In training...

I suppose I'd better work up to once a day gradually. I wouldn't want to strain anything. I joined a couple of NaBloPoMo groups for writing prompts and other hints. You teeming masses out there reading could post some questions in the comments and I'd answer them, such as "What were you thinking?" (Answer: I wasn't. Duh.)
In true Minnesota fashion, I'll talk about the weather. After our two weeks of rain, we've had a week of cool sunshine. So, as we travel the back roads, we see fields of dry cornstalks, fields of something really short and bright green (sugar beets? I thought they were all out...), trees with leaves that are bright red, yellow, faded out, or gone. The grass in the ditches is bright green and looks like April. Weird. Fun for the eyes, tho'.
Got one test back with a B. Cool. Nothing too difficult there, but sometimes a little hard to verbalize in a test question. For example, give me a couple of sentences to sum up Emerson's concept of "Man Thinking." Go! I apparently did OK, because I got full credit on that one.
Thing 4 has reached a stage where he watches TV actively. He talks back, sings along, and dances with the music. When he plays a video game, he jumps and runs in place with the game. We won't have that sedentary kid syndrome here. Makes me tired just watching him.
Well, I'd better knock off before I wear out. Gotta go cool down...

NaBloPoMo

I'm doin' it. (No-one said the posts couldn't be lame.)

They're gonna put me in the movies...

Friday we went to the opening weekend of Arnold's Park. It was great fun and we got some good screen time. The kids had a blast spotting themselves and their friends. I was a bit dismayed that the old adage about the camera adding ten pounds seems to be about 40 pounds shy. I'd almost forgotten my hair was that long two years ago. The movie is a PG-13 murder mystery. No gore, no cussing, some adult situations. Great teen flick. So, here's a shameless plug. Check the theater list on their website and go check out the cute family the photographer is working with.

Now we're onto something...

Got my papers back from last week, and doing the happy dance. So all this learning is good for me, it makes me well-rounded and knowlegeable in my field, but its the little marks in the gradebook that go on the ol' transcript. Also, it's good to have some sort of benchmark to measure the time I sit in class. Had two midterms today, too, so hopefully they'll turn out as well and life will be good.
On other fronts, in Minnesota we've had measurable precip for 16 of the last 18 days, and I'm beginning to forget what the sky looks like! Not looking forward to driving home in the yuck.
I had to drop Thing 1 off at her job at McDonald's on the way to school, so at the suggestion of Bossy, I tried a cinnamelt. Pretty good. They have a great texture. I work at a place renowned for its baked goods, however, and for a dime more I can get a carmel roll roughly the size of my head there, and homemade and yummy to boot. Cinnamelts stay on the back burner, I'm afraid.
Now it's time to rattle off that last test, then hop in the car and shift to "home" mode. The good news is: no work today!

Yuck

So I head to the 5th (Extreme Quiet) floor of the library to work and a class has a meeting room with full window walls booked and they are watching Fast Food Nation. Great flick, major distraction, and I won't need lunch today...

Still feelin' corny

Did I say something yesterday about it all evening out? I like how the wall streeters have their panties in a bunch while those familiar with the ag industry seem to say, "Duh, what did you expect?" I would still like to see the locals grow more people food instead of cow and pig food, and fuel, but it's all about baby steps. Along with all the ethanol plants sprouting up in this area, there is a plant about 30 miles away burning turkey manure for power. We have a major turkey processor with a plant locally and several plants in Willmar, so there are many turkey farms in the area. Hopefully they will smell better, and my power bill will go down. The turkey poo plant is in the same town as a vodka-producing plant. Farmers will always find something to make a market for the crops!
Off to Job 1, have a great day!

Land of a Thousand Distractions

Sing with me: Naaa, nana na naa, nana na naa nana naa nana naaa, nana na naaaaaaaa...
Enough of that. Finally got a couple of papers to write, and now I'm finding EVERYTHING else on the internet much more interesting. I was actually reading sonnets like a good girl, but got much more interested in the Wiki biographies of the poets than the actual poetry. That one I can actually count as useful information for the ol' English teacher repetoire. Not so much the Evil*Empire online shopping.
I have a new Job #2. Another bar and grill, but this one isn't open past 10 on weeknights or 11 on the weekends. It's food and booze only, no dance floor or entertainment, or anywhere to put it, really, so I can help clean up and close and still be back in bed on old lady time. Woot. Christmas is comin' and the propane tank needs fillin'. Those corn burners aren't quite as attractive this year, what's corn now, $15, $20/bushel? Go farmers. Here in Minnesota a record amount of corm was planted this year, so it should all balance out eventually. Then maybe we can go back to feeding the people with the crops. Radical, man.
I'm out of dog food, and too lazy to go get any until I have to go to town anyway, so I made the dogs oatmeal. Don't laugh until you go read the ingredients on the side of a dog food bag. Anyway, I just tossed some oatmeal into some water on the stovetop, and snapped it on medium while I went to rotate the laundry and do a couple other chores. I came back and it was perfect, better than if I'd actually tried to cook it nice for the kids. Next time I try to make oatmeal for the kids, it'll turn out runny or lumpy or something. Phooey.
Break time's over. Now to choose whether to write about sonnets or the influence of Franklinian thinking on modern society. I think it's ol' Ben up to bat.

Parcel Post

Lately it seems like Thing 1 can't remember a blessed thing she needs to get through the day. I am becoming well-acquainted with the office staff at her school. So today, once again, the phone rang. This time: ice cream for TA treats. TA is like homeroom, and the kids take turns bringing treats on Wednesdays. So I rearranged my schedule, loaded Thing 4 into his car seat, ran some errands and dropped off her treats. I was feeling mightily persecuted, and coming up with a snappy quip for the secretaries, but when I got inside, the counter was lined with snacks from all the other parents who got called in a panic this morning. Looks like I was in good company, today anyway.

No news is no news

Not much happenin' around casa del goose. We work, eat, sleep, get up, repeat. Classes are going fine, although we have yet to take a test or write a paper in any of the literature classes, and it drives me a wee bit crazy not to have something to measure progress. Even if it is only regurgitating facts, it gives me some small sense of accomplishment.
Got to take myself shopping for an hour without kids, then go have a Birthday beer with my mother-in-law. She rocks. And she loads the birthday cards!
The big news locally is that our community now houses Evil*Empire Stupid Center. Acres and acres of stuff I don't need, but will probably buy anyway. It was kind of nice to wander about sans rugrats and look at things besides toys or groceries.
I've been wandering the internet filling out scholarship applications and writing contrived, insincere essays in hopes of garnering some free money to pay for that last semester of class coming up. I've been thisclose to finished for sooo long, and I just want to be DONE. Then I'll start subbing for $95/day to pay off the verschlugende loans! Yep, the glamorous world of education...what was I thinking again?

It's talk like a pirate day!

AAAArrrrrrgh!

Random randomness revisited...

One from the "C" file:
Me: "I like you!"
Thing 4: "I like burping!"
***

My friend Kathy reminded me thet Michel (where are you, Chica?) tagged me a few weeks back with this thingy that I put off until later, which is now. Without further ado...

10 Random Things About Me.

(No guarantees, may include repeats, my memory sucks.)


1. I have double-jointed thumbs.

2. My siblings are 18 and 16 years older than me.

3. We occasionally drag our family out to work as movie extras (and we live nowhere near Hollywood.)

4. I believe my retirement plans include an RV.

5. I have an awesome job working for people I really like (it just doesn't pay much...)

6. I really enjoy being back at college...

7. ...except for the days when I feel really outdated, old, and out of place (usually a day when someone mistakes me for faculty)

8. I will probably pay off my mortgage before my student loans.

9. I love to read for pleasure, and I hardly ever do.

10. I can't decide if I would love to be a SAHM, or if it would drive me insane.


With that, I'm off to class.
10.

Overheard...

...on campus today:

"Why is it always so hot in this city? It's just gay!"

Before we go all wierd with the nudge nudge, wink wink, they were cleary discussing the weather. But with a profoundly underdeveloped vocabulary. Since when does heat=gay? Since when does anything other than tra-la-la, either happy or lifestyle-wise, equate to "gay?" I'd prefer a "This sucks!" ala Butthead over "It's just gay!" any time. You're in college, people. Learn to use your words.

Now I will climb down from the lofty height of my soapbox and ramble on to something else.

I had a severe new pencil moment in class today. All freshly sharpened and ready to go, and me with nothing to write. We weren't in note-taking ode. I had to doodle just to work off the edge of the creative drive. Dang.

Studying poetry always makes me feel inadequate. Attempts I've made at poetry always feel to me like they come out contrived, like I've tried to force what may have been a perfectly good idea into an uncomfortable girdle of language. I fancy myself an essayist, although you'd never tell it from the drivel posted here. I do kind of get a kick out of haiku. The very brevity of it makes you choose your words very carefully. You can make it silly or serious, depending on your mood.
Haiku is a lark
I could get addicted quick
Don't get me started

Back to School

I could do a mini-post on how many times I had to retype "school" to get it spelled right, but I'll leave that to the imagination.
Last week, I went back to school. Again. Argh. It took me WAYYYY too long to find the mommy/student balance, so I had some incomplete classes that rolled into retakes because I did not get the work done. Only me to blame, lesson learned, makes me a better student, yada yada, but it still sucks. The bright side is that I get to take two of these classes with a great old prof who reminds me of a cross between Santa Claus and an undepressed Hemmingway. He absolutely loves his subject matter, and he's highly entertaining.

We spent two of our long weekend days with G'ma. G'pa was gone fishing, so she had far too much peace and quiet on her hands, and we had just the cure for her. We had two extra kids in tow, children of iPastors's BFF.


The bulk of us went to Lifelight. The kids enjoyed the waterpark while dad and I cruised the bands. I especially enjoyed Derek Webb, who I "found" this winter through myspace, as he gave away a bunch of free downloads of his music. Quite cool and folksy. Liked that a lot.









iPastor seemed to be enjoying him as well.











Everyone came out to see Barlow Girl. Even Alex had heard of them in Germany, so a good time was had by all. It was a hot The girls returned to the waterpark and iPastor and I relaxed and listened to (and iPastor critiqued) a couple more speakers and bands.
It was a typical summer day, but a great breeze kept it from being as stiflingly nasty as earlier in the month.




Some people still worked too hard, though.

Man plans, God laughs...

It seems our whole summer has been about cancelled trips and postponed plans. Visits to see new and old friends were called off, camping trips deferred due to illness, and class reunions called off by last minute work emergencies. Our plans for this weekend's trip to grandma's house and the nearby Lifelight festival changed nearly hourly this week, hampered by work schedules and generally cranky kids. It's all good, however. Car #1 left in time to see Jars of Clay last night, and Car #2 headed straight for Grandma's house when Thing 1 finally was set free of McDonald's. Things 2 and 4 are planning a day with G'ma, and the rest of us are fueling up to avoid the overpriced festival vendors, then we are off for a day of music, sun, and waterpark! What am I doing still sitting here?

The Great Minnesota Get-together

After last year's trip to the fair, I watched the weather channel with a careful eye, and we decided not to rush off to Saint Paul until later in the day. For once, the decision panned out, and we got to the fair just as the rain stopped and enjoyed a relatively dry evening. Thing 4 performed and had a blast. Uncle Don and Aunt Vicky even made it to the fair to watch. It seemed a bit odd not to spend all day roaming the fairgrounds, but we were all a bit less irritable than normal. Alex was too tired and sore from volleyball practice to really enjoy the fair. At home she plays volleyball for a couple hours once a week. Here, she dove into 4 hours of practice 5 days a week. Ow.

I can think of nothing worthwhile to blog about. Sad.

Our new little bundle of joy...

I love exchange students. They come already potty trained and with their own spending money. We fetched Alex from the airport Wednesday nite, and headed for a day at Maul of America and the Park formerly known as Camp Snoopy. For your info, the past couple times we have laid down hard-earned money to go to the park, we have done a birthday package. The price is better, and the 5 hour time limit on the wristband is plenty if you plan for a good day. Middle of the week meant short lines. You also get some free game tokens and a cupcake. They were pronounced good, although apparently loaded with food coloring.


Hey! Scroll Wayyyyyy down and sign my guestbook. I saw that widget at Holtieshouse and had to go get my own!

More shameless kid promotion

Things 2, 3 and I performed at our home fair talent show Monday, all placing in the money, but only Thing 3 winning a trip to state (again) Hard to lose when you're the only kid in your category, but I think she did better this year than last, so go figure. I found myself with a camera but no batteries, so I stole some from g'ma, then had no media card, so couldn't take video. Bummer.
Not to be outdone, Thing 1 joined us the tonite for the Karoake contest (less pressure?) and won. Thing 2 also performed and did an awesome job, but I forgot the camera in the car. I placed in the money, so we have a little spending jingly for the trip to the Maul ofAmerica (named coined by Daynoter John, all credit where it's due) I retrieved the camera in time for Thing 1 to sing, so I got her loaded on youtube. I tried for better quality, but the file was too big. Oh well...

So a week has come and gone again. I've been on a purge. We've taken bags to the thrift store, cleaned closets and drawers, and I haven't wanted to stop for fear I'll bog down!

Thursday we hit a nearby talent show. For once I will play the irate stage mommy and assert that my kids were robbed. The sound man was hopeless, as was his system. The CDs we'd played in the car on the ride over would not work in his machine. Later they got a different player, but not until both my kids had to sing different sons or arrangements that threw them off. Thing 2 chose to go with the same song, but the other CD had background vocals, which are a DQ for state fair competitions. Thing 3 did a song from last year, so she missed some words. Oh well, they sang for grandma and had a blast. By the time they got through my bracket, the system was squeaking and humming something fierce. It kicked out one guy's cd halfway through his song and stopped dead on another gal's. My CD worked fine, just hit the middle o' the pack, I guess.
So finally, I got video. These were taken on the still cam, and seemed OK when I put them into iMovie, but the compression seems to have taken it's toll. The still cam couldn't seem to do some of the songs in one clip, so they're pieced together. Ya get what ya get. If I wanted to take the time and effort to pull out iPastor's big dog video software, I'd get better quality, but spend a lot more time. So, here ya go...

Counting blessings...

I drove home from Watertown on Wednesday with a vanload of sleepy, worn-out kids. We had another dental appointment over there, so we decided to bring a couple friends and check out their newly remodeled municipal pool, which now has a waterpark nearly as large and just as nice as any we have been to previously, with the added bonus of costing far less than any of the others. We met my brother and his wife at McD's (fine dining is irrelevant with that many kids along) then headed to the pool. It was awesome. Plenty of options for all ages and thrill-seeking levels, and lots of lounge chairs. You could get as wet as you wanted (or didn't want) and relax next to the pool or sand pit in comfort. Wednesday was one of the first overcast days in a while, and it was midweek, so it's quite possible uncomfortably packed at other times, but our trip was an overall success, despite the loss of my favorite sunglasses.
After swimming, Uncle Don, who had a good night at the casino previously, wanted to treat for a movie, so we saw the Simpsons. Pretty much a 90 minute episode, but fun. The kids were all blissfully (for me!) quiet and tuckered out as I drove home, disturbed only by freakishly large flocks of turkeys, then pheasants, alongside the road. It was odd enough I wondered if someone was shooting a wildlife tourism commercial in the area. I actually had composed some thoughts about what I deemed blogworthy, when the radio station broke in with a news report of the 35W bridge collapse.
Perspective is a humbling thing. No-one gives a rat's patootie about my happy little mommy day when it is unknown how many mommies are trapped in the rubble or underwater. We now know of three dead mommies and at least one missing, along with her daughter, not to mention the daddies, brothers, sons, sisters. Patric Reusse of the Star Tribune had a similar perspective he shared in Thursday's edition. All our loved ones have checked in safely, their routes taking them elsewhere or elsewhen. Timing is, indeed, everything.
I slept poorly last night; iPastor came to bed a little later than me, which is not unusual, but for some reason it threw off my sleep pattern. I finally gave up at 5:20, planning to walk the dogs. iPastor had closed the window (despite the recent heat it has been cooling off beautifully at night!) so it wasn't until I got into the bathroom that I heard rain. Rain!!! Very badly needed rain. No storms, hail, or wind (yet?) but a nice, gentle soaking rain. So the dogs got a quickie trip out the door to take care o' business, and I get teatime on the net. I have to work soon, but I managed to steal an hour for myself. I've already encountered two of our foreign kids online, so its been a treat.
This song comes to mind with events, both literal and figurative, so I'll leave you with the words of Bart Millard and Mercy Me:

Bring The Rain

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You
With all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You?

Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times

So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll
be days When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am yours regardless of
the clouds that may loom above
because you are much greater than my pain
you who made a way for me
suffering your destiny
so tell me,
what's a little rain?


Holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy
is the lord God almighty
is the lord God almighty
I'm forever singing
Holy holy holy
you are holy
you are holy

Same old...

Not much new hereabouts. I feel like I've been making some progress on little projects some days. Others are a waste of oxygen. Of course, all bets were off when HP 7 came in the mail. I got that knocked out and was satisfied all around. With that distraction out of the way, I've been able to get back to some work. iPastor has been all handy and stuff lately as well. He installed some carpet in the student room and got some little outdoor projects in hand. I've been trying to glean and clean closets. With summer here, the girls wear shorts and skirts far more often than pants, but when they do have jeans on, I'm seeing lots of ankles, so I've been trying to empty the drawers of items that don't fit.
Also in the mail came our copy of Sweet Land. I missed it in the theater, so it was the first time through for me. Our family is all present in the depot scene, although after spending two days on set iPastor's screen time is whittled down to a flash of him carrying a crate full of chickens. My girls are planted in a little family behind the lovely leading lady as she's studying an English primer. I'm not too far back from them in a cluster of ladies. Mostly I recognized my really big hat. It was fun to see all the familiar faces in the church scenes, and the church itself. Zion Lutheran was one of the first parishes in the county, and years after it closed, the Norwegian Historical society expressed interest in shipping it to Norway as part of an exhibit on emigrant life after they left the homeland. When that happened, it sparked an interest in refurbishing it and keeping it functional, which the families of the original parishioners did, so now its used several times a year for weddings and other special events, including Christmas and Memorial Day concerts where I usually wind up singing.
On the 19th, Arnold's Park held its premiere party, but we had to miss that. Bummer. iPastor had a good shot in the original trailer, so we'll have to wait patiently for that one to hit screens or shelves to see how the final edit came out.
Today Nina's dad is hauling our trailer out to the dump, as our only vehicle with a hitch is kaput. After I get that emptied, I can start reloading it. We've had a heck of a time with bikes. I buy cheap ones and my brother brings garage sale bikes for the kids. They break, then I let the neighbor boys scavenge them for parts. Choppers are back, and the kids seem to be having great fun creating ridiculously large ones. But now I have a shed full of frames and rims, as well as other miscellany that has seen its time come and go, so that's the next batch for the dump. I've been piddling with laundry and other things while I wait for him to bring the truck, and I suppose I should log off and not let this become a bigger distraction.
So, with that in mind, onward and upward. Excelsior!

Psalm 8:3-4

As I walked the dogs tonight I looked up into a clear night sky and was reminded of one of the things I like about small towns: stars. I wish I had a little better than ye olde idiot-proof, point-and-shoot camera, to capture the depth and glow of that sky tonight. Something like that needs the KJV:

3When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

4What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

For Crying out Loud...

Nina's family got an inflatable waterslide to keep the kids entertained this summer. Today, her little sister, Eliza, fell off the thing, broke her arm, and had to go have surgery to set it and pin it. Enough!
***
We, on the other hand, got the kids safely off to camp. Thing 3 was a touch apprehensive, but as soon as we got there she was distracted by new friends and her big sisters promised to be there if she needed them. Good kids.
***
On the way home, iPastor and I took Thing 4 for supper at Cafe Persepolis. The website could stand a healthy dose of spell/grammar check, but has cool pics. Good food. We were just discussing finding new places in our greater regional neighborhood, so we started tonite. We also dropped a load of coin at home depot. The bathroom needs a little help, so we got some tools to get going.
***
Thing 4 is not going to know what to do without his sisters. He was lapping up the attention tonite, though, so I'm sure he'll survive.
It's late now, and I must sleep. Ta!

Summer in the City

Summer in our city, anyway. Not the urban hub of hot weather activity are we. However, we do have great fun. Saturday nite we had a pickup frisbee game with representatives from most of the houses on that side of town either participating or spectating. It was great fun. The one bar in town was having its anniversary party in the parking lot, so we all got a free live band whether we wanted it or not. In a moment of mommy softness, I allowed the big kids to stay out for "night games." We do have a curfew in town, due to some unfortunate incidents with bored teenagers a few years back, but they can be in someone's yard. They came in tired out and slept hard.
Yesterday we cleaned out and washed the van in anticipation of the trek to camp today. When that was done, we decided to take a quick trip to the lake in the clean van and see if the dogs would swim. We haven't had them out yet. It was a moderate success; the dogs paddled about a little, but were far more interested in all the interesting smells along the shore. The water was nasty, too. Lac Qui Parle is a shallow, dam-enhanced lake full of geese and pelicans. It was like bathwater, but decidedly greener. That beach can be so nice early in the year or during a rainy summer. Unfortunately, if it's a wet year, a good part of the park stays closed and flooded, so you don't get to enjoy the beach so much. Kind of a double-edged sword, that. Since I had the good sense to wander around gravel roads after washing the car for the first time in ages, I pulled back up to the hose and rinsed the dust off. I also got out the power washer and had my semi-annual fun of hosing off the area rugs. Nothing says "clean" to me like 1300 PSI! (Yes, I know, it's just a little weenie household model.)
Well, I'm off to try to weasel out of work so I can ride along to camp, and maybe sneak in a trip to home depot on the way by. This time it's church camp. It's old hat for Things 1 and 2, but this is Thing 3's first year, and she's pretty excited. All the old cliches about how quickly time passes pop to mind. While we played frisbee the other night, I was startled to see all these little boys who are suddenly young men. I've been watching them grow for years, but it seems like baby fat has melted off, jawlines have appeared, and they've added several cumulative feet to their height overnight. I'm already having apoplectic fits about the curves appearing in all the appropriate places on Thing 1, and the evidence that Thing 2 is not too far behind. Now Thing 3 is old enough for sleep-away camp. Yikes.

Cranky!

The dental work went fine. Thing 3 had an office visit yesterday (fillings and a crown), but Thing 4 went to an outpatient surgery center for all his work this morning. One of the possible side affects from pediatric anesthesia is irritability. In spades, apparently. Oy. Thing 4 woke up hard from his dental work. He was a bit freaked out from his IV (fluids) and pitched a hissy until they removed it. He was upset but unable to really articulate any specific pain or discomfort, as he was still groggy. The nurses chalked it up to disorientaion. He sucked down about 3 glasses of juice and water which he saved to upchuck in the van on the way home. He then had a case of puke euphoria, and turned into a chatterbox, alternating between talking a blue streak about the new game dad bought him, and screeching at his sisters for various and sundry infractions on his personal space, his possesions, or his private oxygen supply.
We've recently done some rearranging and put a much smaller TV in the living room, now that we use the projector or movie watching. We hooked up a VCR, and with the lack of cable hereabouts, the kids have been dragging out the old VHS movies. With 5 years between kids, all the sudden the old Disney tapes have been rediscovered. Tarzan, and his crew are new again. Cranky pants and his sisters have settled in to enjoy. I think I'll join 'em. G'nite!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Greetings from Watertown, South Dakota! Things 3 and 4 require some extensive dental work that has been referred to a pediatric dentist and oral surgeon on this side of the border. Thing 4 needs pretty basic work, but enough of it that they want to sedate him and do it all at once rather than subject him to multiple visits. We had to schedule over two days, so we got a hotel room. The hotel has a pool, which is awesome for the kids, a hot tub for mom, and free wireless internet for dad. When we first got here and the hotel was nearly empty, we got speeds of around 1.2 meg. It's calmed down a bit with more ppl on the pipe, but still nice and zippy. We've been cussing our ISP (curse you MVTV Wireless, curse you!) for quite some time because our services is quite unreliable and slow. Unfortunately the ISP's proverbial butt is covered by it's sale of "unmetered" (not unlimited) service of UP TO 1 meg, so when we complain of our 356 up and down connection, our choices are basically "take it" or "leave it." Whee. Qwest DSL doesn't come so far, so our other option is dialup. Hooray. So for today anyway, in between relaxing by the pool and having supper and perhaps drinks out with my brother and his wife, we are enjoying the speedy goodness of wireless.
We went out for supper and are now enjoying Mythbusters. We shut off our cable earlier this year, so it makes TV new again! We gather around the set together just like the old time radio. I think I'll go back to watching Jamie and Adam shoot things. Cool.

Now is the summer of our discontent...

Noble motivations aside, the Things right now are the crabbiest little bunch of Bickersons I have ever seen. Unfortunately, that behavior is contagious, so Mama's cranked up, too. I assume this will pass with the heat, but only time will tell.
Our 4th was fun. Saw friends, enjoyed works, and rolled down a hill. Every grownup should do that once in a while to remember what it's like (ONCE in a while; twice made me want to hurl.) We also had large fun with a projector, A PS2, and a game of Guitar Hero.
Thing 4 turned 4 this week. He's all boy right now; baby's all gone.
Yesterday I packed the grouchy kids into a vehicle with broken AC, and trekked halfway into the next county to witness the baptism of the new nephew. Cute as a bug. It was a bluegrass service, which apparently means country music with a banjo and a harmonica, because it didn't sound like bluegrass to me until they put down the instruments and sang some a capela stuff. Nice, but just not quite there. Picky me. Afterward, it was off to the in-laws house to enjoy some supper and visiting until the sun went far enough down that I didn't have to drive into the glare. On the way home, one of the small towns in between was having its fireworks display for the local festival, and it gave the kids something to watch for a good 20 miles.
Now it's off to church. Hopefully it'll cheer some of us up.

Looky what I got!

Woohoo! I gotsa button! Me likey. Many thanks to Michel for making me feel like somebody extracts something from the drivel I post (and promises drinks!) Now I guess the idea is to pass along the love, so let's see...

To Bossy: Often I can't follow WTF she is saying, but she spews forth comments that make me snort coffee over my keyboard. And one of her handles is Rocker Mom, so who better?

To Britmum: With bonus rockin' for her
Gran.

And to Kelly: Who has to deal with other people's kids en masse on a daily basis, which really rocks.

Copy/paste that button and Rock On!!

Mama's little Sinead

In the interest of camaraderie, Thing 1 has shaved her head along with Nina. Nina never actually lost all of her hair, but the remaining straggles were bothersome, so this afternoon, Nina's dad shaved them both.
Otherwise, the week has been fairly uneventful. No pics or video from the contest. User error. There were three real contenders. The other two placed. My mother-in-law says I got screwed, but she's biased. I may try again in Milbank or Big Stone.
Got the kids collected from their daycamp yesterday. Spent a few hours with the kind folks who've been harboring the fugitives for the past two weeks. I'll have to commission a medal or something.
Thing 1 wasn't home 12 hours before she was begging a sleepover at Nina's. She did her share of chores before she left, though, so I guess it's all good.
Potluck tomorrow, so I'm off to put together taco salad fixings. You all enjoy your Sunday.

Can't trust that day...

At least good ol' Cliff was thoughtful enough to come check under the laundry chute where I'd been standing admiring the empty space I'd made, when the next load came down and buried me.

Monday Monday, can't trust that day....especially when I awoke this morning with an odd sense of optimism. Hmmmm. This is atypical Monday behavior on nearly anyone's part. Must have been that power nap I got yesterday. Thing 4 snuggled in next to me while everyone else was gone, and we zonked out for nearly 3 hours. Got a little recharge I guess. I've always been a fan of the siesta mentality: sleep through the heat and work when it's cool. Unfortunately, the rest of the Midwest doesn't operate on those hours. ANyway, I got quite a bit accomplished last evening, and awoke with grand designs for this week. This could be dangerous...

Fuzznut is back. I was dreading another kitty memorial post. Our cats usually have a tendency to go walkabout a few days at a time and then one day you realize thay've been gone awhile (except for actually finding MamaBob last year). Fuzznut had been missing a few days, and the Things were starting to fret when a neighbor kid reported seeing her at the local river swimming hole. Yesterday while I was powernapping, a neighbor parent had a batch of kids out swimming, and Fuzznut sauntered up to them and was promptly brought home. She settled right back in as if she never left, enjoying the clean litter box and gravy train. Now she is hopscotching on the keyboard. I could use a short vacation from the madhouse now and then myself, but I'll pick a luxury resort over a van down by the river.

Well, I'm not going to accomplish any of those great things sitting here. Any of you in my neighborhood: I have a contest in Willmar on Wednesday, c'mon out and stack the audience for me!!!

It's about time...

...for something to happen that's interesting enough to post about.
No such luck.
But I'll post anyway.
I spent Saturday night at my first 20 year class reunion of the summer. I went to school through the 8th grade in my hometown. It's small enough that they invited anyone that they could locate who'd been in the class. When we moved away, it was only 17 miles to the north, so I was frequently back to visit friends. The reunion for the class I graduated with is in August.
Sunday we drove. A lot. We cruised from my folks in extreme SW MN, to the southern 'burbs of the Twin Cities, then it was a speed run to the office supply store, then home 2 1/2 more hours in the van. With no AC. Yuck. Gotta get that looked at.
Got to IM a bit with Alex today, and get a ballpark estimate on her arrival (3rd wknd of August).
Now, it's off to tame the laundry dragon. If you don't hear from me in a few days, it won.

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye...

...or breaks a nose, I guess. There is a sad old hideabed on our porch. Last night we had some storms roll through, producing some lovely lightning. I pulled the bed out and flopped thereupon with the iPastor to watch the light show. Before too long, we were dogpiled by the three awake Things and, fittingly enough, two of the dogs. All was well until, siblings being as they are, the giggling gave way to some roughhousing. One reflexive kick later and Thing 1 went squealing to the kitchen with a bloody nose. Before too long the squeals dissolved to giggles, and after spattering me with snorted blood at least once in a fit of laughter, we got the bleeding stopped and the floor mopped and life returned to what resembles normal around here.
***
Yesterday's Netflix gem was a little Irish film called Waking Ned Divine. I never got the chance to see it when it came out a few years back. It was a fun little flick, worth an hour and a half of your time.
***
We spent the bulk of our Sunday at the park in Montevideo for Nina's benefit picnic. She had a blast, and it was amazing the people that little girl has touched in her 8 years. Friends and coworkers of her parents, most of her school, all of our church, people from EF, and perfect strangers who saw a poster or read about her in the paper packed the park for food, games, carriage rides and music. The Things and I, and even iPastor in a rare appearance, performed along with several other groups and a soloist over the course of the day. There wasn't a dry eye in the park when Nina got up to sing "My Savior, My God" with Thing 2. I'm a pretty proud wife/mama today, it was a great day for Nina, too. Thing 4 provided entertainment by raiding the goodie tent for cotton candy about a dozen times. My cafe employers were running the tent, and I warned them I would be missing work if I had a kid with a tummyache today. So far he's still sleeping off the sugar crash. I have a feeling Nina slept like a rock last night, too.
***
Our church is on deck to serve coffee at the little community center today, then it's back on the hamster wheel for us. The kids are working odd jobs to pay for camp, iPastor has been bumped to full time to help his supervisor cover for one of the other plants they guard, I'm on all week, and I have the first of two class reunions this summer on Saturday. If it's a bit scarce around here, we'll catch ya on the flipside.

***

Someone sent these pictures from the picnic Sunday.

Who can I make cry today?

Besides me.

8th Grade formal on the last day of school. Next year Thing 1 is officially a high schooler. She's at orientation for her first payroll job (McDonald's) today. *sigh*



Where are you going my little one, little one
Where are you going my baby my own
Turn around and you're two, turn around and you're four
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of the door
Turn around (turn around)
Turn around (turn around)
Turn around and you're a young girl
goin' out of the door

Where are you going my little one, little one
Dirndls and petticoats, where have you gone
Turn around and you're tiny, turn around and you're grown
Turn around and you're a young wife with babes of your own

Where are you going my little one, little one
Where are you going my baby my own
Turn around and you're two, turn around and you're four
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of my door

Two go out, only one comes back...

While cleaning out the outdoor toy bin, we came across a couple of kites that had been languishing far too long. The kids earn reward points at our Sunday night kids' program at church, and are able to redeem points for goods, these kites included. There was a stiff breeze this afternoon, following a squall and a downpour, so we decided to give the kites a try. One was too small to get much loft from the strong wind. Perhaps a tail will better balance it. It was fun for some short-string stunts, though. Sponge Bob and Patrick adorned the slightly bigger one, and it took off in the breeze easily. After a good half hour passing the kite around, Thing 2 lost it from her grasp and it bobbed and soared along the current in the air. Thing 2 followed after it for a good half a section. It reminded me quite a bit of myself in a cow pasture many long years ago. I was able to retrieve mine way back then, but she couldn't locate where hers finally went down. I watched her disappear over a knoll, then a few minutes later, reappear running between rows of new corn, learning a lesson about letting go. It was a lot of energy to expend on a two-bit kite, but she gave it a try and gave up when it became more than the kite was worth. Even with the loss, it was a good bit of fun for as long as they've lain unused in the porch.

School's out!

From a long weekend to a long week. After four days off, Tuesday was a little hard to take, but I managed to slip right back into the old rut and get to work. This week includes a groom's supper and wedding dance, so it'll be nice to see Sunday roll around.
***
We did a bit of rearranging on Monday, and so far the rest of the week I've made no real progress, but haven't backslid either.
***
The kids are done with school until August. Countdown until the first cry of "I'm bored"...
***
Under "C": "I have tater tot gravy in my ear."
***
I don't drink a lot of "road coffee." My schedule allows me to have coffee at home or work. Occasionally, if we're on a long drive or traveling at odd hours, I'll take my chances with a cup of convenience store java, but those times I usually opt for my beloved Starbucks Double Shot Espresso and Cream which I blogged lovingly about at the blog the domain ate last year (lots of caffeine packaged in four bladder-friendly ounces! hooray!) Recently, I needed java at an odd time, and swung through McDonald's drive-through. I had a surprisingly lovely cup of coffee. Small, three creams, just right. Just a handy tip for you coffee lovers out there.
***
Well, back to work now. You all enjoy your weekend off. Don't mind me. Really. I'll be fine.

Sick days

Heard at a friend's house, for the "C" file:

"Nice booger."

***

Actually got a fair bit done yesterday around the house while managing to laze around a bit for recuperative purposes and take in Grad party #1 of the weekend. The general ache has subsided somewhat, but I still wasn't up to hanging around outside in the wind and bluster at a campground. After church today, we stopped by the Evil*Empire to pick up various accoutrement and a card for Grad #2. We arrived at their home to find it empty, but there was a young lady there looking just as perplexed. We tracked them down on the cell phone at their church instead of home (well, their kid that graduated last year had his party at home; I didn't bother looking that closely at the invitation.) The young lady and we took great comfort in each other making the same mistake, and were told that someone else had called from the wrong church, so it must have just been a confusing day.
We returned home in time for coffee time and King's Kids at church, then came home, baked a cake and had a fire in the pit and good conversation around it. I should stay home sick more often. The flu-like yuck has been replaced with a more cold-like yuck. I am losing my voice and the family is secretly rejoicing.
I did manage to croak through a song at church today. I had arranged a replacement to take my turn at special, but it didn't pan out so it was fortuitous that I stayed home. Nina's still doing OK, but her grandma is having health issues now. It's just one thing after another for them. The song I chose for today was, not entirely by coincidence, a song by Casting Crowns about ministering to others in difficult times. Sometimes events transpire that we as people of faith have a hard time understanding. The trite "bad things to good people" scenario doesn't even begin to cover it sometimes. In his lyrics, Mark Hall reminds us that we do not have to explain why things happen, we just have to love people and take care of them. I wasted a bit of time off looking for a legal music widget to play this for you, but instead, you just get the lyrics.

Love them Like Jesus

The love of her life is drifting away
They’re losing the fight for another day
The life that she’s known is falling apart
A fatherless home, a child’s broken heart

You’re holding her hand, you’re straining for words
You trying to make - sense of it all
She’s desperate for hope, darkness clouding her view
She’s looking to you

Just love her like Jesus, carry her to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves her and stay by her side
Love her like Jesus
Love her like Jesus

The gifts lie in wait, in a room painted blue
Little blessing from Heaven would be there soon
Hope fades in the night, blue skies turn to grey
As the little one slips away

You’re holding their hand, you’re straining for words
You’re trying to make sense of it all
They’re desperate for hope, darkness clouding their view
They’re looking to you

Just love them like Jesus, carry them to Him
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
Love them like Jesus

Lord of all creation holds our lives in His hands
The God of all the nations holds our lives in His hands
The Rock of our salvation holds our lives in His hands
He cares for them just as He cares for you

So love them like Jesus, love them like Jesus
You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions
Just know that He loves them and stay by their side
Love them like Jesus
Love them like Jesus

It's always something...

A couple of weeks ago we had planned a visit to Omaha for a graduation. We would also drop in on Cliff on the way. A couple unexpected bills made us have to cancel the trip. This weekend, friends of our are camping at the state park near my hometown. We were going to "camp" at grandma's (HDTV and beds inside: my kind of camping), join our friends to visit and play at the park, and get down to the cemetery to decorate. iPastor has been battling an ear infection for two weeks. I had hoped he would be feeling better for the trip, but not so much. Then yesterday I woke up with a fever/chills/ache/nausea version of the crud that's going around. So we will spend out weekend at home instead. We're both feeling a bit better, but still not up to travel and socialization. We have a couple of graduation parties to visit, but those can be short & sweet. Maybe we'll get something else done around here. One kid wants to play musical rooms again, so we'll maybe get her settled in.

***

Another to file under "C"

"Pick up your lizard and put it away."

***

Well, you all enjoy your holiday weekend, hopefully without driving up the demand for gas. That means no RVing, boating, plowing, four-wheelers, wet jets or NASCAR. Have fun with that.

File under "C"...

...for "Conversations only heard in homes with small children:

"Get your fairy out of my oatmeal."

***

Otherwise, the girls and I lived through a day-long,, two-show, dance extravaganza marathon, and we are done with that for the year. iPastor, on the other hand, still has to edit, dupe and ship the video. Hopefully that will be a much less complicated process this year.
Now we are back into the rut, and I am re-determined to continue with the clutter busting. We just signed on for our fifth exchange student (Hi Alex!) from EF (which we highly recommend, both the experience and EF, at least our local branch rocks!) Although I always hope to improve my home just for my own comfort and my family's, the impending arrival of a new kid in August gives me a deadline of sorts. I feel this way every time, and I always make some progress, if not huge strides, so here's hoping...

Now it's off to work again.

Bo-ring

Life in my comfy rut plods along as per usual. The end of the school year is approaching at a frightening rate. One of the signals of this is dance recital, which happens tomorrow. Firestorm is the official videographer of said event, but this year, the Minnesota Scottish Fair unfortunately moved to the same weekend. iPastor is the regional commissioner or grand poobah or whatever of the Minnesota chapter of Clan MacDougallso his loyalties were a bit divided. He swapped labor with one of our trusty occasional camera ops, and will head off to the Fair while someone else runs the cam for once. I won't have to run a camera either, so for the first time in seven years, I will not have to watch the show through a viewfinder. Cool. Now I have to buy a ticket...
Nina seems to be responding well to chemo. She was almost her normal self last week at church. She still has a long road ahead, but hopefully it will all go this well.
With that, I leave you to go get all the little dancers settled in for their beauty rest. G'nite!

Nina update

Nina's folks put up a page for her at Caringbridge.org. Her site name is ninabuchanan. If you want to send a special little girl some internet love, go check it out.

Lum nips

So, two visits to the dentist in two days. I (finally) had the last two wisdom teeth out, and about 5 other fillings. It's a good thing I'm typing this, because my mouth is still too slack and numb to form coherent words. The aftershock from yesterday's visit was minimal, and the two other extractions I've had with this dentist were painless, so I'm hoping the record holds. Otherwise, I'm starving, but can't hold food in my mouth without it sliding out the front just yet.

Thing 4 was bitten by something in bed that left a nasty ol' welt on him the size of a silver dollar. iPastor took him to have it checked. Other than itch, it didn't seem to be bothering him, but it looked awful. That stuff creeps me out. Waiting to hear about that. (update: Doc says keep an eye on it. Duh.)

Been trying to get out in the yard as much as possible. Having a couple days off for the dentist freed up my afternoons a little. I'm enjoying the nice weather. I'd like to get my garden in soon, but it will have to wait until I have some cash to buy plants.

Well, I'm off to putz in the yard and hang laundry on the line, until my mouth loosens up enough to eat.

A very blustery night

I could have told you last night would be windy. I have an awesome pink crabapple tree. Ever since I started this bloggity thing, way back in primeval old Blogger days, through a domain that dumped us for excessive spam traffic (hey iPastor, we still need a refund from those guys, we paid for ten years...) and back to Blogger again, I think I should post a picture of my beautiful flowering crab. Every year when it blooms, it is absolutely gorgeous for about ten minutes, then we get wind and/or rain and it's gone. It bloomed Friday. Last night we had sustained straight-line winds of 25-30 with gusts over 60 for about 6-8 hours. This morning at about 7, the dogs went haywire and the wind switched from the south to the east and kicked up for about half an hour before dying down to a stiff breeze. There are trees down all over, but our yard is OK. We have shingles in the yard and a broken window, thankfully one of the old storm windows. A friend at work lost her roof.

I should get out and work on cleaning up the yard a little bit, but I just got done clearing that path in the basement, so I'm taking a little break. iPastor and the Cosmic Junkie are on their way back from the Home Despot with a new washer for Mama Goose! Woot! I'm livin' civilized again!

In other news, iPastor and I went completely insane (again) a couple of weeks ago...



...and brought home Polly, aka Polly Lobster, aka Polly Piddles. iPastor mentioned once that he'd love to have a beagle if we ever got another dog. After we got the cockers mostly settled in, someone posted Polly on Freecycle(tm). We're suckers.


That brings the canine population to three...



See that black and tan boy, Tiger? I started giving them a scissors cut, because I have been too cheap on time and money to get 'em to the groomers, but I wanted them to be able to see and not overheat. Anyway, the B&T is almost the same color as the red now with his coat trimmed. I think he's what they call "sable" but I'm not really certain with the whole Cocker terminology thing. The vet thinks the red is actually red sable as well. I don't care, I'm lovin' 'em, not showing 'em. We're really working on training the dogs and people to a potty and play schedule. I think Polly's got a bladder the size of a walnut. She pees every 20 minutes, but never very much. iPastor dutifully went off to buy dog food, but missed the trusty farm store by a few minutes. So he popped across the street to the Evil*Empire, and came home with a bag of Ol'Roy. I have NEVER smelled anything so vile as those dogs on cheapo food. Blearg!

My new washer is here, and we have to do some strong-arming of a corroded spigot, so I will leave you now and head to the basement. Toodles.

Perspective

Initial reports from Minneapolis Children's are encouraging. The doctors feel Nina's got excellent chances for full recovery. She's got a long road ahead, though. She's already started chemo. If she feels well enough, she can meet her class at the zoo for her field trip Friday. Please keep the prayers going. The family also cares for a disabled grandma at home, and has been doctoring Nina's little sister quite a bit lately as well. I am amazed at their resilience, and their commitment to each other over the past few years' challenges.

Yesterday, our old washer finally died. The poor old thing has been rigged and fiddled with for so long, it finally gave up the ghost. I think we'll have to wait until Sunday to make a trip to Home Depot for a new one. Those folks are foolish enough to give us credit! It means foregoing a new mower this year, but the neighbor already volunteered to do that, as she's scrounging for summer work, so it all works out in the end. It seems he washer always dies when the laundry pile is knee high. As I went to the basement and made the discovery yesterday, I was starting to get that feeling of disgust/dismay at the mess before me, and I stopped and remembered my healthy, noisy, PITA kids. My life is fine. A trip to the laundromat never hurt anyone, and the dryer and clothesline still function perfectly. Thing 3 asked this morning what detergent I used to make her clothes smell so good. Just the sunshine...

Now I suppose I'd better go fold and put away the first batch. Gotta clear a path to put the new washer in.

Pray for Nina

Our friend's 8-year-old daughter has just been diagnosed with leukemia. This is the cherry on top of several other health and caregiving issues for them. Please pray for Nina's health and her family's strength.

May Day!

So, a moment to catch up, perhaps?

Chronology is out the window here. We'll be time shifting all over the place.

First off, women's retreat was lovely, the drive to Austin was not. There is no real expedient route from the WC part of our fair state to the SC or SE. Many of the US highways have been upgraded to 4-lane; many others have not. Most of the state roads seem to have been planned to get from one US highway to the next. In a nutshell, it took 4 hours to go 150 miles. Yuck. Once there, we had a delightful time. We had a n awesome speaker on words and how we use and abuse them. We also had ample time to hang out and do girly things. I have nail polish on for the first time in, um, I can't remember. The drive home sapped the life from me, and I crashed for a power nap. Rested and renewed, indeed.

Today was mayday, so the Things and I hastily made baskets in the car this morning, and Thing 4 passed them out. May baskets used to be an after-school activity in the neighborhood where I grew up. We'd tape ribbon handles on dixie cups, load 'em with candy and pass 'em out. We never got into the sneaky stuff, we'd usually meet up in a gang outside and trade, then take any extras around. One of the aforementioned girly events was thrift shopping, and I hit a sale and got a whole batch of little wicker baskets for about a dime each. Beats monkeying with tape.
Our after-school hours are monopolized with dance today, so iPastor and I drove (how lazy! but we were hauling putzy little baskets) around the neighborhood to hang them on doorknobs.

Thing 4 was just getting a handle on the "ding dong ditch" methodology.

Sometimes, however, stealth went out the window, such as when the little yardapes were outside.




We took a basket to where the seniors have coffee every day, and he did get "caught" and kissed. He didn't quite know what to make of that. It got the folks buzzing about Maydays past. iPastor says they actually brought little baskets of the dixie cup kind to school much like a Valentine party, and they had a gym teacher who made a big deal of setting up a maypole.

More to come later. iPastor and the Thing have gone off to deliver one more basket and have coffee with friends. I need to get ready for work!

Whiz bang.

Another week? Dang. Let's see what I got for y'all...

Um, not much.

I have given notice at the bar job. I am too old for this. Waitressing is fine; I love Job 2. Smoky rooms, late nights, and mouthy drunks have sucked the life out of me. I'm done. I will be going back to class this summer, and something's gotta give. I still need a second job, but I'll find something else.

Otherwise, been busy working, walking dogs, and enjoying the spring weather in the yard a little bit.

Now I need to go pack for women's retreat. I'll catch y'all on the flip side.

Chirp Chirp

The snow melted, and the temps have been decidedly more spring-like, so I've been spending a fair amount of time outside and not at the computer. Today is a pretty day, but the breeze makes it a bit too cool for a weenie like me to want to spend any real time out there, so I'm back to grace you all with my presence.

Yesterday was Thing 3's spring concert for school. They gave a little program about a bullfrog who bullied all the animals in the swamp. When they needed someone to sing for the swamp concert, they asked the bully-frog because they heard him sing in the shower, then he was friendly. Moral: if you want the lead in the show, bully everyone until you get it. Seems to work in real life...

I have been working since Easter with no full days off. I will work until April 27, when I go to women's retreat. I'll need it. Dang those bills, anyway.

I should now go feed the Things. You all have a delightful day!

My, how the days do fly...

So I hope everyone had a blessed Easter while I was spacing off. We had a lovely day. iPastor came in when the alarm went off and said, "Christ has risen, and that noise means you should, too." He was on a roll, as I stumbled to the bathroom he quipped, "...and you think YOU feel like death warmed over..." What an acrobat, walking that fine line between irreverence and blasphemy with such skill. Whoever says God doesn't have a sense of humor never looked too closely at a platypus. iPastor is fond of saying a guy couldn't walk around the desert with 12 other guys and not tell a few jokes around the campfire. As long as we're down this path anyway, my favorite has to be a Christmas card I once saw with a disgruntled Mary standing in her living room with the door ajar, and the caption, "Jesus Christ, were you born in a barn?"

I woke Monday with yet another cold, probably contracted from Thing 4's perpetual snotty nose lately. We seem to have had more than usual of the bugs this year. None of them has gotten really bad, but we just can't seem to shake 'em, either. Oh well, some time out in the fresh air should help, if it would EVER QUIT SNOWING!!!! Three inches of slushy crap overnight, which means crunchy crap today. Yuck. The buzz has been more on Friday, but TWC says only 41 and windy. That might be miserable, but actually helps dry things out a bit. Friday also happens to be my 16th wedding anniversary, which is neither here nor there, but I thought I'd toss it out there for ya.

Well, I'd better go walk the dogs before they explode and dry shirts for work. Have a swell day, all.

Winter, Round 2

Last Monday it was 77 degrees and sunny out. Yesterday it snowed. Today is windy and cold with intermittent patches of snow and sun. Springtime in Minnesota, as per usual.

Had a day off from both jobs. Thing 4 had preschool screening, in which all the teachers and nurses made me feel SO much better by saying things like "I can't believe he's grown up this much already!" and "I remember when he was just a baby." So do I.

I followed this up with a trip to the dentist, where I confirmed what I already was pretty sure of; I'll soon have two teeth pulled and one fixed. Blech. I topped that off with a deep cleaning under the gums, so a good time was had by all.

iPastor treated us to lunch and we came home to watch "Thank You for Smoking." Wicked funny.

I had many ideas of depth and candor to share with you all today, and I can't think of a blessed thing now that I am seated at the computer. So I guess I will go work on making my home a lovely and comfortable place for the family, or at least scrape the top layer of scuzz off and see to it they have clean underwear.

Whirlwind

iPastor and I both worked 'til the wee hours Friday nite/Saturday morning, then hauled our collective butts out of bed and into the vangina (it is pear-shaped and carries my kids, non?) and headed off to the big Cities. We took the south route in, opened the door and dumped our kids off on the flyby with friends in Savage; then we hustled up to the Capitol for Tartan Day ceremonies. Any excuse to hang out in a room full of kilted men is OK by me. Yummy.
I was about to riff on how its hard for any guy to make a kilt look bad. Then I found this site. Sorry. I still assert that when they're worn CORRECTLY, a kilt can look good on a man of any size, shape or age.

Due to moving inside the rotunda, the ceremony was shortened by at least half, so we were back on the road to Savage within the hour. We somehow managed to find gridlock on a Saturday, and made a twenty minute (on a normal Saturday) trip in 45. We fed the kids and let them loose upon each other. Our hosts had been invited to the Buffalo Tap to celebrate a friend's new job, so we headed out for really good food (try it if you get near the south 'burbs--ask for JoAnn) and shenanigans. Karaoke was sung (on a bit of a rinkydink system, and the KJ needs a few lessons in running a pro show) cards were played, and the proverbial good time was had by all. We loaded up the kids and headed home, arriving at 4am to discover the dog-walker had fed the dogs about three times what they normally get in a day and their room looked and smelled like a cattle yard. Gonna have to come up with a plan "c" for dog maintenance when we're away.
Rolled back out of bed in time for church, Palm Sunday brunch and Easter egg hunting in the snow. Yes folks, it is Minnesota and if you don't like the weather it will change in five minutes.
Now that the festivities are over, I think will grab a Sunday nap, then go buy groceries for the week.

Still breathing

Nothing to see here, move along...

Well, not much anyway.

Got a new front door to keep the thievin' neighbor kid at bay.

The quiet Thing got laryngitis.

Thing 4 has been coming up to say "How about a handshake?" Oh, for cute! (That's for Bossy.)

Thing 2 wants her name changed for her birthday.

Several of these are actually fodder for longer posts, but not tonite. I waded thru a couple Netflix movies, and I'm going to bed now.

Rut? What rut?

We seem to have hit that lovely cycle of work, sleep, work, sleep, work, work, sleep...
Bo-ring. I am, however, thankful for the lack of minor emergencies and mechanical breakdowns that usually spice things up around here.
The aging process hasn't slowed at all. I registered Thing 1 for high school (ACK!) yesterday. Thing 4 has preschool screening in a couple weeks. Oy.
The weathermen have been wrong about all the precip. It's been damp and gloomy, but nothing has actually fallen from the clouds. Today may actually produce some rain, but for now it is really foggy. I should join Cliff in keeping the gravel pit employees busy by hauling me in some gravel findings for my parking area, but I think I still owe them for filling my cistern, so that might have to wait a while yet. So for now, I'll just park on the street and stay out of the muck.
Off to update my netflix queue and prepare for another exciting day of digging my rut.

Get the hip waders...

The temps are cooling a bit, but still "unseasonably warm" according to the weatherman types who are supposed to know. I get my weather info from the 'net. I do occasionally check out local network weather, mostly to see what all the fuss over Sven is about. Apparently the little Nordic hottie has all the teenage girls and gay men in the Metro atwitter. Doesn't do it for me, but I'm over 16 and het. Anyway, along with the warm weather, 7 of the next 10 days have some sort of precip in the forecast. Good for the melt, not so good for drying out. The soil needs the moisture, but I'm tired of mopping already.
This is truly a Minnesota blog. I've regressed to talking about the weather. I have a couple of posts perking in the back of my brain, sort of in response to things I've read elsewhere lately, but I'll save those for another day. For now, I shall return to my life as a domestic goddess, and wipe a little nose, do a little laundry, and otherwise just try to make some visible progress through my home.

Spring is in the air, mud is on my shoes...

...and dogs, and car, and just about everything. The gravel patch where we park is soup. The snow piles were so high they are melting slowly while other sections turn into lakes. Luckily, the very back of the yard where I want to work first is in full sun and should dry quickly.

The older Things want to do some gardening. I think I'll set them up a gro-lite in the basement and let them start some plants. Thing 1 wants flowers, Thing 2 wants veg. I'm sure Thing 3 will chime in eventually. I'm all for it; our yard can't look any worse than it does. Might as well dig up some veg patches. Better start tying the dogs outside fairly often when the ground dries to keep the rabbits away.

I am actually making progress around the house today, so I'd better get up before I stall out. Happy planting!

Fun on a Saturday

Thing 2 wanted to bake cookies today, so she got her stuff ready while I made dinner. I looked over and told her to put on an apron and refrain from wiping her hands on her butt, as she had a big white handprint. She returned to her work, and said
"...that's either five or six scoops. I lost count. Mom distracted me with her butt crack."
She will never live it down.

Recovering from the weekend

So I wound up not having to work Job #2 Thursday, either, and slacked off something fierce. Friday I got to skip Job #1 again and go to Job #2 just long enough to work a groom's supper. Hard to cancel a wedding because of snow (but I daresay its been done). In fact, check out the Cosmic Junkie's cool snow pic. That's how bad it got here! I got out of there relatively early, bar-wise, ran to the convenience store, and picked up some hot chocolate, and woke up Thing 1 for some mommy time. It was her 14th (!!!!!) birthday Friday. She'd had a yucky day. She's grounded over a less-than-stellar midterm report, and was unable to enjoy her freedom on the snow days. With dad off at work, I let her crawl into bed with me and we drank hot chocolate in bed (verboten!!) It was nice to have her snuggle up to me. The next day at work I got to hold a co-worker's new baby. I miss those days, but the snuggle isn't that much different when they're 14.

I realize I have transposed the job #s. How will you live? My morning job is actually the second job chronologically. Now that you know, I'm sure you are much relieved. Anyway, I picked up a shift at the day job, so I put in 8 hours there Saturday, went home, gave the kids some quick attention, grabbed a nap, then put in 7 at the bar. I was ready for a day of rest, indeed. We had potluck at church, so I threw a little turkey in the roaster and dinner was taken care of. Came home, flopped on the couch, was immediately flopped upon by two dogs, and I watched Little Miss Sunshine. I enjoyed it.

I realize now that I shouldn't have treated the dogs with turkey scraps. I'd forgotten about dog flatulence. Cripes!

Back to what resembles "normal" around here. That bus comes stinkin' early, so I'll bid you all a good night.

Snowbound by choice

The "official" snowfall tally so far is 2.5", with more on the way. The main roads are plowed, but there's blowing and drifting to keep things interesting. I called work and told them I could make it if needed, but maybe it was better to keep the tip pool small. They said fine, so I am slackin' off until job 2.

So, I will jump back in to the TT fray wih this little bit of nonsense...

Thirteen Things to do (or not do) on a snow day 1. Sleep in (after checking the radio for school cancellations, etc.) 2. Stay in Jammies as long as possible. 3. Think about giving the dogs a bath, then realize they're just gonna get wet and dirty again next time they go out in the snow. 4. Brush the dogs instead. 5. Trim nails and clean ears while you're at it. 6. Watch the netflix you ordered. 7. Cook up a big ol...(insert your favorite here, pot o chili, cake, batch o' brownies, hotdish...) 8. Eat most of it yourself because the kids have all abandoned to go build snowforts (that's the good thing about March snow, usually warm enough to go enjoy it) 9. Catch up on laundry 10. Wait for the plow to go by, then dig out the car. 11. Make homemade hot cocoa 12. Work on cleaning out the junk (room, drawer, basement, heated garage...) 13. Plant rump firmly on chair and surf away the day. Number thirteen is starting to pan out...

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Again with the randomness

More snow on the way. Coming down thick and heavy at the moment. We may have a snow day tomorrow. What some people won't do for a day off work.

***

I really need a haircut. It's getting to the point where I just work in some gel when it's wet and blow dry it back and out of my eyes, and hope for the best. I've been getting a kind of retro swoop thing going. Last weekend for work I wound up looking like this:
I really need a haircut.

***

More on the "warping our children" front: Thing 1 asked if we can watch Rocky Horror Picture Show sometime soon. Oh dear.

***

And finally, an allegory for you. Thing 4 is warming up to the dogs, however, probably because he lives on their level, he notices that they smell like dogs.
"The doggies are stinky!" he announces.
"But we still love them." I reply.
"No, they stinky!" he asserts.
"I still love you even when you're stinky." I remind him (so potty training isn't going so well...)
I take a little pause.
Lately I've been noticing the quote "Your attitude(s) is (are) like the aroma of your heart." The coach in Facing the Giants says it, but I haven't been able to track down his source, and I've seen it popping up elsewhere. I can have some pretty stinky attitudes, but God loves me even when I'm stinky. How lucky we are to be loved unconditionally. We can joyfully accept His love, or scorn and reject it, but is there for the taking no matter what our mood at the moment.

***

Off to batten down the hatches. Stay safe and warm.

What have we done to these children, v2.0

So I come downstairs this morning to the sound of Thing 4 watching movies; not Shrek, or Lion King, but the singalong feature on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, as he bounces along to "Knights of the Round Table." Oy. This is almost as good as the time I found him and Thing 3 smacking their foreheads with DVD cases as they watched the monk scene. Thing 1 can frequently be found sprawled on the couch with her father's boxed set of M*A*S*H*. Our children will either have very eclectic tastes, or be royally screwed up.

And so it came...

My FIL, the weather geek, says we got 10" of snow; neighbor says she heard 16"on the radio. It was plenty. Wet and heavy. Good for the dirt, bad for weak roofs. When iPastor came home from night shift at 6am, the highway had been plowed to one lane, but the streets had not. He's lucky he made it into the yard with that lightweight, low-slung Geo. The neighbors came to blow us out, and as I dug out the wheels, the snow was right up to the frame.
I was awakened by iPastor answering the phone. The neighbor from across town was in Monte waiting for a ride, and couldn't rouse anyone at home. I went out to go check, and quickly determined it would be faster to walk than to try to extricate the vehicles. Walking in wet snow is a better workout than a Stairmaster(tm). Too heavy to shuffle along in, you have to step over. And over. After I got home from waking the neighbor (helps that they have large, loud dogs) I figured I was in for a penny, so I took my dogs for their morning potty. At first they seemed to enjoy a romp in the snow. It wasn't too long before they figured out it was almost as deep as them, and they got tired of jumping.
The forays into the snow weren't half bad. 25 degrees is plenty warm when you're properly clothed and exercising a bit. Happily, it is no longer 25 below zero. This snow will melt relatively soon, and probably be replaced by another blast or two before spring. We do have snow in the forecast most of this coming week, but I don't think in this amount. I had hoped to take pictures, but it would require working up enough gumption to find the camera. And batteries.
Thing 1 is working on a service project. She won a Kiwanis essay contest, telling what she would do for someone if given $100, opting to send some homemade care packages to servicemen in Iraq through anysoldier.com. She's downstairs working on her homemade goodie bags. We suggested she see who else she could get to contribute, so she hit up the local Lions and got another $100. Mama's little capitalist.
Off to finish supper. Monkey brains tonight!

Here it comes...

We've had an abnormally snowless winter here in Minnesota, so now that a three-day storm is on the way, its all people have been talking about all week. We desperately need the moisture, so its a good thing, really. The snow was supposed to start about 2 am, but held off until about 9:30 this morning, after spitting a nasty layer of freezing rain on the ground to slick things up a bit first. At least it was little pellets, and not sheet ice. I'll have to wait until this afternoon to see if I attempt the drive to work. My boss has farther to drive, and goes right past here. Maybe I'll make my drive dependent on whether he makes it. My luck, he'll have stayed over in town.
The girls and I started out with great progress on the house this morning, and are taking a well-deserved break. I should get back to it, however, before I lose my momentum.
Sadly, now that I sit down to address you fine folks, I find myself lacking anything to say, so i'll leave y'all alone and go peruse seed catalogs online. The first seed catalog used to come the week (and once even the day) after Christmas. Since I started looking online, however, I have to go search out the info on my own. I miss having a catalog to tote to the kitchen table or bathroom to peruse at leisure. I'll have to sign up for a mailer to fix that.

Road Trip

We're back from going to see Mercy Me in concert last night. The bands were awesome; the trip less so. Kids had attitude, iPastor had little patience for them, and I tried to enjoy myself despite them all, with varying levels of success. I suppose it was about time for a letdown. I usually spend more time planning and fiddling with little trips like this than we actually spend on them. So far, the trips we've taken have turned out fairly well. Guess everyone needs a clunker now and then. I was so stoked for this concert, and the music was all I expected. Could have done without the distractions.
It seems we finally have a break in the weather. Let it climb above freezing and we start acting like it's summer around here. It was 37 degrees today, and we saw shorts and flip flops all over the mall. Most area schools were out so it seemed like a weekend.
Been a little scarce around here lately, but the routine has been mostly the same old work and sleep cycle. Aside from a bum knee kicking up to complicate matters, things have been pretty uneventful.
With that, I'm off to settle the troops in for the night.

Thursday Thirteen

Lately Thing 4 has taken to saying he's "afraid" a lot. He is usually afraid of anything he doesn't want to do. For simplicity's sake, this week's list...

Thirteen Things to be afraid of, according to a three year old 1. The dark 2. shoes 3. coat 4. bedtime 5. supper (instead of bananas, which instill no fear whatsoever) 6. mom 7. dad 8. the other Things 9. his toys (instead of the babysitter's toy that he wants to bring home...) 11. sitting up straight 12. bathtime 13. clean pants

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants



***

So I'm pretty sick of freezing my fanny, among other things, every time I go outside. The temperature was supposed to creep up into the 20s and 30s by Sunday, now it's been pushed back to next Wednesday. The sun is nice. It's sharp and bright and very pretty, from the inside looking out, anyway.

***

Waitress gem of the week:

"Is that the only soup you have today?"

"Yes."

"So there's no other soup today?"



I get major bonus karma points for throttling my inner sarcastic witch. It would have been too difficult to choose which reply to use anyway...

"Yeah, we have three, I just said that to annoy you."

"I could run down the street to the store and get you a can."

I even withheld the simple "Are you really such an idiot?" stare, and kept my happy face firmly plastered on.

***

On other fronts, Job #2 is great. Short shifts, fun people to work with, fun with customers as above and nice ones, too. The major downfall is the reputation this place has for evil desserts and really good food. Not part of the weight loss plan at all. Every day I must calculate something along the lines of, "Did the running I did burn enough calories to justify the chocolate macadamia nut pie?"

***

I must be off to get things done before I go. It's a two-job day. Ick.

More random randomness

I bought some new bath products at the Evil*Empire Saturday. I got a couple of bottles of "3-in-1 Bubble Bath, Body Wash, and Shampoo" Someone in the health and beauty industry has finally figured out that soap is soap. I, and I am willing to bet most consumers, have been using liquid bath products interchangeably for years. Now it's a marketing point rather than just being too lazy to run to the store for shampoo. Another disturbing observation; on the bottles is a bright yellow sticker that says New! Flavor! Who's tasting the soap?

***

Woohoo! The high today is expected to (just barely) break zero. Can spring be far away? I did notice more daylight as I sent the kids off to the bus this morning. This is the time of year when we start to gain daylight at a noticeable rate. I am stoked.

***

Well, it's not above zero yet, so I'd best go start the vehicle warming.

Randomness

That seems to be the word of choice for Thing 2 these days, so I may as well roll with it.

***

The doggy assimilation seemed to be coming along nicely. After getting home at 2:30 am from Job 1, then having to get Things 1 and 2 on the Speech bus at 8:00am yesterday, I was ready for a little quality couch time. I popped in a movie for the younger Things, and snuggled in to doze. Dogs apparently thought this was swell, because they hopped up to join me of their own accord. I may have stunted all progress today by giving them baths, as they seem particularly skittish, but I'll have to see if they calm back down.

***

Its cold. Bitter. Biting. Piercing. Yuck. I have had amazing luck with car batteries, as we have no garage or tank or block heaters on either vehicle (I realize this is stupid living in Minnesota, but who am I to be blamed for having common sense?) I did have to put some isopropyl in the van which cranked right over, but would not stay running. The temperature is supposed to sneak back up painfully slowly over the week, and Sunday jump into the mid-thirties. It's a heat wave people.

***

I am ignoring the Superbowl. I hope the Colts win, simply because my friend Ann will be impossible to live with if the Bears win. For better football fun, check out Facing the Giants, which my church will be showing in a couple weeks.

***

I suppose I should go draw a bath and scrape of the stank. We had no water all day yesterday due to a main break. It seems to be at least a monthly occurrence hereabouts. Our water bill has been increasing on a steady scale to make improvements, but I haven't seen any yet. Gripe. Maybe a bath will improve my disposition as well as the ambience. Ta!

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