Jeanette's Work At Home Corner

Whew, what a weekend!!

Friday we attended Jenn's graduation ceremony from Arizona State University. We had all the kiddos with us and let me just say, 2 1/2 hours of sitting through a university graduation had some of the younger ones a little bit antsy. Heh heh. No biggie though, we're just so proud of Jenn and everything that she has done - graduating magna cum laude as well. Way to go! We had a big steak dinner at my parents' house with just family to celebrate and then Saturday was Jenn's big graduation party. It was held at one of the big Chinese restaurants here in town and we all had a great time, it was a little sad as well, since both of my sisters and their families left early this morning, so it was the last night we were all together. Ugh, I was also in charge of making a toast (I guess that's what I get for being the oldest) but held it together. There's 14 years difference between myself and Jenn, and basically I let everyone know how much we have always viewed Jenn as a baby in all of our eyes since she is the youngest but how very proud we are of her and that she now joined the ranks of "adulthood" in our eyes now. She's got a couple schools already lined up as far as teaching positions in the fall, so she is very excited!

With all the hoopla, I almost forgot that it was Mother's Day today and I woke up to a flurry of cards from the kids and Bryan. I saw a Godiva bag on the counter and thought, OMG chocolate, hellooo, trying to diet here, but there was a nice nightgown from Bryan and another envelope in the bag. Holy cow, he got me a $250 gift certificate from Merry Maids!! Gah, I jumped up and down and gave him the biggest hug. Since I've been spending so much time with my family this week, my house is a disaster area! It really came at the right time :) All I did was spend the day relaxing, even got a little catnap in as well, heh heh. What a great day. Sure wish Mother's Day came a little bit more often, don't you?

Awesome kitchen

Yesterday we had lunch over at my sister's godmother's house. She had her kitchen recently remodeled and let me tell you, it is to die for. It really is a chef's dream. She has so much storage room and it's wide open. She has the latest appliances and I just leave her beautiful granite counter tops. I love her cookware as well - definitely top of the line. It really inspired me to rethink the whole layout of my kitchen and what I'd like to do to change it. Now, if I can only convince Bryan of letting me do it....

Whew, it was hot today!

So with all my running around today I was a little punchy too, because I hate it when it's so hot outside. The temperature gauge in my van said it was 106! I can't believe it, it's really only the beginning of May and here we are already over the 100 mark. Well, that's what it's like here in Arizona, but luckily for us humidity doesn't come with it - it's a dry heat. Because it is so dry here, I have to moisturize my skin quite often. I found a line of products that I might try - skinceuticals. Prices are reasonable, so I think I'm going to order some this weekend. Mother's Day is coming up so I thought I'd treat myself for a change.

I AM EXHAUSTED!!

Today has just been a crazy day for me...it's only now that I'm able to really sit in front of my computer. Had lunch with two of my sisters and my parents, then attended a focus group from 1:30 to 3:00 (got paid $100 woo hoo), then took Kaitlyn to the Zoo for her overnight field trip, and then hung out at my parents' house with all the grandkids. Needless to say, I am exhausted! My little niece Brielle is 2 1/2 years old and this 38 year old body just can't keep up with her. I don't know how my sister does it. I was having a hard time understanding some of her words so her 4 year old brother Xavier had to be my interpreter. It was too funny. The other day I was over there playing with them and Brielle wanted to brush my hair, so I took my glasses off and set them on the coffee table. Brielle looked at me and said, "Are you still Aunt Jeanette?" Out of the mouths of babes.... :)

Addiction

By now you probably know that I also have a celebrity blog and since blogging about all these celebrities, it is really surprising to me how many of these celebs are addicted to one thing or the other - whether it be prescription drug addiction, drugs, alcohol, whatever. Every week I seem to be blogging about someone going into rehab. It's ridiculous. Some of these celebs are looked up to and what message are these celebrities sending to these kids who just idolize them? It just makes me sick.

Family in town....

We have lots of family in town and so of course I have been running around with them all and catching up. It's nice to see all of our kids interacting with each other. Cousins are always a good thing, aren't they? Brandon is the oldest of the grandkids on my side of the family and it's funny how now he's more concerned about being on the computer or listening to his ipod than hanging with the "younger" kids. Well, I guess when you're on the verge of becoming a teenager your priorities certainly change. For me, it's been hard to swallow - his voice is now starting to change and there's no second guessing as to who it is on the phone when Brandon answers it. In the past my siblings would think it was Kaitlyn who answered the phone when it actually was Brandon. Boy, they grow up so fast, don't they?

Our Phoenix Suns advance to the next round

I just wanted to say congratulations to our Phoenix Suns, who beat the LA Lakers Wednesday night and wrapped up their series 4-1. Next up are the San Antonio Spurs, and it's going to be a tough one. I am optimistic that we will be the victor in this series as well, but I think it will take all 7 games to do it. First game is this Sunday at 12:30, Game 2 on Tuesday night.

May is a busy birthday month in our family

I have two sisters who celebrate birthdays this month, as well as our Dad. Today is my parents' 39th wedding anniversary. I wasn't sure what to get my parents for a gift, I thought about maybe getting them a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant, but I wanted to get something more personal. I saw a nice clock that I could get engraved, but I decided against it. It's kind of funny how you can get anything engraved nowadays - personalized pens, pencils, blankets, pillows, frames, jewelry - virtually anything can be engraved. I think I'm just going to stick to the gift certificate - I know it will be put to good use (and maybe I can tag along too LOL).

Halfway done...

Okay, so I got half of my errands done...no biggie, tomorrow is a new day, right? I just got back from the grocery store and I'm a little ticked that I just can't find anything. You see, the store that I frequent the most has now remodeled everything, including all of the aisles. In the past, I've been able to walk in there with my eyes closed and know where everything is. Now, a simple trip that should have only taken me 20 minutes ended up being 45 minutes. Grrrr. Don't you hate it when stores do that?

Busy day today

I've got tons of errands to run this morning. I should have taken care of one of them yesterday but time just wasn't on my side. I need coffee, but I think I'll just run to Starbucks while I'm out and about. I try not to go there too often since it's so expensive just for measly cup of coffee but I can't make myself a grande hazelnut latte with nonfat milk and one sweet and low at home!

Bird Watching Binoculars

Are you an avid bird watcher? If you are, Eagle Optics has some great deals going on right now on a wide selection of bird watching binoculars. If you're watching faster moving birds, you'll need to get 7x or 8x binoculars - they provide wider fields of view. If you're watching birds from a longer distance away, then 10x binoculars are the ones to purchase, these are higher powered so a steady hand is helpful! Oh, and if you wear eyeglasses, then consider models that have at least 15 mm of eye relief.

Why should you purchase through Eagle Optics? Well, not only do they have a great selection and great prices, but they have a top notch customer service department and they offer free financing on orders over $200. You can't beat that!

*This is a sponsored post.*

It's about time!

Our yard guys finally came over did a major trimming of both our front and backyards. Yesterday they came over to trim all the palm trees so now they look pretty funny with only two or three leaves hanging up there..heh heh. It took them over two weeks to get over here and do it...sheesh. Now I don't have to worry about our uber strict HOA telling us to get our palm trees trimmed.

What? Lowest bid wins?

Have you heard of this site yet? It's called bid4prizes. You bid on prizes and the twist is that the lowest bid wins, not the highest. Crazy, huh? There's a prize of $500 out there right now available for bid and I would love to snag that - it would come in pretty handy with our upcoming vacation!

So here is how it works: You choose one of the prizes that you'd like to bid on, and can bid in one of two ways. You can simply enter your cell phone number and bid on the item in cents. Bid4prizes will then notify you via text message if you have the lowest bid or not. The second way to bid would be by actually texting a message, they provide you with the keyword to text, and then you enter your bid. Again, they'll let you know if you are the lowest bid or not. Don't worry, you don't actually pay for the prize that you have bid on, it's FREE!! Check it out, I've already bid on a couple of items so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

*This is a sponsored post.*

Clocks

Last night Kaitlyn's alarm clock went off right at midnight and just about scared the living daylights out of me! I didn't get up right away, thinking that the blaring beeps would wake her and she'd turn it off herself, but no, the girl could sleep through an earthquake and not wake up. I can remember when I was younger and we had visited my aunt's house for the first time, she had one of those grandfather clocks that was so loud we all didn't sleep a wink while we were there. Kind of funny how certain things remind you of memories...

Our Rocky Point trip is fast approaching

We are getting our plans underway for our Rocky Point trip in June. There's a deep sea fishing trip that the guys are going on and I'm not sure if I will go or not. My family would go on these trips quite often when I was younger - we'd travel to San Diego and just hang out at the beach, do the Sea World thing, etcetera, and it was always such a highlight of our vacation. Why can't I decide? Well, it's either a fishing trip or shopping. It's kind of a toss up for me. Heh heh.

First Communion time

Next month we'll be attending a First Holy Communion ceremony for a friend's daughter. I can remember last year around this time when we attended Kaitlyn's First Communion as well. I need to get to the store that sells catholic gifts. I plan on getting her a gift much like the one I got Kaitlyn - a necklace with a crucifix on it. What I loved about it was the fact that it was a child's necklace, so I didn't have to worry about the chain being too long. It was the perfect size.

It's been a busy week

My transcription and recruiting responsibilities have increased this week and thus have been running ragged. Because of all of the extra typing, my carpal tunnel has flared up a bit. I am supposed to be wearing wrist braces when I type but I find them to be uncomfortable. I wore them all the time last year when I typed and they really helped a lot, my pain lessened, and so I stopped using them. Well, since it's been a busy week on the computer, I started wearing them again and they've really helped. I guess I shouldn't have stopped using them in the first place.

Renting is definitely the way to go!

My sister and her family recently took a Florida vacation. They did the whole Disney World thing and rented a vacation home in Orlando. They had a great time and the weather was perfect. The home that they stayed at had a pool in the backyard and it was heated so my niece loved to swim in the evening after being at Disney World during the day. I was really surprised at how much she told me she saved by renting the home instead of staying at the hotel. They had stayed at a hotel before and it cost them an arm and a leg. This time around, since they saved so much money with the rental, they're planning another trip this summer! I'm tellin' ya...renting is the way to go!

The natural way?

There have been so many pictures plastered all over the net of Courtney Love in a bikini looking better than ever. Supposedly she had lost 52 pounds by watching what she eats and exercising. She lost all that weight in just four months? Personally I think she had some help in that department, either some kind of surgery or some kind of Ephedra product is my guess. At any rate, she does look pretty good!

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