Our room - the Stripe room 

Our Wedding B & B  

Aaaargh!

I hate math. I'm not too excited about my job either.

I'm prejudiced

Turns out I'm prejudiced. I didn't think I was racist, but it always turns out there are certain people I don't like dealing with. I was discussing it with Rikki. She said "You're not racist, but you might be prejudiced." I replied, "Against whom? The stupid people?" Then the little light came on. That's exactly who it is! I can't stand the stupid people!

Garden of Eden

My garden is nothing like that. However it's getting there. My great aunt Betty inherited a huge perennial garden when they moved to their new house. She and John are in their upper 80's and don't want to to deal with it. They are giving it away to whomever will come dig it up. I got a trunk full! I don't even know what some of it is. I got a couple of different ground covers, some purple stuff, sunflower/daisy stuff in dark reds and yellow, what i think is coreopsis, yellow siberian iris, day lillies, and hostas. It took 4.5 hours but I got it all in the ground. If we weren't going to MN tonite, I'd go and get more. It will have to wait until the weekend though.

I got my front flower bed and the bed by the house free of grass. I should mulch it now, but I ran out of energy.

We're supposed to close on our house today. Everything is f***ed up though. The landlord is a jerk, the realtor is an idiot/jerk, and Kurt's at work. Now there is some handyman here to take out the upstairs cupboards and sink. I'm filthy from the gardening, but I'm uncomfortable taking a shower with him in the house. All the banging upstairs is making Lewis crazy. It's a great day.

A walk down the aisle

We had a wonderful wedding and honeymoon. It was laid back and relaxed. The food was good, the friends were good, the cake was good. It was good all around. I don't have any pictures to post, but I'm sure I will eventually.

We've just been too busy trying to catch up from being gone to do anything.

28 days

28 days left til my center closes. Do I hear an "Amen"? I had to write up one of my friends today. It was lovely. Another teamlead had to sit in and was unsupportive. The rep thinks it's funny and the other TL thinks it's dumb. I swear I have no idea why people are so stupid and lack integrity. It irritates me to no end.

Our Mother is SO proud!

My mom has two very talented daughters.

Thursday Marn called to tell me she was locked out of her house.

Moments later, as i heard the kitchen door thunk shut, I realized my keys were on the counter and I, too, was locked out.

Yet, Mom tells the people she meets how smart and wonderful we are!

Ah, nothing beats a mother's love.

In Love

I am IN LOVE with bullet points on the computer! They make TO DO lists so much better! Kurt and I have a ton of things to do before I leave for DSM this afternoon! See you all tomorrow. Again, since I forgot...

• Wedding @ 6:00 pm

with......

• Heather Family pictures @ 4:30
• Kurt Family pictures @ 5:00

A week from today

The wedding is a week from today.

I'm a little stressed.

I just drank half a bottle of wine, took my math test and did one chapter of homework.

Kurt is C R A B B Y!!

We've been watching CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM on netflix. Love 'em both.

We've got a way busy week ahead of us.

It appears I'm having a bachelorette party saturday night since I'm staying in DSM that night. The Wonder Twin will be there and so will Rikki and her girlfriend. So if you want to go out call me! I DETEST that bachelorette BS stuff though so don't even think about it. I WILL leave!

*%*#*&%#%#%#

Number of Meltdowns in two days of Beginning Algerbra class...........

TWO!!!

To Do List

• Get a new lawyer
• Call the lady at the chapel
• Make vet appt for Lewis
• Make hair appt for me
• Start Pre Algerbra class
• Return black flats
• Plant Rikki's rose bush
• Plant the jalapeno, verbena, tomato and moss roses
• Buy cilantro to plant
• Call Caterer with final numbers
• Do more laundry
• Track down funky smell in bathroom
• Plant seed packets
• Balance check book
• Clean out fridge

Again with the Insomnia

Kurt has it too though. I'd much rather be asleep. Wedding details are starting to keep my up. I have a lot I haven't done. It's all little stuff, but it's stuff that matters.

We went to the Memorial Day service at the park. It was very nice. I'm not sure I've been to one before. The band played, flowers were laid, and a wreath floated in the river.

From there we went an laid pink carnations on family graves. Kurt's family plots are too far away for impromptu planning to work so we toured NE Iowa hitting (and missing) mine.

We ended up having a picnic at backbone featuring Wonder Roast chicken, potato and macaroni salads, and molasses cookies. We must have looked like savages tearing into the chicken. It was OMG delicious!

Happy Birthday to my Wonderful Husband!

Yesterday was Kurt's birthday. It was also his first day of unemployment. (He starts the new job on Monday). I had to work so he was going to spend the day watching Sci-Fi. Sunday we are having his family party since I have the day off.

Thursday night was his going away party from RSM. I went down for it. We had a fantastically fun time and then went to Texas Roadhouse. Delish! Neither of us slept well when we got home. We were both up around 4:15 am so I asked if he wanted to open his birthday presents. He did. He liked them. I got him Freakonomics by Stephen Levy and the 2006 Commerative Stamp Collection book.

I went to work. He came up and got me for supper and then we went to the DaVinci Code. I thought it was fun and thrilling in spots. The theater has been redone. The seats are AWFUL. They are like those video recliners you see in the stores. We were so very uncomfortable.

Happy birthday honey bunny. I love you.

The end is near

We bought a scientific calculator for me so I can do my Beginning Algerbra class. It starts next week. The calculator has lots of buttons, symbols I've never seen, and a cover. It's scary. I wanted to put it in the freezer.

Grades

Three classes. Three grades. A B C. My GPA is 3.19 overall. Not fantastic but not terrible either.

Too much going on

I am too busy and distracted and I'm missing the details of life.
Two things:

1) If you got a wedding invitation the ceremony is at 6 o'clock in the evening.

2) If you got a picnic invite it's being held in Independence.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Cedar Rock 

Alex and Christy on Cedar Rock 

Nick and the Pikman 

Tickled Pink 

Spring Time  

A Passing

Sunday night brought at phone call from my dad. That's pretty unusual as he is anti-phone. I had an "Oh No" moment when I saw his name on the caller id. Turns out my Aunt Doris had passed away sometime between Friday and Sunday. It appears to have been a heart attack. I feel immense sympathy for my 4 cousins who are my age and older. Their dad passed when we were very young. Now their mom is gone. I feel bad that they have no parents.

I'm not close with her. However, she was a permanent fixture of my childhood. My cousins Jean and Wade are the same age as me. The three of us would ride bikes back and forth between our farms. They lived just around the square from us. We'd have week long monopoly games and Aunt Doris would give us cookies and kool aid. We'd camp out in the living rooms and fall asleep to the sounds of her distinctive laughter as she and my Aunt Merry did cross word puzzles and smoked cigarettes. Aunt Doris loved game shows and would have them on TV always. It felt wild and forbidden because my mom didn't believe in day time TV. She had an old green car with vinyl seats and no A/C that we'd all pile into for swimming lessons or when she'd pick us up from practice. If we went somewhere and Jean and I lost track of her, we'd just wait for the cackle and we'd be able to find her right away. She collected red glassware from Avon. She was my Aunt Doris.

The funeral is Thursday.

Crash

Kurt and I watched CRASH last night. I really thought it was good. Everything tied together a little too nicely, but I liked it overall. Kurt was saying how it wasn't really entertaining. I said most Oscar winning movies aren't usually entertaining. It was thought provoking though. I've thought about it several times today. The opening lines of the movie really struck a cord with me.

Tuesday night we went to my book club. I've missed not being able to go. I'm going to arrange work so that I can go from now on. The club started out with a bunch of ladies from church starting at my mom's age (60's) and going up to the middle 80's. Overall it's a pretty conservative bunch. Also a pretty Danielle Steele bunch with a few exceptions. Book club has always been more about the snacks than the books. One of the main problems with it is no one reads the books! I haven't been able to attend for a couple of years. Mom left for Europe that morning so I figured I should go so there would be one more persin that had read the book. This month's selection was Big Thaw by Donald Harstad.

Donald is a former deputy sheriff from Clayton County, Iowa. I lived in Clayton county for 7 years. His first novel 11 Days is a thinly disguised story about life in the county. When I read it several places and people were easily identifiable. It's pretty hard not to work in a convenience store that sells guns and not know the criminal element! The author was at book club and told many great stories about being a deputy and how the publishing industry works. Both aspects of his life were very interesting. Kurt now wants to read the novels, but I can't find them. They must be in one of our overstuffed rubbermaids in the basement. Next month we're reading a book from a series about a town called Mitford. I'm supposed to be studying for finals so I haven't picked it up yet.

Oh yes! The snacks were awesome! There was pre cheesed crackers, fresh asparagus roll ups, mini reuben toasts, cookies, crackers and dip.

Anticipation

Tomorrow is my day off! I am so very excited about it. It's supposed to be 80 degrees and sunny. I might take the pupper for a walk along the River. We both need the exercise. I made big list of to do items today during class. The teacher is awful. She's retyped the textbook onto note cards and lectures from there. She says "one might say" and "quote" constantly. She'd said "quote" 9 times in the first 10 minutes of class. She had a new word of the day today. It was "provocative". She used it 7 times (I didn't start counting until she'd uttered it at least 3x)(plus I bolted at 3:30 - I wasn't even there for the last 45 minutes). She told me the paper I wrote was ...."Provocative." We had to interview a resident of who lived in age segregated housing. It started out:

"Sunlight streams in the lace curtained east facing window. A white haired woman in a pink quilted house coat looks out at the birds feeding on seed scattered on the ground in front of the Redwood gazebo. She spends her mornings in front of this window enjoying the view. She is Zelma Crowden".

Of course I put it off so I had to make the entire thing up at the last minute. Got an A on it. The teacher said it was "visceral" and "I can see Zelma clearly." Egads. Fake it til you make it. That's what I learned in photography school. Looks like that is a life lesson that carries over.

Kurt is exhausted. He was too tired to do Astronomy homework tonite. We took the quiz over Mars, Mercury, and Venus. I read the material and he did not. I told him I thought we could manage because there was NO MATH in this week's lesson. We can take the quiz 2x anyway. So if we did badly the first round he could read it before we went again. 1o/10 baby! Perfect score first time in under 6 minutes!

The Tally

In case anyone was wondering...In 9 days it was 19 loads of laundry and 15 diswashers full.

Sunday night blahs

• I wish I had a job that I didn't have to work at night or on the weekend.
• I wish I didn't have this awful cold/whatever and I could cough without peeing and talk with out croaking
• I wish it didn't cost so much to go to the theatre. Mom, Marn, and I went to the LION KING on Friday night. The costumes/staging was spectacular! The music...not so much. There are so many cool shows I'd like to see but it's not like I have the time or money to go to Chicago/Minneapolis/New York to see them.
• I wish I were nicer to my husband.
• I wish I wouldn't let people's offhand comments/tones/inflections get to me.
• I wish my brave little tulips would continue to brave the unpredictable Iowa weather & the rat-fink squirrel and bloom already!
• I wish we'd hurry up and buy the house so I could rip the hideous, peeling wall paper out of our bedroom.
• I wish it were the weekend already.

Busy Busy

We've had a pretty decent weekend. Saturday, while Alex was at his girlfriend's band solo contest, Kurt, Nicky, Christy, and I went to Spillville to the Bily Clocks www.bilyclocks.org. It's a museum I'd gone to as a kid. My family was always big on educational day trips. It was cooler than I remember. Dvorak spent a summer there so the upstairs has an exhibit about him that I didn't recall. The museum has various collections of stuff like Indian artifacts, rocks, and other clocks. We got in for a family rate and got a guided tour!

As long as we were in the area we drove down to see Ft Atkinson. It was a fort helping to protect the Indians from 1840-1849. It was a bit chilly but the kids got to run around for a while.

The next stop was the world's smallest church in Festina. St. Anthony of Padua was built in gratitude after a mother's son returned from the Napoleonic Wars unharmed. The brochure said the son was the only veteran of those wars in Iowa. (I found that hilarious).

Our next stop was to a Fish Fry. It was worth the wait! They had that yummy sweet colesaw with poppyseeds. I love that stuff! However, I think fish frys are going to be an activity we pursue once we are childless.

Sunday, Christy and I went to the Taste of Grace Tea at my home church. Mom had invited us. She emceed and did a great job. The had 50 different sweets and savories for us to load up on our snack trays. The accordion Club of Iowa was part of the entertainment. They were pretty good, but 2 hours of on and off accordion music is more than enough. While we were there the boys had some male bonding time. They did archery in the side yard and some yard clean up.

We got everyone to and from their first day of school with us. Nick has a 50 pt project due on Wednesday. He wasn't going to do it because he didn't have any money for tagboard. GRRR. Kurt and I have been working with him on that.

In order to amuse myself I'm keeping track of the number of loads of laundry and dishes during our week with the kids. It's for 9 days. Any guesses??

Heading out to Mother - Daughter Tea 

The Spread 

The goofballs at the Bily Clocks museum 

Christy opens the cannon window at Ft Atkinson 

They arrive!

My week as a full time soccer mom has begun. I ran some laundry, stuck supper in the oven, did some dishes, and went to get #2 at soccer practice. Kurt arrived at 6:30 with kids #3 and #4. #1 stayed at the farm saying he'd come over "if we did something special". You all can guess how I reacted to that :)

I'm out of the dreaded 'pac until Monday, April 3rd. Today was supposed to be my official date of separation. I got to work, fired up my computer, and saw I had a calendar reminder that said, "Last Day at Work - 59 minutes overdue". So sad. I wanted to try and keep it up so it could continue to tally for me until our next mythical close date in August. It didn't work though.

I have big plans for my vacation next week. I want to order wedding pictures, finish wedding preparations, work on the kids' scrapbooks, figure out some curtains for the living room, and sell my grandpa's truck. I'd also like to make it through some more boxes. Maybe part of my plan should be to be a such a fantastic wifey-poo and evil step mother that Kurt sees the light and says, "screw the severance! Go ahead and quit!"

Irritation

Kurt and I have reached the point in our marriage where we irritate each other. JOY! It mostly has do to with my sister giving the entire family the plague last week which made our vacation less than relaxing. (I never knew one man could hold so much gas)("hold" might be the wrong word). Therefore, Chicago was fun but not f**king fantastic fun like I had hoped. We did have an AWESOME room at The Seneca. It was 1 block from the Hancock Tower and 2 blocks from Water Tower place. Despite the ick, Kurt, Amy, Rikki, and I had a good time. We had tapas at www.CafeIberico.com, we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Museum of Science and Industry. We also hit the Cheesecake factory, and Second City. Oh yeah and World Bazaar and the Container store.

Now back to the irritating. The children are irritating, my job (which will NEVER end) is irritating, and spring break being over is irritating. Also, one of the stones fell out of my wedding band. The REALLY irritated me. I was mostly over being a crabby crabberson by Sunday. I'm trying to remain in a quasi good mood this week.

Next week we have the kids full time. I can't begin to fathom how much food and laundry that's going to entail. We pick them up Friday night and don't take them back a week from the following Sunday. Pray for me.

This and That

I've been in a scrapbooking mode lately. I've gotten quite a few pages done as well as finished our vacation album. I was planning on getting all the kids' baby books done while I was Unemployed. So much for that idea.

I downloaded a bunch of free fonts which is cool because I have such terrible handwriting. I'd love to have 12 x 12 printer, but we looked and they are terribly expensive.

My sister tells me Target has scrapbooking paper and embellishments on clearance. Of course, yesterday was the first day in months I haven't checked my email at work!

Thursday I went to CR with Kurt. I dropped him at the office then went in search of business casual pants since we're back to dress code. I power shopped and got 3 pair. It was $80 worth of clothing for $42! Gotta love sales and coupons. However, I was done shopping by 2:30 and not due to pick him up until 5. I checked out the phone book and decided to head to coralville to the Reminisce scrapbook store. It advertises itself as Iowa's biggest and best. I don't think it was either, but it was pretty nice. They had a lot of stuff I hadn't seen before. Apparently they have their own paper line and they are VIP vendors for other stuff. They were all a twitter because some scrapbooking celebrity was coming in that night. Thankfully, I'm not so far gone that I know who those people are!

Nicky and I have a lot of homework so I better get us started!

Annoyed!

I found out today that my center is staying open until AUGUST 25TH! I'm completely annoyed! I hate that they expect us to bend to their every whim with no warning whatsoever. "We're closing March 10" "No, wait make that March 29th" "NO wait, August 25th" "What you've planned a vacation, doctors appointments, and committee meetings? That's too bad. OH, and NO we don't know what your schedule will be".

I've had a lot of tenured employees with vacation leave because they were told they would be jobless. They are now in jobs where they don't have benefits.

I guess on many levels me still having a job is good. It's too late for me too pick up more school hours this semester, it will be better for us when when fill out loan applications, and it may help our custody case. BUT it's still annoying.

It's A Feast!

Sometimes I make great meals. Today was evidently one of them. As I set everything on the table, Christy proclaimed, "It's a feast! We've got turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and corn!" The turkey was on sale for .69 a pound. A family of 6 can't resist a deal like that! I've had it for a while, but this was the first week I remembered to get it out to thaw so we could have it for the weekend.

Kurt and I are both sick-ish. We've got hot and cold flashes, stuffy heads, and alternate stuffy and runny noses along with a horrible come and go headache. It's been since Wednesday night. I hope it ends soon.

On an awesome note, this was the last weekend I have to work. My program is going M-F from 8 am to 9pm this next week. Plus I took days off so I only work M W and F this week!

Kurt has to go to MO for work the first week in March. I'm not excited about it in the least. Plus since we have Parent Teacher conferences he'll have to go, come back, and the go again.

I got our vacation scrapbook done. It's 26 pages in 8.5 x 8.5 size. I'm really impressed with a couple of the pages. I should be a scrapbooking Diva and scan in some of the pages. Now I'm working on one of Ryan as well as miscellaneous pictures I have lying around.

A Feast!

The Kiss 

The Wedding Party 

Mr and Mrs 

The Wedding Feast 

White Roses 

The Exchange of Rings 

Still Waiting

I haven't gotten any wedding pictures from the Wonder Twin yet. He didn't have a cd to burn them to last night so when I went to get them today the mailbox was empty :-(

Why is it that right after I move or change my name I get free address labels in the mail? I had some arrive from the March of Dimes the day after the ceremony. UGH. It's hard to get something for nothing these days!

More Changes

As of 1 o'clock February the 8th, I became a Mrs! Kurt and I got married in our civil ceremony (in our living room). Rikki, Amy, and Brian were in attendance along with the magistrate and the dog. It was short and sweet. We are still having our Wedding in June in front of friends and family. This earlier ceremony came about so I can continue to be insured after my job ends.

The five of us went and celebrated at Biaggis. Kurt and I spent the night in the Roman Suite at www.super8ofurbana.com. It was VERY nice ( i was shocked)(plus we got a great deal since it was in the middle of the week).

Hopefully I will have pictures soon. It was a wonderful day. So far it's been a very successful marriage :)

OH and we sold the other house too!

In front of the Paddle Wheel 

Erosion exhibit at the American River Museum 

The Main Altar at the Basilica in Dyersville 

The Home Stretch

Tonite and Sunday are the last two nights that I will have to work until midnite. Starting on Monday, my program at work will start closing at 10pm. Thank goodness! Kurt and I need the sleep. Our schedules do not jive at all with me not getting home until 12:45 or 1 am.

Work has begun to have state services coming in to help us "dislocated workers". I have a feeling as we get closer to the closing date the staffing around here is going to be pretty pathetic.

I was a bad girl and skipped both my classes this week. I was just too exhausted to go.

Tomorrow is our pretrial hearing for the custody case. It's also the day that the mediation and trial dates will be set. Pray for an open date soon. Unfortunately it will probably be sometime this summer. Let's hope "good things come to those who wait" is true.

It's a struggle

Every weekend it's a struggle to get the kids to do their homework, brush their hair and teeth, take a shower and put on clean clothes. It's ridiculous.

Today we are going to go to Dubuque to watch the Bald Eagles. Christy loves eagles and the weather looks to be decent. Also, we are Fred-less so it's much better for a long car ride. 5 in the car is oh so much better than 6!

I've been up since 5:30 and am thoroughly irritated about it. I need a nap already. I made bacon and eggs on the huge electric griddle we got for Christmas. It worked out awesome + it's fully immersible for clean up!

Christy getting ready for her party 

My honey bunny wishing he were the one asleep! 

My adorable nephew Ryan 

Free at Last, Free at Last!

My center is closing March 10th - 60 days (well 59 now) and I will be unemployed. Bring on the severance baby!

Merry Christmas

We want to wish each and everyone of you a Very Merry Christmas. We hope you were able to spend the day with your loved ones. We also hope, that unlike us, you didn't eat yourselves silly.

Kurt and I are both beyond full. He is at home and I am at work. I had to work 6 pm to Midnite tonight. The boredom is the worst part of it. I've been here two hours and i believe there have been 3 calls in that time. Woooo Hooooo. I've already done all my work, cleaned out my desk, and organized my overhead. I should have brought a book to read or something.

We had a very enjoyable holiday. The kids were pretty happy with their gifts.....at least Nick and Christy were. Fred and Alex seemed disappointed....even though they got what they requested (the reasonable, non-ipod items anyway). We had our Christmas duck on Marcile's china along with her red goblets and Santa nut cups.

The six of us went to my parents for the traditional Christmas Eve with oyster stew. Kurt found a pearl in his oyster. My parents, my grandpa, my sister, my brother-in-law and my sweet little nephew were all there. I spent a lot of time holding and changing the baby. I noticed Kurt never held him. We talked about it today and he said he was afraid if he did he would want another. (Need to get that kid in his arms!)

We had to have the kids back to the PP by 10 so it was an early night. It gets harder and harder to leave them there. Hopefully we won't have to soon. It was back to my parents today for Christmas breakfast and lunch. It was very mellow involving much sleeping and looking at the baby. Not too exciting.

Tomorrow we're heading up to Rochester to get together with Kurt's family. It should be fun. We haven't been to his brother's house before.

Woooo Hoooooo!!!

Got my grades!
2 - A's and a B-!!

3.56 GPA for the semester.....3.22 overall.

Whew!

Christmas Robbers?

Last night was Christy's Christmas program. She told us last weekend that she was an elf and that other kids were Santa, cops, robbers, and a mayor. It was a hoot! The kindergarten thru 4th graders sang during the first part. Then the 5th graders put on a short play while the 4th and 5th graders acted as a chorus. The premise was that the robbers stole the key to Christmas. Christy looked scared to death. I'm sure the bright red spots on her elf cheeks made her look all the paler. She had 3 or 4 times that she spoke multiple lines. We are so amazed and proud. Being on stage in front of hundreds of people...Astounding progress for our backward, unsocialized former "home school" kid. She had a pointy green hat and pointy green shoes. Her elf smock had jingle bells on the ends. I had forgotten my camera. I still don't have the hang of this mom thing.

I got my birthday $ from my aunt so I bought the Garth Brooks cd set. It's not what i thought it would be but it's still pretty good. She also sent $ to get the dog groomed. Thank goodness. He's a little stink pot!

Fred is here today. He's gonna apply for jobs. Do I hear an "amen?"

In the Mood

...to bake cookies that is! I've got the lights lit, the Christmas carols going and the butter softening as the snow comes down outside. I wrapped a couple of presents this morning while I watched the View. I love days off!

Kurt is in New Jersey. I hate it when he is gone. Magoo is moping around too. Kurt said it's supposed to snow out there tomorrow. He comes home Saturday morning. I hope he doesn't get delayed.

I think a nap may be necessary while my dough chills.

Big Blue in the Snowstorm 

Wrap up and Review

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes! I had a pretty decent day. It was my day off (what could be better than that!). I got some money from my Grandpa so Kurt and I went to pizza hut for lunch and then uptown for some pie. I came home, had a nap, and did some homework. I've had more exciting birthdays, but this one was pretty relaxing and relatively stress free. The best present EVER would be if our damn house would sell!!

I found the crock pot, the serving and mixing bowls, and the missing corning ware. They were in the bottom of the cupboard at the other house. I SWEAR I've looked there a dozen times. Kurt was convinced we'd been robbed. I couldn't see, how out of all that CRAP and 100's of boxes in the garage, a robber would have been able to single out the things i use on a daily basis.

Kurt has a huge project due tomorrow night. He didn't get home til 2 am last night (I only beat him by 15 min). Driving home in the dark and blowing snow was a special bonus. Yet another thing I for which I can thank APAC. He'll be even later tomorrow night.

Last week I took everyone to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was good! Christy thought it was a little scary, Alex was disappointed things had been left out and minimized, but everyone was glad to go. Plus it was free popcorn night!

The house is starting to shape up. The end of the tunnel is getting near for school. I may make it to the end of the year!

Uh Oh

My fortune cookie said "you will soon change your present line of work".

NOT good when there is great and realistic fear that my center will close and my job will disappear by the beginning of the year!

I wish:

• the dang house would sell
• we had the kids full time
• i were done with college
• i had a diet Pepsi right now
• Kurt and I could spend 24 uninterrupted hours together (preferably in a hotel with a king size bed, a hot tub, and room service)
• I knew if was going to have a job after dec 31
• we could find my crockpot, serving bowls, and the other box of food
• i worked regular hours so i wouldn't have to keep vampire hours
• i were asleep

It never ends

The continuous cycle of dishes, meals, and laundry that is. I'm supposed to be writing my paper, but all of these other things keep getting in the way. I did get all of my other homework done as well as getting my introduction written. Plus I have all of tomorrow as well as most of Tuesday to get it done.

We got a lot of work out of Alex this afternoon. Two girls stopped by and he kept raking the entire time (trying to impress them I guess). It's been pretty laid back around here. It's been nice to have days off from work. It would get pretty each to get used to that's for sure!

Stressing!

Stress, stress and more stress....that's the only thing we have a lot of around here!

I have a paper to write, I have 5 articles to review, and I have a take home test to do.

Work still exists, but who knows for how much longer.

We have a parenting class to take.

We need to find a recipe that calls for lots of tomato paste because that is our main food supply right now.

The Old Mill - Only 2 blocks away 

Happy Halloween

Just another exciting day here in paradise. I had chiro, school,work, school and work. I love Mondays sooo much.

Kurt took Nick and Christy trick or treating. I had the camera so no pictures I'm afraid. Nick was a duct tape Knight with sword and Christy was a Ninja. Kurt wore my Frankenstein head band/hat thing so he got some candy too!

I still haven't' taken a picture of the house, but I do have one of the Mill that's only a few blocks away...We have a slight view of the River from here.

Wednesday Kurt and I are going to Des Moines to see my nephew, Ryan and go to the Bon Jovi concert. I'm very excited. I don't think I've seen Bon Jovi since 1989!

Charging up the Batteries

I'm charging up the batteries for the camera because by this time tomorrow I should be an Aunt! My sister and Todd left for the hospital tonite and she is being induced tomorrow morning! I am incredibly excited to see the baby. I've been guessing and guessing and guessing what his name will be but so far I haven't hit on it. I'm taking Friday off to go see them (and to get away from my crappy job). I have a test Friday morning then I'm heading to DSM after that.

This place continues to be a disaster, but it is home. I told Kurt that I don't miss the old house and I'm perfectly comfortable here. Home is where he is...other than that it doesn't matter. However it is VERY nice to have enough space. He said he was thinking the same thing.

This kids seem to love the new house. They've been great the past few weekends. Lewis was a little out of sorts at first, but he shredded some Kleenex and all is well now.

I better hit the books. I hope I can relax in a couple of years once I'm done with class.

It's done

We are moved. We're completely disorganized and can't find anything but we've got it all out of the old house and into the new house.

WHAT a pain in the butt! It took 2 car loads, 1 pick up load, and 3 - 26' rental truck loads. We have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF. There was no screaming, very little swearing, and lots of snacks.

Thanks so much to Mom for bringing lunch, Dad for helping despite working 3rd shift, and to my new favorite number one brother-in-law, Greg (sorry Todd). We would have never ever gotten it done with out Greg.

I'll post some pictures once we get the trash out of the front yard.

Big Day

Today is big day. We're having a graduation party for Fred this afternoon. I'm trying to cook, clean and decorate the garage, do homework (mine and the kids) and pack to move (without messing up the house or the garage) while Kurt and his brother, Kelly change the brakes and rotors in Kurt's car.

Wierdly, I'm the first one up. The second weirdest thing is that Christy is the number 2 person up. We are ALWAYS last.

We've had a decent week. I was in training 8-430 tues-fri so kurt and I got to spend a lot of time together which was nice.

I've got major wedding details set which is also cool!

AWESOME!

Kurt and I went to Alex's 1st parent teacher conferences last night. We heard great remarks from all of his teachers. He doesn't have anything less than an A- in any of his classes. He is #1 in his art class. They all said he is articulate and stays above the fray when the other kids are misbehaving.

The one area where he is having trouble is, of course, spelling. None of the kids can spell.

We are incredibly proud of him and are SO relieved he is in school!

I HATE my job. I have to go back and close tonite from 6pm to midnite. UGH. I will be the only sup there. The list of things I CAN'T do is MUCH larger than the list of things I can do. I have to close tomorrow night too. I do have Sunday off though!

Our house is being shown tomorrow at 12:30 and there is an open house on Sunday from 3-4. I hope we get some offers!

Why?

Why is it always necessary for someone to piss on your parade?

EVEN MORE Big News!

Kurt and I have had an offer accepted on a house in Independence!!!

!!!

Move in date is October 15th.

Yikes! (And Kurt thought LAST year was the year of big changes!)

SO.....if you know of anyone in the market for a lovely house in Waterloo......

More News

Christy has joined the 5th grade band. She is going to be a trombone player. When I asked her if she wanted to go out for band she said "no." As I further explored it, she had decided for herself that it was too expensive. I hugged her and made her promise that before she makes any decisions about what she can or can not do she needs to talk to us. I told her we had a trombone. Her face lit up. I said it wouldn't cost anything for her to be in band so if she wanted to join all she had to do was tell us. She goes "I want to play trombone! I want to be in the band!"

We went to band tonight and signed the child up. Of course, she wasn't allowed to go with us. We were the only parents there sans children.

Lessons start on Tuesday!

Big News!

The stars appear to be aligning.....

Kurt and I are getting married :) It's looking like June 18th. (yes, I know it is a Sunday).

We are very excited. He told the kids. They were like, "ok". Kurt asked if any of them were listening. Christy said with enthusiasm, "I am!"

YAY!

HA!

Told ya so! I was right. The PP did, in fact, Round-up the lawn!

As my sister says, "What a freak".

Do Not Disturb

Kurt is coming home tonight!

At last

Fred finished his GED today with an 800 on the science portion. He now has an education (ha!). Plus I got him 90% signed up for health insurance. All that's left is for him and the PP to come up with the incredibly cheap premium by October 1st.

The next step is to get him off the child support and wait for him to come to his senses. We can concentrate on socializing and educating the other 3 now.

Also it is T- 2 days til my hunny bunny comes home. Thank God! I do NOT like being alone. I will gladly give up the middle of the bed to have him home.

Happy Labor Day!

It's so nice that I'm not laboring for once. I actually don't have to work anymore holidays this year. It will be first time ever since I started working that I've been able to say that!

We ended up not going to the Renfest. I looked at radar and a big storm was parked right over it. I didn't feel like drive 1.5 hours, paying $40 entrance, and then as Fred said, "Looking at a thunderstorm." I rented SAHARA instead. Everyone enjoyed it. It was pretty good; not as good as the book of course, but still fun.

Magoo and I went to my parents' for lunch today. I had ribeye and the dog had a pig's ear. My sister was up from DSM. The baby, 2.0, was kicking but not when anyone but Marn could experience it. Apparently, he doesn't like to perform.

Talked to Kurt, he was watching the ferries load and unload. He had another wonderful FRESH seafood meal. I'm jealous. This time it was big, juicy, sweet scallops. I may have to go to Red Lobster tonite!

Sugar Overload

Alex had to make no bake cookies for his foods class. It's not often that something is too sweet for me, but MAN these cookies are sweet! They turned out pretty well, but I'm wondering if he wrote the amount of sugar down correctly.

Apparently, I have an exceptional set of measuring spoons since I have an 1/8 teaspoon and a 1/2 tablespoon measure, neither of which are standard according to Mr. Food. However, the praise I garnered for the spoons was quickly replaced with scorn for my "plain salt" and "imitation vanilla". He said, scathingly, "iodinized salt is better for you." RE the vanilla I told him to look further and i have real vanilla from Mexico (no doubt harvested by exploited Mexicans).

I've decided to take the kids to the Renaissance Faire. They seldom beg for anything, but I woke up today to Nick in armor, Alex armed with a sword and dagger, and Christy picking out an appropriate medieval outfit. Fred, of course, was a lump on the coach.

YIKES!!

I had my first run in with the PP today. I went to pick up the kids since Kurt is out of town.

She got out of the van screaming and yelling; demanding to know where Kurt was. She then told me I didn't need to have the kids. I replied that we have custody on the weekends. She said, "Kurt does. You don't."

My heart was racing and I was shaking. I left and called Kurt. I drove a mile down the road and waited while he got it all straightened out with her. I ended up being able to pick up them up and bring them home. As soon as I got to the farm I turned around so I was headed out. I left the engine running and didn't get out.

Christy ran out to the car and hopped in. She exclaimed, "I love you" as soon as she got in. We got home at 2:15. None of them had eaten or bathed. Christy and Nick hadn't bathed since last weekend when they were here.

I can not imagine how Kurt lived there as long as he did. I'm shocked the kids aren't worse off than they are. I had planned on taking them to the Renaissance Fest tomorrow, but her reaction has me spooked. I'm worried that something bad might happen while we are there and it would give her fuel. I think we'll go see the March of the Penguins.