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.

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!)

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.

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)

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...

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.

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)

*Phew*

This last week+ has been a whirlwind! Jason's production of Aladdin started last week Thursday and lasted through Sunday 11/18--5 shows total. It was a superb show and Jas did a great job. Cait and I really enjoyed it! The same weekend, Jason's aunt, sister-in-law, and niece stayed with us Friday and Saturday. Monday was the first evening in a long time that Jason didn't have rehearsal. It will sure be nice to have him home most evenings. Tuesday afternoon Jason's friend Jonah came and stayed with us until Wednesday, and Wednesday afternoon my brother and his family arrived. Crit worked on my pantry/closet (I forgot to take before and after pictures...darn!) and got it pretty much done. We're going to add a couple of shelves to make good use of the space, but the important part is done...our heat can no longer escape up the old stairway. Yay! Thursday we all piled in (except for Jason) and went to Waupaca for the day. It was a nice day and great to see everyone! I think all totalled we had 41 for Thanksgiving dinner. Talk about a full house. It was a lot of fun, and the food was superb, as usual. :o) And, sticking to my Weight Watchers program, I didn't stuff myself until my pants burst. What a novel idea huh? I was pretty comfortable after dinner for once! The drive home was not so nice. Not bad--we were all just really tired and it seemed like a looooonnnnnng ride. We all crashed within minutes of getting back to our house. Friday Crit and Brandy went shopping for a bit and then left around noon. After they left I got a cleaning bug...I pulled out the couches and swept/mopped underneath. Moved the dining room table and chairs and scrubbed the floor. I did a lot of laundry too. It was so nice to have a few days off from work. Saturday seemed like Sunday, but, BONUS, it was only Saturday and I had another day off! Today I did more laundry and started loading up my new pantry and moving stuff into the kitchen from the basement that didn't fit before. I sorted and organized in the basement too...we're getting there! I have just a few things left to go through before we can move stuff out and start our major cleaning/painting job down here to make it a little more homey. Shortly I'll be off to get Cait, and then we'll have dinner and lounge around until bedtime, which I'm sure will come pretty early tonight.

Have a great Sunday night!

Ahhhhh...

Sunday. My favorite day. Well,usually. Today's not so bad. I didn't sleep in, even though we had an "extra hour". I still don't understand why we throw our natural clocks out of whack for an extra hour. I think I blogged about this a while back, and Brandy gave me the reason for the bad deal. Apparently it has something to do with saving energy? I don't know. But I don't really like it, except that it's a little easier to get out of bed in the a.m. when it's light outside. But it's no fun coming home from work in the dark. Oh well. It's temporary, right? Let's see...what else? I'm in the midst of cleaning today. I've already dusted, swept, and mopped. I'm doing laundry inbetween and I just changed the cat's litter box and swept the basement. I'm waiting for Jason to get out of the shower so I can clean the bathroom, then I'll be pretty much done except for a few odds and ends. I might take advantage of the nice day and clean my car one last time before winter. I hope to spend a nice evening with the family. Starting tomorrow Jason has rehearsal every day (including weekends) until the show, which starts the 15th. So, two full weeks of little husband time. It's worth it though--he enjoys what he's doing and I really enjoy watching the shows. Cait has a friend over for the afternoon so I'm sure they'll keep busy doing girl stuff. :o) Other than that not a whole lot going on. After the first week Jason's job is going well. He really likes it, except for the 1 hour drive each way. I hope he can adjust to that soon so it's not so hard on him. Last Monday was my 7 year "anniversary" at my job. Wowsa. I haven't decided if that's good or bad. Good, because I'm gainfully employed, but bad because I don't want to be stuck in a rut there. I don't really have anywhere to move there anymore besides sideways (hopefully not down!). We'll see. I've been contemplating going back to school, but that is put on hold until Jason has some security at a job. A lot could change between now and when I could enroll in August...

Anyways, Happy Sunday! Enjoy your day.

Weekend Review

Cait didn't have school on Thursday or Friday this week because of the annual teacher's conference. I had planned on taking those days off, but since I was off the previous Friday for my grandma's funeral and we were fairly busy I decided to work anyways. Thursday Cait spent the day with a friend and they went to the Y to swim, etc. Thursday evening I ran her and 2 of her friends to a football game. While they were there I went dress shopping again with Peggy and Nikki. After we were done shopping we went to eat at Burrachos. It's like Subway for tacos. It was pretty good. Friday night Cait had a friend over and we just hung out at home. Saturday morning I ran a few errands and then worked in the garage. I was pretty happy with the results. As a matter of fact, BOTH of our cars are in it right now! After working in the garage I cleaned up and Cait and I made caramel apples. YUM! The apples are from a local orchard (we didn't pick them--one of the local grocery stores had them). They were a little pricey, but boy are they good apples. My new favorite-honey crisp. I used to love Granny Smith's, but they're just a little too tart for me nowadays. Here's a picture of Cait and our creation...

After that we ate dinner and watched a couple of cool shows. I don't remember if they were on Discovery or what, but one was about cockroaches and the other about jellyfish. Trust me. As icky as these creatures are, the programs were extremely interesting. This a.m. I got up a little late...after TEN. Yikes. Then I cleaned house and did laundry. Cait and I went to the mall for a bit to look around for shoes for her. After that we went to Wal-Mart, came home and had dinner, finished laundry, and washed the dinner dishes. Whew! That's about it...a pretty productive weekend, I'd say. :o) Oh, and my girlfriend Lori had her 2nd baby, a boy, on Saturday night. I believe he remains unnamed for the time being. She'll be going home tomorrow some time, I imagine he'll have a name before he leaves the hospital.

It's Raining...It's Pouring...Well, Not Really.

It's raining! YAY! I love a good soaking rain, and it's been a while since we've had one. It's a perfect day for it too--we didn't have any outdoor plans (we usually don't). I planned on staying in all day to clean, do laundry, and sort.

I'm going to begin sorting for my first ever thrift sale, which I'll be having Labor Day weekend. I've heard holiday weekends are good weekends for thrifters...we shall see! I'm really excited about it. I think we're in a good location, and, of course, we can use the extra cash. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Other than that not a whole lot going on. Jason is still recovering from his kidney stone episode. Poor thing...hasn't felt decent in weeks. He's on the downhill side of it though, so things are looking up.

Cait got home Monday morning. She's glad to be home and we're glad she's home. She got us back into busy bee mode. Going here and there and everywhere. We have to get it all in before school starts, you know. She's looking forward to school starting (and so am I!). So far she hasn't shown any apprehension about starting junior high. That may change, but maybe not. She's definitely an extrovert and I'm sure she'll be fine.

I think the mail is here! My favorite time of day...it's like Christmas!