Thursday, March 29, 2007

Busy Weekend Ahead

I'm running around the house trying to make sure I'm getting everything done that I need to get done for this weekend. It's the State PBL Conference in M on Friday and Saturday. Being I have to be there tomorrow by 9:30 am, I'm heading there tonight to stay with a friend so I don't have to get up as early and then be running around like a chicken with no head in the morning! It's so much better to do that in daylight! :)

It's been a little stressful as I'm the president for the local chapter and the state chapter. Who in their right mind would do that?!?! Evidently me! So does that mean I'm an overachiever or I have no right mind?? Anyways, right now I'm printing the programs for the conference and they take about 5 minutes for each copy!! Thankfully I got half of them done yesterday! Boy, they sure seem to print faster when I'm blogging!! I've got some laundry to do and then I gotta pack. And let me tell you, packing can take me a long time. There's decisions to be made! Unless I'm in a hurry. Then I grab anything and everything.......so for a two day trip I might take a minimum of five outfits. A girl's gotta have choices!! It drives my husband crazy!

I'll post pictures when I get back. The conference is always a lot of work and it can get kinda crazy but we always have a good time. Hope you have a great weekend! Wow - I can't believe it's April next week!

By the way, Wednesday I had to drive in the rain so I thought I'd be safe from the animals. Wrong! Don't animals know they are supposed to stay in their shelter when it's raining?! Well, I almost took out a pheasant and then I almost ran over the Easter Bunny! Boy, there would have been some disappointed kids in the world!!

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Spring

1. Brings a smile to your face because you know summer is right around the corner.

2. Brings joy to your heart when you hear all the kids playing outside and laughing.

3. Brings a new promise to start working out (going for walks) because it's nice out.

4. Brings tears to your eyes because you will now have to deal with MUD. (Especially when you move into a brand new house and there is no grass. There is only mud. I have to keep telling my children to stay out of the yard. Go play in the street.)

5. Beckons the creepy crawly things to come out of their hiding places. (Just had a BIG spider crawl across the carpet in front of me! Yuck! I hate spiders and bugs! And my boys weren't here to rescue me. I always call for them when I see one. But you'll be happy to know I took care of it myself. After all, I am a big girl!)

6. Flowers will soon be peeking out. (My house in Madison had at least 60 tulips pop up every spring. I'm going to miss that! Although, I never got to enjoy them very long because the bunnies obviously liked them, too. I really like tulips!)

7. Birds start singing. I like to listen to the birds sing. (Unless it's right outside my bedroom window at 6:30 on a Sunday morning when I'm supposed to be sleeping in. And I went to bed an hour later than usual. If I only had a gun..........hey, you didn't really think I'd shoot it, did you? I'm against violence! Next time I'll just try to scare it to death!)

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

My Cakes

Julie and Amber have shared their cakes they've decorated over the years so I thought I'd share mine. I started decorating cakes for the kids when Tanner was 2 and Hayley was 1 (1997). I did it until I moved from H2O to F in 2001. I have many excuses why I didn't do it the past few years yet I really enjoyed decorating cakes. So after digging out the photos I made a pledge - I will start decorating cakes again this year!! I can't wait and the kids are very excited about it. I've felt very guilty not doing it all these years - I can't wait until October! I'm so excited about it that all four of us may get cakes this year for our birthdays...not very good being all four of our birthdays are in October...within two weeks!! We'll get fat! Anyways, here's the photos. I hope you enjoy!
1997 - Winne The Pooh
Tanner - 2, Hayley - 1

Their individual Pooh cakes

1998 - Reptar from Rugrats
My Family's Party

Tanner - 3, Hayley - 2

1998 - Elmo
Dean's Family's Party

Tanner - 3, Hayley - 2

1999 - Scooby
Relatives' Party
Tanner - 4

1999 - Scooby
Tanner's Friends' Party
Tanner - 4

1999 - Barbie
Relatives' Party

Hayley - 3

1999 - Barbie
Dean's Niece's Birthday Cake

2000 - Thomas the Tank Engine
Relatives' Party

Tanner - 5


2000 - Pikachu (Pokemon) Cupcakes
Friends' Party
Tanner - 5

2000 - Blue's Clue's Paw Print
Friends' Party
Hayley - 4


2000 - Blue's Clues Friend, Magenta
Relatives' Party
Hayley - 4

They are only 12 1/2 months apart (their birthdays are only 11 days apart). For Hayley's 1st birthday, Tanner's 2nd, I made only one big cake and they each got their own individual cake. Then afterwards I decided I should treat them as individuals, not "twins" so I started making them each their own cake and then would usually have one party with Dean's side of the family and one with my side of the family. Occasionally the families were together and occasionally they got to have parties with friends. So that was a lot of cakes in a relatively short period of time. I can't wait to get started again soon!

Quiz Update

OK, so I didn't have a quiz in my 8:00 class and I was disappointed. I get to my 9:00 class and he announces there's a quiz!!! (PANIC - totally not prepared for this!) He is usually really good about announcing quizzes ahead of time. Well, then he said it was only an "I am here quiz" which requires you to go online, take the quiz, and the question is, "I am here today, select true or false." Thank goodness!!! Btw ~ I passed with a 100%, in case you were wondering!!! :)

Quizzes ... Good & Bad

Well, I didn't miss a quiz on Monday and there was no quiz today! Thank goodness for Monday, but darn it, I wish there was a quiz today ... I actually came to class!!

It Feels Like Monday!

It's been a long day already and it's only 7:55 am! This morning the alarm went off. Dean reached over to shut if off...and he failed! He laid back down. So the conversation went like this:

Me: (kicked him) Shut it off!
Dean: It's not mine, it's yours.
Me: Oh! Well you acted like you were shutting yours off.
Dean: Yeah, I thought it was mine. It's not.
Me: (Laying there thinking what day it was) I didn't hear the storm last night. I thought it was supposed to storm.
Dean: Uh.
Me: (Still not sure what day or time it is) You don't want to be talking to me right now, do you?
Dean: No.
Me: (Rolling out of bed, I look at the time. It's 5:30 which means it's either Monday or Wednesday.) Uh!

I have such a crazy schedule! M & W, I'm up at 5:30; F, I'm up at 6:30, TT, I'm up about 7:30 (no classes, just need to get the kids to school, so up early enough to shower and get dressed), and of course, SS, I usually get to sleep in. Thank goodness my alarm clock has two alarms - one for MW and one for F. I rely on Dean to get me up on TT. I'd hate having to reset it every night!

Anyways, I so wanted to skip 8:00 class but didn't want to chance missing another quiz. So I got ready and at 6:30 when I walked by the front window I saw that it was VERY foggy. Oh, great! As I was pulling out of the driveway and couldn't see to the end of the block, again I thought about skipping class but today is my long day...I'm on campus from 8 to 5! Yuck! So, anyways, I made it but it wasn't fun. I couldn't even see 1/10 of a mile!

It's weird. I've driven those roads a lot but when it's dark and very foggy it felt like I was on roads I've never been on. It was like, ok, there's a curve here, I guess I'm turning, or oh, a big intersection with a right and left turning lane and oops, I'm in one of the turning lanes! :)

Monday, March 19, 2007

St Paddy's Day

HAPPY (LATE) ST PATRICK'S DAY
Hayley's all dressed up and ready to party!

My sisters Shar and Jodi came to town to go out for St Patrick's Day. My sister Kelly who lives here in town was also supposed to go out with us and then decided not to. Oh well, her loss. Jodi brought her live in boyfriend, TJ, and then, of course, my husband, Dean, came so there were 5 of us. It's been a LONG time since we've paid a babysitter and gone out. The babysitter happens to be Dean's nephew's girlfriend and lives across the street from us. How convenient!!

Anyways, we started at an Irish pub, well, because it was St Patrick's Day and it seemed fitting. Evidently everyone else thought so too as it was packed. It was standing room only for awhile. We found three chairs at one table so Jodi and I sat on our guys' laps. I had one drink and a jello shot (yummy) and I was already feeling GOOD, if you know what I mean. Dean was not impressed. My sisters thought I was just fine but Dean thought I was obnoxious. We then went out for supper. Shar, who will be turning 24 this month, has never gambled and she really wanted to go to the casino. Jodi and I didn't but we said she and the guys got 1 hour to gamble and then we're heading back to town. Shar spent $14 and lost it all. Dean came out $20 ahead (almost paid our babysitter) and TJ won $300, not sure how much he put in. So needless to say, Shar was not impressed with her results. We then headed back into town to Dempsey's. They had a band playing. They weren't too good but it was still fun. Shortly after midnight we decided to call it a night. Party poopers, I know! Here's some pictures from our night on the town!
Shar & I having a jello shot

I had no problems, however, Shar had a hard time sucking the shot out of the glass!

Like Dean's sticker on his face? A little girl at Dempsey's gave it to him.

Jodi & TJ

Dean & I

Shar thought she'd be goofy and Jodi was goofy by accident.

So I made Dean take another picture. Then Jodi decided to be goofy on purpose!

So, of course, Dean had to take another picture. OK, no one's goofing off! But Shar didn't like Jodi's smile in this one so Dean had to take another one! (Dean was embarrassed to be taking pictures in the bar!)

THE FINAL PHOTO!

Everyone looks good. Dean is not pleased about having to take so many photos, even though people all over in the bar were taking pictures, too.

I was just starting to get better with my sleeping habits and then I had to pull this. So I went to bed at 1 am and I was still awake at 3 am. Finally I fell asleep and woke up at 7:30 and couldn't fall back asleep!! I was tired yesterday and I had two tests to study for! Luckily I had studied the material a week earlier so that helped. We were all in bed at 9:00 last night!! I took a sleeping pill to hopefully make me fall asleep quicker. It still took at least an hour and I woke up at 1:30 thinking it must be time to get up!! Thankfully I fell back asleep until 6 and finally got up at 6:30. (I skipped my 8:00 class again. Oops! I just couldn't bring myself to set my alarm for 5:30 the night before because I was so tired. I hope I didn't miss another quiz. Didn't I just say last week that I wouldn't be skipping class anymore?!) I think it will be another early night tonight!!

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Tanner's Haircut

In January Tanner decided he wanted shaggier-looking hair than the traditional "little boys" haircut he had been getting all his life. I wasn't too sure of this but Dean talked me into. So Tanner had just a tiny trim then and it's been growing ever since. It was past his eyebrows!! I actually hated it. So I scheduled haircuts for the kids and I today and Dean tomorrow. We've been going to this same lady for at least 10 years. She gave Hayley her first haircut and although we left H2O and moved to F and then M, we still kept coming back to H2O for our haircuts. Talk about dedicated customers!! She would even come in on her day off to give us haircuts if we were coming into town that weekend.

I asked Tanner over lunch today if he would hate me if I made him cut off all that shag and go back to his old hair style. He said no so I felt much better about my decision. This afternoon we went and had our haircuts. I don't really look them over anymore because I trust her! Well,over supper, Hayley, who sits directly across from Tanner, said, "Tanner, your sideburns are uneven." So I told him to turn to me and sure enough they were! Here's the proof!

Now you see it!

Now you don't!

So needless to say, when Dean gets his haircut tomorrow, he's taking Tanner with him to get rid of the other sideburn!!!

Sleep Update

Tuesday was the first night I tried my nature sounds to help me fall asleep. I set it to run for the maximum, 99 minutes. I climbed into bed at 10:30 and 99 minutes later when it went off, I was STILL AWAKE! Sometime, before it went off, Dean left the bed because he was tired of listening to the nature sounds. Which I really didn't understand because I had been listening to him snore softly for most of that time. So I fell asleep sometime later, probably about 12:30 because I continued to toss and turn after it shut off.

Wednesday morning I have class at 8:00 so when my alarm went off at 5:30 (remember I have to allow at least an hour driving time) I got up and went to the bathroom and I felt so sick and tired so I decided I would skip by 8:00 class. Normally that class has pop quizzes so I try to never skip and I figured being we started class presentations from the students this week, there would be no quizzes in the near future. So I went back to bed and reset the alarm for 6:30 so I could go to my 9:00 class. Well, of course I didn't fall back asleep because I need a good two hours to do that, but it still felt good just to lay there for the next hour. (Btw ~ when I got to school, I talked to someone from my 8:00 class and guess what?! We had a quiz!! Guess I won't be skipping 8:00 class anymore.)

Last night I could hardly keep my eyes open after supper. Finally at 9:00 I decided to call it a night. As I was on my way to bed, I found that my kids and husband were playing King's Corner so I joined them for two rounds. I then got ready for bed. I wanted to make sure I got some good sleep because I don't have class today and the kids are on Spring Break so I don't have to take them to school. So I took a sleeping pill and turned my nature sounds on for 99 minutes and crawled into bed at 9:30. I was still awake when Dean came to bed at 10:30 but alseep by the time my nature sounds shut off, thank goodness! I woke up at 5:30 because Dean was snoring again but thankfully fell alseep again shortly after giving him a few kicks in the shin to get him to stop. Hey, I need my sleep, too!! I heard him getting ready for work between 7 and 8 and fell back to sleep. Finally woke up at 9:00 and crawled out at 9:30. I feel better but still really tired.

I think if I keep trying my nature sounds they will eventually help me fall asleep quicker but I just need to adjust to that extra noise. I remember last summer when Dean plugged in our dehumidifier, I thought he was crazy because it was so loud and I thought I would never get to sleep with it running (our bedroom was in the basement and it was basically right outside our door). After a week or so, I got used to it and it no longer kept me awake. I remember last fall when he unplugged it and it was so quiet down there. How was I going to fall alseep? I finally got used to it being so quiet.

So these are my options:
1. Buy a devotional bible
2. Buy a memory foam pillow
3. Become addicted to sleeping pills
4. Nature sounds
5. Go to doctor
6. Some how try to remove stress in my life (don't know how to even attempt this one right now)

Right now I'm going to concentrate on my nature sounds and will maybe go to the bookstore to get a devotional bible or some easy reading. I love to read but with school I just don't find time to read for enjoyment. (In the summer I read 20-30 books while hanging out with the kids at the pool or their extra-curricular activities.) And one would think I could just read my textbooks and this should put me to sleep but it doesn't!!

And now I think I'm starting to get anxiety about even going to bed because it's been so stressful the last 6 weeks just to fall asleep!!

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Calgon, Take Me Away

I lead a rather stressful life. Some (ok...maybe most) I bring on myself and some I have no control over. Well, when we finally found our new house that we decided to buy and I found out it has a jacuzzi tub, I was THRILLED!! I love relaxing in a tub with really hot water and reading. I had told Dean I would be taking a nice long soak the first night we moved in. Well, 6 weeks went by and I still hadn't used it! I was so busy unpacking and cleaning and trying to stay on top of school and everything else that goes along with moving into a new house in a new city. So finally, last night I decided it was time to break it in. The kids were so jealous. They wanted their turn so bad!

I started running the water and it took a LONG time to fill up. (Note to self, start filling it sooner next time.) Then I lit a candle and poured myself a glass of wine. I turned on some soft rock music on my TV in the bedroom, turned on the jets, shut off the light, and climbed in. Wow, those are some powerful jets!! So loud, I couldn't even hear the TV. Oh well! The tub doesn't look that big but once you climb in, it's really roomy. I can almost completely lie down. (Dean got in it the other day with no water just to check it out and he even thought it was roomy and he's 6'2.) So anyways I relaxed in there and it was GREAT!! Definitely will be doing that again soon!


So I thought this would help me finally get a good night's rest. Nope!! Didn't work. For several years I've had sleeping problems off and on. I've possibly pinpointed it to the school year, that's why I'll be so happy when I graduate in May. We lived in a hotel for a month and I slept very little so by the time we moved into the house, I was extremely tired and looking forward to finally sleeping in my own bed. Well, for 1 1/2 weeks, I slept GREAT! Then, it started going down hill. Not sure why. I started taking some sleeping pills and for the most part, they really don't help. They say to take 30 minutes prior to going to bed, well sometimes I'm still awake 2 hours later. And that's taking maximum strength Unisom. I'm so afraid of getting hooked on sleeping pills so I try not to take them too often. And those mornings I get up at 5:30, I just can't take them the night prior because I can never get 8 hours of sleep and you're supposed to allow that with sleeping pills. Lately it's been taking me about 2 hours to fall asleep. Sunday I went to bed between 10 and 10:30 and I was still awake at 12:30. I tossed and turned quite a bit longer before I finally fell asleep and got up at 5:30 to get ready for school. I was tired! So one would think after 4 to 4 1/2 hours of sleep and getting up at 5:30, one should sleep pretty darn good the next night, right?! Well, not me! I took my hot bath, relaxed on my bed watching a little TV until my eyelids were almost closing. About 10:00 turned the TV off, crawled into bed and didn't fall asleep until about 12:30. After I get to sleep, I'm usually pretty good and sleep the night except waking occasionally but fall right back to sleep. Luckily I didn't have school today and the kids are on Spring Break so I got to sleep in. I heard Dean getting ready for work at 7 but fell back to sleep and woke up at 9:00 but wasn't quite ready to get up. Finally at 9:30 I got up because I thought I should get the kids breakfast before they called Child Protective Services on me because they are STARVING!!

If anyone has ANY suggestions on how I can start sleeping, PLEASE let me know!!

Plus, my husband would like to come back into our bed sometime soon. He starts in our bed and then with my tossing and turning and his snoring, clicking, and leg kicking I finally kick him to the guest room because I certainly can't fall asleep with all that going on. Sometimes I fall asleep shortly after he leaves and sometimes I'm still tossing and turning for awhile.

I can't seem to get my head to stop working when I go to bed. I'm always thinking about what I have to do the next day and sometimes jump out of bed to jot something down that I remembered that I don't want to forget. Anyways, when I was out shopping today, I was looking at alarm clocks because both Dean and I want new ones. Well, I decided to buy one with nature sounds and maybe if I listen to some nature sounds (white noise) when I go to bed tonight, maybe that will help me fall asleep! Please cross your fingers. I'll let you know how it goes.

Monday, March 12, 2007

My Mr Right

My Mr. Right: Dean
His age? 37
How tall is he? 6'2
How long did you know each other before you got together? 2 months
What physical features attracted you to him first? Bright blue eyes and his height (although I must be immune to his eyes because they no longer seem bright blue to me)
What color are his eyes? Blue
His hair color? Blond
Hair style? Traditional, combed to the right
Normal outfit? Khakis and polo (Monday through Friday), jeans and t-shirts otherwise
How did you meet him? Worked at the same place (my summer job, his internship)
How serious is it? Been married for almost 11 years!
Are you "in love"? Better be or why have I stuck around so long!
Do your parents like him? They do now! (Not at first, he's 6 years older)
Do his parents like you? They do now! (Not at first, I'm 6 years younger)
Do you trust him? Yes
Would you share a toothbrush with him? Is it really necessary? I'd rather not.
Would he let you wear his pants? Yes but I'd be tripping in them as I'm 5'6 and he's 6'2 (and they'd probably fall down).
Do you have a shirt of his that you sleep in? No
Do you like the way he smells? As long as he's not sweaty, yes. Love his cologne.
Can you picture having kids with him? Been there, done that! Twice!
What bothers you the most about him? His memory sucks! I have to repeat myself over and over!
Does he have a temper? On a very rare occasion.
Are you happy to be with him? Yep or I wouldn't still be here!
Does he embarrass you in public? No, but I think I embarass him!
Does he smoke or do drugs? No, thank goodness!
Does he have any piercings? No, thank goodness!
Any tattoos? Nope
Does he have any scars that you know of? Yes, 4 that I can remember (chin-flying over the handlebars of his bikes, back-two moles removed, temple-cancerous spot removed)
Is he a party dude or stay at home? Stay at home, I'm the party one!
Is he outgoing or shy? Shy, very shy. I asked him out.
Does he love his mama? Oh, yes. He is a mama's boy!
Would he hang out with you and your friends? Yes, but doesn't often.
Sing? He's done karoake. But please don't encourage him!

So tell me about YOUR MR. Right!

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Hi, My Name is Andrea and I'm a Purse-Aholic

There I said it. However, I don't think I'm ready to ask for help yet. I'm enjoying it way too much! My husband is not, especially since I'm not working and have not been since I've started this hobby, this passion of mine.


My funky hobby started with socks. I like to wear socks that have fun designs on them. At last count, which was sometime last year, I had 100+ pairs of socks!! My husband is not fond of this hobby neither. Does a person really need over 100 pairs of socks?? Obviously, I do. Now what's really weird is that when I get a hole in them, which I do often because I'm always in heels and walk hard and fast, I can't bring myself to throw them away. So I've got this big bag overflowing of useless socks. I thought maybe me or someone could make me a quilt/blanket of some sort with them. It'd be really cool!!


Anyways, back to my purse obsession. I went to my first purse party two years ago. Ever since thenm, I've been hooked. Don't get me wrong. I had a purse obsession before that but it wasn't nearly as bad. I generally only use a purse for 3-4 months before I'm ready for change. I actually used to buy just plain black and brown ones. I know, for people that know me now, it's hard to believe. Now, I want everything but brown and black. The crazier the better. And these I don't get rid of. These cool ones I will re-use. Now I switch purses monthly.


On Sunday The Purse Lady from SF was in town. So I went to check out her show. I bought two there. I liked them but I wasn't totally in love with them like I am with some of my others. The Purse Lady seems to carry a little bit "safer" purses than I like. Then my very good friend Julie emailed me yesterday to tell me that Fun Bags, a purse store, was opening in H2O this week. The only information she had was that they were in a strip mall by a hair salon. Do you know how many strip malls with hair salons there are in H2O??? Way more than I thought. So I've been driving around looking for this place when my sister calls and tells me where it's at; she heard an announcement on the radio. It's off the beaten path. I probably never would have found it. But anyways, I went there this afternoon and bought two more purses. Please don't tell my husband. This store is AWESOME!!! I can't wait to go back. But that will have to wait awhile as I now have 6 purses in my closet that I have not used yet and my friend Jennifer is having a purse party in May and I'm going to HAVE to buy purses there. So anyways, here's my collection, so far ... as I have no plans of stopping anytime in the near or late future, and where I store them. I may have to get rid of some clothes so I can make room for more purses.




My Personality

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Compliment Game

So maybe you've been blessed with the Compliment Game lately. Yesterday I was. It involved emails being sent which said to respond to the person that sent you this with a one-word compliment. Then forward it on to all your family and friends and they are all to respond back to you with a one-word compliment. So by the end of the game, you have a list of compliments. I haven't heard back from everyone yet but here's what I've received back so far.

Julie ~ (Help! What was it? I accidentally deleted it!)
Jenn ~ Symmetrical (Very funny story behind this)
Kari ~ Detailed
Dean ~ Irreplaceable (Isn't my husband sweet?)

I replied back to my husband as 'Replaceable - Just kidding' (because I felt like being a real smart ass), but 'Laidback' was my real response. I didn't even get a reaction from him out of the just kidding part. He thought I could come up with something better than laidback but that's how I think of him because I am so uptight about most things. His sister and past co-worker replied that he was Intelligent. I told him I agree but being I think I am more intelligent than him so that wouldn't be a word I would use for him. He thinks he's more intelligent because he almost always wins (I think I've won once or twice) Trivial Pursuit. I say I'm more intelligent because I receive better grades in school and still do!! We've been having this battle for a long time. :) We like to bicker about meaningless things!!

Monday, March 05, 2007

TGFDC - Thank Goodness for Digital Cable

Thursday morning I was watching TV when all of a sudden my TV and DVR went off. Then they came on and off a couple times and then finally back on. So I looked to see where my kids and the remote were. Both were safe. So being we were in the middle of a blizzard, I thought maybe it had something to do with that. Well, when I went to change the channel I noticed that my DVR said it was 12:00 and my menu on the TV screen wouldn't tell me what was on each channel. Everything said "To be announced". So again, I blamed it on the storm. Well, later Dean said that the TV in our bedroom with a digital cable box was working so now I knew it wasn't the storm. Something is wrong with our DVR. So finally late Friday afternoon I called the cable company to figure out what was going on. Being we were in a blizzard I didn't know if I'd even get through to someone. Well, after being on hold a LONG time, I finally got through. (Thank goodness my phone has speaker so I could just set it down and go about my life instead of holding onto it or cradling it!) We tried a few things and determined there was definitely something wrong with the DVR.

So someone came out this morning to give us a new DVR. He's not sure what's wrong with it but I don't care, I have one that works now. It was a VERY LONG weekend with no TV guide menu to see what was on each channel. I hate waiting through commericals to find out what is on the channel. HOW DID I EVER SURVIVE WITHOUT DIGITAL CABLE??? I know I sure can't live without it!!! Call me spoiled if you want. I don't care! Right now I'm so happy!!! I really don't care what's on TV I'm just enjoying turning the channels and knowing what's on each one!!! Boy, life is GREAT!!!

The Snowman

I was backing out of the driveway this morning to take the kids to school when something caught my eye. I was being extra careful this morning because yesterday when I backed out I hit the garbage can and knocked it over into the street! The bad part ~ I knew it was there when I got into the Explorer but then forgot about it by the time I started backing up! I was running in the street chasing after a pop box in 2 inch skinny heels. I was praying I wasn't going to slip and fall and also, hoping if I did, there were no neighbors watching me.

Anyways, the thing that caught my eye was a snowman perched on a mountain of snow. My kids were out playing yesterday and decided to build it on the highest point in our yard. It looks very funny because it is so high up. The snowman begins where the mailbox ends!! There is a face on the other side but I didn't want to go out into the street to take the picture - too cold, too slippery and too lazy!


Also, here's a picture of the big drift by our front door. It really looks bigger in person than what it appears in the picture but you get the idea. We got about 30 inches of snow out of the last week of snowstorms.


Friday, March 02, 2007

My Husband the Good Samaritan

So my husband had just gotten home from work. He was on the couch reading the newspaper when we looked outside to see a lady walking in the middle of the street. We see her get into a van in the middle of the street, turn around in someone's driveway and then get stuck right in front of our house. So Dean got dressed, grabbed a shovel, and went to dig her out. (Keep in mind, Dean doesn't have snowboats so he was almost knee deep in snow with his dress/work shoes on.) Well, she got out of the van before Dean got there and ran down the road into someone's house. Then another lady came out and got in the van. Dean finished digging her out and then helped push the van to get out. She finally got out and took off.


They haven't plowed our street since this storm started on Wednesday. It's really bad. Hopefully they'll get here tomorrow. We had already received 10 inches over the weekend and had a total of 21 inches by yesterday morning. Not sure how much we've had since then but it's been snowing pretty much all day today and yesterday. You can see our mailbox is almost covered. When the plows finally come through, I'm sure it will be buried!! And remember, it's only being held up by a Christmas tree stand, and the snow, of course.

Dean has been using his dad's wimpy snowblower being they are in AZ. Otherwise, he'd be doing our driveway with a shovel! Dean is also in charge of his parent's driveway, his parent's friend's driveway which is right next door to his parents because they are also in AZ with Dean's parents, and the neighbor across the street from his parents because his parents are in charge of it because that neighbor is off somewhere warm. I think we'll definitely be buying a snow blower for next year. So everyone runs off leaving Dean to take of it all. They owe Dean BIG time!

But ... What goes around comes around. While Dean was out snowblowing our driveway, a neighbor came with his snowblower and helped Dean finish our driveway. How nice! Dean was a good samaritan and then our neighbor was a good samaritan.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

SNOW

I hate snow! I hate the cold! I love snow days!!! I'm not made for this type of weather! I should have been born in the tropics!! Did I tell you I hate snow???


We got 10 inches over the weekend and who knows how much yesterday!! Good gravy - give me a break!! We don't have to make up for all the snow we haven't had this season in one week!!

I was in M yesterday when it started snowing and snowing and snowing. And blowing and blowing and blowing. I left about 10 am and made it home about 11:30. It took 20 to 30 minutes longer than normal to get home. It has NOT fun! At 11:05, I was 20 miles from H2O when I heard on the radio that they were dismissing the kids at 11:00. Yikes!! So I quickly called Dean at work to make sure he knew and could go get the kids. Well, the receptionist said Hayley was holding on another line waiting to talk to Dean. Nobody could find him and he wasn't answering his pages. Finally after 5 minutes they found Dean and he said he couldn't go get the kids because an auditor was visiting. So I drove a little faster and made it to the school at 11:30. I thought I'd get chewed out for being so late but the kids came running out and said lots of other students were calling parents and there were still students there waiting. So I didn't feel quite so bad but there was nothing I could do.

Last night before bed, we found out the kids didn't have school today so they were pretty excited. I just received an email from my college stating they were closing campus today at 11:00 and all through tomorrow. I'm sure it has something to do with Spring Break being next week, too. I probably wasn't going to go to class tomorrow anyways. Not worth driving in this for only one hour of class! No way! So Spring Break is starting early for me! YIPPEE! Last year a friend and I went to Vegas. This year I'm not doing anything! :( Probably a good thing with this weather. Who knows if I'd even get out!

When Dean was home for lunch he said he was going to take my Explorer back to work because it has 4 wheel drive. So I gave him a lecture of making sure he drove it nice and don't get in any accidents, etc. He told me he wasn't going to take it. I said go ahead I'm not going anywhere. But he decided not to. When he finally got home after work, about an hour late, he said people were getting stuck in the driveway at work. I said I probably wouldn't hear the end of it if he would have gotten stuck because I wouldn't let him take my truck, which I would have. He said, I did get stuck. I said, really. He said, yep. Someone had to pull him out. And supposedly a vehicle with 4 wheel drive got stuck, too, and had to be pulled out. So this morning he took my Explorer!
We had our first overnight visitor in our new house. Dean's 16 yr old nephew stayed with us and will probably be staying tonight, too. He lives out of town and his mom didn't want him driving in these conditions. And how convenient. His girlfriend lives across the street! So I probably won't see much of him today.