It's Over

Well, Christmas is over and we're waiting for the new year.

It's been a hectic few days, but the holidays always are.
Tim worked Christmas and Christmas Eve, so we had our Christmas Friday morning.
Kelsey woke up early to put our traditional orange rolls in the oven.
It's the same Christmas breakfast we've had since she was little,
she won't have it any other way.

I was worried that we really didn't have enough gifts for Kelsey this year
because she really just asked for gift cards.
We got her gift cards and a few other nice things and she was happy.
Now we have to take her shopping. LOL

My Mom and my Uncle Larry came for dinner that night and we opened more gifts.
She got Tim and I a Bissell Proheat 2 Carpet Cleaner. I'm so excited about it.
I can't wait to clean my carpets.
It funny though when you get gifts like that, I always wonder,
"Do they think my house is dirty"?
Or when someone gives me perfume, I think,
"Do they think I smell bad"?
Yes... I am weird!

We still have all next week off for vacation, and go back to work/school on the 5th.
It'll be nice to see all the kids again,
they'll be so excited to tell me what they got for Christmas.

I wish I would have taken some decent pictures of Christmas,
But I get so involved watching everyone open gifts that I forget my camera's right there. Duh!
This is the only one I took, right before we started opening gifts.
It's Kelsey and my niece Tiana.

I hope you all had a Wonderful Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

Kelsey and I getting our "Elfy" groove on. LOL
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/

We Made A Purse Today

Today Kelsey and I sat together at my sewing machine,
and I showed her how to make a purse.

Actually it's more like a smaller version of a book bag,
but it's what all the girls around here carry.
We see them all the time in stores for about $15,
but I said it would be so easy to make them and a lot cheaper.
So she wanted to do it.

Mind you, this girls hates doing things like this.
Last year in home economics class, they had to sew
4 straight seems on a piece of fabric that was going onto a
napkin holder. Hers was handed in late because she
couldn't stitch a straight line and had to keep tearing it out
and starting over. She didn't have to, she wanted too,
the teacher said it was fine. Kelsey's just a perfectionist.
She said she never wanted to sew again.

I grew up sewing.
I always made Barbie clothes and even clothes for myself.
I made my graduation dress, my wedding gown
and the bridesmaid dress.
So her not liking to sew was unimaginable to me.
It just came naturally to me so couldn't believe it
was so hard for her.

Anyway... here's the purse we made.
She picked out the fabric, it cost $3.32to make.

It was nice spending time with her,
showing her something I'm good at.
Being able to share with her something I enjoy.

And the best part... She wants to make more.

First Time Voter

I voted for the first time today.
Kelsey has been urging me for years to vote.
As of this morning I was still leaning toward not voting.

But one of the polling places was at the school I work at so I just popped in and asked them what I needed to do to register. ALL I needed was my drivers license. Easy enough.

So when Kelsey got home, we walk over to the school and registered to vote.
And "I VOTED"!
I must say, I'm pretty proud of myself.

Kelsey also did the Smart Vote for kids

I can't wait to see who wins

Halloween

A few Halloween pictures...

Me as a ghost...



















Tim as the guy that scares little kids...
























Kelsey and her friends...
(Saleena, Kasey, Kelsey)

Kids Today Have No Direction

Well, at least my daughter doesn't.
And I mean a "No Sense Of Direction".

Kelsey is 13 years old and has no idea
how to get anywhere in our town.
We got into a discussion about knowing directions...

We had to take friend of hers home yesterday,
she's from a neighboring town and knew her address,
but had no idea how to get to her house.
Once we tracked down directions, she said the house was
"up there on the left",
turns out she didn't know left from right either.

Were were talking about this with Kelsey
and she also had no idea how to get to our house.

This was kind of a shock to me, because she's lived here practically all her life.

But if you think about it, in this day and age of technology,
how would she know???
Kids these days are to busy talking on cell phones, texting or
scrolling through song lists on MP3 players to pay attention to
where we're going when we chauffeur them around.
On longer trips there are car DVD players and laptops to watch
movies on, and hand help electronic games.
Why watch the scenery? Who cares where you are.

This is really bugging me.
She can get her temps in 2 years, the poor kid won't be able to find
her way home her first time out.
Luckily she's always got that trusty distraction called a cell phone.
She'll be able to call for directions.

So Much On My Mind

I've got so much on my mind lately that I just have an overwhelmed feeling all the time.

First off, Tim's been gone for a conference. I miss him not being here and worry about him traveling. He should be back later tonight though. I just wish he would call more.

Tim's Aunt Nettie died yesterday. I didn't really know her. But the funeral is going to be coming up. I'm still weired out about my grandma dieing a month ago.
In the last 10 months my Aunt Jeanie died.
My cousin Dale was murdered.
My Grandma died.
Now Aunt Nettie.
I've been spending way to much time in funeral homes!

My mom is gone on her trip to Cape Cod. She's called every night complaining about something. Usually the ladies she went with. So I feel bad for her that she's not having a good time.

Kelsey wants her haircut. They have off on Friday, but the person that usually cuts it is off.
So I need to find somewhere else to take her, hoping it still turns out ok.
She only gets it cut by Brooke, because "nobody else can do a good job", her words, not mine.

We've got two new hires at work. My best friend (works with me) can't stand one of them.
She's really upset that I have to train her. She wants me to hate her too, but I don't know her, and I'm not like that.

We're going to a Halloween party and I want a really nice costume. I don't just want something thrown together, I want to sew something nice, but I have no idea what, that won't make me look stupid or fatter.

I still need to pick a bank from the three that are near here to deposit the death benefit from my grandma. I want a bank near by so I can cash my work checks there. Right now our bank is way across town. Sometimes it's a week before I get my check cashed because I don't get over that way.

I need to go jeans shopping (Grrr), I only have two pair that fit and look decent.

It's just always something. I just feel like my mind is always racing.
Trying to keep things straight.
Trying to make sure things are done.
Trying to not go crazy...

I Wonder If I'll Get My Shoes

I wonder if I'll get my shoes back today...

Kelsey's friend came over on Sunday to do homework
and she wore my shoes home by accident. LOL

We have the same brown clogs and never realized it until it was too late.
Hers were by the back door, mine were in the dinning room.
When her mom came to pick her up, she just slid on mine and took off.
The funny part is, mine are a size 11, her are an 8.
She never even realized...
But I sure did the minute I tried to slip hers on,
my heels hung over the backs a good inch.

Kelsey called to make sure she brought them to school yesterday to exchange,
and she did, but Kelsey never brought mine home. Grr.

I love my clogs. I want them back. I hope she remembers today.

The Letter N

My friend Kerri got this game from a friend and passed it to me.
The object of the game is to list 10 things you love that begin with the letter you are given.
Kerri, gave me the letter N.
So Here goes.....

1. Nieces & Nephews
2. Night Lights
3. Night Skys
4. Necterines
5. Nutter Butter Cookies
6. Nestea
7. Nachos
8. Noodles
9. New Clothes
10. Nail Polish

This was fun!! Makes you think!!
If you want to play along I'll be happy to pass a letter onto you as well.
Just leave a post letting me know you want to play too!

So Boring

Bloggity Blog Blog Blog...

I have no life, I'm just a boring person! I have nothing fun to write about!

Kelsey leaves at 7am and I'm alone and bored till 11am when I go to work.
Gone an hour and a half and I come back to the same bordom. BLAH

I clean up my house and sit on the computer.

The Mums

Just a quick picture of how I decorated the mums that we gave Tim's aunt and uncle
for their anniversary.
They said no gifts, but I couldn't go empty handed.

I used a brown paper grocery bag, 2 yards of wired ribbon (50 cents a yard) and a kabob skewer for the card holder. I cut a piece of the grocery bag to fit into my printer and printed out the card.

We also made them a video slide show to continually play during the party.

Teaspoon or Tablespoon

Tim made dinner last night.
Actually he made it all day in the slow cooker.
He wanted to do Korean Ribs, something we all enjoy,
even "Miss Picky", Kelsey.
They are a fantastic Asian style rib with a great sauce that we put over rice.
They're a little spicy, not much, just a bit of kick.

My first clue that something was a little different was when I snitched a tiny piece of meat from the edge of the platter and my tongue was immediately on fire. I stood up and paused, and thought, "Wow, I must have gotten one of the crushed red peppers... whew!!"

Well, we all sat down to dinner, we all got ourselves served. I took my first bit of meat, wow, another hot piece. Kelsey says, "Is it hotter than usual, or is it just me?" Mind you, she hasn't been able to taste anything for 3 days because she has a bad cold. I told her it seems a bit more spicy, but it wasn't bad.

Tim just kept eating, proud of his creation...

Then I tried my sauce covered rice....

The heat took my breath away!!! And I actually took another bite.... with tears in my eyes, I took another bite. Trying to ignore the pain, as to not hurt Tim's feelings, I even took another bite. Ok, at this point, the inside of my lips were on fire, I could no longer feel my tongue, my throat was burning, my eyes were burning and my nose was running. Tim still just kept right on eating, and I noticed Kelsey was only eating plain rice.

I asked how much crushed red pepper he put in.
He said he double the sauce recipe and put in 3 tablespoons.
3 TABLESPOONS?????
I said, "You mean teaspoons?" He said "No, all the measurements were tablespoons."
No way.
I went to check the recipe... it called for 1/2 teaspoon.
1/2 TEASPOON!

OMG, no wonder we were on fire!

Even doubled it should have been 1 teaspoon.
That makes for a 8 teaspoon overdose on the heat.

He has no clue were he got the idea that 3 tablespoons was good. LOL
Next time, he'll wear is glasses. :o)

No More Ugly

Oh what a beautiful day to have a big hole in my kitchen wall!!!

I was worried that it would rain, or be cold or we would have wasps flying into my kitchen since it's that time of year, but the day was perfect for replacing the kitchen window.

Tim replaced our old kitchen window this morning with a new vinyl replacement window. The old one was an old wood frame one that was water stained and peeling. It was probably original to the house when it was built in 1952. It was just drafty, old and ugly to look at every time I washed dishes. I don't think the new window will make washing dishes anymore enjoyable, but it's worth a try. LOL

It only took $135 and an hour and a half of work, and it was in.

He had to pull off all the trim from the window (kitchen side), pull out the old widow and all the sliders and springs, pop in the new window, screw it to the window frame, caulk around it and put the trim back on.

Since we bought the house 9 years ago, he's replaced 9 widows (only 2 more to go). He also stripped all the cupboards and refinished them. There was also an old stove top in the counter and oven built in to the wall. That all went too, making more counter space, which also ment all new counter tops. He also put a breakfast bar in there.

He redid our bathroom too. The walls were pink and black plastic tiles half way up.

Very 50's. There was no shower, so he put up a new tub surround and put in new pipes for a shower. Out with the old monstrosity of a vanity, in with a nice new one. And new lights and medicine cabinet.
He built an enclosed patio off our garage.

Fenced in the back yard.

We've had a new roof put on twice, the second time was from hail damage.

And all new siding last year, also because of hail damage.

He also upgraded all the electrical when we moved in.

He really takes pride in all the work he's done to make improvements in our home.

Next summer, he'll be putting in a new front door. He can't wait to to start ripping that apart!!

Free Scrapping

I'm so excited... Last night I discovered that a scrapbooking program that I use for touching up photos can actually be used for scrapbooking. LOL
Go figure.

I keep seeing all kinds of beautiful downloadable free scrapbooking kits all over the internet that I wished I had a use for, and now I do!

Now I'll really be able to dress up my different profiles and home pages. It'll be nice to make coordinating headers and siggies. The program I have is super easy, which is great since I lack the intelligence to figure out Paint Shop Pro.

Well, The Drama Is Over

Finally, the teenage drama between Kelsey and her
best friend is over.
Since Saturday we've had to deal with a crying, pouting, whining, crabby depressed kid.

I'm glad they are good again, but Kelsey needs to realize that sometimes people grow apart.
Just because someone isn't your 'best friend' doesn't mean they're not your 'friend'.

But for now, I'm glad they're happy again.

This is my favorite picture of them.

It's was taken about 2 years ago.

Kelsey (top)... Asha (bottom)

My Weekend

My weekend started out great with the football game Friday night. Our team lost, but the show put on by the visiting University of Wisconsin Badger State Band was unbelievable. The performed 3 times, including a 5th quarter show that lasted about 1/2 with everyone in the stands dancing and singing. It was so exciting. Makes me want to start going to the Badger games just to see the band. All through the game, small groups from the band would walk through the stands and perform.

Saturday we went to the Fall Maple Fest in Marshfield, it was misting and raining most of the day. We bought a few little things, but it was too yucky out to enjoy ourselves, so we just went shopping. Kelsey was supposed to do something with her best friend when we got back into town, but her friend made plans with out girls instead, totally ignoring Kelsey. This has been happening so much lately with this girl. Kelsey cried all the way home and on and off all night. Every time her friend would call, she would just ignore it. I said maybe she was calling to ask her to do something. Kelsey wasn't having it. She said "if she's asking now, it's out of pity".She didn't want her to invite her because she felt bad, she want her to ask because they're best friends. The joys of 13 year old girls. I remember the days. But it broke my heart to see her so upset, knowing there was nothing I could do to help.

And Sunday, I was sick. So, so, sick. It started with a headache in the morning and progressed to vomiting all day. I never left my bed. At about 7pm, Tim decide I needed fluids and hooked me up to IV (he's a paramedic). That sucker hurt, he tried 3 times to hit a vein, but because I was so dehydrated it was hard to get into one. But it seemed to help a bit. I was able to eat a piece of toast and 1/2 of a scrambled egg.

Now today I feel better, just a slight headache. I'm still going to work.

Kelsey has her first volleyball game tonight. I wish I could just stay home and relax. She said I don't have to come, that she wouldn't even know if I was there anyway. But I'm going. How could I miss that? She got her uniform on Friday, she's number 1. But I didn't need to see the shirt to know that. :)

Getting Ready For The Game

Are you ready for some football???
I am!

Tomorrow night we're going to the High School Football game. Our Lincoln High School plays against rival Stevens Point Area Senior High. We even bought advanced tickets for this one.
Tomorrow night there's added excitement to the game night, the 350-member University of Wisconsin Marching Band will perform during the game and halftime, as well as the band's famed "fifth quarter" postgame event. I can't wait to see the perform!!!

The gates open at 4pm and the game starts at 7pm, but we will be there at 4.
They sold advance tickets and the place is going to be packed. We can stake out some good seats can watch them practice too.

We're getting all geared up. I work for the school district, so I've got my free pass ready to go. We've got our stadium seats out. Our red Lincoln sweatshirts, jackets, gloves and hats. Our spirit beads, noise makers and face tattoos. Well, Kelsey wears the tatoos, not me.
Got cash out of the bank for concessions, since that's where we're having dinner.
Burgers and nachos, yum.

I love going to the games, but honestly, I hardly watch the football. LOL
I'm usually talking to someone I know, or kids that I used to have in school come give me hugs and chit chat. It's more than just a game for me, it's a social event.

Stupid Computer

I have a love/hate relationship with my computer.

I love to be on it, but I think it hates me.

Everyday I get messages, sometimes 5-6 times a day that say "Internet Explorer Has Stopped Working", then it boots me off the internet and restarts,. GRRRRR!

I can't figure out what to do to fix it.

Now I've been trying all morning to get into Yuku, but it's down for repairs.

Why don't they do that crap in the middle of the night?????

Yuku upsets me more than anything right now because I'm trying to find information on my friend Dawn. I wanna know how she is and if everything went ok with the baby. She should have had Sophie a couple hours ago. I WANNA KNOW!!!

Dull Mornings

Oh my geez, I'm so bored!
On school days I just putter around all morning doing the most mundane things just trying to keep busy before work. This morning I've washed and folded a load of laundry, the stuff I folded was from three days ago, I forgot it was in the dryer. LOL Picked up Kelsey's shoes from all over the house and put them away. Cleaned and reorganized my desk. Ate a bagel with cream cheese. And now I'm back at the computer.

I need to go take a quick shower, which means my legs will stay stubbley for another day, and get ready for work. And, "oh what to wear?" Last time I checked it was 41 degrees out. I'll be outside on the playground for an hour and a half and the temp is supposed to reach 67. I'm not used to wearing warmer clothes yet. I have yet to try on a pair of my jeans, I just know there going to be to tight. And I am not looking forward to jeans shopping! So I guess it'll be capri's and a sweatshirt.

I Did It

Well, I did it.
I made my blog pretty.

I Have No Idea What I'm Doing...

And I usually don't!

Right now I'm sitting on my ass trying to figure out how to "blog" while there are so many other worth while things I could be doing. Like watching TV or taking a nap.

I've got 42 minutes till I have to be at school to pick my daughter up from volleyball practice.
Then I"ll have someone to talk to, which is still kinda like talking to myself.

This is how it will go:
Me: "How was your day?"
Her: "Good."
Me: "What did you do?"
Her: "I don't know."
Me: "How was practice?"
Her: "Good."
Me: "Do you have homework?"
Her: "I don't know."
Me: "What do you mean you don't know?"
Her: "I don't know."
Me: "What do you want for dinner?"
Her: "I don't know."

I'm pretty sure because she's 13 that that's the best I'm going to get out of her for a while.

Now I need to go glance at Kerri's Blog again, scratch my head and wonder how she made such a great profile. I want a pretty one too. (I said that in my most irritating whiny voice, in my head of course... lol)