It's winter

Ok its officially winter. That first snow/ice/rain storm didn't really count. I can see my breath when I walk outside at noon. No more 60 and 70 degree days. And SNOW!!!!!! Yippie. I really like snow. Both Russell and I have to work on Saturday when it is supposed to hit us hard, but that is ok. It is going to snow. And stick too. Cause the ground has had time to freeze. Completely rock solid hard. =)

Back to business

Gonna try and make it back to the gym today. After 4 months of not going. Goal: 5 mile (yes, MILE) run on Thanksgiving day with my extended family. Russell is coming too. He claims he is going to run with me, but I run slow and even my mom is faster than me at the end. Oh well.

PS. Baby Paulie is now crawling and walking holding on to things. The boy is almost a year. YAY!

South Carolina

So I just got back from a road trip to SC with my friend Nicole. We saw many crazy sights on the way down. We ate garbage from fast food places and drank lots of caffinated sodas to stay awake. I just bought a new car and thats what we took down, so I drove the whole time. My back hurts. We got in around 9pm that night. In the rain. We slept in the next day them went visiting. Nicole's family owns a slaughter house and meat packing plant. We drove over there to visit. Upon arriving there, I proceeded to slam the middle and ring finger of my right hand in my car door. It hurt. Nicole said she knew it was back when I had to open my door with the handle to pull my fingers out. I knew it was bad when my middle finger was bent the wrong way. With ice the numbness finally left, though my finger was very swollen and looked nasty. We drove to the grocery store for food and first aid supplies. I bought cloth tape, neosporin and band-aids. At home, I discovered that my neosporin box was empty. That's right. There was nothing in it. I don't remember thinking the box felt light or that I didn't hear the tube rattling around in it. So no neo for my finger. It was all good. We went visiting some more. We came home to help make dinner. Fresh steaks. I was cooking on the stove and my pot was done. I burnt a finger on my left hand trying to move the pot. Ouch! We had an early wake -up the next morning. We had to drive 3+ hours to Clemson University for the football game. It was ok. Tailgating and drinking at 9am is hard to get your mind around. So I ate some food. But didn't drink. It was too early. We made it through the first half before the game got lightening delayed. The warning siren sounded like an air-raid call. It was LOUD! So we went home early, stopping at Outback for some dinner. Once home we lazed about and went to bed early. By 10:30 the next morning, Nicole and I were on the road, headed home. We kept a good pace, stopping for food in NC and then stopping at Mile 97 in NC on I-95 for gas and the bathroom. Just FYI, don't go to the Shell station at this exit!! Nicole had to ask for the toilet paper in the girls bathroom, it smelled like a port-a-potty and you couldn't buy tampons from the machine in the bathroom. Because it sold condoms. How classy. We proceeded quite nicely around Richmond and DC, finally gettting back to Rt 50. Back across the bridge and home to Gransonville. Nicole still had to drive up to Henderson, but it wasn't that far. We had a great adventure. Next time, Russell is driving! PS. There are now over 1,550 miles on the car I bought on Monday.

Heading out for a visit.

So a quick note before I head out to visit my momma. It's been a while since I posted. It's a new month. My little (maybe not little any more, but younger) brother went off to start freshman year at V. Tech. We went out for a nice dinner. And a few days after to lift our sagging spirits, my mom and I went shopping. For a wedding present. The first store (Bed, Bath, and Beyond) allowed for purchasing some kitchen items for under MY sink and little things for a car package for Kit. No ideas for a wedding present though. The next store (Target) had a lot more options. The present began with a box. Not just any box but a beautiful box with old fashioned printing and corners on it. Almost like a square hat box. I didn't take any pictures, but it ended up filled with a set of plates and serving dishes with a fall theme. =) I added some tissue paper and a bottle of flavored dipping oil and a jar of tomato bruschetta. Oh and some crackers. It looked very nice. Also during this shopping trip, my mom and I walked between Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond at least 3 times. We found some stuff at Target we liked better than BBB so we took it back. And of course forgot about the coupon!!!!! Oh well. There is always room for more kitchen stuff.


The best thing that has happened is I learned to make bread. Yes. Bread. It was delicous. I've had the bread flour since I got fired.... oh over a year ago... ick. But it was never opened and still good. So I found a recipe for Rosemary Herb bread and made it. It yielded 2 round loaves. We ate one plain and turned to second one into garlic bread. I had also made lasagna for Russell's family. It was probably the best garlic bread I've ever eaten. Russell is the grand tester though. If he won't eat it, it isn't good. So I count this endevor as success. Yay!!! It motivated me to search for more bread recipes. The shame of it all is that everyone who makes bread now had a bread machine. Boo. But there are some good hand-made bread recipes out there. I just have to find them. I also am searching for a good Cinnamon Raisin bread recipe. Most of the one's I've come across use all-purpose flour. Maybe it is because it is a sweet bread?

And speaking of food, Russell and I went to see Julie and Julia on Sunday. It was a good movie. I mean how can a movie about food and cooks be bad? It was cute and Meryl Streep as Julia Childs was well cast. I suggest it as a good date night movie. Even Russell laughed. So there we have it. A short little post about really nothing. And I am off to visit my momma. =)

Post # 8 (I think)

So I am sitting at work again. Eating some microwave egg rolls and wishing I had brought some better food with me. But really, I had expected to be working at a different location today. Oh well. Anyway, just a post to say I am still alive and well, working a lot and playing alot too. And also baby Paulie and my sister came down over the weekend. For photos. Here is the link: www.mandysrokaphotography.com Click on Portraits and then Big Boy, Paul. These were taken in the back yard of my mom's house and we had a great time trying to get Paulie to laugh. He has my mood swings and was extremely serious. Until Daddy came out. And then the smiles and talking began. It was quite fun. Enjoy.

Today

PNT = Paramedic nap time. AKA - Do Not Disturb. Gotta love working 24 hours and getting off for 72. Gonna try the horizontal position now. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. And didn't get rained on too much. =)

Babysitting Paulie

So I got told that I need to blog more. "Enough of THAT bush!" I believe that is the direct quote. Hahaha. So anyway. Last weekend I got the chance to babysit my nephew Paul while his parents went to a wedding and got to have a nice night away. According to the father, Gina wished to come home within an hour of leaving, but all in all I believe they had a nice time. Me on the other hand had a good time until Paulie decided that he missed his mom and was going to cry. A Lot! This picture breaks my heart! He is so cute but at the same time he wants momma and I'm just not her. We eventually got the baby happy again. With a piano. =) After this came feeding and bathing. We then went to bed. And slept fitfully. For all of us. Russell didn't get any sleep because I was waking up every 5 minutes when Paulie would make a noise. Paulie was making noises because I had forgotten to give him some Tylenol before bed. And his diper was wet. Oops. =( We successfully made it through the night with some amount of sleep. We made it through the 3 am feeding at 3:40. And then at 6:15 am, we were up. All 3 of us. Until Paulie decided that he wanted more sleep. So with a little bit of milk and a lot of snuggling, we all got to take a nap. For 15 minutes. Then Paul wanted to be awake. Cause he was still hungry. And had to burp. So more snuggling and feeding. 9am comes around and it's nap time take 2. Gina has already been informed, but has decided to come home a bit early anyway. She misses her son. So at 9:15 am, she calls to say she is on her way home. Naptime take 3. Russell gets a phone call from a co-worker wondering who the heck is letting him take care of their child?! And that he needs to get rid of the baby. Needless to say I wasn't amused. I gave up on napping. Russell left to go get ready for work and Paulie woke up. Dippering and feeding and playing ensused. Till mommy came home. And there were lots of smiles!
The End.