It's "OK" Thursday 5/31

I am linking up again with with Neely: A Complete Waste of Makeup and Amber: Brunch With
Amber Click the button above to visit and link up too!

"It's OK"


- That my daughter got home last week and I already have her days planned doing errands. Its nice to have her home

-That the pasta aisle worker at the grocery store got called into the office because someone heard him ask me for a hug and complained. He said it was probably someone ugly that he didn't ask for a hug. I told him I have his back.

-That I went for a month without a radio in my car because my husband couldn't find where the fuses were. My daughter took care of it for me and got my inspection sticker. What a good kid.

-That I chipped my nail polish and had bare nails for days. I gave myself a mani/pedi seeing that I am in a DIY mood. I really should do it myself more often.

-That I pretty much waited until the last minute again to book my tickets to see my favorite grand baby. I cant wait to see her!

-That I planned on how long I would stay at my daughters according to how long I could take her annoying dog.

-That I cant open my upstairs windows because of the pollen. It is disgusting. Thank god for air conditioners.

-That my mothers birthday is Saturday and I ordered her a monogrammed necklace yesterday. I guess her gift will be late.

-That I finally get to break out my white jeans

-That I talked myself out of grocery shopping today because I really don't need to go. I am going to go get flowers for the yard instead.

-To make time for your friends no matter how busy you are


-To be lazy in the summer and give your blow dryer a break

-That my daughter just read my blog and tweeted me this message,
Not to be a critic but your "It's OK Thursday" blog is lacking #Justbeingconstructive
My response was, Not to be a critic but get off of twitter and start looking for a job!

Happy Thursday!

I am queen of the mulch pile

On Wednesday we had 16 yards of mulch delivered. For those of you who don't know what 16 yards of mulch would look like, it was two dump trucks full. I know it sounds ridiculous but we have a lot of area to cover.

We were having company from my husbands NY office on Thursday so we had to wait until the weekend to tackle it. If you know me, you know that it really bothered me to have a big mulch pile at the end of the driveway and I couldn't even work on it.

We started working on Saturday morning at 8am. I was really excited to start. After typing that I am asking myself, what has your life become? Anyway.....it was pretty hot and humid already at that time of the morning. About an hour into mulching, I had sweat running into my eyes and I was filthy. I will be the first to admit I am prissy, but I do like to get dirty and work hard too. Once I start something I will not rest until it is finished.
I started off very slowly. Being the perfectionist that I am, I had to make sure every spot, even those unseen, were covered. My husband was watching my progress and taught me to just throw it and rake it later. It probably would have taken me a month if I had continued doing it my way.

We worked from 8 or 9 Saturday, Sunday and Monday until late afternoon each day. It was very hot and buggy. I could barely move on Sunday but thanks to Advil,  I made it through. I have bruises all up and down my arms from shovels and buckets. I told my daughters boyfriend that my husband had pinched me when I put the mulch in the wrong spots. I don't think he believed me but I am not sure.
My daughter helped on Saturday. On Sunday her boyfriend came and stayed until Monday (he lives in a different State and I would not make him drive all that way to turn around and drive home. I have guest rooms so it is not a problem, and I like his company.)
My daughter and her boyfriend helped a little on Monday. I told them to go find something to do. I didn't mind working in the yard. My husband and I were actually having fun. When we finished for the day on Saturday, we went and bought some plants to make a new planting bed. I also needed flowers for my deck pots. This weekend hopefully we will go get more flowers. We needed too many plants for the planting bed and pots to concentrate on what flowers to get too. We reserved a pile of mulch for after the flower planting.

We barbecued and had happy hour each day after working hard (after a one hour cool shower to get the dirt, sweat, bugs and leaves out of my hair). I barely had energy to do anything else. It is such physical work. I have a new respect for landscapers.
It may not be every ones cup of tea , but it was a very nice weekend. We could have hired someone to do it but the satisfaction we got from doing it together was priceless. We kept walking around the yard admiring our handy work and proud of how much we had accomplished. I am honestly amazed that we got it done in three days. I will tell you that I told my husband next time it is time to mulch, we are moving. I am joking of course. One of the reasons I wanted to blog about this is to go back to this post the next time it is time to mulch, to see how much it was worth it.  The way my body feels right now, I need convincing.

This was the mulch pile we started with. This picture doesn't even do it justice. It was HUGE.

Pictures of our completed work

My favorites in the yard. My peony's are open.

What is now left of the mulch pile

Today I will be trying to catch up on everything I neglected. I worked all day yesterday so that my friend could have a 3 day weekend too. I will try to get some relaxing in, but we will see. That little mulch pile outside is calling my name.

Christmas in July

Anybody interested in doing a blog exchange? Registration starts on Monday.
Visit my friend Alyx over at http://www.itsalyx.com/2012/05/es-vedra-christmas-in-july.html
Browse her blog while you are there! Alyx lives in Germany and has great travel pictures (plus she is very cool!)

Graduation Weekend

Today I am linking up with my fabulous friend Kathe to share my story of my daughters graduation. Come join in. The rules are, there are no rules! Anything you LOVE, post it!
Check out her link.

For those of you who follow my blog, you know my daughter graduated this weekend.  She graduated from Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. Google it. The campus is incredible. It is surrounded by the ocean and mansions. It is probably one of the prettiest schools I have ever seen.

The school is about an hour and a half away from us. We had to be at the ceremony at 9:15 am on Sunday morning so we decided to go early Saturday afternoon and enjoy Newport. We were taking my daughter and her "friend" to dinner. I really wish we were better planners because it was the most beautiful weekend. We should have gone on Friday.

Usually when the weather will be in the 80s at my house, that means it will be about 65 in Newport. It is right on the water. That was not the case this weekend, it was in the 80s on Saturday even in Newport.

We had the sun roof open on the way there and I got a little tan. The sun was that strong.
We Checked into our hotel and just dropped off our bags. We wanted to walk around in the downtown area.

My daughter was on the fence about going to the Baccalaureate Mass. She went to a  catholic college so the Baccalaureate Mass is a must to receive your hood. I told her to just go and we would meet up with her later.

We did a little shopping. I wasn't really in the mood.  I got a few cute baubles and I was satisfied. They have some great little shops there. I always like to look for the unusual and you can usually find that in Newport.

I had my fill of shopping and I wanted to go have a drink (I know, shocker). I wanted to go to the outdoor bar in the middle of the wharf that we had been to the last time we were there. A little back story here, the last time we were there it was pouring rain. We were at an outdoor bar and it had a roof. We had the best time. Picture a bunch of people stuck there because they didn't want to get soaked. The camaraderie was great. We were in the middle of a downpour, outside, at a picturesque wharf, drinking and staying dry.

We got to the bar and it was full. They let us sit at a table right next to the boat slip. It was really crowded and the service wasn't great but it was so beautiful out that we didn't mind.

My handsome husband getting his tan on.

Me before Cosmo's

Me after a Cosmo. It doesn't take much to make me happy.

We had a few drinks then made our way to the little Italian restaurant we were going to.
My daughter and her "friend" were a little late. The mass went longer than expected.
We ordered appetizers. The appetizers were so good. I knew we were in for a good meal if this was the preview. I was wrong. The portions were very small and not to toot my own horn, but I am a better Italian cook.
We finished dinner and walked down to my daughters favorite bar and had a drink and called it a night.

My daughter and her "friend"

When we woke up the next day, we were exhausted. I gave my husband half of my energy shot. We didn't have a lot of time to sit around and drink coffee.
We had to go pick up flowers and ended up running a little late. My daughters "friend" actually thought he had to redeem himself for being late the night before (he didn't, we barely noticed) and he got there early and saved the seats thankfully. I also want to add that he is the nicest young man . You can tell he was raised properly.

I do want to add that in all of the years they have had graduation ceremonies, you would think they would have a better set up. The seating was horrible. Unless you were in the first few rows, you couldn't see a thing.

This is the view from about 8 feet up in the air, thanks to my daughters "friend" being 6'8 and holding the camera above his head.

The woman my daughter has been babysitting for from the time she was old enough, who lives a few houses over,  drove down just to see her graduate. She left right after the ceremony. She said she wouldn't have missed it. I thought that was so sweet. My other neighbor also sent her a text congratulating her and telling her she was proud of her and she put something in the mailbox for her. I do have a few good neighbors.

My parents made it just in time (2 hours into the ceremony) because they were driving around lost for 3 hours. My daughters name still wasn't called 2 hours in, so they got to see her receive her diploma.  A little side note here, they followed us out to the highway on the way home so they wouldn't get lost again. I insisted. They needed to stop and get gas. We pulled into the gas station and my mom pulled up to the pump on the wrong side and my dad walked around the car for about 15 minutes trying to figure it out. My husband and I were waiting patiently and pulled out a bag of chips and started snacking and wishing it was popcorn to enjoy the show. How these people function day to day is beyond me. We took them out to the highway then took off.  My mom still hasn't told me if she got lost again or what time she got home.

My dad, the graduate and my mom

My mom was chomping at the bit to have her picture taken with my daughters "friend". She LOVED him and kept saying he looked like a movie star. I think she was actually flirting with him and being the gentleman he is, he played right along.

We ended up leaving our seats before my daughters name was called to get a better view from somewhere else. We ended up with a great view and being able to go down and take pictures when she got her diploma.

We lined the walkway and were right in front to see the graduates walk out. I have to tell you, my husband was out of control with his comments. There was a woman walking in the middle of the walkway (you weren't supposed to) with a big hat on. My husband said "look at that dolly, look at the hat, The Kentucky Derby was last week honey".  If you know my husband, this is not him. Sure he is sarcastic, but he saves it for private. This went on and on, he had the two little old ladies next to us cracking up. I am blaming the energy shot. It did something to him. He is now banned from energy shots, at least if he will be out in public.

All in all, it was a beautiful ceremony. I was overwhelmed with pride in my daughter. She worked very hard these past four years. I am wondering how long it will take her to decompress.
She will be back home today or tomorrow. She had to finish cleaning out her apartment.
I hope she is as excited to be home as I am to have her back home, at least until her next chapter unfolds.

My daughter and her roommates.

I am one proud mother!

Just as I am about to finish this post I received a text from my daughter. "S" just asked her to be his girlfriend and she said yes. So take out the "friend" parts in this post and insert "boyfriend" I am too lazy.

The happy couple