Mindless Everyday Chatter

And there's still more

2011-02-24T15:24:00.003-05:00

Went through some clothes. Thanks to his two older brothers, Joshua has clothes for years to come. I have pulled out those that were too small and placed in "new" clothes previously worn by his brothers. And there is more to go through. The thing is, Brendan & Aaron are built completely different. This means that through the years, I have had to buy slim pants and regular pants. And twice the amount of shirts, because generally they are in the same size shirts at the same time. Take for example a recent shopping trip....I bought 8 regular for Aaron (as Brendan's 8 slims would not fit Aaron) and 10 slim for Brendan. BUT, I have to buy them the same size shirts. So I have TWICE the amount of shirts for Josh to choose from when he hits any given size. As far as pants, I think Joshua is going to be on the slim side, so most the regular labeled pants won't fit him. Those I will still hang on to just in case I'm wrong..... but I doubt it ;)

I have almost all my boys' clothes from through the years. Ryan and I had always planned to have another child and I just couldn't part with them "just in case" we had a 4th boy. Now what? Am I ready to give in and get rid of the clothes? Nope. I'm holding out :)

Well, the 2 big boys will be off the bus here shortly. I have to get back in that room and put away my piles before they run in and everything gets mixed up again.......

2011-02-24T10:08:00.003-05:00

Just had 2 days in OB. Now for 2 days off :) Then back on for 4 dreaded days. I don't dread my work, I dread the 4 days in a row. 2 days in MedSurg, the next 2 in OB. By the end of 3 12's I'm a zombie. By the end of 4 you may as well not talk to me, cause I will be zoned. BUT, the most excellent thing is after those 4 days on, I have 6 days off! Makes it worth it in the end.

Today I am spending my day around the house. Laundry is top priority, along with cleaning the house. Not that our house is 'dirty' because we are always keeping up on it, but I need to do the deeper cleaning things today. Ick. But I also want to get into Joshua's dresser today. Many of the clothes in his drawers are too small for him and taking up room. I have to then pack those clothes away. After that, I have bins and bins of boys clothes to go through and see which ones will fit Joshua now. Having 3 boys is nice for that reason.....lots of hand-me-downs. BUT, I also saved almost everything, so the amount of boys clothes I have is just nuts. I am really hoping to find out that my friend is having a boy so I can pass these bins onto her.

Later...

She gave me all she had.......

2011-02-21T16:46:00.003-05:00

Well, my Saturn died this morning. That was the first car that I had bought myself, in 1995. I drove it until we had kids, then Ryan took it over, leaving me with the van. It never stranded us, until today, the day it moved no longer. We were lucky to have a friend from Paradise that was in the Soo today, as he picked up Ryan and took him into work and is bringing him home tonight. Thank goodness!

We knew it wasn't going to last much longer, we had just started looking into getting a used vehicle soon, but not this soon or this rushed. Now the search begins......we want a newer-used minivan. A minivan just is the only vehicle that makes sense for us right now. With 3 boys and Trudie, it is the perfect vehicle. I thought about a smaller car to drive back and forth, but there are days when I have to pick up the kids & Trudie, and a car just won't do for that.

Have to make dinner soon. Have a good day.

Saturday

2011-02-19T05:10:00.003-05:00

No work for me today. Yesterday I started in MedSurg but ended up in OB around 1pm until time to go home. Census has been up for so long....this is a good thing as it means job security :)

I'm sitting here this early because I'm getting a fire going. Our furnace isn't heating so it is only blowing cold air. It has been this way for almost a week, but the warmer temps outside have made this easier, that it, until yesterday. Our weather out there is awesome. Cold, blustery, snowy....everything I love about winter. Thank goodness we have the woodburner :)

Speaking of winter, looking outside, it is hard to tell how much snow we have gotten. Much drifting has occurred and it is still blowing out there. I think we will be spending most of our day inside. That could be a good thing, because I have a lot to do in this house. I desperately need to go through each of the dressers for the boys to pull out clothes that do not fit them anymore. That is something that has needed to be done for months, but hasn't happened. I also need to do Mount Washmore--my large pile of laundry that occurs with 3 boys. And paperwork, there is always mail, bills, etc to go through. But really on days like this, I would love to just cuddle up with a good book (on my Kindle) and read my day away.

That brings me to books. I have read so many good books lately. Friends on Facebook have suggested so many and they have all been wonderful. One of the simplest joys in life is a good book. If you are needing a good book to read, I HIGHLY recommend The Help and The Book Thief. Amazing.

Well, looks like my fire has taken off and I can feel the heat already. Being that I don't work today, there is no other reason for me to be awake at 5am, so I am going to try to go back to sleep. I most likely won't be able to get back to sleep, but if I don't I will just make myself a nice cup of coffee and read. Not a bad way to start the day!

2011-02-14T10:28:00.001-05:00

DENTIST TODAY FOR ME & JOSHUA! Yep, I'm pretty excited to go. Not that I'm excited about the 1 hour and 15 minute drive, but excited to go all the same.

School Board meeting tonight..........

February already..

2011-02-10T10:34:00.002-05:00

I swore that I had updated this thing more recent than February! Guess time is going faster than I had anticipated.

Cold up here today. Had lots of snow yesterday and thru the n ight. I used that b***h of a snowblower yesterday......it does the job, but is a bit too large for me. I use all the strength in my hands to keep it going. By the time I was finished with the driveway, my back was drenched with sweat, my arms and hands were like rubber, and I was breathing much to fast. Yes we have the tractor with the plow, but Ryan said there is a line broke, making it difficult to change plow direction.....which means he doesn't want me to use it.

Catching up on paperwork today. Paying bills. Getting tax documents in order.

I have made a lot of appointments for this month. We went from not having insurance for our family for 4 years, to now having 2 insurance policies. It's like Christmas! The joy of making dental, doctor, & vision appointments and having the insurance to do it! It is nice because it is like a reward for all the hard work both Ryan and I have done over these years. We both are lucky and happy to have such good jobs now :)

Joshua is playing on his Daddy's Ipod Touch. Ryan seems to be enjoying his new IPhone thru Verizon. Today he is supposed to try to find a case for it.

School Board School Improvement Committee meeting tonight. Then regular meeting on Monday.

It's getting closer to the Wings Game! We are going to take Ryan's Mom to her first Red Wings game at the end of March. Aaron is counting down the days and can not wait!

The Power Has Been Restored.

2010-10-28T12:15:00.004-04:00

Our power came on some time throughout the night last night. We, however, were sleeping at Mom & Dad's house since they have a generator. Power went out Tuesday afternoon. Half of Paradise is still without power or phone service. Mom is one of them. This wind storm was pretty wicked. Trees are down everywhere. We have several down around us, but thank the Lord because all of them fell away from the house or garage. I have some pretty decent pics posted to Facebook from yesterday when Aaron & I ventured to the Point & the Harbor. It was quite windy and we ate a lot of sand, but it was worth it. The views of the water were awesome.

Now that we have power, I was able to do my Halloween treats for the boys' parties tomorrow. Domestic Goddess, I am not, but I think they turned out cute enough. The boys are going to love them regardless. Josh had fun making his own and eating them at the same time :)

2010-10-23T16:35:00.004-04:00

I want to talk about Facebook today. I love Facebook, I really do. I love connecting with people that I otherwise wouldn't be able to keep in contact with. It's fun. But then I see some comments from some people and I cringe. There are those people who complain about eveything and after awhile, it's annoying. I have often contemplated blocking those people just so I didn't have to see their constant comments of how thier life is so hard because they ran out of soap. I'm not exaggerating, there is someone on facebook who does just that. And then there are those young ones, ones who are just fairly new to the site and find it a liberating place where they can speak thier mind about many topics. But you see, sometimes their maturity shows through, or should I say lack of maturity. They post comments that are filled with profanities. I mean, not just one or two words, but seems that every other post has an f-bomb dropped. And hey, I am not opposed to swearing and have been known to drop the f-bomb myself at times. (I still love that clever little video dedicated to the many uses of the f-bomb) BUT, these uses are just needless, inappropriate uses of the word. You can just read the posts and tell that this person is young and just using Facebook to try to sound cool or older than they really are. I try not to let these posts bother me, but they do, as a few of them are family members of mine. As I read these posts, I just have to shake my head and hope that one day soon these posts change.

I am still struggling through this cold that I have. Sent home sick on Wednesday, went to work Thursday but was told several times that I could go home sick if I needed, and finally got called off work on Friday. The paycheck is going to suffer, but I honestly needed that time to rest. Working 12 hours as an RN when you are this sick is not easy.

All the leaves have pretty much fallen here in Paradise. There are a few that are staying strong and refusing to fall, but pretty soon the winds will pick up and force them down. We've already had snow :) And Halloween is still 8 days away!

The Haunted Trail was great. We had a wonderful turn out, I think just over 1,000 people came through. The first night I worked the site that ended up giving me a sore back and neck. If you see the picture, you will see why. I can't quite seem to remember the name of that device, so if someone out there knows, just drop me a comment. Was it stockade? The second night I was a Trail Guide. I love being a guide, it is my favorite thing to do. I just laugh and laugh when the people are scared and scream. My first group was 4 boys, around the ages of 13 I'm guessing. They were SOOOOO scared. One finally asked if he could hang onto my arm. Then after being made fun of by his friends, the others ended up grabbing onto my other arm and back of my cape. It was hilarious!

This next picture is of Brendan during the Trail. He worked the entire time on Friday night. It was cold and a bit windy, yet he stayed in character and would jump out and scare people time after time. I think that could quite possibly make him the youngest person to work the entire night at the Trail. We were so proud of him!

How about an update of my current reading? A friend has gotten me into books by Wanda E. Brunstetter. She writes books about Amish families. It gives some insight into the Amish way of life but are focused on the characters finding strength from their religion & way of life. They are easy reads but I enjoy them. Not sure what will be next on my reading list, as I have many ideas but sometimes our library doesn't have what I'm looking for. I could always have them order me the books, but I don't always think of that at the time.

Well, I suppose that is enough of an update for now. I hope you are all having a wonderful day and enjoying this beautiful season!

Rainy Day!

2010-09-16T10:28:00.003-04:00

I love rainy days.

Doing some cleaning around the house today. Mostly focusing on my room, changing/washing sheets on all the boys' beds, and whatever other little jobs that need to be done.

One month until the Haunted Trail!!! Whoohoo!

Puppy

2010-09-12T16:03:00.002-04:00

My oldest son is obsessed about getting a puppy. Our "oldest child" Trudie, is 11 and thankfully, pretty healthy. She is showing her age, however, with some grey hair, slower to get up, and sadly, I think her vision is going a bit. BUT, God willing, she still has several years left to give us.

Here is my question: Is it better to get a puppy now, when she is still here so she can help "teach" the pup? I mean, Trudie is a wonderful girl. She needs no leash. She listens. She isn't a chow hound. (Yes, she can beg when she knows she can get something, but otherwise, she rarely begs.) There is so much that Trudie can show a new dog.

I have reservations about a second dog though. If I get another dog, I want her to be a dog for the boys. Trudie, since we got her before we had the boys, is OUR dog. She follows Ryan and I around the house from room to room. She sleeps in our room. She doesn't play with the boys, but acts like their mother. If they get up at night and leave their rooms, she barks and growls at them and makes sure that I know.
But if we get a pup, would it just follow Trudie around and bother her, in a sense, ignoring the boys to play with Trudie instead?
My other reservation is that we are renting. Our current contract states that we can have 1 dog. I wonder if the new owners of this home will let us have a 2nd dog?? Especially a puppy.

The sensible side of me is against a puppy right now. Trudie is enough for us. She, to me & Ryan, is the perfect dog. She is our only girl. Whenever you get a 2nd dog, it changes the dynamics of the first dog.

Yet, if you could see and hear Brendan talk about another dog, you would want to get one. He talks about it daily. Seriously. He asks what kind of dog he should get, what name, etc. But he wants a boy dog. And I will not have a boy dog. Female dogs only for me, thanks. And she will get fixed.

So I'm taking opinions on this. Do I consider getting a 2nd dog? (Depending on whether the new owners will even let us.) And second question: What breed? Brendan's picks are a long-haired doxie, golden retriever, chocolate lab, or bloodhound. And yes, I have been trying to tell him the benefits of a mixed breed, which he is finally starting to agree with.

Holy Wah! 2 posts in a day, so yeah, I've missed this!

It's Sunday and we skipped Church this morning....

2010-09-12T13:11:00.003-04:00

Oh yes, it is getting to that time of year. The time where the weather is cooler. Leaves are changing. Ahh, I love it. It is also coming to that time where we prepare for The Haunted Trail. Ryan is one of those in charge of the preparation this year. He always has these big aspirations as for what he wants his sites to be. He has 2 new sites this year, plus the one from last year. So I think he is totally responsible for 3 sites and then the rest of the preparation. Oh boy. We already have corn stalks drying in the shed.

My kids have so many toys. In our garage are bin after bin after bin of toys. Many that they don't play with, some that are baby toys, and some that are broken. I secretly have been thinning them out this week, but still have far to go. I have a small area in the garage that I have been putting things as "garage sale material" and thought about putting some toys in there as well. The problem is, will I ever actually have a garage sale? I am really tempted to just put a table at the roadside with a big sign that reads, "FREE".........sounds more like my style.

We had my parents over for dinner last night. Paradise Pizza. Mom brought over a chocolate cake. That was my breakfast this morning. And then it was my dessert, after I had reheated pizza for lunch. Now that sounds like a winner diet, right?

I think my plans for the evening will be the following:

Get things ready for the boys' school tomorrow. Including getting the clothes out that they will wear (which I still don't know why I bother, because 50% of the time, they go choose something else in the morning anyway) and then packing lunches.
Organizing my School Board paperwork.
Watch another episode of The Tudors. (Have you watched that yet? If not, you should. I love history shows. Granted, this is made for entertainment, so many parts of the show are not based on facts, but it still is really good.)

Has it really been that long?!?!?!

2010-09-04T11:00:00.002-04:00

So yes, I am lame and haven't posted on here for ages and ages. But hey, many of you are my facebook friends, so you know what I've been up to. For those of you who are not, here is a quick update:

I GRADUATED from Lake State! I PASSED my NCLEX! I am now an RN at the hospital in the Soo. Orientation is over and I'm working on my own. I am lucky that the other RN's are very helpful and don't mind helping me when needed.

So there. That is what has been happening.

Last night we had one heck of a windy one. Our tomatoe plants are blown over and the bird feeded came crashing down on a pepper plant and squashed it. There are a few branches blown down, nothing too major. A birch tree in the woods next to the driveway is down. But we never lost power. Some people north of town did, but we didn't. Weird.

This morning when I woke up it was 46 degrees. I love it. This means that my favorite season is upon us--Autumn! The leaves here in this area are changing very quickly. How fabulous. Now that it is getting cooler and less buggy, we plan on doing some more geocaches.

Currently reading the latest Stephanie Plum book, Sizzling Sixteen. Not sure if I can get into these books much longer. They kind of repeat over and over. If it wasn't for Ranger, I think I would have stopped long ago. And Morelli. Yep. They make me smile. I have another book checked out from the library to read after this one. Love that I have the time to read again. Been missing the simple joys of reading a book.

Keep warm & cozy today. That's what I plan to do.

An Update!

2009-07-13T20:28:00.002-04:00

Holy cow, an update! No excuses except laziness. And facebook. And Farm Town.
Been working at the hospital in OB for my internship. Was on days for the first half, now that I'm in the 2nd half, I have started nights. That is going to take some getting used to on my part as I don't normally sleep during the day.

Cool & windy in Paradise today. No beach day, dammit. Maybe tomorrow. And just when I was starting to get a tan...........kinda. Just think, in a few short months we will be seeing our first snowflakes.

The hubby is on a fire call. Waiting for him to call me to say he is on his way so I can make him a quick dinner. He & the boys went downstate yesterday for his Mom's birthday party. They left at 9:30am on Sunday morning. Came home later that night at 3:15am. Whew. That's a lot of car time in such a short day. I tried to convince them to stay with family or a hotel overnight, but nope. Drove home. Ugh.

Tomorrow I hope to drive into the Soo for a lunch date with my friend, Renee. I miss her. I really miss many of my classmates. Nursing students, I think, are different than most other students. We really end up relying on each other for support. Its hard to describe it unless you are in it, ya know? And to add to it, Renee & I are meeting another student to go over some things before the semester starts. We want to review some of our text so we aren't so lost on the first day of class :) Yep, we are dorks. (And proud of it!)

well, stuff to do.

2009-06-07T14:17:00.001-04:00

We left the Whitehall area this morning. Drove thru Silver Lake and then Ludington. Headed to Traverse City area now. Storming out. End of cell update :)

2009-05-27T21:19:00.002-04:00

It really angers me to no end when I can't get the hockey game on local TV! And then since we have dish, we don't get Hockey Night in Canada :( But bring in Jessica Archer to the rescue! Thanks Jessica! The link is working great!!!

This is the last week of school for the boys. Today they went for a trip to the Garlyn Zoo. Friday is a half day for them.

A trip to the Soo is in the works for tomorrow. Going to sign up Aaron for 'Learn to Skate' so he can follow his dream to be a hockey player. The boy is obsessed. Not that I blame him.............

Work is going good. No babies born on my shifts so far though. Couplet care is the thing to do. Good experience I tell you.

Off to watch more of the game.

2009-05-13T17:14:00.002-04:00

I was asked by a fairy tale creature to update so I suppose that I should.

Let's see..........school is over. Got an A- in all 3 classes. Yippee Skippee. I'm a dork.

I'm not happy with my cell phone. I want a cool smart phone. Too bad for me that I just renewed my contract some time in November so no updating for me for awhile. Technically I COULD get a new phone, but at new phone prices, not the cheap price you get when you renew your contract. Dammit.

Today is windy. Today we are expecting rain. Maybe a storm. Bring on the weather.

Had coffee with a friend from town today. It was nice to sit and talk. I have all this free time now that school is over. Its cool. I almost don't know what to do with myself, then I remember that I have all this reading that I want to do. So far I have read Fearless Fourteen--I gotta admit these books aren't the same. I mean, let's let Stephanie improve at the Bounty Hunter thing. Or let's make them not so goofy. Something to make it seem fresh again. There's always hope for #15. And as part of my Mother's Day gift, Ryan & the boys bought me the first two books in the Twilight Saga. Read the first one in 24 hours. Reading the 2nd one now. Not what I expected, but not bad either. Where others are obsessed with Edward Cullen (alright, I'll admit, he is intriguing and draws you in............) but I find myself wondering why the main girl is so lame that she is so stalker-like. Here is where someone tells me that these books are written for teen girls, not for me in my mid-30's..........but still, I'm hoping for some improvement on her part...........

I'm hungry. And I have some cold thing going on.

I started my first day on the floor in OB yesterday. Nothing exciting. Just a couple NST's and that's about it. Stocked rooms so I could get a layout for the way things are to be set up. Next week I start my 12 hour shifts. Wish me luck.

2009-04-24T16:52:00.002-04:00

Holy crap, I do believe its in the 70's today.

Brendan just said this to me a little bit ago:

"Mom, when will the leaves be back? I miss leaves. They make everything look so much better."

I never knew he liked leaves that much. There are buds on the trees, so in a couple weeks we just may get those leaves.

2009-04-22T15:12:00.002-04:00

I'm yet again sitting in the library on campus. Yep, its Wednesday. This is the LAST week of doing this though, so that makes me very happy. Last Mythology lecture tonight. Tomorrow is last 'clinical' day but we aren't on the floor, just getting clinical evals and giving our presentations. It should only take a few short hours. After which we have to be sure to turn in our Canadian Temp. Work Permits. If we don't do that, they tell us they won't let us back in........considering I have clinicals there in the Fall, I really need not to forget that.

Finals are next week. This means my weekend is devoted to studying. Not so worried about Peds, not that interested in worrying about mythology, and actually worried about OB.

I drove through snow today. Heck yes I live in the UP.

Why don't they heat this library? How come my hands are always so damn cold while I'm in here? How come the printer always messes up? I pay lots in tuition, but there are days when you would never know it.

I'm off for a haircut. I may live on the wild side and go for some bangs again.

2009-04-15T13:22:00.001-04:00

Finally dropped off the 5 bags of clothing donations to Goodwill today. They have been stored in my van for weeks & weeks. So proud of myself. Now every time we go grocery shopping I won’t swear when I open the back end to see it already stuffed with bags of clothes. Still driving around with Renee’s Christmas tree base though. I’ve had that in there pretty much since January………….things just take me awhile some times. Blame school. Sounds like a good excuse to me.
Yesterday turned out to be quite warm. Today isn’t bad either. Mid-to-high forties. Up here that seems like the 60’s. Rumor has it that this weekend the temps just may reach the 60’s. Although I did see the first sign of spring the other day: a deer ran across the road in front of me. That hasn’t happened since about December. Another sign of spring? The increase of patrols on M-28. Normal winter driving I see a cop almost never. Spring & summer, all the freakin’ time. Today I passed 2. Soon the tourists will be out as well. And right after that I will be bitching that these people need to leave because they are causing too much traffic………then I’ll be wanting the snow to return.
Did I mention that I have a 15 page paper due in 6 days that I haven’t really started? Awesome. The hope is that I can escape to Aunt Barb’s place for some quiet, uninterrupted time to complete that. And yes, midterms are coming up so I can study at her house as well. Thank you Aunt Barb for letting me borrow your house!
Still waiting for my grade from my Peds exam. Tonight I have a Mythology exam. Clinicals Thursday & Friday. Saturday all day at WIC observation (a requirement for my class), Sunday is my OB Lab final. (I was asked by my Prof to come in Sunday instead of with the rest of the class on Monday. They wanted the “responsible” students to come in Sunday to do it so they can be sure its set up correctly or something like that. Either way, it gets me out of coming to campus on Monday.) Ryan plans on coming with me on Sunday so we can purchase a portable basketball hoop. If I were to buy it myself, I’d walk in, point to one that looked decent and wasn’t too much money. But the hubby will no doubt make it a long process of trying to choose the “perfect” one. Awesome.
My foot is asleep. I hate it when that happens.

2009-04-14T13:21:00.001-04:00

So I am trying something new with this whole blogging thing. I just stumbled on this thing through Word that lets me type my blog and I guess it is going to post to blogger automatically. Yippee Skippee. It may be even easier to look busy in class now. If it doesn't work, oh well. Gotta try……..

I had a Peds exam today. I spent all day Saturday working on this 15 page study guide. I thought I knew my stuff. Well, I took that exam today and am not sure how I did. I do think that I passed, but maybe not with an A. Oh well. C's get degrees, right? I keep telling myself that but I still can't seem to accept that.

This afternoon Brendan has another basketball game. I plan on leaving campus in time so I don't miss any. He's been doing fairly well, the crying has decreased anyway. It's clear that he has really no idea how to play the game, but he never had any interest in it before. I am just extremely proud of him for sticking to it and having fun with it.

Here I go to post this to see if it works…………..

2009-04-12T13:17:00.003-04:00

Happy Easter!

The bunny was extra special to the boys yet again this year. The theme was chocolate and Star Wars. We are right now watching movie 2 in the Star Wars Prequels (Each boy got a movie in their basket...)We have already watched the 1st movie and I'm sure the 3rd movie will be later this afternoon.

A new twist to Easter morning for us this year: eggs hidden inside AND outside. It was a bit interesting to hide eggs in the wood pile, snow, and even sand areas. Hopefully we can have decent weather next year to hide them outside again.

Some how I missed watching 'The Ten Commandments' last night. Made me very angry cause I watch it every year. One of these days I will have to break down and buy the dvd, but Ryan may download it for me today so we shall see.

Have a wonderful day!

2009-04-08T09:47:00.000-04:00

I still want some lemon bars.

2009-04-06T17:49:00.002-04:00

I'm craving lemon bars.

Seems to be getting colder out this afternoon. And the wind is increasing. I think I may even see a stray snowflake or two out there.

Currently I am listening to my boys and a neighbor argue over what to play on the Wii. Always a good time.

This morning the boys returned to school after having the week off. I anticipated many issues about getting up on time, not wanting to go, blah, blah. But there were no problems. The big boys woke up and got ready with no complaints. Today was the first day that Josh didn't cry when being dropped off at preschool. It took some time, but eventually he was excited to go this morning with no tears. It. was. awesome. Here's hoping that tomorrow will be the same........

Brendan never did get sick. Yeah! Now that I typed that, he will start getting sick I'm sure. And oh yes, elementary basketball resumes tomorrow afternoon.

Getting back to studying now.

Saturday

2009-04-04T15:30:00.002-04:00

While driving home Thursday night Ryan called to inform me that Josh was now sick. More vomit to deal with. He was up through the night puking. If there is a bright side, its that Josh almost always makes it to the garbage can or toilet in time. Wish he would teach that to my 5 year old.........Still waiting for Brendan and/or Ryan to start with this wonderful bug.

The plan tomorrow is to head to the Soo. I need to go to the campus library for some studying/homework. We also need to do some grocery shopping and a stop at Walmart.

Bob is here. Bob will be Miss. Spider's new friend. Alida sends me a text to tell me that she is sending Bob with his tank and all that is inside. And she wasn't kidding cause Aunt Barb & Uncle Dennis dropped him off. He has a fancy crabitat that even includes a pool. Hermit Crab Paradise I tell you. Today I put them together for the first time. A few times I thought they may be killing each other, but then they seperate and go back to ignoring each other. I'll probably wake up tomorrow to find one of them dead.........Hermit Crab Homicide.

I see that there is a new Fast & Furious movie and I only want to ask WHY??? It wasn't horrible enough the first time? I know Alida is probably drooling in a theater right now.

Pepper Jack Cheez-Its are delicious.

Wednesday

2009-04-01T10:21:00.006-04:00

I'm sitting in the library on campus. Doing homework. So goes my days. And many evenings. This being Wednesday, I am unhappy. Wednesdays are the worst day of the week for me. Too long of a day on campus. Bright side? Almost over.

The weather in Paradise was rainy and sometimes slushy. We still have a lot of snow on the ground, but maybe the rain will take some of that away. Heard a weather blurb this morning that we may get snow this weekend. We wait and we will see.

I'm hungry. Yesterday I was vomiting. Today I still feel icky, but am hoping that today food will be my friend. My yogurt from this morning hasn't made an encore presentation, so maybe we are good to go for lunch.

My boys are on Spring Break this week. Last night, even though I will still feeling icky, we took them to see Aliens Vs Monsters. We had promised them a trip to the movies so I couldn't disappoint them. It was an awesome movie! The 3D part was really cool. Joshie didn't wear his glasses most the time, but he still thought it was good.

Mom came home yesterday. Mia was so excited to see everyone that she pretty much pee'd for 10 minutes straight. I even think the big dogs were glad that she was home!

I don't think I ever uploaded pics from Joshie's birthday or 1st day of preschool. So here are just a couple:

And here is one of him on his first day of Preschool.

Back to the books...............

A Sunny Sunday

2009-03-22T09:30:00.002-04:00

I'm pretty sure that I hate Peds. Odd isn't it? I've had 2 weeks of it and I can't say that I enjoy it much at all. Maybe things will change in the upcoming weeks. Maybe they won't. I can say that I miss OB.......A LOT.

Weather has been changing here as of late. We have had lots of sun, just not the warmest of temps to go with it. Yesterday was nice and dreary. The night before we had a dusting of snow. Our snow is melting, but trust me, we still have lots, although in many places the ground is starting to peak through. Being as its only late March, I am almost certain that we will have a bit more snow to come; nothing too heavy, but it is the UP after all.

I have to study for an exam today. Had 2 exams last week and one this upcoming week. Now you know where all my time goes. Off to study..........

The first in Joshie's Birthday Celebration

2009-03-17T14:27:00.002-04:00

Joshua's 3rd Birthday Cake

Joshua will turn 3 tomorrow. Being that I am in school from morning till night, we are celebrating it this evening. Ryan had cake duty this time (I have 2 exams tomorrow so he is taking over for me!) and I think he did an awesome job! He told me that I could have probably done better than him, but I doubt that! This cake is perfect! If you can't read the writing, the top says, "Happy 3rd Birthday" and the bottom reads, "The Force is with Joshua"

We will have a birthday dinner of chicken nuggets, tater tots, & Spongebob mac-n-cheese, as requested by Josh.

I will have more pics to post but may not get them up till the weekend. (School stuff again.) So here's to an early

Happy Birthday Joshie!

I love you my little Sweet Pea!

and may the force be with you............

The glare off the snow from the sun is BRIGHT!

2009-03-16T08:48:00.003-04:00

Another Monday. Another morning of live online class. Whoohoo. Yes, I get easily distracted, but I love it cause I don't have to drive to campus. Besides, this semester I pretty much ignore notes and just read the chapters for my exams. Its working for me so far...........

The sun is out and bright this morning. Even with 3 feet of snow, you can still see that Spring is slowly coming. (For months we don't see the sun, so now that we do, we know the seasons are a changing!)

The family went to The Point yesterday. We spent over an hour there climbing the snow & ice mounds/hills. Trudie really enjoyed herself. We let her off her leash and she loved the excitement of it all. I put tons of pics up on FB. The scary thing was that as we were walking on a snow hill, Brendan took a step and it opened up beneath him! He scrambled up and away just in time. We both looked down and my heart started pounding out of my chest. It was about 5 feet deep straight down (Ryan later said it also curved to the side and went deeper). Had that been Josh, he would have went straight down. So yes, we got off the snow hills and down to the beach after that. The weird thing was that we were on the hills right at the shoreline so I felt those were the more safe ones.............

Mom is off to the Soo to take Mia to the vet for her shots. Aunt Barb is going along with them. I think they should look into buying Mia a new coat as she hates the one I bought her on Saturday.

Tomorrow Brendan starts elementary basketball practice. His games will be Tuesdays and Thursdays. He is super excited about it. I really hope he enjoys himself. Pretty much all the kids in grades 1-6 are participating. I think Aaron is jealous that he can't play yet, but there is always next year.

This Wednesday my Baby J turns 3. He wants a Star Wars party. Of course I couldn't find any stuff locally, so I am going to make my own. I bought a white table cloth and will decorate it as needed. Or maybe I will ask Ryan to do it as I have 2 exams to study for, he already said he wanted to do the cake. It will probably be a group effort. Of course I will post pics of the cake once we get it done.

Time to go pay attention to my online class again. Then a day full of studying for OB and Mythology. Good Times, Baby. Good Times.

I lost a damn hour and I really need it back

2009-03-08T11:40:00.003-04:00

I despise Spring Forward. Really I do. Here I looked at my cell phone when I woke up and got all excited cause I thought I for once slept in! It said 7:47am and I was like, "Whoohoo! I slept in!" And then I got even more excited cause I thought all the boys slept in for once as well. So I got up, walked into the other room and saw that it was indeed 6:47am (pre-spring forward time) and I hadn't slept in at all. Stupid spring forward. Bedtime for the boys tonight will be fun, as will be tomorrow morning...........Spring forward sucks ass.

I hate this cold thing that we all have. It won't go away. What a way to spend my Spring Break.

My 2 years old will turn 3 soon. I have no idea what to buy him. Just what do you buy the boy who is 2 going on 10? He really needs his own laptop or cellphone, but again, he's really only turning 3. I was planning on getting him some SpongeBob Legos but he told me he doesn't want that, but he wants Star Wars stuff. Let's see........we have 5 lightsabers already......plus Star Wars Legos..........maybe I can find him something cool. We shall see.

All this blogging has exhausted me. Yippee for this damn cold. Time for a rest and then hopefully homework................

2009-03-05T11:41:00.002-05:00

Thanks to everyone for the kind words and prayers through everything with Ryan's Dad. It made for a weird Birthday for Ryan, but we were glad that his Dad's suffering was over.

Right now our house should be under a quarantine. Josh started with a fever Monday afternoon and things just spread quickly from there. Josh still has a runny nose, cough, & fever today. Brendan had a fever Tuesday night and I kept him home from school Wednesday just to be sure. He was able to go to school today--only a 1/2 day which makes it nice for him. Ryan started getting sick Monday night and has it pretty bad. I started Tuesday but my case is mild compared to Ryan's. The big thing I notice is how TIRED everyone is with this. Ryan can sleep at the drop of a hat, I keep dozing off and fight to stay awake, and Josh fell asleep yesterday at 5pm and slept till almost 7am this morning! Holy crap that's a long time! I was hoping that after a sleep like that he would wake up feeling wonderful. Not so much. And the fever crept back up dammit.

We are all really enjoying Mia. Mia is my Mom's new puppy. She's a long-haired doxie and very cute and cuddly. If there is an open lap, she crawls into it. Very sweet little girl.

Currently I am on spring break. What a great way to spend it...........dealing with sick kids and a sick husband. I had these grand plans to get all caught up on school work, but that so isn't happening.

Good news to report! I was lucky enough to be offered an OB internship for the summer at the hospital in the Soo. I interviewed in 3 departments overall. There were many students going after the internships in each department, so I feel very lucky to have been offered this one. This is such awesome news for me!!!! The pay rate is good and the experience I will gain will no doubt help me for my upcoming senior year. Yippee!!!

After many COLDER THAN COLD days, today seems to be much warmer. (Don't include the wind though, cause the wind makes it feel chilly!) We were in the -20's for several mornings in a row, so yesterday when it was 0 degrees when I took Brendan out to the bus, it felt warm.

This afternoon we have to attend Parent-Teacher conferences. Since the boys have the same teacher, we have back-to-back times. I know I will hear all good things...........at least that is what I hope!

Time for me to relax...............maybe that Little Miss Mia will want someone to snuggle with..........

2009-02-10T10:11:00.002-05:00

Stupid studying. And to think that it may have all been for nothing. Don't have high hopes for my grade on this exam. Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

Ryan is meeting me in the Soo later this morning. He will be getting the taxes done while I get Aaron & Joshua a haircut. I am sure that lunch will be next on the agenda, as will a trip to Walm.art.

Want to know what I am annoyed about today? The fact that pretty much EVERY school--even Whitefish--cancelled today due to icy roads. EXCEPT LSSU. No matter, I made it here in plenty of time being that I left 2 hours before class was due to start. What my issue is that if you are going to have school during icy conditions, how about you salt the sidewalks, throw down some sand, SOMETHING. The parking lots are about an inch of solid ice, making driving and walking hazzardous. Ugh, pisses me off.

Dog show started last night. My pick for best in show? The cute scottie. We'll see what breeds win best in group tonight to see if that picks holds, but for now, the scottie is my vote.

Tomorrow I have another exam, this one a written essay exam. Wonderful. Also have care plans to write. Must finish my summer intern application as well. All of this the few hours that I have once we get home from the Soo. Yippee.

Wish me luck on my interviews tomorrow.....

2009-02-08T13:14:00.002-05:00

Jim stopped by this morning before he left for home. Josh was happy to see him, even though it was only for a minute. Josh loves Uncle Jimmy. One of the few people that he seems to feel totally comfortable around within seconds.

Actually watching the Wings game this afternoon. First one of the season I think. What is up with the powder blue uniforms on Pittsburgh? Weird.

We are in the midst of a warm up. Melting snow. Not good. Hate that. Everything gets mushy and dirty. Hoping it gets cold again soon cause you know that our UP winter is not over just yet. We are due for at least one last big snowfall. It was funny though on Friday....it was 32 degrees and I felt that was warm enough to not wear my coat outside. Happens every year!

Currently I am preparing for a brutal exam on Tuesday morning. Our OB Prof is well known for giving exams that are extremely difficult. Last week we took our first peds exam, which I did great on. I say its cause I have 3 kids. Let's hope that giving birth 3 times will help me for my OB exam. We can all hope.

I love my new laptop---a RED Dell, 14.1". On my shopping list is a laptop sleeve to keep it protected in my travels. Just where can I get one locally is the question.

Very busy weekend for snow machines. There seems to be a pretty steady stream of them on the ice out front. They stay very close to shore.........Ya see, people here know that the ice can be dangerous......quite unlike hundreds of ice-fisherman elsewhere.................don't even get me started on that stupidity.

This past week in clinicals I spent 2 days in the NICU. Amazing. Awesome. I honestly thought I would be too afraid to touch babies that tiny. But I gotta tell ya, it was easy. I wasn't nervous. Now, that being said, I only did assessments, feedings, ect. How I would do if I had to start lines or have something bad happen?? Probably a different story all together. When you see babies that tiny you really realize what miracles they are. Something Jen & Renee can both tell you more about..........my two days there I thought about you two a lot. How strong you are for going through that. Now everyone go hug your kids!!

Damn. I have to continue to study.

2009-02-07T21:39:00.002-05:00

Let's talk about a few things that are really bothering me:

Leave Micheal Phelps alone. He's an athlete. Do you really think he's the first one to smoke a bit of dope now and then? Look at the NFL, MLB, NHL, NFL--they have a few high-ons who are still getting paid millions. Get. Over. It. Go ahead Kellogg's, take away his deal, I'm sure he's got enough money to last.
The Stimulus Package. Just where do you people think that 800 billion is coming from? The money fairy? Someone has to pay for it and I don't see politicians (even Obama the Great) willing to forgo their salaries to help pay for it.
And while I am at it.....he's a politician. Not the world's savior, emperor, ruler-for-life.
Waiting for the big brown truck to deliver my order of Dr. Bronner's. My stock is gone. It's a good thing I have a bar of castile soap to hold me over.
Studying on a Saturday night.

Good night.

2009-01-26T14:59:00.002-05:00

Look at my pretty girl! Here she was relaxing on the couch with her daddy and wearing his hat.

Accomplished a whole lotta nothing this weekend and today. I take that back, although I did not accomplish the schoolwork that I should have, I was able to spend much time with my husband and boys. Sometimes you gotta do what just feels right! We all sat down and watched Wall*E, which wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. And after much anticipation, the boys finally were able to see the 3rd Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith. Both Ryan and I were a bit worried about them seeing this one. We had only seen it once, years ago, and thought it may be too much for them. (The younglings part? Anakin burning?) After it was all over, no one was traumatized and all went fine. Now we just have to invest in both series one and series two cause the series one that we have is old and on vhs format and we do not have series two at all. Remind me of that when I have no idea what to buy the kids for birthdays or Christmas!

Wanna know what I was doing the other day? Chatting on Yahoo chat, while IM'ing 2 friends on facebook, and text messaging at the same time to yet another person. I'm totally a texting/chatting/messaging whore.

Being that this week is Homecoming Week, today was Pajama Day for the boys. Brendan's favorite day of the year!!! What better day than a day where you can wear jammies to school??

Another week of school ahead.

2009-01-24T09:58:00.003-05:00

Saturday morning. Its cold out. Some snow. I'm tired. I have a lot of homework. Have a good day.

2009-01-14T16:56:00.003-05:00

Updating from school today. Yep, it has begun and I'm already over-scheduled and lacking sleep. Best news all week? That my PEDS class will be all online except for exams, which will be on campus. Since PEDS is my only Monday class, I will no longer have to drive to campus that day! Monday mornings will now consist of getting the boys out the door for school, making a cup of coffee, and then logging in to listen to my teacher do her lecture via the web. It is awesome! School in jammies! Only driving to campus 4 days a week!

Clinicals will be in Sault, Ontario. Just makes my drive about 15 minutes longer, but that does not include bridge back-ups. (Which are incredibly long at times!) We FINALLY got the schedule for the semester and OB clinicals the first half of the semester, PEDS clinicals the second half. I really think OB is where my passion lies, so I am excited for this semester. You can see the terrified looks on some other students faces, but me, I find everything about pregnancy/delivery fascinating. My long-term goal is still to go on in my education to be a lactation consultant and if I really love it, perhaps midwife??? But now I'm really talking crazy cause first I have to make it through this semester!

Frigid. But I hear from you 'downstaters' that it is equally frigid there as well. -26 was the lowest it got this morning on my drive over. -15 in Paradise when I left this morning after 6am.

I did type that I left the house at 6am. And it is after 5pm and I am still on campus. My last class of the day is set to end at 10pm. Add to that my drive time and just kill me, will you? It will be even better on those weeks that I have 7am clinicals on Thursdays! Go me!

The husband has been gone since Sunday. He and Joe and others attended the Metallica concert last night. Ryan is pretty geeked about the Metallica guitar pic. He scrambled to find it after it was thrown off stage. Me jealous? Yeah, just a bit. I'll get over it in a year or so, I'm sure.

Maybe I'll go read me some textbooks..........

2009-01-11T09:01:00.004-05:00

Happy 7th Birthday Brendan!

My Little Man is not so little anymore........but he sure is handsome!

The first picture is of Brendan with his new Gamera movie, which he was super excited to open! I told him he was probably the ONLY boy in the UP to have that movie, hell, he's probably the only person in Michigan! For some reason I don't see a huge demand for Gamera movies !) We all sat down and watched it yesterday afternoon--I thought it was a really good movie. This one is definately more like the original one in regards to it being geered more for children. I'm sure we'll watch it again today.

Remember that he wanted a hedgehog? Well, he really wanted his 'own' pet. My Mom came up with the idea of fish, so that is what we did. He loves them and names are Tad, Sonic, & Froggie. (And here I thought he'd name them something like Gamera, Godzilla, & Rhodan!)

He really had a good birthday party and loves all his gifts. (Others include a new DS game & weather station from Gramma & Grandpa AND a Lego Star Wars shirt, comfy pants, & fish stuff from Aunt Jackie & Uncle Jeff.)

I think today we are going to set up the weather station in his room. Another thing I want to do is finish watching The Empire Strikes Back so we can move onto Return of the Jedi. Yep, Star Wars has always been a favorite of mine, so I really don't mind watching them over and over again with the boys!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENDAN! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Hot Damn! It doesn't look that bad!

2009-01-09T15:36:00.004-05:00

Never would I consider myself artistic or creative (I think I'm more on the lines of Homer Simpson: "Less artsy, more fartsy"), but as most Moms do, I feel we all do the best we can. This time I had to figure out how to do a Sonic cake. As Yoda would say, "A cake decorator You are not", but I'm pretty impressed with my skills this time. What do you think???

I have yet to show it to Brendan, but the big reveal will be this evening. Although his actual birthday isn't until Sunday, we are celebrating tonight since Jackie and the kids are here. I took in his treat for the class--finger jello--and we all sang him happy birthday. His teacher made him a green shiny crown that said "Happy Birthday Brendan!" and he wore it all day long.

I will probably post more pics of his birthday celebration later tonight. He won't be getting the pet hedgehog that he is asking for, but I think he will be thrilled with the substitute.

Back to School for the Boys

2009-01-05T16:15:00.004-05:00

Back to school for the boys today. Back to school for me next week. I'll be taking this week to order textbooks, prepare binders, organize stuff that needs to be organized. The rest of the time will be spent with Jackie, Nick, & Clare. Tomorrow I have to take Aaron for another appt. The purpose is supposed to be to discuss the possibility of a sleep deprived EEG, but I think I may veto that thought. I will wait to see what the rationale is for that and then decide. Seizures is not what I think the issue is. What I really want to discuss are his allergies and probability of asthma. I can't even begin to tell you how many nights that we are up with him while he is coughing and gagging from sinus drainage and then other times with his wheezing. Should make for a fun appointment.

Now that Jackie has opened all her Christmas presents, I can finally post one of my favorite gifts! This wallet is something I have wanted for 2 years. But this version is the new and improved one as it has a digital photo viewer included in it. It is so much cooler than I anticipated. I have it loaded with 49 pics and still have 11 more to go. Mom got one for Jackie, Dominique, me, and even one for herself. We all got a different color: Jackie has purple, Dominque green (cause she has this cool green purse), Mom ordered blue for herself, and of course, she got me red.

Clare is really trying to crawl. Really trying. My bet is that by the end of this week, she will get there by wanting to keep up with all the boys. I have taken lots of cute pics of her. Here are a few that I will post so her Daddy can see her:

**I have tried to get some pics of Nicholas, but he doesn't slow down much for me to take some. The ones I have look like a blur of him running by. Perhaps we should call him Dash?!

Currently there are 2 freighters anchored out in front of the house. We can barely see a third way down towards the Point. The closest one to us looks like you can almost walk to it on the ice cause it looks that close.

Renee is asking for prayers for Ayden. He needs to gain some weight so send him some 'bulk up' prayers!

Brendan is asking for a Hedgehog for his birthday. Yep, you read that right. Oh boy. Going shopping tomorrow and am going to look for a suitable replacement. Wish me luck.

The 2nd day of the New Year

2009-01-02T10:09:00.004-05:00

I'm getting a tad excited knowing that my sister will be up tomorrow. I haven't seen her or the kids in quite awhile, so I can not wait! Last I heard Jeff was not going to make it up, but if he does, that would be great.

Today I'm thinking about Brendan's birthday. 9 days away. I pre-ordered him this movie back in October. It was supposed to be shipped out Dec. 30th, which would get it here in plenty of time for his birthday. So imagine how disappointed I was to get the email on the 31st that there has been a delay in shipping and we won't recieve it till the end of January or beginning of February. Ugh. The poor kid has been waiting for that movie to come out (dubbed in English) for over a year! What I think I will do is print out a picture of the movie, past it to some cardboard with a note and giving it to him. He will be excited enough to just know that it will be coming soon enough. This leaves me with few ideas of what I can buy for him to open on his birthday. And then we have to discuss the cake. Last year was the Gamera cake so we can't do that again. He is really into Star Wars right now, so maybe I can start planning a Star Wars birthday party. I'll talk to him in a bit to see what kind of party he'd be wishing for because knowing Brendan, he'll come up with something out of the blue.

Ryan's glasses are still not in. Mine were in after 7 days, his still not and its been 11 days today. I am still wondering if mine are a bit too strong for me. I am going to wear them longer today and will try to decide from that. Being that I have no vision insurance, I had to pay lots of money for them so I have to be sure that they are exactly what I need.

Brendan just informed me that he wants a Sonic birthday. WHAT?! I told you he'd come up with something out of the blue! And here he is with his new art supplies.........just what is he going to do with those?? Okay, I told him that Sonic party stuff would be hard to find, so he decided to make his own, hence him getting his big art kit that he got for Christmas. The kid difinately has the imagination and art skills of his Daddy's side of the family!! (**His art kit is one we made ourselves. Bought LOTS of supplies for him and organized them in smaller containers which all fit into a larger one with a handle. Its the perfect gift for him since he is constantly drawing, coloring, and cutting.)

Going to go find something to eat now.

2009-01-01T19:49:00.002-05:00

Got some house cleaning done yesterday. Not that it ever lasts. But it did look really nice for awhile. Spent a lot of yesterday and today watching the Twilight Zone marathon on the Sci-Fi channel. Amazingly I saw a few episodes that I actually haven't seen before. I didn't think that was possible!

Had a pretty low key New Years Eve. We all went over to spend the evening with Aunt Barb & Uncle Dennis. Pierce & Kyle are still here so it was nice for all the boys to play together.

Today I was able to store a few boxes up in one of the closets. I have started to take down some Christmas decorations, but am leaving most up until after Jackie's family arrives. We want to keep the tree up so we can put all the presents under it so we can have Christmas with them as well. But I think my plan is to take the tree down on Monday. As much as I love this time of year, after New Years I am always itching to get the tree down and away. Saying that, every year I get a touch depressed thinking of how another year has gone by, how my boys are all growing way too fast, and I just want things to slow down.

I do have at least one bag of clothes to take to the Goodwill store in the Soo next visit over. Once Jackie goes through a bag of cloths to take what she wants, I should have at least 2 bags of clothes to give to my friend. I still need to get into the toy closet and get rid of some of those. I'll wait to do that until the boys are back in school but before I have to go back to school. So much to do and yet I have no time.

Kyle was over here all afternoon. He and my boys play so well together. Pierce was invited over but he's too old for the other boys, so he stayed with his Grandma and Grandpa.

Alrighty, I did not get much sleep last night, so I am hoping that my kids are worn out from a late night last night and playing all day today. Early bedtime for us all? Maybe. I won't hold out too much hope.

Happy New Year to you!

2008-12-28T21:15:00.004-05:00

I'm watching one of Dad's favorite movies--The Sound of Music. (Insert evil giggle here.) I can't wait till he gets home, asks whats on TV, and then sees what I'm watching. He won't be watching it with me, I can tell you that.

Earlier today we had some visitors. Aunt Barb came over with Ann, Terese Rose, Matt, Pierce, & Kyle. The kids played GH and I must say that I was impressed with how good they all are. Matt let me play his DS which was quite cool. Terese showed me her new DS game. Brendan also had to show off his new DS (from Gramma and Grandpa) to everyone. Damn, all these DS games floating around..........made me want one for myself. Pink, just like Terese. I'm hoping to head over Aunt Barb's tomorrow some time so the kids can play a bit more before everyone has to head back home.

I finally feel like posting more about Christmas........I already posted that Brendan got his DS. Not only was it a shock to him, but to Ryan and I as well. My Mom & Dad kept it a secret the whole time! The look on Brendan's face was priceless. Hearing him scream, "I got a DS!" at the top of his lungs.......the boy pretty much got everything he wanted. Aaron is very happy with his things. He really liked his karate stuff, but has no patience for the warm-up part of the video. He wants to get right to "the moves" and has no time for that other stuff! My folks got Aaron Transformer bedding with a huge Optimus Prime pillow. Joshua is happy with everything. The best gift so far is his spaceshuttle. Not only does he play with it, but the other two boys do as well. (Holy crap! That is not the price I paid for it! I paid less than $30. And yes, the "frustration free" packaging was GREAT.)

For myself, I was able to video tape all the recent activities, thanks to my parents, on my NEW video camera!!! Our old version is over 6 years old, takes tapes, doesn't hold a charge......so this new one is just awesome. I love it so much. My other nifty gifts...........oh wait, I can't tell you cause my sister is reading this and I don't want to give away any surprises for her!!! But Ryan and the boys got me the slippers I wanted, cool socks, and a nice Paradise hoodie.

For the rest of my time off on vacation, I hope to get lots done. There is just so much that I can do that I never have the time to do. One of the first things I need to get done is to go through the boys "toy closet" to purge some of them. Half to Goodwill, the other half to a friend who also has 3 young boys. The plan is to send some clothes her way as well. I also need to look into a CPR renewal class since mine expires in 2 months. Textbooks, must search for the best bargains and order those. There are so many other things that need to get done, but I won't bore you with little details. I will only say that I hope to get them all done before Jackie and her family come up after the New Year.

Oh hey, Alida updated her blog! You rock on with your every-other-month posting!

Rained here last night. Lots. Still have much snow though. Pissed that we don't have more. Hoping for a kickass snow storm in the time I'm on vacation!!

Back to my TV watching..........ah hell, I'll be singing these songs for days.............

Rock Legends in the Making!

2008-12-26T21:11:00.002-05:00

Oh, I can't even begin to post all about the holiday right now, but I think these pics show just one gift we are all enjoying. Ryan and I bought Guitar Hero World Tour Band kit as a family gift. So far its been a huge hit! Only problem is that no one else wants to sing, so they make me do all the singing.......and no, I'm not a great singer! Although Josh does like to "sing" but

since he doesn't know the songs, we just hook up the mic for him and let him think he's actually playing.

Everyone got tons of great gifts. I don't want to list everything on here, but let's just say WOW to everything this year. Thank You so much to my parents for the awesome gifts for all of us. Thanks to Ryan's Mom & Dad for everything as well--we missed you guys this year!

Today my Mom and I drove in bad weather to the Soo to get the bargains. (You can tell we are Yooper Women when we drive in crazy weather and just shrug at it!) Many stores were shopped at. Good thing is that I got teacher gifts set for next year, as well as a few gifts for friends. Nothing like starting early!

Hmmm.........I hope to post some pics soon of our Christmas Eve. It was kind of quiet and laid back, but we had a lot of fun. At one point when the kids were starting to get irritable and stir crazy, I had the idea to go outside to put out some carrots for the reindeer. The snow was really coming down, but we stayed out there and had a lot of fun. This Christmas was much better cause last year we had a 'green' Christmas, and this year was a beautiful white Christmas!

I guess I'm not into the posting this evening. I have pics to post, but think a slide show would be better. Maybe I can work out a link like over at Aftermath cause that always seems to work well. But that is project for tomorrow. Right now I am going to eat a snack and watch the family play GH.

Oh--we are still searching for a name for the 'band'---any suggestions??? If so, leave me a comment!

2008-12-24T16:35:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas from The Gazley Boys!!

(Aaron, age 5; Joshua, age 2; Brendan, age 6)

Yippee Skippy

2008-12-23T22:12:00.004-05:00

I think I'm ready for Christmas. Today once I got the boys on the bus I pretty much locked myself in the bedroom and wrapped my little fingers off. All presents for Ryan and my folks were wrapped a few days ago, all gifts that needed to be shipped have been, and now just waiting to stuff the stockings tomorrow night. This afternoon I was able to go and enjoy part of the boys' Christmas party at school. Gifts were given to the teacher, her para pro, bus driver, secretary, and cook. This year each one got a jar of homemade strawberry freezer jam, Christmas socks, & a little thing of flavored coffee, all in a Christmas tin. Not much, but it was something to show how much we truly appreciate each of them.

Let's see........what else have we been up to? Oh--Saturday night we went to a friends house for a small Christmas party. I haven't laughed that much in a long time! And holy crap, I haven't seen that many jello shots in years.......not to mention the 'soaked' chocolate covered cherries.........throw in some Christmas trivia & other games and you can call that a good time.

For some reason right now I am itchy pretty much from head to toe. My skin is blotchy and I want to scream. I can tell you now that a Benadryl is in my very near future.

According to my cousin Becca, they are just getting slammed with the snow downstate. She now is telling me that they are calling for 9 more inches, not just the 6 they were predicting earlier. Dammit. Send it my way Becca!

My boys are getting pretty excited about Christmas. I keep telling them that tomorrow they have to get up on the metal roof and shovel the snow off so Santa will have a place to land his sleigh. They look at me like I'm crazy, but you can still see the hint of wondering in their eyes.

I'm trying to bribe my husband. I want him to get me those Benadryl so I don't have to get up. Cause in addition to being itchy, I'm also feeling lazy.

Ugh, I just remembered that I have a load of wash to put in the dryer. That wouldn't be a problem if there wasn't already a load to be folded in the dryer. Again, I'm feeling lazy so can you see my problem??

Still asking for everyone to keep the prayers coming for little Ayden Patrick. Although he is doing well, he is still having the ups & downs that preemies normally do. You really should check out Peyton's Place to see Kevin holding Ayden--its such a sweet photo.

oh, oh, oh--it seems the hubby must be sick of me itching like crazy cause he is in the bathroom getting me the pills. That gives me about 30 minutes before I pass out from them.............must type faster.

BIG NEWS...........for me! Monday I went for a vision exam and ordered new glasses! You have no idea how awesome that is for me. Last eye exam was at least 4-5 years ago, which means my glasses are that old. Which also means they are so scratched which renders them useless. Ryan also went to have his first ever eye exam done since he was a kid. We kind of figured he would need glasses since he is the only one of 9 kids who doesn't wear glasses..........the odds were against him. So yes, he did need glasses, not strong ones, but just enough to reduce the eye strain that he gets when reading. He also told me that he has an astigmatism, to which I told him, "Congratulations!"

Alrighty, the meds have been taken so I have just enough time to post this blog, get into jammies, brush the teeth, and crawl into bed before I pass out and start drooling on my pillow. But before I go, a Christmas video for you all to enjoy.............

Date Night

2008-12-23T21:55:00.003-05:00

Its been a few days but here is the update about my date! It was with my oldest son. It was sweet and something that I will never forget.

He asked me out on a date. How could I refuse such an offer? He was taking this serious. He drew a top hat and a bow tie, colored & cut them out, and wore them on the date. (By wearing them I mean that he taped them to himself.) It was adorable. So off we went to the Soo. He wanted to treat me to a meal at McDonalds, so that is where we went. He was such a little man. He ordered his own meal, then told me it was my time to order, and he was sure to tell the girl at the register, "My Mom needs to order hers now, but I'm going to pay for it." My heart wanted to melt! After our dinner we stopped at a few stores. Not once did I have to open any doors, he opened each and every door for me--even the van door, to which he would close after I got in and then he would get into his booster seat. We had great conversations (where he would say things like, "How was your day today My Lady?") and it could not have gone better. I even got a sweet little goodnight kiss when we got home !)

The following day Aaron took me out on a date. We went up town to Paradise to have lunch. Of course we had to buy some excellent cookies that they sell there. My date with Aaron was just as sweet, but different cause he's a different kid than his brother. Very private he is. Again, it is another thing that I will never forget.

I'm so lucky to have my boys. Each one has their own distinct personality. Seeing them grow and change every day is something that I never want to take for granted.

Slacker Update

2008-12-18T09:35:00.006-05:00

I've been slacking on the blogging as of late. I have lots to post about, but probably won't get it all in one post. The first thing I want to say is...................

Congrats to Kevin & Renee on the (early) arrival of

Ayden Patrick

wt: 2 lb 2 0z ht: 15"

To read more on Ayden's story, head on over to Aftermath (his Grandpa's Blog) or Peyton's Place (his Mommy's Blog). Both links are listed here on my blog.

The second topic I have is.....my semester is finally over! Yippee! Never have I wanted a semester to end as badly as I have this one. To sum it up, without boring you all with too many details........for my Adult 1 (med/surg nursing) class, it has always been a struggle. Not so much material-wise, although the material is very difficult, it was more on the lines of an unorganized class with a prof who would say one thing, and do another. (And yes, I am trying to say all this as NICE as I can muster, and let me tell you, its not easy for me to do.) Anyway, final exam time rolls round. I failed. Yep. You read that correct. 60% on my final exam. (72% is passing for nursing, anything below means you fail.) Oh, don't feel bad for me, cause I will tell you that it is not my fault. You see, the ENTIRE CLASS failed the exam. Highest score was a 65%. I have heard some scores in the 20's and 30's. Yep. So logically, if an entire class fails an exam, you tell me if that is a student problem or an exam/professor issue!?!?! The Prof had to add 20% to the test scores just so we all wouldn't fail our exam. And yes, there was plenty of bitching about this exam. Other nursing profs have advised us to go to the Dean of Nursing over this. There are so many reasons that we all failed this exam, that I can't even begin to post about it all here. But no, we are not stupid. This is problem with a certain prof. Some of you have talked with me about how every exam is a fight--I can prove that my answer is correct with my text book, yet she still argues with students that SHE is correct..........ugh. Can you see why I wanted this semester to end?? But hey, don't feel sorry for me that I failed her exam, cause I still end up with a 94% for my final grade. Good teachers are worth it. Bad teachers? Well, they have tenure..............

Sunday night was the Christmas Concert at Kids Club. Brendan did great. Unfortunately, my pictures were all blurry or gave everyone red eyes, so I have none to post.

Tuesday night was the Christmas Program at the school. And the biggest news about that is..........AARON GOT ON STAGE AND SANG with the rest of the kids! HE DID IT! My super-shy guy! At first when he was up there, he looked like he was going to either throw-up or pass out, but once the music started, that seemed to go away. This pic, although blurry, still shows the students in grades K-6th. There are 3 students missing overall from the total number. If you click on the pic, you should be able to see Aaron--the last kid in the front row on the left side. Brendan is 2 boys down from him. I took LOTS of pictures at both events, but only a few are decent enough to post. I am not sure what it is about the pics. Is it the camera--its a hand-me-down camera so maybe its just slowly dying? Or is it a setting on it that I need to fix? Or is it that my hands normally shake, and perhaps I shake too much for this camera? But I question that cause other pics I take can turn out great. But here are a few decent ones from the rest of the night:

2 out of the 3 of my boys have pretty nasty coughs. Just waiting for it to spread to the 3rd boy. Wouldn't be Christmas vacation without a respiratory thing, would it?

Been quite cold here as of late. Below 0 temps and with the wind making it even colder. I must say that I am a bit jealous of the snow that is being predicted for those of you downstate. 5-10"! We are due to get a couple, if that. I would prefer to get the 5-10", especially now that I don't have to drive in it!

I'm totally done with Christmas shopping. Everything that needs to be shipped has been. Now onto wrapping, which I may start this evening.

Well, I have more to post, but think I've been on here enough for now. My next post will be about my date last night...........something I will never forget. But more details next post.

2008-12-06T21:55:00.003-05:00

My folks made it back home this afternoon around 4pm. It was a slower than normal commute as they drove in snow most the way. Currently the winds are high and the snow is coming down as well. Figures, it will probably be horrible weather tonight cause I wanted to head to the Soo tomorrow morning............maybe Aunt Barb is right, the bad weather waits for when I have to drive to the Soo.

Today I worked a bit outside clearing some snow, brought in a few loads of wood, and played with Aaron. He loves outside and when he plays in the snow, he comes in soaking wet from head to toe. I'm thinking about doing some snowshoeing this coming week. We definitely have the snow for it and Aaron loves to do that so he will join me. Its still too early to trust that the ice is thick enough, so we'll just stay around here. I would love to try the trails over at the Falls one of these years.......

2008-12-05T07:09:00.006-05:00

Single digit temps this morning. I figured as much before I even checked cause both floor furnaces were on and the fire was still above 200.

No, the 1-2 feet of snow did not materialize. I'm estimating maybe 6-9 inches total have fallen. If you check the weather the snow is supposed to continue though, with a few inches called for each day. Paradise has already begun grooming the trails so they are ready for the sleds. As of yet I have not seen any sleds locally, but on my way home Wednesday night, there were groups of them on the trails in the Strongs area.

A bit later....I had to stop my posting to get the boys up and out the door for school. We timed it just perfectly, which was great cause being 7 degrees, I'd hate to stand out there too long. After the bus left I was able to get a few pics. Notice how out of focus they seem, I'm not sure if it is my camera being cold or is it due to me shivering?

2008-12-04T06:21:00.002-05:00

Not sure what to expect from the weather these next couple days. It is predicted that 1 to 2 FEET of snow should fall between Wednesday night to Friday, mid-morning. I woke up before 5am and so far only about 1/2 of new snow has fallen. Of course I want the snow, cause you know me......but yet, its when they actually predict that much snow that we don't get it. Let's look back at Sunday night/Monday morning's snowfall: What they said would fall--2-4". What actually fell--16-18". So the way I look at it, we won't get anything but a few inches.........but one can still hope for more!!

After a few 'problems', our tree is finally up and fully decorated. I especially love how it looks this year. Brendan is taller this year and can reach higher. Aaron still bunches all the ones he likes together. Joshua hung about 8 of them on the very bottom branch. Is it perfect? To me, yes.

Now that my clinicals for this semester are over, I have Thursdays & Fridays off from going to the Soo. Wonderful for me! Today I have to spend catching up on stuff around here, doing homework, online Christmas shopping, and trying to figure out my new & fancy phone. Yippee for me! I will do it all while having Christmas music on in the background. I do love me some Christmas music, I'm alright with that.

My coffee needs a refill before I have to get Brendan up for school.

A Post Full of Pics

2008-12-02T13:51:00.003-05:00

Josh in his new hat. We tried it out while outside today.
Emma & Joshua on Thanksgiving. Emma is 6 wks older than Joshua.

The creek view from the road side.

Another view of the creek.

Aaron on top of the snow mound today.

Brendan Claus with Rudulph guiding his sleigh. He set this all up on his own. He's always thinking of something!

I think we have our tree fixed. I should be putting up lights a bit later this afternoon and we'll decorate once Brendan gets home from school.

Got Snow?

2008-12-01T21:28:00.002-05:00

My alarm generally wakes up me at 5am. This morning I decided to let the 2nd alarm, which rings at 5:05am, wake me up. That is something I rarely do--normally I get up with the first alarm, the 2nd one is there 'just in case'. Well, at 5:30am I looked at the clock, said "oh, shit" and got up. 30 minutes late getting up--why didn't my alarm go off? Don't know. Ah well, I get up a bit early any way, so I should be fine. RIGHT? Then I open the door to let the dogs outside, and that is when I said, "OH SHIT!" and had to get my ass in gear. Wind was blowing wickedly, snow was coming down thickly. At 6:05am, I was showered, dressed, hair dried, makeup on, coffee in hand, and out the door. Impressed? I was.

You see, this was the kind of morning where I wish to thank the SnowStick Fairies for placing those lovely snowsticks on sides of the roads. Because today was that day where if it weren't for those, I would have no idea if I was even on the road or not. Couldn't see more than a few yards ahead of myself. Yes, it was snowing heavily, but add to that the gusting winds and it was almost impossible to see.

Yet I kept going. Even when the I heard that Whitefish called a 2 hour delay. And we know that rarely happens. I kept going, even when I next heard that Whitefish called a snow day. That almost never happens. (Remember last year? Only 2 snow days, one for a blizzard and the other for a power outage!) Me in my van kept going. "It'll get better once I get to M-28," I kept telling myself. 45 minutes later I arrive finally make it to M-28--a drive that normally takes 20 minutes, top.

Yeah, I was wrong. Way wrong. M-28 was not better, but worse. Holy hell. 6 inches of snow at least on the roads, not plowed, but with ruts from the few other brave souls out on the roads with me. Oh boy. White knuckles on that steering wheel a few times.

Why didn't I turn back? Why not throw in the towel and turn around? I'm a Yooper Woman! Snow does not scare me! True, so true. But also due today was that big 10 page paper and 100 question exam. Had to get there no matter what. And the Soo? Barely a dusting on the ground. But it came later, not nearly like what we got here in Paradise, but they got a few inches maybe.

Interested in just how much snow we got today? 16-18 inches in most spots, with much deeper drifts in areas. Yeah, you know you are jealous! But I did it. It took me 2 hours but I made it to campus just in time to walk into the building just as class was starting. Give me the gold star cause I deserve it today. On the plus side, the drive home at 4:30pm only took me 90 minutes, so a little improvement.

Rumor is that some schools are already thinking of cancelling tomorrow as well. It would be highly unlikely that Whitefish cancel 2 days in a row, but we shall see. At this point we can't count on the weather advisory cause last night before bed I checked and they said that in my area we would get 2-4 inches. I think that was a bit off, don't you?

So this evening the fire is glowing and keeping me nice and toasty warm. The boys & Ryan are watching a Christmas movie as I type away. The wind is picking up again out there. Is this wave #2 for us? Cool.

Yet again Mom & Dad are missing out on some sweet weather. Wish you guys were here to enjoy it cause its awesome!

2008-11-29T21:04:00.002-05:00

We are home from our quick Thanksgiving Trip downstate. I, like Aunt Barb & Uncle Dennis, was happy to spend time with family, but really happy to be home just the same. We spent Wednesday through Saturday morning at Janine's house. Thanksgiving brought a house full of 40 people. All of Ryan's siblings were there but Rochelle and her family. (They did come over to spend Friday with us though! The nails still look great, thanks Chelsea!) I was pleased to finally see Macey for the first time, and a cute baby she is. He big sister Emma is still the most beautiful child I have ever seen! I got to spend some time talking to Ryan's Dad, who is doing very well after his first week of chemo. Let's just hope it continues that way.

I did learn something: Black Friday shopping is so not for me. Yes, I've done it once or twice in the past and have always said I'll never do it again. But I wanted to go along with Ryan's Mom and 2 of my sister-n-laws for the fun of it. And wow. Too many people. And we didn't leave the house until 10am, so we had already missed the early morning craziness. (And Alida loves that part of it!)

This evening has been spent doing some laundry and putting things away from the trip. I still have a few things to unpack and then more laundry to do.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. I have already pulled the Christmas Tree and all the trimmings out of the closet upstairs. The tree will be put up tomorrow morning and we'll decorate in the afternoon. I have to keep working on my 10 page paper since its due Monday. I also have to go over my exam another time to recheck answers and try to find those few that I am having trouble finding answers to. The boys also have homework to do, must not forget to do that. And there will surely be more laundry to attend to. Possibly I will even get some online Christmas shopping done. More unpacking. And I will want to sit my butt on the couch to relax a bit as well. Sounds like a plan to me.

My folks are headed back downstate in the morning. Norm & Dominique left this morning. It was nice to see them for those few days. Perhaps they will visit us more now. The kids really liked having them here, especially Brendan as I have a suspicion that he has a tiny crush on Dominique :)

Hope all had a good Thanksgiving. Now its time to decorate for Christmas! I love this time of year!!!

2008-11-26T07:49:00.002-05:00

One quick post before heading downstate for a few days. Wishing you all a good Turkey Day. Safe travels to anyone who is traveling. Catch back up with ya after we are stuffed with food......

2008-11-22T08:13:00.002-05:00

Another night of restless sleep for me. This time there were no thoughts spinning in my head, I just woke up at 3am, WIDE AWAKE, tossing and turning for about 20 minutes before I finally gave in, grabbed my pillow, and sat on the couch watching TV. There isn't shit on TV at that time! I found myself watching QVC for over a half hour. Just as I was getting sleepy, Joshie woke up crying--figures, right as I was going to fall asleep--so I brought him with me back to bed. We need a bigger bed.......

At 7am Josh & I sat in on the couch & watched the otter as we drank our coffee. Okay, so Josh wasn't drinking coffee, he was drinking his usual morning "bubba with chocolate milk in it" (Yep, call me bad Mommy as he is 2.5 and still with his bottle.) But back to the otter....He/She is not scared of us humans at all. As it was just starting to get light outside, he/she was on the watch for predators though. Aaron was next to wake up & then Brendan. So the 4 of us were sitting and watching the otter, he looking at us, a good time was had by all, I'm sure.

I think most of my Christmas shopping for our boys is done. There are a few items and then stockings to consider, but those are easily filled with underwear ;) Other than that, I have nothing bought. Yippee. Oh wait, I have Ryan's Mom's gift all set, but we are hoping to give her that when we go down for Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving........I can't say that I am really looking forward to going downstate. I do enjoy seeing everyone, but in all honesty, I would love to use my break for relaxing (selfish on my part, I know that). And then there is the situation with Ryan's Dad. He has been diagnosed with cancer. I haven't blogged about it cause I really don't know that much about what is going on. I hear something from one person, and something different from another. There are issues and its a complicated topic. But I do know this: cancer at the base of the tongue and lymph node on one side. I'm thinking it started in the tongue and has metastasized to the lymph node (bad thing), but again, I don't have that confirmed, just my thinking. I've been told he's at stage 3-yikes! Treatments are to start Monday. Chemo & radiation. They are going to pre-medicate him for several things, but the big ones (hopefully) are pain management and to prevent nausea & vomiting. I'm hoping to have all the gaps in my knowledge filled in while I am down there. I hate not knowing details about his case. Really. But I am here and they are there. And then there is the issue of explaining things to our boys--they should at least know Grandpa is sick, but how sick will he be by Wednesday/Thursday when we will see him? Will the chemo effect him right away? These are things I don't know.

I still have one more day of classes before my break starts. Monday I have the intense "Walking/Jogging for Fitness" at 8am. After that though, nothing. You could say that I should just skip that class but I enjoy it, so no. And as my fellow nursing student Renee likes to say, "That class is my only A! I don't wanna miss and screw that up!" For med/surg, the prof is going to post a 'take-home' exam that is due when we get back from break. You'd think that would make me happy, but it doesn't. Take home exams are historically MUCH harder than an in-class exam. I, however, was clearly outvoted in that thought, so a take-home exam it is. Also due when we get back from break is that damn 8-10 page paper. The goal is to get some of that done before I leave to go downstate. (I can dream, right?) But really, my folks are coming back home most likely today. I haven't seen my Dad since early September so I will want to spend some time with him. And then Norm & Dominique are supposed to come up Sunday. I can't even tell you how long its been since I've seen my brother...........for sure its been over 2 years, closer to 2 1/2. That pretty much gives me this morning to work on that paper. Do I see that happening? Nope. (And this is where my time-management skills are shining......I'm blogging when I should be writing that damn paper!) Let's not forget the planning & packing for the trip downstate!!

Hot damn! I think blogging just gave me a clue why I couldn't sleep! See, it is good for something!

It's a Beautiful Thing

2008-11-21T11:20:00.003-05:00

Only a few more days.........Day & Age will be released November 24th.......You know what's at the top of my Christmas Wish List.......if I can wait that long......and you know I can't...... and oh yes, for those who say its 'denser', its not, its dancer.......

2008-11-20T10:16:00.003-05:00

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...................
Yep. Its gorgeous here! 12 inches of snow fell between yesterday morning and this morning. The ice is building and we were just watching the otter run across the chunks, dive in water, stick his head out, dunk back in the water, and then pop out onto the chunks of ice again. It is the cutest little thing! I'm not sure if I like watching him roll around on the sand or play in the ice more......either way, we love to watch him/her.

I ended up leaving campus early yesterday and not going to my 4pm class. I was glad I did as I got home before dark and beat some of the snow. Today I have to head back out to the Soo for my last day of clinicals. I'm leaving 2 hours early cause I'm thinking the roads will most likely be bad. More snow is expected over the next couple days so I will be glad to be home to enjoy it.

Thanks to Aunt Barb for staying here with Josh yesterday. Ryan and Uncle Dennis were gone all day and I think both were glad to get home last night. But because of them, Paradise will have some nice Christmas decorations!

I know Kim won't be happy to read this, but damn, this snow sure puts me in the mood for Christmas! And yes, some around here have Christmas decorations up, but you see, if you don't put them up mid-November, its too late..............who wants to do it now with 12 inches of snow on the ground??? Here in our house, I don't think we will do any decorating until we arrive home from downstate for Thanksgiving. Unless I get my tree out early and leave it here for Mom, Dad, Norm, & Dominique to put up!!!!!!!!!!!

Its time that I start getting ready for clinicals.

2008-11-16T13:26:00.002-05:00

What an awesome day we are having! The snow stopped for a bit, but has started up again. We are under a weather advisory so I'm hoping that means even more snow!

The boys are out there having a good time! It always takes some encouragment to get Brendan to go outside, but once he gets out there, he usually enjoys himself.

I have changed my blogger background once again. I liked the Thanksgiving one, but this snow one seems more appropriate to me right now!

2008-11-16T11:07:00.003-05:00

It took me awhile, but I finally found the NPR story........

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95787390.

Click on the above link and hit "Listen Now" to hear the most recent story on Mr. Dreeves.

2008-11-16T08:04:00.004-05:00

Its snowing. Really big, puffy flakes. Awesome. I've got a fire going and I'm sitting here enjoying a cup of coffee. I actually was able to sleep in today till 7am. How nice.

I'm hungry. Too bad I don't have the yummy breakfast foods to make a nice breakfast this morning. Why? Well, on Friday night we were planning on getting pizza. NOT OPEN so grilled cheese was made as a last minute substitute. We thought we'd try again Saturday. Again, NOT OPEN. On a weekend!?!? So for dinner last night I made breakfast. I love me some breakfast for dinner, but now the breakfast I had planned to make today is gone. Should we tempt it again this evening?? Wait for pizza? Who knows. I'll have to check the freezers to see what we have in there and then decide on a meal plan. But the moral of this story is this: Don't rely on any business being open in Paradise when its Opening Weekend.

I have been looking into karate videos for my middle son. I gotta tell ya, there isn't a big variety of them. Maybe I'm not using the right search words. I wish I could get him a trampoline, a gymnastics mat, karate lessons.....he would love all that. Instead I will continue searching for a karate video so he can at least learn basic moves. Not sure if that's a good idea or not though. He will so use his moves on his brothers and I foresee injuries in the future.

Today I must:

get some laundry done
write a 2 page paper for my Aging class
start a 10 page paper, also for Aging
watch TV for one hour and count the medication commercials (Yes, it is a true homework assignment for Aging)
read for my lecture tomorrow in Adult 1 (Med-Surg Nursing)
help the boys with homework
get the boys clothes out for school
help the Hubby keep the house clean

Think I'll start on that laundry now. Then that 2 page paper needs to be finished. Everyone enjoy your Sunday.

2008-11-13T17:03:00.002-05:00

You mean to tell me that there is a new season of Top Chef on and I had no idea??? Dammit. I already missed an episode apparently! And when I read about it online, the Hubby says, "Oh yeah, I meant to tell you about that. I watched some of it last night..........I just stumbled upon it after you were already in bed." Reruns. Yes.

Next week is my last week of clinicals for this semester. Hell yes. Campus lab was finished (at least for my awesome lab group) this week. So after next week is over, I only have to go to campus 2 days a week! It will feel like a vacation! And think of the gas money I will be saving.

The end of this semester/clinicals means a very heavy workload till then. Everything is coming due, papers, teaching plans, blah, blah. So I'm pretty sure I don't have time to update this blog, but I'm doing it anyway.

Teaching plan to do NOW so I must get my rear in gear~

2008-11-11T08:20:00.010-05:00

Happy Birthday Aunt Barb!

Hope you enjoy your day today. It was nice having dinner with you & Uncle Dennis yesterday.

~~Tonight I have a scholarship dinner at the university. Means I have to wear something other than comfy pants or jeans, dammit. And since today is Veteran's Day, I will be attending the Veteran's Luncheon that is being held up at the school here in town. Its a double duty thing for me, as I can use this experience as an 'outside activity' for one of my classes. (Need to write a paper on it and turn it in next week.)

~~Got my haircut yesterday. Still trying to decide if I like it or not. My color needs to be done as well, but I'm way too cheap to pay someone to do that for me so I do that on my own.

~~It was like musical beds for me last night. I fell asleep in my own bed, then around 2am, Aaron came into our bed, and then about 2:30am, Joshua came into our bed. That is just too much for a queen sized bed. So I took Joshua back into his twin sized bed and slept with him in that for about an hour maybe. Once I woke up, I walked back down to my room and saw that Aaron was sprawled over my side of the bed. Ugh. And he sweats like crazy when he sleeps so I just couldn't do it. Grabbed the favorite pillow and decided the couch was the best place for me. After I added some wood to the fire, I curled up and promptly fell asleep.

~~Snow still covers most everything around here. We lost some yesterday, but there was enough on the ground that it all didn't melt. The snow makes everything so pretty. I am thinking about how much I want a pair of boots like Aunt Barb so I am debating on taking the drive south to just below the bridge to get me some. We shall see how the rest of the week goes until I decide. I would be something to do for us so maybe we will do it.

~~Time for a warm up of my coffee.......

2008-11-09T19:02:00.003-05:00

Heard my first Christmas song on the radio Friday night. A bit early, even for me. (And it happened to be one of the worst Christmas songs ever............ya know that one by the annoying Beatle......ick. That and that stupid Christmas Shoes sappy song.........) Just wondering if anyone else has heard any yet..................

The snow is really piling up out there. Looking beautiful. Have to remind Ryan to pack the boys snow pants in the morning. It also serves as a reminder to me to pack my emergency kit and load that into the van. I'm sure that the snow will melt in a day or two, but I'll enjoy it as we have it.

2008-11-09T11:07:00.002-05:00

Its been snowing here on and off since about 11:30pm yesterday. The sun makes a short appearance, melting a bit of it, then the next wave of snow comes in. Right now we have around 2 inches on the ground. It will probably all melt by the afternoon, but its still fun. Aaron & Joshua were out playing this morning and I was able to run out and get a couple cute pics.

Our trip across the river yesterday was interesting. Once we crossed the bridge we drove around to see what was there. We did find the hospital, which was one reason for going. (Next semester clinicals will most likely be over in Ontario so I wanted to know my way around before then.) After sight seeing, we went to the mall. Hmmmm. Its kinda like Macomb Mall. Nothing really fancy, but a mall just the same. Being that we were both starving, we stopped and ate at Joey Calzones, which was spectacular! By this time, it was around 6:20pm so we ventured out into the mall to do a bit of shopping. But what did we see? Closed shops. Who knew that Canadians close their malls at 6pm, on a Saturday! I don't think I have to tell you how shocked we were. So we pretty much had no where else to go but back to the States, so I drove (cause my husband always looks like a deer in the headlights or someone guilty as sin.....) And just a note to the rest of you, don't try to pay the man at Customs/Border Control. He will look at you funny and then you will feel like a total ass. Yeah, that was fun. I'm damn lucky that I was driving cause the "guilty" looking hubby would have been so flustered that we would have been searched for sure...............but then again, we didn't have jack shit in the car cause the damn mall closed at 6!!!! So instead we shopped at Kmart in the Soo, Michigan. Whoopee! If nothing else, our 10 year anniversary date will be memorable for the goofiness surrounding it............

I just have to say something about our future President. Talk is that he will appoint our governor to some higher up position. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. And they also say he consulted with her several times during the campaign. Again, I gotta sit here and say Hmmmmmmm. Well, she did such a great job here, I can't help but wonder how the rest of the country will now benefit from Jenny from the Block and what exactly the Pres elect is thinking?!?

Much reading to do today for class tomorrow.............

2008-11-08T10:13:00.002-05:00

Thanks to everyone who sent anniversary wishes! I had evening clinicals yesterday so our anniversary celebration will be today. My Mom is going to watch the kids for us and we will venture across the river for the first time since moving up here. I've got my passport in hand and have to grab the Hubby's birth certificate and we will be on our way later today.
There is a mall there. I have not been to a mall in over 2 years. And for anyone who knows me, I'm so not normally a mall person. Yet for some reason I am excited to go to one today. My hope is that I can find something to wear for a scholarship dinner this upcoming week and also wear it on Thanksgiving. How exciting for me. Maybe we will even get a bit more Christmas shopping done. Sweet.

When I got home from school last night, there was a large box on the kitchen table from my Mom & Dad. Ryan & I opened it and it was the belgium waffle maker!!! In the past we have borrowed Aunt Barb's waffle maker and were in love with it. So thanks Mom & Dad! We love it!! And the waffles were very yummy this morning..........

I would write more but my boys seem to think this morning is all about fighting. Gotta play ref before one of them gets seriously hurt.

2008-11-07T06:57:00.001-05:00

10 Years ago today Ryan & I got married. 10 years. Whoa.

Happy Anniversary Hun!!

2008-11-04T11:53:00.003-05:00

Took Aaron & Joshua to the polls with me today. Expected to get in and out but can you believe we actually had to wait in line??? I am hoping the library renewal passes. And I wrote in a candidate as well. Look at me and all my mad voting skills!

2008-11-04T08:22:00.008-05:00

Vote today. Vote today. Vote today.

Of course I'd like you to vote like me ;)

And oh yeah,

VOTE YES OF PROPOSAL ONE

*Read the research, talk to those it helps, understand it is for medical reasons*

2008-11-02T08:03:00.002-05:00

Yep, I'm pretty much a slacker in the posting picture department. Perhaps today.

2008-10-31T16:40:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween!

I hope all you ghosts, goblins, witches, & warlocks have a hauntingly good evening!

~Pictures will hopefully be posted tomorrow~

2008-10-30T16:15:00.002-04:00

Note to self: Those little trick-or-treat paper bags are pretty much useless. What a waste of 50 cents.......dammit.

Devils Night!

2008-10-30T15:45:00.004-04:00

I have a question that I am hoping that someone out there is able to answer. Does anyone know if the Mega Blocks "mini" (which look to be about the same size as Duplos) fit interchangably with the Lego Duplos? This is a critical question for the upcoming holiday buying season. If you happen to know, please leave a comment or email me and let me know. Thanks bunches.

The neighbor boy is over again this afternoon. He comes over a couple times a week to play with the boys. He lives just down the road so that's nice & close. Nice boy, good manners, & all 4 boys play great together. Love that.

This evening I need to make up the treat bags for the boys to take to class tomorrow. Halloween Party is in the afternoon after the Halloween Parade around the school. Me? I'm hoping to get home in time to be there.

T-I-R-E-D. That is what I am. TIRED. I just don't sleep like I should. Tossing and turning, turning and tossing. Waking up and the mind is racing and just can't turn it off to relax enough to get to sleep. Normally I have no problems falling asleep, but even that is starting to change. Last night it took me almost 2 hours to fall asleep!! Any other nights I can be asleep in about 15 minutes. Stress? Worrying too much? Anger? Anxiety? I think all of the above. I will say that it seems to be very common among other nursing students, at least the ones I talk to. Sleep happens less after clinicals as my mind is racing thinking of what I did, what could have been done better, did I miss anything?? Add to that issues with kids. Yep, my eyes burn during the day lately. But hell, there isn't that much longer to this semester, is there? (and then it all starts again in January........)

Got stuff to accomplish before the day is over.

2008-10-29T18:55:00.003-04:00

So for the past 3 days I have been receiving a new kind of SPAM in my SCHOOL email address. What kind? Emails from Obama & Biden asking me to call as many people I can to tell them to vote for him in the upcoming election. You bet your ass I unsubscribed to that email. I don't care what political affiliation you are, do not send me spam emails. I think I see and hear enough propaganda on the TV & radio. I certainly don't want it in my personal email. And hell, why do they need my help when he can afford to pay for 30 minute commercials on like 4 networks! Like ANYONE I know wants to sit through that? The only thing I will tell you is that the nurse in me is asking you to VOTE YES ON PROPOSAL 1!

Been pretty busy with school as of late. Worked the Flu shot clinic in the Soo yesterday. Not as big a turnout as expected. It was cold and snowy, so they think that is the reason. And yes, I said snow. I've already seen snowplows plowing & salting. Even drove through snow covered roads and saw a truck in the ditch. And its not even Halloween.................

Mom took Trudie & Millie to the Soo today for a grooming appointment. Basically they both got a good bath, nails trimmed, and ears cleanted. They both look so clean and shiny and they are SOOO soft. What pretty girls they are. They are even wearing Halloween themed bandanas. Trudie's never had a "professional" bath I don't think. She must think she's a queen now!

Got a paper to write so off I go!

Mommy & Joshie Day!

2008-10-25T14:57:00.004-04:00

Today Ryan took Brendan & Aaron to the Soo. He was supposed to get himself & Brendan a haircut, get new tires on the van, buy Brendan new snow boots, and whatever else he wanted to do. As an added bonus, he called and told me he got the oil changed as well. Whoohoo.

That left Joshua & I home with my Mom. I decided to take Josh to the Falls. It was nice & quiet, but also dreary & rainy. It started to rain as we were walking back from the Falls, and we did get a bit soaked, but had fun all the same. We stopped and had lunch here in town at the Berry Patch. (Which was delicious!) As I was paying the bill I glanced down at the bakery section. And being that this is a bakery, I noticed the yummy delicious cookie selection and had to purchase 6. Very yummy those.

Josh is currently outside climbing on the rocks with Gramma. He is a little Yooper.

Weather reports are calling for snow for us. Yippee! Good thing Ryan is supposed to be buying Brendan his new boots. Its about time that I put together my emergency kit for the van.

Okay, time to go do some homework.

Is it Tuesday again already?

2008-10-21T20:32:00.002-04:00

The Haunted Trail has come and gone with a new record of attendance at 1,245 total over the two nights!!!! Awesome! And there is more news as well.....Ryan is now like the 'co-chair' person for the trail. Eve, the woman who has run it for years, has been wanting to take a step back for several years. Sonny has been helping her, but its too much for one person to do on their own. So after this years trail and our enthusiasm, Sonny asked Ryan to help take over. So this is pretty exciting and we already have lots of ideas for next year!!! And no, I never got pics so I think I will have to ask Wendy if she has any good ones she can share with me.

This morning was Aaron's EEG. My Mom had an early appt in the Soo for work to be done on her truck. So I left the house later in the morning, met her at the dealership, dropped off Josh and his car seat, and then went to the hospital to have Aaron's test. (He did great. I'm expecting "normal" results, which is a good thing.) After the test, we met Mom & Josh at Sub.way for lunch. Mom & Josh then went to the grocery store while Aaron & I shopped at Wa.lmart. Then back home again, just 15 minutes before Brendan got off the bus. Then homework, dinner, shower, bedtime. Yep, another restful Tuesday............next Tuesday is the flu shot clinic so I'll be gone all day then as well. Whoohoo. I swear, I am not scheduling anything for my Tuesdays in November.........really.............hopefully I won't have to............

Its coming time to schedule for next semester's classes. It will be OB/Peds for me. Yeah! I'm extremely excited about that!! Yet, I am dreading it. Clinical sites, days, & times are all going to suck for us around here. I will be traveling farther than I am now, possibly having to stay one or two nights away from home. All this in the middle of winter in the UP. What schedule is the best? I don't know. I have a meeting with my advisor tomorrow (who is also the OB instructor) so maybe she and I can come up with a good arrangement. I'm not holding my breath...........

Just found out via a baby shower invitation that my cousin Dawna is pregnant. A baby girl. How sweet. No, I don't think I'll be able to attend, but who knows. I'll have to check the date to know for sure.

Alrighty. Laundry time.

2008-10-18T09:12:00.003-04:00

Last night at the Haunted Trail was a good one. 483 people came through. Pretty good number for our little town, eh? Tonight there should be more.. Love the screamers, hate the ones too cocky to have fun with it. There are a few modifications that we want to make before we start tonight.

I hope to get some pics tonight to post tomorrow. For now I have homework. Good day.

Hello Nurse!

2008-10-14T16:14:00.005-04:00

Ah, another restful Tuesday off. NOT! Another day to drive all over to get shit done. Started off leaving here at 8:30am and drove the 1.5 hours to Pickford for Aaron's dentist appt. Stopped quick also at the shoe store there--and they don't sell kids shoes either. Left Pickford and drove the 30 minutes north to the Soo. Got Josh & Aaron haircuts. That went well, as always. I almost had a bitchy moment when the Cranky Barber (there are 3 total and he is the only cranky one) decided to start saying to me, "If he's gonna fight, I can't put it up with. In fact, I won't put up with it. I'm just getting over a broken finger....." That is when I cut him off and said that he WON'T fight, NEVER has fought, and will probably be the BEST 2 year old he has ever had the pleasure of cutting. I said this as nice as I could when inside I wanted to punch him in the face. (Anger issues, me?) And as usual, Joshua sat completely still, followed all directions, and had won the old cranky man's heart by the end of the haircut. I wanted to say "Told you so!" but held it in. And the haircut? Awesome. Cranky Barber gives good cuts. Aaron, as usual, wouldn't go to Cranky Barber and waited for Always Happy & Smiling Barber, who doesn't give as good a cut, but always gives lots of smiles. And for Aaron, that is all that matters.

So back to my day..........after haircuts we ran to Ri.te A.id to get some deals. Although I am in no way as good at that as Jen, I still managed to get some bargains. Bought lots of stuff that once I do the rebate thing (online), will be totally free. Yeah me. Now I just have to remember to go online to do the rebate thing. After there we went across the street to buy some pumpkins. Got 4 large pumpkins for a decent price. Well, decent price for here anyway. Then a VERY quick stop at Wal.mar.t and then the hour drive back to Paradise. We had to get home in time to get Brendan off the bus, we made it with 15 minutes to spare.

On to other things............

It's that time of year!!! Currently we have 6 freighters anchored in the Bay. And this morning we had a visit from The SnowStick Fairy!!! That means that Fall is for sure here and Winter is soon to follow. I just hope we don't get snow this weekend for the Haunted Trail. That would suck beyond sucking. But then again, it could really make our site look wickedly cool.......

I got gas today in Brimley for $3.25. That is the cheapest in many months. It almost makes me feel better about the over 120 miles that I drive a day, but not really. But again, don't think about it cause what can I do, right?

No more slacking for me. I have a midterm tomorrow and my comprehensive care plan is due Thursday. Gotta get to work.

2008-10-12T12:27:00.002-04:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Nicholas!

I hope you like your presents we sent! Can't wait to see you! Aunt Louie will he sure to have some Junior Mints waiting for when you get here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Anniversary to Jackie & Jeff!

2008-10-12T11:34:00.002-04:00

So, if you are to listen to any television news, any radio reports, read any papers or internet sites you probably think a certain candidate has this election in the bag. Don't buy into it. VOTE. Don't let anyone tell you that your vote is wasted, not gonna matter, or that your candidate doesn't stand a chance. If anything, that should make you want to vote even more. VOTE.

2008-10-11T11:37:00.004-04:00

Not sure if anyone saw this on ESPN, but I just recently found it so thought I would post it. The "Can Man" has been getting a lot of notoriety as of late. Last I heard, CMU Public Radio was coming up to do a report on him as well. So take a few minutes and watch this about a man really making a difference in our tiny town. (And yes, that is where our empties go........)

2008-10-09T09:28:00.003-04:00

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

**********************************************

Happy 21st Birthday Janine!

(wink, wink!)

All this talk of bread.....

2008-10-03T19:13:00.003-04:00

It was cold this morning. How about 33 degrees cold. So cold that when I got in my car this morning at 5:45am to leave for school, that my van was covered in ice. Not frost, but ICE. It had rained earlier in the night and then it froze. So covered in ice was my van that my windshield wipers were frozen to the window. I actually had to chip the ice away and sort-of punch my wiper blades to get them un-stuck. Yep. Time for winter. Good thing that Ryan already has the kids wearing their winter coats when they go to school.........jeez.

Paying bills this evening. Always a good time. Then I think I will try to work on my OR Experience paper. Damn, I'm cool. My Saturday plans? Not sure, but I hope to stay up late enough to watch SNL. Why? The exciting answer to that is that The Killers are musical guests this week. That excites me to no end. I'm positively giddy about it.

Went to the grocery store hungry yesterday afternoon. Never a good idea. I went there for 4 items. $80 later I left with a cart full of nothing really good, but with lots of junk food and coffee creamer. Oh, did I tell you that they have stocked the 'holiday creamers' already? A bit earlier than expected, but then again, is it ever too early for Peppermint Mocha????? I did buy a loaf of bread from the bakery section. Damn you Heather--all this talk of bread. If I lived by you I would be knocking on your door daily in hopes that you would offer me bread.

Ugh. Those bills aren't paying themselves.

Its October Baby!

2008-10-01T20:32:00.007-04:00

Mondays & Wednesdays are long days for me. My first class starts at 8am and my last class ends at 5pm. I'm pretty loaded down with books on those days. Lots of big-ass nursing textbooks. As those of you who read my blog on a regular basis, you know of my backpack dilemma--and for those who don't, go back about 2 weeks to read a few posts about it. But this week was problem free thanks to my new ZUCA. No back pain, no trying to figure out what book to leave home to make it a lighter load. The best part about it? I'm all stealthy. (Is that a word?) Don't you hate hearing those wheeled bags coming down the hall? So damn loud. That has been my irk about wheeled bags in the past, but my new one? Stealthy I tell you! No one can hear me coming. And when we get a blizzard that knocks out power to campus? I can lead the way with my light up wheels......The most common question asked since I got it has been, "Was it expensive?" My answer, "Yes, but SOOOOO worth it." I think I have even a few ZUCA converts...............
That will be my last post about my ZUCA, I promise...........maybe..........I plug it cause I love it. www.zuca.com

Had my first exam today in Med/Surg. Grades were (surprisingly) posted this evening. My score? 88. I was happy with that. Not an A, but my new mindset for this semester is "it doesn't have to be an A." That is when I noticed it was 88 out of 90. HUH? I mean, I thought I did well enough to pass, but that score is so above what I thought it would be. There is still some question about that because there were 98 questions on the exam, so where did the other 8 questions go??? Best guess is she threw the questions out?? Suppose we will find out Monday morning.

Paid $3.86 for gas today in the Soo. Cheapest in at least a month for sure. Great for me since I drive over 120 miles a day. Yippee.

My husband is telling me how he would rather someone offer to pull his teeth instead of doing his composition homework. Comp II, his worse enemy. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Kids, go to college/university right after high school. Even if you are making good money now, it may not last. Get that degree (Bachelors at least) before you are in your early 30's and have children to attend to.

October 1st. 30 days until Halloween. The Haunted Trail is only a few short weeks away. Leaves are changing and scattering around. The winds have been up an the temps have been falling. Fall on Lake Superior. My favorite time of the year. (Until winter, and then THAT is my favorite time.)

Stupid paper isn't writing itself......................

2008-09-28T11:13:00.002-04:00

Brrrrr.......it sure is chilly today. Just 2 days ago we were in the high 70's. Today in the low 50's with the nights getting colder. The leaves are getting prettier each day. I have been wanting to get some good pictures, but so far the ones I have taken aren't all that great. But I did get a decent pic of these geese getting the heck outta here before the snow flies!

Mom took Brendan & Aaron to the Soo with her this morning, leaving Joshua home with Ryan & I. This was not alright with Joshua until I said I would go outside with him so he could drive his Jeep around the yard. The boy loves the Jeep. He goes outside with Gramma every day and drives around while she does yard stuff.

Here he is giving me his signature look. Who doesn't love that outfit? The Scooby jammie pants? Come on, its classic. This other pic I'm posting just cause he's adorable.

I'm thinking of making potato, broccoli, & cheese soup for dinner tonight. Kelley (who is a fantastic cook) gave me a recipe she uses.

There is some wicked virus going around campus. The cold stays for weeks at a time. I must try to avoid this nasty thing as my OR observation is scheduled for this Thursday morning. Don't want to miss that so I've been taking vitamins, washing hands, & using hand sanitizers to combat it.

As I look around I see mounds of textbooks, papers, and notecards. That reminds me, I should be studying for my exam this week..............

2008-09-27T10:22:00.003-04:00

News I didn't want to hear today was about Paul Newman's death. My favorite films in which he stars; Cool Hand Luke, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, and my favorite cheesy one Long, Hot Summer. He was a star in my mind.

My Wheels Perk Me Up.

2008-09-26T19:42:00.004-04:00

Today I am so annoyed with school. Professors who aren't organized, tell us something one week, the next week say "I didn't say that!". And lately, what I have coined 'phantom emails'---emails they claim to have sent but don't exist. "I sent you guys an email telling you about the changes!" Uh, no you didn't. 39 students with no emails, yet you claim this (phantom) email was sent. And don't get me started about the syllabus. Seriously. Organize your shit people. Could we come to you and say, "Oh, didn't you get my email?" or what I love, "I didn't have time to get your papers graded." How about we come to you and say, "Ya know what, I had a busy day with my kids so I just didn't have time to get my paper written. But I can get it to you in another week." Yeah, that shit would never fly. There is a reason why my absolute favorite professor in the entire universe has won "Professor of the Year" and the rest of them haven't..............

On the sunny side of school, Brendan just told us this, "Mom & Dad, you rock on your homework. Even if you do it wrong, you still rock." Damn I needed to hear that. And yes, Ryan has started his online classes again. Both of us are cranky doing homework on a Friday night. Maybe I need to get a good drunk on.

Got my awesome Zuca bag yesterday. Never before has a school bag excited me this much. Never ever. It opens totally different than any other back I have ever seen. It holds every book I need to carry (which measure 2-3" wide per book), my lunch box, and has enough pockets to hold anything else I need. And its a seat, too. Really. Oh, and did I tell you that the wheels light up?? Yeah, its that kick ass. Go to www.zuca.com to read the back story behind it and all the coolness that is zuca.

Check out the pics of my sparkly black bag with its girly pink base.........

Okay, gonna turn out all the lights and wheel my sweet bag around to see the light show. And maybe then I'll just sit on it and watch me some Presidential Debates........Hell ya, that'll cheer my ass right up.

2008-09-22T19:43:00.003-04:00

Somebody remind my sister to post pics of the event for Clare this past weekend. Seriously. I want to see her all dressed up in a dress and hat. I also want to see Alida in these pics as I still don't believe she took part in the ceremony without bursting into flames.

Turned in the dreaded theory paper this morning--8 pages of genius I tell you. Happy as hell to get it done and over it, terrified at getting my grade.........my best work it was not.

While on break from classes today I went and picked up the posters for the Haunted Trail. They look great. Sonny was supposed to come by the house to pick them up tonight but so far he hasn't. I will drop them off to him tomorrow morning. Ryan built the main part to our site yesterday. Looks awesome. We want to scare the pants off of you...........so please where some underwear so I don't have to see your parts.

Had a meeting with the boys teacher on Friday. Left there feeling much happier than expected. I'm liking the teacher and her philosophy, which was a relief.

Since tomorrow is Tuesday, I don't have any classes/clinicals. Yippee! What I will be doing is running yet again to the Soo for doctors appt for Aaron, dentist appts for Aaron & Josh, and may even stop off at campus to practice IV stuff for myself. What a way to spend a day off.

I think the couch is calling me to come and relax. I can ignore it no longer.

2008-09-17T18:47:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Dad!

Everyone here misses you & loves you!

2008-09-15T19:07:00.002-04:00

I almost hit a beaver this morning. Really. He was dragging a branch across the road to his dam. Now that's something I bet you don't hear everyday!

The cool, crisp, fall-is-in-air weather is upon us. Yesterday the winds off Superior were just awesome. I expect to see some freighters anchored out there soon enough.

That is about all the blogging I have time for. Later Gators.

No, I didn't forget, it just took me this long to have time to say......

2008-09-13T20:43:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Jennifer!

Hoping your day was a great one.

Did you get my card yet????

Stupid Heavy Books.

2008-09-08T13:13:00.003-04:00

I needed a new backpack this year. I've gone thru a few since returning to school and was never really 'happy' with any of them. It seemed each of them had some great design perks and yet also a few design flaws as well--most of them being too small to hold everything. I researched and finally purchased this one. Last week I was totally in love with it. Lots of room for not only just textbooks and folder, but also a designated spot for my laptop with lots of extra pockets for other stuff. Well, today I decided this backpack will just not do. Its big. Big enough as I said to hold everything that I need for my 8am to 5pm class days. Problem is that once filled with everything needed, this bag is way too much for my back and shoulders. Its only 1:15pm and my shoulders are already aching. After searching the net I have already picked out my new bag and have ordered it. This new one is a wheeled bag. I had a wheeled bag in the past but it was just too small to hold all I need it to hold. A friend of mine has this exact bag and I fell in love with it last year, but I refused to pay $140 for it. But after a quick search today, I found it on sale much cheaper and decided to opt for it. It will be here in a few days and I cannot wait. Hoping its worth it.

Currently I am in the middle of a 3 hour break that I have before my last class of the day starts. This morning was my walking class. I think I love it. There are several of us nursing students in there so we quiz each other while we are getting our fitness on. We rock I tell you! It helped me already because we had our first quiz today and I think I got a perfect score. (At least I think I did but I won't know till later in the week.)

Of course I have other things I should be doing right now so I must go and do them. Later Folks.

Now that I have a short free moment....

2008-09-07T13:46:00.003-04:00

School is what it is. That is really all there is to say about it from me. Heavy schedule, lots of care plans, clinicals, check-offs, quizzes, exams, weekends full of reading, writing care plans and studying. So that is my life.

School for the boys seems to be going well. This new teacher does things a bit differently than Amy did, which is fine and so far good. One thing I already like about this teacher is that at week end, she sends home a paper that is basically a weekly behavior report. Aaron came home with 3 stars, one for each day he had class. Brendan, who normally is an all-star student, only came home with 1 star, yet he had 4 days of school. When I asked him why not all stars, he told me it was because he cried on those other days. That is not a surprise to me as he cries a lot over everything. Most students (his brother included) normally give in to him and he ends up getting what he wants, and I think that happened all last year at school. But this new teacher takes a different approach and I just love it! You cry? No star. Ryan and I have/had talked to Brendan numerous times about his crying at school with no success. I have high hopes that the star thing works out this problem. Sounds weird, but to Brendan, not getting stars is a big deal, so hopefully no tears and all stars for him!

To answer Mary's question, Brendan has 3 kids total in his class, 1st grade. Aaron has a large class of 7. Originally the kindergarten class was due to have 9 but we lost 2 students to other towns. The makeup for the school classes had to change due to Aaron's class being so large. Most years, K, 1st, & 2nd grades are all in one class taught by one teacher. But this year, as Kindergarten was so full of students, they have changed it. K and 1st are together. 2nd, 3rd, & 4th are together and so on. I can almost here you all laughing about how we think 7 students is a "large" class, but up here in Paradise, it is! Just think of the advantage that is compared to downstate where there is probably 30 students to one teacher.

The fall colors are starting and already a lot of trees have started to change. Our temps here have been pretty cool as of late. On the first day of school they boys could have worn shorts it was that hot. But since then, they have been wearing long-sleeved shirts and lightweight jackets.

I know this weekend is Good Old Days for Richmond. I am sure I will be hearing beer tent stories soon.............

Well, that is about all the time I should devote to this lovely blog today. There is a little quiz tomorrow that needs my attention. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

And so it begins.........

2008-09-02T10:28:00.007-04:00

The first day of school. Finally here. Brendan in 1st & Aaron in kindergarten. Both of them did really well and were excited about going.

All of us went out to wait for the bus.

And now it is down to one. So far I think he is really enjoying his time alone. He built his garage and parked all his trucks, tractors, cars, ect in it. I will say that just because there is one kid does not mean there is less mess. He has his blocks, Lego's, and vehicles all over the place already.

Another big change for us this morning. My Dad left a bit later this morning to head back downstate to work. We will see him for quick weekends here and there, but it is not until Christmas that we will see him for any big length of time. I wonder how Josh will adjust to that one cause he does like his Grampa!

Tomorrow is my first day of the semester. ugh. So not looking forward to that. Sure, once things get going it will be fine, but right now I don't want to go. Going to miss my boys and being able to be here with them. Most days of the week I will be out the door before they even are up for school. That sucks. Sacrifice a bit today for a better tomorrow, right?

Off I go to spend my last free day with Josh.

Labor Day

2008-09-01T11:16:00.004-04:00

Traffic. Today I am seeing a lot of traffic headed south. And know what? I'm happy about that. The tourist traffic will be almost nonexistant after today. It will begin again once the hunters start coming north and then again once the snow flies and the sleds will start running.

Today is the Mackinac Bridge Walk. I haven't done it for many years. I brought it up to the boys yesterday, thinking there was no way they would want to do it. And to my surprise, they wanted to drive down to St Ignace to walk it! I thought about doing it, but then thought better of it. Maybe next year when they are each a year older. Its a 5 mile walk and I don't want to have to carry any of them so once I feel that they can walk the distance themselves, we'll do it as a family.

Perhaps I'll post more later.

Things are a'changing

2008-08-30T14:04:00.004-04:00

As you can see, my Baby J is no longer in his crib. Ryan dug deep into the closets upstairs to pull our the twin frame, headboard, & mattress. At first we were going to make the switch to the race car bed, but since he already had gotten the twin Spongebob bedding for his birthday, we went straight for the twin. Well, Ryan did. I didn't. I was against it. But Ryan made his point: how can we expect him to be potty trained but we won't let him get up at night and go potty cause he's in his crib. I know, makes sense, right? And guess what, last night, his 2nd night in the bed and he wakes up this morning DRY. Yep. No diaper and he was DRY. Awesome. My goal was to have him potty trained before school starts for me and mission accomplished. (Really was simple for me. He did it all with just encouragement from us. Great job Josh!)

Let's see........earlier in the week the hubby & I took the boys to the Chippewa County Fair which takes place over in Kinross (about 1hr 15 min from here.) It was pretty fun. We did not do the wrist band thing, as that would have cost $20 per kid. So we just bought some tickets and let them each play one game. Add to that 2 elephant ears for the family to share and we all left happy.

Thursday my Bear had the last of his immunizations for awhile. He got 4 of them. Ouch. Currently I am keeping an eye on his left arm cause besides the bruise from one site, he has a red and swollen area under it that has grown overnight. He isn't really complaining and has no limit in movement, so at this point I am just going to watch and see with a call to the health dept on Tuesday. When the child sat motionless and still ends up with a bad bruise, something is not quite right.

Mom & Dad are up to the Fish Boil at The Point. Curious to hear their reaction to it. Good? Bad? Aunt Barb & Uncle Dennis were planning on going as well so I'm interested in their thoughts as well.

Can't believe school is starting again for me. This is the year when things get serious and hard. I'm already nervous and losing sleep and the semester has yet to start. This morning I sewed my patch on my new white lab jacket which is required for clinicals. The rest of my weekend will hopefully be devoted to studying. How much does that suck? My last weekend and I have to spend it studying!

So what are your plans for this long weekend? Are you vacationing and squeezing in last moments of the summer? Or are you busy getting your kiddos ready for school to start?

Tuesday Today

2008-08-26T13:11:00.004-04:00

Filing away important paperwork that has piled up over time here and there.
Finally closing out B & A's saving account in a financial institution downstate. Figure I'd do it now since we've been up here for 2 years already! Nothing like rushing it, eh?
Getting my school binders together which involves putting paper in, printing any class info (Syllabus) that is up on blackboard already, labeling. Yes, I'm anal and proud of it.
Getting backpacks prepared for B & A's first day of school.
Laundry. Always laundry, even after my wonderful hubby did an entire laundry-basket-full yesterday while I was away, there is still laundry to do today. Lovely.
Paying Bills
Finally mailing Baby Macey's gift. (Thanks Mom!)
Coloring my hair. I had thought for a brief few days of actually paying someone to do it, but then I cheaped out and bought box color. Instead I will use part of my birthday money for an hour long facial on Friday. Can. Not. Wait.

So there ya go. My day today. Thursday I have to take Aaron for his immunizations and also a Holter hook-up. That day I also have to stop at the LSSU Campus Shoppe for a few things needed that I am forced to purchase there. (At a highly inflated price, I'm sure.) Friday is my ooh-la-la facial appt AFTER I drop off the holter to the hospital. And somewhere I need to study my skills cause I am tested on them next week. Crap.

On another great topic, my baby is pretty much out of diapers. As I had blogged before, he is currently wearing them only at naptime and bedtime. Once he's out of those, we will use up the pull-up undies that we have lots of. Essentially that means I will not be buying diapers anymore. Did you realize the weight of that statement? For the first time in over 6 years I will not have to buy diapers. That is wonderful but ever so sad at the same time. No diapers to buy, no diapers to change. Even as I smile about it, my heart breaks a little.

Was pretty damn chilly the past 2 morning. Frost in some places. As one drives they can already see leaves are changing. As each new season approaches, I often think THIS season is my favorite, but then the next season begins and I again think THIS season is my favorite. But really, I think Autumn really may be my favorite. The crispness of the air, the leaves changing, the need for a sweatshirt, Halloween is coming.....................and waiting for snow!!!

Breaktime is over. I must get back to my list. Have a good day.

Howdy

2008-08-22T13:31:00.003-04:00

As today is rainy one, my kids are having a tv marathon. The big boys are upstairs having a Transformer cartoon marathon and Baby J is down here having a Spongebob marathon.

Me? I'm trying to get a few things done here and there. Yesterday I had the boys try on school clothes. Something amazing has happened. Brendan has more than enough pants this year. Whoa. That is a first. Thank you to hand-me-downs and slimmer-than-normal pull-on pants & those clearance clothes I bought at the end of season last year. Awesome. Aaron needs me to exchange the pants I bought him for a different size and then he is done for clothes.

Later.........it is totally icky outside. In between periods of light rain, we get heat and humidity. Ick. Ick. Ick. I suppose it wouldn't have been so bad but we were in the midst of a mean game of tag so the running around didn't help. But the yummy freezepop did :)

Just found out the other day that the teacher for K & 1st grade has taken another job downstate closer to her family. Its not a surprise, but it just throws us for a little loop so close to the first day of school. I'm just hoping that we get someone as nice as Amy is!

Ick. I'm sweating in this gross humidity just typing.

I don't know how my postings will be in the next few weeks. I have lots to do and little time left. Before classes start I have to "re-learn" the skills I learned last semester so I don't look like a dufus once class starts. Have to drag out all my old skills check-offs and read up on some things to refresh. I also need to take Aaron for a couple appointments next week. Just thinking about all the crap I need to do is making my heart flutter and making me cranky cause I feel so unprepared. And yet here I sit typing away.............

Chit-Chatty on the day I was born

2008-08-19T12:27:00.007-04:00

So today I am a bit sad, not depressed or anything, just feeling a bit blue at times. It has nothing to do with my birthday. I don't much care that I am aging. I get more sad on my boys' birthdays cause I hate them getting older cause I want them to be my babies forever. But me? I can age, no issues. Seriously. What is bothering me a bit today is that Jackie, Jeff, and the kids left for home today. It signals the end of our summer visitors. And yes, we have had a lot of visitors this summer. I just am a bit sad cause I don't know when the next time will be that we can all see Nick and Clare. Jackie is back to work and Jeff will start classes again, so they won't have the time to make the drive right now. Thank goodness for email and blogs!!

The end of summer also means the start of yet another school year for the boys and me. Yeah, I like school, but come on, I like summer vacation better! Time spent with my 3 boys. Time to breathe and enjoy doing NOTHING. Yesterday I did get some great news about the first day of school: Both Brendan and Aaron will have the first day of school on Tuesday. Tuesdays just happen to be the only day that I get off during the school week!!!!! Meaning that I won't miss the first day of kindergarten for Aaron & the first day of 1st grade for Brendan. Yeah! I was going to have to email my professor and tell them that I would be missing class on day one just so I didn't have to miss the boys day. Ah, I just can't miss those days!

There is just so much to do in the next weeks before school starts.

Cut and mail pics of the boys to friends and family downstate.
Order my books for school
Order Ryan's books for school
Have the boys try on school clothes already purchased.
Buy more school clothes cause I'm pretty sure that half of the pants I've already bought will need to be returned cause they won't fit.........
Get haircuts for boys
Get myself a haircut
Take Brendan to the dentist
Take Aaron for his immunizations
Clean out and organize Aaron's dresser as half the clothes in it are too small for him now.
Purchase backpacks for the boys and possibly myself if I can find one that will carry 200lbs of books plus a laptop.

Ahh, the Blueberry Festival has come and gone for the year. Didn't make the blueberry breakfast this year, so I am bummed about that. But hey, I bought the kids marshmallow guns so that makes up for it! Brendan won a prize at the fishbowl--did you win Alida?

Not sure what the plans are for my birthday today. Think its gonna be pretty low key. I did already get my present from my sister and Jeff. I picked out a hoodie from the Festival that i wanted and they got it for me. I also bought myself a long sleeved tshirt and a zip up hoodie thing from there as well so I think that will count as my birthday presents from Ryan this year. Love it!! So far the day has consisted of playing outside, going to the Post Office, stopping by to see Ryan at work, and watching TV with the boys. And laundry. Lots of laundry.

Well, I suppose I should go and start some more laundry, as I have a ton of it to do today. After that I have to start on that list above.........what to do, what to do........

2008-08-19T10:02:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to ME!

The Blueberry Fest is here!

2008-08-15T19:35:00.002-04:00

Today started the Blueberry Festival and all its glory. This morning I worked my shift in the Souvenir Tent for just over 3 hours. This was my first year doing it and I plan to volunteer again next year. Besides, you get a free t-shirt that is EXCLUSIVE to staff so that rocks. Jealous, aren't you?

Alida and her kids arrived late Wednesday night so we went over there last night to visit with them. The kids played the Wii for hours and then I proceeded to kick Pierce's butt on Wii bowling. (Just kidding, he kicked my ass but we do have plans for a rematch.) Joe come up late last night as did everyone else. (At least I think everyone is up over there.) And Jackie & Jeff will be here late tonight with Clare. Nicky has been here since Monday afternoon when my folks brought him up. Yep, this is the biggest event of the summer up here. I know to the most of you, Labor Day is the end of summer, but up here it seems the Blueberry Fest signals the ending of our summer.

And I have big news for me......I finally beat Lou on GH3 this evening! I have yet to beat him on easy so this was exciting to me. I am looking forward to the day that Jen gets WiFi so we can compete. Kelly--do you have it on WiFi???

Right now my Dad is getting the fire roaring out on the beach so we can hang out there while waiting for Jackie to get here. I suppose I should get some ambition and head out there instead of playing on my laptop and watching Ryan on GH3. Later Gators.