Photographic Memories

Wow! Looking at all of the pictures on the computer I realized there were a lot of missed opportunities for me to share over the past few months. Here they are, in few words:


Her hair was just long enough for these cute braids; then she got it cut!




A pic from the zoo trip in July...there was a water fountain behind us and we were getting sprinkled as we waited...and waited...and waited for Cait to get a good picture!

Cat-In-The-Box

A little bit of Cait's comedic side...


A couple of softball pics...Cait as catcher and cheering on her team from behind the fence.






Peggy's wedding...5/31/08


Lori, Vicki, Sarah, Lisa...Mudder's Day Ride May 2008




Me & Brandy



And I'll leave you with this beautiful butterfly...a lovely picture taken by yours truly. :-)

Other Happenings

The below posts were the "big" events of the summer of 2008. Cait spent most of the summer at home and at tennis and summer band. She also enjoyed a lot of time with her friends at the pool or the mall. She "worked" most of the last 2 weeks of summer babysitting for our good friends. They have 3 kids, but Cait only had the two older ones, ages 5 and 6. She also played softball into the summer. Her team did well and ended up in 3rd place in the division, but lost in the 1st game of the season ending tournament. Our road was (and still is) under construction for weeks and weeks. Seems like years and years. What a pain! We're getting close though...maybe a couple more weeks? And now it's fall. Cait's pretty much back into the swing of things with school and activities and friends. She's playing volleyball as her 1st quarter sport. She seems to enjoy it--their first match is on Monday afternoon so that will be exciting. Dad and Sandy were home for the past 2 weeks. We had a short visit with them last weekend and they stopped by yesterday on their way back "home" to Louisiana. They had some minor storm damage from Gustav (while they were in WI), but were spared when Ike rolled through. That pretty much sums it up! I have some miscellaneous pictures to post, but have to run now to pick Cait up from practice.

Two Years Gone By

Jason and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary on Aug. 19th. We spent the weekend prior to in Minneapolis (Sat.-Sun.) We got a super good deal on a really nice downtown hotel and we had MN Twins tickets that one of my friends gave to us. She got them from her employer and they were great seats! We also did a little downtown shopping, which was fun. We strolled along Nicolett Mall and Hennepin Avenue. I'd never been downtown Mpls. for any amount of time. In the past it was just to drive through to get from point A to point B. We're going to try to make the little trip an anniversary tradition. We really enjoyed the time together, just hanging out and going with the flow.

Our Family "Vacation"

The last weekend in July the three of us took a little trip to the Minneapolis area. We left Saturday morning and came home late Monday night. Saturday we checked into our hotel in Burnsville, MN and then went to Jason's sister's 40th birthday party about 30 min. away. After that we went back to our hotel (but only after stopping at White Castle so Jason could get his fix of "sliders"--PUKE!). Sunday morning we went to breakfast at IHOP and then to the MN Zoo. I really like zoos, except it was super hot and super muggy, and rainy at times. Most of the animals were feeling it too as they lazed around doing nothing. So, unfortunately, there wasn't much to see in the way of big animals. They do have a "tropical" area, so we got to see a lot of birds and other creatures. The butterfly garden was all of our favorite. We got some great pictures! After the zoo we went to dinner then back to the hotel. Oh, I think we might have gone to Best Buy that night too. And to a grocery store to get goods for Monday morning's breakfast. Monday we checked out of the hotel and had some time to waste until the MN Twins game that evening. We found a shopping mall so Cait and I did a little shopping (we had our first experience with Steve & Barry's--we liked it!) and Jason went to see The Dark Knight by himself. :o) Then we hung out at a local park before making our way to the Dome for the game. We met Jason's sister's family there at the game and afterwards headed home. It was a fun time--it's nice to get away once in a while and spend some quality time together.

Here's one of the pretty butterflies (and flower!)

And the three of us at the zoo. The sea otters are my favorite!Here's me & Cait on the monorail and the Komodo dragon--he's cool!

And some pics from the Twins game. If I remember correctly, they did win! YAY! Jason with his nephew and sister, Cait being silly, and a shot of the field from our seats...

Stay tuned...I'll return another day with more summertime updates. Back to you, Bob!

Cait's Birthday Party

Sometime at the end of July we had a birthday party for Cait at The Plaza hotel here in town. I think in total there were 12 or 13 girls there. At first I doubted my decision to have all those girls. I envisioned them running all over the hotel and complaining of being bored, etc., but it turned out really well. Everyone was very well behaved and they had a lot of fun. That was probably the last "big" party that she'll have...at least until she's 16. :-) Here's a picture of Cait with her best frend Lydia.

Yaaaaawwwwwnnnnnn....

Good morning! Today is day 1 of my week long vacation. I'm up WAY too early, too. :-) I was pretty restless last night. Guess I'm just a little excited to have the whole week to do whatever I choose. I made my to do list last night and unfortunately this won't really be a "vacation" at all. It's okay though--I'm not at work! Thursday starts off with "Update Blog", so I'll be back to get ya'll caught up on what we've been up to all summer. I've been lagging in the area of blogging since my July 24 post...

Oh No I Didn't!

One of my biggest pet peeves is the improper use of a possessive 's'. As I scanned my previous post that sucker jumped out at me like a frog off a log. How embarassing. Karen, did you see that? I had "Kwik Trip's", and I was NOT talking about anything that Kwik Trip owns! :o) Ay yi yi.

So Long, Weekend!

Another weekend come and gone. How sad. On Saturday a.m. I did a little shopping with Sarah and her mom. After that I came home and Jase and I went out to get ourselves set up for the evening. We went to Blockbuster to rent a video game. We thought it'd be fun to actually play a game together. Well, we picked what we thought was a 2-player game, but got home and found that it was only 2-player if you have Xbox Live, which we don't. That was a bummer. I let him play, since I never really know what I'm doing. I just push buttons and see what happens. There's no rhyme or reason for me, I just do whatever. While we were out, though, we picked up a Little Caesar's pizza and crazy bread. L.C. just opened last week. Then we stopped at Kwik Trip so Jase could get his fix of Ben & Jerry's...I got a Whatchamacalit. :-) The Kwik Trip that we went to was having a grand opening celebration (how many Kwik Trips does one city need anyways?) and we found out that Monday and Tuesday they'll have free coffee and cappuccino all day. Nice! I may swing in on my way to work tomorrow. So while Jason played the Xbox I did some odds and ends. Picked up a little, did some laundry, watched him play. I got tired, so I went to bed and watched House Hunters International. A family was looking for a vacation home in Costa Rica. I've come to realize through my HGTV viewing that homes in Central America aren't terribly expensive--not that I'll ever own one. It's very possible I'll never even go there, but I just thought I'd point that out in case anyone cares. This morning I got up pretty early and started my cleaning routine (the same one I was supposed to do last weekend). I did 5 or 6 or what felt like 30 loads of laundry. I finished my cleaning around 2 but continued to work on the laundry. Jase went to the store for me and we had brats on the grill for supper. After that I took a bath and now I'm just waiting until 8 when Miss Universe comes on. :-) Cait and I like to see the very beginning when they introduce all of the contestants and we try to pick which one will take the cake. Speaking of Cait, she spent Thurs.-Sun. at Jeremy's, so she wasn't around this weekend. It was nice to see her smiling face when she got home around 2. She's a little tired today. Yesterday they went boating/tubing, out to dinner, and bowling, so she was wiped. Should sleep good tonight--me too! Back to the grind tomorrow...

Sarah C.

She was always "Sarah C." I'm not sure why, as I don't remember there being that many Sarahs around, but Sarah C. it was. :o)

She's now married so she's not Sarah C. anymore, she's Sarah W., married to Terry W., with a little boy Bennett W. and Baby W. on the way sometime late August.

Sarah has been one of my best friends since we were 12 years old. TWELVE. That's 17 almost 18 years. Crazy! She's just a peach. We went to elementary school together too, but we were never in the same class. That, for whatever reason, prevents kids from getting close. If you're not in my class you must not be cool. :o) Anyways, I remember very clearly the day we became friends. We were in 6th grade, and after lunch she handed me a note. I read the note. It went something like this: "Your dad is dating one of my mom's best friends." And some other stuff, of course. It was shortly after my dad met Sandy (my now step-mom), and Sandy worked with Sarah's mom, Kaye, at the Hayward Hospital. They were really good friends. And so, we started hanging out more and more. There were a couple of years, our 7th and 8th grade years, that we were pretty much inseparable. We've had many, many, many good times, some bad times, but every one of them memorable. I could go on and on, and it would take all night.

Sarah came down today to do some shopping, mostly for the baby who's going to make it's arrival soon. Her mom came along too. We went to Target, then to Texas Roadhouse for lunch (Kaye's treat--nice!), then to Mill End Textiles (believe me, I didn't purchase a single thing there!), and then they dropped me back off at home. It was so nice to see her. I wish we saw each other more often. Thankfully we're able to e-mail almost daily...while we're hard at work, of course.

That's all. Just a little shout out to Sarah! She used to read my blog, not sure if she does anymore or not, but it doesn't matter. I still love her just the same. :o)

(The picture is from May, during the annual "Mudder's" Day 4-wheeler ride. Nevermind the dirt on my face!)

Tired

I'm tired. I didn't sleep well last night, at all. Yesterday was kind of a strange day for me emotionally. It was kind of bizarre. I woke up fine; not as early as I'd hoped, but around 8:00 or so. I planned on getting up early to "super clean". Super cleaning consists of pulling out couches and sweeping/mopping underneath, dusting everything, cleaning every room from top to bottom and all floors, washing rugs...you get the drift. I generally need to allow myself 3+ hours for that. We had a movie date planned with the Wiegels, so by time I got up and got going I knew I wouldn't have time to get my cleaning in, shower, and get to the theater in time for the 1:00 p.m. show. So, I did a little laundry and puttered around. We went to the movie (Hancock--it was okay) and then came home. After we got home I felt pretty down-in-the-dumps and just kind of sat around. I watched a little TV in the evening (HGTV) and talked to my dad. I called him to ask some advice about our bathroom ceiling, so nothing earth shattering. After we hung up I felt 100% better. I was chipper and felt fine. Kind of strange...maybe it was just talking to him, even if only about home improvements, that cheered me up. Around 10 or so I climbed into bed. Jason was already sleeping with ESPN on the tube. I watched the end of the Yankees/Red Sox game; it was kind of exciting although the outcome didn't really matter to me. Close games are always fun to watch. Then I tried to get to sleep. Couldn't sleep. Turned on my lamp and read a little bit. Thought I was tired so put the book down and closed my eyes. Couldn't sleep. By now I had an annoying anxious feeling, but I don't know why. I don't know what time I finally fell asleep; I know it was after midnight though. And then I woke up a couple of times, once around 3, and then again around 5 a.m. Then my alarm went off at 6:30 because I wanted to try to be to work by 8. I decided to sleep a little longer and go to work a little later, but once I was awake I lay thinking about all the things I needed to get done at work today so that ruined my efforts to get back to sleep. I got up and got ready for work (very hastily because I remembered in all of my thinking that someone was coming in right away this a.m. and I had to get some paperwork ready) and off to work I went. I felt pretty good all day, just a little tired. Not sure what the deal is.

This Goofball is 12!

Cait turned 12 on 7/3. Hard to believe...almost a teenager! This picture was taken a few weeks ago at her ballclub's Fever Fest. The rally caps worked--they ended up coming from behind to win the game (but the girls looked pretty silly out there on the field with upside down visors).

Her birthday was a nice day. After her tennis lesson that a.m. I picked her up and took her back to the office with me for a little while. Then we went to lunch at Noodles & Company. She had mac & cheese and I had buttered noodles. What else are you supposed to get at Noodles & Company? After that we went to finish her birthday present shopping--I didn't have time to squeeze it in beforehand so we finished together. We went to Scheel's to get another pair of athletic shorts (red). Then we went to Borders to get a book or 2. I forget the name of the book that she found, but it's excerpts from several children's diaries during the Holocaust. For the last couple of years she's taken some interest in the subject, and she thought this book would be especially neat because the writings are of children ages 10-18. She has already read Anne Frank's diary and really enjoyed that. Anyways, after Borders we picked up her friend Lydia and they came back to the house for a little while until I was done with work. Then I took them to the pool until 8 and we came home and had tacos (at Cait's request) and DQ cake for dessert.

It was a good day. :o)

Happy Father's Day!

I called my dad this a.m. to wish him a Happy Father's Day...I love him dearly and miss him a LOT! Sometimes I wish he didn't live so far away, but I know he's very happy in good ol' Louisiana. Hopefully soon we'll be able to go visit them!

And Father's Day wishes go out to all the other dads that I know--Jason, for one, who's been a great step-dad to Cait; my Gramps in Waupaca; my brother, who is an awesome dad to my niece and nephew; all of my uncles who at many times treated me like one of their own; and everyone else out there who has taken on the role of dad in one way or another.

An Anniversary

A year ago this last Friday we closed on our house! Time flies...hard to believe it's been a year already. It's been a pretty good year overall--nothing major happening with the house. A few minor repairs (leaky toilet, backed-up sewer drain, brokedown dishwasher and furnace) and few renovations (paint, new carpet). My next project is the bathroom...stripping wallpaper and replacing it with paint. I've started and am about halfway done stripping. Just need to find the time to get back in there! This spring/summer I've also been testing out my green thumb. Our perennials from last year (hostas and lillies) came up beautifully even though they didn't get planted until late summer. I visited a flower farm and picked up a few more things to plant.

Some perennials that I hope will flower later this summer, and some annuals that I've planted and hope to keep alive through the summer. I'll experiment a little more each year, I'm sure. Anyways, we're happy with our little house and look forward a at least a couple more years here. :)

Ready, Set, GO!!

I think our shoes will be moving a little faster than this! Here's what we've got cooking over the next few weeks...

May 3: Wedding in Tilden/Bloomer
May 4: Flower/shower shopping
May 6: Cait softball game
May 9: Cait softball game
May 10: "Mudder's" Day ride
May 11: Mother's Day
May 12: Cait softball game
May 13: Cait softball game
May 17: Work concession stand/bridal shower/bachelorette party
May 20: Cait softball game
May 22: Cait softball game
May 23-26: Memorial Day weekend/Thrift Sale
May 30: Peggy's rehearsal/dinner
May 31: Peggy's wedding

And THAT is just the month of May! In June there will be more softball, a short trip to Milwaukee/Chicago (Twins v. Brewers in Milwaukee and Six Flags in Gurnee) and the Stine family reunion in Waupaca. I don't remember being this busy...ever. :o) Somewhere I'll also find the time to do the day-to-day stuff...cleaning, laundry, yardwork, etc., etc.

I guess I better get some rest tonight! Have a fantastic weekend...

Ack!

I thought we were having a lovely weekend. Cait had a couple of girls over Friday night who went home Saturday morning. We were out in the yard picking up sticks and planning some projects. The sun disappeared behind clouds and it got a little chilly so we cleaned up and came inside. I threw in some laundry and just kind of pattered around. Came down to switch the clothes and OH SHOOT!!!!!!!! The floor drain backed up in the basement. :o( The same thing happened the day after we moved in...oh great! It was Reddi-Rooter to the rescue that time. This time I called Roto-Rooter. I heard he doesn't cost as much. What a bummer. $165.00 later I found myself scrubbing the basement floor with bleach water. By time I was done I had a monster headache so I took a bath and called off making dinner. I made myself a PB&J, Cait had waffles, and Jason had some ground beef mixture. I watched "Dan in Real Life", pretty cute movie, then went to bed. Today I'm working on the aftermath of the drain explosion...putting things back in the laundry room, finishing the laundry I meant to do yesterday. I've also got cleaning the litter box on the slate today. Sounds like a fine day, doesn't it?

April Showers...

Bring snow. ICK. We didn't get the worst of it, but as far as I'm concerned any snow in mid-April is too much!

Yesterday I had the day off from work and my friend Donna and I went shopping in Maplewood, MN. Funny thing is, all of our purchases were made at stores we could have went to here in Eau Claire (Kohl's, JC Penney, Old Navy). Oh well. It was still a fun trip...nice to get out of town and roam a foreign mall.

Today I've just been putzing around the house. Went through a few closets and came up with a couple of bags of goodies for Goodwill. I (along with 15 million other people) went to Wal-Mart and did a little grocery shopping. As much as I don't mind it when Cait or Jason go with me, I enjoy going grocery shopping by myself. That way I can just buzz around and get what I need and not have to discuss or make sure that the husband or child are in tow.

Cait is at a birthday party/sleepover this evening until tomorrow morning. I think Jason and I are going to watch a movie..."Gone Baby Gone". Jason rented it a while back and we haven't gotten around to watching it. We better get to it before we end up owning it! :o)

Tomorrow I'll pick Cait up at 10:30 a.m. then we'll head to church from there. After that it will be home to clean the rest of the house. YAY!

Ta ta for now!

Good golly.

Life's been good. Nothing terribly exciting to report, but we've been pretty busy.



Cait's softball has started, so we're getting back into the swing of it. (Ha!)


I think spring is finally here! One little teaser on Monday/Tuesday with a "snowstorm", snowday (no school) on Tuesday. We got about 3 inches of snow in total (why school was cancelled I'm not quite sure). Today though we reached 50...the weatherman says it hasn't been 50 degrees since November 13. Heat wave! Speaking of waves...


Last weekend Cait and I went to the Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells for a little getaway. It was tons of fun, but tiring! In total we had 27 people (11 moms and 16 kids). The Kalahari was a BLAST. Highly recommended to those looking for a nice place for a mini-vacation. Here's a picture of the group:









I've been working a lot-- 'tis the season! Job security, I guess.



I have some miscellaneous pictures to post, but I'm at work so I don't have my camera with me.



Better run...off to cook dinner and relax. Maybe we'll take a walk this lovely evening. :o)

I am Thankful

Yesterday afternoon I had a closing with a couple that didn't really have anything good to say. I don't know their story--their background or life situation, but I do know:

I am thankful that we have 2 cars to get to work and wherever else we need to go, even though gas prices are astronomical.

I am thankful that we live in a city with 2 beautiful rivers running through it, tree-lined streets, good schools, and (somewhat) clean air, even though Beijing, China is extremely polluted.

I am thankful that we have a garage for storage, even though the roof is flat and it leaks.

I am thankful that my family is healthy, even though we catch the common cold or even that nasty flu bug once in a while, even though we might actually have to pay someone to treat our ailments.

Lastly, I am thankful for the "Smiths" who complained about all of these things (and a whole lot more) for the duration of their closing because when I woke up this morning I lay in bed thinking about all of the things I'm thankful for.

Oh, and I'm thankful for my cat that woke me up this morning and that I could throw her out of the room and close the door so she quit bothering me so that I could lay in bed peacefully and think.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words!

Yep. In 4 short weeks this will be me. Ha! I wish. A while back one of the gals at work asked the rest of us if we wanted to take a belly dancing class. My first response was NO WAY! No way no way no WAY. Then, the more I thought about it the more I thought it would be fun; especially knowing that I would know most everyone there. You see, Mel called to sign up for a class and the instructor told her it was full but if she could find more students the woman would run another class. And so it was. I think in all there are about 12 people, and more than half of them are ladies I work with or friends of ladies I work with. It is actually quite fun... I never thought I'd do something like this. Now line dancing-maybe-belly dancing-never! I really enjoy it though. It's nice to get out with the girls and have some fun every now and then. I am not the least coordinated woman on earth, either. Go figure! :o)

Catdog...

Remember this cartoon? I think it was on Nickelodeon. Anyways, this is what we have on our hands. We had a dog, for a short time, but he didn't work out so we had to get rid of him. Toby demanded way too much attention, and he had psychological problems. So, a few months later we got our cat. We LOVE her...she is so much fun! She's so funny because she really has dog traits. When we get home and she hears rustling at the door she runs to the door and waits for us to come in. She is much more loyal than cats usually are. Her other prominent dog trait is that she wakes up early in the a.m. and doesn't STOP until she is fed. She jumps around on the bed, nudges at our (my) hands and face and meows until I get up and feed her. After that she's fine. So much for our easy-to-care-for kitty! Oh well, I think we'll keep her. :o)

Go (light) Blue!

Today was the last game of the regular season for the Liberty. All in all the season was pretty good. We finish with a record of 7-3. Today we played the undefeated team, and lost. Obviously. We lost to them twice and another team once. Not bad if I do say so myself! We ended up tied for 2nd place in the league and we're not sure yet how the seeding will be for next weekend's tournament, but regardless it will be a good ending to a great season. In all honestly, as much as I enjoy watching Cait play and Jason coach, I'll be glad when it's over. We've had either practice or a game 3 times a week (with only a few exceptions for holidays, etc.) since the middle of November. On to softball we go!!

2008 Polar Plunge

Shortly before Christmas Cait brought home some information regarding the Polar Plunge--its a fundraiser for WI Special Olympics. She thought it sounded fun...so she went for it. She raised a few dollars in pledges as part of a team from Northstar Middle School. I think group together raised $4200.00. Well today was the big day. Last Sunday when I checked the 10-day forecast, it said it was going to be 40 degrees. Not too shabby. Piece of cake! I am 100% sure it said FORTY above zero. I don't think the temperature made it above zero at all, and the windchills had to be nearing the 40 below mark. When we got up this morning we were unsure of how this was all going to pan out. It turned out okay--being that the hole they cut in the ice last night was already frozen over this morning. No jumping allowed! It was kind of a bummer, but more of a relief to the moms and dads in the crowd! A few of the girls peeled off the layers and wore their original "costumes" out to the hole...most left their snowpants/jackets/hats/gloves/scarves on. As a spectator I was freezing. I don't know when or if I've ever been that cold! Good thing the sun was out. Cait is looking forward to next year...hopefully will be a little warmer and they can actually PLUNGE!

The hole:

Running to the hole to dip (Cait in the middle with the red headband-pink shirt/black shorts):
Warming up after running around in shorts and t-shirt in below zero temps:

Super Sunday!

Well yesterday was the big game. From what the sports reporters tell me it was a pretty big deal. We did watch the game...we popped in a few "appetizers" before the game...barbecue wings and potato skins, then at halftime we had a Tombstone pizza. We sure went all out! :o) I was hooting and hollering for the Giants like they were my favorite team. I think, with the exception of the NFC championship game against the Packers, last night was the only time that I watched a Giants' game. It certainly was a good game, and I was glad to see the underdogs win.

With regards to the commercials...I wasn't thrilled. I thought the Budweiser commercials with the wine and cheese gimics were stupid. I did like the Bridgestone commercial with all the little animals screaming, but my favorite was the Tide commercial with the talking stain. Other than those few nothing really stuck out. I keep seeing/hearing about the FedEx commercial, but I must have been switching the laundry during that one.

Until next season...

A Day in the Life

When I was trying to think of a clever title for this post I thought "A Life in the Day". Whoops! Tells you where my mind is...NOWHERE! Because I've lost it. :o) Rewind 36 hrs...

Yesterday a.m. we woke up to a pretty normal morning. The temp. was 4 below (down from 37 above @ midnight, if that tells you anything). Cait came into our room at about 7:15 a.m. and said "Olivia sent me a text...she said 'Good morning! No school!'" What? No school? Why in the world not? Well I turned on the t.v. and saw the blob headed our way, and by golly they got it right! By about 11:00 a.m. it was snowing, blowing, whatever else. They tell me it rained the night before...somewhere during the 37 degree midnight hour, I'd imagine. SO, we had ice, then snow. And wind. It was a lovely day. Jason stayed home from work...I'm glad he didnt' chance the 55 mi. one way drive considering the road conditions. I left work at 5:30 and picked up McDonald's on the way home for dinner. Bleck. We watched a little American Idol. Shortly after that Cait was off to bed...she's had a nasty cold for a couple of days. I wasn't too far behind her.

This morning I woke up around 5:00 a.m. to my dear husband banging around in the kitchen. :o) I stayed in bed...it was, after all, only 5! He came back to bed...and then I heard a motor boat (snoring). I couldn't wake him...I knew he had a pretty restless night so I let him be, thinking maybe, just maybe he'll stop soon and I'll be able to get back to sleep. Well maybe that didn't happen. I lay there until 6:00 and decided to get up then. I came down to feed the cat and hopped online just to make sure there was school today. There WASN'T. The list was HUGE. It seemed alright, with the exception of the -35 degree windchills. I suppose the country roads weren't cleared yet from our little blizzard yesterday. No school. Again. So Cait was home today. She did do a few things around the house "without being told" as she so stated in one of her million phone calls to me. She did the dishes, swept the kitchen, shoveled the steps (she was told to shovel the steps though). Jason was home today too...he always has Wednesdays off. He did the snowblowing--ours and our deceased neighbor's. After that I met him at Shopko to pick out some new frames. Then I went back to work. Until 6:30 p.m. It has been absolutely nuts at work with the recent interest rate reduction(s). Good for us, I guess. We're not quite ready for the spring thaw...ready or not, here they come! And now my brain is mush.

Have a splendid evening! Oh, and Jason did have dinner ready just as I walked in the door. Perfect timing...he didn't know when I was coming home. It was a relief to not have to worry about that.

Go Brass!

Caitlin had her first official band concert on Tuesday evening. I must say I was quite impressed with the whole band! If my memory serves me correctly, my 6th grade band concerts were not anywhere near as exciting as this one was. They did a fantastic job! I counted the number of members on the program...there are ninety-two little musicians in the 6th grade band at Northstar Middle School. NINETY TWO. That's a lot of harmonizing to put together. Jason had to run his regular basketball practice so my friend Nikki went with me. We ended up sitting way in the back, so the pictures aren't as clear as I'd like them to be. Cait's on trombone...kind of in the middle in the pic above (the only female trombone player, I might add). This was their "section song", thus the reason all of the other kids have their backs turned.

I'm going to attempt to add a video here...in this song called "Trombo Mambo", the trombones were featured in front of the stage. Again, we were in the back and I used my digital camera to record this. It sounds pretty good...still think we need to invest in a video camera.

*Update...the video didn't work. I thought it was on track because it uploaded and then was "processing", but then I got an error message. I'll have to read some more and try again later. :(

Cold Snap!

The weatherman says today should be the last day......I sure hope so! It has been frigidly cold for days on end...days, and days, and DAYS. I guess its only been about a week, but seems like much longer. A few days we didn't get above zero at all. This a.m. was the coldest, I think. When I turned the news on at 6:30 (to see if school was running late) the temp was -19. Negative nineteen. Nineteen below zero. I should be used to it by now; I've lived in northern WI my entire life. For whatever reason I just cannot accept it. :o) I've captured the cold in a couple of pics...

This HUGE mound of ice was made of just the little bitty drips of condensation. It takes a lot of little bitty drips to make this big ol' pile. I did end up breaking it off at the ground--concerned that it would block the exhaust and make our furnace automatically shut off or something. We sure don't want that!

This is a funny story...Cait had a swimming unit in P.E. the last couple of weeks. One day last week I picked her up after school so she could bring all of her wet, smelly gym clothes home from her gym locker. Well, we forgot that they were in the trunk (because they were smelly) and ended up leaving the bag in my trunk until this afternoon. When she brought it in and dropped it on the floor it was like a huge cement block. This frozen clothes cube is made up of 3 t-shirts, a pair of shorts, a bathing suit, a beach towel, several (at least 4) pairs of socks and a bottle each of shampoo and conditioner. We ran it under hot water in the utility sink and pulled things apart before throwing them in a hot water wash!!

Mmmmm...tasty!

I made this chicken recipe last week and have been meaning to post it ever since. I am pretty close-minded when it comes to cooking...I usually follow the recipe, unless it calls for something along the lines of anchovies...then I figure out a substitute. Anyways, who would've thought to use taco seasoning for anything other than tacos?! Huh!

Salsa Chicken...

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 tsp. taco seasoning
1 C. salsa
1 C. shredded cheddar cheese
2 T. sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken breast halves in a lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Sprinkle taco seasoning on both sides of chicken breasts, and pour salsa over all.

Bake at 375 for 25 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is tender and juicy and its juices run clear.

Sprinkle chicken evenly with cheese, and continue baking for an additonal 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with sour cream if desired, and serve.

I found this on allrecipes.com and we all loved it. I especially liked it because it was super easy! I used quite a bit of taco seasoning, a little less salsa and cheese, and we did use a dollop sour cream. We had corn and Spanish rice on the side...

Try it and let me know how you like it!

Happy, happy, happy...

BIRTHDAY! Today's the day. The big 2-9. My boss told me today that this is the first of many 29th birthdays. :o) I don't feel older, I guess that's good. It was a pretty mello day...it started with the cat tipping over the flowers that Cait got me...at 5:00 a.m. That was not cool. Then I was off to work, where shortly after I arrived one of my co-workers whisked in with a cake. I love cake. Cake is my vice. It's bad. But I ate it anyways...it's my birthday! After that I went about my day, enjoying many "Happy Birthday!"s throughout the day. And guess what I found waiting for me when I got home? CAKE. Cake. My dear little Cait made me a cake after school today. She went to the grocery store to buy the mix, frosting and decorations. She even went to the neighbor's to "borrow" 3 eggs because we don't have any! (The neighbors are one of her friend's grandparents--no worries!) She also paid $2.00 for the eggs! HA! That was funny. Now Cait and Jas are at basketball practice and will be home shortly after 8:00 with my dinner...Wendy's. I know, try to contain yourselves. It was too much to try to get out for dinner tonight. Jason and I went out to eat on Friday after work (to TGIFriday's, mind you) to celebrate my birthday. All I knew was I wasn't cooking tonight! Wendy's has that salad, I forget exactly what its called...southwest-rancho-taco-something salad. It's YUMMAY. So, that'll be my dinner. 'Til next time...

Me and my cake:

My pretty flowers:

Basketball and Shopping...

Today Jason and Cait had their weekly Saturday afternoon basketball game. They lost pretty bad, but it's okay. The team they were playing is undefeated thus far, and they have one player who is in a league of her own...definitely more suited for a traveling team...or the WNBA. :o) The girls took the loss pretty hard because they've been on a good winning streak. It's okay...back at it for next week!

After the game Cait and I hit the mall and Target. She had a few gift cards and a little cash from Christmas that she wanted to use. She got a nice Wisconsin Badgers long sleeve t-shirt at Sears and 2 new undershirts/tank tops. She also picked up some yummy smelly stuff from Bath and Body Works (including a nice little raspberry lotion for her mom to take to work). At Target she found a great deal on a pair of jeans--$10.48! She also bought a t-shirt at Target. My cousin Keith and his wife gave her a Blockbuster gift card, so on the way home we stopped so she could rent a movie...and get some Sour Patch Kids. :o)

I wasted my morning away so I'm off to try to get some cleaning done. I have to be at the office most of the day tomorrow...it's been a long time since I've been busy enough to have to work on the weekend.

Forgot to mention...

The curtains are a little wrinkly...well, they have creases from being folded in the package. Hopefully the creases will fall out so I don't have to iron or something. That would be awful.

Curtains, finally!

Jason's mom, Jan, gave me an e-Bay gift certificate for Christmas. I thought I would use it for a new purse, or possibly another pair of shoes, but after thinking long and hard I began my search for curtains-something I've been wanting since we moved in. And it wasn't easy. You see, we have this lovely (or not) wallpaper that is fruity, and purpley. I like fruit, and I like purple, but not on my dining room walls, although the paid color we chose for part of the dining room is called "grapey". Oh well...the wallpaper isn't quite hideous, and it will be replaced eventually, but for the meantime we have to manage with what we have, right? After mulling through many, many, many listings, I happened upon these. They were the right size and they looked to be a little darker than the paint, which is good, right? (I watch a lot of HGTV, I know these things.) The only thing I wasn't sure of is the type of fabric...it's almost a satin type of fabric. I didn't read the label, so I'm not exactly sure, but it feels like satin PJs, which immediately made me think they should be bedroom curtains. Well anyways, as soon as I got home after work I threw the curtains up on the rod...and they're not too bad! I actually really like them! What do you think? Oh, and I paid a grand total of $14.74 for them, which included shipping. A pretty good deal for 4 curtain panels...yay for me!

Before: These are the curtains I was using. They're nice curtains--Cait's Grandma C. made them when Cait had a cherry theme in her room before we moved, but they don't really match. :o)

After: Here are my new curtains! I liked them alot better after I got them up. At first I thought they weren't going to work; but they're not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

Practice Makes Perfect!

Here's a picture of Caitlin...she's rehearsing for a concert that she has to perform in front of 6 or 7 adults. Our friends, the Wiegels, have so generously offered their ears for this little performance. Cait had to choose 10 songs to play, and then the attendees of her homemade concert have to sign in and write comments at the end. It should be fun. She's doing a good job--just needs a tad more practice. :o)

On a Mission!

I forgot to mention, that even through the holiday season, with the big fancy meals, Christmas parties and get-togethers, cookies and candies on the back counter at work, and the hustle and bustle leaving little time to think about what to make for dinner and what I should have for lunch...I managed to lose ONE whole pound. I missed 2 WW meetings in a row, and was not looking forward to facing the scale this last Friday, but I knew I had to bite the bullet and look it in the eye. And, WOO HOO! I lost a pound. Just one. But, the bottom line is that I didn't gain even an ounce. I was prepared, and had talked myself into believing that a small gain was okay. This little loss seems like the biggest ever, though only a pound. I'm happy with that, and ready to drop the pounds in a big way.

Issues.

Does is seem like every time I post that that post is followed by a post like this? Well...I have issues with this program! I tried and tried and tried to get the spacing on my previous post *just right* and LOOK AT IT! And how many times have I said I need to study this Blogger to get the ins-n-outs in order? Lots. And I still haven't. Maybe that will be added to my New Year's resolutions, of which I have several...that way I can be happy after I hit "view blog in another window", and not frustrated.

Let me take you back...

Phew! It's been a long time since I've posted. Here's what we've been up to:

December 11: Jason's cousin, Leah (25), passed away unexpectedly of a brain anyeurism. It was a very, very sad time for everyone who knew Leah. She's was a bright young lady, a wife, mother of 2 little guys, and a good friend to many, many people. Her funeral was on the 18th at the Hayward Wesleyan Church. What a showing of love and support! Anyone who knew Leah doesn't have anything but beautiful memories of her. She'll be missed!! Here's a picture of Leah and I from our wedding, and one of Leah and her two boys.

December 21: On Friday we headed south to the Chicago area to spend a weekend with Jason's family on his dad's side. We stayed with his Uncle Pat and and his wife Sandy. They were gracious enough to give up their home for the weekend to several who decided to bunk there. I'm not sure how many were around total. Some came and went; some stayed the whole weekend. It was nice being able to visit in such a casual environment without a real timeline. We stayed Friday and Saturday nights and headed home Sunday morning.

December 23: We left Lake Zurich, IL at about 9:00 a.m. The sun was shining, but it was windy. (Some may recall watching the Packers/Bears game. THAT was the day we were traveling.) Things seemed okay until just south of Madison...then it was really windy. No snow actually falling, but blowing like mad. It was okay though...we were doing good. We talked about getting off the interstate in Madison to see if it would pass, then hit the trail back home. We decided to push on. Until Wisconsin Dells. When you're going 10 mph on the interstate, there's a problem. There were cars, trucks, and semis in the ditches all over the place-left and right. A little less than 5 hr. trip from IL to home turned into 4 and we weren't even half way. We decided to get a hotel and spend the night and hit it early Monday (Christmas Eve) morning. that kind of threw a wrench in things, and I had a lot of tasks to complete that Sunday afternoon. Now pushed to Monday, I was not a happy camper!

December 24: We got home at about 9:30 a.m. We didn't even unload the car and I was off to work. I worked until noon then went to the mall, Wal-Mart, and TJ Maxx to finish my shopping. I came home and finished wrapping, unpacked, washed a couple of loads of laundry, packed again and we were off to Hayward! We spent Christmas Eve at Jason's mom's house. Christmas Day we lounged around in the a.m., then we went to Jason's brother's/grandma's for Christmas dinner.

December 25: 7:00 p.m. WE'RE HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know if I was ever so happy to be back home. Although I had a million and one things to do, I told myself I was going to unload the car and hop in the tub! And that's just what I did. I didn't unpack, I didn't put things away, I didn't do any laundry. NOTHING. And it felt good. :o)

December 26: Back to normal, somewhat. Jason and I were both back to work. And, for me anyways, it was quite welcome!

December 29/30: This past weekend I took our Christmas tree down. For whatever reason, I felt the need to clean up all of the Christmas decorations pretty early. I think I had just had enough of this year's festivities! Our tree was pretty, though. We went to a tree farm and tromped around in the snow, picked it out, cut it down, and drug (dragged? Karen, what is the proper word here?) it out of the woods oursevles.

We thought we were smart when we were loading the tree on top of the car. Cait was inside so she could feed the twine through...but, oops! The car doors were shut and she had rolled the windows down to string the twine through. We didn't realize until we got home that she was roped in the car! She couldn't open door until we snipped the twine. Here she's trying to chew her way out. Shoulda let her sit in there for a while...hee hee...just kidding!

December 31: Jason and I both worked all day on New Year's Eve. After work I threw some meatballs in the crockpot and boiled some eggs, then I took Cait to her friend's house for a sleepover. Jason got home and we finished the deviled eggs and headed over to Wiegel's for some snacks and visiting. We managed to make it until midnight, but barely! New Year's Day we just hung out at home. I took the day after off as well, just for fun. Cait was back to school on the 2nd, and Jason and I back to work on the 3rd.

January 6: Today! This weekend was pretty uneventful. Yesterday we did some housework in the a.m., then we had a basketball game at 4 (pictures at 3:00 though). Cait's/Jason's team won again! YAY! I think their record is now 4 and 1. Next week they play the toughest team in the league. The "yellow team" happened to be playing while our team was getting pictures taken, so Jason did some scouting...we're on to them! They better watch out! That would be a great victory...but given Cait's last 2 seasons of basketball, this season is already the better of the three, and it's not even halfway through. Today we planned on working in our "scary room" in the basement. There's some old, icky carpet in there, and some junk that the seller said "came with the house". We plan to get it all cleaned up and use it for storage. "Plan" is the key word...that means in the future-good for us since it's 4:30 p.m. and we haven't lifted a finger. :o)