So....where have you been?

I have written, and re-written this blog post several times in my head.  I even started writing it on here and then deleted it.  I over think things WAY too much.  So let me just get down to business.

Blog posts are going to be a little thin over the next couple of months.  When I started this blog, I really wanted it to grow.  And it has done very well.  I really enjoy writing and it is a release for me.  For the next several months though, I won't be writing as much as I would like.  But after the first of the year, GAME ON!  I will be coming back at you full force.

So I'm being pretty vague, eh?  I promise you my life is not that exciting.  I am taking a class this semester and it pretty much eats up all my free time.  But I'm cool with that.  I've also had some health issues (nothing too major).  For right now everything is good on that front (*knock on wood).  But my body is fighting back and I need to listen to it.

When I am not studying and worrying about myself...............I like to focus all my attention on my family.  Especially my nieces.  My heart overflows with so much love for them.  Here are some pictures of when they came to Indy a couple of weeks ago to visit little ole me.  We went to the Indianapolis Zoo.

Photo courtesy of Stacey.  Me and my girls.  The waitress asked if K#2 was my daughter.  That she looked exactly like me.  My day was made!

This double stroller is AH-MAZING!  Stacey just whips it in and out.  It has all these cool places to store things.  Plenty of cup holders.  The kids can lay down or sit up.  Pull a shade over them.  I mean it does everything but change a diaper.  And people get out of your way when you have a stroller!

A flamingo.  Their legs look just like sticks.  They look so breakable!

When you have your best dress on, you have to run through the splash pad.  (It was a super hot day!)  Aunt Meggie may have ran through a little bit, too.

I really like the Zebra.  Their stripes are so perfect!

All K#1 wanted to see were the elephants.  After we saw them she then announced we could leave.  We had only been there about 30 mins.  Silly girl!

Giraffes

Dippin Dots!  She may have eaten mine, too :-)

Poor Baby K.  She was tired.  She had a little stomach bug all weekend.  But you would never know it.  She is the happiest little thing ever.

Aunt Sally came to the Zoo, too!  It was her first time meeting Baby K.  K#2 went straight for her jewelry.

In the dolphin splash zone, waiting for the show to start.  I was not upset I had to sit there.  Secretly I loved it.  K#1 was mad we only got splashed once.  He-he!

A big THANK YOU to my SIL, Stacey.  She drove everyone to Indy and back.  (I'm sure she had lots of fun with her chatty Mother in law and daughter.....hehe.)  Not only that but traveling with 2 young girls is not easy.  It takes a lot and it was no vacation for her.  She is just an amazing mother!  Stacey, thank you so much!!!!  I love you!!!

A big birthday wish to 3 members of my family.  (Their birthdays are almost all within the same week.) 

Stacey:  Sept. 24

Dad:  Sept. 26

Mom:  Oct. 5

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 


Thanks for reading and I will pop in here when I can.  Be sure to follow me on social media, especially Instagram and Twitter.  Thanks and have a great week!

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Labor Day

Hi there!  So life seems to be getting in the way of my blogging these days.  I seem to be doing this and doing that and just have no time for blogging.  I haven't even put out my fall decor yet at my apt.  Which for those of you who know me is so unlike me!  I love decorating for the seasons but I just can't seem to accept fall is coming.  I do love the cooler temps.

Seeing how September is almost over, I thought I would share some pictures from Labor Day.  Remember that long weekend?  Let me just say my family kept me going.  I didn't have time to sit down and relax once.  I just fell into bed at night.  That is the good kind of tired.  Let me share with you some of the highlights from that weekend.

Oh hi there.  Look at me being a big girl.  I'm almost 10 months old now.

Big sister with a cute braid in her hair.  And one of Gammie's necklaces.  Girl loves to dress up!

Ummmmm excuse me, Granpa.  Did you just pick me up off the floor?!  I was trying to catch that big furry thing down there.

A fair maiden at the Melon Festival in Milan, Ohio.  She got to bounce on a blow up pirate ship.

More treats from the Melon Festival.  Did you know that people get out of your way when you have a stroller.  Like it was the parting of the Red Sea when I was walking.  And lots of places to store my stuff in the stroller.  Aunt life!

Big girl here got to have a Girl's sleepover for the first time at Gammie and Granpa's.  She did great!  Remember K#2 who woke up with you.  Not Gammie!

My SIL Stacey invited me to go with her family to an all you can eat seafood buffet at Mon Ami in Port Clinton, Ohio.  It was like she knew that I had been craving seafood.  (The 'rents had a previous engagement that evening.)  All I have to say is that it was AHHHMAZZING!  Words can't describe.  We had a pretty long wait but it was a gorgeous evening.  We sat outside and drank wine.  There was a wedding going on so we watched that.  Then we saw a couple get engaged.  It was just a magical evening.  He-he.  And the food.  My mind is still blown.  I will be dreaming of that buffet until I go again.  Here are some pics.  Sorry they are a little blurry.  I was too busy eating.

SHRIMP!  I mean to tell you these things were huge.  I think that is some fried walleye as well.  I tried everything.

Crab legs.  You know a good crab leg?  When you can just pull all the meat out in one big long strip. And dip in melted butter.  UH-HUH!

And the finale!  Bananas foster.  They had a station that would whip this up for you.  I am not a huge banana fan but oh my do I love a good bananas foster.  This one was goooood!

Have you ever heard of Toft's Dairy?  It is a dairy in northern Ohio, not far from Lake Erie.  I grew up drinking and eating their products.  Having moved away and come back home to Norwalk, I have to say their products are the best.  I drink skim milk and I am telling you that their skim is so creamy and good.  And the ice cream!  Don't get me started.  I hadn't been to their original ice cream parlor since I was a young girl.  So Mom and I set out on a mission and found it.  I had a Buster Brown sundae which is chocolate on chocolate with some peanuts.

If you ever find yourself in Norwalk, Ohio....I demand you go to Vargo's.  It is a local ice cream/eatery that has been around forever.  Better than any Dairy Queen.  This isn't the best picture but here is a peanut butter/chocolate parfait.  I also enjoy their fried bologna sandwiches and fried cauliflower.  Their menu is huge!!!  You can get anything you want.

I was sad to leave my family, but ready to get home to my kit-kats.  They do so good by themselves when I travel.  Couldn't ask for 2 better cats. 

The sunset on my drive home.

Hope you had a wonderful long weekend!

Who are you wearing?

Two of my favorites.  Joan and Lucille Ball.  This was a #TBT Joan posted.

I would like to write a tribute to Joan Rivers.  As you know last week she passed away at the age of 81.    I was driving home to Ohio for the labor day weekend when I heard the news on the radio.  Joan was on life support after a minor surgery.  Over the weekend I checked the news regularly to see how she was doing.  I kept thinking....she will pull through.  When I heard she had been moved to a private room and made comfortable, I knew that was it.  As my Mom says, this is the best possible way she could go.  Hopefully she didn't know what was happening.  Joan just couldn't have handled a long term illness or being a burden on anyone.  She was just too full of life.

I didn't realize how much I admired and respected her until she was gone.  I watched her on all her shows (Joan and Melissa: Joan Knows Best, Fashion Police, Joan in Bed)  I rooted for Joan to win Celebrity Appreciate in 2009.  (Which she did!)  I remember watching her and Melissa in the earlier days working the red carpets.  She coined the phrase, "Who are you wearing?"  Joan always, always, always dressed to the nines every time she left the house.  She was a fashion icon.

It sure says something about Joan that we are shocked an 81 year old woman passed away.  She lived a very full life.  But she had so much more to do.  She was not even close to retiring or slowing down.  She built an empire with her QVC fashion and jewelry line.  She didn't send someone else to sell her line on air.  She was at QVC each and every single time.  Day or night.  She worked hard at everything she did.

Joan was an amazing comedienne.  She paved the way for many other female comediennes who dared to follow in her path.  She was a co-host with Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show.  After her 'falling out' with Johnny, she was banned from the Tonight Show.  That didn't stop Joan.  She had her own talk show that was pretty successful and last for several years.  But after her husband Edgar's tragic death, her show ended.  She coped with the tragedy of losing her husband with laughter.  It is how she was able to bounce back.  Her sense of humor isn't for everyone.  She said exactly what she thought and made no apologies.  Her favorite person to target in her jokes was herself.

On the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson

Joan on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.  On his first night, she made an appearance lifting her 25 year ban from the show.  Jimmy, I always knew you were a classy guy.

Joan surrounded herself with an amazing group of family and friends.  I cannot even imagine what her daughter Melissa and grandson Cooper are going through.  They were very close.  Each summer she took Cooper on a 'Grandma Trip'.  They would take a vacation together.  This year they went to Italy.

Grandma week in Italy

Joan was also an animal lover.  About a year ago she lost her beloved rescue dog Max.  I'm telling you she did everything in her power to heal this pup.  She was heart broken at his passing.

Her dogs Samantha and Teegan riding in the limo with her earlier this year.  They are dressed for the NYC winter.

I last saw Joan on Fashion Police as she reviewed the Emmy and MTV Video Music Awards red carpet outfits.  It is just so hard to believe that just a week later she was gone.

Her last episode of Fashion Police.  Two days before the surgery.

I hope Joan is in heaven now.....giving Edgar and Johnny hell.  As only Joan could do.

**All photos are from Joan's instagram account.  She gets all the credit.**

My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week and Weekend

Sorry for the radio silence last week.  I wish I could say I was on a fabulous vacation with no internet/cell service.  (Wouldn't that be nice!)  That unfortunately was not the case.  I've had a lot going on. Some good, some bad. 

Let's start with the good.  I had a very busy, fun-filled weekend.  I will tell you all about it on Friday.  For now here are some pictures to tide you over.

My 2 favorite people in the whole entire world.  Nieces are the best.

Now for the bad.  Personally I've been struggling in the last week with lots of pain in my left leg and back.  For those of you who don't know me personally, I had back surgery 2 years ago.  I had herniated/bulging/degenerative discs on my L4 and L5 of my lower spine.  Which means I suffer from lower back pain and numbness in my left leg/foot.  After surgery, my lower back pain pretty much disappeared.  The numb leg/foot never went away.  I knew going into it, the surgery may not fix either problem.  For me the worst pain was in my back.  I've learned to live with the numbness in my leg/foot.  But the nerve pain in my left leg has gotten really bad in the past week.  I don't know if it was from all the driving I did over Labor Day weekend or something else I did.  I like to think of myself as having a pretty high threshold of pain.  (I took no pain medicine after surgery.  Because I had none!)  This leg pain takes my breathe away.  I can't walk, can't sit, can't stand, can't sleep, can't get comfortable.  Nothing relieves it.  I took it really easy this weekend and tried to stay off my leg as much as I could.  I am happy to report it has gotten better.  Sometimes it really just stinks living alone.  I really could use a housekeeper who can cook, clean, and go grocery shopping.  (Forget a man!  They are worthless.......okay I kid.  But ladies you know I'm right...............*wink *wink)

Now that I have offended all the men who read my blog, let me share a funny story that makes me look like an idiot.  Saturday I agreed to do a favor for someone at work.  All I had to do was come in for about an hour or less.  Easy enough!!!!  The favor ended up taking a little longer than I expected.  For multiple reasons but mostly because I locked my keys in my car!!!!!!!!!!!  I haven't done that since I first started driving.  Mom rescued me and my friends at Cedar Point that time.  This time good ole Mama was 4 hours away.

2 things I can't live without?  My cell phone and my keys.  Lesson learned.

I got up Saturday morning, threw some clothes on, and went to work.  Apparently I was still not awake because of what I did next.  I dropped the car keys in my purse and started to get out of the car.  I suddenly decided since the favor wouldn't take that long, I didn't need to haul all my belongings in.  Including my purse, which I hid under my back seat.  I hopped out of the car and locked it by hitting the button on the door.  (Don't ask me why I do this.  I've done it forever and ever.  Could be because I haven't always had automatic locks/windows.  Who knows?!)  As I started to walk away with only my cell phone in hand, I realized what I had done.  Some profanities came spilling out and I walked back to the car praying I hadn't locked it.  No such luck.  I walked into my office building and tried to figure out what to do.  I couldn't even get in my office because those keys were in the car, too.  (Along with my McDonald's breakfast that was getting cold.)  My only option was to call Kia roadside assistance.  Thank goodness I had stored that number in my phone.  (Which by the way only had about 15% battery left.  Doh!)  Even if someone could drive me home to get my spare key, I couldn't get in my apartment.  That key was in the car, too!  Two long hours later, I was in my car and driving home.  I was done with the world for the day.  World-1, Megan-0.

These pictures are from last fall after I bought it.  Now LET ME IN.  LET ME IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you catch my reference to this book in the title of my blog post?  If you were a child of the 80's, I know you've read it.  I always think of it when I have a bad day.  And it makes me smile.

Here is to hoping this week is better!!!!