Garage Sale day

Ahhhhh, garage sales. Such a GREAT idea in theory, such a pain in the ass when you actually have to do it. We've moved our CRAP twice in the last year and when we moved to Pitt we both agreed that we need to get rid of some stuff and that we would have a garage sale once the weather got better. Low and behold, our neighborhood, along with the one next to us, have an annual garage sale every spring and it happened to be today. So awesome to not have to advertise it ourselves, especially because we live in the back of the neighborhood on a dead end street and wouldn't have gotten drive-by traffic without advertising.

So anyway, we started getting ready for it late as usual and really didn't put forth a concerted effort until last night. We went through the basement as much as we could after Josh went to bed (and after I made an emergency run to the store to get $1 bills). In a rush this morning I got stuff set up out on the driveway around 8am and all the fun began. We had a lot of miscellaneous stuff and no real "big ticket" items so I didnt expect to make a ton of money at this thing. We were selling alot of stuff for 25 cents just to get it out of our basement. On one of my breaks from trying to sell our stuff I hopped in the car and went shopping at other people's houses. I was so happy to find a Baby Bjorn travel potty for $3 and a Fisher Price adjustable basketball hoop for $10. When Scott went out to look at stuff he found a Lands End winter coat/snowpants combo in size 4T for like $3 - it will hopefully fit Josh this winter (right now he's between 2T and 3T on top, and 24mo-2T on the bottom). Traffic drastically slowed down around noon and I finally "closed up" around 2pm.

The weather today was soooooooooooo beautiful that I didn't mind sitting in the chair in the sun and reading my book. Boy am I paying for it now! I am a bit sunburned and have a fantastic "farmer's tan" from my bra straps and tank top. I'll definitely have to hit the tanning booth a couple times this week to get rid of it before I head up to Buffalo next weekend. Anyway, after Josh's nap he came back outside and we played in the yard with his toys, slide, and new basketball hoop. It was such a great day, and the weather was so perfect - 70 and sunny with a breeze. Hopefully we have many more days like this to come.

So as I mentioned above, I'm heading up to Buffalo next weekend. I haven't seen my friends there in what seems like FOREVER. I saw Patrick back in September when he came to Cleveland to help us with the move, but I really can't remember the last time I saw Anna or Reanna - I'm thinking it was February 2006! Hopefully Patrick doesn't come back from Mexico tomorrow with the swine flu because I'm hanging out and staying with him on Friday night. Hopefully I'll get to see Reanna during the day on Saturday before I head over to Anna's that afternoon. Actually, the whole reason for the trip was for me to come up and hang out with Anna and Jenny and take a new group photo. Anna posted a pic on Facebook of the 3 of us from the end of grad school and Jenny and I both feel like we look like crap and need a new pic. I'm excited to go back to my old stomping grounds and spend time with old friends. I need to make sure I don't drink too much though, the 3 hour drive back to Pitt on Sunday will be absolutely miserable if I'm hungover! Mmm, I need to get some Duff's too!

Happy Memorial Day!

I love 3-day weekends... as I sit here typing, it truly feels like today is Sunday and all day yesterday felt like Saturday. So weird... Anyway, we were very fortunate to have Nana & Papa come to visit this weekend. They got here on Saturday around dinner time and we went out to Primanti for a bite to eat and then to Brusters for yummy ice cream. Josh was wired and didnt go to bed until almost 9pm that night!
Yesterday we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo and had a fantastic time. The zoo is great, lots of animals to see, play areas for kids and nicely laid out. Josh had so much fun running from exhibit to exhibit and calling out the animal names/sounds.
He pushed through his nap time and the only reason we left at 2:30 was because we got caught in a passing rain storm (the weather was warm and sunny up until that point). We're going to get a family membership so we can go back often, there is so much to see and do and it's only a half hour away from our house. I think Scott & I had as much fun as Josh did.

Last night we "christened" our back deck and grilled out for the first time since we moved from Jacksonville. Nana & Papa gave us a set of Adirondack chairs and we brought the grill and Scott's "spool table" up too.
I think we're going to get a fire pit/table as well as a kid's Adirondack chair for Josh. We're really looking forward to enjoying time out there now that the weather is beautiful!

Today we're going to go shopping. Scott got me roses and a gift card this week as a thank you for taking such good care of him while he was sick and I'm itching to spend it. Now that I work out of the branch I feel overdressed in my black pants and dress shirts so I need to get more khakis and dressy/casual shirts to wear. I definitely won't complain about wearing more comfy clothes and shoes every day!

Doctors, doctors and more doctors

Doctor #1 - the ENT
Scott went to an ENT on Monday to find out what was going on with his throat and ears. As I suspected, she didn't think that he had strep throat. Unfortunately she says it's viral tonsilitis which means that meds won't do anything to help it clear up faster - he just needs to wait it out. She said for him to finish his antibiotics (just for good measure) but to lay off of all the pain meds. Luckily the worst is behind him and Scott is feeling better and better every day. He's back to eating normal food (no more jello and yogurt) but I still treated him to a surprise vanilla custard from Rita's last night :)

Doctor #2 - the Pediatrician
Just as we get past one illness, we face another. On Monday Josh started looking glassy-eyed and had a runny nose. For the last 2 days the nose has gotten progressively worse and he is sneezing a bit now. I asked him to show me where it hurts and he points into his open mouth. He hasn't been too interested in eating much of anything for dinner lately although his sheets from school say that he's eating most if not all of his lunches. Tomorrow I will call the pediatrician and see if we can get him an appointment for Friday. I'm afraid that he either caught what Scott had, or his ear infection is back (he had one right before we went to Utica and he keeps poking his fingers into his ears).

Doctor #3 - the General Practitioner
So I guess it's finally time that I got some medical attention. Shortly after we moved to Pitt I found myself a "lady doctor" and went to see them for my annual check up. Now it's time for me to go see a regular doctor for all the other stuff, which I'm doing in a week and a half. My allergies are killing me (I forgot how bad my Northern allergies were) and the OTC generic Zyrtec isn't working for me - time to get another script for Allegra. I could also use a script for more "happy pills". I still have a few left from when I got them in August but I'd hate to hit a rough patch, need some and not have them handy.
I haven't blogged about it for months now but I'm still having trouble with my left side - the partial numbness and lack of sensitivity to temperature has never gone away, I just got used to it really. The only time that I really notice it is in the shower or bath and when I'm outside in the sun. I had so many tests done in Cleveland and they all came back normal so I'd like to talk to a doctor here about it and get a referral to go see a neurologist. There has to be a physical cause for what I'm experiencing and it's about time I find out what it is.

I'll keep everyone updated on how we're all doing!

It can't be...

After 48 hours of being on the anitbiotic Scott is still feeling pretty crappy - his ears even feel a bit worse. So I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it's not really strep throat. The "rapid" throat culture at the urgent care office came back negative but the Physician's Assistant was still convinced that it was strep (btw - there weren't any white spots on his tonsils either). But, today is Sunday so all he can do is continue the meds and rest and wait for tomorrow to go to an ENT for a second opinion. About 6 1/2 years ago Scott went through something similiar, but much worse, and ended up in the hospital for a few days on IV meds. That time it was Monotonsilitis and his throat swelled up so much he literally couldn't swallow at all. Today he can swallow and eat soft foods (with pain) so I doubt it's that again. I hope he just needs a stronger antibiotic and doesn't have to have his tonsils out.

On a lighter note, Josh and I have had an okay weekend although he's had his moments. Last night he surprised me by eating a cheeseburger from McDonald's - I learn something new about my little man every day. He also likes to eat all the meatballs out of the Chef Boyardee meals when I give them to him. I guess he won't be anti-meat like his dad! Today we went to the store and I bought him a "Cars" plush chair to sit in while he watches his DVDs on the TV in his playroom. We'll see if he actually sits in it.

Daddy's away - day #4

We have hit our limit folks... Josh worked my last nerve tonight and had a meltdown about absolutely EVERYTHING!!! He screamed... and I screamed... but we pushed through and ended the night cuddling and watching Go Diego Go. I already knew this but I am NOT cut out to ever be a single mom. I give them so much credit for what they do every day.

Scott is en route on his way home. He's currently on his layover in Philly and feeling really sick - horrible sore throat and ears. Hopefully he's not coming down with something terrible but I'm sure he'll go to urgent care in the morning. I'll just be glad to have him home, even if he isn't feeling 100%.

Daddy's away - day #3

No incident reports again today - hopefully this new room will continue to be good for Josh.

We have a new nightly "visitor"... we noticed that there is a rabbit that comes to feed on our lawn every night around dusk. Today we named him/her "Mocha" because it's brown and I was hungry for a sweet snack :) Both Josh and Kody like to watch it eat and today I decided to put out some baby carrots so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully it won't attract other wild animals (like racoons or skunks)!

Daddy's away - day #2

Incident reports = 0

Bowls of Lucky Charms = 1

Meltdowns = 5

We miss Daddy and both of us got to talk to him on the way home from daycare today. :) He's having a good time in Jax, learning a lot in class and getting to see a bunch of his friends at night. Josh started in his new room today and had a better day - ate all of his lunch and no incidents! Work is starting to pick up for me - I was assigned as the lead analyst on tracking and reporting the company's major initiative REACH (acquiring new customers) so I have my work cut out for me over the next few months. Ahhhhhhhhhh, it's good to be back "home" at PSS.

And for the record - the 1 bowl of Lucky Charms today was Josh's breakfast ;)

Daddy's away - day #1

Scott flew down to Jacksonville this morning for a 2.5 day "Solution Focused Selling" class which left me home alone with my two boys - Josh "the mooshy one", and Kody "the hairy one".
I was shocked to receive an incident report from daycare today, not because Josh had an incident, but because of what it was. Usually Josh falls down and injures himself and we have to sign the slip. Today I had to sign the slip because Josh THREW A CHAIR AT ANOTHER CHILD'S FACE!!! What is that all about? He's not aggressive at home like that! Well, he's moving to another classroom tomorrow with some of the older 2-year olds and will have a different teacher so hopefully nothing like that will happen again.

When we got home tonight Josh caught sight of the box of Lucky Charms and insisted that he have cereal (he pronounced it "sir-ill") for dinner. Honestly, I was too tired to fight and to cook so I figured why not. I usually don't buy sugary cereals but just so happened to buy the Lucky Charms yesterday on a whim and now I'm pretty sure Josh is hooked on it since he ate it twice today (he also had it for breakfast this morning). In my defense, Josh also had half a container of blackberries and a Dora yogurt after the cereal so he got a decent amount of nutrition this evening. I, on the other hand, didn't do so well. I followed up my big bowl of Lucky Charms with a chocolate cupcake - yum!

Josh has had his bath and watched Dora and Diego and is now sleeping soundly. I'm off to put away the laundry that Scott washed yesterday (notice washed, not folded and put away but at least he tried). I think I'm going to watch "Twilight" again for the 6th time too... sometimes I like being home alone.

Happy Mother's Day

Here's a picture of me and my little man from last night before we went to dinner at Siba - atmosphere was nice, food was good, and Josh wasn't TOO bad for us :) Afterwards we stopped at Rita's to get me a gelati and Josh some twist custard.

Today I got to sleep in until 8:30 (woo hoo) and woke up to find that Scott & Josh had gotten me flowers, and breakfast from Dunkin Donuts. We spent the morning playing and I got to go shopping all by myself this afternoon - a small luxury to say the least. It was a very nice day that ended with Josh & I watching the Mother's Day episode of Go Diego Go... I'm really a dork because I think I enjoyed it more than Josh :)

Scott leaves tomorrow morning for a training class down in Jacksonville and won't be home until late on Thursday night :( I'm really hoping that Josh quiets down in his crib soon so that we can spend some quality time together!

CNY Trip

So last weekend while Daddy was galavanting all over the Northeast with Uncle Jon and being a "Deadhead", Josh and I took a trip back to Central NY (Utica and Syracuse) to visit family. All in all Josh did well during the 6 hour drive thanks to a full belly that made him nap for a few hours, and the portable DVD player with lots and lots of Dora/Diego/Backyardigans/Handy Manny/Sesame Street DVDs to watch.

We arrived in Utica on Wednesday evening and stayed with Grandma and Grandpa for 3 nights. I was very happy to get my O'Scuggnizzo's pizza and Voss's while I was there. On Friday night I also got to spend some time with my ex-boyfriend's daughter Chrissy (who will be turning 16 next month which makes me feel super old). I hadn't seen her in like 6 years and it was great to be able to hang out with her, especially now that she's older. She convinced me to not only take her to the batting cages, but to also hit 3 buckets worth of softballs myself. I have to admit, it was a lot of fun!

On Saturday, Josh and I drove out to Syracuse and met Cioci Paula, Caitlin and Aidan at the zoo. We had a really good time there and Josh kept running around saying "Mommy animals more?", it was adorable.

On Sunday morning we went to 10:15am mass where my godson Matthew made his first communion. He did so well and I'm very proud of him.

After mass we went to my cousin David's house for a party and ate lots of good food and spent time with family (and Josh had a great time running around with all the kids).

It was sad to leave but we were ready to come home on Monday and luckily Grandma came back with us for the ride because Mr. Josh was not so happy to sit in the car for 6 hours this time. After stopping 3 times (I think) we finally made it home and Scott had a yummy Italian dinner waiting for us (take out from our fave restaurant here)! Grandma stayed an extra day to hang out with Josh and flew home on Wednesday morning. All in all a great trip and some much needed time with my family. I can't wait to see everyone again soon! XOXO to all that read my blog - we love you guys!

I'm a PSSer AGAIN!

I am so happy to report that I am a PSSer again! Things have been in the works for a few weeks now but I wanted to keep quiet about it until it was official. Now I sit here in my office at the PSS branch in Leetsdale, PA. I am soooooooooooo happy to be back with PSS (see my lamenting in the previous posting)! It's a little different to now be known as "Scott's wife" - everyone here is used to dealing with him when he calls in. Hopefully I'll become part of the branch family here and not just be the woman from corporate that works here. It does help that I'm friends with the Operations Leader (Jerry) and know one of the guys in the warehouse (Joe).

This job is a little different from my previous one with PSS. I'm still a Senior Marketing Analyst but the work will be a little different. Previously I reported to Richard Bigham, the Executive Director in charge of Base products and our Select private label line. Now I report directly to Mark Steele, the VP of Marketing. I will be supporting the other teams in the department (RX, Lab, Surgery Center, Specialty Equipment) as well as working on more strategic analyses for him and the Senior VP of Finance. I'm sure they will keep me busy with lots of reports to run and numbers to crunch but I am really looking forward to it!

My new desk is on order right now so once I get the office set up I will definitely post a picture of it. It's my first time with an office so I'm really excited - no more cube life for me :)