Robins Haas Family

The CUTEST Love Story Ever

2009-12-16T19:52:00.002-05:00

My grandmother, let's call her Gram (that *is* what I call her!) and my grandfather were married a long time ago. I don't know the year, but it was like about when she was 19 years old or something. They were not high school sweethearts and he was older than her. So, they get married, they have a bunch of kids (six, to be exact), they moved around the US and whatnot. And then a few years ago, my grandfather passed away. Something with his heart, though we're not exactly sure what. He lived a long, productive life and my grandparents were married about 57 years when he finally passed away.

As you can imagine, this was hard for Gram. And why wouldn't it be? She had spent almost her whole life with him and they raised a family and did their thing and suddenly she was alone. She missed him and was adjusting to life on her own.

Well, sometime this past spring/summer, she was talking to the woman who was the maid of honor from her wedding. Well, that maid (now a matron and a grandmother too!) was telling her about an old friend from high school that Gram knew who had recently lost his wife. Let's call him Jerry (since that's his name!). Anyway, my grandmother, being the sweet, sympathetic, empathetic woman that she is, sent a sympathy card to him. They had not talked in many, many years (like about 63). Well, lo and behold, he wrote her back. And then they exchanged emails and phone calls (email, that's awesome, they're both in their 80's!).

So, then my dad (Gram's eldest son), lets me and my siblings know that Gram has started dating this guy, Jerry. And after the initial suspicions (are his intentions genuine??) were placated, I heard a few more details from my dad and then I spoke to Gram on the phone. Don't you know that this was my Gram's HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART???!!! They dated all through high school and then he broke it off because he was concerned they were getting too serious. Holy smokes! So, he went his way, got married, entered the military, had four sons and then at some point his wife got really sick. She ultimately passed away after a long battle with her illness.

Gram tells me all about him and what he does (retired dentist) and his family and his home. My dad and most (if not all) of his siblings have met him and found him to be a nice guy. I can tell from the pictures that they were all adjusting to things still, but my grandmother was BEAMING!!! She is as giddy as a teenager! She is so excited to reconnect with him and after some discussion, they have decided to get married. They're planning on an April 2010 wedding and she'll be moving to his house at that time.

I am so excited for her and thrilled that she is happy. I look forward to meeting him (not sure if I can go to the wedding yet, but if I do, I'll let you know). *sigh* Isn't that just the cutest story? :)

So....

2009-12-04T20:52:00.000-05:00

It was like 60 on Thursday and it's supposed to snow 2-4 inches tomorrow. Doh! I'm not ready for this weather.

We're getting our Christmas tree tomorrow. I can't wait! I love Christmas!

Okay...I need to clip coupons, work on my grocery list and get some stuff done while PJ and the kids are out....later!

Since June? Really

2009-10-08T17:35:00.002-04:00

My last post was June 15. Holy smokes! Where have I been??!!!

I don't even want to bother to think about it.

Last night, we had groceries delivered by PeaPod. It's sort of like Christmas. I order food and then 3 or 4 days later, it arrives at my door (and the driver carries it to my kitchen <3 ) and then I open all the bags. I usually can't remember everything I ordered, so it's very exciting. Ooo! Granny Smith AND Honeycrisp apples! I don't remember ordering the Granny Smith apples, but no big deal. There are only two.

Anyway, I ordered a Butternut squash. I found that in the bag and found it to be particularly funny looking. I eyed it suspiciously...it looked like a green pumpkin - almost. Butternut squash does not look like a green pumpkin. I was worried I was sent one of those decorative gourds and not something we could eat. And then I read the sticker...ButterCUP squash! I've never had that before. Fortunately for all of us, the sticker listed a website with recipes on it. It turns out that it will probably be pretty similar to Butternut or Acorn squash for cooking and seasoning. Thank goodness!

I think we'll try it this weekend.

Have a great weekend - I hope it's a long one for you! :)

Fifty-Six Cents

2009-06-15T18:20:00.003-04:00

This past Saturday, the phone rang while I was taking care of some household chores. I screen our calls and checking the caller ID, I saw it was Geico, our auto insurance company. I decided I had better answer, just in case there was some problem.

Well, the customer service rep was very friendly. She launched into her scripted monologue about how there had recently been clarification regarding insurance policies for custom auto work (both PJ and I have some after market work on our vehicles). Anyway, the CSR ended by letting me know that the refund applied to our account was not indicating any reduction in coverage (basically they are not allowed to charge extra for covering not too extensive vehicle customization). She asked if I had any questions. "Nope, no accidents and all the cars are in the driveway. We're good."

We got the refund check in the mail today. $.56. Really? It cost more to print and mail it than to keep it. Sheesh! Or hey, we pay our bill as a direct debit, so just apply it to our next bill?!

As it turns out, we switched back to USAA and saved ourself about $100.

**rolls eyes**

We survived camping

2009-06-01T21:31:00.003-04:00

Yes, we did. It was, more or less, a good time. The kids had fun and we had a nice time catching up with friends. Some of us got a little too much sun, unfortunately.

This past weekend, our excitement was all about the dogs escaping from the backyard. It started on Thursday. Polo escaped and ultimately ended up at the pound. He spent a night in "jail" for his troubles. Then on Saturday, a certain DH left the gate unlatched and both dogs escaped! Holy smokes! We were called about Polo and picked him up that same night, about midnight, but Echo doesn't come easy to people, so she just kept running. Someone found her early this morning and took her to our vet. She's a little beat up, but she's okay. Polo also managed to get out again today... we don't know how he's getting out, but we hope we've found the little hole... We'll see tomorrow.

Dumb Dog

2009-05-28T18:47:00.002-04:00

So, Echo has a little UTI. She's been on antibiotics for just over a week and before they're done, I'm supposed to bring her into the vet for another urinalysis. Actually, I just need to bring in the urine, not the dog. Anyway, it was my plan to do that this afternoon, but then it started pouring. It was raining SO hard. I wasn't sure my plan and was going to wait it out based on the actual rain when I got home.

I called PJ from the car...he was home already. He asked me if I knew where Polo was. Well, I had been at work all day. No idea where Polo was. Apparently Polo was nowhere to be found. PJ and I got off the phone so he could make some other phone calls and change clothes and I called our home voicemail.

And yes, Polo had gotten out (this is a surprise to me because much like parents have to childproof a house, I have dogproofed the backyard. Echo is a little escape artist, so I've had to put rocks around the base of our fenceline and we had a 6' fence installed. The dogs can't jump the fence and I couldn't find anywhere he could get under...I'm stumped.) and a neighbor found him on a nearby street and took him to a local vet. She left the vet's number, but I couldn't do anything about that while I was driving, so I just drove straight to the vet. At this point, I have no idea if Polo's okay or not.

The vet informs me that Polo is okay and that Animal Control has come to pick him up. Okay, I live on the east side of the county. And it's 5:15pm when I call the shelter. The shelter is like 45 or so minutes away on a good day. It's raining and rush hour - it's not a good day. So, they confirm that Polo is there and that he's just chillin' in the cage and that I have until 6pm to get him and it's going to be $35. I told the nice lady that there was no way I could get him by 6pm and she said if I got him by noon tomorrow, the charge was still $35 (he was picked up sometime after noon today). After noon it was the $35, plus a $15 boarding fee, so $50. Hmm... $15 a day is a GREAT price for boarding. I'm tempted to leave him for a week.

Instead, I hope I can leave work early tomorrow and I'll swing by the vet's with a sample from Echo and then drive to the middle of nowhere and get Polo and then I'll come home and dagnabbit if I don't need to get my nails done and grocery shop too tomorrow. *sigh*

On another note, I do believe this has to be the wettest May on record. I'm ready for a break!

The Compound

2009-05-19T18:50:00.003-04:00

The Infamous Compound. I have yet to come up with a fabulous name for our future residence, but I'm working on it. :D

So, let me tell you a little about this Compound. In case you were wondering how it got started, here's the scoop...

PJ and I don't want to live in our current area forever. Actually, he'd probably be happy to stay here forever, but *I* don't want to stay here, so we decided that after the kids graduated from high school (June 2014 for the youngest, if you're keeping track at home) we'd move somewhere. Preferably somewhere cheaper where I can build my dream home and he can play his music as loud as he wants without pissing off the neighbors. As it turns out, my dad plans to retire to NC, so after some consideration, PJ and I decided that NC sounded like a good place to go.

I want to build a house and have a horse or two. I sorta like the idea of horses without the cleaning part (mucking out stalls...) and so I was trying to talk my sister into going in on the idea with us. She actually likes mucking out stalls. Anyway, she and I joked about she and her husband and me and PJ all living somewhere and we'd call it a The Robins-Haas-Powers Compound. Of course, at the current moment, her husband wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near a country home, so it didn't really flourish into much, but we'd still joke about it on occasion. Of course, I shared this with PJ and the idea to get more than just a house in the NC suburbs (pick one...Raleigh, Cary, Charlotte, Wilmington) might not be a bad idea.

And then the idea grew...we could buy a big parcel of land (like 20 acres!) and build our house and a barn and a few more smaller homes (bungalows) for when the kids/family visit...closer than staying in a hotel, but not quite comfortable enough to stay forever. And then we thought about all our friends who we'd miss if we left this area and they stayed and decided we should just invite them along with us. They can live in our bungalows and make motorcross/dirtbike/ATV tracks and race and generally act like rednecks in the back 15 acres.

And guess what! Some of our friends actually want to go! And we've even managed to convince some family (though I think we'll have to strong arm PJ's parents - hi Judy!).

So, now this Compound has turned into a Monster. It's probably going to cost like $2mil to make this happen and we have a lot of friends/family who want to live there with us. I'm not sure the NC economy can support the massive influx of able-bodied people we'd bring and I'm pretty sure PJ and I won't make enough money to support them all. UNLESS THEY START GROWING ALL OUR FOOD... like raising cows and vegetables and stuff. And now we're getting into cult territory... :-O

Please pass the Kool-Aid.

Back from the dead...

2009-05-19T18:44:00.002-04:00

I know you thought I had really dropped off the face of the earth and was never coming back. Close, but not the case. Just REALLY busy at work and then I'm so exhausted when I get home that I don't post. lol

Anyway, in the exciting news front, my brother and his wife had their second child on Monday, May 11. This is very exciting. He's very cute and looks just like his big brother did when he was born! I can't wait to meet him. We're going for a visit in June.

We're going camping this coming weekend (questionable whether or not that's exciting). It's Memorial Day and in the tradition of lots of other people (since it's not our tradition), we're going tent camping. Yes, tent camping...not camping trailer camping, not RV camping, but tent camping. It SHOULD be a good time, but we'll see. We're going to Granite Hill Camping Resort. (hahahahaha, Resort?! ahahahahahahah). Very funny. I'll have to report back.

I mentioned that we're going to visit my brother & his family in June. There's an ulterior motive there. We're not just going to visit him and meet the little one, etc., but we're also going to check out some properties in NC! Woohoo! Family compound, here we come! I still need to write about the compound...

ok...later gators!

AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!

2009-02-19T21:26:00.002-05:00

That's my head exploding!

I am trying to maintain this blog and have done a horrible job as of late. At least my busy friends can keep up when I don't update daily (like my sister does! lol).

I wish I could recap, but I have no idea where to begin. So, I'll just start with where I am now.

Megan's 13th birthday is in 8 days (as she informed Ethan's dad tonight). Her party is next Friday. I have like 20 hours to get ready and 30 hours worth of stuff to do! AGH!

And then we're having a family get together on that Sunday at PJ's Mom's. If you are on the subscriber list for this blog (as in this gets emailed to you), you're welcome to come. There will be food, cake and a few gifts. It'll be laid back...which is good. Judy, I promise to contact you soon to go over the menu! :)

Ethan found out that he's going to have a little sister (not me, I'm not having one, his stepmom is!). I think I might be more excited about that than he is. LOL

PJ turns one less than 40 on March 9 and we're having a few friends over on the 7th. Did I mention I'm still trying to plan Megan's party? holy smokes!

Kim's bridal shower and bachelorette party are this Saturday. It should be a good time...must get an outfit to wear out though.

Okay, I gotta get going. I'll try to update weekly or something again.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T08:22:00.001-05:00

It's been forever and really, I don't have time to say more. Just wanted to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T06:13:00.000-05:00

Hope you have a wonderful holiday season! :) (2 days until my birthday... but who's counting?)

Just a Couple of Pics

2008-12-13T08:50:00.005-05:00

Heidi's Dog, Weller, all snuggled in his blanket

Here Weller helps with the dishes

Weller and Echo posing in front of the Christmas tree (Echo blinked in both pictures!)

The finished Christmas tree. Notice the branches go all the way to the ground and it's about 6' wide. It's a fat tree!

Woohoo! The home stretch!

2008-12-02T22:10:00.002-05:00

The year is almost done! Amazing year it's been too!

Quickly, Happy Birthday to my December birthdays:

Nickel, 12/25
ME! 12/26.

I think that's it. I also think it's the last time I'm doing this. I simply have too much to do and can't deal with the guilt if I forget someone! HAHAHAHAHAHA

I need to update the links here. I have friends with Blogs I haven't added, and some have changed. Goodness, this blog is going to the dogs!

Our tree is up and decorated. Pictures coming soon (we're not done with it all yet).

Until next time... take care!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-25T06:00:00.001-05:00

Since you know I'm not going to have my act together to post anytime soon (since my last post was 3 weeks ago), I figured I'd jump online really quick right now to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I have many things to be thankful for and I hope you do too!

Be impressed

2008-10-29T19:34:00.002-04:00

Look, I have been WAY behind the 8-ball for months now and here I am posting twice in less than a week. Just barely less than a week, but I made it nonetheless.

PJ posted a bunch of pictures recently. I wish I could remember what they are of... wine festival at least. I know there was something else too. I don't remember what (and I'm not motivated to go check out our site. You can do that yourself). doh! :P

In other news, I've started Christmas shopping. This year, since the kids are older, we told them that we are getting them one big gift and then everything else will be stocking stuffers. Now, we've never done stockings in this family (maybe they have at other homes, but not mine), so, we had to get stockings. Pottery Barn was having a FAB sale and we ordered stockings on Friday night (or was it Saturday night?). Anyway, there was free shipping and free personalization and most of the stockings were on sale. I was able to find six different stockings and they arrived YESTERDAY! Holy smokes that was fast! I'm impressed. The quality is good too. It's perfect...not too expensive, but not too cheap. I am so ready to start filling them.

I can't wait to open presents now. HAHAHAHHAHAHA

I was checking out video games last night. We have an Xbox 360, courtesy of my previous boss who had decided he was done with it. Anyway, I was looking for a good game that would appeal to me, and possibly the kids, but PJ too. I don't much care for games that are all shooting/killing, etc.; I'm not into sports games or driving games. I'm pretty lame like that. Anyway, does anyone remember Castlevania ? That's what I want to play. lol. They don't have one for Xbox 360. There's one for the regular Xbox, but the 360 is not backwards compatible for that game. CURSES!

Well, that's enough random rambling for this week.

Happy (early) Halloween!!!

Just Discovered - Wild Cherry M-n-M's

2008-10-24T20:09:00.002-04:00

I just discovered the limited edition Wild Cherry M-n-m's and I LOVE THEM!!!

Sorta like a cherry cordial, but not. Very yummy. :D

Go buy some and enjoy!

And the Chimney's Clean...

2008-10-22T19:31:00.003-04:00

We had some chimney sweeps come out today and check over the chimney and clean it and do whatever it is that they do (not tap dancing on roofs, for one). It's good to have that done. It's recommended that they come yearly, but we're on the every other year plan. ha! We don't burn sticky wood or miscellaneous things, so I'm comfortable with that schedule. So, now we have a nice toasty fire burning. It's helping keep the house a pretty decent temperature, which is good (since you know I hate to be cold).

In other news, Ethan's dad was married this past weekend. Congrats to Corky and Courtney! I believe it was a good time. Ethan had fun.

PJ and I attended a hot air balloon festival with Mike and Judi and their twins. There was a wine tasting too. Mike and PJ got quite toasty there too. **shrug** It was nice to catch up with Judi and we had a fun time taking a hay ride, petting some animals and just walking around at the festival. No hot air balloons while we were there (they had launched early in the morning and it was too windy in the afternoon for a launch).

Later that day (it was Saturday), we went to see my mom, Bo, and my sister was in town also. We had dinner at Panera (take out) and watched some of The Pirates of the Caribbean. I left there with my sister's dog as we're dog sitting him for about a month. Weller is adjusting nicely, but is still learning the routine and the pecking order. He's a real sweetie (usually) though!

PJ and I went to a wedding on Oct 11. Here are the pictures. Congrats to Maria and Phil! Kerry was their photographer and here are her pictures.

I guess that's enough updating for now. Better save something for the next one. :)

PJ's 20 year Reunion

2008-10-09T22:58:00.001-04:00

So, PJ's 20 year HS reunion was last weekend. Check out the pics here:

Reunion Pictures

Hello there...

2008-10-09T22:52:00.002-04:00

I'm finding things are getting stabilizing at work...I'm still busy, but I feel like I'm catching up. I've had to let a few things go around the house. The laundry for instance, it's done but not put away. I don't seem to have enough time to do it all. Oh well.

This weekend we have Maria and Phil's wedding, PJ's Mom's Family Reunion, Tina's Birthday Party and fortunately, I don't have any plans for Monday (thank goodness for long weekends).

Wishing you a happy, long weekend!

Happy Birthday!

2008-10-03T06:09:00.001-04:00

To our October Birthdays!

Courtney, Oct 5
Tina, Oct 16
Trisha, Oct 23
Corky, Oct 24

Hope your day is great!

Just Checking In

2008-09-30T21:29:00.002-04:00

I'm not dead...just really busy. And I don't feel like I have a lot to update about. I work, I do chores around the house. That's really it. HAHAHAHAHHA

PJ's 20 year high school reunion is this coming Saturday. I don't know what I'm going to wear. *sigh* I found a dress, but didn't like it and will return it. I'm back to square one.

In other news, I do have a new dress for the Oct 11 wedding we're attending. Success! I need to order some wedding presents too... Three weddings in 4 weeks. And one we missed in July that I *still* have yet to send something for. Oy! I'm way behind the times!

Ooo...we got the Nissan in tip top shape. It's had a little work done, but it's now passed inspection. PJ needs to install the new stereo. At some point we'll need to fix the A/C and it'd be nice to have it repainted (like that cheapo paint job from Maaco). I'm glad it's coming together. Much better gas mileage than PJ's truck.

Speaking of his truck, it's in the shop. Failed inspection. A buddy of PJ's is doing work on it. I think we'll have it back in the next day or two.

So, wasn't that exciting? lol. Hopefully there will be more exciting updates in my next post.

Solemn Day

2008-09-11T19:04:00.002-04:00

It's a sad day as we remember 9/11. :( The Pentagon memorial was unveiled today. I'm sure it was a hard day for many people.

Happy Birthday to our September birthdays. Kurt, 9/7 and Ben, 9/27.

School has started... It's hard to believe we're already into September. So far, so good. The kids like their teachers and classes. That's good. :)

Block Party Cometh...

2008-08-28T22:30:00.001-04:00

Only a few days away until our block party!!! I hope we'll be seeing you there!

September birthdays and first day of school coming soon! woohooo!

Fizzled Out...

2008-08-15T22:51:00.002-04:00

I had grand plans of getting the house cleaned tonight, making some dog food (my dogs are on a homemade diet) and organizing some stuff for the block party. It's 10.52pm and the only thing I've managed to do is sort the laundry. Now I just want to hit the hay!

My mom settled on a new house yesterday. I have to look up where it is again, but it's a little house on a few acres...maybe 1.5 hours from my house. I'll get to see it next weekend. Very exciting news!

Today is my grandmother's 80th birthday - woohoo! :)

Still not all here...

2008-08-12T17:45:00.002-04:00

We have pictures up on our website. I won't post the links yet since I need to clean them up some (PJ uploaded way too many). But if you're brave or killing time, they're all there...vacation, family, miscellaneous (like the weed that's taller than Megan that was in my flowerbed!).

At some point, remind me to tell you about "The Compound."

I've had a bunch of high school friends suddenly show up on Facebook (over the last few weeks). I'm not sure what happened, but it's pretty neat to see who's on there now and to reconnect. I need to update my life story for them...

It's PJ's dad's birthday today. Happy Birthday, Pat!