Shoes, Gray Skies and Snow

Good grief - another week has come and gone already! And as I write this, I swear I feel like the weekend has passed by so quickly that I missed it....how does that happen? This week has passed without too much event, just the same routine of work, gym, home, sleep and start all over again...intermingled with little surprises here and there. I suppose that is what makes life worth living, isn't it? Life isn't always going to be grand gestures and dramatic sweeping moments; though those are nice and absolutely splendid when they do happen, I suppose that life is more about taking in the little moments and enjoying those. So here's to some of the little moments from the past week.

Nothing makes a Monday less "Monday-ish" like new shoes!

I went shoe shopping on Monday and let me be honest; this little excursion wasn't just because I wanted shoes - although there isn't ever a time I don't want shoes, I actually needed shoes. Two weeks ago I wore my black pumps to church and while I knew that they already had small tears on the side but it wasn't too bad...really, they were okay. I realized after I'd paraded around on the stage during the baby dedication and all over the church that one of the heels was just completely shredded. The tip had come off and the leather was literally peeling up the heel like a banana. I'd been walking on what amounted to a nail head all morning. I threw those shoes away once I got home because they just were a mess. Fast forward to a week later and I wore my beloved silver ballet flats to church. I crossed my leg in church and was absent-mindedly looking at my shoes when I realized that a hole was forming in the heel of one of them. I mean - *face palm* - two weeks in a row that I had worn ratty, falling apart shoes to church. I decided it was in my best interest to get myself to a shoe store ASAP and change that. Granted, I didn't need blue suede Ralph Lauren ballet flats but they were on sale and there is just something so thrilling about putting on your blue suede shoes! ;)

I know...I know...three pair. I needed them though, I really did. Okay...I just wanted the blue ones, but I did need the black & silver ones.

The weather this week has just been dismal, dreary and awful. Boo February.

The weather this past week has been (for the most part) typical February weather. Dismal, dreary and just absolutely depressing. I don't know about you, but I cannot stand the constant gray that has seemed to permeate everything for the past week. In the midst of the the cold and gray, we also got some wet, windy and gray - basically, we got every kind of weather you could think of this week but it was all accompanied by gray skies. Cold, rain, wind, snow, dry....GRAY. And in case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm tired of gray. So here's hoping that this next week gets a few more colors. *Update* So far, the sun came out on Friday and was gone again come Saturday morning. Oh me...come on sunshine, I need you...but obviously you don't need to see us because as I look at the extended forecast, it shows no sunshine again until Friday. Oh Lordy...five more days of gray.

Fifteen minutes before I took this, he didn't want to sit with me. It started thundering and suddenly he wanted to sit underneath me!

It only has 750 pages...surely it won't take that long to read, right?

If you haven't figured it out by now - I am a huge bookworm. I am one of those people that reads books that movies are based on, often times after I've seen the movie because normally the book is better. Honestly, the book is almost always better. I'm currently reading Winter's Tale and I'm doing my best to finish it before February 14th because that is when the movie comes out. I was already 100% intrigued by the previews for the movie and then I started reading the 750 page book and I'm hooked. The writing is so completely descriptive and if the movie is able to showcase that, it will be amazing. I get so wrapped up in reading books that I have moments of slight panic when I think I've left my book behind and I could be reading it. On Friday, I thought I'd left my book at home and I went slightly nuts until I was able to root through my purse and realize that I had my book. Yeah - I'm nuts like that, but it's totally cool.

I do love nights when my pup decides to be cuddly...we watched TV together on Wednesday night.

Of course on the day it snows, I leave the house with bare legs. I completely didn't check the weather.

Thursday, the unthinkable (at least in MS) happened. It snowed again! Now let me just tell you that I was not prepared for the snow...or the cold. It rained on Tuesday night and really kind of warmed up a bit, so without checking the weather on Thursday, I threw on a dress with a foot of bare leg exposed and realized once I'd gotten out of the house and didn't really have time to go back in and change...it was cold outside. Really pretty darn cold. Of course, lo and behold after lunch it started to snow! I must admit that I still have an almost childlike fascination with snowfall and so even though I had naked legs and it was freezing (literally, 30 degrees outside) I had to go out in the midst of the snow for some pictures. It may have snowed twice in only eight days...and maybe it will snow again, but I doubt it and so I'm going to take it all in!

Melissa & I taking a minute out of the work day to "play" in the snow!

Snow day selfie...complete with a photo bomb from a snowflake!

The smallest signs of snow at the office on Thursday.

And the few whispers of snow at my house...

New iPhone case - only $1.99....not too bad even if it did take almost four weeks to get here from Singapore!

Finally able to see more than clouds in the sky on Thursday night...hello moon!

He was obviously just slap worn out by the time Thursday rolled around - I came back from the shower & he was stretched out, fast asleep.

Friday at work, one of my co-worker's had her son at the office for about thirty minutes. I was sitting at the table in the kitchen, minding my own business when he poked his head around the corner and asked me "do you know how to play the game of hide and seek?" Well that was all it took - we spent the last fifteen minutes of my lunch break counting to 9 or 17 or even 96...so he said...and hiding behind doors, around corners and under desks (him, not me). It completely cracked me up when he would peek around the corner and say "I found you!" Ha-ha! Little kids are no doubt the best, I'm just glad I got to spend my lunch break playing a game of hide and seek with such a fun little kid!

This sweetie pie asking me if I'd like to play hide & seek with him while I was on my lunch break. I said yes, of course! 

The Olympic Games are upon us once again...

It's that time again - the Olympics are back! The 2014 games in Sochi, Russia promised to be interesting from the lead-up; everything about Russia is interesting and I don't mean that as a compliment. Rumors (no doubt most of them true) of gross over-spending, money being slid under the table to even secure Russia's hosting of the games, the deplorable human rights issues in Russia, the horrific conditions of the country as a whole - it seems ironic that Russia ever ended up hosting at all, but here we are and Russia is doing it's level best, I guess. I was fairly impressed with the Opening Ceremonies but even in the celebratory spirit of the games, I couldn't help but wonder how many Russian citizens are actually happy to be Russian citizens? Beyond all the craziness, I must say that Team USA looked a bit like they'd won the tacky sweater lottery at the Opening Ceremonies; it kind of cracked me up. I can't wait to spend the next two weeks watching figure skating, snowboarding, speed skating and ski jumping...all sports that just boggle my mind. I just hope and pray that the games pass without incident and the focus can stay on the games....well, and maybe a little bit on the crazy awful hotel rooms. Ha-ha!

Watching the Opening Ceremonies and eating peanuts - until Watson choked on a peanut & then no more for him.

Adventures in plumbing - that would be what my Saturday was. I was just peacefully minding my own business, watching some TV and washing clothes when all of a sudden I heard what sounded like a cauldron was about to bubble up and out of my kitchen sink. I went flying into the kitchen but by the time I got there, it had stopped...but now that same sound was coming from my guest bathroom, so I went tearing down the hall to the bathroom. The toilet was bubbling almost like it was boiling and gray, debris filled water was filling the toilet bowl. I absolutely freaked out as I watched the bowl fill almost to the rim and once I figured out that it wasn't going to overflow, I noticed that the same nasty gray water was filling the bathtub. The water bubbled and gurgled and then slowly drained out of the toilet, leaving behind a nasty mess.

Of course, I'd already called my parents and my Dad wanted me to flush the toilet...which horrified me because I just knew the toilet would overflow and I'd have a huge mess on my hands. I took the lid off the tank, flushed the toilet and jumped back, holding my breath. Thankfully the toilet didn't overflow! I still haven't really figured out what is causing the toilet to bubble but it continued to bubble every single time the rinse cycle came around on each of the four load of clothes I was watching. I googled what might be wrong with things and h my goodness; the horrors. I just quit reading because if I believed google, I could have had anything from air in the vent to a complete sewage malfunction. On the advice of my Dad, I'm just going to "watch the situation" and see what happens. Personally, it was too much excitement for me.

Veggie Straws - because I'm trying to be healthy. Thankfully they're surprisingly good.

Begging for a bite of my supper...noticing he is getting closer & closer & closer...

And of course, because he's rotten - he got himself a bite...or two...

Already working on a Sunday nap...and it was only 8:30. Bless him...

Selfie Sunday...so why not? Ha-ha!

The first time I took a Sherlock quiz, I was Molly. The second quiz I was Mary. The combination of the two makes for a pretty hardcore woman if you ask me. 

Well - It's been about five weeks now that I've been doing ViSalus. I'm trying to do the best that I can and I am finally beginning to think that it might be working. I'll be honest, it is really not easy drinking shakes, shakes, shakes all the time. The shakes are good most of the time and I'm not normally hungry but there are times when I really want a big juicy hamburger or a yummy taco...or just something salty for lunch instead of fruity and sweet. I push on though. A couple friends have told me that I look like I'm getting slimmer but a part of me just thinks they are telling me that to be nice; because they have to. I took a picture today after church because for the first time I thought that maybe I looked like I was getting slimmer. Maybe I'm just deluding myself...I certainly hope I'm not. I suppose I'll keep pushing on and maybe the progress will become so evident that I can't even deny it myself...

Crazy mirror selfie...I'm nuts, I know.

Sunday night snacks with my sweet boy while watching Downton Abbey.

Well - that's all she wrote...at least, that's all she wrote for now. I have to say, I was really so sad last night when Downton Abbey went off and I knew Sherlock wasn't coming on; three episodes a season is really much too short. Another week is off and running, a week that will culminate with Valentine's Day 2014 - another year, another holiday as a single. *Sigh* Oh well, here's hoping for next year, right? And here's hoping for a good week.