This Is How We Do It...

I wanted to share some late stuff that was partially drafted but never finished. (I have a lot of drafts that never make it to postings).  Anyway...

On Easter Eve, after our family get-together with the Girls and their Fellas, I went to a dear friends for a little Girls Night In.
Now this is my Chef Buddy... So I knew I was in for a treat.
Jill just recently moved to the sweetest house situated on a large piece of land, so the view is lovely.  We had the nicest weather allowing us to enjoy the deck for our Sangria's.

Best Sangria's EVER

These were pretty dang tasty!
Then we moved on to some out of this world entree.

As stuffed as I was from our traditional Easter Ham dinner.. I was devouring this fabulous meal.  Jill has such a magic touch in seasoning and flavoring things to perfection.

I brought a Million Dollar Pie... but this time.. it just didn't get the attention these bad boys got...

... and look at this one I ate...

SERIOUSLY!!!

Needless to say, I had quite the food baby...

It was heavenly.

Oh! and look what Annie's Fella brought me!  MAJOR BROWNIE POINTS :)

Jill~ if you are reading this... LOVE YOU!  When are you gonna teach me to COOK?

The Intimator

The worst part of my job, is getting off at midnight.
I have gotten use to it, and even enjoy it somewhat.  The streets are vacant and my commute home is much quicker than getting to work.  I sometimes, get uneasy when I drive through the area where my employment is.  We are smack dab in the middle of a high crime area, that has seen better days.  In our defense, the School has been there for one hundred years. I drive past a "Motorcycle Club" every evening. and lets just say it isn't full of the same riders Hubby and I rode with when he had the Harleys. I also run past several police squad cars that have folks pulled over or that occasional "Raid"... Eyes forward, act like you do not see anything....

Once I past this area, I hit the Interstate.  Four miles later I merge onto an other Interstate. Then after another four miles, I hit my exit and its a straight shot down Brookville Road to my housing addition.

Tuesday evening I get to that last leg of my journey home when it hits...
That intuition... What Gavin De Becker so clearly discusses in his books.  Something feels wrong.

I noticed a red Blazer (SUV) just ahead of me, lingering prior to where the lanes merge.  I give this vehicle plenty of room to go ahead and merge, even though I had the right away and enough time to pass him.  But something told me to stay behind. It looks suspicious. Like he wants me to get in front of it.
I nearly stopped to get him to get in the lane.
This road has a 50 MPH, but everyone goes faster, especially at this hour with no traffic.  He is going 35-40 MPH.  I am not riding him... although I want to... I am looking at the road ahead to decide if I want to pass him...
Then this Psyhco slams on his brakes.
I have  room to stop, but he has shock me up.
What Heck?
I flashed my brights.
He proceeds to go, speeds up a tad (up to 40 again), then SLAM.  Now I'm not only scared but mad.
An oncoming car approached and I started flashing my brights.. He flashed back and cautiously passed. By now I have Hubby on the phone as I am slightly freaking out... 
No one has messed with me in a long time... 
Thankfully I also have KLOVE (Christian Radio Station) on the radio which keeps me from going into that..."are you sure you wanna mess with a 49 yr old menopausal woman that just got off work dealing with 16 drama filled teenage girls...BRING IT ON BUTTHOLE!!!"... Q95 (my Rock station) would have feed that Janis... 

Anyway, back to the story... Hubby is keeping me calm, probably slightly excited about getting to grab one of his guns and taking the safety off... I have one then two cars following now that Pyscho allows to pass us one at a time... my brights are still on and I'm debating on calling 911 but don't want to hang up on Sergio.... as we approach my neighborhood (off this road) I make a quick right into it without giving the psycho a chance...
BUT PSYCHO has turned around and I see in my rear view mirror he is anticipating entering or waiting for me to exit... heart racing I fly into garage without the psycho following and Hubby is there to greet me with one of his guns ready... scared the stuffing out of me but really ticked me off too... Thankful this didn't happen to one of my girls although annie had a similar incident a couple years back . 
Now after having time to think it through, I really think it might have been some Nut trying to get me to hit him for insurance scam, and try to sue for ridiculous amounts of money.b I like that theory better than thinking he (or she) was just some Nutcase wanting to hurt me or toy with me. 
All is fine now although I surely am a little more edgy driving now, making sure everyone has plenty of space between vehicles! By the way, I counted 15 fresh skid marks were he tried to get me to hit him between that 2 mile stretch of road. 15! No wonder my heart was pounding so!


And I thought driving thru the ghetto near work was scary..

Smile

I feel happy...

There are still some stressful moments.  We have a number of "oh my gosh", stuff going on... But I feel HAPPY.

There is something so powerful in a smile.  I try to smile often and pass a little smile.  You almost always get a smile back when you smile at someone.  It is contagious.

I am addicted to Pinterest.  Ifind myself often pulling it up to bring me up when feeling low.  I have a several "Boards" but the ones that bring me a smile most are these : A "Board" with my strange sense of humor, I have a "Board" with animals, and I have a "Board" titled "It's a small world" full (seriously close to 600 photographs of children).  I can't take credit for these beautiful photos and I so appreciate this sharing website of wonderful ideals, helpful hints, and wonderful photos.

Here are some smiles to share with you.

And my own Cutie Patooties

Have a wonderful smiley day!

Howdy Doody

I know I have been MIA for awhile.  I've had much to say, but need to be reserved.  I'm being censored so to speak, and to avoid being misunderstood or speaking of things before really thinking about it (hence my post a while back), I have been staying back in the shadows a bit.  Also, on a brighter note I have been wonderfully busy.

Work is still fabulous, although stressful.  I am so crazy about "my girls".  I'm a proud Momma of the young women they are and so grateful to be a small part of their lives.  They are patient with me as I continue to break the communication barrier.  My sign language has improved greatly, however my ASL stinks... Especially if you are asking my professor who is so frustrated with me and my old "English" habits.  I refuse to be a quitter and continue on (even through tears occasionally). I do think that I am learning everyday.  I just wish I could follow better and not miss so much of the conversations.  It is a struggle.  I do love my Boss! I could not ask for a more caring and wonderful person to work for.  She reminds me much of my friend Jill.  When I worked for Jill, she never made me feel inferior. I feel more of a team player than a worker bee.  My Boss is also very patient with my communication struggles and is very encouraging and supportive. I do believe that she is pleased with me and the job I am doing.  I hope to be working with her for years to come.  As the school year is wrapping up, the residential students are finishing up yet another year of education.  Making prom dates, practicing for the school play, busy with track and softball, and a few of my girls are preparing for graduation and what is to come.  I wrote a letter of recommendation for one of my girls as she anticipating getting accepted to RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology).  She is amazing and I am anxious to see her succeed. 
Speaking of ANXIOUS... soon we will know what Dorm we will be assigned for the coming Fall.  I am so hoping to remain with the High School Girls.  It will be a hard adjustment to have a new assignment.  Also I am in hopes that I will continue to work with the Co-Worker I currently have.  She is an incredible young woman that I greatly admire and have so enjoyed sharing the Dorm with.  We are a great team, and after some of the experiences we have had, I think we both feel pretty good together and hope to continue a team.

I am trying to secure a job for summer employment.  Trying to find a job for 8 weeks is not easy.  Our School schedule has changed, therefore, while many schools are on a different schedule, summer Nanny jobs are requiring employment through mid August, and I go back to ISD August 1st.  Being off sounds lovely but the fear of not getting those summer paychecks are too scary!

Hubby took Emily and Annie to Las Vegas this weekend.  He has business there this week and the girls are joining him for the weekend.  I considered going as well. However, I have been so Blessed to take so many trips with the girls and poor Hubby has not.  So, this was a wonderful opportunity for him to take them and enjoy a fast weekend with much to do.  They left yesterday.  Ms Emily hasn't been on a plane in about 6 years and was a tad nervous (it was Friday the 13th too).  Annie is more traveled, preparing to leave this summer for London.  Annie sent me this picture from the plane.

Splendid, isn't it?
It was a long flight with a layover in Phoenix.  They got there last night before 10pm, but with the time change, they gained 3 hours.     They got checked in at Bally's, grabbed dinner, and played some slots and looked around.  Today Hubby took them shopping.  Sounds like they all did well.  Emily found a dress, Annie shoes, and Hubby jeans.  I know they are having a blast. (Dad will spoil them and they so deserve to be spoiled alittle :)
Hubby just sent this to me.

Babies at Ceasars

Hoping they make at least one show while there.  So much to see in a short time.  Emily said its chilly so they haven't enjoyed the pool. Hopefully it will warm up!

Well, I hate to admit it... but I am enjoying the house to myself.  I have Pandora playing my golden oldies.  I have a fire in the fireplace. I'm cleaning, de-cluttering, purging, and catching up on Blog World.  Also pinning on Pinterest and nervous after reading a report on a favorite Blog of Pinterest in Jeopardy (copy write laws).. Please don't take my Pinterest away... People I have more than 50 boards and over 6,000 pins.  Yes, I have a bit of an obsession with it.  It's that great.  I hope to finish a couple of Pinterest projects this week while Hubby is away.  I'm also watching that goofy television programs Hubby would never watch with me.  Eating eggs for dinner, Capt'n Crunch for lunch and drinking a little wine too.  It's a mini vacation even though I am working too!

Which reminds me... I need to get some taxes done so I better go for now.