Today's forecast:

According to the Weather Channel it's:  Abundant Sunshine.  High 70.

Wow....sounds like a gorgeous day to me.  Glad we're not in the path of the hurricane.  Which reminds us of another story.

In February in the year of Hurricane Katrina....we went to New Orleans.  In September of that year....they got destroyed by a hurricane.

In March of this year we went to New York City....in October they are about to get hit with a huge hurricane.

Don't want to alarm anyone....I wanted to take Paul to Miami for his birthday in December....maybe Miami better be on alert about June of next year.

My forecast for today:  Pay bills.  New customer packets.  First of the month stuff.  Miscellaneous catch up stuff. 

A proud achievement

It's great when you actually get something accomplished that you've been planning for a long time.  The boys have only been gone for 2 years now and we've finally finished their makeovers!
Aaron's room was turned into Paul's new office.  He loves it.

Cris' room was just magically transformed into our new guest room (and Paul or Debbie's room when one person wants to watch TV in bed and when one person doesn't OR when one person snores and the other person just really is trying to get some sleep).

The walls have been painted, the furniture painted, a new bed, carpets shampooed, new ceiling fan, new window treatments.....and it's finally done!  (Well, not exactly......it's walls are still a little naked and we still need to put a chair or something in there.....but hey.....it's done enough that we can start using it).

Here is the final product.....

The entertainment center looks beautiful since I painted it.  It looks a little empty with that tiny TV, but we are planning on buying a new HUGE screen TV for the living room and moving that one upstairs and it will fit perfectly into it's new home. 

Well now we have a beautiful new guestroom ready for guests.  But don't get too excited yet -- no invitations to visit are being sent out yet.  The rest of the house IS NOT guest ready.  But we're working on it.....one small step at a time!

A bed in a box?

We needed a new bed for our brand new guest room.  We looked a couple of places, but one of our biggest problems is we don't have a vehicle to move things in.  I can only get so much in the convertible with the top down -- and I don't think a bed would fit.

So our next option was to start looking at what could be shipped to us and we found a "bed in a box" at Sam's Club.  All the reviewer's were raving at what a great bed it was and how comfortable it was and yada...yada.....yada.  So what the heck.....we ordered it.

It came in two boxes.  One for the frame and one for the mattress.  Believe it or not....here's the mattress in the box.

So we carried it upstairs and began working on it.  It literally took less than 15 minutes to get it all set up.  The frame was like two cot frames that we just unfolded and hooked together.

We then took the mattress out of it's box.

Laid it on the frames -- it was only about 2 inches think.  We cut the plastic wrapper off of it and it started to expand. 

And voila`.......we magically had a brand new double bed.

We have to be totally honest......it was fast, it was easy, it was very reasonably priced, and it's COMFORTABLE!

Setting goals

I've been very jealous for the last couple of months watching my husband get up every single morning (except for maybe 2 of them) and going out walking the neighborhood for an hour.  Well.....I'm not jealous actually -- I am very proud of him for making the decision and sticking to it and he's really starting to drop some extra weight and looking good (you've always looked good to me honey).

So for the past 4 days, I've religiously gotten up and started my morning workouts.  I am finally determined to get rid of all this fat I have (and been embarrassed about) and I'm setting my goals.  I've been on the treadmill 3 mornings and went out walking with Paul this morning.

Remember that blog post awhile back about the exercise room?  Well the room got all trashed again, but we do have a treadmill in there.  I seriously am going to go out and get a bike for that room sometime this next week.  We need to get our excercise room finished and decorated just like we envisioned.  It's nice to have the equipment in there to use -- especially since the mornings are getting a little nippy.

So I figured I would publish my goals here for all the world to see....and to also hold myself accountable IN WRITING.

Goal:  By December 24th:  130 lbs. -- size 10 clothes
(I'm not going to say how many pounds that is to lose because I don't want to embarrass myself any further).

To achieve this goal:

1. I will be exercising every day for at least 1 hour. 
2. I will not drink alcoholic beverages until my birthday (I might actually give myself 2 free days in here -- just to be able to reward myself on this long and difficult journey).
3. I will be a better eater (not doing too bad here already.  Just need a minor tweak or two)

I can't wait to see what I'm going to look like all skinny in all those new clothes I get to buy!

Yay....a reason to get excited!

A vacation is coming!

Well......it's not really a vacation.  It's just kinda like a night off.

But we are getting away for a teeny tiny little bit (that's if all the stars in the universe all form a conga line and sparkle in red, white, and blue!).

The plan:  Austin, Saturday, November 3 through Sunday, November 4th

Well actually, it will probably be very dark when we get to Austin on the 3rd......but that is the day we are arriving.

We'll be driving up after Paul gets off work and heading to Austin....Woo Hoo!  Love going to Austin.  We have a room reserved at the Omni and most of our plans are for Sunday.

Sunday 9am: Staci's Edge is performing at the Susan G. Komen Run for the Cure race in Austin.  We've been listening to her for about a year now in other bands and this will be the first time we see her band peform. 

Of course, ya'll remember Paul's favorite picture from when she autographed her CD for him!

After the concert, we have plans to meet up with one of our favorite ex PZ managers for lunch.  He's been in Austin for about 4 years now and we've tried on several occasions to meet up.....and it never seems to work out.  So, we'll try again.

After lunch, we plan on spending time at a restaurant equipment store (of course), but I am also making plans to visit the Austin Antique Mall.  We went there once a couple of years ago and it is a gigantic warehouse FILLED with tons of old stuff.  After striking out in Brenham on that mission, I'm hoping to make some purchases for home decor items.

After that fun filled short weekend.....it will probably be time to head on back home.  Can't leave the natives running the village for very long or we might have problems.

Looking forward to our mini-vacation and some fun time with the husband!

Taking a day off

We were able to take a day off this week.  So the plan was to get out of town.  The safest distance we felt we could go and still be able to keep a check on things was to drive about an hour out of town.

Our destination:  Brenham, Texas

Our plan was to find items to decorate our new guest room with.  We also have a few empty walls here and there that need stuff.  Brenham is known for it's historic downtown and great antique shops. 

I love antique shops!  Not the kind filled with stuffy furniture.  The yard sale kind that's filled with 100's of treasures.  No two stores are alike and you never know what you'll find.

So first stop was a yummy lunch at a little eclectic cafe in downtown Brenham, the Funky Art Cafe.  Paul had a Pumpkin Burger.  It was a veggie burger made out of Pumpkin, Cilantro, Wild Rice, Jalapenos, and Corn.  It was quite delicious.

My choice:  Chicken and Spinach Enchilada Pie.  It was a little casserole with Tortilla Chips, Chicken, Spinach, Sour Cream Sauce, and Monterrey Jack cheese.  My oh my......that was some yummy stuff! 

We both walked out of there full and eager to begin our shopping adventure!

We spent a couple of hours hunting through old books, old dishes, old furniture, and seeing "old" things that sparked memories of childhood.  We didn't really end up with what we originally came for......but we did come with a couple of other unique items.

Paul wanted this stack of old Reader's Digest from the 70's.

He found some really hot and spicy salsa.

And of course, no trip anywhere in the world is ever complete without stopping in a bookstore and picking out a few books (why do we keep buying books??????).

Some of the best paintings are not found on canvas......but on the side of a building.

We met up with our friend who owns the Domino's in Brenham and a quick stop to our most favorite dollar store in the world (that just happens to be in Brenham) and we were ready to head back home. 

The evening was spent with a steak dinner and a movie.  The movie location changed from going to the theater to stopping at Blockbuster and laying in bed watching (much better idea).

Oh how great it was to spend some time away from the hustle and bustle of our life.  We had a great day and look so forward to the next!

The big 55

Okay, if I've done my math correctly.....this is going to be my 55th birthday.

Wow.....that sounds so old.

I really don't feel that old......some days.

Well anyways, since there isn't much family here and we probably won't be able to go anywhere's far away because of the business, and because we are closed for 2 WHOLE DAYS......I'm thinking that another Birthday/Christmas trip to the casino is in store.  We had so much fun the last time we did it.

So, attention to my family who may or may not read this blog.  I am giving myself a birthday party.  I have already told Cris and Aaron to take the time off work and I was going to talk to the neighbors across the street and see if they wanted to go too. 

I threw such a great 50th birthday party for Paul......now I want to throw a great party for myself!

Planning for Christmas at the Casino 2012 is officially underway!

A half day does not equal 3 hours

Okay here's the update on yesterday's HALF day off. 

It actually turned out to be 3 hours.

We had a nice lunch, exchanged some stuff at Walmart, and went to Trader Joe's.

The end....that was it.

It was raining.  Pizza Zone was not handling the business the way they should be.  Husband ended up going into work to fix their problems.  So the half day off was officially over.  We had a grand total of 3 hours off.

Well, we'll try again next week.

Is a half just as good as a whole?

We can't quite take a whole day off today......but we're getting a half!  At this point in time, we'll take what we can get and enjoy every minute of it.

What's on the agenda?  Why all the errands that we don't get a chance to do because we are WORKING ALL THE TIME!

Today's list:  Walmart, Trader Joes, a bed store, Grant Rd. store, and whatever else we have to do today.  Maybe we can sneak in a movie today.

On a side note: I actually got to make a real dinner last night. Here's the results......oh so very yummy!

 BEFORE:  pork loin roast with cloves of garlic stuck in it and topped with Onion Powder, fresh Rosemary, salt and pepper.  Surrounded by vegetables.

Made a quick gravy with the drippings and we had an incredibly delicious meal!

I seriously love food!

The delayed progress picture I promised

Well as I recall I said that I would post progress of the new guest room.  It was supposed to happen on Monday, but hey -- give me a break.....I've got lots of things going on.

So here is the progress that I got done in about a day and a half:

I know it doesn't look like much to you, but notice the beautiful teal colored walls (actual color Raindrop according to Sherwin Williams).  The walls are painted, the night stand got painted black and the entertainment center got painted black.

Due to having to do payroll this week and other important Pizza Zone matters to attend to, progress on the room will continue on Saturday.  Supposedly.....the eldest child is going to come over and paint the ceilings for me (hope he shows -- I hate painting ceilings).  He also plans on replacing that crappy white ceiling fan that's been there since we moved in to a brand new one.  My plan is to finish touch up on the entertainment center, paint the doors and the baseboards a gleaming new white, and shampoo the carpet.

If the plan goes according to schedule, we should be ready to load and decorate by Monday morning.

Here's a before and after picture of the nightstand that I transformed.

Looks like another busy weekend is planned!

It was a glorious day!

Well, not really.

It was a day off.  A day off with no plan.  A day off that was meant to be just that......A DAY OFF!

So our day off began with dropping off the Mustang.  She needed new brakes and needed some maitenance service.  So once Paul picked me up from the dealership, we were off for our adventure.

We just headed down the highway.  No destination in mind, and just some light discussion about where we could go or what we could do.

Mostly it was just time for the two of us to be together with NOTHING work related happening. 

This blog will chronicle the exciting adventures that happened on Tuesday, October 9th.

First place found us driving down the interstate and found us at a restaurant supply store.  No day off can ever be complete without visiting a restaurant supply store!  I'm serious, it evens happen if we are out of town!

Our next journey took us on a highway we'd never been on before in Pasadena, Texas.  Pasadena is really a chemical plant city.....so of course there was nothing to take a picture of except.....tanks!

Next we decided we needed to check out the pizza place that is in 2nd place in the Houston A-list contest.  We wanted to see what we were up against.  It happened to be in Pearland, TX (which also happened to be about 1/2 hour from where Aaron lives). 

We enjoyed a pizza with roasted garlic, salami, pepperoni, and canadian bacon.  It was actually pretty good....but we walked out of there confident that we ARE the best pizza in Houston!

As we were driving down the highway, we spotted a very unique sign at one of the malls in Pearland.  Of course we had to get a picture of it!  I've heard that Pearland is named after it's abundance of pears.....so this sign was very fitting.

Sorry.....no more pictures from the rest of the day....I guess it was just so exciting that I didn't even take the time to pull out my camera (ha! ha!).  So I'll just give you a brief synopsis of the rest of the day.

1.  Stopped at Kirland's to try and find some beautiful artwork for the new guest room.

2.  Stopped at Fry's Electronics to find a MP3 player docking station for Paul.

3.  Stopped at Garden Ridge to once again try and find some beautiful artwork for the new guest room.

4.  Stopped at the Grant Rd. store to drop off and pick up stuff.

5.  Home for a nap and some quiet time reading.....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  (Actually, we were going to go to IKEA....but decided that a nap and reading sounded way better at the moment!)

6.  Paul went and dropped of the bank deposits.....he was gone for 2 hours (gee I wonder where he REALLY went?????)

7.  Off to the Richey Rd. Movie Tavern for dinner, beer, and a movie.  It was awesome.....we just sat in the movie theater and they brought us beer, food, and whatever we needed and we never have to get up (except to go to the bathroom because of all the beer!).  The movie we saw:  End of Watch with Jake Gyllenhal....good movie!

8.  Off to bed to read some more and talk about how restful our day was.....but way too short! 

We look forward to the next one!

P.S.  I would just like to add that Houston is so ENORMOUS that it's possible for us to venture in parts of the area that we've never seen before.  It's like taking a vacation to a different city sometimes!

Shhhh.....don't tell anyone...it's a secret!

We are actually taking a day off tomorrow.

The first one in almost 2 months!

We are thinking about driving to a nearby town just to get "out of town".

But no destination is planned yet.

Just crossing our fingers and hoping that everything gets taken care of while we are gone!

Please don't call the Hoarders show!

When you are completely demolishing a room and changing it from floor to ceiling.....you need to clear the whole space.

So where do you store the stuff temporarily while you are working on the room?

In the extra bathroom that really doesn't get any use anymore.....of course!

I would also like to point out that all this "crap" is the stuff that my children didn't take with them when they moved out. 

Thank you very much!

I think I'm back

Today is the first day in a whole week where I actually think I am better emotionally.

It's been a difficult week and I've had a hard time dealing with all the crap that's been flung at us lately.

No....there isn't much light at the end of the tunnel.....yet, but at least I've found some interest and motivation in things again.

This weekend I am planning on finally getting that empty bedroom upstairs (the one that's been empty for two years now and is just filling up with crap) turned into a beautiful guest room.

So my plans for this weekend are to get all that stuff put away in there, paint, shampoo carpets, paint nightstand and entertainment center, and buy all the decorating stuff I need to transform it into a room of beauty.

I think that's my first step to motivating myself.  I actually need to tear through this entire house and get it back in shape......because it looks really sorry right now.

But right now....I am happy just being able to take baby steps.

Here's the before shot:

It won't be totally completed by the end of the weekend......but I'll post a progress shot on Monday morning!

Improving

Things are much better today. 

Thankfully, because yesterday was just plain horrible.

You have those days.  You know......the ones where everything just crashes down on you.  You just have to let it crash, release it all, and then move on.

Yesterday was my cleansing day.

I've moved on.

Thankfully.

It's my pity party and no you're not invited

No life is not great.....in fact it sucks.

But I'm the one that it supposed to keep it all together.  To keep everyone organized and on-track.  The one who is supposed to continually perpetuate the idea that everything is great. 

Well guess what?  I'm human and it's not great all the time and trying to make everyone believe it all the time is emotionally taxing.  So today I broke down and it's my pity party.

Maybe if I put all the bottled up things inside me down on "paper", I can relieve some of this pressure.

First of all, don't call me and don't try to talk to me about it.  I don't want to talk.  I just want to cry and get it all out of me. 

I am just so tired of trying to be perfect all the time.  My house is a disaster.  My body is a disaster.  Our staff is a disaster.  And lately everything I try to do perfectly comes out like a disaster.  No matter how much I look at stuff -- it seems like there's something wrong with it.  There is NO TIME to do the important stuff that we need to get done.  Every day is filled up with trying to get the most important stuff done.

There is too much to do ALWAYS.  There is never any free time.  We get up early and go to bed late and try to cram in as much stuff as we possibly can into 24 hours. 

I've lost myself.  I have no identity anymore.  I'm just the Pizza Zone back up person.  The person that always has to sit on pins and needles waiting for that phone call to come in and cover because some idiot can't do their job correctly or because someone decided that they wanted a day off....so to hell with Pizza Zone.  We have no life........we are the slaves of our employees, our business, and our customers.  What little tiny morsel that might be left at the end of the day is ours.

So if this sounds like a pity party......well it is.  And I sure as heck deserve one.  There's so many things that I need and want to get done......but NOPE -- Pizza Zone comes first.  Pizza Zone always comes first.

But what about me?  I have needs too!

P.S.  This blog no way reflects what my husband is doing.  He has a very full plate and no time whatsoever.  In fact, if he was a girl -- he'd probably sit down and cry with me all day today too!  Oh wait.....there's no time to sit and feel sorry for ourselves......we have work to do!