Lots to talk about today! Have had a really nice weekend. Greg's sister Becca came to visit and we had a nice relaxing weekend. Friday she met me in town and we went grocery shopping after I got off work... then came home and Greg grilled us burgers. Also had chips, beans and corn on the cob (so num!). Woke up Saturday and went to the pool (sadly Greg had to work 6a.m.-6p.m Friday, Saturday and today so he didn't get to spend anytime other than Friday and Saturday evening with Becca). It was so nice out yesterday. Spent a few hours at our second home aka "the pool".

auntie Kt
And for some stupid reason that I can't explain, I have zero pictures of auntie Becca with Ellie!!! What were we thinking Becca??? We'll for sure get some when we come up in 2 weeks. (vacation on it's way... cannot wait!)

After the pool we went home and Greg brought home some Fiesta Mexicana! Oh num. Becca and I shared a supremo burrito and Greg had his usual chicken fajitas. I really have to get better at attaching my camera to my hip so I take pictures of everything, including what we are eating, as I love seeing that on other blogs... especially alfred's mom and girl from florida (which reminds me, go look at gff's entry dated 7/14/08 and get a load of that fish! ewww!)

After dinner I decided to do this: I never get the exact "look" I am going for. I wanted the dull-straight brown color on the box. Instead I got that straight brown color with a hint of red. I want to get this red out of my hair! It just must naturally be in there and that is why I always end up some hue with a tint of red.
Now today, Ellie and I have been doing loads of this: and loads of laundry and it's been nice and relaxing!

**In other news:

Greg applied for a new job. Will divulge more details if/when I can.

I have been offered a new job. Unsure yet what I think about it and need to hash out a few details like pay/hours/etc... will go into it more if I decide to go with it! I will say that it is a place I've worked at in the past and they've asked me to come back.

I have applied for 2 other jobs.

One as a health educator for another county near us. Would involve changing daycare, driving 30 minutes to and from work, but I'm make over $8 more an hour!

Another for an admin assistant in a nearby school. A small school that includes grades K-12 in one building... and it is where Ellie (and our future children) would attend if we continue to live where we are. I would love to be where she is everyday (I'm sure she will just LOVE that!) and have summers/school holidays off when she does. The pay won't be as high as the educator position, but having school hours, being there with my kids and having summers off sounds like a great deal to me! I would only be driving about 5 miles and we would also have to change daycare.

If I don't get offered/decide to take any of these jobs things will be fine. I know I used to complain a lot about my job... don't get me wrong... it is still BAD, but I will deal with it if I have to for Greg and Ellie. It pays shit, I have enough work today to last for about 30 days and I work with some real caring nice people (sense the sarcasm)... but what this job does do for us is saves us $370 a month. Because Greg and I both work for the same place we get free health coverage for our entire family. Free meaning that the monthly family premium of $370 is paid for. But let me tell you, that may sound great, until you hear that we have a $4400 family deductible on top of that $370 a month... now you see why we need to get that $370 paid for!! Bottom line is that any job that comes along has to offer me more pay to cover that premium or has to offer a kick ass medical plan. I'm praying for both!

My sweet, loving, kissable, beautiful baby girl has turned into a naughty, nose picking, rule breaking, finger pointing, fit throwing little toddler. Crap.

Her new favorite things to say...

"SHHHHHH mommy" (while pointing her finger at me) sorry but a 2 year old should not shush me.

"NO mommy" (while pointing her finger at me) sorry but a 2 year old should not point/shake her finger at me and tell me NO.

Then tonight we are eating dinner and she looked at me, pointed her finger and said, "BEHAVE mommy". Little turd cracked me up and I couldn't stop laughing at her. Wrong response I know, you don't have to tell me that.

But then she does things like this... "mommy beauuuuuutiful" in regards to a shirt I was wearing on Tuesday. So sweet.

She gives me Eskimo kisses (which we call nosy kisses), gives me "big" hugs, makes me laugh every day, likes her window in the car just "cwacked" as she calls it, loves her flip flops (even sleeps in them), hates the farm smells out where we live... she says "fawms P.U. mommy! nose! nose! (like it actually hurts or something!), sends me emails... oh yes, she sent me an email at work today... here it is below:

This is from Ellie.




Mhn ddfcvfjf.p4gfddsshggfdasokilljk

She wanted to send you an email.

I got this at work this morning and couldn't stop laughing! Seriously I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I *LOVE* my husband and daughter. I am so thankful for them! :)

our weekend

Had a great weekend! Cleaned the entire inside and outside of the house on Saturday as my in-laws were on their way to visit... baked a yummy apple pie for the occasion. Ellie had a hoot playing with them! :) It was nice to see Greg's cousins Zac and Natasha, as we only see them about once a year.

Sunday we decided to go to the pool. Mom and dad bought a book of passes which = free poolin it for us. (Seriously, if it weren't for my parents we would have NO LIFE!) They joined us too and afterwards decided to take us to the Pickle Factory in Pepin. (The second time in a matter of weeks!) This time I had a burger which was SO much better than the turkey wrap I had last time. I could really go for one of their bloody mary's right about now... oh, makes my mouth water they were that good.

Here's a few pics from our day...

our bathing beauty :)

my lovely little family


papa, gamma and ellie

peace or 2, not sure what she's givin us here...
on the patio at the P Factory


me and my mr.

and yes, his shirt does say smooth cooter... greg's friend has a band called just that.

God I *heart* the HBO series Big Love. It is SO GOOD! I've been catching up on season 2 episodes 1-6 today as my ass has been planted on the couch. (we joined netflix, which I also *heart*)... next up: Rendition.

I've had a really nice relaxing day. Tons of me time. Couldn't have been a better day. Although I can't wait for Ellie and Greg to get home! I just wanna smother her little face in kisses and cuddle.

Ok, about 30 minutes of me time left... gonna go enjoy the rest of it!

Wanted: me time

Seriously. Right now I am SO annoyed. It is 7:44 a.m. and I have decided to stay home today. The last 2 days I've been feeling really weird in my lower stomach and lower back area... kinda like it feels when you are at the end of your pregnancy and you are feeling all hard and tight in your stomach and back. Last night it was the worst it's been. I took a pg test and it was negative, which I was expecting... there is no possible way I'm pg right now... I slept good but am still feeling it this morning. So, whatever, I called in to work... my boss lady is really nice/understanding when it comes to calling in... thank god.

But calling in has already caused this this morning...

1) Greg picked up an OT shift today from 8-4:30
2) Ellie is going to spend the day with my dad
3) I got up with them this morning, gave Ellie a bath and packed her bag
4) Greg and Ellie left the house at about 7:15
5) I get a phone call from Greg asking why I let him leave so late... (why "I" let him leave so late??) then he whined a bit about not having a car at work (my dad keeps our car so he can take Ellie where he wants for the day) etc, etc... mind you this is one of a handful of days Greg EVER takes her to daycare/dads for the day and I'm already hearing the complaints
6) I get another phone call saying Ellie threw up during the drive to my dad's (she's done this multiple times with me, just change her shirt and be on your way... really no big deal, she just drank to much apple juice and we are still trying to get the reflux under control)
7) I get another call and all he said was, "let me call you right back"
8) I just got another call saying he's dropped Ellie off and my dad ended up giving him his truck so he wouldn't be without a car at work all day

Whew, crisis averted huh?

All these phone calls within 29 minutes. Geesh.

What would the world be like without us mommy's?

Now my peaceful day begins... peaceful meaning I'm home ALONE! Peaceful meaning I get to lay on the couch and veg out... in between loads of laundry, dishes, sweeping and picking up toys... but peaceful and quiet... me and the cats. Sweet :)


**Edited to add** 8:02 a.m.
I don't mean to complain about my hubby. He is an awesome husband and daddy, we just all have our moments, ya know?

**Edited to add** 11:30 a.m.
I just woke up! I slept all morning! Go me! :) Apparently I needed it.!

this entry is all over the place... my mind has been in a million different places lately!

Well, we are slowing crawling our way up from the hole we just got ourselves in. I'm happy to report that Monday, Tuesday and today were good days. Nothing big happening! Thank god. Monday the guys came to take pictures of the trailblazer and take it to the shop. As of yesterday afternoon they were still pulling it apart and had at that time given it an estimate of $4400... and they still had a little ways to go. Damn deer. Then that evening we went to Target and we used my birthday gift card (sniffle, sniffle) for groceries. (sorry kt... but just had to do it, I promise to take $50 as soon as I can afford to and blow it at Target). For the first time EVER we looked closely at what we were putting in our cart, how much it costs and the size. We were really trying hard to come in under the $50 total so we didn't have to dip into our checking account. We were SO proud of ourselves when it rang up at $44.10! Go us! Tuesday night my parents took us to the casino for dinner. Nothing better than the casino buffet! YUM. Then today went to work and came home for a quiet evening... which we really needed after these past few days. We had dinner, gave Ellie a bath, put her to bed then went outside to finish cleaning up the cut up tree trunks... we have my dad's truck since we are down a vehicle, so we took full advantage of that and loaded it up with pieces of the tree and all the brush and drove it back to the fire pit.

We have the movie Rendition to watch... anyone seen it? I think we are going to watch it tomorrow night. It is getting to late tonight... I must be ovulating because the entire middle section of my body, all around, it SO ACHEY. Almost feels like contractions! It's probably just worse this month due to the stress and lack of sleep I've been dealing with! I need to go to bed

Emailed Ellie's dr today... she is still on the acid reflux meds and we are going to continue them for another month or so... we are going to try a capsule this time... breaking it apart and putting it in a teaspoon of applesauce. Anyone have any other suggestion for getting a kid to take med's poured from a capsule into something???

I need to make an appt with my dermatologist. It is summer. I'm wearing less clothes. (scary I know). And I'm noticing more and more weird moles that I want checked/removed. I have had 2 removed so far... one being not cancer but stages before cancer... like if I would have ignored it it could have turned into that. I've been out in the sun alot this summer. I was supposed to go to my dr for a recheck like 2 years ago! Crap. It is just far away (Northfield, MN) and I have little time to take from work... suppose I can use sick time for it... will call this week. Promise.

I hate hate litter boxes. They stink.

I love seeing my flowers, that we planted this spring, start to bloom. They are so pretty and refreshing!

I'm reading a really good/weird book right now called The Shack.

I hate being broke.

I need a vacation.

I can't afford a vacation.

I want my car back.

My house is a mess.

Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.

Seriously guys!? What next?!

So they say bad things happen in 3's right? Well, I assumed that the 3 large pieces of trees that fell in our yard on Thursday night counted as 3. I guess God didn't think so. Apparently he thought I could handle a little more (I totally disagree with him there)...

So #1 was the bad storm. We've gotten thru it. Insurance guy/gal is coming this week to look at the house and Greg's car.

#2 was this morning when I pulled my laundry out of the dryer and saw this. Damn you black crayon. Damn you.

Then I thought my day was going to get better... went to the pool with Ellie and my girls Katie, Tanya, Hunter and Lindsay. Had a nice time lounging in the water and getting a tan.

Then my sister and parents threw a belated birthday bbq for me and a few of our close friends. Which made my day even better! Here's my cute cake!
and Ellie helping me open my gifts and playing with the tissue paper...

Then comes #3. On the way home I was tooling along in my brand-new-to-me trailblazer when out of f'ing no where come a damn deer. A damn deer beat the shit out of MY BRAND NEW CAR! We haven't even owned it for 3 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The pictures a kind of unclear. It was dark out when I got home. Basically he was booking it out of the ditch. Out here in the country the ditches are knee to waist high with grass so I didn't see him until he lept out of the ditch. I didn't even have time to slow down. He hit the front passenger side corner of the car, broke the light, wrecked the bumper and the hood, the side panel to the front door and his butt must have bounced back and hit the door, there is a dent in it and it won't open all the way.

I don't think I can handle much more... really. I can't believe I haven't broken out with my cold sore/blisters all over my lips from the stress... they are probably on their way. Crap.

So how was your weekend?!

So we decided to do a little more landscaping... what do ya think?

the front yard

yeah, that is the electrical box that was pulled off the house

the deck (the table seriously flew 5 feet and flipped upside down and the glass didn't break!)

the back yard (a branch flew off the tree and ended up in the back seat of our neighbors car)
Everyone is safe. The house is still standing. That is all I care about. We still have lots of cleaning up to do. We were without electricity for about 27 hours. There is minimal damage to the house... a bent screen door, some dented gutters (had quarter size hail), some damaged trim on the back of the house and a few shingles lifted slightly. Many people lost homes, livestock, barns, machine sheds, vehicles and crops. It is really sad. We were very, very lucky.

**Edited to add**
We just survived round 2. Just came up from the basement, it's 10:50 p.m. I think we made it through the clear again. I'm sure we'll have many more branches on the ground tomorrow morning, but nothing like yesterday. I really hate this weather. It totally scares the shit out of me. Go visit my hubby's blog... he got some more good pics of our house after the storm yesterday... the driveway had a huge tree branch over it... it was cleaned up before I got home so seeing those pics really shocked me!

my 1/3 life crisis

So, I turned 30 today and have been having a hard time with it. I have all out sobbed and bawled my eyes out at least 3 different times... and a few other times I've just come close to tears. I don't really know why. I just have really had a good time in my 20's and maybe am mourning their departure. Sounds lame I know. Everyone keeps telling me, "it's just a number", "it's just another day", "be happy that you're alive to see another day"... blah, blah, blah. I know I'll get over it... I just need a couple days. Happy freaking birthday to me, huh.

Wine Women and Baseball Night With The Minnesota Twins
5 P.M. to 7:00PM

Gather your girlfriends and enjoy a glass of wine, some pampering and a great major league game. The $45 dollar package includes game ticket, hospitality event, appetizers, desserts, "pamper yourself" stations, and complimentary gift. Meet WCCO TV and KS95 personalities. Presented by Herbergers.

Went to this last night with my mom, sister and a group of girls from our church. Had a blast. I love MLB!! I wish I could afford to be a season ticket holder!!
The view from my lap! My $10 bucket of popcorn. I just really wanted the souvenir bucket! Ellie and I share a bag of popcorn a couple times a week and don't have an "official" popcorn bowl... but now we do!

Sis, me and mom!