Icy Weather

We woke up this morning to lots of ice and high winds. The ice weighed down the power lines, and we lost power for part of the early hours on Sunday.
It warmed up again and large pieces fell from the trees. So we decided to stay inside for the majority of the day. What better way to spend the day than at the salon?
Andrea, Sam and I headed to Andrea's work to be pampered.
Andrea did our hair and I got a nice chair massage. Andrea was a trooper considering it was her Christmas party the night before, where she had one too many drinks!
The rest of our weekend was pretty relaxing. We played a lot of Wii Sports, and watched some movies. In all, it was a great weekend. I'm glad because this week will be very busy at work and then I'm off to Montreal!Yiiippeeee!

5 Memes

As promised from my last post, I would be more consistent with my blog and post pics from the party this past weekend. Well due to extenuating circumstances, I was unable to attend. I experienced my very first migrane on Saturday. I've been getting little headaches but this one was like no other that I have ever experienced. I am feeling much better now though! Yippee!

Someone sent me the meme below. For those who aren't familiar with memes here's a link to find out more about them...http://thedailymeme.com/what-is-a-meme/

People get tagged, and usually participate...

5 things on my to-do list for today...
1. Pick up the work mail which I have now begun to fear
2. Joke around with someone and laugh for real because I know that I haven’t in awhile
3. Update my blog, start a new blog because taking care of 1 just isn’t enough ;) I actually did! lol
4. Go to Target to pick up Christmas cards
5. Read more than two chapters of my book before falling asleep tonight

5 things I would do if I had 5 million dollars...
1. Phone my parents and tell them to retire
2. Volunteer in a study on primates or wolves in the wild
3. Design and build a modest cottage (probably 1 floor), with a GIGANTIC POOL and slide...plant a big garden too.
4. Have a rescue/rehabilitation sanctuary for animals. Volunteer only.
5. Invest

5 things that I'll never wear again...
1. Zebra pants like Brutus the Barber Beefcake. Did this in elementary when I was really into WWF wrestling
2. Neon/fluorescent clothes
3. Pants with safety pins in them
4. Cowboy boots...and I never have. I’m sticking to my guns.
5. I can only think of 3 ‘cos I’ve always been a pretty snappy dresser

5 things I'm glad that I never got into...
1. Drugs
2. Uggs
3. Scrapbooking
4. Food for comfort/crutch
5. Crocs

5 things that I miss...
1. Vegas
2. Being challenged by intelligent people, having insightful conversations
3. Saturday morning cartoons (when I was little)
4. Diversity
5. Mom

I'm adding another category...(I realize that I'm breaking the 5 rule of this one)

5 things that I am looking forward to in the near future...
1. The holidays-particularly my Christmas stocking
2. Being with my family and dancing around with Momsies
3. Seeing Minou and Belle again
4. Waking up before my brother on Christmas morning as I always have. I beat him every year.

If you read this...tag you're it!
As most of my readers do not have blogs, you can send it to me in an email as usual!
'Til next time!

Let It Snow!

Well my friends it finally happened! It got cold enough to snow! It was enough snow to grind most people to a halt! Even us! We woke up yesterday morning, only to find 4-5 inches of snow. That's it you say? Can't say that I thought so either but it's a lot when winter tires don't exist around here.

We attempted to go to work but only got about 10 miles in an hour. There were cars flipped over and others had smashed right into each other. We saw approximately 10 accidents in the short distance that we travelled. Anyone remember when I got hit last year and was in intensive treatment? Well I did. We decided we weren't as cool as all the dumb dumbs who risked their lives to go to work, and turned around to enjoy the guilt free (for the most part) snow day.

I answered all of my emails from my 3 work email accounts (this takes up a lot of my time at work), and was free to make snow angels for most of the day! Yiiippeeee!

I managed to capture some pics of the pretty snow, and laughed at how little snow it really was. I won't mention the ton of snow that Mtl. just got! It doesn't even compare!!! Everyone still makes it into work, then spends all day bragging about it! Canadians are true winter warriors. Well, at least they are better winter drivers.
I had a great time in the snow, I really missed it! I'm sure it will be gone very soon because the snow doesn't stay around for very long here, so it's a treat!

I've included some pics of the puppy that Andrea and MB will be getting. No the Mommy Lab is not Ellie Mae. They will be getting a black female lab a short time after Christmas.

If you're wondering about the last pic of the green Scion, it belongs to Steve's wife. Steve drove it to work this week, and the boys put out a VIP parking sign in front of it. He got made fun of pretty bad for driving it.

This weekend we are planning to go to a Christmas party at Steve & Sally's, so I'm looking forward to posting some more pics of our time there. I'm going to be more consistent with my blog, I promise!

Random Skeet Pics

The boys are always firing off their shotguns. As much as I don't care for guns, I can honestly say that they're pretty good at hitting moving targets, and that they are responsible.

Except for the time they carved up one of the very pricey pumpkins that we bought at the vineyard.

Marc and MB have fantastic shots. One of them releases the clay pigeon, while the other fires away. They usually do a round of five clays.

Marc and MB

Danny (Andrea's Bro)

Steve's first time, he sucked.

...and Samantha (Danny's g.friend), looking hot as always! She's got a great shot too!

No there aren't any pics of me. I shot it once and gave the gun back. It is SO loud.

I prefered shooting the handgun. I was able to hit the target (log) my first try. MB's a good coach. His sniper training came in handy.

All we need is some moonshine and we're all set.

Lately they haven't been able to shoot very often because it's hunting season, and the game warden will come and give you a fine. I don't really get the law because you're shooting on your property but I'm not complaining. Apparently, some hunters came up to the property and asked them to stop shooting because they were trying to hunt!

I still have a lot to get used to around here. I usually stay off the roads at night because of all the deer at this time of year. There are lots of dead deer and guts all over the roads right now. Whenever I see one, I pray that it won't run in front of me. They usually freeze by the side of the road or run around all confused, so it's hard to tell.

I think if it weren't for the deer, I'd fall asleep at the wheel! It's pretty tame around here for the most part.

I hope I find my camera (AGAIN), so I can show you how beautiful the trees are right now!

:)

Miss you all!

Ultimate Hunter

Foot managed to catch the little mouse that's been running around Andrea's house lately.

He came and dropped it at my feet and I did my best not to jump. Foot was nice enough to keep it alive so I could hear its little screams, and watch him tear around the room after the poor thing. I managed to get it away from him, and put it under a glass vase. Foot and Ratatouille had a little staring contest before I brought the

little guy to the forest, only to be eaten moments later by a big owl.

It's a cruel world my friends.

Baby Veg Painting

Yes, it's me again! My holiday was nice. I spent it at Steve's house with his big baby Diesel. It was nice and I got to poke around downtown Leesburg (very old) and the Leesbug Outlets. Black Friday (Boxing Day) was insane and I stayed away from most stores.

The absolute best part of the weekend was my visit to the Reign of Cats and Dogs. My painting was ready! :)

So I headed to Kim's new store, which was adorable, to pick up the picture.

We went though a couple of revisions before we reached the final product. It turned out just the way we wanted it. I took it to Michael's to get it framed, and found out that they were offering 50% off all framing! How great is that?!? I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together. The colors are so vivid, I'm going to have to do some serious redecorating in my bedroom!

Well as we all know, all good things come to an end (sounds negative but its true). Or how about with one end a chapter comes another...My great holiday ended on Sunday night, when my head started to hurt. Then I woke up on Monday morning, with a HUGE headache and a very sore nose. I decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to go to work. So I tucked myself back into bed, feeling VERY guilty because I had already had 4 days off! I also developed a very nice fever which made me feel delirious. Tuesday wasn't much better until I took some great sinus medication. It's weird 'cos I don't even have a cold! This has been the strangest sickness ever. I'm feeling much better today, and plan on going in to work tomorrow morning.

Marc and I will be in Montreal for a full week this time! Yiippeee! I've started my shopping and am really, really, really looking forward to this trip! :)

I hope everyone is in good health and spirits for the upcoming holidays!

Happy Turkey Day!

Hi Everyone! I'm back from my trip!

Yes, my trips to work and sleep and work and sleep. It's been so time consuming that I haven't been able to keep you updated!

My sincerest apologies...

I have honestly not been doing much of anything lately. Work has been very busy and I'm catching up on work emails on the U.S. Turkey Day!

I have a four day weekend, and I am staying at Rab's (Steve, featured below) place to watch his baby Diesel. It feels very weird to have a dog following me around everywhere again!

I will be heading to Andrea's for dinner tonight, and am contemplating bringing Diesel there too. He can be quite the bully to other dogs.

The weather has been absolutely amazing these past couple of days, literally T-Shirt weather compared to the rain we've been having lately.

Apparently there's been snow in Mtl. too! It's crazy what a difference in weather a couple of hours can have.

I will give you an update with pics within the next few days!

Clippity Clops

Sunday was an AMAZING day!

Andrea found us to a beautiful place to go horseback riding, called Wheel Wagon Ranch.

It's owned by a husband and wife.

They own over 250 acres of property, which spans over 3 counties, and they have lots of cattle. His wife Sam, who took us on the tour, is a Barrel racer. It has something to do with Rodeo stuff, which I know absolutely nothing about. She's a superstar though, and very down to earth.

Andrea being the experienced rider that she is, took one of her cattle horses, while I rode the one that was on its way to the glue factory. Just kidding my horse was 4 and very calm.

They used him for lessons.

I didn't bring my camera on the ride since it was my first time in many years.

My horse Roney, was very responsive and moved at the slightest pull of his reigns. Andrea's horse was beautiful too, and took many poop and pee breaks. When I first went to pet him, he turned around and took a big poop near my shoe.

We began a slightly scary descent of a hill, and then rode along a stream near some caves, then through hills and valleys. We stopped for some water at a troff, and my horse stuck his whole head in, then stopped for some grass. We took another ascent up a hill and my horse started to pick up speed, which made me a little nervous but he slowed down after a few seconds. We rode through herds of cattle, and they didn't care at all! It was SO MUCH FUN! I would love to do it again anytime. The weather was SO nice. The sun was shining and there was a cool breeze. Afterward, they served us lemonade and cookies and we played with their dogs.

Sunday was definetely my favorite day in Virginia so far! I can't wait to do it again!

Giddy Up!

Hot Air Balloon Festival

We went to the Balloon Festival at

Historical Long Branch Manor on Saturday. It was truly a beautiful place.

It is in Blue Ridge Mountain, in "Fox Hunt Country".

Lots of Lords resided there, and George Washington surveyed the property.

If only they could see what's going on there now, they'd be so proud.

A friend of Andrea's brother Dan raced his lawn mower, which was interesting to see.

They called it the Balloon Festival but it was all about the local wines. We got our glasses and tasted wines from all over Virginia.

Andrea and I taking a break with a cigar. It's not lit. Man those things stink!

Beautiful manor where lots of magical weddings happen.

This pic doesn't do the view justice. It was such a nice place with rolling hills.

Sweet rides!

We all had a great time, too bad the hot air balloons couldn't take off 'cos it was too windy.

http://www.historiclongbranch.com/

Stay tuned for more pics of Sunday's Horseback riding adventure...

Pumpkin Picking

Sorry to my loyal readers for being so neglectful!

I've been busy lately so there wasn't much time to update.

Here are a few pics taken a couple of weekends ago. Andrea, MB, Travis and I went to a local vineyard/farm to pet the ponies and pick some pumpkins. It was a beautiful day as always!

We finally got a little break from all the heat. The mornings are a little cooler but by lunch time its boiling again.

Cool tractor ride...

Slim pickins by the time we got there. That's ok 'cos they were 59 cents a pound!

You do the math!

MB decided to cut costs.

Tractor ride back.

First time on a tractor...

&

My $18 pumpkin

Got some kettle corn popcorn, which was SO good. It had a sweet and salty flavoring.

Hillbilly Kitchen..

Duck Crossing! lol

Haven't seen this since I was in Nova Scotia for Cari's wedding.

MB going poo.

Yayyyy trampoline!
It was a HUGE bubble on the ground and there were tons of people on it. It was dangerous fun for sure, and lots of crying kids.

Andrea was loving it!

There was even pig racing!!!

It was a great and the boys ended it with a bit of skeet shooting.

Can't wait to start carving those pumpkins!

Best Wishes!

Wishing a BIG Happy Birthday to Dad and Billy!

Wish I were there to celebrate with you guys!

Have a great night! I hope you enjoy your gifts!

In other news,

Not much has been going on lately. Working lots, got a new Blackberry which I'm already REALLY addicted to! Feel free to email me there...I died my hair back to brown with no streaks. Everyone is calling me "Katie's Evil Twin" now.

and...

Vegas' painting is almost done....will post it once it's complete :)

Michigan Weekend

We spent the weekend working a tournament in MI.

It was long. We were there for 7 am, and didn't leave 'til well after 7 pm. It was surprisingly busier than I had thought it would be.

After we closed up, we headed to Leo's Coney Island for supper, and then to The Haunted Farm of Terror, in Macomb County. There are tons of haunted places to go in Michigan, there's even a newspaper dedicated to the many different Hallo attractions.

This one offered a haunted house tour, scary movies on two big screens with refreshments from the Road Kill cafe, and a hayride through the haunted forest. The house was cool, esp. the partial corn stalk maze, with clowns jumping out at me. I got chased around outside by a SUPER scary clown on stilts too. I had no idea he was real. I saw this tall thing standing so still, and then all of a sudden it starts running toward me! He was great on those stilts, too bad he stepped on my toe though!

The hayride was pretty tame except for when the Mac truck, and the guys with the chain saws came at us in the forest. That was exciting!

On our way back from the tournament on Monday, we stopped at Denny's Pub, where Marc wanted to attempt the Pub Challenge. He did the two lb. challenge (it goes up six). It doesn't sound like much but you have to have dressing on it. If you don't want onion, then they pile more of something else.

Eat this puppy and you win a free T-shirt, your photo is taken, receive 50% off your cost, and your name goes up in the Hall of Fame.

Marc's Strategy.

Eat the meat first, the dressing, then the bun.

Too many onions!

We all agreed that if Marc ate the whole burger, then we wouldn't make it home that night. Imagine the heartburn? Anywho, he ate the top dressing (lettuce and a couple of onions), and half of the burger. I was very happy that he didn't eat it all.
http://www.dennysbeerbarrelpub.com/

Virginia Scottish Games Sky Meadows

I love a man in a skirt...

Saturday morning, Marc and I went to the parade in Haymarket. I wanted to go there because they were offering a "Country Breakfast", and some wine tasting. We caught most of the parade and went to a cute coffee shop that sold antique furniture. When we got to the town hall, the breakast was a touch sloppy, and there were old drunken farmers lying on the ground. Just kidding. That would've been the fun part! Imagine the pics!?! The wine tasting section had about 3 booths, and no drunken farmers.zzzzzzzzzzz Marc and I both agreed that we were spoiled in Montreal. Anyone been to Montreal's beer fest?

It's a classy place for alcoholics to meet.
Anywho, we salvaged the day by heading to IHOP for some not so soggy breakfast, and headed to Sky Meadows State Park for our original plan of seeing the Scottish Fest. It was great! They had the usual games, food, dancers, lots of vendors and even sheep!
They also had a live band. The piper is always the best part. I am used to going to the Alexandria or Montreal ones every year, so this was a special treat. We sampled some beer and I caught Marc peeking up the mens kilts. I hadn't had beer in so long, it was yummy to sip!
We made our way back up to Andrea's to spend the rest of the weekend. Much to MB's dismay, I got to dress up Ellie Mae who has been coming to work with us lately. Dan has a heavy exam load, and didn't want to take her with him to school this week.

I will post all of my recent pics tomorrow evening. There are some very cute ones!
This week will be a busy one, gotta finish everything at work, before I head back to Michigan for another tournament this week! Ciao!
http://www.vascottishgames.org/indexn.html

Domestic Goddess

I don't care what you say, it's not too early to think about Halloween! September brings many thoughts of Halloween, and a relief that summer is finally over! Ok, I don't hate it that much but I prefer the cooler temps, and crisp air!
So I decided that I was to have a date with my oven this weekend. As most know, I am not a big baker.
Well, I must say 3 hrs to bake 18 shortbread cookies was enough for me! I did have fun though.
It took so long because they said to put the dough in the freezer for at least an hour, so I set the timer for 50 minutes, only to find that the dough had frozen into a solid disk! I was getting confused. I decided to throw the dough in the micro for a few minutes only to find it bubbling while I was on the phone. So back in the freezer it went for another 15 minutes.
I was able to roll out the dough and cut out the cute hallo shapes.
I watched the cookies in the oven like a paranoid woman, to make sure that they didn't burn. The icing recipe said to ice the warm cookies, so I did. It turned out looking like shortbread soup. Maybe they should have cooled a little longer! The icing had cute little white flecks in it too, from not having a sifter.
As you can see from the pics above, the deco on them looks like a 5 year did them but again, I had fun!!!
I must say the cookies were delish!!! I swear!
I spent the rest of the day chillin with Marc and catching up on Harry Potter.
I spent Sunday at Target and headed to Andrea's for supper and spent the night. Guess what else I did? I shot a handgun. MB showed me how to hold the gun and aim properly. I actually hit the target. I shot two rounds, and that was enough for me. I'm definetely NOT a gun person. I'd rather take up archery.
Hope you had a good weekend!

Poor Girl

I stumbled on the Miss Teen USA pageant this year. I haven't seen it in years...
I watched the show but often rolled my eyes at the kind of competitions that these girls get tortured with.
The question category is by far my fav. and I really do root for them during this time.
I ran from the TV with embarassment (it hurt so bad to watch) when Miss South Carolina answered her given question.
For those who haven't seen this yet, watch the following video with the necessary subtitles.

She was allowed to save face and answer the question a second time on the Today show.

Miss Teen USA South Carolina 2007 with Subtitles

Feel the Love

Steve just got back from his sales trip, only to find his precious Scion xB wrapped in shipping tape. He was very happy to be back today.

We missed him dearly. Don't feel bad for him, he dishes it out to everyone.

This past long weekend was a good one. I read by the pool for about three hours, then I went to Andrea's. The following day, Andrea and I went to a pool party at her boss' house. There was tons of food, open bar, a live DJ, and tons of outdoor games.

Foot is doing well after his rough drive. He's pretty well adjusted to his new home, and wants to go out! (Maybe just escape) The pic above is of Foot meowing at me through the window.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Foot

Yesterday I packed Foot's stuff for his new adventure at Andrea's. MB has already moved up there, and had to wait to bring Foot because Andrea's kitty has a fractured pelvis.

I took the day off yesterday, so that I could have an extra long weekend with it being Labor Day and all. Poor little Foot was confused while I cleaned and packed away his belongings.

He waited patiently for his food to magically reappear again.

MB and Marc took him to Winchester after work, and Foot sat on Marc's lap on the way there.

Marc phoned me a few minutes later, and informed me that Foot wasn't crazy about the car, and had pooped all over him! Good boy Foot! Poor scared kitty.

Good luck Footface, I will miss you tripping me down the stairs every morning! :)

Andrea's B-day Cookout

We had a feast of king crab legs, shrimp, sausages, hamburgers & grilled veggies...it was so good!

After supper, we headed outside to watch the fireworks show that Dan coordinated for Andrea.


Roman candles & sparkling explosions!

We enjoyed a 15 min show...

Andrea's friends serenaded her too!

They set up their band outside, and set their amps to SUPER LOUD, and we sat back and

enjoyed the music. Travis on guitar...

Dan on drums...


Travis enjoying a beer bong between sets...



MB looking happy! He took Andrea and I for a joy ride on the 4 wheeler, good times....
Sorry no pics of the b-day girl, she doesn't like to photographed! I'll sneak one in next time! ;)

I stayed overnight, and went to breakfast at a diner in Winchester with Andrea.
I came home afterward, and did my usual Sunday cleaning and chillin.

I have to stay up late tonight, to pick Marc up at the airport. He went to Tampa, Florida for the weekend, to his friends place. I received various phone calls on Friday night, from a very jovial Marc. He was having some drinks at a club, and guess who walks in!?! Hulk Hogan!!!

Marc was so excited, and called me write away, to tell me that he shook his hand, and that him and his friend enjoyed a drink with him! He said that he was going to let me go, so that he could go back and talk to the Hulkster! LOL

I hope that he comes back home with a wrestling contract.