91/365

IT'S DEFINITELY NOT THE DESTINATION...
We brought Katherine back to Penn State today... it was a quick trip when we got there - the usuals - Wegman's, etc. We stopped five times on the way up, though - before we even got to State College!  Then we stopped at Dean's Diner on the way back... nothing like some comfort food to welcome you back to town.

90/365

RUNNING IN PLACE

So, about yesterday... I was on my way to the car lot and I drove by one of the best car shoppers ever going for a run... I took it as a good sign and thought the universe was telling me it would be a good day and good experience.  I probably should have stopped him and kidnapped him to go with me.  BIG F*CKING MISTAKE going myself.  Well, actually, I didn't go myself.  The Dad was there - he had to get an oil change so he went ahead of me for his appointment and I met him there.  It was pretty much like bringing Rodney Dangerfield along with me.  He has no car buying skills and was kind of more concerned with the sandwiches they had there for their customers than me getting any kind of decent deal. I think I may have even heard a laugh track a few times. No biggie, though, because I could totally do this BY MYSELF. It was the same salesman he bought from and the manager is a friend of George... no problem.  Well, the Xterra deal fell through because of the back seat issue and I was super annoyed for even being there so I just jumped at the next thing I saw and basically got screwed - mostly by my own doing. I knew better and was schooled in what I should do by Carey and George and Ted... I don't know what to say - I pretty much did the opposite. I drove it past the Syria Mosque where my wedding reception was so that made me even more annoyed and came back and said I hate the color and my dog doesn't like leather seats but it will do.  I signed the papers and was like I have to go home and take a nap.  Then everyone yelled at me when they found out what I did. I really didn't think this was going to be that difficult.

89/365

END OF THE ROAD
Well it turns out it's the end of the road for the Xterra... I had no choice but to hurry up and find something. I went where my dad got his car - they had an Xterra on their other lot. I called yesterday and they went and got it and had it all cleaned up and ready for me sight unseen.  I really thought that I would just hand over my keys and get the new ones and be out of there.  I hate car shopping and hate deciding on anything. I just wanted to be done before I even got there.  Turns out 12 years later - nobody I know would be able to get in the back seat - especially without running boards or whatever they are called... The back doors don't open wide enough - worse than the one I had. So I thought I was going home with this - but I didn't.

More to come...

88/365

ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERS
We had Fish Fry Friday tonight...

I don't like fish so I ordered a Pacino.

I figured God has more on me than eating meat on Friday.

87/365

IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH
I'm back to not sleeping again... pretty much ever. When I finally do I'm up in a couple hours.  It's been really bad. I've been super busy and super scattered and super sick. I don't watch tv anymore but when I do I have a marathon session. I did catch up on Shameless and The Mindy Project and New Girl the last couple nights.

86/365

THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULDN'T
I left work tonight and all of a sudden I heard this noise and it sounded like I was driving a freight train. This may be the last time I drop the Xterra off at Vinnie's. ;-(

84/365

COOKING IT OLD SCHOOL
I never really used the microwave much... I remember the first microwave we had - it was gigantic... we cooked bacon and popcorn in it - maybe a baked potato. Oh and I think my dad would try an egg every now and then in a styrofoam cup!  Oh God.  Whenever we used it, my grandmother would literally run and hide in her bedroom because she was afraid it was going to screw around with her pacemaker. It was pretty much a big monstrous clock in the kitchen.The microwave here blew up about a month ago and I threw it away... I haven't gotten around to getting another one yet. We're  not really missing it very much.

83/365

TAKE IF YOU WILL A PICTURE...
I went to take the dog out this morning and saw some feathers blowing in the wind - stuck on the porch railing... soft, white, fluffy feathers....kind of looked like tiny baby angel wings fluttering in the wind.

I looked down on the ground and there were a couple more feathers.  Then I saw this...

It was just laying on the chair right below the railing... look at the little pool of blood next to it. ;-( Is it a dove?  I don't even know. I think it is.

82/365

KITTY POOL
Just sitting around the pool with some cats.

81/365

MOVING ON UP
You know, Chrissy and I have been packing shit up continually for 4 years...  Dixon House, Lake Ridge, here, storage, Aunt Gloria's and now Grandma Murphy's. It has made us frequent liquor stores a lot... for empty boxes!  I find it fascinating seeing what's kept... Like opening cabinets and finding this:

Helen moved from a gigantic house (which we also helped clear out) to a lovely three bedroom apartment that was as big as a house. Some times I think I would like to live in an apartment... with the parking garage guy and the elevator and the shopping carts to bring your stuff up. It would be like living at school... no yard to worry about or keep up.  She had a beautiful private outdoor space, though, with a giant porch.  Lily would have loved it.

I was surprised to see that it was still pretty loaded... We are semi-professionals at this moving thing but there's a ton of work still... so much stuff!  Kitchen is fully stocked with multiple sets of china that need packed, furniture everywhere, holiday decorations, really expensive collectibles... just so much. She was a graduate of Georgian Court College in Lakewood, NJ and majored in Home Economics.

I love old yearbooks... everything is always the same... the wishes and the dreams and the reminiscing... just the dates and the clothes and hair styles change. I cataloged a bunch of stuff and took pictures of everything so the siblings could go through it.  Here's just some of the old fab dolls...

And this one...

...and it's story...

What a fun and exhausting day!

80/365

KARAOKE DREAMING
We all have our Karaoke dreams -  which often differ from reality... this is mine. Best cover ever. Of course, I have Justin on live guitar with me in my dream and I sound like her.  I often can't believe that I get paid to do what I do... we did karaoke today with the residents.  They were loving it.  One of them said that we always bring the best singers and dancers in... when I asked her if she knew it was US she said yes - we were great - the best in Pittsburgh! ;-)

79/365

GIRLS...GIRLS...GIRLS...
We made arrangements for our upcoming girls road trip.

 Circle of Women by Nalini Blossom and friends

78/365

LUCKY CHARM
The Lil Bud came to work today to celebrate St Pugtricks Day. She gave everyone a photo...

They all love her there - she was a good visitor... Here she is waiting for me to pack up. Beware of the dog!  She's very sleepy after a "ruff" day at work. ;-)

77/365

ROOT BEER FLOP
I have to be careful if I call The Dad after work... 9 times out of 10 he immediately will make me a root beer float for my arrival... if I'm not specific and tell him I'm stopping at the store or going somewhere it's usually melting on the table.

76/365

TIP OF MY TONGUE
Sometimes I think her tongue has a mind of its own.

75/365

LETTING GO ISN'T AS EASY AS IT SHOULD BE
Just like John Travolta - I love me some Adele Dazim.  This song is getting a little out of hand, though. It is giving a lot of people their 15 minutes of fame with all the parodies and covers.  Like the parents with the unenthused toddler in the back seat which, BTW,  I don't think the seatbelt would have distracted from that outfit... or the dad that is so over the song - bonus points for the characters on the mantel!  Two of my favorites are Alex Boye's Africanized Tribal one because she looks like a little baby Katherine and this one... Let it Go done by all the Disney characters.  Though that one made me a little sad. I think Disney is always going to be tainted now with everything that happened. What a shame. ;-(

74/365

FUR FRIENDS
Lily was harassing Sabrina a little tonight... I think because she wanted to play and run around the table.  They were very orderly at the water bowl station though. ;-)

73/365

"WHEN LOVE LEAVES, ASK HER TO LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN BEHIND HER"

The Evolution of Love in Less than 5 Minutes... video here.

72/365

ALL COOPED UP
I found a coop for Carmella Chicken Bud at Sam's Club. Now everyone is going to have a chicken in their yard along with a 40 pack of paper towels.

71/365

NIGHT OWLS

I literally get sick when I work late nights... I come home shaking and feeling really weird.  There's just something about it... from the minute I walk out the door something happens and I usually cry the whole way back. I really don't know how these nurses do it. Plus, seeing all the old folks getting ready for bed or in their beds like a little grown up orphanage is disturbing to me and just the whole fact of having a weird schedule throws me off.

70/365

I HATE CHRISSY*
She's a really bad influence. I succumb to peer pressure a lot around her.  She gets me into trouble and trouble, with us, usually involves pancakes or jewelry.  Funny thing is,  I'm actually not the biggest jewelry fan.   I could honestly care less about it.  Though I do love my Mariana stuff and I wish my wedding ring still fit me because I would still be wearing it and I love my Lisa Leonard stuff... well maybe I like jewelry a little.

When we were last in State College, I finally bought the Penn State bead I've been saying I was going to get for my stupid Pandora bracelet.  That bracelet kind of pisses me off.  I never really wanted one but on my 40th birthday I bought the dice charm in Vegas while we were there and then I got a couple for gifts and then I stressed out buying every other one.  I wanted every bead to have some sort of meaning - not just random picks and now it's kind of just no color silver boring.  I still have a few more that I need... I'm hoping that will be it and I can put it to rest and stop thinking about it.  It's also super heavy and I feel like I'm on some sort of work release when I wear it.  Like if I go to take it off an alarm is going to start beeping.  That's if I can even get it off because I think it's too tight... It takes me about 20 minutes to get the damn thing on.  I mentioned I don't really like this bracelet, right?

Anyway, when I was getting my Penn State bead the sales girl had a Trollbeads bracelet with these big funky flowers on it... so we were asking her about it.  Without hesitation, Chrissy bought the special bead, bracelet and clasp combo that had there..  I happily just walked away with my PSU bead on my stupid Pandora bracelet and called it a day. Actually, no... I was peer pressured into buying a Chrysalis one after I ordered the Alex and Ani Penn State one in the store prior to the jewelry store!   Then the Morninglory email comes out about their Trollbeads closeout because they are now carrying Pandora. So she goes and gets a little crazy and brings me in on it.  I mean they had some pretty good buys... and they had the seahorse clasp I wanted even though I only want this bracelet to be "flowers" which caused me some anxiety - but I went with it.  I mean it's my bracelet... I can have a seahorse with flowers, right?  I'm good with it now. I'm embracing the seahorse.

Here's the thing... We didn't buy these when they were regular price so why are we buying all this shit while it's on sale? If we really wanted one we would have had it already.

I had so much anxiety choosing the damn ceramic beads I broke out in hives.  And the one I thought I would hate the most - I love... the black and white one.  I generally hate black and white but this one reminds me of Mackensie Childs so I think that's why I like it.   I still have to get my hands on some of the big flowers... they only had a few flower ones left during the sale.

* I really don't hate her.

69/365

KE ALOHA
Marshall's has this line of really cute toys..

I bought the ukulele for Lily for Christmas and found the flip flop the other day.  They also had a turtle but I didn't like the fabric on that. She plays with the ukulele all the time and she seems to like chewing on the rope of the flip flop...

Check out these puppies.

68/365

EVERYTHING WILL TOTALLY FIT
We decided to stay overnight because we've been losing valuable shopping time just going to pick the kids up and eating and heading back... fortunately they aren't early risers so we got some shopping in after breakfast yesterday... We spied a shop going out of business on our way to The Waffle Shop so we had to go back when they opened.  I'm a sucker for any place that says "fixtures for sale."  I couldn't pass up this pretty little thing - rusty top and all.

I would have bought this one too but I didn't want to be a cart hog so I was happy when Chrissy said she had to get it's sister friend. At least I knew they were both going to a good home... or, at least, a good storage unit.

Needless to say, by the time we got the two carts and two cute embroidered paintings I got for $3.00 and our luggage and bags of ice cream and cheesesteaks... we got to the apartment fully loaded. She still insisted we were going to be able to get K and J's things in! I will give her the super packer title, she's very much like her brother with her expert packing skills, but I knew she was going to be wrong this time - especially with Percy Cat and a litter box having to fit into the mix.  We ended up having to leave our treasures at the apartment to pick up later.  Told you so. ;-)

68/365

IT'S PRETTY MUCH ALL ABOUT THE FOOD - PART 2
Breakfast... which, by the way, is it possible for two people to be so in sync that they say the same thing at the same time?  What do you think? Anyway, it's nice to breakfast with friends b/c you can share each other's meals and never really have to choose between one of the biggest dilemmas in life - pancakes or waffles?

I think I ate about 7 of my frontier fries before I wanted to throw up so Other Joe ate the rest of them in the car but why did it take me so long to start adding mayo to a Philly instead of taking the lettuce and tomato off of the Coast to Coast.  Duh.

Some for the road...

...and ice cream to make the dog nuts... the dry ice drives her crazy.

67/365

IT'S PRETTY MUCH ALL ABOUT THE FOOD - PART 1
Road trips are our thing... and the snack bag is super important.  Chrissy had a giant bag packed for our overnight stay in State College but we still had to stop at the point of no return and go to Martin's - where I always get the meat and cheese cup to hold me over.

We ended up at the Deli for dinner because we were all too hangry to figure out somewhere else to go - it was a comfort food festival! I got one of my regulars... hot chicken sandwich, mashed potatoes and corn... and potato soup, of course.

We were all too full to have dessert. The waiter left his cheat shit with us when I got mad at him for not having chocolate cake (how can you not have any chocolate cake?)  and I couldn't resist taking a pic of the night's selections... the coconut cream PIG sounded interesting!

I ended up with the banana chip cake in a to go box to have for a midnight snack. Unfortunately, I forgot about it and left it in the hotel refrig. #reallyfuckingdisappointed.

I got distracted by all the things I brought with me "to do" in the projected 10 hours we would be in the room. Like organize the multitude of notebooks I have started...

... and the anticipation of drinking coffee and reading magazines in the hotel bed.

Unfortunately, I had the worst sleep ever because someone (who shall remain nameless and is not me) sleeps with the tv on and I kept waking up and writing item numbers down all night long.

more tomorrow...

66/365

THIS LITTLE PIGGY...
This little piggy container of treats was hard to resist. Video here.

64/365

SNOW HAPPENS
Was I the only one that was looking forward to the snow that never materialized?  I'm ready for spring but there is something delicious about a good snow storm. I'm the girl that goes to the store to buy all kinds of things to make in the hopes of not being able to leave the house for days.  I like the idea of being trapped inside and hunkering down to enjoy it all... blankets, hot chocolate and cuddling with the puppy dog.

63/365

LIFE IS A HIGHWAY
I really have no idea what to do about a car... There's nothing that I really, really like and I just don't feel like dealing with looking for a new one. I wish one would just magically appear in my parking space and I can be done with it. As much as I like driving big things I keep seeing these little baby ones like this and question if I should go that route. I just can't picture myself in something so teeny tiny.  I really would like this cute little thing. What's a girl to do?

61/365

SAY MY NAME... SAY MY NAME...
 I've been doing these photo a day things on Instagram for awhile now... at one point I was doing three - which, FYI, is way too many.  I decided to just do fat mum slim's challenge this month... the prompt today was MY NAME IS... which was very timely for me.  I've been struggling with changing my name - though when my lawyer asked me about it I didn't hesitate a second with my response. It's already been "changed" in a way.  My husband would send me things in my maiden name.  When I asked about it he said it was just automatic... no intention. Yeah, right. ;-)    It's not that I don't want to be associated with the name.  I was always happy to be a DiGioia... there's just no ties to it.  No children where there might be confusion at school, etc...   I felt like if I kept it I would be living a lie. It's just going to be a really big pain in the ass to change everything and I'm not looking forward to it. It's also another loss.  My family, my home, my name... Maybe it would be easier for some or if I was the one that wanted the divorce.  IDK, this has proven to be very difficult for me.

60/365

HAIR TODAY-GONE TOMORROW

I'll admit it - I love me some Jordan Catalano.   Not feeling this current hair on Jared Leto, though.  Enough. Be gone with it.