Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Planning ahead so others don't have to



It's been four years now since my sisters fiance died. I had lost grandparents but he was the first person close to me as an adult that died , that I was up close and personal in dealing with the "after" effects ,while helping my sister go through the process. It really opened my eyes and made me aware of getting my own plans in order so my family/friends are not burdened with it later.

Gin (her fiance) had cancer, and had the time to prepare as much as he could prior to his death. He made sure she was taken care of and all of the documents drawn up so when he passed she only had to make a few phone calls. My dad would pass a few years later and again I was there to see how helpful it was to have everything planned out ahead of time. I realize that both of these men had cancer and knew that there time was limited , but in reality all of us could do this.

My partner and I went to an attorney to have all of our paperwork done. There is an extra challenge for us since Florida at this time does not recognize same sex couples as spouses or family. We had to protect each other and our assets. Luckily we live in a pretty open community and have both had a few surgeries and have never had a problem with our hospitals or doctors not letting us stay or be a part of the communication. I know this is not the story every where sadly.

Now our next step is to plan and pay for the cremation. We are looking into a few different places . I met with a lady from the Neptune Society (aka National Cremation Society) today and have an appointment later in the week to meet with a local company (Farley Funeral Home). The prices have been higher than I thought (Over $2000) But something that I don't want my loved ones to have to deal with at all.  

If you have any advise or experiences you want to share, I'd love to hear from you.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

TV Obsession and September Ends

As I was looking back at past blogs that took place in September I notice a common thread..TV shows.  I am just as attached to the TV this year, if not more. We have shows we watch almost every night and the nights that we don't have anything on we have stuff backed up on our DVR saved. Sunday nights are the worst..there are so many shows on all at the same time. It's a weekly struggle to figure out what we will watch and what we will record.
This last week ended the season of Big Brother. That will free up three nights of tv watching but I am already missing it.  Congratulations Derrek! I was cheering for you since the start!


Some shows we watched last week:
Below Deck, Little People Big World, Modern Family,Greys Anatomy, Madam Secretary, Scandal, Shark Tank, Amazing Race ,RHONJ and one of my favorites comes on tonight Ray Donovan.   We still have some favorites that have not started back up yet (Homeland, Game of Thrones, Shameless, Nurse Jackie, People's Couch)
Between all of those great shows we fit in specials, documentaries and sports if the Cowboys are playing and we are able to see the game. Many of the Cowboys games don't get shown here because they televise Tampa Bay Football instead.  I tried to watch the new season premiere of Saturday Night Live last night but I thought it sucked. I didn't make it all the way. Every year I have high hopes for the show but it keeps disappointing.

So are you wondering how we have time to do anything else? We do manage to fit in outside life. This week we went and visited my new grand niece Annabelle. We went out to eat a few times, did the weekly grocery shopping, met with the plumber and had our new doggie door installed. I made a few videos and did a weekly vlog for my weight loss channel. Had a great week selling on ebay/FBA. For the month I've made over $650.
Here is a little video of images taken in September 2014

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Autumn Begins

I don't know if it is because I was born in October or what, but Fall has always been my favorite season. Living in Florida now I don't get to enjoy it as much as I did up north. It doesn't cool off in the evenings here and the leaves don't change colors.

Some of my favorite fall memories are playing in the leaves, missing school one day and going out with my mom to take fall pictures in the park, smelling the scents of cinnamon and apples as mom changed out her candles around the house.

This picture was taken in Moberly, Mo . It is of my family. (I'm the one with glasses) The photographer Rob Vance just passed away I heard today :( , he was a life long friend of the family and the reason we moved to Venice Fl. 29 years ago.
I've been in the mood to decorate for fall this year. I picked up some glittery pumpkins at the dollar tree (everything is better with glitter!) and set them on the counter at work. I ordered a large lot of soaps and creams from Bath & Body works in all the yummy pumpkin flavors.  If I was really adventurous I'd bake a  pumpkin pie but not sure I'm up to that. I did watch a youtube video last night with some pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes that looked pretty delish, I'll share the link with you here.

Here are a few other fall photos from my college days.



Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Welcome Annabelle

Guess what! I'm a great aunt .
Little Annabelle Avery arrived just a few days early. I can't wait until she comes home and  I can hold her and spoil her rotten.

It's past my bedtime but I just had to share the special news.

Friday, September 12, 2014

Hello Hello Hello

Hi friends!
I'm home with a cold today so I thought I'd do a little catch up blog.
It's been a pretty good week with only a few hiccups.
The biggest highlight is that my niece will be having her baby Monday if not before! She went to the doctor yesterday and that was the decision they made with the doctor. She is really due Sept. 21 but is having a few issues with blood pressure and the baby is already 7 lbs 4 oz. . I am so ready to meet my great niece Annabelle...I'd better get over this cold or I will have to wait.


Another pretty big highlight is that we got Garth Brooks tickets for October. Vic and I both have birthdays in October so every year we do something special together (cruise, weekend away, etc.) and today tickets went on sale so we both got online and tried for 45 min. to get good seats. I am pretty pleased with what we got. They are all the same price no matter where you sit and there were only a few dates available in jacksonsville (4+ hours away from us) but as we were trying to buy tickets they opened up a few more dates to choose from so we  got later than we planned for dates. The only thing bad about it is that it falls on Sarasota Pride weekend...we missed it last year because of our cruise to Mexico and it looks like we'll miss it again this year.

I've had one of the best weeks so far on Ebay and Amazon. It's been a wide arrangement of products. I've been posting vintage postcards this past week. Most are from 1908-1913 and they are mostly from a family from the town i grew up in (Moberly, Missouri) so I posted about them on a local facebook page and one of my classmates got in touch with me that she is either related to or friends with the family that is tied back to these postcards. Pretty cool. I love history and family trees.
I've also been posting a bunch of old cookbooks. My sister is de-cluttering her house so she brings me things every week to post while I'm at work (We work together, pretty cool having your sister as your boss I guess lol)

Vic ended up not having to serve for Jury Duty. I got a card in the mail to serve one time but I was in TN helping dad thru Chemo and everything so I sent a post back that I couldn't make it. I guess that was ok, I never heard anything else. I do think it would be very interesting.

We got a call from our lawn guy last week telling us our fence gate fell off. Yes, the BRAND NEW fence. Here we are a week later and no one has come to fix it yet. Vic has sent several pictures and spoken to them on the phone several times and now they promise to come out next week...we shall see. What a pain. We have it hooked up with wire hangers and blocks of wood so our dogs don't escape right now.

My latest obsession, revisited, is monthly subscription boxes and youtube videos doing reviews on said boxes. Some of my favorites are: Amy Lynn Thompson, Mrs. Lola Lynn , and Jenn at the Busy Bee Buzz  . I am currrently getting Ipsy , I have canceled Birchbox and I just ordered Beauty Box 5. I hope to do a review/comparison once they come this month. There are so many more that I want to get but I have to control the urges to order them all.

That is about all that is fit to print. I'm playing with the idea of doing video updates again but I tried thru blogger and it didn't take...I guess I need to make friends with my youtube again...or not.
Have a great weekend!!

Thursday, September 11, 2014

9/11/2014

I put the flag out today.

Not only because of 9/11 but because I've been sitting at my desk looking at the flag since I started working in the Venice office full time and wondering why it never gets put out.It just sits in the corner all rolled up. I know when my dad worked here he would put it out every morning. Probably just another one of those things that the world is missing now that he is gone.


Sunday, September 7, 2014

Aug 27-Sept 7 Just more in the life...

New stuff since last post

  • Canceled Birch Box, Ipsy  is so much better.
  • Ate at Buffalo Wild Wings, Ruby Tuesdays, Gold Rush
  • Sold on ebay: ink,magazine,plaque, shoes,,lube,burner (scentsy),paint,wallets,
  • Lottery ; won  free tickets but the jerk at the Shell station wouldn't give me my ticket (the one next to Bob Evans) won't be going back there. He said I only gave him four non winning tickets, when I know that I gave him five and #5 was a free ticket winner. #jerk 
  • Vic and I went to our annual eye doctor -only changed a little so not getting new glasses yet.
  • Talked to my Aunt
  • Cousin had surgery #breastcancersucks 
  • Binge watched three seasons of United States of Tara. Great show!!
  • Lottery, won $22 one day and $12 another
  • Joan Rivers died 
  • Gave Scout a bath
  • Made cookies, messed up one batch by baking them on wax paper, ugh




My Obsession with calendars and numbers...
over 100,000 views on this blog since I started it four years ago
my work facebook account grew by 464 "friends/fans" in the last month...4639 now!

Sept 2010 Blog about TV Schedule
Sept 2011 my 25th Class Reunion 
Sept 2012 More TV Updates 
Sept 2013 Septembers past