Amazing

how one phone call....no, make that 3 phone calls....can put one in a foul mood.

AGAIN I am washing my hands of the entire mess.

Tucson Wrap Up

We made it back late Monday night after a 13 hour drive from Dodge City, KS. The best part of it was getting up in the morning and getting to say "Let's get the F**k outta Dodge".

I HAVE HAVE HAVE to study. My test is April 7. Not much more til after that.

Why bother?

We went to Decorah for the weekend. We were making it a combo anniversary/v-day thing. There isn't as much to do in Decorah as I thought so we got done shopping etc early and our dinner reservation wasn't until 7 pm.

We decided to go out to a new little restaurant called la dolce vita. It was a veer to the left death ride out there but it was very pretty. Despite it's loveliness we only had a drink and the spring rolls which to my dismay were cold.

We headed back into town and decided to see if we could eat early. It was a no-go. The hostess even told us it would be better if we could come later than our reservation. We drove back downtown in search of more appetizers and had no luck. We did have another drink at a very loud college bar. I believe I am officially old!

We got back out to the restaurant and didn't get seated til probably 730. Our crab cake (tasty but overly fried) arrived in a timely manner as did our soups and salad. At 8:10 we began to wonder where the F*** our food was. People that had come in after us were getting seated and getting their food! We finally got our waitress attention and she told us it would be 2 min. We pressed her a little, she pointed to the kitchen and said "that's how they do it". Then told us it would be free. We finally got our food at 8:55. My prime rib was terrible and tasteless and you could hear my baked potato when I cut it. Kurt said his was pretty good but we were both exhausted by 9. We couldn't get our waitress's attention again so we left what little cash we had for a tip and walked out.

We got back to the hotel and it was freezing. Did I mention our table was directly in front of the door to the outside? Kurt had his coat on the entire time. I ended up with my swishy pants on huddled under the covers. We were lights out by 9:45!

Today, we went to the Vesterhiem Museum. I haven't been there since I was a kid. It's 4 floors of the Norwegian American story. It was pretty interesting. There were some really cool chairs there that are carved out of a single log. Of hand I can't remember what they're called but now I want one! There was also lots of pretty silver jewelery. Silver is a huge part of the regional costumes of Norway.

Overall it was nice to be together with no kids and no dog, but it wasn't exactly the weekend romp I had in mind!

Octuplet F**k Up

Ok I'm officially annoyed. I know this isn't news to anyone but here's what's set me off today:



It's that Nadya Suleman - The mother of 14 via IVF. She's on the Today Show with Ann Curry. 1st she looks like Angelina Jolie - so I guess we know who'll be playing her in the movie. 2nd - one of her reasons for having her children is she had a lonely and dysfunctional childhood. SHE LIVES WITH HER PARENTS!!! Weren't they part of her dysfunctional childhood? Ergo.....

How is she going to feed them? How is she going to clothe them? Maybe TLC will step in and help.

IVF can be up to $20k a cycle. She's had at least 6 rounds - she's unemployed. Who's paying for this? Me? The taxpayers? If I'm spending $ on IVF it damn well better result in ME having a newborn! Ugh!

Beware of Barnes and Noble

This summer they changed their return policy. An original receipt is only good for 14 days and then only on certain items. A GIFT receipt is good for 60 days. So ALWAYS get a gift receipt. An original receipt is NOT AS GOOD AS A GIFT RECEIPT. They have an extensive 2 part policy on the back of their receipts which excludes items such as:

• puzzle stow and go ( the reason for this warning)
• book ends
• coffee cups
• stationery
• book ends
• etc, etc, etc

Sunday, I was LIVID. The MOD was very rude and defensive. I, unfortunately, did not get her name. Kurt and I are no longer going to patronize them. Which may not seem like a big deal to those of you who do not live in the sticks, but for us it is. There isn't another bookstore anywhere nearby. There are 2 independent books stores that I know of within 90 miles. There is BDalton but it is owned by B&N.

I called and spoke to a different manager today. After a great while and much explaining and complaining she has agreed to give us an in-store credit. So we will patronize them once more. Then it is over. We're card carrying discount members, too. We spent a significant (to us) amount of money with them. I'm sure they won't feel our loss much but we are done.

OMG I did it!

I applied to take my nursing home administrator's licensing exam.

I'm going to go throw up now.

And so it begins.....

School let out an hour early today due to impending weather. Ugh. I hope they have school tomorrow.

Suspected

I'm talking to Rikki about something a while ago and say, "I think I have ADD" in an offhand, joking manner and she replies, "I've thought that for a while." WHAT?? I tell Kurt about it and he says the same thing.

My lack of concentration, how quickly I lose interest in a subject, book, task, conversation. The way my mind races from one topic to another keeping me up at night. I took an online test. I scored very high on the "you should really get that checked out" scale.

Now, I'm trying to decide what to do. I've always said I could be amazing if I ever put my mind to it. Who should I see? A GP? A shrink?

I've already lost interest in it. I got bored reading about it.

So. I have spent the ENTIRE morning scrubbing the kitchen floor Cinderella style on my hands and knees. Gross! I'm shocked the health department n'tcome in here and condemned it. At one point I had to leave and go get more pinesol and another scrubber. I still need to do the bathroom floor, but it's going to have to wait til tomorrow or the next day.

Monday I vacuumed the entire main floor. Why is it that my favorite kind of dog is a hairy one?

I'm working on a cover letter/job application/salary requirement letter for a job with the Alzheimer's Association. I think I would really enjoy it. Kurt and Rikki have been helping me word it just right. I plan on sending it out tonight.

Blah

Not much is happening here. I've been feeling kind of blah.

Francis is still chewing on his feet. I got him more and different medicine today.

The weather has been sucky. Today is nice though, but I'm sore from my chiro appointment so I don't think gardening is a good idea.

I got a postcard from Estonia today and one from Latvia yesterday.

We liberated a bunch of rubbermaids over the weekend. We are now down to only 80 full ones.

Kurt cleaned out the garage.

Sherry liked her gift.

I've been doing laundry.

Blah. Is bah humbug appropriate this time of year?

Please Please Please....We have to win!

This scares the HELL out of me:

Mr. Morton, a retired crane operator, was worried that his party had been inching to the left – and that even if conservatives would still vote for McCain, they would not volunteer for him. But no more.

“I’m a leader in my township, and we now have boots on the ground we didn’t have before,” says Morton. “All the gals, right-to-life, home-schoolers, were going to vote for McCain, but they weren’t going to work for him. Now they’re going to work for him.”

Now, I don't normally read the Christian Monitor, but it was the link via Google News.

I thought she gave a much better speech than Rudy. Watching the Republican convention ties my stomach in knots.

If the Democrats can't win this election we may never be able to win one.

***Rikki and Amy were in the Twin Cities last night at the Rage Against the Machine concert. They band has a big sign saying "F**** U RNC". The said the feeling in the Cities was one of tension.

What I couldn't Be

Well I definitely couldn't be a military wife. I HATE Kurt being gone (and it's been less than a week)(and I went and saw him yesterday). I couldn't be a wife whose husband traveled all the time either. I can't imagine how couples can stand - or survive - such arrangements.



The kids are driving me crazy. The dog is driving me crazy. Having limited contact with Kurt is driving me crazy. I realize that the floods are not his fault, but that does not mean that I am understanding.



Saturday is my grandpa's estate auction. We're selling a bunch of stuff at it, too. All the s**t needs to be hauled out of the basement and pulled down out of the garage. In addition we have to load up all the boxes at my gpa's and then of course, unload them again at the auction site. UGH.



Kurt's been working 15 & 16 hour days. I should be glad that this husband works.


*** BTW it's the second anniversary of our church wedding. We celebrated by im-ming. And don't forget bickering. I miss him. (and it's not just because I'm trapped with the children)

****
Jon Stewart just said "I've been to Iowa. They are nice bleeping people." It's true. We are. We are very very soggy at the moment. When I went to Davenport yesterday I went through CR and Iowa City. Water was EVERYWHERE and it had gone down. I came home via US 61 and Dubuque ~ there was water EVERYWHERE there, too. The stench coming out of the park is horrendous. Mud, muck, dead fish. It's awesome.

Bush is coming tomorrow. woo hoo.

Father's Day Feast

We had a good brunch with way too much food of course. I made Sangria, dark chocolate dipped strawberries, quiche lorraine, grilled lemon pepper shrimp skewars, and oven baked french toast (that stuff is gooood). Mom brought ham balls and cherry/rhubarb pie. The aunt and Maria brought an cornbread/egg casserole, a chocolate ganache covered cake, a fruit mix of blueberries, black berries, and strawberries as well as a meat and cheese tray with crackers.

Kurt got home at 9:40 am and left at 12:20 pm. I just made him a hotel reservation thru Friday. His boss has decreed that the entire team needs to go to DAV, work 12 hours on/12 hours off and no one leaves until it's done. Their company alone is losing millions in lost revenue.

I'm so thankful we don't live in Cedar Rapids (or anywhere else tragically affected) and no one we know is underwater.

So it's the kids and me for the entire week. Feel free to send valium my way.