Friday Wrap Up

 Good morning! It's a beautiful Friday and I'm hoping to get out into it and enjoy the sun and even though it's not super warm, I'll take a day over 30de!  I feel like I'm very behind...again..in posting and visiting my blog buddies. I usually try and make my blog visits and then post something myself but I'm going to do the visits a bit later and get my post done before it's next year!  We've been on a rollercoaster of weather these past weeks and working even a few days a week has been an adjustment of time management.  So I apologize for my lateness and will be by soon! I know you all have much more interesting lives than I lead!  I will go first to the crazy Ohio Spring weather:

April 18th we woke up to this lovely sight..snow and cold.

This mat by the back door made me smile..Fresh Rain makes pretty flowers...what does fresh snow make?  Makes most folks saying: "Spring, where the heck are you?"

April 23rd..80 degrees and things are turning into pretty flowers and blooms!  We celebrated our Easter the next day and it was just as glorious...85de and sunny!  Nice weather when we're having a crowd over is not the norm for me! But I was thrilled to be able to host our Easter and have outdoor fun.

We were even able to set the deck up for anyone who wanted to eat outside and many took that invitation and enjoyed a fun time...photos of the participants to follow!  The kids arrived around 2pm and Easter lunch with all the trimmings was served.  We had some family in the dining room, others in the kitchen and then those who chose the deck. 

Most of the older kiddos hung outside:

Driana and her hubby, Jonathan

Summer and her new boyfriend, Damien...welcome to the Pines Damien!

This is my daughter-in-law's daughter Megan, and her fiance Logan.  June 4th is the wedding! That will be a blog worthy post for sure.  After lunch was demolished we all moved outdoors for the annual Easter egg hunt.  Since all my Grandkiddos are 13 and older we had divided up the hunt.  First, we did have a separate hunt for Lexi and Rae's little sister Aria who came with them. Aria is 5 and was very excited to have some fun:

She needed some glasses to block the amazing sunshine!

Doesn't hurt to have a taller big sister to help grab the high ones!

I would label this pic..."Happy Face!"  After Aria was done, the teens had their chance.

Rae, Lexi, and Mandy...go girls!

From left to right..Mandy, Cameron, Lexi, and Rae..They had fun and enjoyed the money too! Can't believe how grown up they all have gotten.  Next the adults joined in and even they had a ball finding those elusive eggs hidden by the teens!

Looks like Evelyn needed a little help from Kip!  

Driana and Jonathan getting a photo bomb by Dad, Jackie....everyone left that evening full, tired, and happy.  They enjoyed each other's company and we look forward to having everyone over again soon. I do miss having Grandkiddos who were little just a short time ago but as adults they all rock! They have busy lives and seem to all be doing well in careers or school.  That makes YaYa and Paw Paw happy!  Our Spring weather seems to be getting more normal in the next week and I know Jack and I will spend outdoor time doing catch up with yard work, painting and just sprucing up all the spots where Winter weather has taken it's toll.  I hope Spring has found everyone in blog land and that's a wrap for Friday!

Everyone Has A Story

 This week has flown by and I feel like I'm playing a bit of catch up! I've been back to work for a few weeks and things are going pretty good. I won't lie, I am fairly tired at the end of a work day! It feels good to be back in the saddle of the OR.  We do have some new faces...nurses and doctors.  I see a few bouts of negativity that kind of surprised me but I try to just ignore it, do my job, and head home! I'm only working 2 or 3 days so it's easy to do to leave it all at the hospital!  On a sad note, one of the hospital employees passed away yesterday.  Mark worked in housekeeping at night.  He was a hard worker and will be missed.  Lots of folks didn't really know him except when someone would say, "You know Mark, he's the scary looking guy that works nights."  Jack and I have known Mark for many years.  Even before he worked at the hospital.  Yes, Mark would not be the guy wearing a suit or anything fancy. He was on the scraggly side with longish hair.  When he got the hospital job he was actually living in his car until he could afford a place to live.  He eventually got a house and lived with his brother who was disabled and Mark took care of him.  I know he had grandkids because he was always excited to show me pictures of them when I was headed into work in the mornings.   Years ago the hospital started giving employees a certificate to get a ham or a turkey for the holidays at a local grocery store.  The first year they did this Mark stood waiting at the CEO's office door to thank him because that year he wouldn't have had the money for that food.  I'm sure not many stopped to thank the hospital for this.  My first day back at work I noticed a lot of fruit and veggies on a table in our break room. They said Mark left them for anyone who wanted them. He volunteered at the food bank and sometimes there would be left overs and he would bring things to work so others could have it and it wouldn't get wasted.  When my friend Donna was working she gave Mark a little recognition that the hospital had for employees who did something extra special.  She said she was coming into work and not feeling very good. As she headed for the elevator Mark passed by, stopped and gave her a big smile and a hello. She said she immediately smiled back and her whole attitude changed for the better with that simple act of a smile. Mark left work early on Tuesday night and as he was heading home his truck broke down.  He got out of the truck only to be hit by another truck.  The other driver never stopped. He was taken to a hospital where he died.  I know there's probably a lot more about Mark that we don't know about. I always say everyone has a story. This is what I do know. You can't always tell about somebody by how they look but you sure can by how they act. Kindness is easy and Mark knew how to be kind.  I hope they find the person who hit him and didn't even have the guts to stop.  He deserved better than that. RIP Mark.

I'm In A Fog For The Blog

 The weather this week has been a mixed bag of rain and sun and even some really nice warm temps. Mix in a little blog fog please!  Tuesday morning when I took the dogs out the fog was just beginning to lift.

It was slowly creeping out of the Creepy Woods.

Because the trees are still bare the sun can be seen rising up to spread it's rays.

It didn't take long before it turned into a lovely day.  We've been babysitting our Granddog, Kip, and I think he's enjoyed the yard and woods this week. However, I'm ready to be a one dog family soon! Kip's been a good boy and his easy going personality is great but it's still 100lbs of dog love that needs tending too. My biggest fear has been that he'll get skunked or he'll take off after a critter and not come back!  So far so good but I'm knocking on wood as we have 2 more days to go!  

Our next door neighbor's dog, Cooper, has made some visits too. I wonder if Kip thinks he's fallen into munchkin land!  Besides dog sitting I've been working a few days a week.  This was my week at the hospital instead of working out at the endoscopy unit.  My first day at endoscopy I brought cookies but my first day back in the operating room I brought something else...

I always used to make a bunny cake every Easter for work and when the staff came in and saw this one they all said the same thing..."Starko is back!"  (Starko is the name the staff calls me) It's was busy the days I worked but I'm off until next Tuesday and I'm ready for a rest!  I did find a little time to make these though:

These cuties will all find a home with some Church folks. (the yellow one is showing how the back of

the cookies look.)  I do love the Easter season.  Since we won't celebrate with family until the 24th, I'm sure the weekend will be a quiet one. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. One last photo..I'm calling this one "PURE JOY"

Go happy Annabelle!

Welcome April!

 Well, we made it to April. That doesn't mean no snow of course but it does mean there's more hope for Spring like weather during the month!  I made it safely to and from my Chicago visit.  I was glad I listened to my gut and made the trip. Midge wasn't feeling real great on Wednesday and Thursday so I helped with taking care of Hope and doing some other things for her.  Thankfully she was much better by Friday and we had a lovely time just hanging out and catching up.  I was able to help her cook some Greek food that she was making for Easter.  It went into the freezer but not before we tasted tested a few items! I'll be making some for our Easter dinner too.  We've decided to do our family gathering the week after Easter since some of the family is on vacation and Greek Easter is the next weekend anyway.  I just hope the weather is good so we can be outdoors for the egg hunt.  I really enjoy the Easter season. Such a great time for celebrating and thinking of our Savior and his sacrifice for us. It was always a big deal growing up so I guess it still is!  I was finally able to start working at the hospital.  I worked 2 days at our endoscopy unit.  Thankfully I remembered some things and learned some new ones.  I had a long day on Thursday and was pretty tired last night!  Annabelle went to doggy day care and even she was tired last night! She's only been there half days until yesterday so it was different for her too.  I'm not sure she's super thrilled about going there.  She  hasn't said so anyway! Ha!  I have 2 days scheduled for next week and we're also babysitting my son's dog, Kip.  He's a golden doodle who's a big guy...100lbs of love! I just hope he and Annabelle get along.  They've been together at my son's house and all was good and Kip is pretty quiet on his own.  Time will tell I guess!  Annabelle and Hope didn't have such a great time together.  Hope is only a year old and still plays like a puppy. Poor Annabelle didn't appreciate all her enthusiasm! Poor Hope didn't appreciate Annabelle's quiet nature.  

This was how they got along the best.  When both were tired out!  As you can see Hope is a bit bigger!

I think Hope's head is as big as Annabelle!  Once they got an understanding about each other it went better.   Midge and I had some fun with some wigs she had gotten off the internet.  She doesn't need a wig for any reason but thought they were cute and decided to buy them.  We had some good laughs trying them on!  As I've mentioned before, we're both trying to grow our hair out. By that I mean growing it longer, not letting it go gray.  So here's me with a short gray wig:

I didn't think it looked too bad.  It's about the same style as I've been wearing.  I couldn't resist trying on a longer one that was also a blond one:

Ha!!!  We had a good laugh over this one.  I sent this pic to Jack and he said he was happy to see that Midge and I were playing dress up!  He also sent a big thumbs down on being blond!  Oh well, hopefully I can get my own hair to grow longer so I can try some different styles.  I've had my hair short for over 20yrs and it's time for a change. But growing it out always makes me nuts and usually I cave in and have my hairdresser cut it.  Time will tell if I can hold out!   I have been trying to play catch up with blogging and hopefully will get more photos as Spring continues to bring on flowers and sunshine in-between the cold and snow showers here and there.  My daffodils are up and I picked a few before they are gone. 

Happy Spring!

Whiplash

 Looking at the title of my post you might think I've gone and fallen again, or had a car accident. Nope, everything is fine.  It's this crazy weather that has us going from freezing, snowing, warm, sunny, cloudy, rainy, cold again..blah, blah, blah. 

As always the crocus as to be first in line with some Spring color.

Following a close second are the daffodils.  These are the tiny ones and my bigger ones are up and ready to bloom.

Hello my favorites...lilac buds!

The grass is growing slowly and getting greener too!  But then Saturday comes along last weekend:

Cold and snowy...pretty but it makes my head spin! What happened to our 60de temps? One cannot be greedy.  This is March and up north it can snow until May if it wants too!  

I have faith that this mighty oak tree will get leaves again.  In fact, all this snow has disappeared already. However, tomorrow this is our forecast...RAIN, ICE, SNOW, 70DE TEMPS....Wait? What?

How can it snow if it's going to be 70 degrees?  I guess we'll find out! That being said, I decided to take a quick trip to Chicago tomorrow until Monday.  Jack's hanging at home so it's just Annabelle and me and the open road.  I was going to be working but my health assessment that involved drug testing won't be ready until next week.  I'm OK with that and will enjoy visiting with my sister and her pup, Hope.  I hope Hope and Annabelle get along!  So this weather whiplash will continue I'm sure.  

This poor Robin is wondering if she took the wrong road...

Looks like she's having a bit of whiplash too!  Hey, I know a good Chiropractor!

Tasks

I feel a bit behind in posting.  I try to post something at least once a week.  I'll use the excuse that I've been doing a few tasks these past weeks. Last week seemed to be full of them!  I had started some Spring cleaning.  Jack and I emptied our foyer closet out and got rid of old coats and items we didn't want or need.  We even found a few things that we seemed to have inherited. 

Like a violin.  Neither Jack nor I ever have played a violin.  As far as Jack remembers neither did anyone in his family.  However, this was from his parent's house when we cleaned it out after they passed away. It needs new strings and a new bow and probably other things so it's on the list to go to the music store to find out if it's worth having it fixed.  Some other tasks included rug cleaning, burning leaves and wood from the yard cleanup.  Cleaning out the garage. We've tackled one area and will head to the next soon. It's on the list!  I got the taxes sent in, and Annabelle's evaluation to be admitted to Doggy Day Care.   I had to fill out 6 pages of questions about her and make sure all her shots were up to date including a flu shot and booster! I kid you not. I think it was easier to get my kids in college than to be admitted to Doggy Day Care.  Why do I need day care?  I think I mentioned possibly going back to work?  Well, I said yes to this task.  It involved 12 pages of paperwork, a background check, a health assessment (drug screening) and I'm suppose to get a laser eye exam.  I'm not doing the eye thing.  I have to do orientation on March 28th.  As soon as my drug screening and all comes back OK, I can actually start back to work. It's only a PRN position in surgery.  That means I'll work if they need help and if I can't do it that day I can say nope, sorry.  No weekends, call, or holidays.  Also no benefits but that's OK.  I'll just take the paycheck!  So I feel like all I've done is fill out forms.  Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things at the hospital. I've been out of there for a year and a half and lots can change in that time. Fingers crossed!  Thursday was St. Patrick's Day and our little town did a super job of celebrating it!  They turned the town creek green:

They got new banners for spring and also for St. Patty's Day and put balloons on all the light posts.

They played Irish music over the loud speakers in town all day long.  They had a parade around 5pm that anyone could join in on.  All the restaurants had specials with food and drink.  It was so fun to watch everyone just enjoying the day and celebrating.  It didn't hurt that our temps were 70de and sunny!

As you can tell, a fun time was had by all!  Friday night had Jack and I going to a surprise retirement party for one of our doctors that I worked with for almost all my career.  Dr. Yoder was an ortho doc and beloved by the community.  I enjoyed working with him and was so happy to go and wish him well.

My BFF, Donna, came with Jack and me and we had a fun evening.

 Doctor Yoder is in the peach colored shirt.  He's surrounded by many of the Physicians I worked with over my 41yr career.  It's like looking at my childhood friends all grown up!  This week had many other tasks to complete...like making 50 bee cookies for our ladies group at Church:

Don't ever let anyone know you have a bee cookie cutter if they are having a "Bee" themed event!  So I'm ending here as my final task for the day is getting ready for bed! I hope you have a wonderful Sunday and have a day of rest for any tasks you may be involved with! Night all!  P.S..A big shout out to my sister Midge because today is her birthday! Happy Birthday sis! Love you!

Lions And Lambs

Why March always gets the designation of coming in like a lion or lamb and exiting the same way is a mystery to me. I guess I'll have to google it and find out where that started although I'm betting a few of my smart blog buddies know the answer.  So keeping with the theme, March came in like a lamb.  We'd had plenty of lion like weather so I'm glad Mother Natures gave us a gift.  And boy what a gift we got this weekend!  70 degrees and sunshine!  Saturday was one of those gorgeous days you would love to keep forever.  After running our usual Saturday errands I had the pleasure of walks with Annabelle, a drive in the country to deliver some food for a friend who was having some health issues, and more outdoor time.

Annabelle sat outside with me enjoying the warm sun while I sat and read a book.  One day the grass will be green again!

Our next door neighbor's horse, Temp, was also sunbathing!

I even had my first outdoor meal for this season.  A quick light lunch and reading the paper.  It's the little things that make a good day!  Later Jack and I worked for a couple of hours in the garage cleaning out a cupboard and getting rid of a ton of   "stuff".  Even that was fun because it was so pleasant outside.  Today was just as lovely although we did get rain in the middle of the early hours.  I had to take Miss Annabelle out and we both got drenched!  Oh well, waking up later to blue skies and sun was good!  After Church and lunch I took the dog for a walk in the cemetery and she's been enjoying the outdoors much more than when it was snowing and cold.   I know we're in for more of snow and cold this week but I have my memories of yesterday and today to keep me warm!  

The last rays of the day coming in through the dining room window.  Thanks Mother Nature!