older and deeper in debt." So what else is new????

I have a class reunion next week. Fourty-five years... my gosh, where did the time go? It seems like I graduated just a few years ago. Then again... if it was only a few years ago... when did all these wrinkles and grey hairs have time to pop up? LOL


Cindy said...

I was hoping for an update, but I know how hard it is to be on the computer sometimes.
Everyone here was invited to a bonfire/cookout on the holiday--but I stayed home with the puppers. I didn't know if there would be fireworks, and how Tuck would react. So like u, I was home alone-but with 4 puppers.
I hope Gidget and u are doing well.
For once I can say the boys are doing great--we have dual trains!!
Sending hugs and love.
Cindy, Tuck and Justice


Oh Cindy... I am sooooo happy to hear the boys are both on the train!!! I'm sorry I haven't been on IMOM lately. I'll stop in to check on the boys this afternoon. Thanks for letting me know about the trains... that just TOTALLY MADE MY DAY!!! The last time I was on IMOM, Justie had 96 days in and poor little Tuck was still struggling. I'm so happy to hear things are on the upswing. I'm hoping you're feeling better now too.
Give some extra belly rubs to those little ones and here are some hugs for you (((((CINDY)))))

Ok everyone. I know there wasn't a lot in this note that was worthy of the time you took to read it, but then again... no news is good news. So I'm hoping all of you have no news (good news) to report back...

Love, Blessings & Nose & Whisker Kisses
Joanna, Angel Mike and Gidget
September 15, 2009 10:35 PM

I know... it's been awhile... again. I'm getting horrible at posting.

Yesterday was Gidget's second birthday. WOW!! I don't know where the time goes. TWO YEARS OLD!!! And to think how many times I was ready to just send her back when she was being soooooooo hard to potty train. I've been saying I'm shocked that I let her live long enough to make it to this birthday... but in reality... I'm more shocked that "I" made it this long. Oh my gosh, what a trial it was for such a long time. But... now she's doing great. She can still be quite a pest sometimes, but she's more of a sweetheart now, so I guess we'll hang in there now for the long run. LOL.

There's really not much new around here. I've been quite bored and lonely at times. There's not enough work to keep me busy at work, and (of course) like the old saying goes... "my house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy"... and I really have "not" been up to cleaning house lately, so I just pick up what needs to be picked up, and the rest of it has pretty much been sent to the wayside. The sink is clean, and the laundry is done, and the bathroom is clean, but as for mopping and vacuuming... well... some day I'll get to those. (sigh)

The weather has been absolutely beautiful lately. I love September. Not only is it my birthday month (big deal), but it has the most beautiful weather of the entire year. October is a close second, but it gets a bit cool later in the month. I'd love to find someplace that has September weather all year long... I'd move there in a minute. Unfortunately... after September comes the colder months. I am definitely not looking forward to winter. Just the thought of winter right now can make me physically ill. I have a dear friend who lives in Arkansas. She's been after me to move down there. I'm not moving there, but she also asked me to go down there for a few months in the winter. I'd love to be able to get away from winter for three or four months. However, I really can't afford to go. I'd still have to pay my bills, and since I wouldn't be working while I was there, I'd have a really tough time getting through the month. I would need a financial miracle to be able to go there.

My holidaya weekend was really boring. I guess Of course there were a lot of events in the area to go to, but it's no fun going alone, and quite honestly, I don't have the money to go anywhere right now anyway. So it was just Gidget and I. We did go for a couple of rides, which she was very happy about, and we went for a walk in the park. She loved the park. There was an old guy feeding about 30 or 40 ducks on the walkway though, and even though I hated to upset them, we had to go that way to get on the path. Gidget was great with the ducks, until they started moving away ... then she wanted to chase them. I kept her on a tight leash, but she barked at them anyway. It really was pretty funny. Poor ducks. But it wasn't so bad... they went right back to the guy after we passed by. ;-)

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I'll try not being gone so long next time. Everyone Take Care of Yourselves, and God Bless You All.

Love & Blessings,
Joanna, Angel Mike & Gidget