I MISS Nic. I have done well, but at night I am very sad. It's hard to believe you could be so used to someone lying next to you. The first night I didn't sleep well. The next night I was so tired I crashed. Then Wednesday night I spent the night out of town for work and then there's tonight. What will it bring? I think it will get a little easier with time. I love and Miss you Nic!

Busy, Busy, Busy and going crazy!!

I always look foward to summertime. It seems to be when things slow down at the office and in general. Not this year!! I haven't had a single weekend free since May 5th. I am about to go crazy. I offered to do a Bride's Maid Luncheon for two very close friends. They are both getting married in July. I also did a lingerie shower for one of them. I'm the wedding coordinator for another and doing rehearsal dinner! I'm also in charge of decorating for one of the receptions. And it's all VOLUNTEER! When I get there I love doing it. Especially when it turns out ok, but it's all the mental stress leading up to it. On top of all that we are trying to pack up our house AGAIN. This is really where all the stress is. Thinking about having to move one more time. I'm ok with it but it doesn't make things any easier. I have been going through a lot of emotions with Nic moving to Tallahassee. I know it's for the best and I really don't want to move with him, but at the same time I'm about to go through a hard time and I won't have the one person I need with me. Anyways I know I just need to get over it and suck it up, and I will, but I still need to vent my feelings. The one thing I am looking foward to is going to the beach. In the middle of all of this I get to get away and go to the beach. Not only that but Josh, Hope and Lex are coming too. I really need this time with friends and away from everything else. Thank God he provides little breaths of fresh air.

One of those days!!

You know......those days when you really want everything to be perfect and NOTHING IS!!!! I have made this strawberry layer cake about 100+ times. I never think about what I'm doing. I never stress over it. It's always perfect and a hit. So for Nic's birthday, his mom asked me to make a cake/dessert to bring to her house. The entire crew was to be there(that includes Nic's mom, step-dad, Nic, me , Blake, Lana, Hunter, Matt, Grace, Mark, Christina, Hoss, and January). This is just immediate family but it's still a lot of people to feed. I get up and start making everything and all is well until..........I start mixing my whipped icing. It was runny. I did everything the same and it flopped. Nic is trying to calm me. I'm growing more angry by the second. And I start to assemble the layers. Cake, then strawberries, then whipped icing, cake, then strawberries, then whipped icing(with a little force from frustration), then last layer of cake BAM!!!!!!! I lost it. I slammed the last layer on and lost it. That explains the picture. My hand may have gone through a layer or two. Needless to say it still tasted good. I cut it up and put it in a nice parfait bowl and it looked perfect. I brought it to his mom's and brought it home empty. Why I let stupid things upset me so much I'll never know.

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

I'm in Key West with my Mom, and her two sisters having too much fun!! Wish you were here!! We have a delux, balcony, sunset view room at the Westin at Mallory Square. It is the best. We have the most beautiful view of the "Sunset Acts" and the sunset !!

New Bloggers

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have some new bloggers. My cousin Amanda, who is more like a sister than a cousin and her fiance Jimmy, who she will soon be married to. She is a special Ed teacher and he is a manager for Disney!! I think this will bring some interesting things to the blogging world.

Weekend On The Water

This past weekend we went to Cedar Key. It's a small fishing village about fifty minutes from Gainesville. You really can't swim in the water, but it's beautiful to look at. Everyone is so relaxed there. Almost everyone knows each other and you can walk to church, to the grocery store (more like a large gas station store) or to a little breakfast place. Nic's dad has a place there that we go to a lot during the summer and some throughout the year. There really isn't a lot to do there unless it's warm enough to go out on the boat, but I guess sometimes having nothing to do is good. This weekend it was great. We cooked and ate and watched a lot of basketball!!!! There are also some cute, quaint shops and restaurants. There are some very good seafood restaurants, but as with anywhere there are still a lot of places that order frozen seafood and cook it. There are several places there that are our favorites.

Girls Only!! Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee

So......today I am going to Cloud 9 Spa. It is dangerously located about four blocks from my house. I say it like that because I could get very addicted to a place like this. I have been there once before and it was a great experience. My mother-in-law and my sister-in-law to be are going with me. Maybe I am going with them? Not sure. Either way we are all going and very excited. We have been planning this for a while, but this place stays so busy. I scheduled these appointments about 6-7 weeks ago. I will write more when I get back.......................................................................................
WoW!! that was great. We went and had pedicures first and what a treat. Then we went to the spa and changed into our robes and "Jesus" sandels. We then went to the "relaxation room" where they serve hot tea, water, hot chocolate, crackers, and granola bars. You wait there to be called back while the calming music is playing in a dim room. Then the massage, it was wonderful as expected. I almost fell asleep. I like the "deep tissue" massage. It's hard to fall asleep, but it feels the best to me. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law like the "relaxation" massage. I want to try the "hot stone" massage, but it's about $15 more than the others. Maybe one day on a very special occasion. After the massage we went back to the "relaxation room" to rest some more while trying to regain the momentum to change and go back to the real world. I don't get to do this often, so I have to savor each moment.

Can You Eat Just One???

Sunday I went by the grocery store for one item. I had no cash on me as usual so I told the Girl Scout the problem. She was ok and happy I had stopped to talk. I went in, got what I needed and used my debit card (the new cash in my life). I never noticed the question "would you like cash back" on the debit machine before. Of course I would notice today because there was a little girl outside who I had to tell "NO" and she had something I didn't want to say "NO" to. Sooooo, I waited a few seconds and quickly pressed "yes" for cash back. I went outside and bought a box of my favorite (Samoas) and Nic's favorite (Tagalongs). I try to tell myself "I will only eat one a day until they are gone, that's not too bad ". The truth is, I am lucky if I only put one in my mouth at a time! Ok, so I'm not that bad but I really like them!! How about you? Do you eat Girl Scout cookies? What is your favorite kind? Can you eat just one?

You Are an Excellent Cook

You're a top cook, but you weren't born that way. It's taken a lot of practice, a lot of experimenting, and a lot of learning. It's likely that you have what it takes to be a top chef, should you have the desire...

Are You A Good Cook?

Man From The Moon

I had a patient in the office on Tuesday. I greeted him and tried to explain what it was I needed to do. He was there to pre-op for surgery. He stopped me to tell me that after I got finished with him I would always be able to say I worked with the man from the moon. I asked him if he had ever been to the moon. He told me he had but he wasn't able to get out and walk. I asked him why and he said because he was a mechanic for NASA and they wouldn't let him out. I thought it sounded like a neat story and I explained I never had a patient like him before. Needless to say for the next 20 min he told me the same story about 10 times. His daughter was able to wisper to me that he had infact never been to the moon, but he did work for NASA. I think he had a slight case of Alzheimer's. He finished by telling me he had one question. Something he was wondering about even on the day of his exam with our doctor...................... "Why would NASA let me go all the way to the moon and not let me get out of the space shuttle to walk on the moon?" I ended our conversation with "It must be that the mechanic is more important than the astronauts. They wanted to be sure you were there to get them home. You had a very important job!" He said, "I guess so. Well now, after today, you will be able to say you worked on the man from the moon." I smiled and told him to have a nice day. This really is a funny story and almost all of our patients are like this in some way. They are very old (75-90). This isn't very unusual on a normal day for me, but something stood out about this man. He was happy, content, and he had a wonderful daughter there taking good care of him. She never corrected him or made him feel stupid. Sometimes it wouldn't hurt us to have a little Alzheimer's. We would see life through a different set of eyes.

Michelle -- [adjective]: Pretentiously academian 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Playing House

So , remember when you were kids and you used to play house. You would have baby dolls , beds, and bottles. Dishes to wash, errands to run and such? Well even if you didn't, I did. I loved to play house because my dream and goal in life was to become a wife and mother. I have been a wife for almost six years now but haven't had any children of my own. I am ok with that for now because God has allowed me to be very involved with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. They are such a blessing and so much fun. I know I will love my own children just as much but it's hard to know how that is possible. Hoss Brock Marino is the eight year old. He is so smart and he has skipped a grade. He gets to go to Disney immediately if he makes an "A" on the FCAT. He is very excited. January Caroline Marino is the sweet, precious little girl. She turned one on Dec 24th and is learning to talk back already. Of Course we can't understand what she is trying to say, but there is some attitude and a pointing finger while she garbles. Anyways these are the kids I have to show off for now. I love them very much.

All Night??

So.....Nic was in Tennessee last weekend with Josh and Hope(and Lex). I wasn't able to go because I couldn't get the same days off work. I called my cousin Amanda that lives in Orlando and invited her to stay the weekend with me. She thought it was a great idea. I recently found that I really like scrapbooking. I just did it for the first time about a month ago. Amanda has been needing to do a week long cruise scrap book for a while. I told her to bring her things and maybe we could do this together. After eating a wonderful salad of greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, very strong purple onion, boiled egg, honey mustard dressing and CRISPY CHICKEN, we cleaned up and pulled out the scrapbooking things. That was about 8pm Friday night. Um......at 5am Saturday morning we realized we needed to go to bed. Yes we had an entire day of events planned with my mom. It included shopping , painting and redecorating a bedroom. Saturday night we finally made it home and crashed. In case you don't know me well. I don't do all nighters and I don't function well with little sleep. It was a new adventure for me, but I can't say I regret it . I love my cousin very much and enjoyed the time spent together. On the other hand, I do wish I could have gone to visit in Tennessee with Nic. I would have had much fun and who knows I may have stayed up all night there too!!