The Capitals, Dogs named after Capitals, Books and Random Thoughts

Hockey

So the Capitals season didn’t ended like I wanted to, but I had a feeling by game 5 that it wasn’t going to end very well. Halak was on FIRE! There was no way of getting the puck passed him. MAYBE if we played all of the games like we did in the last 5 minutes of Game 7 we might have come. (Like how I say WE?). They are my boys and I am behind them no matter what (good or bad). They had a good season – We’ve never gotten the President’s Cup before. Ovie has been nominated for the Hart Trophy again – that makes 3 years in a row. Something that only the Great One (Wayne Gretzky) and Bobby Orr have done.

Esa Story

Esa has gotten so good on leash that we have been “testing” her off leash to finish up our walks. We usually let her off the leash about a house or 2 from ours and she’ll walk with us right to the house. Well – I did that the other day and the birds in the tree right by our house, come flying down towards Esa and then out (towards the road). Of course, Esa starts taking a few steps, but I made a LOUD aaah, aah, aah noise and she fell right back into line. WOOHOO! Now, if it was a bunny that would have been a different story.

Simple Abundance
On my birthday, I started the “Simple Abundance” Daily Devotional. I haven’t been consistent with it, but when I read the daily passage, I highlight the main thought of the day and try to write my 5 gratitude items in the book at the end of the day. I thought it might be kind of cool to add that my gratitude items or my feelings on the thought of the day to this blog.

Another dog in the future?

So since January, I’ve been volunteering regularly with Loudoun County Animal Shelter on Thursdays when they bring the mobile adoption truck to Petco in Sterling. Since March, there has been a Chihuahua mix named Frank coming. Hate to say it, but I’ve fallen for him. He’s really smart – I taught him to sit and lay down within an hour the first day I meet him. Supposedly he’s about 10 years old, but I have a feeling he’s younger. When he first came to the shelter, he was a little skinny and was missing some fur on his tail and on his ears (totally bald) and itchy. He still scratches a lot, but he does not have mange. He’s gained his weight back and looks good and his fur is back on his tail. Not sure about his ears.

He actually had two families fill out applications for him. The first family was out of county and had to go through a home inspection, but was never home even with a set appointment. The second family never returned the shelter’s call when they said he was available. Which comes to me – whenever I see him I say, let me know if he doesn’t get adopted and he needs to go. Which Loudoun is VERY good at keeping animals a LONG time. As long as there is room and the animal’s personality has not changed, they stay.

So what happens yesterday when I show up? “We’ve been waiting for you!” I’m up in the air. I’ve been thinking about Frank ALL OF THE TIME - wondering if he’s been adopted by the one of the two families.

Dan’s going to go with me tomorrow to meet him and then we’ll think about it. Two dogs are a lot of work and it also means we wouldn’t be able to get a cat (two pets are enough). I’m sure Esa would be ok with it, however, I think she likes being the only dog. I could kind of tell when Cash was visiting.

Random Thoughts
Anyone else getting a lot of spam? I think it might have had something to do with the McAfee issue last week – it seemed to all happen after that.

Last day of Scrapbooking....

The massage I had yesterday was wonderful - my back and neck felt wonderful when I went to bed, however, not during the night.  I did not sleep well, so about 6:30 I decide to just get up and get scrapping.

About 10:30 am, I took a break, checked out and went to the General Store to pick up a gift for Dan - my usual gift of a t-shirt (long sleeve this time) and a 6 pack of local beers.  I ended up with 14 pages almost completed (except for the journaling part of 4 pages).

I had another seated massage today (20 minutes) and then headed out about 2 pm.  The drive was pretty good - I was happy for the nice weather.  I was expecting to be driving in the rain.

I'm looking forward to the day off tomorrow and hopefully sleeping in some.  We'll see - Dan said that Esa has been getting up at 6 am the last 2 days.

Random Thoughts - The Captials fairweather fans

This happened last year too - EVERYONE jumped on the bandwagon when the Caps were doing well last year and headed to the playoffs.  It's happening again this year and unfortunately they are coming out of the woodwork and letting Ted Leonis know how upset they are that the boys aren't just sweeping the Habs and just sweeping their way to the Cup.  

Check out Ted's Take.  Poor Ted can't even walk around his own neighborhood!  This so pisses me off - why can't people just be POSITIVE and realistic?  It's tough!  Every team wants the cup and they will play like it's do or die.  Do they think the guys are just thinking "whatever - it's just another game, I'll get paid and I'll get a long summer"?  NO - THEY WANT TO CUP.

It's cool that you want to watch the game and get into it, but don't be telling the owner "you'll never beat the Habs" "Get rid of the coach", etc.  Let's see you at the game or even just watching the game on tv when they are losing EVERY SINGLE GAME - Dan and I were there and will always be there.  No matter what, no matter where we live - we will be Caps fans.

What I got for free this weekend!

Bunch of Creative Memories stuff!

What we got in the mail (Friday)

Last week I got an e-mail from Club Scrap package saying send away for a free scrapbooking kit.  I still need to watch the video, but I think it's a promo to start an at home business.  If it was online only, I might do it.

The package was wonderfully packed - VERY professional gift wrapped.  There were (10) 12X12 sheets and (4) 8 1/2X11 sheets and (3) postcard sized quote pages.

Full Day of Scrapbooking!

Wrapping up the day - I have spent almost 14 hours scrapbooking (minus some time for dinner at the restaurant and a 20 minute seated massage).  I feel like I'm making a dent in the 1st Cruise album.  I've done 9 pages today and we'll see how many I get done tomorrow.  It's been a great day weather wise for scrapbooking - it's been cloudy and raining throughout the day. 

I went to dinner with Dawn and Francis who are sitting in our table group.  My friend, Robin, took over where Michelle was supposed to work so I am not sitting alone.  I didn't win anything during the raffles.  I signed up for a get-together (next Saturday) so I could get 3 more tickets in the drawing.  Short notice on the get-together, but Robin & Michelle said they'd come over.

SCRAPBOOKING!

Today starts my scrapbooking weekend at Wintergreen.  My friend, Michelle, was supposed to come, but she has a sinus infection.  It's probably best - the altitude is messing my eyes up because of being a little stuffy - she would be in pain if she was here.

The drive down was good.  I stopped at a Burger King for a break and it was decorated like I have never seen before - 50's!  There was a statue of Marilyn Monroe & Elvis, a jukebox and playing 50's music.

I'm hoping to get some stuff done this weekend.  Scrapbooking gets put to the end of the to do list at home.

Random Thoughts – Earth Day

How much recycling do you do? I’ve kind of increase over the last year – some in part to being thrifty. Here’s the list of what I do (and make Dan do).
o Print double sided at work
o Have a recycling bin under my desk at work (not sure if it gets to the recycling bin outside though)
o Changed my margins on documents
o Have a pile of one side used paper at my desk for scrap.
o Take extra one side used paper from work home and use them to print coupons
o Recycle single used batteries
o Started using rechargeable batteries
o Participate in the county recycling pickup (paper/cardboard, #1 & #2 plastics, glass & cans)
o Take all other # plastics to a dropoff recycle center
o Recycle empty toner cartridges at Staples or Office Depot (and get $3 back!).
o Donate, freecycle, craigslist anything we want to get rid of.
o Use old clothes for rags
o Use plastic grocery bags as trash bags
o Take plastic bags to the grocery store for recycling
o Use reusable bags at the grocery store (when we can get 5 cents off for each bag used).
o I bring silverware to work to use for lunch. If I forget silverware, I bring the utensil home for recycling in the other plastic recycling
o We use handtowels in the kitchen to wipe our hands and rags to pick up messes.
o I use containers instead of baggies in my lunch.
o I reuse the containers for the week when I can (like if it’s the same dressing all week or the same crackers all week)
o I refill the one bottle of water I use at work all day
o Whatever water is left in bottles or cups is used for plants and sometimes Esa.
o I do as much online banking as possible
o We receive bills via e-mail

I keep throwing around the idea about rainbarrels (especially for the sump pump) and a SMALL compost bin. I’m iffy about the compost.

I DO flush ALL of the time. No “if it’s yellow, let it mellow”.

Random thoughts - family history and blogging

I've always dabbled in our family tree and lately I've been watching all of the geneology shows (Who Do You Think You Are and Generations Projects). 

There are so many stories in our family (mostly the Caprarulo side - my mom's side) that I only know bits and pieces of or not sure if I have the story right.  Sometimes I think of my own stories (some good, some bad) and wish I had kept a journal.

Sometimes I wonder how I became the person I have become - those are the stories I am talking about.  So many memories that I have not thought about in a long time.  Maybe I should start writing them down so that they can be past on.

Relaxing weekend

Once again, catching up.  I think about blogging and then don't get around to it!

Saturday was supposed to be a geocaching day in Baltimore, but because of the reviews and time that it would take, we decided not to and Dan got a bunch of stuff done around the house - including staining the porch.  Next thing I know, our neighbor, Dan, is out there too - just paying back the neighbor helping neighbor.  The guys did a great job - It looks great.  I went out grocery shopping while they were staining.

Dan hung out with us for dinner and the hockey game while his wife, Stephanie, and baby, Jaxx, when to visit their friend (and now our friend), Laura.

Sunday, was more house & car stuff.  Dan had an itch for geocaching, so after the Jeep was picked up, he went out for a few hours.

Catching up on the week

Yikes, the days have been going by too fast lately!
Last Saturday was Home Depot day. $400 dollars later, we had a new grill and lawn stuff. Saturday afternoon was spend in the yard and Dan putting together the new grill.
Sunday was Caps day - the last game of the season and a loss.  Lots of fun though – didn’t win anything, but got a Capitals umbrella and coupons for a free appetizer at Glory Days.

The game was early, so Dan headed out to Lowe’s and got a new lawnmower. The lawnmower we have is over 10 years old. It was Aunt Helen’s and before that it was her friend, Ruth’s. Dan wasn’t sure how I would feel about getting a new lawnmower since it was Aunt Helen’s. I was fine with it and told Dan, “I think Aunt Helen would be fine with it too – we got her money’s worth out of it.” Helen brought it from Ruth for $25.

Tuesday and Wednesday was presentation skills training at our Wheaton, Maryland office. I did have an opportunity to stay at the hotel close there, but I figured I would try the traffic. Going there was not bad – maybe 45 minutes. Coming home Tuesday was BAD because of the rain – 1 ½ hours!!!!!!
The class itself was fine. I hate watching the video, but realized so does everyone else. I don’t think I would make it as a reality tv star. No one had major criticisms on by presentations except myself! I’m so hard on myself. I want the presentation to be perfect! That’s just not going to happen. This class helped though because I could see that everyone feels the same way – nervous, rushing, messing up, etc.
Thursday night, I went to the mobile adoption at Petco and volunteered. My buddy, Frank, is still there. He is so sweet. I keep telling them if the shelter runs out of room, let me know. I think he would get along with Esa ok (I know there wouldn’t be a problem the other way around).

what we got in the mail 2day!

Coupons!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

What we got in the mail 2day!

DVD from Swapadvd.com

What we got in the mail 2day!

Free magazine

What we got in the mail 2day!

Coupons and a swap from swapadvd.com

Last day of work travel & visiting with friends

The last day of the division meeting went well.  I ended up basically giving the whole presentation for Dulles, but what do you expect when I created it!  I was really impressed that everything was on time this meeting.  Of course, before I left, I had to go to Charming Charlie's again!  This time I ended up buying a bunch of stuff (camis, 2 purses, and 3 necklaces).

Saturday was visiting the Williams family.  It was great to see Nancy and the family.

What we got in the mail today!

DVD from swapadvd.com

Westfield meeting - day 2 - full day

The day went by fast!  YEAH! 

The morning session was listening, the afternoon was learning the Westfield WOW program.  We had about 1 hour between the session and dinner, so I walked around the harbor.  I went into Artcraft and back to Charming Charlie, but ran out of time at Charming Charlies!  I think I have found my latest favorite store......

Dinner didn't go as planned for us.  We were supposed to get on The Dandy and do a boat cruise - we missed the boat (I think it left early or we had the time wrong).  We ended up standing around the harbor for about 30-45 minutes (until they figured out where we all could eat and then ended up back at the hotel at the Old Hickory Steakhouse.  GREAT TIME!  It took awhile to get our dinner around - understandable since they weren't planning on a big group, but it was worth it.