time for some therapy...

Whenever I'm down there is always one thing that makes me feel better. Not shopping (although that is a close second) not drugs, not alcohol, not crying or yelling, not food (although that is a close third!), not sleeping. But a haircut. So this morning I have made an appointment and am getting this cut. What do you think?

I've tried the long hair thing for my hubby (what's up with guys always wanting LONG hair?) and my hair is just to thin. It looks limp and gross when it gets anywhere past my chin. So, it is time. Chop chop.

few word friday...

Today my molasses cookie baking, coffee drinking, garden loving, book reading, boiled dinner making, 78 year old grandma decided it would be her last day with us. I thought in my head it would be easier than this. That since she had been going in this direction for some time now I should have been better prepared for this day. I was not prepared. I am so sad. So sad E (who was named after grandma) won't be able to grow up and get to know her as I did. So sad she won't get to know my other children. So sad for my grandpa who is now alone. So sad for my mom who now does not have a mom. This part of life really SUCKS.

This is my grandma and grandpa at grandma's birthday party this past October.

Hope you are feeling better now gram. Love you lots,

Nellie (what she used to call me, yes after the one on Litt.le Ho.us.e on the Pr.air.ie)

grrrr... blogger

Sometimes I hate blogger. I hope you can make out my words below.

Merry Christmas to me!

Wow, each year I am amazed at the number of gifts I receive for Christmas. Some moments I think this is all too much. Other times I'm like, wait, this is way fun! And for once in the 4 years G and I have been together we were able to affort to buy gifts for each other!



So, we'll start with my parents lovely mantle. I love it. They just got a new gas fireplace put in and it is really nice. E hates anything that is hot, she is deathly afraid of this fireplace... she wouldn't even come into the room at first last night! But then the temptation of the presents took over! :)



I bought these cute snowmen salt and pepper shakers for myself. I couldn't pass them up! Sorry for the bad picture quality... not sure why it turned out so bad.




I also bought this for myself. A black utensil caddy. It is just so dang handy. Our drawers have been a mess and this helped clean them out and keeps everything within easy reach and organized. It is from Pam.per.ed Ch.ef. I love it.



I got some yummy honeysuckle soap and my favorite, brown sugar and fig.



I got this yummy honeysuckle scented plug in. I also got a cinnamon refill. I think it is so pretty!



I got this cute little key chain/wallet! LOVE IT!


Funny story here. My sis, mom and I were shopping this fall and I saw this bag at Gap. I loved it, but it was too expensive during a time when I was buying for others. So my sis took it and said she liked it and bought it for herself. I'd completely forgotten about it. And was shocked when I opened it! I love it!

Ok, yes. I love all my presents so I'll quit saying it!



I can't get over how beautifully JJi.ll packages their gift cards. Look at this! They even give you a catalog!



Here I have a Target, 2 Walmart, a Lane Bryant, a Visa gift card and some Lily's giftcards. If you ever make it to RW, make sure you stop into Lily's for a mango smoothy and a turkey cranberry wrap with a side ceasar salad. To freaking die for. Seriously.



Catch ph.rase music ed.ition! Fun!



This is a do-it-yourself photo coaster set. My mom even printed me off some pics of E to put in them. She's smart like that... other wise it would have been sitting in the spare bedroom for months!



Bad cat calendar. Hah, hah! I have 3 living in my home!



All this fun stuff was in my stocking!



I love socks.



My hubby gave me this beautiful black C.oa.ch tote bag. I LOVE it!

He also gave me a one hour massage! Oh do I need that... can't wait to use it!

I got some comfy pj's. I've been wearing them all day today on my sick day home from work. Oh yeah, I haven't even told you all about that. My mom got strep on Christmas eve, I went to the ER on Christmas day with a high fever and sore throat, yup it was strep. Got a shot in the rear. My BIL went to the dr today and he now has strep and impetigo. We were a fun bunch on Christmas day, let me tell ya. I called in sick today.

My new pretty sweater!

Cute new shirt... much more flattering than the pj's huh!

A cookbook and a cute flip flop towel from my cousin B, her hubby T and their girls E and A. There are some really yummy recipes in here... I spent some time on the couch today reading through it!

Whew. Huh. And that was just from my side of the family. G's mom gave us a gift card for gas and a family photo we took earlier this past summer. His sis gave me some Biol.ag.e hair products which smell soooooooooooooooooooo good. And his grandma gave me a snowman cookie jar and a set of snowman spreaders.

I kinda feel guilty posting all this... like no one person should receive this much. But I'm blessed with wonderful family and should just appreciate it and say thank you. Which is just what I did!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

long time no entry...

Wow, it has been almost a week since my last entry. I have been so busy this week I've barely been able to catch my breath. I am finally catching up at work... I've been a bit behind since we were all sick that week in November. Whew, it is a relief to be caught up. But at home, that's another story! I have been baking, shopping, wrapping, picking up E from daycare, visiting Santa, visiting my grandparents (in two separate nursing homes), filling out x-mas cards, feeding/bathing/changing a 19 month old, picking up toys, giving baths, doing laundry and I am exhausted. I haven't barely sat down any evening this week. Thank god for tonight. Although the mounting pile of gifts on the dining room table are staring me down. They want to be wrapped! Plus the living room floor is covered in E toys... I really should be picking them up. Do any of you other mom's feel this guilt and pressure I feel to have a clean house and appear to have everything "together"?? Oh how I don't have it all together right now. My house is a mess, I have more presents to wrap... etc, etc... I think I am about to burn myself out. I really miss my ME time. I love E to death. But I love myself too and I need some me time. Will have to work on that.

I have already opened some presents... G's family has mailed them all to us this year. Today I got some bio.lag.e hair products, which I love. We got a gift card for gas (which is great!) a set of snowman spreaders, a snowman cookie jar, a family pic of G's family, some cash, and I think that is it so far. Oh duh, my hubby can't stand waiting to give gifts... so he already gave me mine too. A beautiful black Co.ac.h tote bag. LOVE IT! Thank god for Co.ac.h outlets! He save lots of $$$ I'm sure I'm forgetting something else and the above paragraph will help you understand why my brain isn't fully attached, so please forgive me.

I think I am going to sign off here. I am helping my dad deliver flowers tomorrow (he is retired and delivers flowers part time for our local florist). He is sick and shouldn't be out in the cold, so he is going to drive and I'm going to do the running to people's doors. I'm kind of excited. What fun it will be to brighten people's day! :)

I should be back before Christmas... but in case I'm not... from my family too your's...I hope all my wonderful readers have a very merry Christmas! Take care, be happy and healthy and god bless!

Excuse my foot... I forgot to crop it out... and at this point I just don't really care... and YES! I know I need a pedi!

well... I thought I rocked...

Puppy was here 2 days. He's now been returned to his brothers and sisters. Too much of a handful for us. We should have learned last time... I won't go into that! We are not puppy people. I was being very unrealistic. Oh well, ya live and ya learn right?

So instead we went and bought this with the $$$.

So far we love it. My only request in a camera is that when you push the button the picture is taken instantly. I hate when there is seconds of elapse time... I never get "the" picture I intended to take with our old camera, this one is awesome!

Yeah, I rock... frickin ROCK!

I am the best wife in the WHOLE. WIDE. WORLD. Check out why here...

this is why you have kids... they make you laugh... uncontrollably...

Tuesday night G was giving E a bath. I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner. All the sudden I heard him say, "don't poop!" Then he asked me what I do when she poops in the tub. I told him to take her out, let the water out and I'd clean it up. He lifts her out of the tub and starts drying her off... she turns around and points to the poop and yells at the top of her lungs...

"HOT DOG!"

OMG I still burst out laughing when I picture her screaming hot dog! Kids are great.

I haven't felt much like blogging lately... not sure why, just haven't. We have been quite busy, which is mostly the reason. Thursday night we went out for dinner for my dad's 55th birthday. He is officially a senior citizen... we teased him about that!

Friday I had to run a few errands after work... bank and grocery store. Picked up a few last ingredients for an appetizer I was making for a get-together on Saturday night. I made a yummy taco dip. Mmmmm. It was tasty.

Saturday I went to a ladies luncheon with my mom and sister for our church. I had a real nice time. We had a delicious lunch and the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake for dessert. We did a gift exchange and I got this... a cute ornament candle holder.

Afterwards I did a bit of shopping around town with my sister and mom. Got J and T something... then went to check out something for G. I can't wait to give it to him! He is going to *LOVE* it!!!

Last night we went over to T's for some snacks, drinks, presents and games! It was fun. E stayed up until almost 10! G had way to freaking much to drink... drank an entire 1.75 bottle of wine practically by himself... had to stop twice on the way home so he could puke. I wasn't happy. At. All.

The girls exchanged gifts...

T & H gave E a cute backpack...

J gave E this cute sweater and a book...

T gave me some Ar.bon.ne products...

J gave me this cute "R" Coa.ch key chain...

(My last name starts with an R, in case you are wondering)

This afternoon we tried to get a "good" pic of E for our x-mas cards... this is the kind of luck we had...

The first and the last one aren't all that bad... but we have another one that we may also use. We'll see... as will most of you!

2 more weeks 'til Christmas! Can't wait!!

these things are Fun with a capital F!

13% Geek

Although it isn't quite posting like it should... the percentage should be after the "I AM" not in the top left hand corner... whatever.

Wow Tim, you really are a geek!

MN SUCKS

Why do I live here? It snowed again today. I ~HATE~ driving in this weather. I grip the steering wheel, my blood pressure rises, I grind my teeth and I give myself a headache. Driving in snow sucks. Especially when a plow is driving directly at you... POOF... you are covered in a blizzard of snow and have zero visibility for what feels like 2 minutes, when in reality it is probably 5 seconds. It took me 1 hr and 10 minutes to get home tonight. I live 17 miles from work. I snailed along at 30 mph tops. I came home and told G we either need to move to town or I need a vehicle with 4-wheel drive. Snow SUCKS ASS. Yes, I said ass. It sucks ass. Sucks ass bad. Ice sucks ass even more.

I will post some pics this weekend of our lovely white outdoors. So far since Saturday we've had about 8 inches of snow. Sounds like we'll be getting another 5 by Friday. Frickin yeah for us.

I've kinda had a bad day, can ya tell? Have been kind of grumpy and irritable. I almost threw G out in the snow today.

I need to get some sleep. Night.

brrrr...

It is winter. Yuck. We are buried in snow. I hate it. I don't really feel like blogging much lately. Must be the 1st of winter blues. I'll get over it... in the meantime I'm going to enjoy just catching up on some blog reading... I haven't done that in over a week either! So, I hope you are all toasty warm in you homes... or have made a smart life decision and live somewhere warm!

tonight...

Tonight was a nice night. I got to come right home after picking up E from daycare... no errands to run. So nice. E and I got home, (G is working tonight) started dinner, danced a bit, changed a dirty butt and chased the cats.

Am I a bad mom? For serving my daughter food on these dishes?

I think they look better like this! Covered with pasta and applesauce! hee, hee, j/k grandma!

This is her going on her 3rd, yes I said 3rd plate of pasta.

I don't know where she puts it! Needless to say we headed right to the tub after dinner. She played while I checked email and then I noticed she pooped in the tub. That makes for a lot of work for mom. I quick got her out and cleaned off. Drained out the tub, filled it with bleach water and soaked her tub toys in it and eventually drained it all and cleaned the tub. What a lot of work for a little poop, but it grosses me out. Dishes are done and I'm on my second load of laundry. Pretty good for a Tuesday night I'd say.

I forgot to post this this weekend, but I found E sitting in her baby bed. So funny. I laughed so hard. I just can't believe it held her up and I can't fathom how she got herself in there in the first place!!!!

Then when daddy got up we decorated the house for x-mas. Here is E, notice how her head is tilted... she was concentrating so hard on getting the ornaments to stay on the tree. We let her put all the soft ones near the bottom. It was a fun afternoon. :)

I love the holidays... I am such a sucker for x-mas music. We have a cities station here that plays only x-mas music from the day after thanksgiving to x-mas day. I have it on at work and in the car. I LOVE this time of year. Ya know what I really want?!!!! The Jo.sh Gro.ba.n x-mas album. Hint, hint, G. Before x-mas preferably! :)

Oh my, time for me to get to bed, I'm tired. Night :)

nothing much

I am still here, I am so tired, my body is aching, my throat is scratchy, my eyes are burning, I'm not sure what is going on in this body of mine. Today I feel like I am 88 years old. Owww. My back hurts like a B. I need some sleep. Until tomorrow...

Private blog entry coming at you tomorrow (or the next day). Want the address? Leave me a comment.

what would it take to kill you?

It would take 23 Martinis to kill me

Happy Thanksgiving!

I thought, giving that it is Thanksgiving, I would post a list of a few things I am thankful for.

1. My husband. He is a hard worker, funny, supportive, honest and a wonderful father.

2. E. She has brought so much to my life since the day she was born. I just can't imagine how life was before her. She is awesome, funny, beautiful, loving, and has more energy than anyone I know! I have a heck of a time keeping up with her!

3. My parents. They are the best parents anyone could EVER ask for. They are so supportive. G and I would not be where we are today without them. They accepted G into the family like he was their long lost son. I truly think they love him as much as they love me. My parents aren't only my parents, they are my friends. They are now grandparents and I think E is the luckiest little girl, I can't wait until the day she realizes that she has the best grandparents in the world.

4. My sister and her husband. I truly have the best sister anyone could ever ask for. She is there for me any time I need her. She is the most giving person, she will do anything for you and ask nothing in return. I am so glad she found someone to share her life with, someone who truly loves her unconditionally. I am so thankful for the husband she has found.

5. My cats; Max, Mae and Callie. They are my (daytime) cuddle buddies. I don't let them upstairs at night or I wouldn't get any sleep!

6. My house, enough food in my cupboards to eat & enough propane in our tank to warm our house.

7. My 2 bff's. You know who you are. Life is good with good friends. Although life gets busy and we don't see each other as much as we'd like, know that I think about you every day.

8. 2 running vehicles.

9. Chapstick. Specifically Natural Ice Original SPF 15.

10. My job.

11. Starbucks.

12. Dom.ino.s cheese pizza.

13. The first days of spring when you can open the windows in your house.

14. Small town living.

15. Sleep. Which I do not get enough of.

a mish mash of stuff...

I rarely comment about other blogs. But I found this AWESOME gift idea for any young girl on Uppercase Woman. Check out her November 20th entry. She writes about a book called The Dar.ing Bo.ok for G.irl.s. I have a couple little girls in mind who might be receiving this gift for Christmas! For any of you who call yourself a liberal or a feminist... you'll love her blog.

Anyone watch the first episode of Pr.oje.ct R.unw.ay last week? I am watching it tonight (love the dvr!) and already know I am going to LOVE this season. These people are all so different. Bound to create some good drama.

OMG, I can' t believe I forgot!?!?!?! What the hell was Brad thinking last night on the Bac.hel.or? Why did he even waste his/J's/D's and our time? What a waste of a season. I hate that show now. I will never watch it again. Puke. Ok, that is a lie cause I am taping "After the final Rose" right now. After that though, I'll never watch again. Serious.

One more day of work and then a 4 day weekend! Yippee for me! I have only worked at my current job since January of 07. So this is my first holiday season there and it is great! I've never had a cushy job where there are so many paid holidays. Friday is a paid holiday for us. How cool is that? I don't think I've been able to go shopping on black Friday since I lived at home with my parents. (Like high school time). I am not going shopping on Friday this year either... we are going to put up our Christmas tree when G wakes up. Then our town has a fun event called the Holiday Stroll. The entire downtown is open late and there are all sorts of activities... a live nativity scene, Santa will be roaming the streets, a chili feed, the lighting ceremony, a parade, wagon rides, carolers and you can register to win an entire window of gifts... all donated from the downtown shops. Hey Teach, if you are not busy that night you and the fam should head to RW, MN and enjoy the afternoon, it's from 2-8. You won't be disappointed! Its lots of fun! Free fun (even better!)

So, anyone have any yummy Thanksgiving recipes you can share? Stuffing? Pie? I'd like to bring something new to my mom and dads this year.

Happy (almost) turkey day! Gobble til you wobble!

p.s.

Car.rie Un.derwo.od just won an AMA and said, "holy cow". That is funny. Just goes to show you what a normal girl she is! I love that.

Thanks for the nice comment on my movie entry Tim!

gotta love the sample sale!

Today G and I went to the Min.ne.apo.lis Gif.t Ma.rt. Which is a huge building with hundreds of showrooms that anyone who owns a retail store can attend and order merchandise for their store. Well, once a year, the week before Thanksgiving, they sell all their sample merchandise at cost (wholesale prices), hence the name "the sample sale". I have worked at a retail shop for almost 10 years (on and off part/full-time) so as a benefit my boss got me a pass (which also allows me to bring a guest). It is like a huge garage sale with new merchandise! It is awesome. Since today was the last day of the sale, almost everything was half off the wholesale price! That is 75 percent off retail prices! It was awesome. We got some really great Christmas presents which I am really excited about. It is a great thing to be able to attend when you don't have tons of $$ for gifts.

I got this cute rug, which matches my kitchen and my dishes. The wholesale cost was $21.50. Retail would have been about $45.00 (since most stores double the wholesale cost and add in a little extra to cover the shipping costs). I paid $10.75. Don't look at my UGLY kitchen floor!

I bought these cute snowman tins. The big one was $3 wholesale, I paid half that. The small one was $2 ws and I paid half that!

I bought this green wicker placemat. It was $2 ws, I paid half that. I thought it would look cute on my kitchen table with the little kitchen night light and candle holder (which is currently empty).

I also bought these cute napkins... for $2 each.

This is a outdoor blanket... it rolls up and comes with a little carrier. It was $15 ws and I paid $7.50.

I got E this El.mo raincoat. It also came with a cute little hat. It ws'd for $15, I paid half that!

Then I found this cute pink with purple trim track suit. It is made out of the softest material I've ever felt. At first I thought it was cashmere... but it isn't. It was $10 ws. That is what I paid.
As I was walking out the door of the showroom where I bought the track suit I spotted these shoes on the floor! Too cute! I love them. They were charging $7 ws. That is what I paid.

I also got E a stuffed grey kitty. It is up in bed with her right now so I can't take a picture of it. It looks just like our cat Mae. So imagine her... stuffed.

G found a really nice MN Go.phe.rs sweatshirt for $29. Which easily could have cost $70 in any store. I did find a few other things that I can't show pics of since they may be x-mas gifts for some of my readers! It was a great productive day of shopping!


One more fun thing. I got the coolest new cell phone on Friday. Isnt' it rad?!!! (Did I just say rad?) The face plates are interchangable. I love it!

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Whew, that's a lot of pictures. I am beat after a long day of shopping. I need to get to bed. Night!