Wahooooo!

I passed my licensing exam today!

I am a licensensed nursing home administrator!

I am soooooo relieved!

WARNING: Whining Ahead

i have a terrible sinus headache.

My arm hurts from either the Hepatitis shot or the tetnus shot (I got it on Monday - c'mon already!)

The stuff I made for supper was rotten.

A Pizza Hut run ensued.

Kurt is gone til tomorrow night. He's in a New Jersey kissing some corporate butt.

I can't believe I went

Despite my comic book aversion I went with Kurt to see Ironman. It was shockingly good. Robert Downey, Jr was looking FINE. I like Gwenyth Paltrow, too. Jeff Bridges was a great villain too. Why are the chrome dome guys always the bad ones? Hmmm. I'm sure there's some commentary there.

Before the movie I got to go garage sale-ing with Korrena. We had a blast. She got a brand new pair of Addias for $5. I got Christy a half dozen shirts for summer (25 cents each)(some with the tags still on them) and a pair of crop pants. I got myself the kids book Tiki Tiki Tembo. It was in my 3rd or 4th grade reader. I've been trying to think of the story for years. Happiness for 50 cents. It's hard to beat that!

Today I am being a po'd domestic goddess. So far I have washed the crusty hand dishes (that Kurt assured me he would do last Thursday), washed the rugs, and cleaned the bathroom. I'm currently roombaing the kitchen and bathroom in preparation to mop the suckers. I HATE TO MOP!!!! But when your feet are sticking to the floor it is time. Sigh.

I also got some weeding done this morning. I wish Francis weren't such a barking, loves to chase cars beast. It's impossible to take him outside with me.

Sprucin' Things Up

We're fixing some things around here. Today the plumbing guys came and put in a new kitchen faucet and a bathroom light/fan. They cleaned up after themselves, too! Also they rewired the bathroom so we have less of a fire risk and replaced the sink trap since it had a crack and was leaking. Once again - gotta love small towns!

I have pictures from our Schera's adventure but I don't want to deal with uploading them to the computer. While it should be easier with the new camera since it hooks in via USB I don't find that it is which leads me to have less pictures posted.

I took a practice NHA test today and I scored 83%. I'm going to study everyday from 1230-330 minimum. The advice I'm getting it to keep taking the practice tests until I score 100% every time.

My Day Would Not Be Complete

unless I got to do at least one load of laundry.

Lucky Me!

I get to have a root canal! I can't get in for it until May 16th however. I know have antibiotics and a desparate need to get a hold of Dr. Fuchs (who did my previous one 10+ years ago). I hope I can get into see him earlier.

It's a Festivus Miracle!

The kids didn't have school today. They were scheduled off on Monday, too, but it got taken back to make up for snow days. I informed them last night that we would be going through their rooms to give things to good will. It turned into an all day affair. The miracle part is that is was a cooperative affair! Very little grumbling was heard. I took another truck load out to Goodwill. I should have taken a before picture of their rooms. Turns out they both have floors! Who knew? Now if Alex would just come get his things I would be a happy woman.

Weekend Wrap up

My doggie loves to look out our almost floor to ceiling living room window. I noticed at the 18" level the window is totally nose prints. He likes to bark at the people, cats, and buggies going past. I can post pictures once I get around to learning about my new digital camera.

Kurt wanted to rearrange the living room. It's nice. We flipped the items north to south. I went through a garbage can of stuff from Grandpa's house. It had checks and bank statements from 1937 up to the 50's. Some of the checks were written in pencil! I have checks paying on the first farm my grandparents bought, checks to my great-grandfathers that have their signatures on the back, and checks paying for the various horses and livestock. In the can there was also tax assessment rolls for the farm and yearly tax payment receipts. Taxes for half a year were $14.28!

A couple of sacks had vintage linen postcards as well as postcards from when my parents drove to Mexico City in 1968. So cool! What I am going to do with the THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of postcard I own, I have no idea. On one of them my mom is glad they haven't had to fill up the car since gas is 72 cents a gallon!

We went and ate at Jonesey's in Center Point last night. It the home of the giant tenderloin. I had a bacon cheeseburger with fries and slaw, while Kurt had the ham dinner with mashed taters, slaw, and Texas toast. With drinks our bill was under $15.

Alex called early yesterday morning. He needed his good pair of shoes for mock trial. Kurt and the kids went and saw him in SEUSSICAL Thursday night. He actually thanked Kurt for coming and told him he was hoping he'd come. Maybe all hope isn't lost on #2.

I made green lentils yesterday. It's some Turkish recipe. It was ok. I need to accept that I need to eat crap like that. Ugh.

This is not the week....

to try to quit cursing. Yesterday we went through my grandpa's tools. It would have been his 93rd birthday. Doing that wasn't so bad. We sold Kurt's car to the dealership. The plan for yesterday was for me to get my eyes checked (perfect vision tyvm). Kurt was to leave work at noon or so then we would go to the dealer and exchange the title for the check. Well, he was running late, the eye doctor took forever and they dilated my eyes. We were going to meet everyoneat the farm at 230. We got there at 3. Sometime around 1 pm Kurt's systems went to shit again. He was on a the phone the entire time we were at the farm. He was on the phone all night last night. At midnight he left for Davenport (2 hours away). He's still there. He's been up since at least 6 am yesterday. He's hoping (against hope) to be done by 2 or 3 am tonight.

After being at grandpa's, we hot-footed it to the dealer. The person that cuts the checks was gone. The plan was to go this morning at 9 am.

The puppy and I go to bed. At 5:58 this morning, I hear the bedroom door open and see what I thought was Kurt come in. I say "Hello" and get no answer. The dog sits up and starts growling. I say "who's there". The figure moves over to the closest. Francis is freaking out. I grab my cell phone and illuminate the room. Nothing. My heart is racing. I am completely awake. I calm Francis and lay back down. I see the figure again. I am completely freaked the F out! I get up and check the bathroom and main floor. The front door is unlocked, but I didn't check it before bed. Neither did Kurt since he had no bedtime routine. I get online to talk to Rikki. She's not on. I text her freaking out. She calls me to see what's going on. When I go to take Francis out, Nicky is just getting up. I tell him to turn on all the lights. I take Francis out. When I come back in I lock both doors. The next time I take him out the inside door is unlocked. That happens several more times. I know I saw someone.

I get ready to go get the check. Then I remembered I have water aerobics at 8:30 am. So I missed that. When I called this morning the dealership had no clue what I was talking about and the guy we dealt with is off today. AWESOME.

When I finally make it to the garage, I discover the monster truck has a flat. There is NO WAY I can possibly change it. Luckily we have an awesome service station in town (same people we got the washer from). They came out, put air in it, and I went to get it fixed. Turns out there's a "chunk" of steel in it. They repaired it ($16) and said to watch it for bulges.

I do manage to go and get the check this afternoon. On the plus side my class for tonite was cancelled. However, now we have two 5-1/2 hour classes to make up.

I'm doing homework and chatting with my husband tonight when the laptop goes black. Some message about utilities and F1 and F2 comes up. Nothing happens. I call Kurt. Yep, the hard drive has died. We just replaced it in the past year. UGH.

Kurt is now waiting for a tech to come help him and some big deal support guy is supposedly in his car and on his way. I bet we pay for another night's hotel of which Kurt never manages to darken the door. I am not very excited about going to bed tonight either. I locked both of the automatic garage doors, I've triple checked the locks. The pooper, the cell phone, the baseball bat and I will be locked into my bedroom tonight.

Busy week behind - Busy week ahead

Our week did not improve after my last post. Kurt had a conference call at 7 am Thursday (following his 2 am return from work the previous night). All hell was breaking loose. He got off that call at 1pm. At 1:12 he was back on - it lasted til 5:30. Phone calls from his boss and his boss's boss followed. At 6 pm he was finally able to shower and get dressed for the day.

Friday I went with my aunt while she got an IMT treatment as well as I believe quantum biofeedback. It was interesting. We got to go to Red Lobster afterward followed by a trip to Barnes and Noble. I splurged at Hy-Vee. I bought Gouda, Camembert, a not crusty enough baguette, and a bottle of Moscato d'asti. YUM!

Saturday Kurt and I puttered around the house all day. We went out for Cajun food later that evening. They were again out of the catfish. I had to have the jambalaya. The hurricane's were good and my dessert had undisclosed nuts.

Today we didn't do much at all. We played with the puppy and took a load to Goodwill. We both feel a little under the weather.

Tomorrow we are going to my grandpa's farm so Kurt and Todd can go through his tools to see what they want. We'll sell the rest. I have an eye appointment and I need to go to the bank again to see if I can find the title to the Impala. We accepted the offer the dealership made.

Tuesday I have class. Wednesday and Thursday I have doctor's appointments. Wednesday Christy gets her braces on and we don't have dog class. I don't think we have anything planned for Friday. Alex's musical is this weekend, but I don't plan on going. I think Kurt may though.

OH I'm sooooooo excited. I bought a Roomba today! It should be here in the next week.

A Helluva Week

Here's what's happened here in the past week:

1. Kurt's car died
2. I was sorta but not really offered a job because they are afraid to hire me since I'll probably leave
3. Alex threw a temper tantrum and moved out (ahead of his planned April 14th - 18th bday)
4. Nick and Christy have shitty grades due to laziness
5. It's snowed AGAIN
6. We took two truck loads of stuff to Goodwill and filled the "dumpster" giant garbage can
7. I gained weight on Lighten up Iowa (but damn those marshmallow eggs were good!)

I'm sure there are other things, but these are the "highlights".

I'm so Happy

I alphabetized the items I have under "Favorites". No more frustrating search for the right category. It's the little things my friends!

We have the worst luck

We're in Green Bay yet again. This should be that last trip for a while. The forecast is 7-12" of snow with at least an inch an hour. Don't forget about the 20-30 mph winds, too. Sunday is showing at 100% chance of snow with blizzard conditions and travel is called "hazardous, if not impossible". Nice. Kurt is working until probably 3 am tonight. Amy said I should cut my losses and start driving!

I got an email from Mom that saying that IA is predicting a 1/2" of ice under the snow. We brought the truck, but still. The guy on NBC26 just said the average snow pile in Winnebago is 20 feet high! It could be an exciting weekend.

I won 1.96 in the casino last night. Tonight the plan is to study and take practice tests. On the first section I got 52%. One needs 70% to be liscensed. If I hadn't second-guessed myself I would have had over 70%. I'm not sure what to do about that.

Happy 2nd Anniversary, Babe!

Not Again

They cancelled school yet again. The kids are going to be going well into June. They were scheduled to get out before Memorial Day. I'm not sure why it was cancelled today. It is bitterly cold at -15 windchill and 1 degree temp. Also another storm is predicted for this afternoon and evening. Only 2-3 inches of snow but high winds.

My insomnia is back evidently. I didn't get to sleep last night until almost 2 am. I've decided to try to go to sleep the minute I feel sleepy whether it's 9:15 or 6:30. It seems there's a 5 - 10 minute window where there's a chance I may get to sleep. Once that window is closed I am f***ed.

What I Accomplished Today

• Washed, dried, and sorted 3 loads of laundry
• Made dinner
• Took the dog out twelve thousand times
• Bought school and study supplies (new class starts next Tuesday)
• Began cleaning/organizing the scrapbook table
• Made the bed (that usually happens just before sleeping)
• Got bread, milk, and juice
• Studied for 4 HOURS!
• Went through the mail
• balanced my checking account
• Chatted with Rikki
• Took a load to Goodwill (There was just a commercial begging for goods ~ I'm doing my best!)
• Went to Water Aerobics
• Dealt with my husband's dry cleaning
• Bought Valentine's, anniversary, and birthday cards
• Mailed out a resume

Packing on the Pounds

Kurt and I have both gained weight since the Friday morning weigh in. We ate out WAY too much plus went to the birthday party. Plus I'm sick. When I'm sick all I do is eat.

Iowa weather continues to blow. I see on the news that everything north and east of us is closed while schools to the south are either 2 hours late or closed. It's thundering now and raining. There's also occasional snow and sleet. I also hear freezing rain is a possability.

I had crazy dreams last night including one where I was one of Hef's girlfriends. We weren't getting along though so nothing naughty happened (thank goodness!). I like old guys but 81 is a little much. I remember feeling a sense of dread that since I wasn't putting out I was going to get kicked out of the mansion. THEN what would I do??

Saturdays have such Promise

I've spent the morning/early afternoon cleaning. Our vacuum is back from the repair shop. It got a tune-up and a new HEPA filter. It's working so well it about sucked the pattern off the carpet!

Tonight is a 60th Birthday part for my Aunt Merry. It's at a restaurant here in town. I told Kurt "crap" because now we'll have to buy food rather than have it provided like when it was at the house. He, however, pointed out than now we can order drinks! He's a smart one :)

I've pretty much lost my momentum, but scrubbing around the toilet base will do that to a person. Eeeewwwww.

I've had a Rough Day

I've had a rough day.

My mom, aunt, and I sorted out my grandpa's clothes. Some of them went to Goodwill, some of them went in the garbage, and some of them were kept. It was difficult. My mom and I got in a fight. Typical of our relationship.

I have killer cramps and I'm freezing cold.

I did laundry all the live long day.

My step children do not listen to me. However, that one has been resolved for the moment.

I've had it with lazy, inconsiderate, rotten, dipshits.

I've taken to my bed. Kurt can deal with it. He's the only thing about today that isn't awful.

Time waits for No one

My grandpa passed away tonight. I was on my way to see him when the nurse called and said she thought the end was near. I asked if my mom and my aunt were there. She said she would check with the nurse in the room and call me right back. She called back with in 2 or 3 minutes. She said my mom was not there and "I'm pretty sure he's gone." I was 8 minutes away. I wanted to be there with him. When I left this morning I didn't think that would be the last time I would see him. I was going to be there tonight to try and get him to eat supper. My aunt was with him and so was a nurse I liked. I'm glad he wasn't alone. I'm glad he isn't in anymore pain. I'm glad he didn't linger on. I just wish he could have waited another 10 minutes.