Whale With a Why

Family and Foliage and Some Other Stuff

2010-05-22T08:34:00.008-05:00

Well, it's been a while. It really has been crazy around here for the last couple weeks. Work has been super busy, we've been running around after work and on the weekends trying to soak up as much sun as possible, and there's the kids to contend with! The Prince has really started becoming a little boy. He's no longer a baby. I'm not sure when this happened since yesterday he was a surly young lad of 1 right?! He comes up with the funniest things to say, it's truly a sign that he is becoming his own person and getting his own sense of humor. Here are a few of his gems...

"I'm hungry for a crocodile, but not a live one."

"We'll see about getting a kiddie pool this summer."
"Mommy, I don't want to swim in a pool with the cats."

"I don't have to listen, I'm the Daddy, you have to listen to me."
"Daddy, pretend I'm the Daddy."

Some of these have some really good logic to them! I'm not sure when babies turn into kids. Perhaps it's when they potty train, or when they learn to form sentences and can carry a conversation. Personally, I judge this transition when they no longer have dimples for knuckles. That's when you know that their baby fat is gone and they are officially a "big kid." (This makes me sad!)

The SweetPea is growing as fast as our seedlings! This amazes me since I feel like I just gave birth a week ago, it's actually been about 5 months. She's rolling everywhere and can almost sit up on her own. Occasionally she busts out these absolutely wonderful belly laughs. It's not really predictable since the thing that makes her laugh one day doesn't do the trick the next. I can see her eyes saying "yeah, I've seen that already...come back when you have something original." (I guess she's already sassy!) When she starts laughing, it's truly contagious. You just can't help but laugh right along with her.

Work has been pretty hectic, but fun. We had our staff meeting a week ago and we went to the new Target Field to see a Twins game for our evening event! Somehow, I completely lucked out and ended up in the Champion Club seats which are a special private area that has it's own catering, wait staff, and warmed blankets when the weather gets cool. Yes, they are actually warmed up and brought out to you! The drinks and food was all complimentary and we were closer to the catcher than the pitcher is! If you can't tell, I was pretty stoked. Here are some pics...these were taken with my cell phone!
A double rainbow over the new stadium and the Minneapolis skyline!
Ah yes, it also had VALET parking!The view of the field from our seats!The awesome Twins sign with Minne and Paul!

Now I'm off to build me some raised beds! My seedlings are taking off great and they really need to get in the ground. I ultimately decided to plant broccoli, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins, spinach, and green beans. I've also planted an herb garden with dill, parsley, chives, and catnip...a treat for the furry family members! We'll be building a 12x2 garden (long and narrow) so that I can access all of it from one side. We also have to building a chicken wire fence around everything to keep the critters out. I've started harvesting my pepper seeds for pepper spray to keep the bugs and bunnies from eating the leaves...I guess I'm ready! Let's just hope that the seedlings can withstand the shock of being planted outside.

Have a wonderful day!

Renewed Inspiration

2010-04-26T20:24:00.002-05:00

Inspiration can truly come at the weirdest times. I'm currently watching Robots with my son and there is scene where the father robot is talking to his son and says something about if he had it to do over he would follow his dream. He tells the son to go the Robot City and never, never give up. Well, my dream back in high school was to move to a big city and be a CEO of a fortune 500 company.
I can tell you that I've already accomplished a part of my dream. I've moved to a big city (St. Paul) from a teeny tiny town in Montana. The mere fact that I could name every single person in my whole HIGH SCHOOL proves how small it was. Now, I live in a metropolitan area and while I enjoy getting away from the hustle, I also truly enjoy living in a place where I can get Chinese food at 2 a.m. I can go to a major concert, see an orchestra, visit a museum, and watch an IMAX movie all in one day. I also work in a fortune 200 company. I may never be the CEO since my priorities have definitely changed, but I could still be a director or manager which will suit me just fine.
Lately I've been a lot mixed up as far as what I want out of life. I'm usually pretty torn between being a corporate mom or a house wife. While I LOVE my kids and cherish every single second I get to spend with them, I don't think that I need to completely sacrifice my original dreams. I feel like there is plenty of room for a decent job and a great family life. I'm sure that I may change my tune in a few days as I'm still riding that hormonal roller coaster that is having a baby. I feel like I should "never, never give up". It may take me longer than I had originally planned, but I also have two beautiful children that I hadn't planned on either. The important thing is that keep following my dreams, even if they continue to change!

Peeks and Valleys

2010-04-21T17:59:00.002-05:00

I know, I spelled "Peeks" the way I wanted. I want to start blogging more often so now I'm going to try and do a weekly blog with a peek into my family and work life and, to suffice my ranting tendencies, some valleys that I experience.

∴PEEKS∴
We've started our seedlings! We have tiny little plant buds awaiting our transplant. It's still about 3-4 weeks from our "last frost" date so it they will have a lot of time to become good, solid plants! The Prince is so excited each day when he sees the little green buds popping out of the dirt. He was instrumental in helping with the planting process. By "instrumental" I mean, he basically shuffled the dirt from the bag to the table and a little bit of it landed in the pots!
The SweetPea is growing like crazy! She can stand if you hold her, she rolls from front to back and back to front, AND she smiles, coos, and babbles as much as she can. I love her so much, it's silly to think that I once wasn't sure how she would fit into our family. She also had her first taste of solid foods about a week ago! Note to mom: I do not like rice cereal!
It's Administrative Professionals Day today. I received numerous thank yous, a beautiful fragrant bouquet of flowers, and a few cards! It's nice to know that I'm appreciated.

∴valleys∴
The Husband is off again this evening and I feel like a single mother lately! He goes to class until 9 p.m. two nights a week and he's now off on another school related "project". I just hope he makes some good contacts as his graduation date looms with not a lot of job prospects!
It's Administrative Professionals Day today. I don't particularly like the idea that all my co-workers think of me as an "admin". I personally think that this day should be renamed to "Employee Appreciation Day" it would be all encompassing and it wouldn't insult people that don't view themselves as a secretary. 'Cause let's face it, an Administrative Assistant is really just the new name for secretary.

It must be a good week so far...I have more peaks than valleys!

On the Fence...

2010-04-07T11:49:00.006-05:00

I was still on the fence about starting a garden until last night. We received a couple of those tiny pots with seeds to plant yourself for Easter and last night the Prince and I did a "project". Basically you get the little pellet of dirt wet and then plant 4-5 seeds and wait for them to grow. The Prince was so excited about the prospect of something growing that he had to check them about ten times before bed. So...I'm going for it!! This weekend I'm planning to start some more seedlings and keep them in our sun filled porch until late May. I guess our last freeze is approximately May 21st so I'm about 6 weeks out to start some of my seedlings.

I am a complete newbie regarding this stuff! I have a bunch of seed packets that I picked up at my company's annual meeting (for free!) and I hope that they are still good. The Husband is going to make me some raised beds with all the leftover building material in our garage (free again!) and I just got an email this morning about some organic compost that I can purchase for "dirt" cheap (yeah, I went there) and it will be delivered right to my work. It all seems fortuitous so I guess it was meant to be. Now I just need to pick up some enriched soil and start a'plantin'!

I found this great tool at the Gardener's Supply Company website and here's what I have picked out so far...

This is the map for my 3 foot by 6 foot by 10 inches raised bed garden. This tool also gives you a step by step instruction guide on the best way to plant each type of vegetable that you choose - essential when talking to a black thumbed newbie! This is pretty ambitious for me so I am going to reserve the right to scale back slightly!!

Basically I chose vegetables that I like and I know my family will eat and are simple to grow. I figure the more leeway I give myself the better! I also want to try my hand at canning pickles (hence the cucumbers and dill). I have no idea if these veges will grow well together or if they will strangle each other out, but it's all worth a shot right? Again, this is my first attempt at this so I think as long as I get the plant to grow out of the dirt I'll consider it a success!

I'll also need to fence the entire thing in like Fort Knox. I'm hoping that chicken wire can keep all the animals out and my friend and fellow blogger gave me the idea of using a pepper spray to keep the insects from having their fill. You literally use pepper flakes and water and spray the leaves of the plant. She actually saves the pepper seeds that you would normally throw away while cooking and makes her own from scratch! I'm hoping to score some chicken wire for free too (Craig's List here I come!)

By posting this for the world to see I'm hoping it will keep me honest and actually DO this project. Not just for my son but for me and my whole family. If this whole garden thing works out my next project will be to start my own compost. I guess we all need to start being more green, eh?

To Garden or Not to Garden

2010-04-01T12:20:00.002-05:00

I've been toying with the idea of starting a garden. I LOVE fresh vegetables and fruit and I LOVE the idea of having them right outside my door for pennies on the dollar. Despite my apprehension about all the work that it will entail, I find something completely succinct about cooking dinner and having vegetables right there for the taking. However, I tend to have what most would call a Black Thumb. Basically my house is where plants go to die. Bamboo, a cactus, a spider plant, and a fern, these are just a few of the plants that I've owned and have now succumb to the big nursery in the sky. So, here's my dilemma.

To Plant:

I love fresh vegetables and fruit.
I want to teach my kids how to be responsible for their own livelihood and not to HAVE to depend on someone else to get their nutrients.
I want my children to know what good, organic food tastes like.
My father always had a garden and I can remember just going and picking a carrot, washing it off with the hose and eating right there for an afternoon snack. I want this for my kids too!
I want to get all of my gardening cataclysm's out of the way before my kids can remember!
It seems to be "en vogue" lately so there is a ton of really neat stuff available!
Spending money on items that I know I could get for much cheaper makes me very angry.
I would enjoy having a reason to go outside and spend time with my kids.
It would be nice to start a compost pile and have less garbage!

Not to Plant

It seems like A LOT of work.
I'd have to pull weeds and get dirty with the spiders and other creepy crawlies!
I'd have to build raised beds 'cause ain't no way am I eating anything out of the ground where I live! I live in the Saint Paul proper and I'm pretty sure our dirt glows green sometimes.
We currently rent a house and I hate to put all the work and money into someone else's property - especially since I won't be able to take it with me!
We have an abundance of wild life in our neighborhood. You know, stray cats, birds, squirrels, rabbits, and I swear I saw an opossum awhile ago. I don't want to create a shmorgus board for them! Therefore I would have to build friggin' Fort Knox just to keep them away and I'm not great with mason work.
I probably wouldn't have time to do much of it during the week and therefore I would get frustrated with all the work for the weekends and then it would just get left...you can see what is now a vicious circle in my life!
Would it just be worth my time and effort to go to the Farmers Market and pick up fresh vegetables for the week? Of course this opens up the whole debacle of waking up early enough to get there in time for all the good stuff. Me+waking early on a Saturday=Cranky Momma!

You can see I have quite the conundrum! Any help or advice would be much appreciated. Also, any good ideas on how to do a container garden that is portable (say when we finally scrounge up enough moolah for a down payment!)

Thanks for reading and Happy Spring!!

Why is the Grass Greener?

2010-03-22T15:52:00.002-05:00

Oh how I wish I could be doing something else.
I sort of feel like that is how my entire life is spent. I guess you could say that I'm a "grass is greener" type of personality. I always feel like something else would be WAY better than what I have right now. I'm always wishing the present away. With one GIGANTIC exception...my family (I wish my kids would stay babies forever!!!)
Even right now.
I have been feeling pretty bummed lately that I have to go to work every weekday. After the arrival of SweetPea and my proceeding 9 week long maternity leave, I just never really got back into work mode. I used to feel important at work and longed for those adult conversations. I enjoyed putting in the extra hours because I was building my resume, right? I was told a few weeks ago, yet again, that a promotion just isn't in the cards this year "but we know that you make great contributions and are such a valued employee" - yeah, so valued you can't seem to find it in the budget to keep me around.
A really BIG part of me wants to say "the heck with it all, I'm going to be a stay-at-home mama." But that small (and responsible) other part of me likes having food on the table and clothing and not being turned over to collections when I can't pay my credit card bill. We are a one income household as of right now and I'm making the bacon and fryin' it too.
Today my "grass is greener" moment came when I was talking to one of my work friends. We were chatting about this and that and I heard myself say that I wouldn't mind moving to a different city if the husband could get a job there. I heard myself say that, and I felt a pull on my roots. Just a tiny tug then, but now as the day has gone by I'm feeling a much harder yank.
I want to go somewhere different! I also realized that this is the longest town I've lived in during my adult life, and the house that I live in now has been the longest dwelling of mine since I moved from my parents home. Most people would find that comforting and enjoy the fact that they are putting down roots...it makes me feel a little claustrophobic! I feel like my time is wasting. If I don't go out and have a good adventure again soon I'm going to be rooted to this ground forever! Granted, this adventure would have to include the kids and husband, but what better companions than the ones I love so dearly?
Now as I write about it, it's definitely another "grass is greener" scenario. Perhaps moving somewhere else would just make some other lawn look brighter. Maybe I need to work on my own landscaping? All I know for sure is that right now, my lawn is looking pretty brown.

Call it Common Courtesy

2010-03-08T10:13:00.008-06:00

So, I work in an office building. I am not going to name names since I truly treasure my job (and more importantly my paycheck), but let's just say that my office building alone employees close to 700 people, and at any given time I'm sure there are more than that considering vendors, meetings, etc. that take place in the building. Therefore, a small bit of common courtesy can go a long way. Here's a little lesson from me to you (you know who you are!)

When traversing the stairwell, keep to one side. I like chatting with my friends too, but they can hear me just fine from behind!
I like to associate well known "road rules" when walking the stairs or hallway. Keep to the right, right of way, yield when approaching a blind intersection, etc. These will keep you from running into someone with a full plate of food, or running someone off the stairs completely because you refuse to step behind your walking partner. {this happened to me this morning, I literally had to walk backwards two steps to get out of this lady's way...grrr.}
Phone calls should be private. I especially get irate when I'm sitting at my desk (read cubicle) and someone is having a conference call on speaker phone with a person sitting two cubes away! It was kind of funny at first since there is a weird echo-ey sound considering I can hear their true voices AND their voices on the phone, but now it's really annoying and rude. I have work to do too ya know!
Another phone lesson...speak softly. When I am on the phone and cannot hear myself or the person that I am talking to because you can't learn to speak at a normal volume it really makes our company look unprofessional. Learn to speak softer.
When you are in the restroom: A) you SHOULD wash your hands. The sanitizer things outside aren't as good as ol' fashioned soap and water. B) if you drip water all over the sink, simply take an extra paper towel and wiped down the counter. It takes two seconds. I realize that there are cleaning people that our company actually employs to do this kind of work, but I'm pretty sure they only clean at night so during the day it's up to us!
The copier/printer. This is a lesson that everyone needs to heed. I know that we have to print some items, sometimes a lot of items. However, if you do feel the need to kill a couple trees and print a 50 page slide show 20 times...REFILL THE PRINTER WITH PAPER! You know you used a lot so just add a few reams and the rest of us won't have to completely stop what we are doing because the printer is out of paper. {side note: the person refilling the paper is most often ME! Either people don't understand what the blinking light is and are completely dumbfounded by the fact that their documents aren't coming out, or they don't know how to add paper and simply just wait for someone else to do it. Either way is rather unacceptable.}
On the other hand...why are you printing that much? Everyone needs to be more conservative so that our company isn't a blight on the environment because we print every email. With technology today you don't need to print things when you can save them electronically.

Okay, okay. I'm off my soap box. However, please try to remember that there are other people here too! I realize that my menial goings-on may not matter as much to you as chatting with your friends side-by-side down the stairs, but it really makes you look like an ass. And after this blog I'll have completely forgotten about it, but you'll still be an ass. I'm just sayin'.

Seize This Day.

2010-03-04T21:13:00.009-06:00

There are a select few days in my life that I can look back on and honestly say, "I lived this day to the absolute fullest!" Well, the other day I did just that. The husband and I took to the trusty Envoy and enjoyed an impromptu trip to the North Shore of Lake Superior. We borrowed a really nice camera from my father in law and our mission was to take some great pictures. I think it was a success.

It was a beautiful "spring" day on America's north coast in Minnesota. A balmy 39 degrees. Blue-bird. A powerful day with my husband. I ran...I climbed...leaped....slipped, fell and was caught. I trusted my husband and he trusted me. We worked together and I think we fell in love all over again. It was a nearly perfect day. Next time we'll bring the kids and have a picnic on the beach, then it will be perfect.

We kicked this day's ass.

Procrastination or Time Elimination?

2010-02-22T15:06:00.002-06:00

I don't know why I'm always late getting things done for my personal life. I am constantly asked, and am able, to meet deadlines at work with nary a slip-up. However, when it comes to my personal life...things never get done. For the last few months I've been meaning to:

clean up my house
get the SweetPea's crib up - she's been sleeping in our room for just long enough now
mail her birth announcements - finally done today thus the inspiration for my blog!
get a certified copy of her birth certificate - luckily I have an inside woman on this one so it shouldn't be too hard once I finally fill out the form
find all the rest of my non-maternity clothes
organize my closet
get my maternity clothes packed away
change over the SweetPea's clothes from newborn and 0-3 to 3-6 - she's really growing fast!
organize the office so I can do our taxes
do our taxes!
solve world peace
make a million dollars...

The last two may as well be on there considering they are just as likely to be accomplished as the rest of it!

See how long my list has gotten? Where are my little elves that are supposed to swoop in and do all these things for me? Oh, they don't exist? Damn.

You'd think that I could bang out a few of these things over a regular weekend, but no. This last weekend I laid on the couch cuddling with my little girl, napped and watched the Olympics and my favorite TV show on DVD. I justified this because the Prince was off with his Daddy on a boys day, and I hadn't gotten more than two hours of sleep at a time all week. Plus, the Olympics are only on every two years so I HAVE to watch right?

To be honest, I really hit the ground at 60 miles an hour at work. We have two really big events coming up in Feb and March and I've been really busy trying to do all of the items for them. Therefore, when I get home I really don't want to organize an office or play with a drill gun (that's a lie, I would love to play with the drill gun but my husband can never seem to remember to bring it home from his job site!) After work I just want to relax and coo at my daughter, play puzzles with the Prince and hang out with my sweetie. Of course, dinner, bath time, and diapers can never wait. Calgon take me away!!

My issue is how to define my state of mind. Am I procrastinating? I DO plan to get all of these things done at some point. Or is my time eliminated too quickly? Are there just not enough hours in the day? Hmmm, procrastination or time elimination (or perhaps lack of education?!)
I think right now cuddling with the wee one, to me, is more important than doing laundry. Of course, come Monday morning clean laundry really seems like a necessity!

Mid-Night Suck-fest

2010-02-17T12:42:00.002-06:00

Alas, the little SweetPea has her first cold. I whisked her to the After Hours Care with dread in my heart when she started a very wet, productive cough. A cough for an infant under 4 months is usually not a good sign. Lucky enough she was checked out by the doc and seems to be fine. No fevers or wheezing so we are just waiting it out for now. She can hardly breath out of her nose and sneezing sends her into a coughing fit that usually ends with her gagging. That makes my heart skip a few beats!
Once the ol' ticker returns to a normal rate I really get into her face with the BSD (bulbous-sucker-doohickey) that we swiped from the hospital - I'm sure they don't reuse those things, but I like to think I'm stickin' it to 'em after the bill I received! I named it this after asking a dozen times in one hour for "the blue thingy that sucks the gunk out of her nose that we got at the hospital". BSD is much easier, descriptive and succinct! This thing is truly amazing. I can't imagine how she feels about it (I'm sure it's not a good relationship!) but it helps a lot! I get a weirdly gratifying sensation when a long string of green goop comes out of her nose. {sorry if you happen to be eating while reading this!} She usually cries and whips her head side to side, but when I'm done and she can take a good deep breath she looks at me like "oh, thank you!"
Needless to say I haven't been getting much sleep. I have to suck the gunk out at least two or three times in the middle of the night (usually before she's able to nurse). She sounds like a little piglet rooting for its mother at night, and I've been a very light sleeper. Every movement or sound I hop up and check to make sure that she's still breathing. Once she's a sleep though, she seems to do just fine.
I really feel for her. There's not much you can do for a child that small. At least us adults can take OTC drugs to treat the symptoms and feel better if not for just a few hours during the day. I haven't even tried Tylenol as I'm afraid it might mask a fever (we were told to bring her in "right away" if she develops a fever or gets lethargic). Otherwise it's just a waiting game. If she hasn't gotten any better by Friday morning I'm making an appointment with her doctor again. But for now it's a blur of days and nights living with the BSD, humidifiers, and crumpled up tissues littering every flat surface.
I know that this will not be the last cold she ever gets, but it's certainly one that I'll remember for awhile!!
Stay healthy everyone!

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T09:19:00.003-06:00

It's Valentine's Day today.
It's a day for love, laughter, and a healthy dose of family. Yesterday we went to my Auntie-in-laws house and had brunch with the whole extended family. I got to see all my favorite little people and big people. I was also able to share my little SweetPea with a few people who haven't met her yet. It was a lot of fun. My husband turned to me at about 2:30 and said "we have to go". I was ready (you really can only take so much!) But as anyone who's ever tried to leave a family gathering knows, it took a reeeeaaalllly long time. After searching for some toys and a hat, we were finally in the car at about 3:00. My husband then turns to me and hands me a business card with 4:15 written on it. He had bought me a foil and cut at a local spa for Valentine's Day! Just about two weeks ago I had been in a rampage complaining that I never have time to take care of myself and I just want to get my hair cut professionally and pampered a little! Wow...he really listened! Good work honey!!
Today we are settling down for some heart shaped pancakes, and some wonderful coffee with Blue Agave sweetener (its a luxury in our house since we can only find it at Trader Joe's). I'll be cuddling with my kiddies today and the husband is planning to take me to dinner and a movie tonight. He may be sucking up for some reason or another, but for now I'm going to enjoy the heck out of it!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Two Months

2010-02-09T18:39:00.002-06:00

I can't believe that my SweatPea is two months old today!
It's hard to look back and find where the time went. It seems like just yesterday my mom was here, my house was clean, and I had a brand new baby to look after. These past two months have been so rewarding, crazy, tiring, trying and of course full of firsts. SweatPea's first smile! The first time I left her for more than an hour. My first day back at work. The first time she told me a "story". The Prince's first time giving her kisses. He is a great big brother. I haven't had much time to look retrospectively. With two kids and a full time job, it's hard to even find time to use the restroom (and even then I'm not alone!) As I write this, she is sitting next to me coo-ing up a storm. I am so in love with her. I remember being able to sit and stare into the Prince's eyes, and my SweatPea isn't any different. I can stare at her for hours, of course that is only if she doesn't need to be fed, changed, the Prince is not whining or running around...I love my family.

I'm still a fan.

2010-01-25T13:28:00.002-06:00

I have been many, many things in my life. A daughter, an actress, a basketball/volleyball/softball player, a co-ed, a girlfriend, a bitch, a mother, a co-worker, and a VIKINGS FAN!
Hearts were broken last night as Vikings fans were brought to tears by our beloved team. We lost the NFC Championship game in a wretchedly sad 28-31 overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints. The Saints didn't win, WE LOST.
Some people say it wasn't so bad since it was the Saints...uh, it was pretty frickin' bad in Minnesota! The fumbles, the missed calls, the turnovers, and so on. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. There was absolutely nothing I could do about it and that really bothered me. Worst of all, the icing on the cake, the creme de la creme...a Favre interception on the last play that SHOULD have been a run, resulting in a field goal and a win for the Vikings. Alas, I am not a NFL coach (though sometimes I think I would do a better job) and I'm not sure what transpired between Brett Favre and Brad Childress.
Some people blame Favre for the interception. Yep, it was a bad call on his part, but in all honesty we wouldn't have even been in that position if it hadn't been for Brett. How many times throughout the course of the season did he lead a charge down field and throw a great pass to win the game? At least two that I can think of off the top of my head.
Some people will blame Childress. As the head coach, he should be held partially responsible but I don't think it was entirely his fault. A lot of Minnesotans will be calling for his resignation. I disagree with that also. Brad Childress has done nothing but grow the Vikings team, building a better season each year he's been head coach. Bringing Brett Favre to Minnesota was a brilliant plan.
I think the whole game was really a perfect storm. We were on the road which is not good for the Vikes. We were playing in an incredibly loud stadium. We were playing at night. The Vikings have only won one night game all season (as big of a Vikings fan that I am, I would gladly give back the win to the Packers to have won last night!) And let's not forget THREE multimillion dollar athletes fumbling the ball. Petersen is known for his lack of holding on to the ball, but to have Berrian and Harvin fumble at key moments in the game plus a HUGE interception from Favre...it was bad. I'm actually surprised that we didn't lose by more!

Yeah, it sucks that we lost. The game was tight from beginning to end. If the players on the field had looked around and gotten their act together, we wouldn't have been called for 12 men in the huddle resulting in a penalty which put us out of field goal range. I think the pass call at the end of regulation was a poor one, had that gone any other way I'm sure we would have come away with a win. If we had won the coin toss, we probably would have been able to get down within field goal range and win too. If we would have gotten a break on any of the reviewed calls in overtime, I think the swing of the game would have been changed. It all went the Saints' way and that is okay. Some day, SOME DAY it has to go our way! If by chance we can hold on to all our receivers, our running backs, AND Favre stays one more season (or we get another QB of that caliber) we absolutely have a chance to get to the Super Bowl next year. It's just too bad it didn't come together for us this year.
My biggest pet peeve is when people are fair weather fans. Don't take your loyalty away just from one or two bad calls. Getting the shitty end of the stick is part of being a Vikings fan. You never know when it's coming, but you know it will. Unfortunately, it came in the most inopportune time this year.

I'M STILL A HUGE VIKINGS FAN! SKOL VIKINGS GO!!!

Deep Thoughts, By Whale With a Why

2010-01-21T11:32:00.006-06:00

As my maternity leave draws to a close I have started becoming very introspective.
On one hand...
A large part of me can't wait to get back to work. My job makes me feel important in a respectful way, a way that being a mom cannot suffice. I like having a routine, waking up at the same time, going to the same place every day and having a completely different day each time. I really enjoy fixing problems (in my job that is a daily occurrence) and I like helping people when they need help. I like making money and I often feel like I'm a very large contributor to society. I enjoy working on a computer, seeing adults, and having adult conversations.
On the other hand...
A large part of me wants to stay home with my kids. I want to have play dates with other kids and go to the Children's Museum every day. Being a mom makes me feel loved and accepted in a way that nothing else can. I want to watch them grow and learn, I want to teach them how to cook and bake and how to play duck duck goose (yes it's GOOSE even though we live in Minnesota.) We would dance and play goofy games all day. I want to join the YMCA and go swimming and play gymnastics. I want to be that wonderful house wife that has dinner on the table when my man gets home. The house would be clean and organized, I would have the perfect family.
Reality...
I will start back at work next week. I will sleep in by accident and have to rush to work. I will go to the same place every day and have the exact same day. I will not always be able to take a shower! I will stay home with my kids on the weekends and my days off and they will have complete meltdowns and throw fits. I will work because I have to. We will go to the museum occasionally and hang out with our friends that have kids. I will work on the computer all day and not want to touch it once I come home. I will have adult conversations and play Castle with blocks all in one day. We may not join the YMCA, but we will have a jungle gym in our living room. I will cook when I can and bake on occasion. My house will be chaotic and messy. I will love it. I will be home. We will be the best family that we can be!
Somehow it will all work out and the only thing I can do is hold on for this wild ride!

My Son The Negotiator

2010-01-11T18:43:00.003-06:00

The Prince has become quite the negotiator lately. Everything has a "but..." after it.
"Can I have some marshmallows?"
"Not right now, we're going to have dinner."
"But, I will have just one now and then have dinner."
What?!? Where does he get this stuff?
I am sure that I'm at least partly to blame. I'm always playing the bribe game.
"If you eat all your lunch, we can take a bath later!"
I tried this gem today, "Let's eat lunch and then we can clean up the living room!" (with as much excitement as I could!!)
The Prince replied with, "I will eat lunch and then play with Playdough." Obviously I was going to have to take a different angle!
We recently just spent hours upon hours in the car. He was even negotiating his potty breaks!
"Mommy, I will go potty and then we will watch a movie." I would listen to the same movie over and over again in the car as long as I don't have to listen to whining!
He's really quite good. Even I can't argue with his logic sometimes. I just hope that he can put those wonderful skills to a good use someday!

2010 New Year's Resolution

2009-12-30T16:43:00.003-06:00

I'm hoping that by putting this in writing that I will keep it. I don't have any truly bad habits, but this New Year's I would like to make a few resolutions.
1. Lose about 30 pounds.
2. Get in good cardiovascular shape. It's embarrassing when walking up a flight of stairs with your co-workers and your out of breath. At least when I was pregnant I had a good excuse!
3. Yell a lot less,
4. Hug a lot more!
5. Get more organized at home (my desk at work looks great!)
6. Clean my house more often!
7. Use less resources (you know, turn off the lights, use less water, etc.)
8. Be more budget conscious.
9. Be more understanding of others.
10. Find a good hobby. Any ideas?

Welcome!

2009-12-21T17:34:00.002-06:00

Natalie Mae.
We proudly welcome our newest bundle of joy. Our nugget was born on December 9, 2009 at 10:11 a.m. She weighed 9 pounds, 7 1/2 ounces and was 21 inches long. Unfortunately for me we had to have another C-Section so my recovery will be longer, but little Natalie did not want to come out and my body did not want to let her! She was worth the 9 days of waiting. She is perfect in every way, she even lets me sleep a solid 3-4 hours at night already. I am completely in love with this little girl! The Prince is enamored by her also. He wants to hold her all the time and enjoys giving her kisses. The husband loves to have her sleep on his chest and cuddle her. In other words, our perfect little Christmas present has arrived. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.

Trepidation and Preparation

2009-12-08T15:47:00.002-06:00

So if this child decides not to join us in the world tonight she will be entering the world sometime tomorrow. I have a scheduled C-Section tomorrow morning, but I'm hoping that we can still do a VBAC if my body allows. Right now I can just hear my inner dialogue,
Body: "uh, you want me to do what?!"
Baby: "you need to contract and dilate so that I can come out."
Body: "where do you think that's going to happen?"
Baby: "right down there!"
Body: "nuh uh, find another way!"
(Yes, everything in my life has it's own monologue.)
So, we've found another way. Unfortunately I have to have a C-Section since the Prince was a one. Apparently there is a high risk for hemorrhaging with an induction and a prior C-Section. I'd rather not have to deal with that so we're going with whatever the doctor suggests. I've been on maternity leave since November 30th, so I'm also preparing for a fight with my employer's insurance company to give me a little more time off (with pay) as well. Otherwise I have been sitting around, wondering if every tiny pinch or kick is finally the start of labor. No luck.

Trepidation: I'm scared of having to deal with another C-Section (scar, pain, soreness, etc.) My recovery the first time was really nice and everything went well, but I now have a three year old home with me and I won't get to nap/rest quite as much as before. I also have some fears of the hospital bills themselves. I remember what the Prince cost and I'm not looking forward to those bills again! Yeah I know, I shouldn't be thinking about that sort of thing right now, but in my life, it's a big factor.

Preparation: I'm making a nice pot roast in the crock pot today (actually my mom is...it's wonderful to have a great mom that comes just to clean and cook for me!). This will be my last non-hospital meal for awhile and hopefully it will last a couple days (freeze the meat tonight!) after we get home. My mom and I (I'm very little help these days) have been cleaning all day and preparing for when I return from the hospital.

I can't wait until I can FINALLY hold this little girl in my arms...and have a glass of wine!

'Tis the Season!

2009-11-29T23:36:00.004-06:00

I truly enjoy the season between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It seems busy at the time, but how much fun is it to eat wonderful food, bake amazing cookies, and decorate the entire house? I'm still waiting for this baby to make it's debut, but one way or another she's coming out on Dec. 2nd! I can't wait for the house to smell like sugar cookies and pine needles (even though I have a fake tree, it always smells like pine needles during Christmas!!) I can't wait for the little Prince to get super excited about Santa coming and watching all the great old cartoons that I enjoyed as a kid. I love watching all the great Christmas movies such as National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Scrooged, Elf, It's a Wonderful Life, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original) and all those great claymation cartoons! I also love the new cartoons and traditions that we always seem to come up with. It's definitely my favorite time of the year, and this year I'm so very lucky as I will be home on maternity leave until the middle of January!
If I don't get back to you all before the holiday season is over, I wish each of you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year!

Still Waiting...

2009-11-23T18:43:00.002-06:00

Just a few words that are on my mind!

Yes, I am still waiting for this tiny little jelly bean (according to my doctor she's not so tiny, but you know) in my tummy to make her worldly appearance! In her defense she technically isn't due until next Monday, but I have always thought that I would deliver on or before Thanksgiving. I'm not afraid of her birthday in years to come, but I am afraid that I will be without my little Prince on a very precious holiday! Unfortunately because of this H1N1 craze the hospital does not allow children under 5 to visit at all! I'm hoping I can convince them that since he has been vaccinated that he is of no harm to anyone and hopefully he can get into the maternity ward after this little girl is born. We'll see. I'll miss my little Prince, but I'm sure I'll be super busy with my new little bundle of joy.

Waiting for Baby.

2009-11-11T12:22:00.004-06:00

At 37 weeks I feel like I can't grow anymore! However, my doctor says that I will continue to grow about a pound a week in the last few weeks. Yikes! I'm heading to the doctor once a week now and I could go into labor anytime. I'm really torn on this though, you see, I'm completely ready physically. The baby is matured enough, and my body is definitely ready to deliver. I'm even starting to have contractions now and then.

However, I'm torn because I'm not sure I'm emotionally or mentally ready for an actual birth. I had to have an emergency C-Section with the Prince because I was diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome and my blood was not clotting (a major problem in child birth). I was unconscious during the birth (to regulate my blood pressure) and don't remember much laboring at all. This time around I plan to try a VBAC, and I'm mostly concerned that my huge WUSS patch will show and I'll become a wimpering pile of goo. I also tend to get really cranky when I feel out of control and I'm afraid that I will alienate all of the nurses and staff at the hospital, not to mention my husband and no one will want to be around me!

Not only am I not sure that I'm mentally ready, but I'm definitely not prepared either! Everyday on my way home from work I go through all the items that I plan to do when I get home: make dinner, clean the living room, do laundry, clean my room, etc. However, I always seem to just veg out on the couch until 8:30 and then head to bed. I thought I was supposed to be nesting or something! Then again, I do curse my laziness every morning at about 4:30 a.m. (seriously, every single morning!) when I get up to use the restroom and stumble over a laundry basket or my ironing board that I can never seem to put away.

In my defense, I've had some chronic lower back pain for the last two months that no heat, massage, or a chiropractor can make better. This really prohibits any extraneous bending at the waist so it's hard for me to pick stuff up off the floor. This is where a three-year-old comes in REALLY handy! The problem there is to get him to put the items away, rather than just play with them and drop them in a different place on the floor. When he's in the mood, the Prince can be a really big help!

There is just so much to do to prepare for a birth!

Get all my insurance and paperwork in order to be able to leave work and still get paid! Who would have thought that a simple Maternity Leave would require numerous forms, confirmation numbers, phone calls etc. and I STILL have to touch base with my work after the baby is born to make sure the dates are all correct. Talk about red tape!

Get all my numbers and other items needed during or after the delivery. You have to call work, the insurance company, a pediatrician, and of course family and friends to spread the news! It's exhausting just thinking about it.

Make sure all my loose ends at work are tied up. This is more than just making sure the phone gets answered after I leave...I never thought I would be this in-demand! I guess it's a good thing.
Pack a hospital bag. Nope, I haven't even washed her clothes! Thankfully I had the forethought of washing all of the hand-me-downs from her big brother before I packed them away, so at the very least she'll have a onsie and some pants to wear.

Find all the baby stuff that has been stored away and rumbled through two moves!
Since most baby stuff is pretty cute regardless of the color, I've decided that the little girl rolling around in my tummy can stand to wear a lot of blue (hand me downs from her big brother!) We did go to Babies R Us the other day and bought a bunch of items on clearance with a gift card that we received. So she does have some girlie clothes too!

Search for all the pieces for the baby swing, crib, and monitors. This is interesting because all the cords look the same except they aren't! I did find the monitor items and tested them to see if they worked...the Prince thought they were walkie talkies and had a blast listening to mommy talk to him from his room.

Clean, clean, cook, clean! I have the biggest fear that when I get home from the hospital I will be overwhelmed with the cleaning that has yet to be done (because let's face it, I'm a huge procrastinator and the odds of it getting done before hand are slim!) I actually had a dream the other night that a big Sesame-Street-style pile of dishes was chasing me down the street. Did you know it's Sesame Street's 40th anniversary! I guess I've been watching too much news coverage on it...but I digress. I also wanted to cook a few meals ahead of time and freeze them. My husband's idea of cooking is either chili or dial for take-out. Since we are still a one income house I don't think eating out more than once a month is in the budget! I also hate the idea of eating out of a cardboard box since my main goal post baby will be to loose all the weight and then some.

So you can see that my list is long. I'm technically not due until the end of the month so I still have some time. I'm also making the 25th my last day at work (it's the day before Thanksgiving making sure that I have two extra days and an extra weekend tacked onto my leave!) so I know I can do some stuff then. I just hope the birth goes well and there aren't any unexpected issues! I'll keep you updated on the impending bundle of joy to come in (hopefully) the near future.

Why does D-TV have to be so D-ifficult?

2009-10-20T14:21:00.005-05:00

Digital versus Analog.

I know, I know for the last year or so (more since Obama delayed the switch) we have been hounded by the digital conversation of our ever so important television programing. First of all, I think it's all a hoax. I honestly have a theory that all those government approved digital converter boxes will someday turn into converter transformers and take us all hostage. Or, when the government finally gets their way and we all have government sanctioned health care, these boxes are going to start emitting gamma rays and making people sick to scour up some money for Washington. Okay, so those theories are a little anger driven, but I wouldn't be so angry if our digital television actually worked. I did get the government coupons (I'll be damned if I'm paying $50 for a $10 POS!) and we got two converter boxes to go in our house.
I seriously think that these boxes were made by some poor Chinese boy who was getting paid five cents a day to work in a sweat shop. They weigh nothing at all and if you've ever seen Jurassic Park you know that if its heavy its expensive. The buttons do not work well at all. And when I mean they don't work well, I mean they don't work at all! You can push the volume button and the channel will change, or you can push the 2 button and the damn thing will turn off! Recently I've started just mashing the controller with my hand to see what comes up...it's my own little game show.
This is all beside the point because I truly believe that I am suffering from ADD since we got the new digital converters. You see, you can be watching a program and all the sudden the screen will scramble and the picture will go out. This happens at least every 4-5 minutes (depending on the channel) and it's extremely frustrating when trying to watch football or any sort of programming. At least with analog you could enjoy the show even if there was a little static. Now I'll be sitting there waiting for the punch line to a joke and
*oh look a penny!*
There is one good thing about the signal scrambling all the time; since I get so frustrated I rarely want to watch television anymore!
At first we thought perhaps we need a boost for our TV to get the signals. Since the genius that designed our house used foil wrapped insulation ('cause it was the cheapest) you'd think that our house itself would act like one giant coat hanger, but I'm afraid that it's the exact opposite. We purchased a middle of the road digital antennae and put it up under the overhang of our house. This helps only when the sky is clear, there are no airplanes overhead, there are no cars driving by, and the butterflies outside flap their wings twice. I live on a very busy street in the Twin Cities, minutes from a major international airport and a mere 3 miles from a busy small engine airport, and it takes effort to get all those butterflies to get in synch! However, I can see both sky lines if I'm standing on the roof of my house! I do NOT understand how a digital signal can get scrambled from 10 miles away?!?
I think the true conspiracy theory was made by the cable companies.
[in my best evil gangster voice]
"Just in time for a giant recession, let's take every one's television away, see, so they HAVE to buy cable. Yeah. We can make it really cheap for the first three months, see, to reel them in, then smack them with the real costs of $100+ per month, see! Yeah, that's the ticket!"

Like I said, lately I haven't been watching much television so it doesn't bother me too much (except for Sundays when football is on!!) However, in a little over a month, I will be home all day long and even with my multitude of movies I seriously think I will be stir crazy by the time Christmas gets here! I guess I will just have to invest in TV on DVDs.

Hmmm, another conspiracy?!?

Happy Birthday Prince!

2009-10-19T15:08:00.012-05:00

So this last weekend was the Prince's birthday. He chose to have a Spiderman themed party and I pretty much went with it. I served Peter Parker Spidey Punch, Green Goblin Guacamole, Doc Oct's meatballs, and Venom's Caramel Apple dip. I didn't really make anything special, I just renamed everything for the occasion. I have this thing in my brain, call it guilt for being a working mother if you must, but I HAVE to make his birthday cake myself. Don't let me pull too hard on your heart strings...I use a box cake. This year, with the Spiderman theme I was really at a loss for what I would do. I thought briefly about buying one of those cake pans from Michaels, but since I'm also incredibly cheap I didn't want to invest in something that I would probably never use again. So I searched for a few ideas via the lovely and amazing Google. I found someone had made a street scene with Spiderman saving the day. While I didn't get too involved with the cake process (he's only three and it's going to be eaten!) I came up with this.

I purchased the Spiderman figurine and it actually worked out really well. Here are some pictures that explain how it was created.

I started with two yellow cake mixes. I baked one mix in a regular 9X13 inch pan, and the other cake mix was split in two square pans. I baked the cakes on Wednesday (for a Saturday party) and froze them so the would be easier to work with.

I used bamboo skewers to support the buildings. These went all the way down through the base of the cake.
I frosted the cake from top to bottom. I used an entire recipe of cream cheese frosting (from Betty Crocker's New Cook Book) for the structuring of the buildings and the outside. Then I had to make another batch for the base of the cake.
We used spray food coloring to make the grass look more "real". Although it is a cake based on a comic book so either way it would have been okay.After a couple hours of sitting out, the towers did start to lean. In the picture above I had to "shim" the building on the left even after I frosted it. *Tip from a Novice: always have a little extra cake to use for shimming or propping up the cake* Also, by the time I got the base covered with the new batch of frosting the buildings' frosting had hardened a little. Therefore the spray food coloring didn't soak in very well (you can see the near disaster in the picture above). I just used the rest of the second batch of frosting, dyed it red and re-frosted the buildings.
I purchased black frosting in the tube (black frosting is all over the place since the Prince's birthday is in October!) since I have no idea how to make black frosting. I then used icing to make the street "dashes" and Hersey's chocolate bars are the windwos. We thought the skewers looked like antenea's so we left them, but you can clip them down with a utility scissors or wire clippers, then frost over the top. Be sure to remember that there are skewers inside before serving!

Adding Spiderman to the top and we were set!

I did write Happy Birthday on the street. We tried to make a white chocolate spiderweb, but I over cooked the chocolate (damn my multitasking) and I had no time to go out for more. There was so much more we could have done (added cars on the street, or crushed chocolate cookies on the roof to look like tar), but I thought this turned out well for my first try (and sometimes less is more!)

Now let's see what I can cook up for his 4th birthday!! Happy Birthday my little Prince!

Skeletons in My Closet

2009-10-14T14:40:00.001-05:00

In preparation of our impending bundle of joy (or more for the impending guests that will inevitably be stopping by) we've decided to really organize our house and it's contents. This would seem like a nice weekend project right? WRONG! You see, there is no closet organization whatsoever in our house. The majority of our closets were left unfinished, and I'm lucky to have a hanging rod in my bedroom! There is only one teeny, tiny closet for the entire downstairs living area and until a couple weekends ago it was packed full of unpacked boxes (yes, we've lived in this house for over a year and a half and I still had boxes I had not unpacked...out of sight, out of mind!) The closet is now cleared of it's debris and dons a brand new hanging rod! I can actually hang up all of our winter coats and random sweatshirts! We plan to add shelves in there too for some additional storage of boots, shoes, and other essentials.
Another project that is underway is finishing our basement floor. The utility/laundry/storage room will be tile, and the "bedroom" and the someday-it's-supposed-to-be-a-bathroom-but-never-while-I'm-living-there-I'm-sure will have flecked epoxy paint (like you might see in a garage). I'm hoping we can get this finished before Thanksgiving, but time seems to be ticking away pretty quickly! In addition, the husband is back in school full time and finds juggling work and homework isn't quite as easy as some make it out to be. Hopefully once this is complete we can move some of the stuff that takes up room in our spare room down to the basement and actually have an office/guest bedroom/playroom (hey, I'm a multi-tasker and that means every room in my house will be too!!)
These projects, of course, are on top of the regular stuff you need to have organized by baby-time! Cleaning and organizing all the baby clothes, setting up the crib, making new padding for a found glider rocker (and when I say found I mean the Husband found it on the street corner next to the garbage cans...makes you wonder why they threw it out - hence why I'm making new padding for it!!), finding all of the baby items (bouncer, bottles, breast pump, swing, blankets, etc.), oh yeah, and preparing mentally for another newborn!!

Whew! That sounds like a lot. But the countdown is on...

Winter already?

2009-10-13T11:50:00.004-05:00

Monday mornings are hard. This does not even count when they have a 2" blanket of SNOW on top of them!! I woke up Monday morning to a snowy wonderland outside. I have to admit it looked really pretty! I am also glad that it came extremely early in the season since this will make my allergies finally subside. I guess this is the earliest accumulative snow fall for Minnesota in 24 years. Either way, the snow did not help my commute! It also doesn't help that I threw away my snow brush just a week ago thinking that I would have plenty of time to get a new one. My old one only had about three of it's original 8 "teeth" for scraping and it's bristles were all over the place. I had to dig through the husbands car to find his...luckily he had one! I've also discovered that scraping the windows and brushing snow off of a full-sized SUV with an 8 months pregnant belly is not an easy task! Breathless and weak from starvation (not really) I was off to work at a decent time and even made it to work early that day - yeah me!!
On the other hand, the Husband didn't have much work to do so he decided to keep the Prince home for the day and have a Daddy Daycare day. They were able to build a snowman (the snow was just perfect for it!) and they cleaned up the kitchen, did puzzles and made Jell-o! Now for a three year old, that was one heck of a great day. When mommy came home he was so excited to tell me about it that most of it came out in jiberish. Daddy had to interpret for me just a little. I was so jealous!!
I guess my turn will come in about 7 weeks when I get to stay home with both the kids. Of course going outside will be a challenge as well as playing with him, but we'll figure it out!

Hello Fall.

2009-10-08T12:39:00.005-05:00

So Fall has officially and figuratively arrived! We had about two weeks in the middle of September where I really thought Summer was going to make a comeback, but alas...Fall has won over. It's been about average high of 50 degrees and raining constantly. I think we've had an inch and a half of rain in the month of October (yes in the last 6-8 days). I seriously considered building an Ark! And did I hear the S word bantered around this morning on the news?!?! If the sun hadn't come out yesterday I almost thought I forgot what it looked like!

I do enjoy the changing of the seasons, but it would be nice if they changed gradually. Going from a high of 75 to a high of 47 over night is not gradual!! It also doesn't help that all my maternity cloths are made for summer and half my shirts no long fit over my belly (uh, how embarrassing is it to be visiting with the Executive Vice President and realize afterwards that your belly was hanging out!!) Luckily, I've become a wardrobe ninja and can fix most major problems with the grace and agility of a Panda. *this joke would only be funny if you've seen Kungfu Panda a zillion times like I have*

So, now that it's Fall, what is on the docket for us? I'm so glad you asked!!

The Prince's birthday! I absolutely love planning parties. I can't wait until the Husband and I are both working and we can afford to A) own our own house and B) have more parties! For my very favorite soon to be three year old we are planning a Spiderman party. I figure it will be easy to find spiderweb decorations so close to Halloween and of course the little man loves all superheros, we just happen to have the Spiderman movie for him to watch over and over and over. I also plan to create a cake with Spiderman walking up a building...yeah, we'll see how it works out. My backup is to have cupcakes!

Halloween! I really enjoy this holiday. Mostly because I really enjoy candy, and it tastes even better when it's given to my adorable child. We usually go out with a good friend of mine and her son (who's the same age as the Prince) and last year we had a ball! The boys loved the idea of getting toys and candy and my friend and I took turns snapping photos and giggling at our handsome terrors.

FOOTBALL! I love watching football and now that my Vikings are 4-0 it's even more fun to watch them. I'm officially a fan of Favre, but I attribute a lot of that to the fact that Minnesota hasn't has a decent quarterback in many years. He may be "over the hill", but age is truly a frame of mind. We'll take him!

Baking and enjoying the smells of Fall! I really enjoy baking and cooking for my family. I have yet to find a kitchen big enough for my taste, but hopefully someday I can design my own. Right now I make due with what I have. I love making apple crisp, dumpling soup, stews, and cookies (among other things). I'm willing to try any new recipe that comes my way. I really enjoy the smell of things cooking and baking...it's better than any candle Glade can come up with! I remember my mom always used to bake late at night (now I know it's because you have WAY more free time once the kids go to bed!!) and every once in awhile I would drift off to sleep with the smell of banana bread or pumpkin pie wafting through our house. To me, baking just smells like home.

Thanksgiving. This holiday combines my love for cooking and eating. Plus, there's an added bonus of friends and family in the house! I love to entertain for my family, however, this year I may have to take a rain check because of...

The impending birth of our second child!! This is really the best of the best of Fall for me. I'm so excited to have the holidays off this year and it will be a lot of fun to get to know the little girl inside me during the "Most Wonderful Time of the Year"!

Look at this belly! I still have two months left!

So these are my favorite things about fall. I have to say my favorite thing about any season is sharing it with my friends, husband and kids. It's always more fun to take a walk with someone while entrenched in good converstaion or to enjoy a park through the eyes of a three year old. Whatever you do this season, take time to really connect with the people around you and make sure that you enjoy yourself too!

Bye, Bye Summer!

2009-09-23T12:41:00.004-05:00

Fall is here (at least technically). Yesterday at approximately 4:00 central time Fall arrived like an old friend. It doesn't really seem like we had much of a summer this year. We didn't get above 90 degrees the whole month of July!! I remember as a kid coming to Minnesota for a week during the summer...it was ALWAYS hot and muggy. I just thought that was how it was during the summer! Not the case this year. I wasn't too upset about it since I've been pregnant it's nice not to have to deal with the heat and humidity. It does however make the winters here that much more unbearable. Come about January 5 or 6th the Christmas buzz (that literal tingle you get in the back of your head between Thanksgiving and Christmas from the constant sugar intake!) has worn off and you realize...now what? It's nice to look back at summer and remember those dire days when you are sweating just by sitting outside, not so much this year!
As an ode to summer I always like to look back and reflect upon the things we did...

Though it wasn't quite summer, our trip to Phoenix for one of my best friends wedding was sort of the start of our warm weather excitement. Not only did we get to visit with old friends and participate in a beautiful wedding, but the husband and I got to see the Grand Canyon for the first time (okay, technically the husband has been there before but he was very young and had very little recollection of it). We hiked around and wandered wherever we wanted as the little Prince was safe at home with Grandpa and Grandma!
Trip to Montana for my 10 year class reunion. The husband got to see all of my classmates (good and bad!) and we got to experience a good ol' fashion rodeo. The Prince enjoyed it for about 10 minutes and was then more enthralled with his cousin and wandering around the stands. I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I had wanted to because I couldn't imbibe nor did I have any inclination to stay up past 10 p.m.! Oh well, I guess I can wait until our 20th!
Independence Day. The Fourth of July is always a great deal of fun. I love fireworks and fortunately we live fairly close to downtown and were able to view a great display for free! The Prince was really enthralled with them and that always makes it so much more fun.
Visiting Como Zoo with my mom, sister, niece, and nephew! We had a great time seeing all the animals and of course visiting with my mom and sister (and family) since they live so far away!
Our first wedding anniversary! We celebrated with a movie and dinner at Ichibon's Japanese Steakhouse. The food is way over priced, but the fried rice was to die for!!
The husband's birthday. Click here for my post on our evening!
Random day hikes in Afton State Park, up north at Lake Superior, swimming in the St. Croix River (and other random lakes), and visiting with friends and family are always great parts of summer.

Summer is one of my favorite seasons. The lakes and water sports, sitting on the deck drinking a cold beverage, camping, not wearing a coat, flip flops, picnics, and swingsets are all things I enjoy during the summer.

Until next year!

Are you ready for some football?

2009-09-14T11:01:00.006-05:00

So this weekend was the season opener of the 2009-2010 NFL football season. I have to say that I'm a pretty big Vikings fan. In the Twin Cities you must either be a Vikings fan or a Packers fan, and sometimes things get pretty heated. The heat is on now that Brett Favre is the Vikings QB. It's still weird for me to see his mug on TV and not feel some slight disdain for him. Considering he was our rival leader for something like 16 years.

I love watching the Vikings and following the players and their stats. It does get more interesting if they are good and winning, but I'm a devoted fan and like them even when they lose. Of course, we had to go out and get a new antenna for our TV since up until now we've just used a dinky one for our upstairs TV which is about 12" (no cable for our family until the husband gets out of school!) We watched the game intently on our nice big TV in the living room and I must say it's much better to watch a game when you can actually see what the score is without getting an inch away from the screen.

Of course, the Vikings wouldn't be Vikings unless they made things a little interesting. At half time I was a little worried that last year's team had shown up! With Adrian Peterson getting IV fluids on the sideline and our offensive line letting Brett get sacked numerous times the outlook didn't look too positive (the Browns were actually ahead!) It's been my experience that if the Vikes are behind at half time, they will most likely win the game. If they are ahead at half time, they will probably spoil it and lose. Of course in true Vikings form, they rallied in the second quarter with Adrian scoring two touchdowns and Brett not throwing one interception for the whole game! Also in true Vikings form they allowed the Browns to get a 90 some yard punt return for a touchdown, and in the fourth quarter allowed them their first offensive touchdown in the last 7 games. These are garbage stats to me since the final score was 34-20 Vikings and let's face it, a win is a win.

I also had to watch some of the Packers-Bears game to see how our division is shaping up this year. The Packers didn't look too great and the Bears looked even worse! Just while I watched Cutler threw two interceptions and lacked any control of the field. The Packers' Rodgers didn't look to great either, but he did throw a nice end zone pass to save the day. Serves all those Bears fans right. It seemed like even the announcers were routing for the Bears! This Cutler QB is a rookie and I didn't see much talent in the second and third quarters that I watched. I guess that's good news for the Vikes!

"Why am I not on a fantasy football league?" you may ask. Well, I'm sort of selfish in my devotion. I really only follow the Vikings players and I don't really care about other teams wins or loses (except for those in the NFC North of course!) I don't think I would be really good at keeping a team up and running, plus in about two months I'm going to have a whole lot of things on my mind with a new baby! Maybe next year?!?

Next week we are facing the Lions in Detroit. They happen to be the worst ranked team in the NFL and haven't won a game since last season...however! One should never count the Vikes out for handing a losing team their first win. Whenever there's a strange and horrible stat for one team, the Vikings are there to break the streak. I'm betting they will win but since I'm not clairvoyant, I don't plan on speculating what the point spread will be. I just hope we keep up the good work!

GO VIKINGS!!!

Spontaneity, usually not my thing.

2009-09-02T14:42:00.008-05:00

One would think since I live in a thriving metropolis that I would never get bored.

They would be wrong. This weekend was a prime example. Granted, the State Fair is going on and if you believe the ads its the best State Fair in the country. It's also a lot of money! They charge you to park, to get in the gate, to eat, to play, and to entertain. Not only that, but you have to deal with crowds and crabby people (I'm usually dubbed their queen for the day). The only time I've ever gone to the fair is when I've volunteered and got a free ticket. Don't get me wrong, I think it's definitely a place to visit at least once! The Renaissance Festival is also in town this month. Again, it's roughly $20 per person just to get in the gate! Then they charge for food and beverage and anything else they can get. Needless to say I wasn't in the mood for crowds or any type of food on a stick.

So what is a poor country girl to do? Drive to the country of course!

Minnesota has a great jewel in her crown when it comes to Lake Superior. My only gripe is that the lake is too damn cold to swim in. Since it's so massive (width and depth), the water only gets to about 50 degrees during the summer. I guess when it's 90 degrees outside it might be refreshing, but this was not the case.

Sunday morning we decided to take an impromptu trip north (it's about a 2 hour drive from the cities) and we took in the "beach". I use quote here because when I think beach I think swim suites, sunscreen, towels, umbrellas and a nice cold Corona with lime. Lake Superior has everything a regular beach has except seashells and warm water. We wanted to take in the aquarium, but decided that we didn't want to spend $15 per person to see a bunch of Northern Pike (the aquarium is all local fish). So we drove up to Gooseberry Falls. I'm pretty pregnant now so I didn't want to take a major hike, but Gooseberry is perfect. It's got paved trails and the water was pretty low which proved well for some splashing around for the Prince. That was his favorite part!

I'm not too keen on impromptu or spontaneous things, but every once in awhile we all need a little spontaneity in our lives. This was a perfect afternoon with my loving Prince and husband. It was about 67 degrees out with clear blue skies, not too hot and not too cold. One could not have ordered a better day!

Take Care!

Birthday update.

2009-08-24T11:34:00.004-05:00

I mentioned a few days ago that it was my husband's birthday back on the 14th. I planned to make Pad Thai for dinner that night and bake a blueberry ginger cake for dessert served with cinnamon ice cream. Here's how the rest of the day went down...

4:30 p.m. - I had a pretty crappy afternoon at work so I definitely did not feel like slaving away on a dinner for the next two hours let alone spending about $25 on ingredients I didn't already have on hand. I figured for about the same price we could go to my husband's favorite hole-in-the-wall-totally-skeevy Thai restaurant that surprisingly has great food.

5:30 p.m. - still waiting for the husband to get home from carousing with his cousins.

6:00 p.m. - finally the husband is home and we are off to Grand Ave.

6:15 p.m. - I really should have known better. Grand Ave in Saint Paul is one of those kitchy neighborhoods that used to be a slum and is now all the sudden really hip and cool. We get to the location and Josh says "hmm, they must have changed the name." It did dawn on me that the name changed because the owner changed and it looked really over-the-top hip, but I didn't say anything.

6:25 p.m. - we found a parking lot and successfully navigated the busy street (what with a 2 1/2 year old and pregnant wife that can't run it took some navigating, let me tell you!) We walked into the tiny restaurant and I knew that we were in for a surprise. It was a little warm, but manageable at the time. The hostess asked where we would like to sit...um...how about those tables outside that looked lovely and comfortable in the evening breeze. NOPE, those are reserved. Okay, then why did you ask us where we wanted to sit since the only other table available was right next to the kitchen and bathroom. I asked the hostess how long this establishment had been open, "oh, we've been open forever! I've worked here for at least a year." I guess when you're 18 a year is forever.

6:26 p.m. - we sat down and the Prince thought it was really cool. You see this place was so hip that the tables were placed into holes in a raised platform. Sort of like sitting on the ground and as comfortable as it sounds.

6:30 p.m. - the waiter finally comes out with waters and menus. Four minutes with a busy little child seems like an eternity. My husband asked the waiter if the place had recently come under new management (we knew that it had at this point, we just wanted some vindication!) He said that the gal that owned it purchased it from a old couple about 2 years ago...approximately the last time my husband had patronized the place. This made complete sense to me. Well, we were already here and I was hungry so we approached the menu with trepidation. My upper lip is starting to sweat.

6:35 p.m. - we ordered (me being frugal) the cheapest entree on the menu and an extra plate for the Prince. I looked around for a sign of air conditioning, but didn't see any.

7:00 p.m. - seriously melting away!! This place was so hot inside that I thought I was going to pass out (okay, I exaggerate slightly for effect). Thankfully the door opened every once in a while and let a small breeze in. I tried to eat as fast as I could, but when you're that hot you just aren't hungry! I pondered the thought process behind the owners decision to build a platform table out of 2.5" particle board (the husband was astonished they would use that thick of wood 'cause apparently it's expensive) rather than installing some sort of air conditioning. I guess Thai food is best eaten in it's original Thailand weather...sweltering!

7:15 p.m. - the waiter asked us if we were interested in any dessert, but I just needed to get the heck out of that place so we gracefully declined and asked for our bill.

7:25 p.m. - my ice water is long gone as well as the ice out of the husband's empty soda. I'm trying desperately to keep the Prince from dropping his toys down the crack between the wall and the table while the husband eavesdrops on the near by table of ladies that have had just a few cocktails (it wasn't difficult!) GETTING ANGRY!

7:30 p.m. - Finally! The waiter brings out our bill and I ask for change.

7:35 p.m. - the waiter brings our change. I can see why this took five minutes because the register was all of about two feet from our table. He's obviously a veteran as I had $30 in change and he brought me a $20 and two $5's...silly boy. Had you brought me some $1's I would have left you at least a decent tip (I wasn't about to leave him a $5 which is exactly what he wanted). As it was I scrounged to find change to leave him 10%...serves him right for making us wait for ever.

7:37 p.m. - we finally escape out the door right as the party that reserved the outdoor seating arrives. Figures.

I must say, the egg rolls were pretty damn good and I'm not a fan of egg rolls, however, I'm never going back there again.

As for Josh's cake, he loved the soft and sweet flavor, but I completely forgot about the ice cream and we ended up eating it for breakfast the next morning. The recipe would make great muffins!

Why Paper?

2009-08-21T14:50:00.000-05:00

So a couple weeks ago was the husband and I's first wedding anniversary. I tried and tried to think of something special that we could do to commemorate this lovely event in our lives. I got a few suggestions from friends and family:

You should go to the same place you went on your first date! Well, the husband and I met at a bar where we were both playing sand volleyball. Our first date was mountain biking at Theodore Wirth Park. After that we sort of starting hanging out at each other's apartments, we never really had that "sweep you off your feet" sort of relationship (which is possibly why we've lasted as long as we have...no great expectations to live up to, yeah?) As all three of my loyal readers know I am currently about 6 months pregnant so neither of these were a good option.

You should recreate your wedding meal or visit your wedding site! We got married in my home town in Montana and our wedding meal was an assembly of family recipes and a roasted pig. Great for a crowd, but not so practical to make for two people! Also, driving 920 miles one-way to visit our wedding site was out of the question. We actually were just home in June and we were able to take a ride up to visit the tiny country church we got married in so we already sort of did that.

You could give the traditional 1st wedding anniversary gift of paper. Who comes up with this stuff? Paper, really? I am not sure I've ever requested paper as a gift in my whole life. Some suggestions were plane tickets (too expensive), concert tickets (again, too expensive), a picture (thought about this, but it seemed more of a gift for me than the husband) so we settled for some movie tickets and a dinner at the Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse in downtown. It was actually really fun to be downtown on a Saturday night and Mother Nature gave us a really neat light show to watch as we meandered back to our parking space.
According to About.com the following is for the first five years of anniversaries...
1st
Traditional: Paper
Modern: Clock
I don't know too many people my age that go out and buy clocks or paper (unless it's for your printer).

2nd
Traditional: Cotton
Modern: China
How about a nice glob of cotton? I got it free out of the vitamin jar! Now that's frugal!

3rd
Traditional: Leather
Modern: Crystal
Finally, something that makes sense! Here is a good excuse to get me a nice leather jacket!

4th
Traditional: Fruit or Flowers
Modern: Appliances
I don't know too many women that would baulk at a nice bouquet of flowers so that makes sense, but appliances? Most girls don't want a vacuum or a toaster as a gift! The only exception here might be a Dyson vacuum 'cause those are more expensive than all the appliances in our kitchen combined! Then again, I would probably be pretty upset that he spent that much money on what is essentially a chore so he loses either way.

5th
Traditional: Wood
Modern: Silverware
Again, if my husband brought home a gift of silverware...he'd probably get a fork in a very uncomfortable place. I guess wood might be a good idea, depending on where your mind is (I'll let this one slide...it's a family show!)

So, whoever came up with all of these gift ideas should probably not quit their day job. I think diamonds, a nice dinner, or flowers are always a good direction to go.

This year we had the whole night kid free (except for the kicking in my belly!) and it was really nice to be able to share dinner, a movie, and my feelings and love with my husband.

Happy Birthday Husband!

2009-08-14T15:06:00.005-05:00

Today is my husband's birthday!

To celebrate, I am making him Pad Thai (by request) and a blueberry gingercake with cinnamon ice cream - neither of which I've made before. I'll let you know how it goes!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Why do we always want what we can't have?

2009-07-21T10:02:00.007-05:00

Yesterday we noticed that we were missing one of our cats.

I tried to remember the last time I had seen her and I realized that she hadn't been in any of her usual spots that morning. She almost always has to be in the bathroom when I'm in there. She always sits on the nice clean towels (which is kind of annoying since she sheds all over them) while I take a shower. My conclusion was that it must have been Sunday afternoon, I remember playing with her and the husband's cousin's little girl. Sunday we had a few people over and Ginger probably slipped out the door unnoticed. She usually just runs outside and stops realizing that she has no idea why she wanted to be outside, just that she needed to see what was out there. I keep telling her, "Ginger, you don't know anyone but us. You have no front claws and therefore no defense. Think it through buddy!"

She just wanted what she couldn't have.

Perhaps we should have let her outside with supervision so that she could explore and wander with some safety. I somehow can't help but feel that it's our fault that she felt compelled to run away. Shouldn't we have heard her cries that evening? Shouldn't we have had some sort of sixth sense knowing that she wasn't in the house?

I've been able to maintain some sort of emotional stability since I'm still holding out hope that one of our neighbors found her and is just keeping her until her owners come looking for her. Yesterday we set out a can of tuna and one of our other cats, Milo, spent the afternoon in his carrier outside. We were hoping that some familiar smells would lead her home. Unfortunately the tuna was covered in flies and Milo ended up just taking a nap. No sign of Ginger.

I made up some flyer's today and had 30 printed. The husband is going to walk around the neighborhood handing them out and hopefully will find a lead. It rained heavily last night and I was hoping that I would find her curled up on our porch this morning. No luck.

Well, here's to hoping that a feisty house cat can make it on her own out in the real world. I can't say I blame her...I too think the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. This experience so far has taught me to appreciate what I have, and to know that change isn't always for the better.

I hope you come home soon Ginger!

UPDATE: Ginger was found at 10am this morning and brought into the Humane Society!!! We are so happy that she is alive and seems to be well. The husband says that she looks pretty worked over (perhaps a small scrape with a gang of alley cats?) and she was so tired she could barely hold her head up. Poor thing. First order of business is to make sure she is healthy with a vet check-up, then to get a collar!!! Hopefully she's had her fill of the "real world" and won't try to do this again...somehow I doubt that! We are so happy that she is home.

UPDATED UPDATE: After posting bail of $30 to the Humane Society, Ginger was then taken to a vet hospital where she was treated with a shot of antibiotics. It seems as though a car may have ran over her and she may have been drug for a few feet. Fortunately she has no broken bones and the only real damage is to her teeny tiny paws. The vet assured us that those would heal and her back claws would grow back. Luckily we are good Bob Barker followers and she is spayed (whew, no kittens in our future!) Right now she is just exhausted and recouperating in solitary confinement (for her own protection from our other two cats) in our upstairs bathroom. She is expected to make a full recovery after she gets a bath! Let's hope her "catting" around was enough for her. We did buy her a collar and an ID tag!

Hey, Where Have You Been?

2009-06-15T12:03:00.006-05:00

Hey folks! I know I haven't posted for a while, but I've been a little busy. The husband and I recently found out that we will be adding a new addition to our family! I'm due at the end of November and I've just recently been able to start the day without my face in the toilet.

Now, I admit that when it comes to nausea I would rather just get it over with and feel better (if not for just a few minutes) than spend all day having that "should I or shouldn't I" feeling about running to the bathroom. I have always had a weak stomach. I remember getting so excited about being in a play in grade school that I worried myself sick (literally) and wasn't even able to be a part of it. However, with all that said, I do not remember having this big of an issue while pregnant with my prince. I do remember some nausea, but it usually went away the second I ate something (which solves the "how did I gain 50 pounds when only 8 came out baby" dilemma I had). This time is completely different, my nurse scolded me for loosing 6 pounds between my first check-up and my second. I wanted to yell, "I can't keep anything down let alone want to eat every 2-3 hours!", but I refrained and just smiled and nodded when she lectured me about not skipping meals and to keep snacks on hand at all times (this doesn't help if you see the snacks about 10 minutes later on the way back out). However, recently my stomach and I have come to an agreement. I will eat one slice of toast with a ton of peanut butter on it prior to 8:00 a.m., but I won't eat anything else until after 10:30 a.m., and my stomach won't pitch and turn while I'm at work. It's a solid system that has been honed for the last 5 weeks.

I've also been plagued with giant headaches, a wonderful UTI, and a huge amount of fatigue. This, and a small amount of intuition, leads me to think that we're having a girl. Plus I think some Karma has been thrown in there for my husband who still thinks if he has a girl she will be boarded up in her room until she's 40. Honestly, I do not care which way it falls. I know, I know every mom says that "as long as it's healthy" crap. While healthy is always the major goal for my family, I would almost have some slight admiration for someone who is willing to admit that they would rather see a fifth appendage than worry about the fetal heart rate...hey, at least they are being honest! I really don't care if it's a boy or a girl. If it's a boy I think that my prince and him will have a wonderful time growing up and playing together. If it's a girl, I will be able to buy frilly dresses and polish her nails. Either way, I'm not too enthusiastic about repeating all of this anytime soon, but I'm sure I'll forget about it in about two years so who knows!
I think my sister said it best once, "post-natel memory loss is God's way of ensuring siblings!"

Despite what I've complained about here I am truly excited to have another little bundle of joy. I think my prince will be a great big brother as long as the baby does whatever he says and doesn't touch his big boy toys! It's always exciting to add to my mom and dad's growing family brood!

Chocolate always tells the truth!

2009-05-18T13:24:00.003-05:00

I saw this on someone's blog and thought it was fun. Take a peak and let me know if it worked for you!!

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1759 ...If you haven't, add 1758.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number

The first digit of this was your original number(i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week).

The next two numbers are

YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!!!!!)

THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2009) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS.

Did I just say that?

2009-05-07T11:10:00.003-05:00

I realize that it's inevitable that we will all turn into our parents at some point in our lives. It just makes sense...you spend a certain amount of time with someone, you'll start acting like them eventually. I'm extremely lucky in that I had wonderful parents that brought me up to be an upstanding citizen, I know right from wrong, and I am trying to instill the same morals in my own offspring. Here comes the scary part...
The other night at dinner we were all eating very nicely when my dear prince decided that there was a dinosaur in the kitchen. He has a very vivid imagination and refused to eat anything until something was done about this monstrosity. I reached back into the reserves of my brain thinking that this would be a great opportunity for him to learn how to scare off dinosaurs, demons, ghosts, goblins, and anything else that might scare him all by himself!
"You'll have to roar louder than him and he'll run away!" This was like a green light to a two-year-old. He roared loudly and the dinosaur left the kitchen. Unfortunately, this turned into a really fun game (for him) and dinosaur after dinosaur we had to roar loudly. After about two seconds this got on my nerves and I told him to settle down and eat his dinner. Thus, the tantrum ensues.
"Carrots are good for your eyes!" - something my father told me many times!
"You need to eat so that you can grow up to be a big boy!" - another gem from my folks.
"If you don't sit down and eat your dinner, you're going to bed hungry" - you guessed it.
"There's no crying in my house"
"Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about!"
It was at this point were I started to freak out a bit. You see, this was a famous quote from my dad, and he always meant it! I have to admit that a few of my mommy threats are empty, but this night I was willing to set him in his room and leave him there until morning.

[This reminded of a quote from Friends. Rachel was talking about how she was turning into her father, "I was trying so hard not to turn into my mother, I didn't see this coming!" One of my favs, sorry, I digress. ]

My parents are great and they did (and still do) have quite a few knowledgeable tidbits to pass down. It's just a little scary when they come out of my mouth without me even thinking about it!!

By the way, Happy Mother's Day to my mommy!!

Achoo!

2009-05-01T15:41:00.003-05:00

Oh, excuse me. Did I sneeze on you? My bad.
[sound of rushing water]
Oh, I see you are admiring my portable sink...
[squirt, squirt]
and my super industrial strength microbial antibacterial soap.
Yeah, I'm just being cautious about this H1N1 influenza virus.

First of all, I work for an Ag business so calling it the swine flu is really bad for business. Secondly, it must be a slow news week since the H1N1 influenza virus can cause someone to sniffle and it's suddenly world wide news justifying a media news brief that interrupts my regularly scheduled program. Soon we'll all look like the Chinese when SARS came out, walking around with the surgical masks on. I understand the whole idea of not wanting to get any influenza virus let along one originating from a pig, but I think there have been about 6 deaths world-wide reported which pails in comparison to the roughly 35,000 deaths from the regular influenza virus every year. I definitely understand those people with low immune systems should be on high alert. I can imagine that even a cold can turn into a rather big deal when you have no resources to fight it off!
I think if you are planning a flight in the next couple weeks you would really have to weigh your thoughts on how much the trip means to you versus getting sick, but don't you really have to do that anyway? I know every time I get on a plane I feel like crap for a good week afterwards. It's called sharing oxygen with a confined group of people from who knows where carrying who knows what...the convenience of getting somewhere far faster than driving is just worth it sometimes. If you have an immune deficiency you probably shouldn't be traveling like that anyway since even the common cold can be life threatening.

Stop making such a big deal out of this please! Move on the next moderately interesting news story.

Update: So I recently was told that there were some 30,000 people that died of the H1N1 influenza in Mexico. This does not sway my opinion since it's still around the same number for the regular flu and the Mexico health care system isn't anything like the US. I still say people are making way too big a deal!!

Spring Fever!!

2009-04-09T09:14:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I have to admit that I have been having spring fever for the last couple days. From inside, the weather looks wonderful! However, in the morning when you walk outside it's still 32 degrees (that is still the temperature at which water freezes!) It's supposed to hit about 60 degrees this weekend, but I'll believe it when I see it.
I must say, I'm not always a huge fan of Spring. Ever since my son was born, I've had horrible allergies! Usually the spring allergies aren't too bad, whatever blooms in the fall is what really gets my water-works going. There are wonderful things about Spring however...yep here comes another list!

Easter. This is always a great holiday and it's usually a surprise as to whether you will get snow or sun. This year looks like sun!!
Tulips. My favorite flower! These wonderful creations bloom every spring. Unfortunately I have not lived in one location long enough to make it worth my while to plant these myself, but I do enjoy everyone else's beautiful flowers!
Bon Fires. Bon Fires are the best when it's just a little chilly out. During the summer it usually stays too warm in the evening to enjoy one of these, which makes Spring the perfect time of year to stoke up the fire!
Babies. All animals alike are having babies this time of year. My sister not excluded! My nephew was born in March and it appears as though he fits right in like he's always been here!
Thunderstorms. I love the excitement of a good thunderstorm. I've enjoyed them slightly less since I moved to the upper mid-west where tornadoes are prevalent, but I still get a kick out of a solid crack of thunder and a flash of lightening!
Green Grass. I always marvel at the changing colors here during each season. Spring is spectacular since the Twin Cities transforms into the Emerald City! Every piece of grass glows greener during the spring and everywhere you turn it looks amazing.

It took awhile, but it appears as though Spring has finally sprung here in my frigid state. The mornings will take awhile to get warm, but eventually I will be complaining about mosquitoes and humidity!! Happy Spring to All!

Vacation's Over...

2009-03-25T13:40:00.002-05:00

Top 10 reasons why no one wants to go back to work.

10. No one wants to go through 250 emails in one morning.

9. You have to explain your trip over and over and even your best story starts to sound pretty lame.

8. You have to unpack.

7. Those people that never knew you were gone get mad because you didn't return their email - even after you pointed out that the "Out of Office Assistant" was on and they must have received a notification.

6. You can't wear a bikini, flipflops and a ponytail to the office.

5. Your suntan starts to wear off.

4. You can't remember what you were doing before you left!

3. You cleaned your desk before you left to suck up to the boss and now you can't find anything!

2. Everything seems REALLY urgent to everyone else, but you're still in vacation/free spirit mode.

1. You can no longer have a drink with lunch...at least not without getting fired!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T11:44:00.007-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our family celebrates this day every year without fail. With last names like ours, it's hard not to! The tradition that has rang throughout the years has always been corned beef and cabbage. My sister's family usually watches the Quiet Man, but we prefer the Boondocks Saints. Both are great Irish movies! I also have made Irish Soda Bread with Irish Whiskey butter (much better the second day) and other variations of Irish cuisine. As always, you have to have a green beer. My mom used to make our lunches on this day and everything would be tinted green, from the peanut butter on the sandwich, to the green jell-o, to green Kol-aid. What a great holiday!

I found a few myths and legends that they had listed at the MSN wesbite. I've picked out a few that I thought were pretty interesting.

In Ireland, the potato crop was traditionally planted after March 17th.

Blue, not green, is the color originally associated with Saint Patrick. “St Patrick’s Blue” is used on Ireland's Presidential Standard or flag, while the Irish Guards sport a plume of St Patrick’s blue in their bearskins. The emphasis on green is thought to be linked to “wearing the Green”, a symbol from the 18th century on, of sympathy with Irish independence.

According to legend, on the day of Judgement, while Christ judges all other nations, St Patrick will be the judge of the Irish. - What happens if you are part Irish and part German?!?

As we all know - Since 1962, tons of green dye are tipped on St Patrick’s Day into the Chicago river, although the quantity has reduced, for environmental reasons, from 100 to 40. - Let's just hope it's biodegradable or the fish might look like Blinky on the Simpson's!

Whether you're looking for your Pot O' Gold or enjoying a green beer, St. Patrick's day is a great day of traditions and fun. You better be wearing green or the leprechauns will pinch you! Most importantly, everyone is a little Irish on March 17th!

Daylight Savings...is it really saving my sanity?

2009-03-09T08:35:00.004-05:00

As most of us know this weekend was Daylight Savings and we were all suppose to SPRING FORWARD. If you do not know this, then you got quite the surprise when you were an hour early for work this morning!
We set our clocks forward an hour yesterday morning and all day I was completely screwed up. I understand that the reasoning behind this "time savings" is to help with energy. Uh, last I checked in the upper Midwest the sun doesn't really make that big of an affect on the global heat until late April. Even Wikopedia says that most energy saving studies are unsubstantiated.
Benjamin Franklin started this practice to save on lamp oil at night. This was back when people woke up with the sun. Nowadays, I get up at 6:30 AM whether the sun is up or not! I realize that this is only going to last a couple weeks and then the sun will be up that early too. It's just the initial change is hard for a night owl like myself. I can typically get more done between 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM than I can between 7:00 AM and 11:00 AM, but that is because my brain is already active and working. Plus my son being in bed is another major factor!
Speaking of my adorable son. He was wide awake last night at 10:00 PM and wide awake this morning at 5:00 AM (to his little internal clock it was 4!!) I'm not sure why he was awake and wouldn't go back to sleep, but since we are currently trying to break his habit of climbing into bed with us, I was awake too! It seemed fruitless to keep fighting with him after a half hour since I was already awake and I wouldn't have time to go back to sleep. So we were all up early this morning.

The most unfortunate thing is that he gets to take a nap this afternoon and I don't! Needless to say I'm not a fan of the Daylight Savings, even it if means I get an extra hour of sleep in the fall. Energy savings be damned.

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess!

2009-03-02T10:58:00.004-06:00

I love, love, love Dr. Suess!!
How amazing can one writer be that his books can span generations of readers! One of my favorite includes Green Eggs and Ham which was written on a wager. Dr. Suess' publisher bet him $50 that he could not write a book with only 50 words and so he did! The 50 words are:
a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, and you.
Green Eggs and Ham was published in 1960 and became the fourth best selling English-language children's' hardcover books of all time. In 1999, the National Education Association conducted an online survey of children and teachers, seeking the 100 most popular children's books. On both the children's and the teachers' lists, Green Eggs and Ham was ranked third, just above another Dr. Seuss book, The Cat in the Hat.
I'm not too particular to the recent live film adaptations of Dr. Suess' work (particularly the Cat in the Hat with Mike Meyers and The Grinch with Jim Carrey - just creepy!) I personally think that Suess' characters were never meant to be live, thus the creep factor. Horton Hears a Who is an all animation adaptation and is one of my son's favorite movies!

Oh Dr. Suess an ode to you, if I may
You are such an inspiration for children today.
So many stories of yours to read
The fantabulous characters are there indeed.
Green Eggs and Ham and the Cat in the Hat
Just two of my favorites to read as I sat
The Grinch and the Berenstein Bears are grand
I'll never forget Brother Bobby's Banjo Bagpipe Bugle Band!
The Zizzerzizzer Zat and Wombigglefords
Just a couple of new Dr. Suess created words
I've extended some people their knowledge of you
I hope it's reached just a few more than a few
March 2nd is your 105th birthday, I say
Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess, Happy Birthday today!

Snow Day.

2009-02-27T12:48:00.004-06:00

Yesterday it snowed. It snowed a lot. We got about 7.2" according to the morning news, but we really can't complain considering we've only had about 3 notable snowstorms all winter. I kept hearing all day about the schools that are closing and the businesses that are shutting down so their employees could go home. Mine was not one of them.

Throughout the day I kept checking the traffic cams on my route home to see how the traffic was. I wasn't in a rush to get out on the roads with complete morons. I checked for the first time at about 2:00 pm. The roads were noticeably busier than normal and everything was really starting to slow down. I was actually thankful that I didn't get out there with everyone else. By about 3:45 pm I was ready to confront the weather and the traffic. I had mentally prepared myself to be patient with the complete idiots that cut into the spot that I have left for a safe traveling distance. I had succumbed to the notion that it would take me an hour to drive 10 miles. I had checked the traffic and planned my route carefully.
I trekked out to my car wishing that I had some snowshoes because our parking lot had not been plowed at all and I was shuffling through 4 inches of snow. I reached my car and thought
"wow, my back window is really clean!"
It was then that I realized that it had rolled down.
On a side note, I really want to beat the crap out of the engineer that decided to put a button on my car remote that rolls the back window down automatically. This is the absolute most retarded idea I can possible fathom for a car. Needless to say this is not the first time that I have done this. Anyway, back to my story...
I dearly hoped that I had just happened to roll it down while walking out to my car...nope. There was about 3 inches of snow in the back. I have an SUV which the back is completely closed off from the front (sort of like a truck bed, but with a roof and sidewalls) so at least it didn't get all over in the cab. I still had to clean it out so I spent about fifteen minutes brushing snow off of some lawn chairs, a sleeping bag, a box, and a pool toy (what?) and I made a mental note to clean the crap out of my car! Luckily I found my ski gloves in the backseat so the snow removal was much less troublesome that trying to do it with my bare hands!
So now that I had cleared out the back of my car, it was time to clear off the car itself. Not only was it snowing, but the wind was blowing so the sides and windows were pretty easy, but the windshield had about 6 inches of snow piled onto it. Not the light fluffy kind, the heavy wet snow. Every time I brushed off the snow my scrapper would slide under the "crust" that had formed so I decided to forgo the scrapper and just use my arm. It took me about 20 minutes before I was seated in the drivers seat ready to pull out of the parking lot (I was completely covered in snow by the way!)
I put the car into reverse and nothing. I added a little more gas, nothing. Great, now I'm stuck! Thankfully, I have 4 wheel drive (now that engineer was SMART!). Now I was on my way!
Traffic wasn't that bad. It really only took me about 20 minutes to get home because I'd mapped out all the back roads. Even taking back roads poses new problems such as the roads were not plowed. I thought it was pure comedy when I saw these tiny sports cars trying to maneuver their way around these streets. My SUV was a champ so I didn't have much problem.
I only hope that this is one of the last storms of the season, however I'm sure we still have a solid month of winter left. I may curse having to pay for gas during the summer, but in the winter I love my big SUV!

Holy Floating Bananas Batman!

2009-01-27T10:18:00.004-06:00

I would like to draw your attention to the small box at the bottom of my blog. Go ahead, I'll wait for you to scroll down.

This box is a feed of simple and otherwise less known facts from history that are associated with the day's date. Forty-two years ago today (January 27th) the "Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and other Celestial Bodies" now known as the "Outer Space Treaty" (whew, I'm glad they shortened it. I ran out of breath just reading it!) This treaty was opened for signature to the US, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union - that's Russia for all my younger readers - on January 27th, 1967.
When I first read this my initial reaction was "hey, I'm glad no one can take over the moon and point nucs at the US!" As I thought a little more I became almost disappointed that Marvin the Martian can no longer create his huge telescope looking devise and point it towards Earth. What will Bugs do now? I guess he will just have to keep bugging Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam. My THIRD thought was a little more nerdy than I would like. I'm wondering if this treaty is the start of all the treaties they talk about in Star Wars? Like, the words of the Outer Space Treaty will be etched into some super galactic stone, and they will write books that will be passed down from generation to generation...the ramifications of this treaty could spawn a intergalactic war someday!

The best part about this treaty is those that test it's strength. A Canadian artist Cesar Saez is planning to float a giant helium-filled banana over Texas in 2008...
I can't make this stuff up.
Apparently the Canadian and Quebec Arts Councils support this with a straight face.
Here's a few links to see for yourself how odd and extraordinarily bored people must be in Canada.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/MYSA010707_18A_NZ_State_banana_2a4a874_html6116.html

http://www.geostationarybananaovertexas.com/en.html

Noting the January 7, 2007 date of this web post, I could not find any substantial evidence that this did or did not actually occur. The website is no help either as most of the pictures are completely worthless. This guy sounds like he's a little obsessed with phallic objects floating over what is a renowned Republican state. Whoever names their kid Cesar is just asking for it anyway.

Well, check out the feed sometimes. It's not always this weird I promise!

Why can't I finish things?

2009-01-26T09:57:00.004-06:00

So, my fridgid state has not yet reached above 35 degrees and this weekend was no exception. It was single digit highs and below zero lows, so we stayed home...all weekend long. I started getting stir crazy Sunday afternoon, so I devised a plan to start a homemade blanket. I was planning to use all my t-shirts that I never wear anymore. It seemed for a few years there I was getting a t-shirt for anything I did! I have shirts from concerts I went to, kickball teams I was on, shirts from highshcool, grade school, and college. I have volunteer shirts, sports shirts, and souvenir shirts. They are all going to be made into one useful thing.
The husband was thrilled that I had stopped watching Gilmore Girls and I was cleaning out the plastic tote that housed all of these unused items. I layed them all out. Measured how much of the shirt I was planning on using. I drew up a diagram on some graph paper and I was finally ready! My plan was simple. I was going to have a 2" border around the whole thing (made up of the scraps from the shirts that were cut up) I was planning on using the back of the shirt for the back of the blanket, and all I was going to have to do was sew in a straight line.
I was pondering where to start when I all of the sudden realized that I was going to have to sew in a straigh line for a very LONG time! At this point it was already 5:00 pm...it had taken me all day to just think up a plan! Well, now it was time for me to make dinner and then I would have to get my prince cleaned and off to bed soon. I folded up all the t-shirts, placed the already cut ones into a plastic bag, the scraps into another bag, and everything back into the tote.
Hopefully next weekend is just as cold!

Why is it so COLD??

2009-01-14T11:28:00.002-06:00

The upper Midwest is known for it's unpredictable weather. From tornadoes to heat waves to cold snaps...I just can't wrap my mind around what's going on sometimes!

We are in the middle of a VERY COLD "arctic blast" - is how the weatherman put it. In my book, once it gets below 10 degrees it really doesn't matter what the temp is anymore, it's friggin' cold! Today for instance, we will have a high of -5 degrees...that's right folks, a HIGH of NEGATIVE five degrees!! Can it really be considered a "high" if it is negative? They should just say "the warmest friggin' freezing temperature for today is..."

I'm sorry, when did I move to Antarctica? Actually Antarctica was 7 degrees warmer than here!!

There are so many things I hate about winter (and thus starts my pining for spring!)

Dry skin. My hands always bare the brunt of the cold, dry weather. No matter how many times I put on lotion, my hands are always dry and cracked.
Rush Hour Traffic. You would not believe how many retarded people come out of the wood work after it snows. It could snow only a half inch and people are still skidding off into the ditch, driving 20 mph on the interstate, slamming on their brakes on bridge decks, and cutting in front of me when I have clearly left only enough room for braking time between me and the car in front of me (that's not a spot for you, it's safety!)
Getting into a cold car. I hate having to sit in the parking lot at work freezing my butt off while the car warms up. I've been told by all men and any mechanic that i need to let my car warm up when it is that cold outside...uh what about me?
When your eyes water or when you start coughing because the air is so cold. I honestly felt like wearing my ski goggles to work today!
When people constantly complain about the weather. It's fun for a good opener to a conversation, but let's leave it at that will ya?
People that are going on vacation right now. Inevitably there is always that schmuck at work that is going to Hawaii or Mexico this time of year and can't stop talking about it. Yeah, you're awesome, we get it.
Wet puddles of melted snow all over the house. How hard is it to take off your shoes? If you don't like wearing just socks then you should get some slippers. You know who you are!
Hats. I hate wearing a hat after I've spent time doing my hair. I would just brush and go, but then you have that one girl at work that always has perfect hair and makes you feel like a slob (she happens to sit right next to me).

Well, I hope that my loyal reader enjoys the weather, because soon we will be complaining about the mosquitoes and the humidity. It never ends!

Christmas Traditions

2008-12-19T10:28:00.004-06:00

Today I happened to be reading an article on FoxNews.com and I thought at first it was going to be another attempt to de-Christmas-ize our society. After reading through the whole article it really made sense to me!

Article

I LOVE this idea. It's so unfortunate that kids today think that Christmas is all about presents! Now, I am by no means a weekly church goer. I usually feel compelled to attend church on Christmas and Easter and an occasional Sunday in between. My biggest excuse for not attending is that I don't want to join a church and then move and have to join another church. I want to buy a house, then become fully invested in my neighborhood and community, including the church. I do, however, greatly value my upbringing and my involvement as a child in our local parish. I grew up Lutheran and I LOVED the Christmas Eve sermon. It was always about a really good story that I knew well since I was a kid. We got to light candles, they would turned off the lights and we would sing Silent Night...one of my all time favorite Christmas carols.

The thought of my son growing up without a soft and loving memory like that really makes me sad. I don't think he necessarily needs to grow up with a memory from church, but a memory that doesn't involve his favorite toy or how many gifts he got to open would be nice!

Since I met my husband and we've started a family, we've already spent a couple Christmas' away from my family back home. We have had to start our own traditions and I'm trying really hard not to create "greedy" ones. For instance, we have had artichokes on Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember! My brother also joined us this year and he provided the Schmidt's Bakery rye bread that gets spread with Cheez Whiz and sprinkled with green olives. I bought some crab legs and we made salmon. I've always made cookies and this year was no exception with the help of my cousin. The food at Christmas time is so special and unique, it's one of my favorite parts of the holidays.

After dinner we sat down with a glass of wine and allowed my son to dive head first into the presents that he had been so patiently waiting for. He opened a few that had clothes and other items, but with the first toy he opened the angst to open more vanished! He couldn't wait to play with the toy and he didn't care if there were others under the tree. I practically had to beg him to open a couple more and then I just gave up. We did get them all opened by the end of Christmas Day, but it started me thinking. Obviously as a child we aren't programed to be gift getting gobblers. One toy was absolutely enough for him. Granted he's two and I'm sure that mindset will change, but does it have to? The dollar amount of the toy may go up, but he doesn't have to be inundated with toys and lights and games, he was perfectly happy with one. I hope to nurture that feeling for as long as I can. I hope that as he grows up he understands that it's not the quality or quantity of the gift, its the relationships you have and the thought behind the gifts that is the true meaning of his tradition.

In true two-year-old fashion for the next three days he asked to open presents, but this time of year I can see how he is confused. A couple weeks before Christmas we always go to my husband's grandmother's house for dinner and he gets a gift there, then we have Christmas, and there is usually some sort of additional family get together where he gets to open presents yet again. Perhaps next year I will just wrap up some empty boxes, or better yet, take his toy apart and wrap the individual pieces, because it's not the item that he's after...it's the actual unwrapping that he craves (how often does mom allow you to rip paper and make a big mess??)

To wrap up my tangent (pun intended), I will say this...family traditions have lasted me much longer than any of my childhood toys. To me, that is what is so special during this season. As we look into the New Year, perhaps we can all start appreciating the smaller things more.

Black "Eye" Friday

2008-12-04T14:02:00.006-06:00

My Black Friday Story.

Black Friday is always a conundrum for me. As I grew up, we lived about 80 miles away from any major chain store, so there really wasn't any desire to wake up at 2AM to make it to the stores in time for a good deal. This year, my mom and I looked through the fliers and tried to gauge whether we were going to brave the crowds or not (I've since moved to a big city and the major chain stores are right down the street) I tried to see if there was anything I was willing to get punched in the face for...there really wasn't.

So we slept in, woke up and I made cinnamon rolls, we drank coffee and played with the wee one. We had a very relaxing morning. Around 11:00AM we decided that there were a few things that we thought might be worth the crowds and headed out to the local mall. Our plan was for the husband to drop my mom and I off at the door and then look for a good spot with no hurry. It just so happened that we walked into the right department, found the exact item we were looking for, and it happened to be the last one! My mom also found a few other things she was looking for while I stood in the checkout line. The lines weren't long, there were plenty of staff around to help, people weren't rude, and everyone seemed to be in a pleasant state of mind. This is how shopping should be, not just regular shopping, but Christmas Shopping to boot!

The absolute worst story I heard about this year was that of the man from New York...

This day should have been termed "Black-Eye Friday". Not only do we hear about altercations every year on this day, but someone actually lost their LIFE! And all those people that didn't bother to think about their actions just kept on shopping. There were lines outside the store all day. Wal-Mart didn't even bother to close it's doors to restore order after this mishap. They just kept filing the people right by "Oh, don't mind the man lying on the floor, the Plasma TV's are over there." This just makes me sick to my stomach. I think Christmas has truely lost it's meaning when things like this happen. To think that in this day with the economy down, unemployement up, and everything else going to hell in a hand-basket that people would be able to focus on the more imporatant things like health and life. Unfortunately in America with the mass consumerism we just focus on where we can get our X-box the cheapest. This year, we will exchange gifts, but there will also be a lesson at my house on the 24th. I plan to teach my son about the meaning of peace on Earth and good-will towards man. I'll make sure, as he grows up, that he knows this time of year is about merriment and joy, about giving not receiving, and about family values and recognizing those that we love. In addition, we can have the fun Santa traditions and trimming the Christmas tree, in my house and heart there is room for it all.

So to all that I love, Merry Christmas and I hope we have a better New Year.

Holiday Cleaning

2008-11-26T11:23:00.004-06:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. My mom is flying in tonight and we are having my in-laws and my aunt and uncle over for dinner. Yes, dinner at my house! The husband and I spent all last night cleaning, getting to bed at around midnight. I must say, it's the cleanest our house has been in a very long time. I always bust my butt to get things just so before company comes over, I think its a throw-back to my childhood. Besides, it's one thing to wallow in your own filth, it's a whole different thing to wallow in someone else's filth. It's amazing how much crap we can accumulate in just a month. The last major cleaning was in Oct when my son's birthday party was held at our house. I love lists, so here is a list of clutter that bugs me the most.

Mail. Junk mail, real mail, invitations, announcements, bills...I never know when to throw something away. Obviously you throw away invites after the party has come and gone, but what about all that other mail? Cards from birthdays or other holidays. Someone took time out of their life to pick this card out for you and then you read it and throw it away? That is sort of callous don't you think? Junk mail you think is junk, you throw it away and all the sudden your credit card company says "we've raised your rates because you didn't call to tell us not to.(?!?!?) We sent you a letter about this." (me) "well, you send me about 5 letters a week and 99.9% of them are trash. How can I decipher the trash from the important stuff?" Needless to say I cancelled that card.
Random crappy toys. You all know what I'm talking about. The crappy toys you get in Happy Meals or the ones that you get a kids birthday party. My son seems to think that these are way better than the $20 toys he gets from his birthday...I think for Christmas I'm getting him a wooden spoon and a cardboard box. Imagine the possibilities!
Empty CD cases. I usually try to re-purpose these for CD's with pictures on them or what have you, however, the majority of mine are cracked (from hiding underneath clothes and getting stepped on). Do I save it? A sub-point to this one is also the random CDs that you didn't mark...are they precious day of birth pictures or is it an empty CD? Who has time to sit there and read all the CDs?? From now on I mark all the important ones!
Paper DVD covers. Why????? Why to companies put that crap on their DVDs? The plastic cover isn't good enough? Inevitably I always find about 3-4 of them underneath my TV table...I've relinquished to just throwing them away.
Random nails, paper clips, broken wheels, and other such crap. First off, let me say, I love having a junk drawer. This drives my husband crazy! He shudders to think of an entire space dedicated solely to crap (drawers are limited in my house so I have a "junk shoe organizer" hanging on the back of my closet door). I, however, feel comforted by it. When I need just one nail, I don't have to wade through his tool box to find it, I can look in the "junk rack" and find it just as easily (and less dirty). I can also throw crap in there that doesn't have a specific home...it's great. I feel like Monica on Friends. Did you all see that episode when Chandler found her secret closet? I am by no means as much of a neat freak as she, but it's still funny and so true.

Well, I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a very happy holiday season. I also hope that at least some of you have to clean your house for relatives and you will know exactly what I'm talking about!!

Why do people come to work sick?

2008-11-13T13:28:00.002-06:00

You know when you are sick, the aching back, the cloudy feeling in your brain, it feels like someone is standing on your chest and squeezing your head.
So my questions is, when you feel that bad...

WHY COME TO WORK?!?

I am all for companies automatically giving you days off for being sick that don't count towards PTO. Can you imagine the kind of efficiency you could have if only one person took one day off versus 18 people taking 18-20 days off?
As you have probably guessed, I have recently caught the horrible cold that everyone at my office has been sharing. I don't know who it started with, but every day I would hear someone else sniffling and hacking. I vehemently defied the virus with everything I could, but finally, it infiltrated my cloud of disinfectant and hand sanitizer. Damn you cold virus!
So now, I'm the annoying sniffer and I have to put people on hold for my coughing fits. I get the "oh, you sound sick. You poor thing" with every phone call (regardless of whether I even know the person on the other end!) I take my daily regiment of DayQuil and vitamin C. At night have the the Breathe Right nose patches and my lovely, lovely NyQuil (Dennis Leery was so right!)
But couldn't this have been avoided by the first person saying to themselves, "I don't feel good. My job is not that important to where someone wouldn't miss me for one day if I took the day off and prevented the cold virus from contaminating the entire office thus infecting all of my co-workers." No, that first person decided that they needed to get to work and share their lovely germs with all of us.
I guess it's THAT time of year again. Cold and Flu season. Perhaps big corporations can start making that into a holiday to spread the wealth? You could have a gift exchange of decongestants. They could sell cards that when you open them spray you with disinfectant. We could decorate our homes with Kleenex and those silver bubble wrappers that pills come in. We could go door to door and people could hand out Halls lozenges. We could have people dress up like bacteria and sit in malls with kids getting their picture taken with them. This holiday could make up for the lack of holidays in the months of January - March (seriously, we go from Christmas to no time off until Memorial Day!) It's just a thought. With our sagging economy we could just add another gift giving holiday in there and people would eat it up.

Maybe it's just me and my DayQuil talking, but have I gotten my point accross that I hate being sick?

This magical time of year.

2008-11-07T14:00:00.003-06:00

There's something about the this time of year, the first snow, the warm baking of fragrant goodies wafting through the house, the wonderful sounds of laughter coming from small children as they play during family get-together's...that is until the first snow turns into the first hour long commute, the fragrant goodies turned black because you forgot to set the timer, the sounds of laughter turn to tears because "she hit me", and the family get-together's turn into long marathons. Of course, none of us have ever experienced any of those things!

Major holidays have long since been my Nemesis. I tend to hurt myself only on days that the banks (and some hospitals, at least in a rural town) are closed. In fourth grade on the 4th of July I ran into a horseshoe pole that just so happened to be freshly cut, then pounded into the ground (rough edges). This incident left a large gash in my right shin. On Thanksgiving one year I was opening a can of cranberries and like an idiot tried to pry the lid off by holding the freshly cut lid between my middle finger and thumb...sliced them to the bone. I broke my arm one year two days before Easter, and let's not get started on the croquet wickets. Most recently, though not a major holiday, I sliced the tip of my thumb off the day before my son's birthday. I guess I get so excited on holidays that I forget my brain.

Now that I'm older...and know my enemy well. I tend to be a little more careful on those special days. I shy away from putting Christmas lights on the roof, I don't light candles, I no longer open cans on major holidays, and I rub a rabbits foot then turn around three times and throw a penny into a wishing well before opening the oven door. Okay, so maybe that last one is a little much, but everything counts right? No one wants to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas in the Emergency Room!

So this year, along with your baking and cooking needs, remember to stock the first aid kit too! You never know when I may be coming to dinner!!!

Election Day

2008-11-04T12:52:00.005-06:00

Thank goodness this day is here – and nearly over! I for one cannot stand another smear commercial about those running for political office! Whatever happened to letting people know what you stand for? If I listened to those commercials, I would have no idea who to believe, what to think, or what they stand for regarding the politicians in my state. Here are a few of my biggest pet peeves this election.
The money spent on smear ads.
It really makes me sad to think of all the money that is being spent on TV ads with half truths about other candidates. Tell me what YOU plan to do about the economy or the housing markets. Tell me what YOUR stance is on health care and education. I do not care if you used to be on Saturday Night Live or if some rich guy buys you suits. If I had a dollar for every commercial I heard about someone not being "fit for office" or someone else having "Bush politics" I would be able to put on my own Obama-mertial (which happens to be another example of money “well” spent.) The most unfortunate thing is I think most people really do get their opinions from these commercials and head to the polls miss-informed. That is the true travesty of our nation. No one bothers to do any research when making a decision.
You know what would really impress me, if someone ran a commercial saying exactly what they plan to do while in office and then donated all the leftover campaign funds to a charity. Now that would get my vote.
“Bush Politics”.
This concept that George Bush has his own set of politics and that he has such a commanding grip on the entire GOP that everyone within that party is a drone working solely to help out Bush and his ideology is completely ridiculous. Enter our right to vote leaders into office that will do the best job regardless of whether they are DP or GOP.
Everything is the [enter current presidential party here]’s fault because the current president is [repeat party name here].
Congress currently has a democratic majority. (In the 2006 election the Democratic Party won the majority for the first time in 75 years. In 2007 the Democrats gained the majority seats in the Senate - www.senate.gov and elections.foxnews.com). This means that the Democratic majority Congress and the Republican President had to be in agreement in order to pass things into law. I am no expert, but I'm pretty sure that if the president made all the decisions all by himself we would no longer be a democracy. Last I checked we were still in the United States of America. I’ll sit back and let anyone blame Bush, but when people start to generalize everyone into the same category, that’s where I get heated. It’s like saying “Oh, you’re from Ohio? I know a guy from Ohio that robbed a bunch of people. That must mean that you are a robber too.” This type of sweeping statement is just ignorant. Everyone should get a fair chance. Oh and by the way, Bush did win the last election so if you want to place blame, talk to the voter majority in 2004.
People that make fun of McCain because he can’t raise his arms above his head.
Seriously? Would you make fun of someone that lost a leg in Iraq? Would you make fun of someone that has burns scars all over their face as a result of an IED attack? NO! I don't know anyone, not even the most cynical person can ethically or morally do that. Click here or here to read the facts about why John McCain has limited mobility in his arms. I just want people to know that regardless of your political views, John McCain fought for many years and suffered at the hands of captors for our country. At the very least we can honor him as a POW and the war hero that he is and refrain from laughing at his limitations.

I've never voted for someone because of their party affiliations. I always vote for the person that I think will do the best job. Now go out and make an INFORMED vote!!

Whew, I think I should lay off the coffee on Election Day.

Fleeting Days of Warmth

2008-10-30T09:53:00.007-05:00

Today we are supposed to have a high of 67 degrees! That's darn near 70 and that's the kind of weather that I love. No humidity, nice warm days but cool nights. Unfortunately they are already spreading the S word around here. We had some flurries of s...s...snow on Sunday, but nothing accumulated and that was just fine with me. Saturday was a beautiful day and we decided it was probably the last time we would get out to look at the fall colors. And since the gas prices are seemingly low here for now, we thought it would be fun to drive down to the bluffs along the Mississippi River. The trees there are beautiful, even though we had missed the peak color. It was still a lot of fun. Here is the view from the top of the bluff down into the river valley.

I'm not sure I'm ready for winter. I like being able to walk out the door without 20 minutes of prep. Finding jackets, hats, mittens, and boots is just the tip of the iceberg! First I have to run out and start the car, then wrestle him into his clothes, then find my winter items, then wrestle him into the car seat with all that extra padding, I'm usually sweating before I actually get into the car! I will leave the "driving in the snow" for a later blog, but let's just say I'm not a fan. I'm planning to enjoy these last few days before the ground freezes and the snow flies. Somehow I'll make it through until Spring!

Birthday Barrel of Laughs

2008-10-28T08:54:00.010-05:00

So last week was my son's 2nd birthday. I went onto Evite to send out invitations as I hate filling out things by hand and then finding time to go to the post office to mail said things. So email was easier! The only good "theme" I could find for my son's personality and age group was a monkey "barrel of laughs". It was really cute and turned out to be pretty easy to run with. Everyone that replied had a good monkey come-back and since my son likes Curious George it was easy to find a few decorations.

Rather than have traditional party hats we had monkey masks. We ate monkey chow (or puppy chow to others) and banana bread. And I made a monkey cake. Yes, I made it and not to toot my own horn, but it was damn cute! I started with two box cakes and baked them into a two layer cake, and a monster cupcake using a flat bottomed glass bowl, plus there was some left over for normal cupcakes to munch on while decorating! I let the cakes cool overnight. I cut the rounded top off the massive cupcake and used that as the nose/mouth area.
Then I used the bottom of the cupcake (cut in half) for the ears. Here's the result!

I was a little nervous about hacking into a monkey head (though monkey's brains are a delicacy in Cantonese cuisine) I thought my son may have a little fit. Of course he really just wanted the cake and didn't care that I was chopping up my masterpeice. I was glad I re-thought using red velvet cake (my personal favorite) and went with the traditional chocolate. My son loved it, he now calls all cakes monkey and wants to sing Happy Birthday and blow out any candle even if it's a scented candle on the table! I think its great. I can't wait to do his next birthday cake!

High Risk??

2008-10-13T15:53:00.003-05:00

Since when did daily routines become so "high risk"?

It seems in these tough times that everything is a gamble. For instance, gas prices are so volatile that if an ant sneezes in Uzbekistan gas sky rockets to $3.50, but if a butterfly flaps its wings in Kirghistan, the price plummets to $2.65. It literally is a guessing game as to when is the best time to fill up your car. You could either feel great about getting such a wonderful deal, or spend time smashing your head against the steering wheel because you just paid $.30 more.

My most recent purchase in our wonderful economy as it stands today were two airplane tickets. I've been mulling over what the best deal would be for the last couple weeks. My dilemma is to buy now when I know the price is seemingly low, or wait to see if NWA will have a sale, thus risking the chance they won't and end up paying $600 per ticket. I felt like I was on Deal or No Deal.

"I'll take case number 13, Howie!"

I ended up shelling the money out now in hopes that I've made the right choice (I've always been a little conservative). Unfortunately I don't get to see if I made a great deal "after these few messages"...I have to wait a few months! Knowing my "luck" there will be some huge energy breakthrough in the next month that will make jet fuel cost a penny a barrel and I'll look like a fool for paying so much for my tickets. I feel like there is some huge website out there that tells people exactly where to buy what at any given time. If you all are keeping this from me as a joke it's not funny! I honestly feel like I have to be some sort of detective super sleuth to find a good deal anymore.

All right, I guess I'll keep you posted (HA, no pun intended...get it because you do posts on a blog...okay, not so funny when I have to explain it!) I'm willing to bet that in this day there won't be too many deals to be had. I looks like Howie has a corner on that market!

Are we really wireless??

2008-10-09T10:21:00.000-05:00

Everyone keeps saying that we are a "wireless" society now. I'm sorry, but now that I have a few of the newer tech-y gadgets, I have more wires to keep track of than I ever did before!!

Why do people think we are "wireless"??

Merriam Webster's Dictionary has the meaning of "wireless" stating "having no wire or wires." Hmm. I am pretty sure that I would disagree (especially when I'm hunting for the right cord to plug in my phone!)...let's take a look shall we?

Blackberry

Cable for plugging it into the wall to charge.

Cable for plugging it into the car to charge.

Cable for transferring info and documents to my computer.

Cable for plugging it in and transferring info at the same time. (why is this a seperate cord?)

Camera

Cable for plugging it in to charge.

Cable for plugging it in to the TV to see the pictures.

Cable for plugging it into the computer to download pictures.

Laptop

Cable for plugging it into the wall to charge.

Cable for plugging it into the printer.

Cable for plugging it into the moniter.

Cable for plugging in my external drive

To me, this sounds like the more technologically savvy you are, the more wires and cables you must keep in order! I like to use a plastic shoe organizer. You know, the ones that hang over a door? They are see through, perfect for all those cords to have their own little place and not get all tangled (here Russ, there's a little knot in these Christmas lights!)

So, the next time you hear someone say "oh, it's wireless" just know that there's no such thing as a free lunch, and there's no such thing as wireless!!

Why Change Daycare??

2008-09-30T10:59:00.009-05:00

So this morning as I sat in traffic a common dilemma in our household rekindled in my mind. My son currently goes to an in home daycare that he loves. He often cries when it's time to go home (at least more often than when I leave him there). He enjoys the other kids despite a few child tantrums, the lady (and her family) who does the daycare is really nice and she reminds me of someone that would fit right into our family. So...

Why change daycare??

My dilemma here is that I've switched jobs and now commute in the complete opposite direction of where his daycare is. My husband doesn't have a commute so the last few weeks we've been having him drop off and I pick up. This system has worked great for the last couple weeks, but the husband is doing a few jobs in which he must leave really early so I'm stuck with traffic two ways on both my morning and afternoon commute. Here's a list of the pros and cons.

PROS of leaving him where he is

My son loves his daycare and it's obvious to me that he has a good time there.
I trust my daycare provider, and she lets me know if there were any issues or problems with the kids that day.
It's a small amount of kids so I know he gets the attention he needs.
He interacts with older kids and he learns much more than if he were home with me!
My daycare provider has been doing daycare for 13 years and never once had a complaint lodged with the state (I did my research). She also has a degree in child development and used to teach preschool and kindergarten.
If we have another child I know what to expect and how much it will cost.
I would truly miss my provider and our casual chit chat when I pick him up and/or drop him off. Like I said before, my provider would easily fit into my family so I feel at ease with leaving my son with her. Her family is great with him too!
I wouldn't have to research another provider! The husband and I went on 6 interviews and I called at least 30 daycares to see if they were taking infants after my son was born. When I finally decided on the current daycare provider I called the state licensee board and talked to the state representative that does visits to said establishment to ask her about the one that we had liked, luckily it was a good review. Yikes...that was a lot of work.
Putting our son in a daycare center is almost completely out of the question. First off, they are SUPER expensive! For a single year of daycare at a center (this includes a discount from my work) I would pay almost as much as my student loans from a four year degree!!!! I feel that is absolutely outrageous and I refuse to pay that much for my son to be ignored! Don't even mention if we had another kid, that would more than twice as expensive (infants are apparently more work although I beg to differ!) Some people will say that you can't put a price on the safety of your child...they are right. I would pay this if it was my only option. However, since it's not and my current provider is less than half that of a center I like the in homes better. They also get a little more attention if you pick the right one.

CONS of leaving him where he is

It's no longer convenient at all for either my husband or I. I spend at least an hour in traffic in the morning and at night. Fortunately half of that is with my lovely little boy and we count and sing songs, that is when I'm not cursing under my breath at the guy who just cut me off.
Gas prices are still high (although they are down to $3.33 even with a new 3 cent tax taking affect today!) and that means my tank is expensive to fill. When I was younger I would always get carsick from the smell of gasoline, now I get sick from the final total!!
I have to go through the worst "intersection" in my opinion. Not only do you cross the worst rated bridge in the metro area at least 40 feet above the Ol' Mississip...they are doing "inspections" on it this week and I'm pretty sure they are just checking it to make sure the cracks are still in the same place. It's slated to be rebuilt in 2011...but about 200 feet after the bridge you enter the on-ramp for 2 major interstates. You pull a 270 degree (which means you can't match speeds of the regular traffic) turn onto I-94 and then stay in one lane that takes you to I-35E north. You can only imagine how backed up this gets on a normal day...don't even ask what its like if some yahoo wrecks their car anywhere near it, but I digress.
People do NOT know how to drive. I either get stuck behind the foreign immagrant that has never bothered to actually get a driver's license or behind the Grandma who's so self consious about driving in the big city that she becomes a hazard herself!

Well, as you can see I guess my PROs list is much longer. I'm also recounting my CONs list and most of it is about traffic anyway. I guess we're sacrificing for the sake of our prince. I hope he appreciates everyone of my grey hairs when he gets older!!

Working Rant.

2008-09-22T14:27:00.004-05:00

Alright, I'm going to vent about work a little here so if the kids are in the room and of reading age you may not want them to read this, not because there will be swear words (though I'm not going to guarantee) but because they shouldn't pick up bad habits.

Things not to do in the work place.
1. Do not yell over the cubicle at people that sit next to you. Get your lazy ass out of your chair and walk over to ask that person a question. If you are one of those people that don't know how to speak softly or whisper, perhaps you should use email.
2. When you are having a private conversation regarding your personal life at work, you should keep your voice down. I don't care to hear about how your sister is a spoiled brat and how she made you drive all the way out to the mall to pick up your mom and then back down to Shakopee to pick up the dogs. I DON'T CARE! My brain is already full, I don't need to know that your best friend's daughter named their baby Abigail. Since it is utterly useless information it will remain in my head for no less than three weeks!
3. If you have an issue with someone, go tell them or talk it through with them. We are all adults here and we should start acting like it. Do not come and complain to me unless you are willing to back it up. If you need me to boost your confidence then I'm here, but I don't want to hear you gripe about something day in and day out without doing something about it!
4. Don't copy me on an email unless I NEED to know about it. I hate when people copy everyone and their dog on emails for a stupid question. This just makes a chore for me, and it takes me twice as long to clean out my inbox.
5. Don't click REPLY ALL unless you really want everyone to see what you've written and what everyone before you has written. This stems from those people abusing #4. I don't want to get 400 emails regarding the treats that are getting ordered for someones birthday party. I was copied on the first email to be invited and then a string of random emails afterwards comes to me as well. Watch who you email!
6. Be cognizant of what you're doing in your cubicle. If you are moving heavy things and banging around remember that your wall is attached to someone else's and their stuff is flying off the shelves!
7. If you are stepping away from your desk either take your cell phone with you or make sure it's on vibrate. There is nothing worse than listening to someones annoying cellphone ring five times before their voicemail picks up. It's irritating, disrespectful, and just plain lazy!
8. Take notes. If I walk through how to do something then I expect you to retain at least some of the information. If that is a difficult task for you, then take notes. There's nothing more annoying that explaining something to someone 5 times...and then explaining it again!
9. If you don't know who's mail it is...find out! Do not just assume that it's my mail because it has the master mail station on it. There are at least 15 people that use that mail station, why do you put it in my mail box?? I know why, because I have this annoying reputation of actually doing a tiny bit of research to find out where the bill is supposed to go or who the piece of mail is for. Do some research people!!! How do you think I do it?
10. If you are going to tell a story, gather all the people that you think might care and tell the story once. I can't tell you how many storied I've heard 5-6 times because I sit smack dab in the middle of the most popular kids.

Man, I really feel better. Let me know if you have any work woes. I'd be glad to allow you a place to vent as well!!

Why Christmas so early???

2008-09-18T15:09:00.009-05:00

What ever happened to Halloween and Thanksgiving??

Yesterday I ventured into a Target and I was absolutely appalled by the fact that they have Christmas decorations up already. Two measly isles for Halloween and four already dedicated to Christmas!!! I love Christmas, it's my two favorite holidays combined (I am a Christmas baby), but seriously folks, when did this holiday really get that out of hand?

It won't be long now that we will see Christmas commercials and they will get extremely irritating by the time Christmas actually gets here! It is 3 months and 10 days away and I'm already being bombarded to buy stockings, lights, cards, and other decor. Why can't I enjoy football season or Halloween? Santa has no place being an isle away from witches, ghouls, and Hannah Montana. I want to buy candy in the shape of a pumpkin, not a snowman! I start my Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving and so should everyone else.

At this rate we might as well skip right on over Turkey Day and make Christmas a two month holiday. So sorry to the Pilgrims, the cornucopias, the turkey's made out of my hand prints. Glossed over are the decorations that remind us to give thanks to all the things that we love, they are now replaced my the twinkling light-up Santa that sings Jingle Bell Rock screaming "buy me, buy me, buy me!" We need to celebrate all the great holidays, not just the ones that are retail driven. Why don't we just have the Christmas decorations up year round. I used to always get mad at people who would leave their lights up until April, but now I know that they were ahead of the curve! Eventually we will all have to mow around that Santa and his Reindeer display because the retail stores will force us to start thinking of Christmas in June!!!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. It's the only time of year that it's okay to scare people and to have a HUGE bowl of candy in your house. For one night you get to dress up and have fun without feeling weird. You can put on a costume and pretend to be someone or something else! Thanksgiving deserves it's share too. I really do love this holiday because I get to cook and visit with family. I get to eat entirely too much and drink wine all day and never get drunk! I get to tell my family how thankful I am that I have them and oh yeah, and the four days off work isn't too bad either!

What I'm laboring to say here is, there are many more holidays throughout the year other than Christmas. This year I plan to make most of my gifts so the "subtle suggestion" behind the retail industry starting so early is completely lost on me. Don't forget the little holidays as they are just as important and carry their own traditions.

Happy FALL to you all.

There are good things about FALL!

2008-09-12T10:25:00.006-05:00

There are a few good reasons for the weather to turn colder again. Believe me, I hate to see summer go by the wayside, the boating, jet skiing, swimming, camping, and other outdoor-sy things are so much fun! Below is a list of things that I love about FALL.

1. Once it freezes, my allergies will calm down. As an update, over-the-counter Zyrtec doesn't work either...it cost me $20 to find that out!!
2. Football!! I love watching the sport. I love the hype around it especially when you live in a town and state that has a pro team. Tailgating, awesomely-bad-for-you food, and of course I can't wait to try out my new football shaped dip bowl!
3. Bonfires! These are great all summer long, but it's hard to sit by a fire when it's already 80 degrees and humid. The fall is great because the days still climb up to 65-70 and the nights lend themselves to cozy-ing up to a great fire with great friends. And an added benefit...no bugs!
4. Sweaters. I love hoodies! I also love a good non-itchy sweater that makes you feel good about your body! And, gone are the days that I get made fun of for wearing a sweater in the office when it's 90 degrees outside. To those teasers I say, "It may be 90 outside, but it's 65 in here and I'm freezing!"
5. Halloween and Candy!! I have a HUGE sweet tooth and I love the cheap bags of candy around this time of year! The miniature Reese's, York peppermint patties, candy corn and peanuts (I hate Salted Nut Rolls, but I love this combo...go figure), the combo bags of Tootsie Rolls, and Bottle Caps! I could go on forever. I love figuring out what I should be this year for Halloween. My friends usually put on a spectacular Halloween party where everyone dresses up. Now that I have a son, I get to go Trick-or-Treating again without all those awkward, unpleasant glares!!
6. Crunching dried leaves. I don't know what it is, perhaps my weird addiction for sounds (flipping through a book, nails beating on the table...my friends will know what I'm talking about.) I LOVE the sound of a good "CRUNCH" from a dried out leaf. Speaking of leaves...
7. The beautiful colors! The shore of Lake Superior is spectacular this time of year! The leaves are turning and rival that of the upper East Coast in their beauty. It truly is a wonder of nature!
8. Pumpkins, apples, and spice! I love pumpkins. I love carving them, I love grinding them up (actually I usually let the canned pumpkin company do that!) and making pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin cake. Unfortunately my husband does not like the taste of pumpkins...but that just means more for me! Apples are the best too. Caramel apples, apple pie, applesauce, hot apple cider! Who doesn't love these things!!!

Well, that's all I could muster up on this cold, rainy day. I hope that I've encouraged you to be happy about the season change and to make the most of these fleeting days of summer!

Work vs. Home

2008-09-09T10:08:00.005-05:00

Ahhh...the joys of being a working mother. I believe that this will always be a conundrum with me because I would give anything to be able to stay home with my little prince and cook, clean, and mother all day long (well, almost anything...food and a roof are definitely things that my family have come to expect). I could have dinner waiting for my hunk of a man every night, a drink in one hand and a cigar in the other. The kids are fed, the house is clean, and I all I have to do is enjoy the evening with my husband.
Wait...did I just say that?
It's true, there are some days when I just wish that I could walk out of work and never come back. But there are also days when I look at the mountain of dishes piled up in the sink, the Everest of laundry piles mounting in the bedrooms, the cat hair and dust settling on the TV and my son whining and crying for a cracker ten minutes before dinner is ready and I think to myself "thank God I get to go to work tomorrow!"

I often find that my two worlds are not that different! I have to tell my dear prince four or five times to pick up his toys (granted he's two, but there's no time like the present for him to learn how to pick up after himself...his future wife will thank me!)
This is a conversation all too often had in our house: "Pick up the red truck and put it in the toy box. No, the RED truck...[pause]...right there by your foot. No, turn around...look down, right there, now it's behind you, the RED TRUCK. There you go, now put it in the toy box...no, not the toilet the toy box. Right there. Good job!!"

This is a conversation all too often had at work: "Click file, then save as to save that file. No, close that window...with the little "X" in the corner...click the file menu...[pause]...right up here where it says FILE, then scroll down...nope too far, go back up, right where it says SAVE AS. Okay, now name the file whatever you will remember. Save it to your My Documents...no, not My Computer, My Documents. Right there. Good job!"

The similarities don't end there either. There are meetings to arrange...menu's to plan...people's schedules to coordinate...appointments to keep, and then I have to go to work! One thing that isn't similar...my organizational skills don't always flow from one life to the other. At work I can find just about any file or folder within a few minutes, however, Microsoft helps out by adding a Search function to their software. If only there was a search function at home. I think it would go something like this...

Search for: Clean socks
Look In: Bedroom, Laundry room, Living room

Searching...

Results: One pair white socks. Found under left cushion of couch in living room.

Wouldn't that be nice? Hey Mr Gates, let's get this project off the ground eh?

As much as my work and home life are similar, I truly would like to spend more time with my baby. I'm jealous of all those moms out there who get to do projects and remember all those obscure holidays like May Day or the Pagan holiday of Obscurity (yes, that's a nod to my sister!) Usually the only holidays that blow my skirt up are the ones that I get Paid Time Off! Unfortunately, I don't know if my personality would be able to handle toddler talk for eight hours a day, nor could I handle going to a Mommy and Me class. Other people's kids usually bug the crap out of me! However, I have noticed quite a lack of "crap bugging" since I've had a child of my own.

Some of the similarities really do make me feel more at home. I appreciate my fellow colleagues for their effort in that. Perhaps someday I will seek employment on a more "part-time" basis, a bank teller or a teacher. But for now, I will just have to take all the days I can get with my family. I think all the time we spend apart really makes the time we get to spend together that much sweeter!

To all those stay-at-home moms out there: bless you for your patience, your kids will appreciate it some day!
To all those working-moms out there: bless you for your ability to schedule, your kids will appreciate it some day!

Why do people miss-pronounce words??

2008-09-05T12:19:00.008-05:00

Okay, so I was watching the McCain speech a few nights ago and I heard him say "Warshington". Seriously, this gaffe is enough to sway my vote alone...there is no "R" in Washington!! So...

Why do people miss-pronounce words that are clearly spelled?

It happens all the time. From "Expresso" to "Warshington" I can't help but get aggravated when I hear people miss-pronounce words. So below you will see a guide of the most common (at least that I can think of) words that are miss-pronounced.

Incorrectly - that's right people, there is a "T" in there before the "ly". Let's break it down as my second grade teacher did. In-correct-ly, say it together class "incorrectly". That's good! You all get a gold star.

Hundred - I used to always get mad at this one kid in my grade school class that always said "Hunnerd". I realize that I grew up in a rural town with farmers and ranchers that talk with that country drawl, but the word is clearly spelled with two "D"s. "Hun-dred" just because there are two does not mean that one "D" is less important than the other.

Nuclear - This one gets miss-pronounced all the time! If we break it down into syllables you can clear-ly see how "New-clear" is supposed to sound.

Especially and Espresso- If there is one sure way for people to think that you have a lower IQ, it's definitely to pronounce "ESP" "EXP". There is no "X" in either of these words so please, leave that consonant alone!

Frustrate - This one really is really "fustrating" to me. Yes, there are two "R"s in there, so please give this consonant it's due (twice) and pronounce the word "FR-UH-STR-ATE".

Realty - I have actually been guilty of this myself. It is correctly pronounced "REAL-TEE". A lot of people like to put an "A" in there, but really it's real-tee!

Last and certainly not least (as I'm sure there are many more, feel free to comment if you have another good suggestion!)
Pitcher or Picture. My high school geometry teacher used to always refer to a picture as "PICHER". I was genuinely waiting for an example of a pitcher so that she would say "Look at the picher of the pitcher." Perhaps then she would realize there is a "C" in "PICK-CHUR".

Alright, I'm off my high horse. You have to agree that four years of listening to the person representing our country refer to the White House in "Warshington" would get pretty old!

Edit: Thank you to anonymous for pointing out that I miss-spelled "definately". With all the deliberate miss-spellings I didn't catch that...even on my high horse I can be humbled!!
Also, watching the Presidential Debate I noticed a definite change in McCain's pronunciation. Kudos to his speech therapist!

Why not donate??

2008-09-04T14:49:00.008-05:00

With the RNC in town I just can't help but post a blog about it! I'm not a huge fan of matching wits when it comes to an individuals political affiliation. I say whatever you believe in, as long as it doesn't harm anyone else, is your business. There are some out there that go way overboard to get their point across. My question is...

Why not donate your money?

Kare11, the Twin Cities NBC affiliate recently ran this story (all I can do is shake my head, I can't believe they even publicized this): There are a couple of people that have rented a jumbo tron to put on the top of a building and show "anti-Republican video and audio messages" (whatever that means). This thing seriously cost them $30,000 just to rent! Not to mention the legal fees and site rentals and I'm sure all the other incidentals it takes to rent and install a jumbo tron! That would be an amazing dollar amount which could have gone towards supporting the troops in Iraq, helping with a food shelf, donating the money to a charity or even donated to the Democratic Party. Check it out if you want, I just can't believe they spent all that money on a protest that hardly anyone even noticed.

Now, I can't say that I'm a Republican or a Democrat. I like to think I fall somewhere in between. So in no way should this post be construed as a commendation to either party. I also want people to know that the Saint Paul police department has been working around the clock to ensure the safety and health of all the delegates, protesters, and citizens of Saint Paul alike. I personally appreciate that since I live only a few miles away from the downtown area.

Overall I haven't been impacted by the RNC being in town, other than the news coverage and a visibly higher police presence I haven't noticed anything a miss. Of course had I been curious or stupid enough to venture downtown this week I might be writing a whole different story!

Why Allergies?!?

2008-09-02T13:24:00.000-05:00

Today I am officially apologizing to my brother and my mom for thinking that you were faking it all these years. I now know all about the allergy haze and the face-erase! That brings me to my first Why question of my blog...

Why don't they make stronger over-the-counter allergy medicine?

I understand the obvious reasons for not making stronger medications over-the-counter (which will probably be another Why blog), but I don't understand why, with all the medical marvels that are in the medical field today, they can't make a stronger pill to alleviate my allergies that isn't included in the recipe for Meth! I don't know what I'm allergic to since I've only recently been afflicted with this monstrosity, but for the love of Pete I don't know why I can't stop the sniffling, scratching, itching, and running of my eyes, nose and throat! I've tried Allegra, Claritin, Benedryl, and Sudafed, only to become desensitized to them all. I'm currently working on my tolerance of Actifed which is now down to about a pill every two hours.

It all started with the conception of my son. "It's because you're pregnant" said the doctor when I told her I have never had any sort of allergy before. Well, I can officially attest that I am not currently prego so what gives??
My mom says it's hormonal. Does that mean that I will have to suffer through this every year until I go through menapause?? Not only do I get to carry and deliver an 8 pound baby (and hopefully more to come), but now I get to suffer through allergies for the next 30 years...great.

So for now, I guess I will be at the whim of mother nature, and not far away from my pills, eye drops, and throat lozenges. I also plan to open a portfolio with Pfizer being at the top of my investments!

I hate to see summer go, but I can't wait for the first freeze!!!

Wedding Day Do's They Don't Tell You About

2008-08-29T16:21:00.000-05:00

I recently had the pleasure of getting married to the father of my son and my best friend. There are just a few things that I would warn brides about before they take the plunge, things people don't tell you and you won't read in a magazine.

1. Take a Honeymoon! Whatever sort of vacation you can afford, even if it means 4-5 days just staying at home. Not only will you be all geared up after the wedding, but you also want to take advantage of all those special offers that honeymooners get. I went back to work three days after our vows and I couldn't focus on a thing! I was tired and burnt out after a week of wedding fiasco. The added bonus if you stay home: you get to ooh and aah over all the gifts and you can get a head start on the thank you notes!!

2. Get it in writing. I'm not talking about a prenuptual or anything, I'm talking about finding a reliable person that somewhat knows your friends and family to write down (in detail) all of the gifts you receive at the shower and the wedding. Including cash and gift cards! You will not remember a thing, I guarantee! I had a couple great people who did this for me and I am very grateful. On a second note, also have someone take all the cash, checks, gift cards, and list of gifts and put them somewhere safe. We only lost one gift card that was easily replaced, but there was a lot of stress as to who had the cash!! If you lose cash, it's irreplaceable.

3. Don't let the weather get you down. My husband and I chose a very special place with a great view of the mountains. However, we did not anticipate the huge wind storm that blew in unexpectadely. This meant that most of the decorations had be taken down before my husband and I even got to see it! I'm not disappointed (however I hope someone took a picture of it!!) We knew that was a possibility. On that special day, it's best to just let it be (in the very famous words of Doris Day), Que Sara Sara!

4. Bring a list of the photos you want to have taken. I suggest this regardless of whether you have a professional or a friend taking pictures. My father-in-law took the photos at our wedding and he did a great job! However, it was pretty confusing and there were a lot of people around to distract us. I think we dealt with it well, but there were a few pictures that we didn't get. If there had been a list, we would have gotten them all and I would have felt a little more organized!

5. Hire or appoint someone to be a coordinator of sorts. I purchased a bunch of fun stuff like bubbles, glow sticks and crayons for the kids, and other items that didn't even make it out of the box. It's my fault thinking I would remember all that on the busiest day of my life. I wish I would have appointed someone to take care of all that! At least my son likes bubbles and glow sticks 'cause he has about 100 of each!

6. Last but certainly not least, enjoy yourself and stay in the moment. All day long I kept reminding myself that this day will never happen again and I need to stay in the moment and remeber this. I think I did a very good job, but even looking at the pictures my memory gets jogged about a certain part of that evening that I had forgotten already. The one thing I will never forget is looking into the eyes of my husband as we recited our vows...that was a moment I will be in forever!

Good luck to all the brides out there, as for me. I had a great day, and I'm glad I never have to do it again!