Bucket list

It's been a while but life has just been super busy as of late! I am steadily working on checking off my bucket list items! Number one for YEARS was learning to play the guitar, which I have been doing very well. I can now play one song and am in the process of learning 2 more - one of which is "Brown Eyed Girl," LOVE IT! I also signed up to check off item number 2, learn how to ride a motorcycle. My BFF and I are signed up to take a 4 day course in early August which I WILL pass and then have the rest of the summer/fall to enjoy my new obsession! I hope I like it as much as I think I will.
Around my house the county built this little trail system for walking, riding, hiking etc so every night since it's completion I have been taking a 3 mile walk. I have been doing it for a few weeks now and can actually jog for about 1/2 of it. I feel so great when I finish! I had been on this exercise routine for about 5 months earlier in the year but began to have some back problems so I had to stop :( Up to that point I had lost about 60 lbs! My back kept me from working out for about 4 months while we "investigated" and it was quite hard to maintain that weight loss without being able to work out. But after swaying up and down between the same 5 lbs, I finally got back to my 60 lb bench mark and began a new regiment! I can now exercise again, I just have to keep it to walking or running so I do not agitate the bulging disc in my lower back! But the best part is that I enjoy walking these new trails, I am losing weight again, AND the walking really helps my back so I have been feeling great! Add to that my nice dark tan from many poolside weekends and must say I am feeling more and more confident every day!
Work has also been going fantastic! I work for a major payroll company and have been filling in for a manager that is out on leave for about 3 weeks now. I have been complemented on the job I am doing by several managers and am hoping this will catapult me to the next level. But besides that, I have really enjoyed getting my hands dirty and being busy really helps the days fly by!
All in all, I think this summer is going to be one for the books :)

Super excited!!!!

I have begun to fulfil a life long dream this week! I am finally learning to play the guitar! Whoo hoo! I am so excited! I have already learned 3 chords and am working on putting those 3 cords together so I can play a full song :) A friend of mine is teaching my and he says I am a natural! I have been practicing everyday and I can't wait to learn more! Oh campfires and sing alongs, here I come!

My day...

Well hello 33, you are finally here, not that I am happy about that or anything :) Today is my birthday and I spent it doing my favorite thing...laying out in the sun at the pool. Couldn't ask for a better way to spend my birthday! Wish I was turning 29 instead of 33 but oh well! Life is good, even at my ripe old age :)

Ahhhh the summer has officially begun!

Welcome summer! I have been patiently (OK, well maybe impatiently) awaiting your arrival! I love you! You are my BFF and I could spend 24/7 in your presence! There is nothing better then a sunny day, a refreshing pool, a good book and a raft or a good lounge chair! That is how I have been kicking off your first weekend here and I am so thankful to have you back! Looking forward to so many more amazing weekends like this one! XOXOXO!

Ding dong the mouse is dead!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I woke up this morning and immediately started checking the traps (I have become quite good at it). The first door I opened had a snapped trap...with NO mouse in it. I say to Rob (my friends husband who "fixed" all my traps) "OMG, this trap is snapped and there is no mouse in it!" He says, "well that happens, we"ll get him." I respond with "its been 5 days and we only have one left!" I open another drawer and the trap is not snapped but there is mouse poop all around it. Now I am really starting to freak! I just know that this mouse is some super smart nerd mouse that is never going to fall for our trickery! Ugh, will this ever end? So Rob says "we must have had too much peanut butter on that trap, here, take these 2 traps outside so I can cook and I'll fix them later." Unhappily I say ok, walk to the back door with the 2 defective traps, open the door, AND SCREAM!!! Rob and Joe have conspired and placed the DEAD mouse on the ground, right on the threshold of the door, facing me like it is going to run in. I slam the door and run into the kitchen, smack Rob a few times, and catch my breath! I was so scared that I couldn't even enjoy the fact that the mouse was dead! But it was funny and now I am so unbelievably happy that the stinkin' thing is gone! Hallelujah!

Life on the run...

The mouse is alive and in hiding! I don't know where he is! He could be lurking under my chair right now and I wouldn't know it. The only thing I can do is sit around and wait for my dog to smell something. I feel like I am living on the run...looking over my shoulder constantly. Scanning every room before I enter. Perking up my ears like a dog with every sound! OMG, I don't know how I will ever be able to come here on my own again! This is so traumatic! I awoke this morning excited to check the traps. I was even brave about it (didn't even use my stool). I thought for sure this mouse is gone! I checked all the traps that were not in the kitchen and those were still empty so I head in and swing open the drawers. To my horror, there was NOTHING! I left the one drawer open a little and just stood to the side to see if the little bugger would peep out again. No luck! I do not think it is in there anymore. I did see my dog sniffing around the stove for a little bit so maybe he is under there. IDK! I hate not knowing where to avoid! So I immediately dressed and headed to Home Depot for reinforcements. It took over 2 hours (HD is 45 minutes away) but I have tons of goodies. I have now spent $40 on mouse killing paraphernalia! I already had the snap traps and the "homemade trap" set up, but now I also have glue traps, and electrocution box, and little goodies to put in the crawl space under the house (prevention)! At this point I really don't care how this mouse dies, as long as it does.

Let me tell you about my day yesterday after I set the initial traps, which was around 10 a.m.! It was excruciating! I sat in the living room with no TV, no radio, and no noise of any kind. I didn't shower or move from that spot until 5 PM! I was just sitting there, listening. Praying to hear that snap! Finally at 5 I HAD to leave to walk my dog. So we did this and then I showered and went to town to get something to eat. Did I mention that I had barely eaten all day? Remember, I wasn't opening the silverware drawer because there were mouse terds all over so the little scraps of food that I did sneak into the kitchen to get had to be things I could eat with my hands. This basically meant stale chips and peanuts. So again, starving! When I got back from all of this, I checked the traps. Slowly and cautiously, just as I had set them. They were still the same. So by now it was around 8:00 and the alcohol was no longer calming my nerves (yes, I had been drinking since 10 in the morning) so I decided to go into the bedroom. I figured if Haley and I went in there and shut the door the little mouse would come out and get trapped! So off we went, I watched a little TV, read some of my book, had a nice peaceful evening. Then around 11 just as I was going to bed, it starts thundering. Now if you don't know, my dog is VERY scared of thunder storms. She shakes and pants and has a fit so I have anxiety meds for her when this happens. Well guess where those magic little pills were? Out in the kitchen of course, in the cabinet right above where I still think the mouse is! Lovely! So now I have to get up, get fully dressed (shoes and socks too in case I have to run), and walk out into the dark night, pray not to see mister mousey, and get Haley's medicine! Dammit! Luckily I made it back safely to the bedroom without any instances and I give Haley her meds. Now all I want to do is go to sleep so I can stop thinking about this damn mouse for 5 seconds. But Haley has decided that on this night, her medicine isn't going to work, so I am awake with her until the storm ends...around 3 a.m.!

So needless to say, we slept in a while. And I slept great too thinking my little friend was surely dead by now. Imagine my horror to realize that once again, he is still around...somewhere. Anyway, now I am home again and I have the new traps set. As I type, I am fairly certain that the mouse is now under the stove because Haley keeps going over there and growling. I am going outside now for 4 or 5 hours to cut the grass so I hope that while Haley and I are gone he will come out and play with his new toys :) And, thank god, my friends will be here tonight so I will be leaving the rest of the mouse catching to Joe and Rob (my friend's husbands)! Until then, I will continue to live on the edge. I accidentally dropped some cheese out of my sandwich during lunch and you would have thought I dropped a bomb! I cleaned it up so fast. All I kept thinking was "cheese, really, out of everything you had to drop cheese, idiot." You may, like my BFF last night, point out that I might be a little over dramatic about this entire thing, but I challenge you! Come out into the woods, by yourself and be terrorized by this rancid little rodent and see how your sanity holds up! I hope by the next update he is in mousey heaven....or wherever! Anywhere but here :)

Damn that mouse is good!

The mouse is still alive and I am still living on the edge. 8 snap traps and not a bite. I even turned to the google Gods and made a home made trap that "never fails." Well, it's failing dammit! Everyone keeps telling me that you only catch mice at night...great! So I am supposed to be able to sleep knowing it is lurking around out here? Oh my! I can't take another day of this...tomorrow I am breaking down and calling the exterminator if it is still alive in the a.m. :(