Seriously, enough is enough!

If you live in northeast Ohio, you know what I'm talking about. The snow is out of control. This has got to be the longest winter ever and I'm afraid that we have a solid 2 more months minimum to go. The saving grace is that vacation is around the corner in like 6 weeks, so tomorrow is my groundhog day and I'm sure I'll see the shadow - 6 more weeks to deal with this crap and I can see sun, sand and ocean!!!

Here's a look at what today brought:



Notice snow is now up to the TOP of my front bushes.



The wall of snow along the driveway is at least 2 feet high.



Snow on the rooftop is piled crazy high



The lower level of our deck, which is two steps down is now piled higher than the top of the step. Hannah's picnic table and castle slide are burried - SO ridiculous!!!

So as you can also see from the garage picture, I am now the *proud?* owner of the MINIVAN! I have to say, I am not that thrilled, but I'm trying to let it grow on me. I picked it up on Saturday and discovered as I drove to my mom's that my windshield fluid didn't work. Kind of a problem as the windshield was covered in salt and grime. The thing was full, but you could hear the ice crunch through the lines....lovely! It finally started working as it warmed up a bit, but froze again on my drive home. So far, this week, it's been working and it finally also started working on the back window. I bought stuff on Sunday to clean the inside of it out real good - that helped to like it a little more too. It was funny because the cracks of the back seats have SAND in them!!! Annoying on one hand, but funny since it came from California! I am trying to feel normal in it, but it's going to take some getting used to. It did handle pretty well in the snow today, so that was a good thing.

What else this week? Um, Hannah doesn't listen these days! She totally ignores being told what to do and it is so aggravating! Tuesday morning was horrible! She started by not wanting to get dressed, then refused to brush her teeth, pushed daddy away when trying to get boots on - the list continues. We unfortunately had to throw out another lovey, have a time out and get a spanking (well, slap on the hands) all in the matter of about 10-15 minutes. Luckily, the day improved and she's been a little better since then.

She had a blue sucker the other day:



And lastly, I CANNOT believe she's going to be three Friday! I started burning videos onto DVD's the other day and I did the one from when she was first born. I almost forgot how much she cried and how trying that time was! It was amazing to watch that all again! Bringing her home from the hospital and Roman not leaving her room, Daddy changing his first poopy diaper -geez, I can't believe it's been three years! Hannah liked watching it and was awfully concerned about all the crying! I'm not sure she really understands that was her....she calls the baby Hannah, but I'm not sure she really gets it. Funny!
Well, anyway, I'll be sure to update after her party, but for now, I'm off to bed to dream of the beach!!! Goodnight!

(Almost) Instantly Un-Cool

Ok, I know my sister, and maybe even my husband, have debated about my "coolness" for years! I've always tried convincing them that I was indeed, cool!! However, I made a decision today that has automatically entered me into the "un-cool" category. Here it is:







Yep, we bought a minivan!!! Can't believe it and I'm still trying to decide whether we did the right thing or not, but I think we did. I just hope I don't hate it! I spent the entire weekend trying to talk myself into the idea (along with a lot of internet research) and we found this van. It's actually pretty nice - It's a 2008 Chrysler Town & Country, it's preowned (sounds better than "used"). It was a rental vehicle in California. It's pretty loaded up, which is what sold us. Here's a couple more pictures of inside:


Touch screen stero with satelite radio and backup camera. Climate controls all over the van and second and third row seating that is all stow-n-go, meaning you can fold some or all of the seats completely flat into the floor - so cool!




Also, a feature I didn't think I'd ever get - a DVD player. I think it's insane that kids have to watch TV on the way to the store, so I vowed that we wouldn't ever have one...we did buy a portable one for long trips, but it has only been in the car for long trips...BUT, it's in there and I'm sure to settle a few battles with a 3 year old, it may be on from time to time on a short trip to the store. I also swore I'd never have a minivan, but I guess I reserve the right to change my mind!!!!



So there you have it, the ending to the car shopping dilema. We ended up with a minivan!!! I still have to figure out what to do about turning my car in within the next month. I'm trying to get the inspection scheduled and find out if they're going to charge me for anything...I'm thinking maybe tires, so I may put on a really cheap set before I have to turn it in, we'll see....and then I have to get used to the idea of driving this thing. We're really excited to have it to take on vacation, sure made the idea of another 14 hour drive much easier! One other thing, I sure hope both of our cars fit into the garage!! I don't have the van home yet - probably not until Thursday at the earliest. It's going through the certification process and I can't go back to get it until they're open late so Tony can take me (I'd have a little bit of trouble getting two cars home at once!!)

Snowy January Events

OK, now that you had your share of boring posts with no pictures, I'll do a little updating with fun stuff!

Last Sunday, Hannah had her first birthday party for the year....she gets about 3!!! Every year in January, my mom's side of the family gets together to celebrate the "January Birthdays". It's for my Grandma, my mom's cousin Jen and my Grandma's sister, Norma (her birthday is actually in February) and now Hannah too! This year, we had a little party at my Grandma's retirement home. They have a little party room and it ended up being a nice gathering.

Here are a couple pictures.





This one is Hannah and Carly, my cousin Kevin's daughter that just turned 2 in December.

Then, this past weekend, we decided to take Hannah sled riding. Good idea - at first! First, the hill was really steep and neither Tony nor I have good boots, so getting to the top with a sled and a child was a huge challenge! I was only there for picture taking.


They got up there and I came about half way down to get pictures and down they went! Here's a video:



Hannah might have liked it, but got a face-full of snow at the bottom and started to cry!!




She wanted to play in the snow some more, so we tried a smaller hill and she faced backwards in Tony's lap. That was OK, but she still wasn't so into sledding. Tony made a couple more attempts at the big hill, but got frustrated that it took so much work to go up and coming down didn't end up being all that much fun. So we headed home. While Tony tried to go down the hill, Hannah made a snow angel and had fun just playing in the snow. She wanted to make a snowman, but the snow is too fluffy for that - not good packing snow at all.

Then check out this crazy hair!!! I just thought this picture was funny! I think this was from static from the chair.

Oh, and just before this conversation:

Tony: Hannah, what are you doing (in the kitchen very quietly)?

Hannah: I found something.

Tony: What did you find?

Hananh: A booger

Tony: Where did you find that?

Hannah: In my nose!!!

If you didn't already know, Tony is totally grossed out by boogers!!! But of course, this was hilarious!!!

And one more thing, mostly for Maggie, but for anyone else that wants to see my quilts! I had forgotten to take a picture of the quilt I made my Grandma for Christmas, so I took a couple quick pics when we were at her place last week:

That's about it, I guess. We're planning Hannah's birthday and still trying to figure out the car thing.

Last Jury duty update

Well, the good news is today, I was back at work - jury duty is DONE!!!


Yesterday, actually went quickly. As I said, my morning was busy, so it went by fast. I had my lunch, and then just went between emails and internet games for the rest of the afternoon. Right around 3:30, they dismissed all the "wednesday jurors" to go home for the day and to report back Friday. They asked all the "monday jurors" to stay. We stayed so that they could pass out our letters and certificates because we were dismissed for the week. Our civil duty was fulfilled!!!! YEAH!!!


So I never did get on a final jury. I experienced how a civil case is handled - at least how it starts and I saw how a criminal case begins, but didn't get that far into it. I saw all walks of society there. I realized I do not want to work downtown and have REALLY appreciated my 10 minute commute to work. Anyway, it's done so back to my normal routine, which is good - suits me well.

I didn't have a ton of stuff to come back to today at work since I was able to stay in touch for the most part this week, so that was good. I'm off on Monday, so it's a short week next week too. We don't have much planned this weekend and since it's brutally cold, I'm guessing we will be indoors most of the weekend. Tony and I need to start getting serious about the car shopping thing, so I'll do some more research online and maybe - if it warms a little - we will venture out to take a look at our options.

So much for the daily posting, I'm sure I'll get back to my regular -once-a-week updates....I'll try to do it more often, but the weeks just get so busy and I can never seem to find the time. Anyway, stay warm and I'll get a post up here with some pictures soon!!

Jury Duty, Day 4

I don't have much exciting to report on how yesterday finished up. I was never called all day and it was a long day sitting at a cubicle on the computer. I explored some new internet games which was fun! About 3:20, I started packing up my things because the day before they had dismissed around 3:30. I was sitting and waiting for the announcement and at about 3:27, they came on - to call a new jury!!! I held my breath so not to have to hear my name....whew, my name wasn't called, but I felt sorry for the 22 that were - even though most of them are probably idiots!!!!

We were all wondering what that would mean for us and as the minutes passed, we were getting nervous. I decided to open my computer back up and sign on, figuring that would trigger the dismissal call! They finally dismissed us right around 3:45 and I headed out of here and to the parking garage. The roads were pretty nasty, so I was afraid for what that would mean for my commute. It was backed up getting on the highway, but the split off of 490 was moving. I was moving at about 40 mph, which was plenty fast for the road conditions and then it came to a hault at around 150th. Traffic moved between 5-10 mph the rest of the way until after Brookpark Road, where it started picking up again. I got to Val's to get Hannah around 5:45. This 2 hour commute is for the birds! But at least I made it on time (with frozen windshield wipers)

We got home and I made dinner and gave Hannah a bath. Then we watched another episode of American Idol and I headed to bed.

Got up early again and left the house by 7:30. Roads & traffic were pretty crappy again this morning, and I got to the parking garage right around 8:30. "my spot" was taken today - how dare that person!!! but I found another spot nearby and got on the computer. I did some work stuff including an online course for work that took about the first 2 hours. As people were called, a cube opened back up, so I moved over there - it's much better to work at and a little more private. I paid some bills and then before I knew it, it was lunchtime. I went to warm up my soup and came back to eat. They've only called about 3 or 4 groups today, so far, I wasn't in any of the lineups. It's 2:30 now, and knowing I only have about an hour to an hour & 1/2 left is encouraging. I don't think it's snowing anymore today, so I'm praying the roads are better today and I get home more easily. I also wonder if I have to come tomorrow or not???

Well, I guess for now, I'll return to internet games. I haven't done that yet today, so it sounds like a good thing to do.

Oh, hold on, they're calling another group.............whew, off the hook again. More waiting!