In My Life

2011-12-26T14:28:00.001-06:00

Keep on Runnin'

2011-01-05T13:05:00.002-06:00

I've started running. Today is day 2 of my running. I hate running.

However, I'm committed to keeping at it 3 days a week (weather permitting) to get my butt back in shape and FINALLY losing the weight I want to lose. I was overweight before getting pregnant, then added pregnancy weight, then lost all the pregnancy weight plus 10 extra pounds and now I'd like to get off 20 more. So, based on the success of some of my friends who've been running, I'm giving it a go. My legs feel like they've been run over, but I hope to keep it up until I don't feel like puking at the end.

My sister and I have a Vegas trip planned for this 4th of July weekend, and I really like to be down the poundage by then. 20 lbs in 6 months...I think I can, I think I can!

erin

Hello, Hello Again!

2010-12-29T14:09:00.008-06:00

Well, that was a quick 2 months gone by. Apparently I'm not going to be quite the daily blogger I once was. I guess a 9 month old will do that to you. To me, anyway. So, I thought I'd just sum up the previous 2 months with photos...Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas.

Very first pumpkin!

Cutie!

Let's Carve!
Rock Star!
Happy Halloween!

First visit to Santa
Christmas Party!

We are just about to walk

Decorating...
The tree!
Christmas Eve Party!

Just a couple of gifts...

Happy Holidays!!

Hope to post again soon!

erin

Lullaby, and goodnight

2010-10-01T15:28:00.002-05:00

Night getting many of those lately...good nights.

My lovely 6 month old has not slept through the night in more than a month after a good long stretch of 7pm-6am sleeping. First, I thought it was teething, but restless sleep for a month? Then she got a cold and was congested for a good 2 weeks, so that was crappy sleep for sure. That was 2 weeks ago and still, she stirs and cries around 3am, and many times wakes up completely at 4am or so. I refuse to get her up out of the crib then, so I'm relegated to giving a pacifier and turning back on her white noise machine. I am getting better at letting her cry it out and get back to sleep, but with a husband that gets called into work at any time, I try to keep things quiet at night. I'm ever so hopeful she'll figure out what's up and straighten herself back into the sleeper she's been before.

On the plus side, naptime has really improved. She used to sleep through the night and fight tooth and nail at naptime. Now, it's a bit reversed. So... let's get this settled, kid, mommy is much more pleasant when she's well-rested.

What scares me a little is that we are going out of town next weekend for Danny's cousin's wedding and I'm not looking forward to our little nighttime ritual in a hotel room, after a 4 hour drive. Oh well, guess you never know what happens until you experience them and kids never rise to the occasion unless occasions happen. And I know I will not have a fitful sleeper forever (better not, anyway).

Other than that, she's cute as hell!

erin

Welcome back!

2010-08-03T19:47:00.002-05:00

Blogging has become such a different priority for me now that I am a mom, but I still enjoy doing it so I'm doing my best. Plus our internet is so shoddy, we never know when the darn thing is going to be up and running. It's a problem we're currently working on.

Well let's get to the main news of my life...

Eleanor is wonderful! She just went for her 4 month check up today (though she turned 4 months on the 22nd) and here is what's going on with her:
weight: 14.88lbs
length: 24 & 1/8"

Today she also sat up by herself 3 times for anywhere from 5-15 seconds and the doctor gave the okay to begin stage 1 baby food since she is doing so well on rice cereal.

I cannot believe my tiny baby is getting so big and grown up so fast! Wow.

In other news:
-My uncle, cousin, sister, brother-in-law and nephew all visited this weekend...lots of fun and one over-stimulated baby!
-I cut my dog behind the ear trying to cut a hair clump out of her fur and that turned into a gross, smelly nightmare. But, being the ameteur vet that I am, I fixed it.
-I keep finding dead mice in our basement. Smelly, yucky, boo. I am fixing that situation with poison.
-I joined a local baby talk group with friends...lots of fun.
-Bought a few new furniture items for the house...love them.
-Moved the computer upstairs so I don't have to use it amoung smelly dead mice.
-Danny is still working (yay!)
-I'm planning a Vegas trip with my sister...now just trying to figure out when the hell we'll be able to leave kids and go!

Days are moving fast and my to do list is never empty, but I really like the way things are going for me and my family.

Hope to post a little more often!

erin

You Say It's Your Birthday

2010-07-01T09:22:00.002-05:00

Okay, I will...

It's my birthday. Today I turn 27, which seems too old for me. 27 is not old, but I don't feel like I should be that close to 30 already! This is also my first birthday as a mom and my first birthday without my dad, so all in all...kind of a weird one, but also a good one. I went out to dinner with Danny and my mom (and Miss Eleanor, of course) last night and got a new pair of earrings from Mom, which I was really hoping to get. I'm the kind of person who puts in a pair of earrings and continues to wear them everyday, I never take them out. Well, I had a nice pair of studs for that, but Harrison ate them, so I was left only with large, dangly earrings and you can't sleep in those. But now I have another pair of studs, so I'm set! I feel that earrings give my face a much better look in some way.

Tonight Danny has something planned or at least a surprise for me, so I'm not sure what is happening there...guess I'll find out after work!

Tomorrow my sister and nephew are coming to town and she and I are going to dinner and to see Eclipse. We're not quite the fanatics of this series like other people, but we enjoy seeing the movies.

Tomorrow is also my very last day of work! This was sort of a birthday present to myself, I guess. And of course I'm looking forward to my new line of work - stay-at-home-motherhood.

This weekend is the 4th. It was this time last year that I unknowly but thankfully got pregnant (is that too much detail? Oh well, it's no secret). I remember feeling SO bad on the 4th of July, plus is rained all day so that didn't help, but actually I was feeling the early early effects of pregnancy. I didn't find out about it until the 19th. It's hard to believe I've gone through all that and now have a smiling sweet little girl to show for it. It really is a miraculous process!

So, here's goodbye to the last year, year 27, and here's hello to the beginning of my 28th year. Man, thirty is just around the corner!

erin

Working on the Chain Gang (part II)

2010-06-22T09:56:00.002-05:00

No longer!

That's right, I officially gave my 2 weeks notice on Monday. I am so excited to be a stay-at-home mom!

I certainly didn't think I would be leaving the job so soon. I really wasn't planning on staying for too long, about 6 weeks or so while Mom watched Eleanor, but circumstances changed and I am leaving now!

Interestingly enough, I will miss some stuff about work...some of the people, some of the events and so on. I'll miss being on the inside of the organization and having a hand in a lot of the goings on here, but the reward of being home with my girl certainly outweighs it all for me. I think things would be different if I was in love with my work, but I'm not, so the decision is pretty easy in that regard, but still, for the last 8 years I've worked in some capacity at this place, so it will be odd to not come here daily (and nightly and on weekends and ALL THE TIME!). Now, instead of running the camps, we'll be the campers, instead of booking the volunteers, we'll be the volunteers (um....maybe). Instead of wearing heels and staying in the building, we'll hike the bike trail and have picnics outside (if the heat index ever goes down, for the love). And who knows, maybe someday I'll work here again (part time, PART TIME), but until then, I'm going to enjoy myself as a mom.

And I have to thank my husband for being the lone breadwinner now. With his last raise we decided this was pretty doable and he works HARD for his money. I really appreciate his willingness to carry the burden of financial support. But let's be honest, I have the real hard job!

On to the next adventure...

erin

Working on the Chain Gang

2010-06-14T10:03:00.002-05:00

I'm back at work and none too happy about it!

While it helped immensely leaving Eleanor at my mom's house, it still just felt wrong. She was in major "stare at mom" mode today, too, which didn't help the matter. And now I'm back here at work, staring at two pictures of her wondering what she is doing, how she is feeling, if she's napping well, etc.

I can't believe 12 weeks has gone by so fast! Believe me, there were days in there where I thought, this is quite possibly the longest 12 weeks of my life, but the impact of those days have already faded away in my mind. Eleanor and I have really gotten into a good daily routine and I was having a really good time!

I have ideas about where I want to be and how I want to spend my time, so we'll see how it all ends up by the end of the summer, but for now, I will try to get through my work day and get back to "the little" (as I call her) asap!

erin

You're Still Here

2010-05-23T11:22:00.001-05:00

And I am...just a little preoccupied with a small person.

So, just hang in and I'll post something decent eventually!

Eleanor will be 9 weeks on Monday....seems very fast and very slow all at the same time.

erin

Push It

2010-04-22T08:40:00.002-05:00

Here is the birth story...

Sunday morning, March 21st, I was bleeding (sorry for the graphics, but these are the facts) so I called my doctor and she recommended we go in for a "labor check" at the hospital. So, at 8am (I think) we headed to the hospital with hopes of returning home relatively soon. Danny had a big poker game scheduled for that afternoon and I, frankly, wasn't quite ready for the big show.

I got all checked in and hooked up and indeed I was having mild contractions, but they were pretty certain I was not in active labor...but wait around for 30 minutes while we monitor you and the doctor will come in and check you out. 30 minutes later, they decide to have me drink a bunch of water to see if my contractions are dehydration-related...so drink this water and wait another 20 minutes, meanwhile the doctor was nowhere to be seen as of yet. 20 minutes later the doctor comes in, checks me, I'm 1 centimeter dialated, so definitely things are starting, but it could be days until active labor starts. Let's have you hang out for another 2 hours while I go do a c-section and then I'll check back. Meanwhile, Danny is starting to go crazy just sitting next to me in a chair in the triage room which is not very large and our tiny tv that gets 12 channels is not that exciting and his poker tournament is 2.5 hours away. Fun for me to listen to him complain while contracting.

So the nurse has me walk the halls for 20 minutes to see if I progress at all...if I do, they will admit me, if I don't I can go home. At about 20 minutes, I run into my doctor in the hall who asks "What are you doing?" "I'm walking the halls," I say. "Why?" She asks. "Because the nurse told me to." I reply. "Let's just check you again so you can get the heck out of here." Fantastic.

Still at 1 cm. I go home. Danny goes to poker.

At 10 pm, Danny returns home, didn't win, and lies down. I remain in the recliner where I have been most of the day, well, let's be honest, most of the last 4 weeks. At 10:30pm, my water breaks. Off we go again!

Again we get checked in and I get hooked up and 4 different people were doing things: hooking up an IV, strapping monitors to my stomach, explaining the different medicines being administered, having me sign consent forms, and getting a medical history...it was a lot. Then, all of a sudden, we were left alone in our room. Danny got some sleep and I labored from 12 am to 5 am through contractions that came every couple of minutes. At 5am I reached 4 cm and got my epidural...it was wonderful. The nurses recommended I get some rest, but it's really difficult to sleep while you have a blood pressure cuff on that goes off every 15 minutes because you have an epidural. So I got no sleep. I was given pitocin to kick up the labor and within 2 hours I started to feel an odd pressure. I called the nurse to check it out. All of a sudden, it was go time! It was just after 7am and my Mom had just arrived to check on us and she was pulled in to help encourage the labor. I was having intense pressure and really wanted to push but the room wasn't ready and the doctor wasn't there yet so the nurses kept telling me to breathe through the urges. Yeah right, I was totally pushing. You tell me how not to push after you go through labor.

45 minutes later, there she was! 8:22am!

She really made it convenient for all involved. Danny got to play his poker tournament. Mom got to be there and get to her 8:45am appointment, she was born on my uncle's birthday, which I was asked to shoot for, she came on a Monday so my sister was able to come down easily and she was born in the morning so everyone was able to visit after work. What a considerate baby. Also she was born 1 day before my original due date which I always maintained was the correct due date and not the one a week and a half later that my doctor was sure of.

It was an incredible experience and you can only truly know if you experience it. Danny was fantastic, it was great having Mom there and now I have the cutest little girl on earth. 1 month old today!

erin

Eleanor, gee I think you're swell!

2010-03-31T17:18:00.001-05:00

And she has arrived!

March 22, 2010

8:22am

7lbs 7oz

19.5 inches long

So sweet already!

Oh Danny boy...

2010-03-12T16:09:00.002-06:00

Gotta keep it festive...St. Pat's day right around the corner!

I've been a bit neglectful of the blog only because I'm tired and uncomfortable and trying to tie up loose ends here at work (where I do most of my blogging...sorry work) and really, until a birth a child, nothing is going on.

Spring is making an attempt here in Illinois! Warmer temps, some sunshine (not today, today is dull and rainy), my garden is beginning to grow also! Well, I think it still qualifies as Mom's garden. All the work put into is hers, I just inherited it with the house and all the years I lived there and watched her cultivate, pull things, transplant things, tend it and so forth, I never really got too interested. I watered occasionally, but that was about it. I reluctantly tagged along to buy flowers and it's not like I had a bad time, I just wasn't so interested then. Now, though, I have a growing motivation to take charge of it (with my mom's help though...mom.) and keep it going! I might even want to plant more things, vegetables and herbs and such! Ah spring, how you motivate me so...now the real trick it sticking with it. Add it to the list of projects I'm DETERMINED to stick to: lose the baby weight plus the weight I needed to lose before the baby, maintain the garden, raise a child, keep house clean, etc.

I guess we're about to find out how it all goes! Wish me luck!

Oh yeah, and let's just throw a shout out to Danny so the title of my blog is appropriate. Go husband! He really has been pitching in around the house lately. 2 days of laundry in a row, vacuumed the house, grocery shopped...he is ready for me to no longer be pregnant just as much as I am!

erin

That's an Irish Lullaby

2010-03-01T13:24:00.002-06:00

A few things are on tap for this month:

-Annual pancake/sausage breakfast at work (joy)
-My mom's birthday
-A nice dinner out with family
-Taxes
-An evening work meeting
-The first Restoration Day of the year (which I will not be attending, thank you)
-St. Patrick's Day
-An all staff communications training (again, joy)
-Harrison's 2nd birthday
-My last scheduled day of work before maternity leave

and hopefully...

-A baby!

Bring on Spring!

In my head...

2010-02-18T09:09:00.002-06:00

Well, it did indeed snow.

And apparently, we're in for more snow this weekend. Like potentially 6-10 inches of snow. Boo.

Besides sad snow predictions, other things have been going alright. I don't sleep at night much, but that's okay. Next week I am going ahead with the traditional "mom cut" haircut and getting a pedicure, so I'm taking the entire day off. I also have a doctor appointment, DMV business to attend to and a lunch date with Mom (plus pedicures). Too busy for work, if you ask me. And speaking of work, I only have a mere 27 work days left before maternity leave begins! In the meantime, I have to plan the largest volunteer event of the year, book volunteers for our annual pancake breakfast, attend the pancake breakfast, attend about 786 meetings and make sure all volunteer-related jobs are covered in my absence. Just a few loose ends to tie up, really. Right.

3 months away will be fantastic!

Let's just hope it stops snowing before then.

erin

Hazy Shade of Winter

2010-02-04T15:50:00.002-06:00

Or a Whiter Shade of Pale...either will do.

Anyone else tired of winter? Anyone that lives not in a tropical or temperate climate, that is?

Beginning tonight and continuing tomorrow and possibly even the next day, we are in for more snow. Oh snow, you've come around here 3 or 4 times this year and I've simply had enough of you. I'm tired of driving precariously. Not that I drive like a crazy person, but when you have to begin breaking 1 mile before your stop and creeeeep around corner so you don't lose traction, that is annoying. I'm tired of shoveling snow (and when I say "I" I mean Danny because I haven't picked up a shovel one time this year...but I grow tired of him having to do it out of sympathy). I'm tired of picking snow clumps out of Harrison's paws. Every season has it's paw debris, winter is no exception and snow, while being the least offensive to me out of the others (mud, leaves, grass), is still a pain to extract from a wiggly, impatient 85 pound dog's paws. I'm tired of the power bill costing me my life's savings because it is so cold and rates keeps going up as a surprise. Actually, I'm tired of two power bills costing me my life's savings, but that's another complaint for another complainy blog.

What I'm hoping is that since this potential "snow storm" has been so hyped up now by all the locals and news, it won't amount to much, as is usually the case. I remember so many times wishing for huge amounts of snow in order to get out of school and anytime it got all hyped up, it never happened! Snow days now are no fun when you still have to go to work, but I'm still hoping the stigma stands true. And it's not like we're even supposed to get tons of snow...3-5 inches is all, but that is enough to cause me irritation. It's enough for drivers across our great state to forget how to drive. It's enough for a mass run to the grocery store for soups and milk (and I actually NEED to go to the grocery store, poor timing snow!).

Here's the deal...as this has been a pretty negative post about our weather potential, if it turns out to be not so bad, I will write a happy winter post to make up for my bitterness...how does that sound, snow? Sounds good to me!

In other news, Danny and I have become Prepared Childbirth Class dropouts. I know! I've never dropped a class in my life, and Danny, well academic loyalty knows no truer observer than my husband (riiiiight). Last week we were both sick with colds so we opted out of going and it turns out that was pretty much the "here is what to do with your baby after it is born" class, so since we missed that one, we're going to just forgo this last one on breastfeeding. Plus, I learned nothing I hadn't already read in my "baby quest" of last year, so it seemed a bit of a waste. We did get to go on the hospital tour, so that was good and I feel we'll survive even though we are dropouts. Those pioneers didn't have prepared childbirth class and look how well they did! We're simply following the "parental pioneer" way of child rearing. Our kid will churn butter with the best of em!

I'll see ya on the other side of our winter weather...here's hoping!

Shower the people you love with love

2010-01-31T11:57:00.001-06:00

Tonight, the Heartache's on Me

2010-01-19T14:16:00.003-06:00

Disclaimer: I realize most of my posts of late have been pregnancy-related, but that's really what's going on in my life, so hang in there a little longer...I sure am!

Okay, so pregnancy has been a wonderful thing, really.

I had about 3.5 days of nausea there in week 5 or so and then couldn't have been more tired until about week 14, but that was the real extent of my discomfort...and sleeping isn't so uncomfortable.

Throughout the first two trimesters, people asked how I felt and I had no complaints. So many other women go through hell during their pregnancies...I didn't feel like I had any of that, yay me!

Entering the 3rd trimester, I noticed that I was a bit more uncomfortable. Tying my shoes was getting ridiculous, and stairs really started slowing me down. And the heartburn. Oh the heartburn.

I've had heartburn probably everyday since week 12. Now, I didn't include it in my "discomfort" column because it was so managable. 1 Tums and I was all set. It seemed like just holding the Tums bottle near was enough to ease the heartburn away. What a fun time that was!

I was awake from 1am -4:30am last night with wicked heartburn. This has been my new nightly routine: eat dinner, get heartburn, shower, heartburn, fall asleep at 8:30pm, wake up at 1am/1:30am, get heartburn, watch TV until 3:30am-4am, pop Tums like I should be on Intervention, fall asleep until alarm at 6:20am, address needs of dog, dress, put on shoes, get heartburn. The recliner was my saving grace last night as lying at all flat was COMPLETELY out of the question (ps, I have heartburn while I type this, just so you can be right here with me). Sitting up was the only solution, and nothing says "restful night's sleep" like sitting up in a recliner!

So, with just about 9 or so weeks to go I'm getting really ready to no longer incubate a tiny person. The overall pregnancy has been great and I've really enjoyed it, so much so that I will most likely do it again someday, but seriously, for me (because I know others have had it much worse...my sister developed GERD, for the love), I'm just about done. That is all. Also, I heart Tums.

erin

There's a place where I can go and tell my secrets to...

2010-01-10T14:01:00.004-06:00

Here are some photos...no video this time. We are just rolling right along with just over 10 weeks until the original due date. I was pushed back 2 weeks, and while I agree there is a good chance I won't deliver before or on the original due date, I don't quite agree with the 2 weeks push back. We'll find out soon enough, I suppose.

Tuesday is my last monthly dr. appointment, after which I will be going every 2 weeks. I have definitely started feeling more pregnant now that I'm in the third trimester! My baby shower is in 2 weeks...perhaps a little early, but I will have plenty of time to stock up on anything I still need afterwards and will also have plenty of time to drive myself crazy with all my baby gear before while waiting to actually have the baby.

erin

Here in my room...

2009-12-20T18:46:00.004-06:00

Here is the promised updated nursery video! We're almost done!

Pretty much we've got outlet covers, switch plates, a bookshelf, wall shelf and rug to go, oh and bedding. But as far as construction goes, all done!

In other news, unless my doctor isn't getting back to me until next week, I don't believe I have gestational diabetes. My numbers before drinking the glucose drink were very very low and the nurse draining me of all my blood thought it was unnecessary for me to even be there. But heck, why not use the insurance and spend 3.5 hours of my Friday in the hospital waiting room? All in good fun, I say. I also enjoyed how anyone there for a procedure has a little light-up, vibrating pager like you get in restaurants. So techno-savvy! You might even forget you're at the hospital and suddenly think you are waiting to eat at the Olive Garden.

But anyway...the nursery...

Ain't She Sweet

2009-12-16T10:15:00.002-06:00

Had the 1 hour gestational diabetes test yesterday...failed...by a mere 7 points!

I go back for the 3 hour test on Friday morning, so here's hoping I get to enjoy all the Christmas treats per usual...otherwise, it's a sugar-free holiday for me!

I went in very confident that I would not end up having gestational diabetes, even though my sister had it and I tend to follow her trends. Now, I'm not too hopeful that I won't fail this next test also. Oh well, I suppose being forced to have a healthier diet is only a good thing and will make losing post-baby weight an easier task? Or will I just go off the deep end after having the baby? We'll go with the first scenario...if I, in fact, have it.

In other news, the nursery is so close to completion! I will post another video of progress soon. And, my Christmas wish is almost complete with all the furniture being moved over. We now have a complete family room and living room and I'd say 90% of the dining room. We've got a few closest to finish clearing out and one of the guest rooms to empty, plus a large buffet and a couple rugs. The garage is another story entirely, but since none of my stuff is out there and it's all Danny's ridiculous mess, I'm not worried about that...I can't worry about it, because I can't even let myself think about it.

9 days until Christmas. Not quite sure how to feel this holiday season, but I'm going to try to allow myself to feel as much positivity as I can.

erin

All I Want for Christmas...

2009-12-14T14:20:00.003-06:00

This year, Danny and I decided to just pick out one gift we wanted that the other person would provide, and then maybe one or two small, inexpensive things just to have something to unwrap Christmas morning.

Then we bought new hardwood floors for our other two bedrooms...Merry Christmas to us!

He picked his out and it is now sitting under the tree, along with one other fun Black Friday find I picked up at Target. I, however, had a hard time thinking of something I really needed or wanted. I usually can't think of anything and he is left to determine what to get me all on his own, the poor guy! Well, this year, I figured out what I really wanted...what I really, really wanted.

I wanted the rest of my furniture moved into our house...before Christmas.

I'm done with the "staging" of our home to entice buyers. Nothing is enticing buyers and I want my stuff! We've been living there since September with 2 entire rooms empty of all furniture as it stood out for show in the other house. I'm done with that! I was actually done with that a long time ago, but preoccupations kept me from getting to antsy about it.

Then I did get antsy.

I wanted my stuff.

I wanted my house to be complete.

And I wanted it done soon.

And since I can't do much lifting and hauling these days, I was left to abide by my husband's time table for doing projects he doesn't want to do. And I couldn't take that any longer, so I offered up my Christmas gift in exchange for getting our house in finished, working order. At first, I had given him the deadline of March, so it was at least all moved over in time for the baby (also I REALLY hope our house is sold by flipping March, but I'm not counting on it). Then, I determined that if this was really going to be my Christmas gift, I wasn't going to wait until March, it should techincally be finished by Christmas...so 2 weeks. Go!

Today I came home for lunch and shortly thereafter was my husband and father-in-law with my lovely living room chairs and dining room chairs and then came our other couch and desk and tools went back with them to take apart a guest bed and dining room table. Oh the progress!

With this "all-of-a-sudden" action of Danny's, though, comes a little disorganization that I never enjoy. We have a few pieces of furniture whose places of rest are occupied by remnants of the current nursery project. So they will have to sit in the middle of our dining room until those spaces open back up. Let's just say I am not a fan of multiple projects happening all at once.

But I am a HUGE fan of having my furniture, all my furniture in the current house where I live.

Merry Christmas to me!

erin

In my room

2009-12-05T18:15:00.002-06:00

Today I did some nursery power shopping!

Danny and I have been really cooking on this nursery. Danny has ripped up old wood floor and painted and prepped the room for new floor, installed a new light fixture and cut and painted new trim. Our crib, changing table/dresser, and glider/ottoman combo have been ordered and today with A TON of help from my mom, I purchased window treatments, a small pink table (which we bought a new glass drawer pull for), frames for some pictures I had, and stuff to make our own mobile for over the crib which we then did make. It was quite a day!

I honestly think this room will be the nicest in our house and we'll probably all spend a lot of time there.

Here is a peak into some of the work done...also, we are training Harrison to not come into the room unless asked, so that is why she can be seen running from the doorway.

Paint it Black

2009-11-30T19:36:00.003-06:00

Oh Black Friday...

We went. The "we" was my sister and me. We hadn't been since she was pregnant back in 2006 (right?) and we had gone for a few years up until then. And then we didn't go for a while. I'm not sure if it was because plans kept us apart on Fridays or we just had enough of the crazies and needed a reprieve, but for whatever reason, this was our first venture back into the madness of the start of the holiday shopping season in a few years.

At first, I had no intentions of going. Emy mentioned something about heading out, but I was unsure of my level of commitment and stamina due to being just about 6 months pregnant (tomorrow!). But then, I got a second wind...first wind? Was there even wind at this point? Nevermind. I got motivated to go and there were some deals Em wanted to score like the 32" flat screen at Target for $250. I really had nothing pending I wanted, but Black Friday shopping is no one man task. So I was all set to go! Then she broke the news of what time we were heading out. 4am.

4am!

Also please note that we were doing Thanksgiving at Mom's later that day, so we still had cooking turkey, potatoes, green beans, etc. to accomplish that day.

So I reluctantly agreed to be up and ready and pick her up at Mom's at 4am so we could get to Target no later than 4:30am for the 5am opening.

When we got to Target, I first saw no line of people, though I did see plenty of cars. Well, there was a line. What I thought was a long line. But, by the time 5am rolled around, the line had grown to at least 1 mile long, wrapping around the entire store. Our goal was a tv, though being about 100 people back and hearing the store manager talk about no running, pushing, biting (yes, biting), we were skeptical of our chances on the tv front. So we figured out what else we would shoot for ($3 toaster, blender for mom, husband gifts, maybe sheets?). We got into the store and we were off. No, there was no real running, though my sister did run about 3 steps in the end, rebel...but I was on cart duty and she planned on heading straight to the tv section, which according to our maps was to be located in maternity on this cold morning. I lost her in the crowd in my attempts at cutting people off to get a cart (sorry) but when I caught up with her, she was smiling, and hauling a big tv box back through the racks! SCORE! We got one of the probably 25 tvs available, that literally were gone by 5:02am.

We also managed to pick up everything else on the list and got in the long long line by 5:20am (I was the time keeper) and by 6am, we were back at home with our loot, ready for the day!

Oh Black Friday, you may be crazy, but we former Evans' girls heart you so!

erin

Thanks for the Memories

2009-11-23T08:16:00.002-06:00

We all know Thanksgiving is this Thursday and this time of year is when we all take a moment to reflect on the good things in life, the things we are thankful for...

And sometimes that's hard, especially this year. This year has been hard. There have been a lot of things this year that we've had to struggle with, struggle though, and struggle to comprehend and I have a difficult time finding reasons to be thankful for such struggles. Death, no work, bad economy, 12 months of negative pregnancy tests, rude/thoughtless relatives, rude/thoughtless co-workers, too much rain...the list flows like floodwater, especially this year.

But, there is also something that comes with struggle and that is strength. And even though it is harder than hell to look past what is right in front of you to find the thing that keeps you going, it's important to try. This is what separates us as survivors in life.

So here is my list of thanks for the strength I've found through the struggles:
-Danny has worked 2 months in 2009. This has made life a definate struggle financially and emotionally, but we've perservered through it and managed to both make ends meet and do a lot of home projects. We've also learned to cope with the stress of no work, so I'm thankful for that.
-There have been instances where people have shocked me with their rudeness and thoughlessness, even relatives in our family. I've really struggled with letting the resentments for these people go this year, but I find that in doing so, I no longer have to harbor feelings of resentment. It doesn't change them, but nothing will. I, however, do not have to make myself feel worse because they lack a level of maturity and sensitivity. So they can have it, and I'll move on and be thankful that I am able to do so.
-Our house is still for sale. I realize many people have faced this and are currently in the same boat due to our current state of economy. I would be so happy if someone would just buy the damn thing, but I'm thankful for our situation and that we don't have to make 2 mortgage payments, we don't have to go through foreclosure, we can just ride this out until it's over.
-12 months of being told "no" sucks, plain and simple. I never thought it would take so long for us to get pregnant and during those 12 months it was very hard to hold on to hope that nothing was wrong. Turns out, nothing was wrong and here we are, 5 months pregnant. For that I'm thankful, but I've also realized I'm thankful for that year. If nothing else, we learned that having a baby is something we truly want. During our moments of stress and worry, it's still something we desperately wanted and our resolve was tested. So now we get to fully enjoy the experience of waiting without worry for our child to be born. Nerves, sure, but not worry.
-And that leads me to death. I want to say that I am in no way thankful for losing my Dad. He wasn't in pain, he wasn't sick, he wasn't ready and I'm can't find any "thanks" for his passing. I would give it all back to have him back, but unfortunately, that's not how it works. And everyday it's a struggle to think about and deal with and everyday I have to find the strength to deal. But a lot of days I do find that strength and I am able to deal with it. For this I am thankful and I credit this to my dad. Somehow, I believe, he made it possible for me to go on without him here. And the strength I've gained by going through that whole experience is something no one can take from me. It's almost a bravery to face the unknown. Many times in life you try to prepare yourself for bad news by picturing the worst thing that could happen to you and thinking of a coping mechanism for that. Well I've been through the worst and look at me, I'm doing alright. So what else is there to fear? What else is there to worry about? Not much, and for that I am thankful. Thanks, Dad...you still keep me going.

So there you have it. A list of struggle that I've taken control of and giving a new spin to. For that ability, I am thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

erin

Girl.

2009-11-17T19:45:00.001-06:00

Is what we're having!!

Beyond thrilled!

erin

It's Raining on Sunday

2009-11-15T14:47:00.003-06:00

The title says it all. Rain, again. All week.

Not a bad weekend, all in all. Had to work Saturday morning/early afternoon and then I got to spend a little downtime at home before going to dinner with my in-laws and then watching a movie with a friend of mine.

Today I was up by 7, did some housework, then went out with Mom for a little shopping and lunch. Now I am home again, doing laundry and awaiting Sunday dinner, again at the in-laws.

Not too much is happening right now. We find out the baby's gender on Tuesday and I've taken the whole day off work so we can register and continue to celebrate the occasion! We're very excited at our house to finally find out who will be joining our family in March. And how soon is March?? This pregnancy is flying by!

Have a good week!

erin

Working on the Chain Gang

2009-11-09T12:52:00.002-06:00

Whew!

That's all I can say.

I think nesting mode is kicked in!

Now, usually when I "dedicate" a weekend to cleaning, it's a half-hearted thing. I have the best intentions, and then I usually scale back what should get done to what really only needs to be done to look passible until the next round of cleaning happens. And after that 2 hours or so, I'm totally non-functioning for the rest of the weekend.

Not so this past weekend.

I didn't even go into Saturday with a gigantic to-do list. I had somethings I wanted to accomplish, I knew my mom was going to be helping me, and that was that. I was even attempting to scale back as I made my way to the grocery store for the first time in about a month (yay for macaroni and cheese keeping us going).

But then I picked up Mom and her cleaning equipment, we made our way back to my house, put groceries away and it was on!

What we accomplished:
After I filled in at work from 7:30am-9:30am:
-I cleaned both bathrooms
-Mom vacuumed the MOUNDS of dog hair from the dining room
-Got a load of dishes washing
-Mom and I washed the dining room floor (this is a large floor, mind you)
-Followed by steaming the dining room floor
-Followed by polishing the dining room floor
-I vacuumed other rooms in the house
-We put clean dishes away
-Mom did more dishes. I swear dishes multiply while you do them!
-I promptly fell down on my bed for 40 minutes while Mom finished ripping down all wallpaper from my old bedroom to prepare for the transformation into a nursery.
-Danny finished painting in the hallway (so all rooms but the nursery have now been repainted).
-Danny fixed our fence out back so now there is a working gate.
-Danny and I both raked/swept leaves in the front and back yard (that 97 year old rake that we've had my ENTIRE life gave me wicked blisters because I did not wear work gloves...silly me).
-I participated in a very futile job of cleaning the back door of dog nose and paw prints. They will return shortly.
-I made dinner, which is not a big deal, but I totally wasn't planning on doing so and hey, it was a long day! Then I did dishes, again!
-I fell asleep at 8pm
End Saturday.

On Sunday, my entire plan was to do nothing but watch mindless television, which I did for a good while, but then I started a load of laundry, picked up drop cloth in the living room, attempted to move the piano (I thought I would just slide around, not so much), folded AND put away said laundry, started another load, and finally took a nap.

I did notice that soon I will need to vacuum the basement steps and change out the shower curtain in the guest bathroom, but I think those tasks will have to wait until the next nesting jag kicks in...which could be later today.

erin

Body Bumpin'

2009-11-01T18:26:00.001-06:00

19 weeks, 5 days...

The Monster Mash

2009-10-27T15:53:00.002-05:00

It's almost Halloween!

I'm realizing that this will be one of the last Halloween's that I don't have to do much.

I pretty much stopped trick or treating in middle school, when a lot of my friends kept doing it for a few years. Besides myself and a few friends, there were a ton of other kids trick or treating in my neighborhood, so when we kind of lost interest, that was that. For a few years after that I helped pass out candy, but over the years the trick or treating really dropped off in my neighborhood.

Then I went to college. And literally I am trying to remember what we did on Halloweens...I know one year we opened our door for kids who would trick or treat at the dorms (that was Freshman year, when there was a lot of other options on Halloween and our dorm was so far from life, it wasn't worth the walk). But seriously, I can't recall specifics on college Halloweens. Hmm.

Then I had my own home in a more popular trick-or-treating neighborhood and Danny and I were pumped to hand out candy until like the second group came by and then it was a "no you do it, no you" kind of thing. Lost lots of appeal very quickly.

So last year, we went trick or treating with our nephew which was nice and we didn't have to deal with buying/eating/handing out candy, though since Austin was only 1 and a half, we did eat most of his candy...sorry, buddy.

This year we are going to a Halloween costume party (I got really creative and bought cat ear and a tail...whoo!) and again, won't have to worry about candy, however, now that we've moved back to my childhood home, I doubt the trick or treating has picked up much.

From now on though, I will have a child, upon which this holiday really revolves. Costumes (do I go store bought or homemade?), candy (do I go cheap or fun?), eventually classroom parties (do I become a room mother or stay out of it?) trick or treating (who stays to pass out candy and who takes the kid?). It's no longer a "whatever" time of year. It's one more opportunity to make a lot of decisions, get cavities, and above all else, have fun.

Happy Halloween!

erin

The beating of our hearts is the only sound...

2009-10-20T14:41:00.004-05:00

I am 18 weeks pregnant.

We had another appointment today, and though I thought it unlikely, Danny and I wondered if there was maybe a chance of this appointment being the "big one" meaning the gender scan. It's supposed to come around 20 weeks and low and behold, here we are right around 20 weeks. Danny was PUMPED that this was it, to say the least and knowning my husband as I do, I really tried to drive home that this really might not be the appointment, especially since no one at the doctor's office said anything to me about this being that appointment. I said this could just be another quick in and out, hear the heartbeat, pee in a cup appointment.

And of course it was.

And my did the walls fall down around Danny's world.

Poor guy, he doesn't handle disappointment well, but what could I do? I'm not in charge of ultrasounds.

So in 4 weeks, we will be going for our gender scan and for the love the Jesus I hope we can see all we need to see, otherwise, I'm going to have another grumpy guy on my hands.

But in the meantime, I just love hearing that whooshing sound! And I have only gained 3 pounds since my last appointment, at which I had lost 2, which makes my grand total of weight gain 1 ENTIRE pound. Apparently the key to me maintaining my weight while eating without thought was getting pregnant. Who knew? Also, I'm sure that's all about to end as we get farther along. Too bad, it's like magic!

If my camera was worth anything, I'd have a few bump pictures to post, but alas, it's utter crap. That's something I'm going to have to work on before March for sure...so maybe I'll get a wild hair and get on fixing that situation and posting some photos. We'll see!

Looking forward to November 17th!

erin

ps. that new Miley Cyrus (sp?) song is on the radio right now and I really really don't enjoy it.

Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head

2009-10-14T09:11:00.002-05:00

Seriously!

So much rain this fall. Days of unending rain. Sometimes I can get into the feel of a rainy day, especially when I'm home with a movie to watch or something, but all day for days on end gets depressing. You just end up taking naps at inconvenient times and eating "comfort" (translate = caloric) food. At least, I do.

But in happier news, this is my first weekend in a long time that I have nothing work-related to do! Hooray! Fall is a ridiculous time of special events at the Conservation District, and I'm so done with it. Too bad I can already think of 4 more weekend happenings coming at me in the next 4 weeks. Boo on that. And as a result of all the special events...we have SO MUCH FOOD AROUND HERE! Danish, muffins, chips, pretzels, cheese, crackers, candy, chili, cookies, hot dogs...it's a pregnant woman's fantasy land. Thank goodness I have a lunch meeting today so I will be away for the tremendous (in size) lunch being prepared for us today by a volunteer...6 pies for dessert alone! Ridiculous.

So, I'm just trying to stay dry, avoid massive amounts of food, and find some down time this season. Can't believe we're getting towards the end of October already. Also ridiculous.

erin

It's Been a Long Time, I Shouldn't Have Left You...

2009-10-05T13:14:00.002-05:00

Sorry!

Even though I've been having a jam-packed Fall season both at home and at work what with moving, attempting to sell a house (seriously...sell already!), big work events every flipping weekend, mourning a loss, having a spouse, and growing a person...I just haven't felt remotely interesting lately. Nothing too blog-worthy to note. So, I guess here is a quick run down of some of the activities I have found myself a part of in the last few weeks:

-Hubby's 27th birthday with corresponding party at our house = firepit, marshmallows, good friends, 2am (haven't seen that time in many months!)
-Bears' football season
-New bedding for our bedroom, new light fixture for the dining room, new kitchen mats and towels
-Helped prepare 24 gallons of chili for a work event, then help serve about 18 of those gallons. You do the math...anyone want some chili?
-Dinners with family
-Walks with Mom
-Falling asleep at 8pm most nights
-Birth of a good friend's second baby girl
-Selling a car (again with the lack of actual sale driving me a bit crazy!)
-Vaccuming dog hair...this is really something that I do way more often than I'd like. Wood floors and Golden Retrievers = many vaccum bags.
-Expanding waistline. Most days I'm all for this pheomenon of waking up fatter, some days, I just feel like a cow.
-Mom's old and my new refrigerator (the same one). I appreciate it daily.
-Preparing for about 5 more weekend work events until they are done for the season. It's not all deer and trees out here people.

So, we've got things going on. We get through each day and on to the next and some are easy and some are challenging, but at least the weather is cooperating nicely.

erin

You've Really Got A Hold on Me

2009-09-17T12:52:00.003-05:00

My ode to Macaroni and Cheese...

I love macaroni and cheese, any kind really. I especially love the old run of the mill, out of the box Kraft kind. I know, I'm fancy. It seems like mac and cheese has had a significance in my life from a very early period.

My first memories of mac and cheese...I can't have been older than 3 or 4, and I, excuse the graphic nature of this memory, but I got sick in the hallway of what is now my home again and my sister SWEARS I left a "macaroni trail" which I kind of recall. Gross, but there it was.

Every time I was sick or stayed home from school with something, my mom made me macaroni and cheese, and to this day anytime I feel under the weather, that's what I want to eat if I feel like eating. And it's really perfect if Mom is around to make it.

It was the food I could make myself from start to finish, no problem. Since then I'd like to say my culinary skills have somewhat improved and I've even made mac and cheese from scratch, but I did get the timing down to a flat 7 minutes when it comes to the kraft version.

And now that I'm growing a person, its the food I want ALL THE TIME. I guess you'd call it a craving. Now don't get me wrong, I don't eat this stuff everyday (Mom, this is for you), and I'm happy to incorporate other foods into my meals, but I kind of need it at least once a week. Today at lunch, Danny made some and I couldn't get out the door to head back for work until I had some of his...I already ate my lunch. I asked him to pick up some at the store the other day and when he came home with 12 boxes, I figured I was a little obsessed.

Hopefully, when my child is old enough to fully enjoy the goodness that is mac and cheese, I will let him/her actually eat some.

How Does it Feel?

2009-09-15T14:48:00.002-05:00

I always wondered what it would feel like to be pregnant.

For the first week or two after finding out, it was pretty nauseating, but that was about it.

For the next 5 or so weeks after that, I was asleep, so I can't recall what it was like. Seriously, I always read that being tired was a big symptom of pregnancy and there were months this past year where I thought I was more tired and so yes, I must be this time! But then, no. Oh man, that tired compared to "growing a human" tired is NOTHING! I couldn't walk around my house without having to lie down for 20 minutes and doze off. I went to bed pretty much by 6pm, asleep for sure by 8:30pm every night and took a nap each weekend day. I was also a grump because I was so tired, so I'm sure everyone around me had a blast with that.

Now I've entered the 2nd trimester. The extreme tired has faded, though I get worn out quicker. And even though I somehow managed to lost 2 pounds at my last doctor's appointment, my pants no longer fit unless they are elastic-waisted. Odd. However I don't really look pregnant, I look fatter. And for the past two days I've been experiencing pretty uncomfortable "hey I think my uterus is growing" pains that get extra bad after I eat any kind of food. So I've instructed Danny to get me lots of fruit to eat because for some reason I think that will do the trick (I base this on nothing other than watermelon sounds really good right now). Also, if I talk about Mac and Cheese, I have to eat it and I'm sure that's not helping my pants situation any.

But you know what? It's FANTASTIC!

One child is born, and the world carry on...

2009-09-08T15:19:00.002-05:00

We are having a baby!

You have no idea (well, most of you do) how long I've been waiting to put out this post.

Coming this spring, late March in fact, baby Moyer will be making "its" debut. We will most definately be finding out whether a son or daughter joins the family and we have no preferences. Danny and I couldn't be happier and this has been a dream long in the making...but its like everyone says, it happens when it happens and it has happened.

Of course it is going to be a bittersweet moment for me because my Dad will not be physically there, but I know he'll be spiritually there and I hope that our child will be graced with some of his qualities, too. He did know we were expecting and was very happy for us, and for that I'm thankful.

But for now, we wait with excitement for our first child. Excitement, joy, and every now and then a flash of "oh my god, what are we doing?!" and then excitement again.

erin

Kind & Generous

2009-08-23T17:35:00.001-05:00

You've been so kind and generous, I don't know how you keep on giving
For your kindness I'm in debt to you
For your selflessness, my admiration
For everything you've done, you know I'm bound, I'm bound to
thank you for it....

la la la la la la la la la

You've been so kind and generous, I don't know how you keep on giving
For your kindness I'm in debt to you
And I never could have come this far without you
For everything you've done, you know I'm bound, I'm bound to
thank you for it....

Na Na na na na na na na na na
na na na na na na na na na na

Oh, I want to thank you for so many gifts you gave with love and tenderness,
I wanna thank you
I want to thank you for your generosity, the love and the honesty that you gave me
I want to thank you, show my gratitude, my love and my respect for you,
I wanna thank you

Oh I want to thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you, thank you, thank you...

Thank you.

Gone Too Soon

2009-08-21T19:29:00.004-05:00

My dad died on Wednesday.

It was 100% unexpected.

I can hardly fathom that I'm even typing this, but here I am. Typing. My dad suffered a heart attack in 2005, a pretty major one at that. That was also 100% unexpected, but the genetics in his family are not heart-favorable. However, he recovered really well. For the next 3 years he was fit, lost weight (not that he really needed to), ate even better than before, and everything seemed cool. He had a pacemaker/defibrilator put in and we all moved along in life.

Then, this past January, his device was needed to shock him back to life after he quickly passed out while walking. Again, scary and unexpected, but he really bounced back from that too and even gained a whole new positive outlook on life and coined the slogan "I can't take it to heart because my heart can't take it." meaning that none of us should dwell on the negativity in our lives because it will get to you in the end.

Over the last couple weeks and months, he'd been experience some dizzy spells and falls, and we were told it was his meds, not his heart.

On Wednesday my dad was having a fantastic day. He was happy, upbeat and enjoying everyone around him. He decided to golf, alone, and on hole 11, he went down. Fellow golfers got to him and called 911, gave him CPR and got a hold of my mom. He was taken to the ER, but in the end, his heart was just worn out and "couldn't take it" anymore. I was there, with Danny and Mom and my sister arrived just after Dad passed away at 5:05pm. We sat with him awhile after that...bizarre.

These past few days have not been my favorite. A lot of the time I'm okay, holding it together, but then I need a couple minutes to lose it. Every so often I catch myself just staring off thinking, "wow, Dad is gone." It's absolutely surreal. And it absolutely sucks.

I debated blogging anything about this, but the subtitle to my blog is "the thoughts and events of my life" and this was certainly an event and here are my thoughts. I already know that I feel Dad with me now, but it's still so ridiculous to me that I am even going through this that I can't fully appreciate it yet, but in time, I know I will.

I left Mom's house this evening for the first time since Wednesday evening. I don't like to think of her there alone for even a night, but she's the strongest person I know in life. I still pray for her strength and comfort.

I guess I'll wrap it up by saying that my dad was my hero. He was and will continue to be the standard to which I measure all other people, male and female. A lot of people I run into day to day do not measure up and for them I am sorry, but there are people who do come close, like my husband, who I think is somehow a small reincarnation of my dad. I thank God for that. My dad has always been the epitome of cool and I credit all my random knowledge and musical appreciation to him. Thank you, Dad, for the 26 years I had to know you and be loved by you. No daughter has ever felt more love.

Love you forever, with me always.

erin

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2009-08-18T15:56:00.002-05:00

Are you familiar with that commercial about school supplies? The one with the father happily picking out pencils and staplers while his children look on angrily?

I really used to loathe that commercial back when I was in school. Now, I LOVE it! I do not miss school ONE BIT.

And don't misunderstand, I was good at school. I was really good at school. I kicked school's butt, but by the time I got to college, I was just pretty much done with the whole concept. So I majored in education and proceeded to finish my academic career. Now, I am not in education and while many of my friends go on to earn master's degrees, I can safely say that I will not. I was done with school when I graduated, with honors. DONE. But I still get off on other people having to go back to school.

But anyway...in my last post, dated last Wednesday, I went on and on about how desperately I needed to grocery shop. So tonight, almost one week later, I am going to Wal Mart! I have my list, I have my mind set, I am ready to go! I'll let you know how it all turns out...

erin

To everything, there is a season

2009-08-12T14:12:00.004-05:00

And the summer season, while full of fun, sees very little accomplishment.

Can anyone go shopping for me?

I have a long list of supplies I need to restock my shelves. We are currently down to 1 frozen pizza and water at our house as far as nurishment and that, my friends, won't do. I honestly don't think I've grocery shopped, like really grocery shopped for a good few months. I've grabbed random things now and then and Danny went out once for a couple essentials, but it's been ages since I've gone armed with a list and a dream.

For whatever reason, I have no time or energy to feed us. And we really should be fed. I have totally slacked in the whole "domestic" department. I finally folded laundry (did I put it away, no, is it sitting folded in the basket in the middle of the living room, yes.) after a couple of years. I've prepared like 4 dinners the whole summer I think. Something about the hot and selling a house and attempting to move/paint/be in 2 bands just adds up to very little personal time.

And speaking of selling a house. I have to email my realtor after I finish this blog. I haven't even heard from the guy for a week or so. Seems promising! I realize that he can't just create interest in our house (even though he is a realtor and selling houses is in his job description), but I'm thinking he could at least shoot an email our way saying, "yep, I still remember you guys. Younger couple, great house that I said would sell quick for top dollar that now is taking a long time and we'll probably reduce the price soon...I'm working on a big strategy to get that sucker gone!" When this all started, I was quite sentimental, sorry to see the old girl go, but now...I'm done with her. Thanks for the memories house, but it's time to move out and move on. I'm sick of seeing you with that for sale sign in the yard!

Of course selling the house means someone would have to have a walk through, and that means I would have to re-clean it and get that laundry out of the living room.

But its so hot!

In closing, this blog was meant to remind me that I need to get it in gear and get back to doing the necessary everday things of life. If that means a late night trip to Walmart, so be it.

Remind me I said that next week when we're down to water and baking soda and walking around in dirty clothes, ok?

erin

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

2009-08-06T15:38:00.003-05:00

It's Decatur Celebration Time again!

Pull out your wife-beaters and flip flops and make your way to downtown Decatur this weekend. As is custom, the weather will be heinous and the alcohol will be flowing.

I will, once again, be in the Razzle, Dazzle Good Times Parade with the District, though this year I will be riding in style in the Mobile Nature Center...out of the heat.

Not sure if we'll make it back to the festivities any other time this weekend. Danny expressed interest in seeing the Romantics of "What I Like About You" and "Talking in Your Sleep" fame. Could be cool. Those old groups who show up at the Celebration are always hit or miss. Marshall Tucker Band was a big miss, while WAR was a huge hit. Boys II Men wasn't bad either, but there were so many people crammed in the streets I was reserved to watch it on the small video screen of someone's camera standing nearby.

You can certainly find a fantastic selection of fair food from deep fried twinkies to alligator on a stick to giant turkey legs to chinese food. And as I mentioned, plenty of beer for the masses. And I just heard on the radio today that you can register your kids for school! So grab a brew and head over the the public school registration table! One stop shopping, really.

Oh D-Cel, what a fixture you have been in my life!

Hope to see you there!

erin

First I Look at the Purse

2009-08-02T20:31:00.003-05:00

But not mine...mine was stolen!

Yes, Friday night, I left my purse in the car. I often leave my purse in my car, car in the driveway, doors locked. Well, Friday night, apparently we didn't lock the car as we thought we did and low and behold...purse gone in the morning. Wallet also gone. Thankfully, I didn't have keys in there or my cell phone so after I cancelled my credit card and realized my debit card was the old, expired one, I realized that it could have been much worse. It did make me feel creepy that someone else was in possession of my license and my cool yellow purse and wallet, but I didn't get as upset as I thought I might. Still, bummer of a Saturday morning.

The rest of the weekend shaped up to be not so bad. This week we'll be starting with the big move to the new house. My dad is working on painting and I think slowly but surely we'll get our stuff moved over.

No word on our current house as far as selling, but we're hoping for the best as always.

erin

I've got a feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night...

2009-07-29T14:12:00.003-05:00

Thank the lord my husband is FINALLY going back to work!

Hopefully for a while....but you never know...

After getting laid off in January, we're now looking at more than just a couple days work here and there or side jobs, though side jobs have really gotten us through this long 7, almost 8 months. And I have to give him hugh props for seeing this through as he has. Yes, he's brought home unemployment and other funds, but not working takes its toll on a man, mine at least and in the last few months I can only count on one hand the couple of times its really gotten him down to the point of being outwardly depressed. Fortunately for him, he had the finishing rennovations on our house to sustain him for a few months and yes, side jobs, couple of which he'll continue doing on weekends, but to have someone call and say we need to at work tomorrow morning...he's been waiting for that!
"Because if he would have had to clean our house one more time...." guess I get that lovely task back, in other words. I'll take it. I'll take cooking and cleaning back happily. I've always had laundry, I can't get rid of that job at all! But it's too bad, because that guy can make a mean dinner!

In other news, our facebook is still a no go here at work. Boo.

We're Moving on Up

2009-07-28T08:12:00.002-05:00

My parents have officially moved into their new home and that means, it's time for us to move!

This will be a slower transition that usual, I think, as we have not yet sold our current home. So some of our furniture will have to stay put so as to "stage" the house, while other stuff can be moved over. We are also going to paint before we get too many things over there, which will be great! Way less work when you don't have to manuever around furniture.

As far as our current house, we have a lady coming back for a second look tomorrow. She's single and looking for an older west end home, which is exactly what we're offering! Also, when I purchased the home I was not married and when the girl I bought the home from purchased the home, she was single (I think...), so this house should be right up a single gal's alley! Anyway, I'm hopeful. That way I don't have to end up paying two power bills.

Here's something tragic in my life...
Facebook no longer works at my computer at work! None of us can figure it out! We don't think it was blocked, but what else would be causing the problem? I know we're probably not supposed to technically be on facebook at work, but I don't really care, plus, I've caught the boss on it several times. But now that I don't have it, I realize what a good chunk of my day I devoted to facebook if I had no other real pressing things to accomplish. Not Cool!

erin

You Say Potato...

2009-07-21T09:05:00.003-05:00

I say, "it's Volunteer Quarterly Meeting time!"

I am preparing a baked potato bar and ice cream sundae bar for my meeting this evening, that only 9 people have signed up for. Oh well, at least it will be short and sweet.

So that's what I'll be working on today. Of course I have way too much food, but the staff will just eat it later in the week. I like that I can essentially buy groceries for work, and hey, I'm licensed to do so.

That's pretty much it for now. I'll get back to you with more news later...stay tuned for part II: Storing the Leftovers!

Anyone want a potato?

erin

It's my birthday too, yeah!

2009-07-07T10:34:00.004-05:00

My birthday was on the 1st, right in the middle of my vacation.

The vacation was my gift to myself.

I had a really nice day! Danny planned a fun dinner with friends which was a big surprise to me, although I started to suspect something when he suggested I wear my new top to dinner. He rarely suggests outfits. My mother-in-law made me a fantastic cake, too, which we enjoyed back at our house with all our dinner companions. Earlier in the day I made the trip up to Bloomington with Mom, who was delivering Austin back to Emy and Nick after spending the night in Elwin. So I got to see all my family on that day too.

Danny got me a beautiful necklace that matches a ring he gave me on our first Christmas (although he didn't know that at the time) and an air popcorn popper! We have already enjoyed a few batches of popcorn from this.

On Thursday, I went to the pool with Mom and totally burned my legs to a crisp. Oh well, being fair skinned and getting absolutely no sign of burnage on our Mexican honeymoon, I was due. Then Danny came and met us for lunch.

On Friday we went to dinner with Mom and Dad and then off to meet friends and I enjoyed one or two or seven drinks. That was also a really good time!

Now I have to remember to get my license renewed this weekend so I don't end up not doing it for 9 months like my husband.

Here's to being 26!

erin

Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies

2009-07-06T15:25:00.009-05:00

Or cloudy, rainy, chilly skies...

So, 4th of July...really? That was it? Independence Day, Land of the Free, and I spent it how?

I woke up at roughly 7am, and it was darkish outside, cloudy. I fell back asleep and awoke later (obviously, but I don't recall the time...9am-ish?) and it was still dark and cloudy. Now something about my house, and I'm going to be bold and post this even though we are in a "state of sale" because I don't think any of the 7 people who read this blog are planning on purchasing my home...well our house, you cannot tell if it's raining. Let me clarify. It's not like there are no windows, quite the contrary, but just the positioning of the neighbors and trees and things of that nature, you have to literally walk up to a window and look out to see if it is raining. So, when I woke up and saw that it was dark and cloudy, I was unsure if anything else was going on. Apparently, it was raining.

And it rained all.day.long.

Happy 4th of July! A day to get outdoors and light sparklers, have block parties, grill out, golf, swim, hang out with friends...not this year! Not at all!

We were invited to a party, initially starting at 6pm. Then, due to forecasted rain, it was changed to 2pm. At 2pm, it was pouring, but our friends were determined to have their party. So it was moved back to 5pm. Danny went. I, however, opted out due to my Sunday plans. I remained bored at home with the dog, continued re-reading my Harry Potter books and watching tv. We got into bed at like 9pm, due to Sunday plans, and listened to fireworks. I saw no fireworks this year. They postponed the official fireworks until Sunday night, but lots of individual Independence day celebrations went ahead with their own and I listened to them while Harrison barked at them for about an hour. Happy 4th of July! We didn't go to the rescheduled fireworks on Sunday because of my Sunday plans.

So the Sunday plans...woke up at 5:30am, tried to get dressed. I put a particular t-shirt into the dryer the night before and only the t-shirt to ensure its dryness for that day. Apparently I did not set the dryer for very long because upon opening it up the next early morning it was more than damp. So I tried to get a few more minutes of dry time in, but ended up donning my uncomfortably damp t-shirt and "still wet from fording through the river that was the Kroger parking lot yesterday" jeans that I thought would be dry as well. Then a co-worker picked me up at 6am and low and behold he had an official event t-shirt for me to wear for the event of the day: The Rodney T. Miller Triathlon. It's Chicago Bears' orange, so Danny feels I can easily sew some kind of Bears logo over the Triathlon logo and wear it this football season! Sure, hon!

Anyhoo, I was one of 12 volunteers for this triathlon, who would be in "safety canoes" out on the lake for the 1 mile swimming portion of the race for tired swimmers to hang onto during the course. We had 5 people stop by our canoe and almost tip us, and we had to maintain our position for 1 hour before the race actually began in the cold, drizzly, windy weather. My back it sore today, but all in all, it was a decent time. However, after spending roughly 5 hours down at the lake and getting up oh-so-early on the last day of my vacation and working for free led me to not want to return to the Lake and sit and watch fireworks with Decatur's finest and get bug bites. Also, Danny golfed that day, all day, and he was too tired for fireworks. All fireworks. Instead, we got Pizza Factory calzones (of which I only ate half, whereas a few months ago I would have eaten the entire thing...portion control, it's essential) and ordered the movie Notorious off our On Demand. It's the movie about the rapper Notorious B.I.G. It was pretty good, entertaining anyway.

And so today, Monday, July 6th, I find myself back at work after a week of a fantastic vacation and great 26th birthday, which I will blog about next time. What was waiting for me when I returned? Well, here's a short list:

-Lots of mail
-Lots of email
-1 potential new volunteer
-1 potential new volunteer clean up event
-My CPR/First Aid cards made out to "Erin Moyes"
-An article deadline that I was assigned WHILE ON VACATION (what?!)
-Missed co-workers
-Not missed co-workers
-Lunch hour phone duty
-No voicemails! Hard to believe, but appreciated.
-A new calendar of events
-A "typo" pointed out to me on a flyer I created
-A "typo" on an already-created pamphlet I used to create my flyer, therefore negating a "typo" on my part. I pointed this out with a smile.
-Chips in the kitchen. There are ALWAYS chips in the kitchen. I ate none.

Sad to be back, yet okay with being back. And what's really getting me through the day is the rest of my calzone waiting for me at home. I even texted Danny to remind him not to eat or let anything happen to it because I AM GOING TO EAT TO TONIGHT AND I CAN'T WAIT! Portion control also makes you manical about leftovers, apparently.

erin

I got the music in me...

2009-07-04T13:43:00.002-05:00

A recent show...check it out

and here's one more...

PS...my little week vacation was FANTASTIC, and I never want to go back to work again. Sadly, I will go there on Monday.

erin

Our House is a Very Very Very Fine House

2009-06-24T15:18:00.002-05:00

I'm pretty sure I've used that title before, but too bad...I'm hot, busy, and exhausted!

Wanna see our house?

www.brinkoetter.com
MSL # 182444

It's a better photo tour than I could provide you.

We already had a showing! Before the photos were even loaded up on their webpage! I haven't heard anything from it, so I'm not expecting this to be it, but I never thought we would be doing this thing already!

I ran home at 11 and found Danny and 3 other helpers working on straightening the garage. So I got my butt in gear and spot cleaned a few of those "never will really go away stains" on the carpet, some we moved in with, some we created ourselves. I threw laundry into the dryer from the basement floor, so I'll have to remember those are not clean and dry. Put a couple of stray dishes into the dishwasher, made the bed upstairs, straightened, managed to eat approximately 6 bites of a salad, then I raced Harrison over to Mom and Dad's and made it back to work with no time to spare in my hour lunch. Actually I think I was 10 minutes late...oh well!

And now that the pictures are online, we will probably be getting more and more of these days. I can't wait to be done with this, but once I saw those photos online, I was really kind of sad. Our house is just to unique and cute! I really hope someone cruddy doesn't buy it and ruin it.

So we're off to the races! Here we go...

erin

I wanna talk about...

2009-06-23T15:56:00.002-05:00

Everything!

Okay, this is a random blog and to start off, I just want to say one thing...

IT IS SO FLIPPING HOT!

The heat index these past few days has averaged right around 105 degrees. Balmy!

What makes it even more enjoyable is the copious amounts of home projects we've endured these past two weekends in order to get the house "top notch" for selling. It's there. It's on the market. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and although it's not quite as bright as it will be, I see the glimmer of being done with this ordeal. Though I will say this, when I pulled into our driveway last night and saw the "for sale" sign in the yard, I got a little sad. And Harrison has bascially moved into my parents house, our house, so we could avoid tumbleweed-sized piles of dog fur rolling around the house and we miss her so much! She'll be home tonight, but then she'll go back on Thursday and any other time our house is going to be shown. Oh this is so fun!

And on a different note entirely, I watched the highly anticipated episode of Jon and Kate plus 8 last night. It was awkward. It was sad. It was hopeless. It was, in my opinion, a cop out. We heard a lot about doing what's best for their kids, but if they truly meant that, I feel like, if it were me, I would stop doing the show, get some marital counseling and see if things could be saved. Talking. Talking is what lets people know the truth. Talking is what saves arguments. These people stopped talking to each other and that is what leads to all kinds of misunderstandings and resentments. I was just discussing this with my sister. And lets not kid ourselves, there are times when talking is REALLY hard, or at least, talking with purpose. But it seems like if you have a relationship that both people want to be invested in, eventually, you will talk it out. You may not figure everything out all at once, but you'll at least see that you both are willing and committed. Okay, end public service announcement for marital discussion.

But mind you, 105 degree heat indeces will make every difficult situation more difficult!

She Said, She Said

2009-06-15T10:09:00.002-05:00

Yes!

Let me take you back to June, 2007...

I had just taken my current position at work and was getting into the groove of working full time in an office, no longer hiking and teaching kids. Happy for the benefits, sad about the change (and frankly, that's still the case). This was also the beginning of the first summer in our new house! We'd been there for just over 2 months, settling in, adjusting, all that fun stuff and makes you wonder...are we really sure about this?

But we were sure. We were in it for the long haul. We both knew it, nonetheless, we were still just "dating" technically. Boyfriend and girlfriend, nothing more.

It was all about to change.

I had gone to work that day and after work, I went out with my mom to pick up some supplies for Danny, who was going to the Bonnaroo music festival the next day with friends. I was making sure he had important things I wasn't sure he'd consider like first aid stuff, sunblock, not-quite-so-unhealthy snacks, etc. This was essentially 4 days of camping with thousands of other people, listening to music in the blistering heat of Tennessee. So I get home and Danny wasn't there, I'm not sure where he said he was, but he was actually pacing around his parents house with an engagement ring, nervous as all get out.

So I settle in at home, probably had some dinner or something and got all set to watch a program I had DVR'd about the race horse Barbaro...remember that story? Won the Kentucky Derby, broke his leg in the Preakness, eventually had to be euthanized, very sad. Anyway, I was about 45 minutes into an hour long documentary about this and Danny came home. I told him I had picked up some supplies for his trip and he said thanks and ran upstairs. So I go back to watching. Then he comes down and asks me to go upstairs with him. Now, my first reaction was less than stellar. I was really annoyed that I was going to have to PAUSE the program I was almost finished with to go upstairs and probably do some chore for him like help him pack. But I noticed he was all smiley and when he made me close my eyes, I figured something was up.

We got to the top of the stairs and when I'm told to open my eyes, Danny is down on one knee holding a ring and simply asks "Will you marry me?"

And after a moment of pure dumbfoundedness (pretty sure that's not a word), I said yes!

I made the phone calls to family and friends and everyone seemed to already know, but it was a pretty wild Wednesday night in our house. He was going to propose on my birthday that year, a mere month away, but he couldn't wait any longer and so he went for it.

The next day Danny left for Tenneesee and I went to Chicago. So we essentially celebrated our first weekend as an engaged couple in different states...and Danny got 2nd degree sunburns on his legs. But we still went for it anyway and it seems to be working out alright!

erin

Like the corners of my mind...

2009-06-12T12:47:00.006-05:00

In a matter of days, our lovely house will be on the market and it will no longer be just our own.

It's a bittersweet feeling for me, really. And even when I am frantically cleaning the carpets, or not just putting my dishes in the sink for two seconds, but going through with it and putting them into the dishwasher to keep the house nice all the time, I have a little feeling in the back of my mind that when the day comes that we move out, it will be sad.

We've only been in our home for just over 2 years. I looked for MONTHS AND MONTHS before we found this little charmer and all it's space and large rooms and character. I wanted it from the moment we all walked in on the day after the terrible midwest ice storm of 2006. And we got it! And we moved in and my dad put everything in place and it was fantastic and then Danny moved all his stuff in. And then we brought Danny's dog, Nick here to live with us (and while this wasn't my absolute favorite thing in life, it was nice to have a little companion in the house...who ruined some carpet). And then we tore up some carpet. And then we got engaged at the top of the steps on a random Wednesday night. And then we started having band practice in our basement. And then we tore apart the dining room. And then we put up a fence for a future dog. And then we brought that future dog, Harrison, home and watched her grow and play and chew EVERYTHING up. And then we had a wedding and opened many fun gifts for our house and found places to put new, shiny things. And then we had a year of wedded memories in our home and now, we will leave. It will be sad, but we're very excited for the next step of our home-owning adventures. And we'll pack the memories and move them too.

So, just a few more days...

Of course, someone's got to buy the darn thing!

erin

She's Leaving Home

2009-06-11T12:56:00.001-05:00

So...just got back from my lunch break...

I vacuumed and steam cleaned my carpets!

I'm ready to move!

This could be a very long summer....

blah.

erin

Stand By Me

2009-06-04T16:12:00.002-05:00

This was our wedding song. It was my first choice, but not my ultimate choice, and then it became my saving grace.

So...I have to say I was in NO WAY a bridezilla. I was calm, cool, collected. I let my sister be in charge of my wedding planning because A. she is really good at that and B. even though I was one of those "plan my wedding when I was 7" girls, when it really came around, I only cared about the dress and the music. Everything else was not a huge deal to me. So I made decisions, but I had my sister and my mom to make the phone calls, help me narrow down the choices, finalize details, etc.

However, I needed the music to be done right. I worked for months on compiling a play list of all the songs I wanted to hear at the reception, the songs I wanted to play before the ceremony, and of course, the first dance. I had a few thoughts for the first dance, including Stand By Me, the John Lennon version...but one day, Danny and I were riding around listening to his iPod when the acoustic version of If I Ever Lose My Faith in You by Sting came on. We both commented that we really like that song and really liked that version and Danny just casually said, "that should be our first dance." And it hit me...that should be our first dance song. It's an artist we both love, Danny especially, it has the perfect sentiment, it's not overdone...perfect! So we settled on it.

After we picked our dj, a friend of my brother-in-law, I made sure to tell him that our first dance song was the ACOUSTIC VERSION, not just the one from the cd. I asked if he needed me to get him a copy, he said no. I asked him again another time. I had my sister ask. I had my brother-in-law ask.

Cut to wedding day...I had held it together beautifully in those last few weeks leading up to the big day. Through the tearing down our dining room walls. Through getting a brand new puppy and figuring out where she would stay during our honeymoon. Through a very hot rehearsal. Through torrential rains the morning of my wedding. Through the extreme heat that followed. Through all the tiny little details of getting this person here, having this one sleep here, dealing with groomsmen for heaven's sake! Even through thinking everyone left us at the church to finish our pictures and we had to ride to the reception (I ended up riding there in the back of Danny's brothers Lumina). We really had no big issues that whole day.

Then I walk into the reception venue and see my sister walking up to me with a strange look on her face. "Don't freak out about this because we'll fix it somehow..." she says. "Charlie (the dj) doesn't have the right version of your first dance song."

I'll admit, I lost it a little bit. I turned and went right into the bathroom and cried for about 1 minute. I was so looking forward to that moment! Now it's ruined! I asked him if he had the right version 857 times! AHH!

Then she got me to pull it together and my dad pointed out that in the end, we were still married and that is the whole point...but darn it if I wasn't bummed! Danny was also bummed, but seeing how upset I got made him pretend he didn't really care. So then my sister says..."so what song do you want instead?"

Danny told me to pick..."Stand By Me...the JOHN FREAKING LENNON VERSION!"

It turned out to be just right...

Even though I will always be a little bit bummed everytime I hear the other song...

But we are still married.

One year on June 7th.

(also, thinking back, we probably could have just used the other version of the song...oh well!)

"If I Ever Lose My Faith In You"

You could say I lost my faith in science and progress

You could say I lost my belief in the holy church

You could say I lost my sense of direction

You could say all of this and worse but

If I ever lose my faith in you

There'd be nothing left for me to do

Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world

You could say I lost my faith in the people on TV

You could say I'd lost my belief in our politicians

They all seemed like game show hosts to me

If I ever lose my faith in you

There'd be nothing left for me to do

I could be lost inside their lies without a trace

But every time I close my eyes I see your face

I never saw no miracle of science

That didn't go from a blessing to a curse

I never saw no military solution

That didn't always end up as something worse but

Let me say this first

If I ever lose my faith in you

There'd be nothing left for me to do

It was 20 years ago today

2009-05-29T14:29:00.003-05:00

Actually, it was one year ago yesterday...

We brought this home...

And life has never been the same!

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

2009-05-28T13:30:00.002-05:00

Man, it's been a while and I've done many things...so here's a recap of sorts:

-"Bon Voyage" party for some friends who are going on a 4 week trip to Europe. Just the two of them. I don't know if Danny and I could handle that, but it sounds like a great time.
-Took dog to vet...1 year old, 84 pounds, she's still the most popular dog there!
-New front door installed, looks fantastic...way to go hubby!
-I made a kick-ass lasagna on Sunday that is still only halfway eaten...this probably isn't noteworthy, but I will post the recipe on the other blog (it's one I stole from Pioneer Woman).
-Danny defended my honor, such a good husband.
-Memorial Day=No Work!
-Moved a mattress downstairs to sleep because the upstairs was SO HOT and I won't turn on the AC. Turned out to be really fun to sleep on the floor in front of the big tv with Harrison jumping all over the place.
-As a result of the above, we basically just hung out all weekend together, watching Jon & Kate plus 8 marathons, relaxing. I have to give my husband props for sucking it up and watching that show with me, plus I let him bitch about Kate as much as he wants...compromise.
-Band practice has been really fun lately!
-Yogilates (this is the correct spelling) kicked my butt on Tuesday, but it was still fun.
-Personal day Wednesday = 12 hours of house cleaning with help from Danny, Mom, and Dad...things are really coming to the finish.
-Realtor came today, looks like we can ask more than we thought for the house...he'll let us know the official number early next week (yay!)

We're just rolling along with life. I'll tell ya though, I'm ready to be done spending money on this house, I'm ready for someone to pay me big bucks for it, and I'm ready to move! I haven't even started packing...that just makes me shudder. But it's right around the corner.

Let me hear your body talk...

2009-05-22T12:51:00.002-05:00

Mine says...ouch!

So, Mom and I went to our yogalates class last night. It was the two of us, two other ladies who are regulars, and an older gentleman named Ed, also a regular. I was next to him. I told myself that if Ed can handle this stuff, so could I...or so I hoped.

The class was not at all difficult, nor did I go home feeling dead tired and over-worked. A lot of the moves I'd done before in other yoga classes and there was seriously like 1 pilates move. So the whole time I was thinking, I am not paying $80 for 3 months of this class (plus gym membership)...not worth it! But by the end of the 45 minutes, I was feeling stretched and worked and slightly rejuvinated. Mom is hooked, as she is Mrs. Flexibility, USA and was even the star of the class with just how far she could reach past her toes. I, on the other hand, can't even get to my toes, let alone past them. Anyway, today my body is sore and in all the right places, so I'm going to give it a whirl. The next 6 week class starts in June, so we'll see. It's better than nothing, which was my alternative exercise plan.

Plus, I'm a big fan of Ed.

erin

Let's Get Physical!

2009-05-21T16:07:00.002-05:00

I am going to Yogilates class with my mom tonight. Yogalates? Yogilates? Whatever, I'm going.

Right now as I sit here at work I am so worn out! I had to help lead hikes today due to lack of volunteers and many many children. So I guess that little extra effort put forth by me today has completely worn me out! Lame.

Hopefully this will be a fun class, Mom and I are going to try to go every Tues/Thurs (after I join her health club that is). Tonight is a little preview to see what it's like. But I am looking forward to being a bit more active than I have been of late. Plus, it's only a 45 minutes class, so at least it won't last forever.

We'll see how it goes!

erin

Rollercoaster of Love

2009-05-18T15:06:00.002-05:00

So, in a mere 3 weeks, I will no longer be a newlywed.

Or, at least I won't if you go by the whole "you're only a newlywed for the first year" thing. Our one year anniversary is quickly coming up on the 7th of June. I'm really looking forward to it and, of course I can't believe it's been a year already! So many things have happened that I never expected and so many things haven't that I totally did expect. Oh life, aren't you funny? Ha.

Anyway, to celebrate we've had a few ideas. This first...well I don't remember the first. There was some kind of plan, but it went by the wayside quickly, thus me not remembering what it was. Then we were going to get family pictures taken with Harrison. That was a cool idea as the first anniversary is the "paper anniversary" and photos are on paper, yada yada, how fitting! Well, for some reason that kind of went on the back burner and then Danny came home all pumped with his grand idea to celebrate....A weekend in St. Louis, including a trip to Six Flags and the St. Louis Zoo! Hell yes to this! I haven't been to either place in AT LEAST 14 years. The last time I remember going I was 12 and that was Six Flags, I think the last time I went to the zoo I was like 6...so, it's been a while.

So we were all excited about planning the trip and all of a sudden I had a thought...what if I wuss out on the rollercoasters? See, the last few times I've done the six flags thing, I did, in fact, go on the Batman and some of the other rollercoasters, but I always had the safety net of choosing not to participate if I got nervous last minute. There were always enough people going to allow some to ride, some to watch or participate in some other way. Now though, it will just be us and if I don't want to go, he'll have to go by himself and who wants to do that? So I was trying to express this concern and all of a sudden, the whole trip was off. No one was mad, but the point was made that if we're not going to take full advantage of the trip, why spend the money to go? Good point! So, I'm going to just suck it up and ride! What a marital compromise!

We also booked a hotel room, a suite (for once in my life!), and we'll be taking our wedding cake top layer to eat. Wonder how that will turn out in reality. It's been sitting in my parent's freezer for this past year so it wouldn't be prematurely eaten by yours truly. I'm a cake fan, what can I say?

Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to this trip! A little getaway, but without the pressure/stress of going out of the country, catching trains and planes, going through customs, getting swine flu, getting stuck across the border, being sold into an underground prostitution ring, or whatever else we're warned about on the news.

Rollercoasters, here I come!

erin

Rock Lobster.

2009-05-14T15:27:00.002-05:00

I am meeting the husband at Red Lobster for dinner tonight, thanks to a gift card and a couple of meetings we both have after the work day. So date night: quick little dinner, followed by a quick trip to Menards to pick out a new front door (swoon!) and then back to work!

But...I'm excited to see him! And very excited for either apple chicken walnut salad, or a pasta dish....you see, I am in no way a seafood fan, but I still get included in the gift card usage!

Also, I had to run to Kroger for foodstuff for this meeting of mine tonight (food handlers unite!) and I parked right next to my Dad in the parking lot! But, I never saw him inside the store and by the time I got to the checkout, I could see he was already gone! Mysterious!

So, mystery day, red lobster night...it's the little things, I suppose.

Thunder, Lightening, the way you Love me is Frightening!

2009-05-13T16:29:00.004-05:00

Whew! That was quite a little rain storm we had this morning...and I think it's gearing up to go again. And there goes some poor soul for a hike on the trails right now! Perhaps she should rethink her exercise routine today. Hit the elliptical instead today, folks...if it isn't raining, our trails are sure to be mud-packed messes.

I've heard it through the grapevine that "the bear" aka Harrison, got herself into some muddy fun in our backyard today. Something about the "entire left side of her body" and being "barricaded in the kitchen for a good long while." So she's been bathed, and was rolling her little heart out all around the house this afternoon...according to the husband. She manages to have fun no matter what the weather in the great outdoors! And she's only killed 3 bunnies this year!

On a different note entirely, I've been doing my fair share of keeping up with the "Jon & Kate Plus 8" dramailty news that's been circulating. This was one of my favorite shows back when it started. It was a great look into the lives of these seemingly normal folks with a crap load of children. They were down to earth and their imperfections at dealing with life, each other, the kids was a plesant alternative to so many other programs on at the time. Then it began to gain popularity and it became something different entirely. Don't get me wrong, I still watch the show and for the most part, I enjoy it, but man oh man, it got very glamorous and orchastrated and that Kate seemed pretty mean to Jon and that Jon seemed pretty short with his kids and now, all this crazy controversy is going on! What kind of happy, easy-going family is this? So, I guess you just can't really ever call being on tv "reality." Or maybe you can call it that, but you also have to realize your "reality" is going to get way ridiculous, way fast. Let that be a lesson to you Duggar family! Anyway, I'm going to keep watching the show and maybe that's wrong of me to do, invading the privacy of these kids who seem to look sad in many of their publicity photos, but until they start competing for cash prizes and giving each other weird nick names or striving for the attention of Flavor Flav and Bret Michaels, it still beats all the rest!

In the Summertime when the Weather is Nice...

2009-05-07T13:29:00.002-05:00

You should grill some turkey brats because those are good!

And I guess if you want to get technical, it's still the springtime, but it sure is nice! I just popped out of my office for a bit and hiked a trail and it was all I could do to come back inside.

And speaking of turkey brats (not an everyday sentence for me), that's exactly what my hubby and I enjoyed last night on our patio. We took Harrison on a walk through the park after I got home from work and then we had brats, fresh spinach salad and strawberries for dinner outside in our backyard. It was really nice! We talked about our plans for the new house, eventually we want to add on and reconfigure some stuff. We talked about our timeline of projects to finish on the current house so we can get it on the market asap...just a few to go! We talked about how much I would not let us have 2 dogs after we move. One goofball golden retriever princess baby dog is enough, especially when we were talking about adding a german shepard to the mix. Not happening.

All in all, it was a lovely evening at home, plain and simple. Looking forward to many more of those this season.

Saturday In the Park

2009-04-30T14:11:00.004-05:00

Good news! I no longer have to work this Saturday! Hooray for rain!

Now, if only Harrison would learn how to sleep past 6:30am, I could actually sleep in for once.

What I am doing this weekend is going up to Chicago with my sister-in-law for her brother's dance show. He's a dancer/pilates instructer (aka in very good shape) and I've never seen any of his shows, so when she invited me to go up with her, I agreed. Should be a fun time!

And on Sunday, Danny's mom is making lasagna for dinner! Looking forward to that for sure.

Yesterday I had the day off from working last Saturday, so my mom came over and we FINALLY painted the dining room baseboards and other woodwork. Wow, that was only a year in the making? Then we did a little house cleaning and rearranging, trying to stage the house for when it goes on the market, hopefully in the next couple of weeks...please...I'm typing this to you husband...let's do this thing.

Danny finished his last class for this year of his apprenticeship. 4 years down, 1 to go! When we started dating, he was almost done with his first year and I was told that he would NOT be moving in/getting married until he was COMPLETELY finished with his schooling. And I just needed to understand that this was his LIFE PLAN and he would NOT alter his plans...it was the first time he really had definate life GOALS and no matter what, I just needed to get on board with THE PLAN. So, now that we've been living together for over 2 years and married for almost 1, I say...GOOD PLAN! This just goes to show us all, sometimes plans work themselves out the exact way they are supposed to, without us having to help them along. Also, if my dear hubby has any regrets about his wayward plan (which I'm sure he does NOT) I point out to him that this year's tax return was far better than his last year. Chalk one up for marriage.

Wow, isn't it weird how my blogs end up. I start out with one thought process, and then all this "stuff" just comes spilling out onto the page and you get an amalgamation of news and stories. I guess you can't have fun blog themes all the time.

erin

ps...I have seen the clock today at 11:11, 1:11, and now, 2:22. Told you!

Boom Boom Pow

2009-04-27T14:36:00.003-05:00

I've got a new song obsession!

It's been awhile since the last one I blogged about.

This new one, Boom Boom Pow, is a Black Eyed Peas tune and at first, I was not impressed. Way too techno-sounding for me and what is "boom boom pow" anyway? Nevertheless, I found myself bopping about my office. So, the next time I hear it, I discover that in fact, I LOVE this song! I can't not dance to it when it comes on the radio, which is of course, 1100 times a day. So I encourage you to seek this song out if you haven't and give it 2 listens. You'll love it by the second time through. BOOM BOOM POW (stupid, but catchy)!

Speaking of boom boom pow, we were supposed to have all kinds of thunderstorm activity today and while it did rain pretty hard for like 8 minutes, I'm seeing no lightening, hearing no thunder. I am ready for our spring storms! Nothing major, I don't need to have my home relocated or anything, but a little lightening and thunder? Is that too much to ask? I'm sick of this wimpy drizzly business. Let's just do this thing and move on to sunny skies.

Segue to Festival of Spring...very sunny and warm, I even got my first sunburn of the season, though very mild. We had roughly 700 people out that day and I ran around like a crazy person, per usual. After the event, I dragged myself home, showered, saw my husband for the first time in 2 days (in his new glasses no less - he's so cute!), suffered through watching the NFL draft (seriously, that is boring) and headed to my brother and sister-in-law's house for a "wine and wigs party." I wore a wig for the obligatory picture of all of us in our wigs and then I took it off for the rest of the party. Also, I drank no wine or alcoholic beverage of any kind, so I guess I didn't really participate in the theme so well. But, I did eat food, drink water, and rock out on Rock Band, and leave promptly at 11pm...which was way longer than I thought I would make it being tired and sunburned. It was fun! Who doesn't love a good theme party?

Sunday I had to address our laundry situation. Let's just say I was minus pants without ridiculous holes in them and underwear. It was a weird clothing day for me. But I managed to get some stuff clean so I can sit here at work with underwear and a complete pair of pants.

Also, as a side note, while I appreciated the beautiful weekend weather we had, I'm going to have to "tsk tsk" at the humidity in April. I will not be bullied into turning on my AC in April, so mother nature can just take her humidity elsewhere until at least mid-June. And our octogenarian of a house just doesn't cool down well, especially when only like 4 windows open. So, I realize I've spent a good portion of this blog as a weather stickler, but darn it, that's just how I feel!

How do you feel?

erin

Poison Ivy

2009-04-23T15:54:00.003-05:00

Yep, I've got that.

Do you recall all the "outdoorsy" things I did last weekend? Well let's add contract poison ivy on my hands and waistline to that list. Fantastic. Now, I will say that at this point, I'm not to the state of misery that usually accompanies poison ivy. At least this is what I'm told. In all my 25 1/2 years, I've never had the stuff. I've worked here at the Conservation District going on 7 years on and off the trails and nope, never had it. So now that I have a nice cushy indoor office (where I've also gained weight from sitting in a chair most of the day) I get poison ivy. Bonus plus 2. I'd rather go back to the outdoor work when I never was blessed with such an attractive affliction. So, perhaps the unberable itchiness will kick in just in time for the Saturday event that I can in no way miss. That would be perfect timing. "Sure, I can come into work, but I just can't use my hands or wear pants...shouldn't be a problem." But I'll be here! And my husband, who is severely susceptable to this stuff refuses to touch me in any way. Enough said.

Now for my Public Service Announcement on Poison Ivy:

Rest assured for those of you under the wrong impression, poison ivy cannot be spread by scratching or touching someone's rash unless they still have the active oil from the plant on their person. You can in fact get the rash from your clothes if the oil hasn't been washed away, or you pet's fur, but if you have washed yourself, clothes, animals (in cold water with soap) then you should be fine. Sure, you might have already been exposed enough to contract the rash and will break out in a few days, but you have stopped any further exposure due to washing away the oil (Urushiol).

See, I've learned a couple things from work...

Anyway...stupid poison ivy!

erin

I Wish to go to the Festival!

2009-04-23T09:41:00.002-05:00

It's that time again! Time for another event at the old workplace!

The Festival of Spring is this Saturday. Wagon rides, kids' games, fishing derby, canoe rodeo, river clean up, bird shows, storyteller, food, face painting, and sign up for summer camp to boot!

Whew, I'm going to be exhausted.

Another Saturday of work. This makes 2 in a row, with the 3rd next weekend. Can't wait until this little stretch is over. I'm a big fan of Saturdays, mainly because they don't include work. Oh well.

I really have no other news to share. Harrison killed a baby bunny last night at my parent's house. She was pretty proud of herself on that one and put up a bit of a fight when Mom tried to get it from her. Bunnies beware that yard! They've had a good run at it the last few years with no dog around, but now that she's officially moving in there, word better spread that she means business! The squirrels still manage to torture her from up in the trees, but the bunnies and the neighbor cat better watch it.

The weather is finally shaping up after all that rain and cold, so I fully intend to enjoy that! More yard work to commence on Sunday!

That is all.

erin

ps...what is the title of this post from? What song? What place? What entity? Anyone?

It's raining on Sunday

2009-04-20T13:54:00.004-05:00

My arms are sore.

And my hands.

I did a whole load of "outdoorsy" stuff this weekend.

On Saturday morning, I got up bright and early and went to work! Love that. I had to participate in a volunteer Restoration Day at one of our sites. Only like 4 hours of my day, but I did manage to work up a sweat chopping down invasive plants out in the woods. I also had to provide food and take pictures. I'm a multi-tasker, apparently. That reminds me, I still have the company digital camera out in my car...let's try to remember to get that out of there before something bad happens to it.

After all that choppin' n' sweatin', I ran home, took a shower, and Danny and I headed off to Bloomington for our nephew's 2nd birthday party. Not only did I partially, somewhat, kind of climb a tiny bit up a fireman pole (I've never been able to do that, and I really still can't), chase bubbles, and climb through a oh-so-slippery and somewhat small playground tube, I also took my turn on a giant teeter-totter you stand on, and got into a water gun fight with my husband, though not by choice. After all that outside business, I was tired! We drove home and I promptly fell asleep on the couch. I'm pretty sure I was in bed by 8pm that night.

On Sunday, I again got up bright and early and my mom came over and we did yard work. I dug holes (until I made Danny finish the job), trimmed hedges, pulled dead things, and eventually worked carefully to cut back a very thorny hedge! Why anyone would ever choose to plant such a deathtrap of a shrub is beyond me. It's hardly decorative either. However, we prevailed over said thornbush. We spend a good 3 hours working that day, in the rain even, and I did end up taking another nap that day, but not before I visited a friend for a bit while Danny did a side job for a friend of his.

So tonight, unless it's raining again, Mom will return with electric hedge trimmers and I will go to town at my house! It's all an effort to pretty it up so someone will decide to buy it! We've got to get in on the market soon. Danny's done a ton of work in the back yard, we have a whole newly landscaped portion with mulch and plants and all that. Harrison LOVES hauling ass through the new mulch. She also enjoys the fact, I'm sure, that it turns her feet red, especially when it's rainy and she's outside assisting with home projects. I know I do! But anyway, soon Danny will start on the few projects we have inside and then, hopefully, someone will be charmed by our house's unique qualities as we were, and buy the damn thing!

Does Anybody Really Know what time it is?

2009-04-14T14:19:00.002-05:00

I am notorious for checking the time when all the numbers are the same...i.e. 1:11, 2:22, 3:33, 4:44, 5:55. (Darn it! I just missed 2:22...but I totally caught 1:11)

I do this all the time! They say you're supposed to make a wish when you see these times and I always do. So far, I haven't seen much come to fruition, but then again, maybe I'm not paying attention in the right way or something. Maybe I'm getting some secret alternative wish I know only in my subconscious that is triggered every time I see these "magical" clock times?

That's a little deep for me today.

Some days I can really get into being deep and appreciate others who can do the same. People who get really into the mind/body/soul connection and meditate outside or commune with nature...I can really get into that whole scene sometimes.

Other times, it kind of makes me gag. I feel those people are trying way to hard to be serene and I resent the hell out of it. This is probably because on some subconscious level, I am jealous of their peace of mind. See? There I go again!

Also, I find it very difficult to be altruistic and non-material when the weather is gross and cold. You see, when the weather is gross and cold I just want to buy Starbucks (not grind my own coffee beans like the "naturals" do) and watch tv (the root of all evil). Don't get me wrong, I want to do both of those things everyday, but on gross days, I want to do it with pride and hey, maybe I'll stop at Walmart and buy something unnecessary and use a non-reusable bag!

See, I'm a complicated woman...

Do you really know what time it is?

erin

Call Me On the Line

2009-04-13T16:26:00.004-05:00

Oh my goodness! What happened to my blogging?

Well, I'll tell ya what happened...my pesky job got in the way! Darn job.

Last week, I held the biggest event in my department...the annual Volunteer Recognition Dinner. I changed the venue this year, I scaled back on some things, I upgraded some things, I took heat for some things, and I disregarded opinions of those higher up than I on some things. It was a whirlwind! However, it came and went without incident, I got rave reviews from the volunteers, and now, it's over for a year! The next day I attended an all day volunteer conference away from my work and that was nice. I took Thursday off and Friday was a holiday, so I've had a lovely little break from crazytown, U.S.A. aka the conservation district. Don't worry though, I'm right back in the middle of ridiculous today. Seriously, this is a place where deer walk around like nothing and eat grass and squirrels prance around...what happened to all that serenity? It's like an ER around here and I refuse to participate in the absurdity of that.

Whoa...end rant.

Easter weekend wasn't too bad. I took many good walks with Harrison and my mom, I took naps, I made ham, and then ate ham, and then ate more ham. We had a big dinner at Danny's parents house with, ham, and lot's of other good food. All the kids (ages 25-30) got their annual easter baskets and we were pestered for not producing grandchildren fast enough yet again. But aside from the guilt trip, I had a lovely time.

I realize I have posted absolutely no pictures from various events I've experienced and I'm going to have to confess something here to blogland: I suck at documenting my life in photographs. If I don't forget the camera in the first place, then I forget to take pictures or, quite frankly, just don't enjoy taking them. I have a few from Harrison's birthday way back when that I could share and I completely didn't take any camera to the New Kids concert! Oh well, guess it lives in my memory!

The other big news of my time away...I have a new phone! Yes, I've upgraded from the old phone I've had for the past 3 years. I'm also not one of those people who gets a new phone every other week. I feel that my phone is sufficient and I don't need it play music or do my banking. However, I left the phone charger in Bloomington after the concert and after my phone died a mere 8 days before I could get my phone back, I faced a dilemma. So where did I turn? My technology-friendly, money-spending, loves-to-buy-new-stuff hubby. I altered him to my situation. He volunteered to go buy me a new charger. I agreed to that. I'd been putting him off for months on the "let's go get you an upgraded phone" front. I was just never in the mood to go get a new one. I think I have an unrealistic assumption that it is a way more undesirable process then it really is. So while I was out with Mom on Thursday, he went out and upgraded my phone for me! I didn't even have to go! I love that! After we send in the rebate, the phone (which is really nifty, by the way) will end up being less expensive than a charger for the old phone. I was presented with my upgrade after I got home. It had all my numbers and pictures all in there waiting for me! I have been tinkering with it ever since. It even plays music! But I don't use that feature. Again, I don't need my phone to entertain me.

So, right now I'm about to leave work and go home to eat dinner (ham) and fold laundry. One of these days I will realize that my house will need to be clean because one of these days, we're going to sell it, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Have a good one!

erin

You've Never Heard of a Talking Horse?

2009-04-02T11:05:00.001-05:00

Okay...what in the heck happened to Nick at Nite?

Right now, the only shows aired in primetime are Home Improvement, The George Lopez Show and Family Matters. If you make it until the am hours, you'll find some Roseanne and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air but that's about it.

I remember watching a lot more shows than this, and not all that long ago. And they were classic shows, not shows that only just went off the air. And more than 5 in the rotation! I am upset with the current Nick at Nite and wish it would include some of the "oldies but goodies" it used to entertain us with.

Here is a sampling of programs that appeared on Nick at Nite from the mid-80s until the early 90s that I remember watching with my family:

Mr. Ed
The Patty Duke Show
My Three Sons
Get Smart
Green Acres
Mork & Mindy
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Taxi
The Monkees
Make Room for Daddy

And there were more great shows that aired even more recently than those that Nick at Nite included in their programming in the late 90s and early 2000s (that's sounds weird to me, but whatever):

The Andy Griffith Show
Family Ties
Cheers
Perfect Strangers
Wings
Head of the Class
Murphy Brown
Who's the Boss?
Growing Pains
Mad About You
The Wonder Years

And there were many more than these airing throughout those time periods. Now we have so few to choose from. I wish we could recycle some of the old ones back in for our viewing pleasure. It's all about recycling these days!

Anyway, I decided this was a blog-worthy topic and if it seemed a bit incoherent, it's due to the fact that I am absolutely in need of lunch and therefore unable to correctly focus on anything other than my lack of food.

In conclusion, I want my Mr. Ed back! And some Wonder Years, and Mary Tyler Moore, and...well you know.

erin

You're My Popsicle

2009-03-31T10:22:00.002-05:00

And I hope you're cherry, because that's my fav!

So get ready...hold on to your seats...I've got big news!

I am going to see New Kids On The Block on Sunday! Get pumped!

I saw them one other time, back in their glory days. We were like 5 rows from the top and I was only maybe 7 years old? This time around will be so different and I'm excited! We got great seats this time and didn't have to pay $900 for them, and as of right now, I haven't paid squat because my sister bought the tickets...so until I pony up my share, it's free!

In other news, no, I haven't posted any "Harrison's trip to Petsmart" photos because did I remember my camera? Absolutly not. I did, however, snap a few shots of her enjoying her first birthday and I know everyone would love to see those!

So I just have a few more days to go until a pretty fun-packed weekend! Definately going to take pictures this time (hopefully...where has my mind gone?)

erin

Happy Birthday To You!

2009-03-24T13:48:00.003-05:00

I'm doing this a day early to ensure it gets done!

Tomorrow is Harrison's birthday. She will be 1. It will also be the 2nd anniversary of us moving into the house. Big things happen on March 25th.

Now, I know many people feel it is odd or even crazy to go all out for your pets, but I always have and until I have kids, probably always will...might even go all out after kids too. One of the best parties we've had was for the first birthday of our yellow lab and her brother, Pearl and Hank. There were party hats, cupcakes, hamburgers on the grill, the works! Of course it helped that the owners of Hank were also good friends of the family, but still, quite the shindig!

We don't have anything major planned, but we are taking a trip to petsmart to let her pick out a toy. I don't really know how we'll manage choosing just one, but we'll do our best. I've been debating getting her a dog bed, but I still KNOW that she will just eat it, or at least destroy it at this point in her life...so I haven't yet decided on that.

And the fact that she is one year old, means that we've almost been married for one year. Wow! That was so fast! There were so many weddings in 2008, and I haven't heard of too many for the spring/summer of 2009 yet, at least we haven't been invited to any at this point.

I'll try to remember to bring the camera for our shopping adventure and post them, I'll try.

erin

Monday Morning Coming Down

2009-03-23T15:45:00.002-05:00

Except now it's Monday afternoon...

Had a decent weekend. Went to a funeral on Saturday, that's wasn't a highlight, but the rest of the weekend was good. Danny won a pretty little pile of cash in the finale of his poker tournament Friday night. We stayed in on Saturday night and made dinner together and watched a movie. Sunday I tried to hang out in bed and watch tv while Danny slept, but Harrison was NOT having that. She didn't even want to be outside, she just wanted me to not be in bed, so we played "maybe this will occupy your time for a while, oh not so much" with a few of her toys until I made her bother Danny enough to get him out of bed and then I got out of bed. I attempted to be productive: folded laundry (finally!), showered, walked the Dog, took out the trash, then went to Sunday night dinner at the in-laws for homemade fried chicken and blackberry pie!

Tonight after work I must address the dishes situation. We have clean ready to be put away and dirty ready to go in. I also need to clear out the "too old to eat" leftovers from the refrigerator. At least I don't have to make dinner thanks to our "not too old to eat" leftovers from last night.

Also, Friday afternoon, Harrison decided it might be a good idea to ingest our aluminum foil box and she potentially ate some of the serrated edge on the box. So after talking to the vet, we decided to "bulk it out of her"...sorry, kind of gross...and she enjoyed a weekend full of wheat bread and extra treats. She seems to be her usual hyper self and so I think she only managed to chew up the serrated edge, which I don't think would be at all enjoyable...but she's a wonder!

Tomorrow night we're taking our bass player out to dinner to celebrate his birthday last week. It's up to me to pick the location, so I'm trying to figure out a good place that we don't always go...somewhere different! I'm also trying to figure out what level of restaurant to go to. Do we go cheapo and hit up a pizza place? I'm not going to go uber nice and hit up one of the fancier places in town because A, I'm cheapish like that and 2, I feel like we'll be uncomfortable there, this particular group. So, I'm thinking middle of the road, somewhere where a few extra drinks won't break the bank (because we might have some drinkers in this bunch) but not so cheap that we get our drinks in styrofoam containers.

Any suggestions?

erin

Gallon of Gas

2009-03-20T13:36:00.003-05:00

So...interesting day...

Apparently, we're having some kind of gas leak here at work today.

Earlier this morning we all started smelling something really bad, seeming to come out of the elevator shaft. It got worse and really smelled like natural gas. So about 30 minutes later, we were given the word to evacuate and the fire department was called and we all stood outside for a good 40 minutes while the fire department ruled that whatever it was "wouldn't kill us" and we could all go back in.

Well, we (we being not so much me) are trying to figure out what exactly is leaking and until we do and figure out how to stop it, I have to sit at the front door of the Nature Center and tell the public they cannot come in. We have all the doors and windows wide open, letting the leaking substance out, but in the meantime, it's been decided we cannot have public in the building. We, however, remain.

So, this is quite a way to end the week if I do say so myself! What's your Friday been like?

erin

Let's Get It Started

2009-03-19T14:01:00.002-05:00

Why is today not Friday?!

Here I sit, in my office, thinking "yay, it's Friday!"

But...

It's THURSDAY!

I never enjoy that. Boo.

I have done literally nothing here at work today, besides getting a cup of coffee and taking a walk over lunch. And now, there is no more coffee and I'm hungry. I did eat a salad and some craisins and almonds, but my body says, I would like some more...and there is frozen Pepperidge Farm cake in the freezer here and left over lasagna and chicken alfredo. And it's THURSDAY!

It seems like Friday because many people are gone today. I also have this overwhelming feeling like you get on the last day of school...great anticipation...but for what? I don't know! We have no plans tonight, no weekend plans, except for a funeral for a good friend's father, who was a friend himself, which I'm 100% not looking forward to. And it's THURSDAY! I still have to come back here tomorrow...I certainly am not anticipating that!

I guess there's just something in me today with a "let's get it started" attitude. Let's get the weekend started? Let's get some fun times started? Apparently, something needs to start soon. Let's get something started.

Now the word "started" is weird to me.

PS...It's THURSDAY!

erin

Oh What a Night

2009-03-17T09:00:00.003-05:00

I did some interesting things last night...wanna hear about them? I'll take that ability to respond in no way whatsoever as a "yes."

First, let me back up and say a few things about the weekend and being married.

We had our first paying show this weekend, the band I mean. My co-worker owns a bar and we played there and it was a pretty good time. I, unfortunately was still recovering from the cold of all colds from almost 3 weeks ago, and so my voice was a bit less than stellar, but we did alright. The crowd seemed entertained and that's all that matters. And, oh yeah, we got paid! It was weird to get paid after singing being that I've only done it voluntarily in plays or at karaoke bars and no one pays you there. So it's a pretty nice bonus!

So that was the big event of the weekend. The marriage part is this: are there times when you are more aware of being married than others? Not at all in a, "hey I think I'll cheat on you because I don't feel like I'm married" way...I mean, sometimes I am very aware that Danny is my husband and sometimes we're just a couple of people, married, yes, but not necessarily on my mind.

For instance, at the show or at band practice, it's more like we're simply band members than husband/wife. This is almost crucial because you have to focus solely on what you're doing...singing/drumming. Like, when I am belting out a tune, I don't really think, "hey my husband is the drummer back there." However, during an instrumental break, if I happen to turn around and see him doing his thing I often think, "oh yeah, that's my husband drumming back there."

Last night, I accompanied my husband to our local city council meeting along with many of his fellow union members. The council was hearing debate on something called the Responsible Bidder Ordinance which would create stipulations that must be followed for any company to bid on constructions projects in our city, including having a licensed apprenticeship program, something not many non-union companies have...so there was quite a bit of debate going on. We stood outside the meeting in a little hallway listening because there were SO MANY people there for this issue. This became one of those times when I was very aware of my husband. I really got into the issue and thankfully had read an article explaining it all beforehand so I had some idea of what was going on...usually I don't pay a ton of attention to local stuff like that. But man, I was into it. At one point I felt that I should get up on the nearby table holding aloft my "union" sign...but I didn't...and there was a clear sign stating "no signage or placards" were allowed in the meeting anyway. But I felt it my duty to be a proud union wife, as I am also a union daughter, even though I drive a foreign car (oops...sorry, I like toyotas!).

After all that unionlove, we went to dinner and then home for a different kind of unionlove...ha! Sorry. I'll keep it clean.

All in all, it was an interesting evening, and I'll be keeping you posted on how the vote turns out on this local city issue, because I know you are all wondering.

I'm Erin Moyer and I approve this message...

erin

What's Going On?

2009-03-13T10:25:00.003-05:00

So, sometimes it's important to stop and take stock of what's going on in your life...things you are happy with, things you are looking forward to, things you are working on whether physical, emotional or spiritual. So that's the theme of today's blog...

Friday the 13th and here's "what's going on":

I'm happy with (I think it's important to start with this category)-
-My marriage
-Where I live
-My dog (even when she chews up all my cool stuff!)
-The fact that I'm drinking tea right now
-Our ability to cope with job loss
-My current work perspective (it changes daily, today is a positive day)
-My overall health
-My growing comfort with expressing my honest feelings with others and not being taken advantage of
-My weekend plans
-My family relationships

I'm looking forward to:
-Hanging out with friends tonight
-Saturday night
-Spring
-motherhood
-moving
-5pm
-my one year anniversary (even though I put the kibbosh on Danny's plans of going to gamble in St. Charles...not so fun!)
-Turning off the furnace

What I'm working on:
-Changing my mindset
-Avoiding moments of pure selfishness (though sometimes you just have to let your head go there so you can then say, stop it!)
-Body fitness
-Ridding myself of 2 weeks of sinus congestion (thus the tea drinking)
-Saturday night
-Finding the positive aspects of my workplace
-Our house
-motherhood
-my marriage (apparently this is a constant project, even when you think it's not)
-my dog (eventually, she'll stop chewing up all my cool stuff...hopefully!)
-a peaceful existance

It really is a constant state of work, this life...and it's important to remember what's going on, more so than just groceries, laundry, and other day-to-day to do's.

So, what's going on with you?

erin

Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego?

2009-03-09T10:15:00.002-05:00

Well, we came in 4th.

We were briefly tied for third, but lost the tie-breaker question, so we, the 2 year defending champs, came in 4th out of 16 teams. We still had a good time, though I protested that the categories were not as well-rounded as in previous years. It really all comes down to categories and this year there were too many sports/James Bond questions for my liking. And the bonus round was naming game shows. We usually get if not all those answered, a good 99%. I think this time we left like 5 or 6 blank out of 20 (and this round included a correct answer to a kids' geography-themed game show...thus this blog's title)! I will say though, our team had the best snacks and the most enthusiasm.

The pancake breakfast was a HUGE success! We served over 400 people this year, the biggest crowd in many years.

So it was a good weekend, topped off with excellent mocha cake made by my mother-in-law and a nice Sunday brunch to further celebrate Mom's birthday.

And so we move on to yet another work week (though the boss is sick today...thanks to me and my germs...that's taking one for the team, I think).

erin

Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom...

2009-03-06T16:21:00.003-06:00

Happy birthday to my mom! (tomorrow)

I won't divulge age here, not that she is ashamed, but is it my place, really?

Anyway, Mom's birthday is tomorrow, the 7th, and I am officially wishing her a happy birthday week starting today. For the past few years, Mom has encouraged her family (mainly Dad) to celebrate her birthday in a weekly style, with some act of appreciation demonstrated each day leading up to her birthday. This year, I think we are celebrating for a week beginning with her birthday, tomorrow. My sister and her family are coming down next weekend for a bit of celebratory fun and since I don't think we are quite at the level of a 2 week birthday-fest, we'll start tomorrow.

So, once again, happy something something-eth birthday!

And don't forget we're gearing up for Trivia Night 2009 over here at "in my life." I'll let you know how the team does this year!

It's All About the Benjamins, Baby

2009-03-03T12:52:00.002-06:00

Doing stuff to win money is fun!

This Saturday is a culmination of events. My mother's XXth birthday, our annual pancake breakfast here at work and the Meridian High School Trivia Night back at my old high school.

We will be celebrating the birthday at the pancake breakfast and then again the next day and then again the next weekend (man she really knows how to have a birthday, that Mom) when my sister and family come down for that weekend...we've also got a paying band show that weekend!

The trivia night, that is the social event of the season! This will be my fourth year competing and hopefully my third consecutive year winning that bad boy! And you win money! Like $250! However, you have a team of 10 people...and then you always donate it back to the school...so it's really just for the prestige. Even so, my team has won the last 2 years in a row, beating like 12 other teams made up of teachers, writers from the paper, other former students, etc. Our team consists of myself, my brother-in-law Ross and sister-in-law Susannah, my mother and father-in-law, Susannah's parents and 2 aunts, and another friend from said high school. We all have our specialty areas. Other friend is all sports and history, Ross takes care of obscure facts, math, music, and movies, I handle pop culture (I watch the most tv, apparently), a bit of history (it was my major) and music. I could name everyone's specialty, but just know, we cover a broad spectrum! We also have a good range of ages on our team to know random trivia from different decades and past and present "current" events. It's a pretty fun time and hey, it's how I give back to my school, because I certainly don't plan on writing them a check anytime soon! So even if it's not "all about the benjamins" it's still a really fun evening with friends!

I'll let you know how we do...I'm so accustomed to winning, I feel it won't be near as much fun if we don't!

erin

Coming Out of the Dark

2009-03-02T12:53:00.002-06:00

Wow! What a germ-filled last week I had!

I spent the weekend in Bloomington with my sister, doing our taxes and trying to break her son's fever...I came home with a nice rebate and the plague!

I went into work on Monday doing just fine, but right around 3pm, I started feeling some soreness in my throat...I immediately took cold pills. It didn't quite work out.

I went home from work that night, put some laundry in and made dinner, but by the time dinner was ready, I was so down. Achy, freezing, sore throat, I felt horrible!

It persisted into Tuesday and I couldn't make it to work. Wednesday I attempted to go in for a few hours to get things done that had to be done that day and then I drug myself back home. Thursday was the worst! I woke up with such clogged ears! They hurt so much! I went to a walk-in clinic to get some antibiotics because this was ridiculous. 2 hours later I took my first pill and all I could do that entire day was lay around and moan. Friday was a tiny bit better, but again, I was out for the count. Saturday I felt better and got myself some Mucinex D...this is great stuff. It breaks up all that crap and allows you to breathe! I even felt good enough to go see my brother and sister-in-law in a community theater play that night and it was nice to get out of the house!

So, even though I am still a little clogged and my ears haven't yet popped back to normal quite yet, I am considering myself "healed" in that I can function and speak and am not blowing my nose every 3 minutes. Seriously, I used up the only box of kleenex we had and then proceeded to use the remaining 3 rolls of toilet paper left in the house and then when things got desperate and before anyone could get out for more supplies, paper towels. Ouch! My nose is very sad after all that. I've almost made it through 2 more kleenex boxes, but it has really slowed down the last 2 days.

As for Austin, he is still battling the sickness and will hopefully be on the mend soon! 9 days of fever is rough!

And my husband deserves a special "caregiver" award for how well he took care of me last week. Even when I looked liked death warmed over with eye puss, nose crust, unbrushed hair and teeth, and vicks vapor rub toilet paper sticking out of my ears (it was not pretty), he was still right there, cooking meals, shopping for supplies, bringing me whatever I wanted and sleeping on the couch. Love you, hon!

So, I am going to try to be a bit more productive in blogland for the next few weeks!

Avoid the crud!
erin

That's Amore

2009-02-17T12:23:00.003-06:00

We had a very nice, low-key Valentine's Day.

Plans were made to go out to dinner and then come home and watch a movie and I had even picked out what I was going to wear to fulfill that "dressy, yet comfortable" look. This can sometimes be challenging and even more so when 96% of your wardrobe is dirty and waiting to be washed. But, even with the obstacles, I managed to find something decent to wear. We had been out doing errands all day, seperately so we were making plans via cell phone and rushing. Actually, I made Danny make the plans...I do that sometimes. I hurried up and took a shower and then somehow ended up in unmatching pajamas on the couch. It was too early to put on my "going out" clothes, yet I had already showered so I just threw on my pjs and when that happens...I tend to become lazy. PJs = tv on the couch or sleeping. Plans tend to fall by the wayside when I don't get completely ready in one swoop. And then the kicker, Danny sat right down next to me and we started watching House.

Well, dinner plans went right out the window.

We ended up ordering Monicals pizza, renting a pay-per-view movie (The Dark Knight-good flick), and drinking our respective alcoholic beverages. It was really nice! I even mangaged to remain awake throughout the entire movie! And...I got to stay in my unmatching pj's which are in no way dressy, but completely comfortable.

As for gifts, I got some of those "last minute" flowers and he got a frozen pizza and a can of artichoke hearts with the promise of me preparing the pizza adorned with the artichoke hearts. I don't know if you can tell from the description, but this was also last minute and pilfered from my Mom and Dad's house. Go us! Harrison got new rawhide bones, I'd say she scored most of all.

I did manage to clean the downstairs big time on Sunday. And having Monday off was great! I went out with Mom to pick up paint samples and have pretty much chosen all the colors for our house. The bonus of buying their house (one of them) is that I can look at paint chips in the actual rooms I will be painting, instead of waiting until we actually move in. We can change our address early to make sure all the mail is ending up there and that really excites me. I am still getting mail for the old occupants of our current house 2 years later. And some of it is like, personal mail...well, I'm assuming.

Here's the bummer of the weekend- We are no longer refinancing since we're moving, but, we had already had some title work done and had the house appraised so we had to pay for that which ended up being a few hundred dollars which we had not planned on spending. So that sucked, but my mom bought me some new shoes and coffee, so I felt better about myself then!

I really enjoy having days off, this whole working thing, though keeping up afloat financially, really cuts into my daily enjoyment of life.

These Are Days to Remember

2009-02-13T14:22:00.026-06:00

Okay, I just uploaded pictures from my camera ranging all the way back to Thanksgiving! Wow, I'm not good at keeping things up to date! And somehow, I have Christmas photos before Thanksgiving...so bare with my little slideshow here...and, yes, there are like 900 pictures of Harrison, but she's the only kid we've got so far, so deal with it.

Okay here we go:

Our lovely Christmas mantle (I will so miss the mantle)!

Our lovely Christmas tree (fake, yes, but I don't appreciate the mess of a real tree).

Backing up to Thanksgiving...we're on our way to Bloomington!

Harrison, enjoying the ride and the view.

My nephew, Austin, attempting to get something off the counter.

With Uncle Danny!

I know, I know, Classy!

Even more classy!

Harrison spent the day out in the backyard...taunted mercilessly by the Miller cats.

I know this one is blurry, but she was so cute sitting out there in the exact middle of the light on the snow...I bet her butt was cold though!

Enjoying an early Christmas gift (yes, still oddly out of order).

Christmas Eve at Danny's parents...the annual poker game!

Now we move into January. This was the little house we stayed at in Peoria for the wedding...very cute, right on the IL river.

Looking out the back doors...

My oh-so-happy-to-be-there husband! I love those chairs!

Looking back into the dining area from the living area (where Danny was sitting).

My sister's 31st birthday celebration!

Posing the grandkids...see my "finger of discipline" coming into the shot...such authority!

There's a good one! Same facial expressions too (kind of bored?).

Snow dog!

Here she is laying on our bed, destroying Nick's (remember him?) old dog bed. Just ripped the stuffing right out of it...and on our bed, no less. Her eyes always glow when she's in destructive mode!

And here is when we thought it might be fun to dig a giant hole in the backyard right after a thunderstorm. She really gets into her projects!

So it was bathtime (2nd in 2 weeks).

All clean!

Clean and dry and just hanging out (literally). This is the "relaxation" montage.

So there you have it. A few days in the lives of us. Maybe nothing too monumental, but they were fun or at least funny in retrospect. Lots of memories made in our house in just a few short years...good times!

erin

He's Down on His Luck, It's Tough

2009-02-10T15:24:00.002-06:00

Well, we all know the state of the economy right now is bleak. Everyone is affected by it in some way or another.

In our case, we were able to refinance our home for a way lower interest rate (well, we're in the process of doing that right now) so that's great. Of course, we're moving, but it will be great for the resale still. On the other hand, Danny is laid off, has been now for 5 weeks and that's not so great. Fortunately for him, he will go back to work when work picks up. He's not one of those laid off indefinately, which we're thankful for. But things are starting to get tight for us, financially. We've gone through this before and made it through and we will again, but this time its just so up in the air as to when he will get back to work. It makes it hard to find the silver lining when there is no light at the end of the tunnel quite yet (How many sayings can you use in one sentence?).

As I write this, Danny is working on not one, but possibly 2 side jobs for friends and sooner or later that unemployment check will make it to us and I'll breathe a little easier but it would be great if some kind of magic could work itself on our world and get things going again! So if we randomly show up at your house for dinner, don't be alarmed, we're just looking to cut corners!

That's all for now!
erin

Feels Like Home

2009-02-09T12:40:00.002-06:00

Big news from the Moyer household...

We're moving!

I never thought I would be doing this again this soon after purchasing our first home together 2 years ago, but here we are...moving again!

My parents decided to build a house in a little "over 50" development called "The Gardens" about 2 miles down the road from their current house and they asked if we wanted/would buy their home from them. I was skeptical at first, but upon sharing this news with Danny, he jumped on it and said he definately wanted to. I was surprised because we all discussed this before when it was more of a fantasy on my parent's end and he wasn't really interested. But now after living in our home for a couple years, we're going to go ahead and jump on this opportunity.

Here's our thought process...
We love (well me more than Danny) our current house. It's got charm out the ying yang, has great living space, big rooms, really cute decor, basement, etc. We've added many upgrades and improvements as well such as: new plumbing, new toilet, removed carpeting to reveal hardwood floors, new drywall and recessed lighting in dining room, repaired master bedroom ceiling crack, fenced in yard with privacy fence, insulated/heated garage, new water heater, and eventually a new front door and new kitchen floor (looking back we've really done a lot of stuff!).

During these past few years, we've also come to realize the eventuality of moving within the next five years due to children (hopefully) and more outdoor room for our giant dog. As we realized this, we made a list of wants/needs for the next home, as people do: one story, bigger fenced in
yard, ability to add on/expand, attached garage, different school district (if we could get it).

Mom and Dad's house (my childhood home) meets all these wants/needs and then some and won't require us to necessarily pay more than we did previously for our current home, which is a huge bonus.

So, to not take this opportunity just because I didn't think I was done living in our current home wouldn't be very logical, plus I could not imagine any other family living in that house. I would be sad to have it changed in any way by someone else. That said, I plan on changing just about everything...but that's okay, because it's me!

So anyway, Mom and Dad will be moving out in September, so we've got to get our house on the market asap! I hope it sells in this economy, yet it if sells too quickly, we'll be moving into Mom and Dad's house until their's is finished. That'll be interesting!

That'll be our project for next few months, anyway!

North To Alaska

2009-02-03T14:55:00.005-06:00

Well, more like North to Almost Wisconsin...

I'm going on a road trip!

Hang on, don't get too excited...it's a work road trip. I am going with 5 other people, all men. Needless to say, I get my own room! I think it will be fun due to the people going. I went on a similar work road trip last year and it SUCKED HARD due to the people who went. Sorry, I hate the phrase "sucked hard" but feel it clearly illustrates the amount of horridness that was that work road trip, so if you also hate the phrase, you can suffer to some extent as I did those 2 days I will never get back in my life.

On a completely different note...here is some useless info about me I just posted on facebook that I will now share here. Is that blog cheating? Too bad if it is!

1. I was always one of the shortest people in my class.
2. In high school I dated this kid named Danny Moyer and figured it wouldn't last, which is didn't. But, 6 years later I married him.
3. I require veg-out time. I need to just sit and do nothing but watch tv for a good chunk of time.
4. I was a member of the Elwin Stamp Club and am proud of it! Those were some good times!
5. Before I got married, my initials were all E's and everyone felt the need to point this out to me like I wasn't aware.
6. I am not teaching like I went to college for. I am okay with that and wish people would stop asking me why I'm not a teacher.
7. I strive to know the words to songs because I had some pretty embarrassing mis-heard lyrics in my youth that I am still made fun of for.
8. I will probably never move out of the Decatur/Elwin area and I'm okay with that too.
9. I used to always want press-on nails after seeing the commercial for Lee press-on nails. Press-on nails brought to you by the Lee company. So I thought all press-on nails were called "Lee Press-on nails" and I asked for them all the time. I was finally set straight years later and I did eventually purchase press-on nails only to be let down by their level of quality.
10. I am so ready for motherhood, it's not even funny.
11. I sing in a band...it's a dream come true from the days I used to pretend to sing in a band in my basement.
12. I have the cutest dog around!
13. I have 2 tattoos. Got the first one, a sun, before high school graduation, got the second one, danny's initials, right before I got married.
14. I am extremely close to my family. (I stole this one from my sister's, but it is very true)
15. I never really dated all that much. I found it way more fun to just hang out with a bunch of guys, therefore by-passing all the guy/girl drama for the most part.
16. I used to be a hotel maid...those were certainly not the days!
17. I have a fear of bridges and drowning. I think that a bridge will collapse while I'm on it and I will then drown in my car in the river below.
18. I was absolutely terrified of Malificent, the villian from Sleeping Beauty, for months after I saw the movie. I was convinced she was waiting for me in the hallway that led to my bedroom. 19. I made my family participate in a fire drill at our home during fire safety week during my grade school years. I appreciate them going along with it. We all met in the driveway, though I'm pretty sure I enacted it at dinner when we were all in one place.
20. Along with teaching, as a Naturalist at Rock Springs, I took care of all the reptiles and amphibians and can now handle snakes with the best of 'em!
21. I miss riding my bike everyday of the summer like I did as a kid, but would never do it again.
22. I hate all hot tea and rarely drink cold tea.
23. I learned to like coffee at Theater Fest my sophomore year of high school in the U of I student Union. I remember it so clearly.
24. I cannot sleep if someone is snoring. It just doesn't happen.
25. I couldn't swallow pills until I was like 15 years old. I always thought I would choke on them.

Other things I didn't put on this list but could have:
In addition to being a maid, I have also been a dishwasher, bean walker, and corn roguer. Man I had some fabulous jobs!
Even though I'm not a teacher, I was KICK ASS at teaching. And I hope to teach in some capacity, be it as a Naturalist again or just for my own kids (though I am not a fan of home-schooling unless you have no other means of education).
I was a pretty good clarinet player, though I haven't touched my instrument (try not to make that dirty like I am doing right now in my head) for years!
I taught myself to play the piano. It kind of shows.

I think that's all for now.

A Change Would Do You Good

2009-02-02T12:44:00.003-06:00

Who else is tired of things?

-The weather. Yes, winter is inevitable, but I'm still done with it anyway.
-The economy. Thank you rich old men who feel the need to screw over everyone. I appreciate all you've done for your country.
-Trying to accomplish goals. Whether in life or work, striving for something that never seems to come just blows.
-Stupid people. Enough said.
-Dumb, thoughtless comments. We all need to simply put a bit of thought into things before we say them.

So shall we try to find the brighsides of these things (because that's what I freaking do):

-Spring is a mere months away. Also inevitable.
-Even though Danny is laid off, he always finds ways to support us and I am employed which, though a curse is still a blessing, and we haven't been too affected just yet.
-Eventually, it all comes to be.
-They're everywhere, so you better learn to deal.
-There are worse things. And, people are stupid.

So there. Kind of a blah post, but you'll have that. It's February now, so we're that much closer to some change, even if it is just the weather.

Have a good one kids!
erin

Here Comes the Bride

2009-01-27T13:50:00.003-06:00

So, I was in a wedding last weekend.

My good friend Juli, whom I met in college, got married on Saturday and I was one of the bridesmaids. They got married in a cute little chapel and had a really nice reception with great food and good dance tunes. The bridesmaids wore black and carried a red rose. The nice thing was we got to choose our own dress styles so there was a bit of variety there. We even got to ride around in a GIGANTIC limo after the ceremony, so that was pretty cool.

Now, when I woke up that morning and saw the temperature was 0, -13 degree windchill, I never expected to be taking outdoor photos, but indeed, we braved it and got a couple of shots, sleeveless dresses and all! The boys were complaining about being cold and their feet hurting in their shoes to which myself and the rest of the bridesmaids offered to trade dresses and heels for flat shoes and suits with JACKETS! They stopped bitching.

Danny accompanied me to this wedding and with the help of our trusty Garmin, driving was no sweat (save for the bridge that we had to cross, which is a large majority of the reason Danny was there...I. don't. do. bridges. PERIOD.).

We stayed in a house that belongs to friends of my parents, thus saving us a little money on a hotel room. This house overlooks the IL river and is so nice! It was like a little getaway spot.

I wish I had some photos from the wedding to share, but I put Danny in charge of taking pictures and he chose to drink tequila with my ex-boyfriend instead. Yes, my ex was there as he lives in the same town as Juli (whom he met through me) and they see each other from time to time. So, along with some interesting dancing from my husband (which I love, good or bad dancing, at least you're out there with me), and a somewhat intense evening of discussion for both of us following the wedding (I have REALLY softened the description and experience of that), I have no pictures. A few of the other bridesmaids have pictures so I'll try to snag some of those from their facebook pages and post them here.

But, all cold weather and intoxication aside, it was a successful wedding and I hope the newlyweds have a happy life together. And even if you do fall subject to too much tequila, you learn to work it out and regroup and if you're lucky (and I think we are) you learn something from your experiences. Good and bad. Chalk it up to that old saying "live and learn."

erin

Aruba, Jamaica, Ooh I wanna take ya...

2009-01-22T13:25:00.002-06:00

To Mexico!

So, Danny and I decided to go down to an all-inclusive resort in the Riviera Maya in Mexico for our honeymoon. 5 days, 4 nights, all paid for, wonderful weather, entertainment, just the two of us, sounds fantastic. It actually was pretty nice, really nice, a good trip overall, but it had a few hiccups along the way.

Let's begin with months before the trip. Thanks to our new secure world we live in, you now have to have a passport to get into and out of Mexico. So Danny and I went out one cold, February morning to get our pictures taken and submit the paperwork to get our passports...months in advance, like good, responsible travelers. Head to Walgreens to get the photos done for $8 each. Now, I'm not sure why I decided a hooded sweatshirt was the way to go for this photo, but my picture turned out with me looking like a very pale, very sleepy psychopath with a big bunchy gray hood pushing my not-so-neatly-pulled-back hair into a big mess. And for your passport, they only use about 1 square inch of your face, so it really focuses in on the fact that make-up didn't quite factor into my morning that day. Cute!

So then we head to the city post office (not the one closest to our house, they no longer do passports...the one furthest away) to submit all our previously filled out paperwork (let me interject here that my husband-to-be, whom I love dearly and with all my heart, had filled out his own paperwork which is fine, but he chose the "do this as fast as you possibly can and don't really read the instructions at all" that is always so successful). Well, I got all my stuff submitted (which also included a birth certificate which was like $25 per person) and Danny, low and behold, had to re-fill out his paperwork because he signed a box that was not intended to be signed accept in the presence of the postal worker only. Oops!

We got it all done and paid $200 ($100 per person) and went home filled with the anticipation of getting the passport in all it's glory!

Cut to a few weeks later...

My passport arrives, bright and shiny in the mail with my BEAUTIFUL PHOTO in all it's glory and I cringe and accept that it will have to be shown to people in multiple countries and move on. In the next few days to follow, Danny's passport doesn't come. And it doesn't come. And it doesn't come. What does come? A HUGE packet of paperwork and note that basically says, we've randomly selected you to be a possible criminal so you have to give us your life story in a 1 X 3 inch space in black or blue ink.

This was a nightmare! At first, we put the papers aside and didn't think about the stress of them. Then, as the days dwindled away, I encourage the love of my life to perhaps, take a gander at what was required of him and maybe even fill out some of the information. I will say that this thing was ridiculous. He had to list all his former residences, everywhere he ever lived, everywhere he EVER WORKED and all his previous employers/managers/ and know start and end dates for EVERYTHING. If you know Danny, you know that he's not a big record keeper, or fan of being told what to do by authority. It took weeks to get this done and in the end, some of his managers had names like "Mike Rotch" (say it quickly) and so on, and there were many scribbled out things and re-writes, but we got it done and sent away and in literally 1 week, his passport came, which leads me to believe someone got his information and promptly shredded it.
Oh well!

Which brings us to the honeymoon. Again, Danny is my rock and my manly man, but a traveler...not so much. It was a bit stressful taking the train from Bloomington to Chicago and then getting to the hotel by taxi and then getting up at 4 am to catch the free shuttle to O'Hare and then getting through all the check points to the plane and then, "hey what's that plane noise" and "man these seats are uncomfortable" and the like, and then going through customs and then finding our shuttle and then "crap I have to pee" and then finding our resort and then "hey your room will be ready in 2 hours" and then "man this is the hardest mattress I've ever tried to comfortably fall back on...now I'm in traction." It was a day!

But not as upsetting as day 3 of our 5 day trip. By now, we had both been drinking like it was our job and Danny may have oversampled the tequila a bit (hell even I was doing shots of the stuff and that is so not my favorite thing at all). We decided to visit a sister resort and got there by a romantic golf cart ride. We were enjoying our time at the pool, slightly inebriated, when I noticed Danny was no longer sitting at the swim up bar (seriously, those things are fun!). He was standing at the opposite side of the bar, talking with some random guy. I decided to gather our things and meet him and then we'd grab some lunch. As soon as I was about 5 feet from him, clearly headed in his direction, the man abruptly turns, says goodbye, and quickly walks away. I hardly gave it much thought then. I asked Danny if he was ready to eat and he was. We walked about 10 feet and he started acting very drunk. A little unsteady on his feet and kind of loud. I thought he needed some food. We get our food and sit down and that's when I noticed his eyes. So weird. He couldn't focus on anything and he was slurring his words and so loud! I was thinking, fantastic, I have got to get your ass out of here and back to our room (which, remember was a golf cart's ride away). I get him to stand up and he almost falls flat on his face. People were now starting to notice us and our antics. I pushed him out the restaurant doors and he fell into a chair right outside and proceeded to speak nonsense about anything and everything. I was having no luck convincing him of my plan to go back to the room or of standing, so I thought...okay, we're going to have to sit in these chairs until he passes out and then I'm going to have to let him sleep it off in these chairs! I guess some of the other patrons alerted the resort people of my troubles and two men came and like it was nothing, hoisted Danny up and helped him to a golf cart. Thank god! I thought, we will get back to our room and he will pass out!

We started to go and then this never before seen rage came over Danny like and he kept insisting he was being controlled. I held his arms down to keep him from punching the golf cart seats. I was really starting to get scared now...not of him, but of what was wrong with him! I had never EVER seen him like this and he's been quite intoxicated a time or two. The cart drops us off and I wave them away with a thanks and a , sweet Jesus don't kick us out of here! Now, we faced 3 flights of stone stairs and I had a guy with a good 30 pounds on me to get up there. I again, pushed him from behind and he staggered, he was still upset and totally unaware of what was going on. When we got to the top to our room, I unlocked the door and pushed him in and after another 30 minutes or so of him not being in any right state of mind and talking, he fell asleep. He slept for about 3 hours and then woke up and had NO IDEA what had happened. He had no memory of anything and he was still kind of out of it. He really just wanted to go for a walk and clear his head. I said ABSOLUTLY NO WAY AM I LETTING YOU OUT OF MY SIGHT, but again, after some talking, I said he could go out if he came right back. He went. Now let me say here, when we got to our room on the first day, we noticed the phone wasn't working. We left a request at the front desk to have it fixed, but it hadn't been fixed yet. Also, both of our cell phones were dead and he hadn't yet purchased an outlet adaptor so we could plug them in to charge. So I had NO WAY of contacting anyone besides our neighbors. I prayed my husband of 3 days would be back soon.

He was. He said he couldn't figure out where he was so he came back to our room. I made him eat an apple and drink a sprite and then he fell back asleep. For 14 hours. We missed our dinner reservation to say the least. I had no food and didn't sleep, I just kept watching him breathe and I watched scribbly television, waiting for the guy I knew to come back. What in the hell was I going to do if he had an emergency? I knew I was in charge in this situation and I had to stay strong and calm and get us back to normal. So I just waited and watched, not sure what I was going to do if something else happened, but sure I wasn't going to let myself lose my mind. Finally, finally, he woke up in the night and after I retold the tale, he remember some of the day. He was back! Thank the lord! He said he felt really weird, like he was stoned and he was pretty freaked out, as was I, but I was so happy to have him back. Be it too much tequila or the weird man slipping him something in his drink, we didn't partake in too much alcohol the rest of the trip.

He still doesn't remember anything from the time the man walked away to waking up after 17 hours of sleep.

It was the weirdest experience of my life.

And now you know.

erin

Miss Independent

2009-01-21T16:45:00.003-06:00

And happily married.

I've given a lot of props in my blogs...to my husband, my other family members, co-workers (maybe?), heck even my dogs get to live it up on this things.

Today, I'm giving props to myself!

Don't get me wrong, I'm no superstar, but darn it if I don't get myself through this life pretty well.

I've done nothing spectacular, really, but I've done a lot of little things for myself and my family that I feel good about...things that I feel put me into a happy, mature, independent woman category.

For instance:

-I am in the midst of refinancing my home ALL BY MYSELF, thus saving Danny and myself mucho dinero (gotta find something good out of this horrible recession). I feel this is quite a responsible thing for me to do and get done ALL BY MYSELF. I remember when ordering my own meal from a menu was daunting to me, so this is big.
-I can suck it up with the best of them. You can travel with me anywhere. I'm in for the long haul. The crowded, ridiculous airports, the long, boring plane rides, I'm there with word games and puzzle books and cards. Then, finding transportation to your ultimate destination (except for the 1 time in CA with Mom) I will swagger up with you to the taxi guy or the shuttle bus and figure out where in the hell we're supposed to be. I will even make the best of a crappy hotel room or really hard mattress and bland, boring food OVER AND OVER, because what are the alternatives? And I will even get our asses back into the United States of America even with the possibility of being slipped a drug in your Mexican drink (I was a CHAMPION during this nightmare of a day...but Danny recovered swimingly...another story for another time).
-I will find the freaking silver lining, everytime.
-I won't let the chore of finding the silver lining affect me for more than 24 hours max. and usually less time than that. I can get over things rather quickly.
-I will make the annoying pregnant lady at work who constantly throws it in my face that I am in no way shape or form pregnant a casserole for her materinty leave.
-I'll listen to you when you need to vent.
-I'm a damn good wife. End of story.

So I'm taking the opportunity to say just today, "way to go me!"

Thanks for listening!

erin

O'er the Land of the Free...

2009-01-19T16:29:00.004-06:00

Well you had to know this blog would be of a certain theme...

Who isn't excited for tomorrow?!? I hope my boss doesn't mind me doing nothing but watching the inauguration...I think the world of volunteers will wait for one day.

I had work off today for Martin Luther King Jr. Day...I did a WHOLE LOT OF LAUNDRY and watched Harrison bark at the neighbors shoveling snow. I did manage to shower, however I did not manage to change out of my pajamas.

This weekend wasn't all that eventful as I assumed after my jinx of a last blog.

Friday night, wow I can't even remember what happened that day! Oh, Danny was sickish but still managed to go to poker. I spent my last night with Nick the dog (he's gone) and did not much. Seriously, I have got to get a few more exciting Friday nights lined up in the next few months. My last entries have included lots of "well, I did absolutely nothing this past Friday!"

Saturday I pack up Nick and Danny left to help his brother move and spend the night up there. I hung out with my parents all day (with Harrison) and had a really nice time with them. After a recent health scare with my Dad, it was nice to just hang out. He's doing just fine now and even has a more positive outlook on life and all the colorful people in it.

Sunday I went walking at the country club with Mom and Harrison...it was a nice workout, up and down those hills, in the cold! Danny got home soon after that and we had a nice afternoon together watching football.

Today, like I said, is laundry and pajamas. As of right now, pretty much all of our clothes are nicely put away so we can start that whole process over again.

What's coming up? Well, this next weekend I'll be in a wedding for my good friend Juli...she was in my wedding too. So we'll be off to Peoria Friday. We were going to have to spend about $250 on a hotel room for 2 nights (remember when I blogged about that?), but thanks to good friends of my parents who have a weekend home in Peoria (he works at CAT, but they live in WI), we get to stay with them for free! I'll take it! So I'm trying to get things packed for that and lose a couple more pounds (of many). Also, we'll be stopping through Bloomington on the way home on Sunday to have lunch with my sister, who's 31st birthday is that day. So I have to remember to bring gifts and clothes and my dress...I'll need a list.

Everyone tune in to INAUGURATION DAY tomorrow! History in the making!

erin

More Than Words

2009-01-16T15:19:00.002-06:00

Actually, I have no words!

I am sitting here try to think of what to blog about today and I've been staring at the wall in front of me for a good 3 minutes now...

Sorry, I got nothing!

Perhaps something exciting will happen to me over the weekend I can share. I have Monday off, so with the extended amount of time, maybe I will do something fantastic!

There, I've set the bar high now, so when I come back next week with a story about cleaning out my refrigerator (which I am highly unlikely to do in reality), you'll know I've jinxed myself out of an exciting weekend.

Stay warm!

erin

So Long, Farewell, auf Wiedersehen,Goodbye!

2009-01-14T09:31:00.003-06:00

Our household is soon saying goodbye to one member...

Little Nicholas, the rat terrier (my "stepdog" for all essential purposes) is moving away. He's packing his bags and taking off, in a mere 3 days.

Yes, on Saturday, Nick will join Danny's brother Ty in his move up north to Ottawa. Ty was recently promoted at work and has taken a new position, which includes relocating about 2 hours away. So Nick will be his roommate up there, sharing a little house, keeping each other company, and no doubt visiting whenever Ty comes back into town.

This means, we will now be a 1 dog family...this is just fine with me. Now, I don't think it's any secret that Nick and I had what you might call a "love-hate" relationship. We had our share of disagreements on things, it's true. But, I will miss some stuff about the guy.

-Nick will ALWAYS spin in circles whenever you are handling cheese slices. We refer to this as "circles for cheese!" And I find myself using this phrase anytime people get excited about the possibility of something happening..."oh man that would be so cool! Circles for cheese!"
-You can really have a conversation with Nick. He pretty much knows exactly what you are saying, especially when you are unhappy with his choices...he gets it. Now, this doesn't mean he'll change his ways, he just knows what you're saying and hides under a chair accordingly.
-It's really easy to bathe/groom Nick. Just toss him in the kitchen sink and you're set! He's not going to jump out, too far down. He will, however, look incredibly pathetic and sad the entire time. Same with clipping toenails...you can just hold him in the crook of your arm and get the job done.
-Hands down, best bed warmer there is. I will definately miss the little furnace under the covers up against my leg all night long on these cold nights.

So there you have it, my little tribute to the littlest dog I'll ever have the priviledge to live with. We'll miss ya buddy!

erin

Just Dance

2009-01-12T13:04:00.004-06:00

Been awhile hasn't it?

Sorry, I'm sure there's a myriad of reasons I haven't blogged in a few days, but I won't bore you with them! It's Monday again, had a decent weekend.

Friday night, I did absolutely nothing! I know, I know, wild woman...but I had to work Saturday morning, so I pretty much ended up falling asleep early and was okay with that.

Saturday, had to work, as I mentioned. It was the volunteer quarterly meeting and I got to work around 9:30 after briefly falling asleep on the couch only to wake up to find Harrison had gotten ahold of a paint pen and punctured a hole in it. She is now sporting a few yellow blobs of paint on her chest and legs. She did manage to keep paint off the floor, however, and I didn't see much evidence of it in her mouth. She's my baby!

So I get to work and proceed to make chili and cornbread for 35 people and we had a the majority of people show up even though it was a touch icy outside. One of my ALL TIME FAVORITE volunteers (not) complained to me as usual about something small and inane, so it was pretty much a success.

I went home after that and Danny and I cleaned the house! It was great! I was cleaning and cleaning and he just came home and pitched in without being asked. I was impressed...he even steam-cleaned the kitchen floor! I didn't do laundry, I had every intention of doing it Sunday...

Saturday night I went to see Bride Wars with Ashley. It was alright. Then we went out for a couple drinks...I had 1...and listened a bit to a band that was playing (which we had to pay $4 cover for, thus the 1 drink). Ashley inspired me to really get on board with this whole "I must be healthier, and hell, I could also weigh less" movement I've been half-assing for a few months now. She is looking fantastic and finds the time to exercise with a 2 year old, so I have no excuse! Even though Harrison likes to get in between my legs anytime I am attempting exercise, I will prevail!

Sunday I went shoe shopping/pants shopping with Mom. She owed me some shoes from Christmas (which I found on sale) and I found some khaki pants for myself and my husband (also on sale...but I think everything is on sale these days). We hit up the store afterwards, so I could get some healthy food alternatives for breakfast and lunch and I did exercise that morning too. Sunday dinner at Danny's parents loomed ahead of me, with the promise of good food and fabulous desserts. I, in fact, prevailed! I had portion control like no one's business and when dessert was brought out (hot fudge sunday pie, no less), I ate one bite of Danny's and that was it. One bite allows you to taste the dessert, but not gorge yourself on it. That was at 4 pm, and I did not eat the rest of the night.

Today, Monday, I again exercised in the morning and had my yogurt/blueberries/wheat germ breakfast and my salad lunch. Way to go me! Danny brought me to work this morning so he could take my car to get oil changed and grocery shop. He's my house husband for the next week or so as he was laid off on Friday due to no work...damn winter/economy!

Oh, the reason for the post title...while at the bar on Saturday, Ashley and I were watching the people dancing on the dance floor. This was an older crowd, and there were a few older couples breakin' it down out there! Does it not give you a great sense of admiration for those couples who've hung in there all these years and they still have enough passion to get out and break it down on a Saturday night every now and then? I told Danny that as long as in 40 years we can still manage to do just that, I'll consider our marriage successful - despite weight, job loss, fights, kids, dogs, what have you...just as long as we can still dance!

erin

ps. I didn't do laundry on Sunday either!

Hardware Store

2009-01-05T15:37:00.004-06:00

(this is a song by Weird Al, if you are not aware)

Danny and I went to Lowe's on Saturday night...yes, we are that exciting...and bought a new dishwasher! Our former dishwasher didn't so much "wash" the dishes as it coated them with little bits of food and left them covered in some sort of residue. Now, you might say to me "Erin, had you just cleaned out the bottom of your dishwasher extra well, you probably would see better results on your dishes." Back to you I say, you may be right, but A, the dishwasher was at least 10 years old and 2, ever tried to get into the back of your dishwasher to clean out all the bits of old food? It's a task. You might also say to me (and this was said to me by a coworker) "What, are you arms broken?" Implying that I should just wash my dishes by hand. A little backstory on that...I used to be a dishwasher one summer at a little tea room in my hometown, so I am familiar with the ins and outs of washing dishes and all that it entails. We also handwashed dishes at my parents house for the last few years after their dishwasher broke and they decided to use it for storage purposes. My response to this lame attempt at conversation was in fact, "no, my arms are not broken, but you try to resell a house with a broken/or no dishwasher." Not that we're moving anytime soon, but someday we will want to move and people might question a large dishwasher-shaped hole in our kitchen cabinetry. Anyway, we have a new Whirlpool, Quiet Partner II energy star appliance, and my handy plumber installed it and got it up and running the very next day!

Other than that, it's been a quiet few days. Danny is done working 12 hour shifts from 7pm-7am and is back to his class schedule after the holidays. We are moving the location of our band practices from our basement (yay!) to Mike the bass player's basement. This is good and bad. Bad because now anytime we practice people don't have to go outside to smoke and it will be smokey all around me but good in that if they are just working on songs I don't do much on, I can just stay home. This could be the beginning of my slow exit from the band anyway. Let's face it, someday I'm going to pregnant and band practice probably won't be high on my to do list anymore. Either way, I'm happy that our house no longer hosts band practice.

In dog news, Harrison continues to be the cutest thing on the planet. She spent all last week at doggy day-care courtesy of Mom and Dad as Danny required his days to be for sleep only and Harrison isn't a big fan of any sleep past 7am. Nick, however, remained at home and was perfectly happy to sleep in the bed under the covers from 10pm when I went to bed until 5:30 pm, when Danny got up for work. This morning when I tried to leave the house, Harrison was not too pleased at the fact that she was not encouraged to run to the car to head to "grandma and grandpa's" house. Life. It's full of adjustments, isn't it?

So we all continue to adjust to whatever life throws at us...but really, I can't complain.

erin

We'll Take A Cup of Kindness yet, for Auld Lang Syne

2008-12-31T09:13:00.002-06:00

Last day of 2008...here's to 2009!

A wrap up of the past 12 months:

January- Got passports for our honeymoon
February- First ever band show, went to Vegas with not-yet hubby and saw the Cirque du Soleil show LOVE (that was SO FUN)
March- Went a little nuts preparing for the annual Volunteer Recognition Dinner, also won first place for the 2nd year in a row at the Meridian High School trivia night (our team kicks ass) .
April- Danny and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary (that was a good night...sorry, mind went off track for a moment there), had another band show, Volunteer Rec. Dinner.
May- my Bridal shower and Bachelorette Party, TONS of wedding prep! Got our NEW PUPPY, Miss Harrison.
June- not much, just our WEDDING (06-07-08) and honeymoon in Mexico!
July- my 25th birthday, started practicing for brother-in-law's labor day band.
August- yet another band show, lots of practices, went to Macon Speedway (that just seems noteworthy to me), labor day party!
September- Dad turned 60, Danny turned 26 on the 26th, I received my food handler safety license.
October- Danny in a wedding, 40lb pumpkin, Halloween in Bloomington with Austin.
November- Bears game! Thanksgiving celebrations in Decatur and Bloomington.
December- Volunteer Holiday Party (while sick with fever - that's very memorable to me), Danny was not laid off this year and that was fantastic for our bank account. 2 great Christmas celebrations!

It was a great year for me! Married to the love of my life, new baby (the dog), got to be a bit of a rock star, tons of great weekends and time spent with family!

Here's to an even more eventful 2009!

erin

And a Happy New Year!

2008-12-29T14:00:00.005-06:00

Great Christmas!

I went out on the morning of the 24th with Mom to get very last minute things. It proved difficult to back out of my driveway due to thick ice and a power truck in the way (as we were currently experiencing power loss) and Harrison in the car with me barking at said power truck, but we prevailed! Danny got off work early and we got ready that afternoon to go to his parents' house for the annual Christmas Eve celebration/poker game with extended family. It was a very good time!

The next morning we had our own little gift exchange with each other and Harrison (Nick was spending Christmas with Danny's parents, so we had a peaceful night and morning - they don't share toys too well!). I got a lovely set of Chicago Bears' pajamas, really nice-smelling perfume, the complete Wonder Years series on dvd (which I am totally excited to own), Chicago Bears' socks, and a coupon book of lovely little honey-do's which I have yet to use! I got him a light up Chicago Bears' sign (apparently we're fans), a fleece vest, and a make-your-own beer kit. Mom and Dad stopped by to pick up Harrison to take her for a Christmas morning run. Then it was back to Danny's parents' house for breakfast and more gifts. We had quite a spread: cinnamon rolls, hash brown/egg casserole, sausage bread, all kinds of good stuff! Our big gift was a new dvd camcorder so we'll have fun playing with that! I got a great necklace and parafin wax spa thing and my sister-in-law got me a cute little Coach wallet/purse. It was a pretty good haul there. Danny got more Bears' stuff including another light up sign, so we're set there!

We played a little Rock Band before we left. Danny's brother got this for his Wii and it was fun! I am a kick ass drummer too!

From there we drove up to Bloomington for Christmas with my side of the family. This was the first year we didn't do it at Mom and Dad's. I got 2 more awesome purses from Mom (I asked for multiple purses) and after she heard that Susannah got me a little purse, she said I could either send one back or have $50 for new shoes...um? No brainer there! Shoes! Danny got a gift card for drum stuff and, you guessed it, more Bears' stuff including a grill set and pj pants! Austin had a great time with his toys and was so entertained by each one that he didn't even finish opening them that day! We had Dad's lasagna and really good peppermint cheesecake my sister made and Mom and Dad headed home to take care of Harrison for the night. Danny and I stayed that night and left early the next morning so he could prepare for his poker/keg party in our newly insulated/heated garage. It's his man-space, but I park my car in there, so it's fair.

I was absolutly exhausted on Saturday, however we still managed to go to dinner with Ross and Susannah and saw Marley and Me. Good movie, but very sad and too reminiscent of my yellow lab and her ending for me! Went out for 1 whole drink after that (our power was out again!) and finally came home and collapsed into bed! Sunday I planned on cleaning my butt off, but my butt was still missing from the last few days, so I put Christmas stuff away, did dishes and swept the kitchen floor and laid on the couch with Harrison.

Now it's back to the daily grind for a few days before the New Year! Danny's working 5 twelves this week, 7pm to 7am, so he's out for New Year's Eve. My sister and Austin are coming down and we're going to try to actually go out and not just say we are and really end up singing karaoke in my living room until falling asleep at 11 pm.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

You Can Have Whatever You Like

2008-12-23T09:23:00.003-06:00

This is my new favorite song of the moment.

Do you recall my long ago blog about No Air and how it was my favorite song of the moment? Well, I have a new one and it's even better! TI's Whatever You Like...man oh man do I sing along to that one! I even serenaded Danny in the car the other night and he loved it (actually he kept looking at me like I was on crack and saying "oh my god")! But anyway, it's a good "dance in your car" song that I happen to really enjoy these days. Eventually it will be way overplayed and I will move on to the next random song to drive my husband crazy with.

Last night we had people over to watch the Bears' game. Another nail biting OT win, but a win nonetheless. It was a good time and I ran through the house picking up clutter and actually, it looks pretty decent, sort of. I still have lots of laundry to fold/wash, but the surfaces are cleared off, which is a big thing. Also, I put our Christmas presents under the tree last night. This is a big deal. They have previously been sitting atop the dining room table, out of the path of dogs that chew up EVERYTHING (ahem, Harrison, ahem). However, this was such a cluttered look and dang it, I wanted my gifts under the tree at some point before Christmas! What's the point of a tree if not to put gifts underneath and enjoy? I was going to wait until tomorrow when I'd be home to monitor all day, but I went for it last night. I still kept my eye on the pile and the dog, but she wasn't the least bit interested in them! I realize that today, that could all be different and anytime the gifts are not directly in my line of sight she could have one eaten in no time, but I'm risking it! She's got 2 days to go. She was fully distracted last night as we had people over for the game, and she was showing off her "balance the biscuit on my nose" trick that she does oh so well...such a smarty girl! Even if she does eat many inappropriate things, she's got the smarts!

I probably won't blog again until after Christmas, and pictures will come soon! Everyone have a very Happy Holiday!

erin

She's Got the Look

2008-12-22T16:35:00.003-06:00

I don't know about you, but I was getting a bit tired of the dots...so here's something fresh for everyone to enjoy!

So, I took ZERO pictures this weekend. I know I threw it out there that I might take a few pictures and post them before the holidays, well...not so much! To my credit, there wasn't much to take pictures of. Nephew got sick this weekend so the family didn't come down from Bloomington. We did go Wii it up Saturday night (not Friday) and that was lots of fun with friends, but alas, no pictures. So, and I think more appropriately, I will take pictures over the holiday and then post all of our holiday fun-ness for all to enjoy!

I only have to work today (which has a mere 30 minutes left to it) and tomorrow! I took Christmas Eve and day after off and I am so looking forward to the break. However, it looks like the weather is going to be iffy, but at least I'll be cozy in my 65 degree "can feel the cool breeze pass over my skin unless I am covered by the wool blanket from my toes to my chin" home. Really wish they would have known about wall insulation in 1925 when the house was built. My body temp and power bill would be way more appreciative that way. Of course, -20 degree wind chills don't really provide much in the way of keeping warm ANYWHERE ON EARTH!

In other news, we didn't get the lid tightly closed on one of our trash cans through all the rain/freezing and we literally have a trash can full of ice...solid ice...filled to the brim...solid. Fabulous.

Well, folks, 2 days until Christmas. Have a good one!

erin

Walkin' In A Winter Wonderland

2008-12-19T15:04:00.003-06:00

Or trying not to fall is more like it!

So it's been a bit icy around here this past week. Thankfully, I have managed to stay on my feet, but some of my friends and co-workers haven't been so lucky! At first, it was too cold for the salt to melt anything, so the ice remained untouched. Now, the salt is melting, but because there is a nice layer of ice built up, the water is just sitting on top of the slickness, making it even more slick! Love it! I have resolved to walking like a little old lady, taking very small steps, to ensure I do not fall. I don't care how long it takes me to get to the car, I am going to remain standing!

So, apparently, we are supposed to get snow on Christmas Eve. Don't the weather people say that every year? I think it's a requirement of that day to just say to all of us wishing for a white Christmas that yes, there is a chance of snow! We'll find out in a mere 6 days. 6 days! Not counting the rest of this workday, I only have 2 more before Christmas. I am taking Christmas Eve off and the day after off. Last year I worked both of those days and it was a little depressing. This year I have actual vacation time, so I get to have a little holiday break, just like the good old days in school (not quite that long).

In other news, it should be a nice weekend. Hubby and I are going to hang out with friends tonight and play a little Wii. I heart Wii. It's very fun! Saturday I am going to have lunch with Ashley and Kayla. I haven't seen them really since BEFORE Thanksgiving and that is unacceptable...so much catch up is planned for that day, not that I have too much news to share. Sunday we will have dinner at my parents house. My sister and brother-in-law and nephew are coming to drop Austin off for a few days with my parents. We are going to bring our baby, Harrison, for a little play date!

That should do it for me! I'll try to take some pictures this weekend and put up a photo post before the holidays...we'll call that a goal for next week!

Have a great weekend!
erin

I wanna talk about me (part 2)

2008-12-15T16:23:00.003-06:00

I just realized I've been tagged to complete this list...so here I go!

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Field worker - Ah yes, those few jobs a kid can get when he/she is 12/13 in the summer time! I walked beans and rouged corn with the best of 'em!
2. Dish washer - Again, a summer job when I was 16 at the local tea room in Elwin. This wasn't pleasant work.
3. Hotel maid - this was even more unpleasant! I did this job with my good friend Ashley, who's Aunt got us the job. Man, at 18, we were the smartest, most "had-it-together" ladies working there!
4. Naturalist - this has been be favorite job of all, seriously! Basically it was teaching without the paperwork and parents. I would still be doing this now, but it didn't pay enough to exist outside my parents home, so I moved up to full time with benefits. I'll find a way back to it someday!

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. The American President
2. Selena
3. Clue
4. Mr. Holland's Opus

Four places I have lived:
1. Elwin, IL - hometown proud! I even was a tri-author of the only town newspaper to date!
2. Decatur, IL - current town...it get's a bad rap, but I find it a nice place to live.
3. Charleston, IL - good old EIU. This town makes Decatur look like a hub of entertainment!
4. I've only got the 3.

Four TV shows I love: I really don't watch many of the new shows! But I have a lot of old favs.
1. House
2. Gilmore Girls
3. West Wing
4. How I Met Your Mother (if I remember to watch it!)

Four places I’ve vacationed:
1. Riviera Maya, Mexico - Honeymoon...a good time, though I was happy to get back home.
2. Canada - don't remember what part. I went with my friend Devin and her family for 3 weeks one summer.
3. La Jolla, CA - This is a beautiful place!
4. Boston, MA - This was a family vacation, and I was young, but remember it pretty well.

Four of my favorite dishes:
1. Pizza
2. Two Cheese Spaghetti (made by my dad)
3. stuffed pork chops (this is one I came across)
4. Strawberry pancakes (also made by Dad)

Four sites I visit daily:
1. Facebook
2. my blog page
3. Comcast.net
4. google

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Home (with the husband)
2. With the husband (wherever)
3. somewhere warm (if you read the last blog, you'll understand why)
4. anywhere but work

There you go!