sightings of a mountain lion

ha, now that i got your attention, i must share a quick little happening that occurred on tuesday...

we got about 3-4 inches of snow, keith was anxious to take the truck out in the snow so he decided to make a quick stop off after class in this empty lot near the woods close to our house to do some donuts and whatever childish stuff that men do in the snow to feely risky. so he was playing around when a big giant black thing with a long tail came into his peripheral - he swears to this day it was a mountain lion. he said that is stopped to look at him as if to check his truck out...then it pounced off into the woods. of couse i was floored, b/c i walk the bears back there all the time. it was one of those moments when you wished you could have witnessed it with someone else.

now if you know keith, he doesn't get excited over much, so when he came home that night in disbelief, i knew he was truthful and not pulling my leg.

i did some investigating only to find out that the pennsylvania game warden does not report any incidents on file of spotted moutain lions in this area - mainly so that it doesn't scare anyone.

hell, i'd rather know what is lurking out there so i am prepared. at this stage of my training, with those excruitiating running workouts had better pay off or i could give it a good karate chop to the side then run like the wind, rather than get caught off guard only to become it's only meal for the week :(

just another manic monday

monday's are always pretty crazy in our house, and this particular monday was no different. for starters logan decided to get us up at 3am for a bathroom break. not only did he have to go, he took a little stroll in the neighborhood, so keith had to go looking for him. i swear these dogs can be worse than children at times.

needless to say, neither of us really went back to sleep as the alarm sounded at 5.
i was dragging, keith was dragging and so were the bears. they, of course, can sleep all day unlike us humans.

ally was pretty happy this morning until it was medicine taking time. she puts up a pretty big fight these days, as we end up getting more of it on her than in her.
then she decided she would pull her ponytail out after i pulled out of the garage, so keith phoned to let me know her hair was officially "a mess"...i tried to walk him through putting the ponytail back in, but neither ally or keith would cooperate so we decided to go with plan b - no ponytail.
i was on the road by then, drinking my much needed coffee, when i realized that my travel cup lid was not screwed on right, only to be leaking coffee on my jacket. guess that is what you get in a rushed, whirlwind morning. i felt so ghetto walking into work with my coffee stains.
seeing how the hectic the morning played out, i was prepared for a long afternoon as well. i was presently surprised when teaching went well this morning in all 3 of my classes and that i got a lot accomplished in my office hours as well as a good workout at the gym today too.

when i returned home, mania started again...i forgot to thaw out the chicken for dinner, koda ran into the woods for a good 15 minutes while i froze my butt off calling him, luckily logan came back like a good little doggie and koda eventually followed, and now that i am showered, getting ready to throw something together for dinner and waiting on ally and keith's arrival, i still have time in my manic life to write it all down for others to get a good laugh :)

~sigh~...tuesday's aren't any better either.

snow day

ok...i need to post pics on this one, but we had the best afternoon sledding and running around in the snow. it was the perfect snow for sledding and the perfect temparature too. if you have to play in the snow, today was the day.

ally especially enjoyed every trip down the hill giggling and smiling on every trip. of course i had to remind keith about safety first, he wanted to turn every trip into a rocket ride! koda and logan enjoyed the freedom to run, run and run some more. it was really nice for the whole family to get out of the house in the middle of winter.

a snow day definitely brings out the kid in us all! i hope to post pics next time...for all to see :)

fish fry feel good

it always makes me feel good to lend a hand in the community. tonight we attended our first fish fry as a family and keith pitched in with the knights of colombus to help serve the parish. it was nice to see everyone celebrating lent and to be in good company. the church we currently attend, is a rather large parish so they needed some hands tonight to help and we were glad we could pitch in.
ally enjoyed running all over the place as i struggled to keep up with her little legs this evening. i feel like i am getting that cold/flu thing that is going around, so i have been dragging big time today. hopefully some rest this weekend will do me some good.
two nice surprises came in the mail this week, which helped get me through a long week...
1. a new ny giants t-shirt for me and keith from my thoughtful father-in-law
2. a new jen soucie-kitt cd for my commute to work. her cd's rock and i have basically worn out the first 4 she sent! this one is bitter sweet b/c it is dedicated to her friend that passed away this past november, so i keep in touch with the sentimental value of each song. thanks jen - i miss you :)

Recap of the weekend...

this weekend was filled with a busy couple of days...no day off monday but a little reprieve for me today on a professional development day minus the students. i spent it working on making posters for one of my classes to better explain some confusing terms :) what a teach i am!

overall it was a great weekend filled with some fun things such as:
a decent hair cut for once - thank goodness!
clean carpets thanks to my hubby and the rental carpet cleaner from lowes
a trip to the mall only to spend money on new tires at sears for the 4runner - grr!
some new clothes for the spring that are a size smaller
a trip to the children's museum on sunday for ally and daddy
a girls day out to the University of Pittsburgh women's basketball game with my sister-in-law
a short visit by ashley and kara and some yummy spaghetti
to round out the weekend, ally ended up with CROUP and yet another ear infection :(

luckily we have all escaped the flu season so far so i am thankful for that. i am also thankful for the cold, and snowy/icy weather pleading mercy on us here. i enjoy driving so much more now; when i am white knuckled behind the wheeel for 40 minutes.

i need to post some pics soon.

crazy friday

that is an understatement - phew!
between a 5am wake-up call, friday classes, tests to grade, lesson planning, a fussy toddler, a dirty house, and 2 run-a-way dogs...i am ready for some serious relaxation tonight.
as my mom always says, some days you are the bug and some days you are the windshield in life...today i was all bug - S P L A T T!

Valentine's Day

it has been a low key day for the ruiz's. keith had class tonight so we didn't get a chance to really do anything romantic...however when i got home there was a very sweet card waiting for me. it is amazing how a few words can sum up many years of happiness and joy. sweet and to the point, just like keith.
as for miss allyson, she got some sitckers (her new found hobby stickin them all over her body), a laurie berkner cd, a valentine pez dispenser and a toiletry bag from lily kids. the pez dispenser was her favorite - of course candy...just like her momma!
the worst news for today was that allyson was bitten at school. i know these things are normal especially for 2 year olds but it still doesn't make any easier to know you put your kiddo in that situation and can't defend her. i just pray she doesn't begin biting in return. it might turn into one big bite fest in toddler-ville!