Sherri's (Never A Dull Moment) World

Punked!

April is ALWAYS a crazy month for us with birthdays, our anniversary, Bill's Spring Break, sometimes Easter, and sometimes Mom's Weekend at WSU. This year was no exception. It fact, it was JACKED UP. Why?

Add a new puppy. Add a new state of sleep deprivation. Add a home construction project. Add new adventures with a one year old.

Oh. And add an unexpected event in which we were TOTALLY PUNKED.

Let me tell you how this happened... Jeremiah called Bill on a Sunday and said he needed a favor. He was going to pick up a friend who was arriving on a late flight at SeaTac the next evening-- would Bill drive with him so that he didn't fall asleep at the wheel? Of course. That is what family does.

Bill said he and Jeremiah talked all the way down to the airport. While Jeremiah ran into the baggage area to find his friend, Bill waited in the car. Only his "friend" turned out to be....

Nick Rodgers! He had flown into town without telling us, only his brother knew. In other words-- we were PUNKED by these two:

 
We couldn't believe it!

 
Bill brought Nick back to our house where he had his first meeting with Savannah:

 
And they woke me up to share the love/PUNK (I think it was 2 o'clock in the morning):

SURPRISE! We both had to work the next day-- due to the fact that we had NO IDEA he was coming. Bill called me and we made hurried plans to PUNK as many friends and family as possible in four short days.

We got my mom first. It was her birthday and we promised to treat her & Jesse to dinner at a fancy restaurant in town. I arrived first. My mom & Jesse walked in next and we chatted while we waited for Bill to show up. Jeremiah came around the corner unexpectedly and hugged his grandma to wish her a happy birthday! So I snapped a few pics while she looked so happy:

Bill pulled out his bigger camera and told us all to get together for another photo. Can you see Nick in the background? (heh heh heh)

While Bill snapped away, Nick jumped into the group and hugged his grandma & Jesse:

The look on her face: PRICELESS.  She was most definitely PUNKED.

We enjoyed a very nice dinner together and I think my mom grinned from ear to ear the entire evening:

Bill was in the middle of a crazy week in his classroom as his students were giving presentations on individual projects they had been working on for some time. He had lined up parents, grandparents, educators and special guests for different days of the week to serve as judges for the student activity. He had invited his mom to "judge" on Thursday.... guess who else was a guest judge that day?

Nick Rodgers! Here is Nick entertaining his granny (after we PUNKED her):

 
Nick and Jeremiah stopped by one day to see me at work. Here is Nick & Jeremiah PUNKING pretty Estefania, who had NO IDEA Nick was in town:

We scheduled dinner dates with friends the next two nights. Here is Nick PUNKING Kris (Darin was surprised by Nick earlier that day):

Then we went out to dinner with our friend, Bryan, the next night. He had been PUNKED by Bill the previous day when Nick walked behind Bill right into Bryan's classroom while he was teaching science:

I have to admit it-- it was fun PUNKING all of our family & friends! Though no one wants to be PUNKED, we were sure glad that our family prank produced some unexpected time with our East Coast son.

We {heart} sons who just want to come home to see the family. :)

Mollie The Fashion Model

At Hallmarkland, I know a beautiful 21-year old named Mollie who works for me whenever she comes home from college.

Mollie is very fashionable. She can wear anything and make it look wonderful. Mollie LOVES shoes. I have seen her wear many pairs of fabulous shoes, ranging from 3" high heels to fur boots to sequined ballerina flats. She also LOVES accessories. Whenever she returns to work, I can count on her to walk throughout the store in search of new products. It always makes me laugh when she spots new jewelry or something trendy (like scarves) because she not only rushes over to look them over-- she picks out her favorite and shows any customer that is interested.

During Spring Break, we received some new fashion scarves-- like this one:

 

I told Mollie it was our responsibility as sales associates to be able to demonstrate how this product is used. So I grabbed my camera and Mollie grabbed a scarf and we got to work to see how many of these combinations we could pull off...

Here is the "Double Scarf":
I
and the "Basic Scarf":

 
 Mollie thought the "Double Scarf with Hood" was suitable for praying:

 
whereas the "Scarf with Hood" might be fun on a rainy day:

 
I think we were attempting the "Hooded Shawl" (minus the hood) here:

 
Add a little fabric twist and you have "The Capelet":

 

followed by the regular "Shawl":

 
We thought the "Figure 8 Top" might be cute as a beach cover-up:

 
Mollie had to step into the "Layered Knee-Length Skirt" to make it work:

 

We couldn't figure out how to make the circle scarf into the "One Shoulder Dress" or the "Layered Swinging Mini". (DARN it!) And  we needed a giant belt for the "Layered Belted Mini". Oh well...It was fun and this exercise fit into my definition of "product knowledge".

F.Y.I.: Apparently good-looking fashion-forward men wear the Circle Scarves too...

Hmmmmmm..... Maybe we all could use a Circle Scarf in our closets.

Savannah's Firsts

We did something fun yesterday -- we decided to go on a picnic and a dog walk to let Savannah experience some brand new things.

First, we went to Subway to get some sandwiches. This was Savannah's second car ride but the FIRST time she had to wait:

It was a beautiful day! This was our destination:

This was Savannah's FIRST time on a leash:

We went down to a grassy knoll and ate our lunch:

This was Savannah's FIRST time having a doggie sack lunch (puppy chow & water):

This was also Savannah's FIRST time meeting strange dogs:

She did great! She was greeted and smelled by 3 dogs; she was submissive & polite while her puppy tail wagged a mile a minute.

Then it was time to head down a trail to the beach. This was her FIRST time going down stairs:

It was glorious! This is a small bay surrounded by rocky outcrops, so the water was calm:

This was Savannah's FIRST time tasting saltwater and smelling sand, rocks & seaweed:

It was our intention to let her get a little wet:

So she followed me into the shallow water:

And was okay until the water reached her puppy chest:

She was not quite ready for her (first) swim:

After several attempts, we turned around:

And she gave it a puppy shake:

We took a break for some pictures and to soak up some much-needed sun:

And then we headed back:

Savannah was greeted by all kinds of adoring strangers and was sniffed by the other two dogs.

All of those FIRST things made her very tired on the ride home:

What a great day!

Happy Easter!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

 

House of Rodgers Update...

Yes! Things are still movin' and shakin' on our house addition...

By the end of March, the insulation was done:

both downstairs and upstairs:

 

The drywall team arrived the next Monday and got right to work:

Last Monday, they showed up to mud, finish all of the edges, and add a coat of primer:

All of the windows and doors are plastic-wrapped:

It feels a bit like an insulated cave... that we can walk through quietly and then retreat.

Except for the propane heaters. Every once in awhile, a heater will blast on and it sounds a scary from inside the house. Savannah is afraid to go out there. I think it she will be happy when the workers take that roaring machine away!

2 Cutie Patooties

This morning I picked up Elijah for a few hours of play at Honey's House.

He has a new trick! When you ask Elijah to "show me your BEAUTIFUL eyes!", he does this:

As usual, it is simply adorable.

This was Elijah's second meeting with Savannah, the new puppy. They actually dropped by on Friday to see her and Savannah was passed from me to Rebecca to Angela. We stopped Elijah to see our new puppy (always cuddled on our laps) and he barely acknowledged her-- he was too busy looking in the Tupperware cupboard, checking on chicks, and hurriedly looking through all of the rooms to investigate his favorite places.

Today, Savannah was ready to play! Though she was smaller than Elijah, she ran after him, playfully pawed at his legs and even tried to grab his little hand. Elijah did NOT like that at all! So I spent 2.5 hours keeping a toddler busy and a puppy busy (and keeping them from close contact) AT THE SAME TIME. Whew! Bill said I was CRAZY setting up a double playdate...

I will not give up on my fantasy of Elijah and Savannah being future best friends... I made Elijah pet her a few times and give her a kiss good-bye. Someday he will love her puppy antics, I just know it!

Here is what she did after I took Elijah back home:

and

My silly babies....E & S.

Dedicated To The One I Love

Today is our 29th wedding anniversary. :)

This was us... in the beginning:

 
I was 18 and Bill was 19 (going on 20). We were soooo young. Just a little clueless. But brave. We were going to face the world and see where we ended up... together.

This was one of the songs sung at our wedding... "Endless Love" by Diana Ross & Lionel Richie:

 

We have been through good times and bad... and stayed together, determined to make our relationship work.  Now that we are raising our second family (with kitties, chickens and a new puppy)-- I dedicate myself to 29 more years with Bill Rodgers.

Meet The Newest Rodgers...

Meet Savannah Liberty Rodgers:

 
She is 7 1/2 weeks old and simply ADORABLE:

 
She is soft and cuddly:

 
She needs a little doggie nap in between play sessions:

 
She gets pooped out after our friends & family come over to see her:

 
She won't be little forever! But right now, she doesn't mind being an occasional pillow:

b

We just want to love her and hold her and never let her go:

 
We have also realized that this time we are on our own. When Shadow was a puppy, we had 3 kids to: 1) help with the potty-training, 2) help with the clean-up of "accidents", and 3) help with all dog chores, and 4) sleep with the puppy every night. Bill and I have made a pact to do this together. It seems like we are on potty-training duty every 10-15 minutes (the more you go outside, the better!) and we let her sleep with us so she won't get lonely.  Yes, that means potty duty all night long. And she likes to play after she comes back from going potty. Last night we took toys to bed with us so she could chew on them instead of our ears and fingers. Oh no....

Long story short: we are tired. But happy tired. :)

 

Puppy Fever

We both came down with a BAD case of puppy fever this week....

Sunday: For my birthday present, Bill let me pick out a new puppy. We arranged to pick her up on Friday!

Monday: Bill is on Spring Break. He called me at work at least 8 times to talk about the puppy, suggest names for the puppy, and brainstorm what we were going to have to do to prepare for a new puppy. On one phone call, he said he had a deal for me to consider. The deal: he would buy me another puppy from the same litter if he could name them 1) Question & Answer or 2) Sword & Shield or 3) Bonnie & Clyde. Though the offer WAS tempting.... I said no. The phone calls continued...

Tuesday: I had a half-day from work. We went shopping for puppy supplies. We bought: puppy chow, a new dog pillow, a pink collar, puppy toys, puppy treats (for training), puppy shampoo, and a flexible fencing set that you can arrange into a circle, rectangle, hexagon, etc. and create a moveable dog pen. Bill paced the house. He said, "Can we call the people and just pick her up EARLY?"  He was sooo anxious to get her. So I called and left a message. And I think we both jumped out of our skins with excitement when Robby called us back and said we could:

 

Here she is! I wrapped her in a towel and she sat on my lap while we drove home in the darkness, smiling from ear to ear knowing we have a new little Rodgers to love.

And The Party Continues...

When I went into work Monday morning, there were lovely things waiting for me...

Keiko walked in carrying a beautiful bouquet of flowers:

 
and my guilty pleasure, frosted sugar cookies decorated for spring:

 
Jennifer snuck in and left fun presents on my desk (filled with beautiful scrapbooking paper and bling):

 
Miss Estefania waltzed in after school and presented me with this whimsical birthday candy poster:

and she knows of another of my secret guilty pleasures, cupcakes... This one was red velvet with delicious cream cheese frosting:

 

It was DIVINE!  All of the beautiful women at Hallmarkland had filled a card with birthday wishes and enclosed a gift certificate for a pedicure at a local salon.

Lucky day? Maybe. Lucky to work with such fun, thoughtful people? ABSOLUTELY. Thank you everyone for remembering me on my birthday! :D

Pajama Love

One of my favorite gifts this year was a new set of pjs from Jeremiah, Angela & Elijah:

I laughed and laughed after I opened the package! Both the shirt and pants have "I am crabby in the morning" written all over. They are soooooo "me". Angela said she had read my post on "Pajama Envy" and looked for cute pajamas that night.  She found them here. So I went online and found another pair that looked like "me":

and

This is a no-brainer. At last! Cute pajamas!! If anyone out there has another fun pajama lead, please send it my way. I {heart} cute pajamas.

She's Up To Something...

Now that my mom lives in the same city-- this is the first time in a long time that we are able to celebrate our April birthdays together. I could tell last week that she was up to something...

And I was right! She planned a small surprise party for me last Sunday afternoon:
She asked Bill about my birthday cake from last year. I LOVE the decadent four-layer chocolate fudge cakes made by Costco. So she ordered one:

 
She also made my favorite birthday cake from my childhood, lemon with lemon frosting:

 
And she whipped up a third birthday dessert-- one that my dad invented when I was a kid, nicknamed "Super Duper Delight". It has layers of jello, vanilla wafers, bananas, pudding and whip cream:

 
Turns out that Elijah Rodgers was not only the only child present, but he was also the ENTERTAINMENT! He showed everyone all of his current 16-month old "tricks".... like jumping:

and

 
He lost his balance from all of that jumping and sprawled onto the floor. Then he showed off his amazing rolling ability:

 
He had our family laughing and exclaiming how adorable he was... so he continued his show with a little hide-n-seek:

and some singing:

 

We clapped and clapped and then the visiting continued, over birthday desserts.

With Elijah in my arms, I joked with Jeremiah:

 
While Bill chatted with our favorite daughter-in-law, Angela:

 
Both sets of parents were there, including Bill's mom and my mom swapping a recipe in the kitchen:

 
While my stepdad and Bill's stepdad conversed over cake & ice cream:

 
Angela's mom, Rebecca, was there to join in our celebration:

 

It makes me so happy to have Jeremiah living so close-- when he & Angela have been either out of state or out of country for the last eight years:

It was a fun party and my mom was tickled that she could "surprise" me. She loved playing hostess to our family and assorted guests.

Thanks, Mom, for loving me and for bringing me into the world on this day many years ago. I am blessed to have such a wonderful family and be where I am today.

Birthday Surprise #1

Our friends, Kris & Darin, arrived at our house yesterday to join us for lunch:

Bill said he had a special surprise for me BEFORE we went out to lunch...

So we piled into Bill's car. And he drove north. He pulled into a long driveway.

At the end of the driveway was a house, with the garage door open. And inside the garage was a litter of .... sweet puppies!

There were six yellow lab puppies to choose from, all seven weeks old. We chatted with the owners. We said hello to the mother and father labradors who were running around, fetching balls and wagging tails. And then we petted, played with, cuddled and oohed and aahed over the six wiggly bodies.

Bill held this cute little girl:

He liked her cute little face... so he gave her to me:

She was sooooo cuddly...

Bill asked me if I would like her to be my birthday present... and then she licked me:

Bill said if she gave him a puppy kiss, she would be our new puppy... and she licked him too!

So, here she is.... the newest little Rodgers:

We pick her up on Friday!

I reluctantly put her down... and she joined her siblings (that is her sitting up):

And ...

I am counting down the minutes & days until Friday. :)

 

It's Gonna Be A Good Day...

Yes, today is my birthday. And I have always loved this song by The Beatles:

 

I think it is going to be a GOOD day!

So far, I found one of my favorite movies on cable this morning:

 
Jeremiah & Elijah brought a box of Krispy Kremes:

 
And this one was for me!

 
Mmmmmmmm.... chocolate....

Yesterday, my friend, Kara, stopped by with this lovely gift:

 
Did you see the Scrabble tiles that spell "Chickens"? tee hee

Some of my girlfriends sent me FaceBook birthday wishes. :D

And Bill told me to get dressed for a secret afternoon destination ... hmmm. What could it be?

Stay tuned for more birthday shenanagins....

Sherri's TV Recap

Sometimes we are all in need of a little entertainment. And it is comforting when we can wear anything we want (pjs are my favorite) and be entertained in our own homes. 24 hours a day...

Here is what I am entertained with lately:

1) I LOVE this new sci-fi series:

 
It is about a modern-day vampire, werewolf and a ghost striving for some degree of "normalcy" as they share a townhouse in Boston:

The storylines are intriguing, sometimes humorous/sometimes horrifying, and I AM HOOKED!!! This week, Aiden's vampire clan is in a power struggle, Sally the ghost is in terrible shape due to a home exorcism and Josh found out his new girlfriend might be pregnant (with his werewolf baby???)... It is SO EXCITING!
2) Sadly, another of my favorite shows ended with a season finale:

That's right. "Top Chef All-Stars" was down to their two finalists-- Mike Isabella and Richard Blais. Mike, the New Jersey underdog, was on a gourmet hot streak after using his break from the show to advance his cooking skills. Richard, an all-star favorite, had won several competitions during the season and was known for his elaborate techniques (he uses liquid nitrogen a lot) and attention to the last detail. I liked them both (see earlier TV post) and .... Wooo Hooooo! I picked the winner, Richard Blais:

3) Then there is an old favorite of mine (I think I have watched every single season):

I keep saying I am going to give this show up. What could they do this season to make it worth watching??? Well, they brought back "Boston Rob" (this will be his fourth attempt to become the ultimate survivor) and Russell (in my book, !@#@$@#!#@# Russell) (this will be his third attempt to beat the game) to lead two separate tribes of new players in a tropical environment.

 
Several weeks ago, Russell was not only voted out of his tribe but he also failed at the Redemption Island challenge. I think I clapped my hands in glee when Jeff Probst told him he was out of the game! Thank you very much! The two tribes are now close to merging together and "Boston Rob" is safe (he also holds a hidden immunity idol).

4) Aughhhhh.... a Rodgers favorite:

 
I have speculated on earlier posts what is going to happen to Michael Scott at the end of this season. How can Michael leave Scranton? This was revealed last week when Michael proposed to Holly (OF COURSE, he set off the safety sprinkler system):

 
She said "Yes!". And Michael announced to the office that they are both headed to Colorado. End of that mystery. However, rumor has it that Will Farrell will be joining the office for a few episodes soon... I am secretly excited (I LOVE Will Farrell). He is going to play an interim office manager that will screw up things even more than Michael did. Now THAT makes sense. tee hee.

6) And then there is my all-time favorite guilty pleasure: 

 
Last season was soooooo boring that I almost decided to skip it on Thursday nights and just go to bed early. However, the season finale re-energized this medical drama. Many of the main characters have had to work through post-tramatic stress after the mass shooting at Seattle Grace. Within the new season storylines, there is more attention to character development than to random hook-ups. There has been a lot of speculation on the "musical" episode that aired this week...

Within this episode, Callie (played by Sara Ramirez) has just been in a terrible car accident and cast members break out singing some of the classic Grey's Anatomy songs (ex. "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, "How to Save a Life" by The Fray) in between trying to save her and her baby. They are not singing and dancing like "Glee", instead it is a peek at Callie's mental state as she wavers in between life and death. I thought it was brilliant. It showcased hidden talents within the cast without being self-indulgent. My only complaint was when Callie arrived at the hospital, EVERY single doctor/intern/surgeon was waiting for her (basically, every single main character).... come on, people! Was the hospital and the emergency room EMPTY???? Were there not any other patients in need of physicians??? This is where the soap opera storylines overlay the medical drama...

And I still love it.