I had wanted to get the apartment cleaned for when mom gets here, so that we can paint and stuffs. Of course, the hot water tank for down there took a crap the other day. The bottom is all rusted out and it was spewing water all over the basement. Thankfully, there is a drain right beside the tanks! My mom called my cousin about getting a new one, but I have yet to hear anything. I need hot water to clean!! Ugh. My cousins hubby was also going to fix the concrete stairs outside, and now that is not happening either. FRUSTRATED. The stairs are a huge hazard. They are crumbling and very dangerous. :( I can see buds on a lot of the trees. And my river looks oh so inviting, even if it IS still very cold outside. I NEED to...

It was 18 degrees outside when I took M out to get the bus this morning. This kinda sucks. LOL. This is the hardest thing for me. I want my FL weather. I REALLY do. I am struggling SO hard with whether or not I want to stay here. Part of me REALLY does love it here. Spring and summer have so much potential here. But then I think of winter and having to face it again. Ugh. I love the snow. I love watching it fall. I love going for walks in it. I love how it makes everything so beautiful. But then, it gets melty and gray and it makes a huge mess. The bleakness of winter pokes through again and well.. *sigh* The truth of the matter is this.. I cannot afford to live anywhere else. Even when I get a job, it will not be enough...

That is the day! We get mom at the airport on the 17th. I cannot wait. We are not telling M. We want to surprise her! :) I have a lot of work to do before then! Between school and cleaning up down stairs, Ima gonna be BUSY. Oy. ...

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, a memory will pop into my head. A memory from my old life. Today it was just a simple memory, yet it brought me to my knees. I walked to the sink to do the few dishes that were soaking, and as I looked up and out the window, this memory of standing in front of my sink, looking out at T lighting the tiki torches around the pool flooded my brain. The pets were in various places around the pool, watching T. M was in her playroom. Her little hands were planted firmly on the glass of the slider, watching her daddy. We were getting ready for yet another night outside in the glorious FL weather. Steaks at the ready, grill heating up, bathing suits on... It literally brought me to my knees....

I got an e-card from my mom the other day that simply stated: "HAPPY RETIREMENT TO ME!! AS OF 4/15 WEST BYGOD HERE I COME LOVE YA!!!!!" It made me cry. Actually, I think sob is a better word for it. I miss my mom so much! I hope she can be happy here. She is about to become a true snowbird! She will spend winter in FL. Which means no having her here on Christmas. We may have to figure something out in regards to that, because I really want her around for Christmas. *sigh* So, I have to hurry hurry with school and I have to deep clean the apartment, so that when she gets here, we can paint and get carpeting. The place needs new windows desperately. Anyway, I cannot wait. She made my YEAR with that email. ...

Sometimes, I have a hard time letting go. I do not really hold grudges, per se, but sometimes I just cannot let go. As the saying goes, "I don't have issues, I have volumes!" So true. For instance, I just came across the photos of a gal on Flickr that I used to know, and by know I mean that we used to read and comment on each other's blogs. I had posted about how complete my life was on a Valentine's Day many moons ago, and she commented on my blog all nasty-like. She said that she was tired of me blathering on about my happy, wonderful life and that she was ugly, unhappy, alone, and would never find someone to love her. I went to her blog to comment and ask, "WTF?" When I went over there, she had written a whole post...

Loving that my girl likes being outside! On the way to the store yesterday, she was noticing all of the little water falls that pop up all over the place when we have heavy rain. So I decided to stop where I knew there was a bigger one so she could...

I went to bed early last night, and had the most crazy, fantastic dream I think I have ever had. Of course, I remember very little of it now. I remember waking in the middle of the night thinking "Whoah! That was insane!! MUST remember that!!", before I drifted off back to sleep. Upon awaking, I remembered very little. I DO remember that it consisted of me and T going to the ISS. Without a shuttle. LOL. We were in these pod-like things that got launched into space using a futuristic slingshot. It was WILD. It was FUN. When we got near the space station, the CANADARM reached out with these tentacle-like appendages and pulled us in. Clearly, I watch too much NASA and too many sci-fi movies. Haha. I wish that I could remember...

There are so many places around here that I simply cannot wait to take my family too. Blackwater Falls State Park is one of those places. It is pretty no matter the season. Here it is in August: And here it is in February: We are nature lovers,...

So, after spending WAY too much time this morning in photochop, only to realize that I just simply no longer have the design mojo, I opted for this template. Cute, no? I was tired of the dark grayishness. We have enough of the gloom with the weather. :) I slept with the window open last night. I was nice. This morning, it started snowing and it has yet to stop. I am not sure how much we are supposed to get. My weather thingy on my phone said little accumulation, and the Pittsburgh station said 3 to 4 inches. Oy. It IS pretty and I really don't mind it all that much. But when Mother Nature starts peppering your weeks with gorgeous, sunny, 60 degree days and then goes the way of the nut bin with this stuff again? Meh. Makes...

M has allergic rhinitis... or.. allergies. Both of her ears are good to go, but she is to take Zyrtec in the morning if needed, Benadryl at night, and we have to saline flush her nose at night. THAT is going to be fun. Oy. I also have a nasal spray for her if she needs it. We need to get her a warm-air humidifier for her room too. Not sure how we are gonna do that though. *sigh* Since moving here, T has slept upstairs in the bedroom, and I sleep on the couch. He has severe sleep apnea, and while he uses a CPAP machine, it is not working very well for him at the moment. He needs a sleep study and we have to go to Pittsburg for that, over night. Again, no money to get a hotel and stuffs. So.. not sure when that is gonna happen....

So, I am not so good at keeping up with the old blog. Sorry. I had recently scanned a bunch of photos. And then T's step-mom sent us a TON of his baby pictures. Oy. Good LORD he was cute. *sigh* I am not gonna lie. I want another baby. Now, before...