OMG! A Blog Post?

   Yea, I know, I'M BLOGGING!!! Who would have thunked it? I think if you follow my blog you know that I tend to take a break about midway through the year until school is ou,t or at least slow down a bit. This time holds the record though. Oh how I have missed blogging. It is a great way for me to get out some inner thoughts, release my built up sarcasm and wit elsewhere than on the Hubs, document different aspects of our life and, well, I just like it because I'm a big ol' dork.
   So what should this intro back into blogging be about? Should it be about the Hubs' unemployment stink and staying home with the Bug then finding a job only the have every other potential employer he applied to be interested in him now? Should it be about a possible move? Should it be about the possibility of me staying home with the girls instead of returning to work in the fall? Should it be about how if I return to work in the fall, we have NOBODY to watch the girls yet? Should it be about my newest addiction to pinterest?  I'm not really sure either.
  You see, life has been a bit crazy around here lately. We've developed plans for just about every what-if in our current situation and are waiting to see what God has planned for us, so that we can follow through. Honestly, I'm not worried one bit; whatever happens happens. I've gone back to my old way of thinking and just letting it be, rolling with the punches, riding the waves, and enjoying the moment. With a newborn and a beautifully loving toddler, what's not to relish in daily?
   If you were hoping to read about some of the above "shoulds", well I'm sure they will make it on here pretty soon, but for now I just needed to take a moment to get back into the blogging thing and breathe. *ahhh*

Thanks for breathing with me.

(See I told you I am a dork!)

 

Bad Girl, Bad Girl, Whatcha Gonna Do...

Thursday. What a Thursday that it was too. It wasn't that it was going too badly, trust me I've had much worse days, but the whole day was off. Every five minutes or so I would think it was Friday. Then I'd be rudely smacked back into reality by overhearing students' plans for what they're going to do tomorrow night. HELLO REALITY! Tell me, at what age is it that students think you're hearing goes? Obviously it is near 25 which only disheartens my even more and confirms that I.am.getting.old.

Besides that, I ended up chatting away with a coworker causing me to leave later than my official 3pm release time. Thus I was rushing home and may have been using excessive speed. Down one hill, up another and SHOOT! Check the speedometer...70! 70!? That can't be right, I'm going UP HILL! Look in the mirror and DOUBLE SHOOT! HE'S TURNING AROUND! I slow down to the respectable 55 and keep driving as I watch the car in my mirror getting closer and closer, but thankfully no lights come on. Then it happens...FLASH FLASH FLASH! TRIPLE SHOOT!!!!!! There I sat in my car on the side of the road as the state trooper runs my license and registration, but before he did this he asked the typical questions of where I was coming from, going, and if I know why he pulled me over. Then he takes my license and says, "You have a motorcycle license?" "Yes sir." And then he chuckles. Maybe if it actually was FRIDAY and not THURSDAY and I didn't have to go to work in the morning, then MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, I would have said, "What's so funny about that Mr. Trooper-Sir?" But of course I didn't. I just smiled and let him go about his information running business as I anticipated a hefty punishment coming my way whilst ridiculing myself for my irresponsible behavior that put me in this position. The trooper came to my window with a piece of paper in his hand, and it was then that I knew there was no way of getting out of this. He politely informed me again of my infraction and then told me that the state we live in also requires drivers to keep their license plates clearly visible and mine was covered in dirt. (Hmm.. I live on a dirt road and it's the back of my car..I'm sorry officer. I didn't check my car's butt in the mirror this morning because I was sure that today's suspension and tires clearly accented it if not enhanced it) What he was trying to say was that instead of writing me a speeding ticket that would result in 4 points on my license he was letting me off easy with something like an operators failure ticket or something like that because of the license plate. Phhhhhhhhhew.

Needless to say the whole leaving work late and trying to make up time through excessive speed didn't work out too well when all the time I was and would have made up was lost with me sitting on the side of the road waiting to be dealt my silky smooth ticket (I love to feel the paper). Consider it a lesson learned.... I will now set my cruise control to 69 60.

p.s. Is it completely weird that I thought of asking the officer if he would politely take a picture of my pathetic circumstance with my iPhone so that I could post it with the story on my blog later that night? Yea, I didn't, but I was totally thinking about how to do it without making things worse for myself. (I didn't come up with a way...hence not actually doing it)

Last Person

I'm probably the last person to get an iPhone, but better late than never. I've wanted one since they came out but my contract with Verizon didn't run out until a month ago. After some careful diliberation and crunching of numbers we found out that it would be better to switch to at&t. We'll save about $80 a month on our cell phone bill!!! Can you believe it? I can't either, but I'm so excited for it. 

(not my hand)

The cell phones came yesterday and there has been a bit of a hassle getting mine to activate, but that is another story and I think Verizon is behind it.  Other than that little glitch, I'm in LOOOOOOOOOOVE! I can't believe I waited this long to get it. What was I thinking?

I probably should say that I didn't even get the iPhone 4 but stayed with the older model because of all the adverse reviews the 4 is getting. I love, love, love it! I think about how it will change my first day back to work already and I'm giddy with excitement.

If you don't already have an iPhone, then get one! You WON'T regret it. I promise. I know I'm only day 1 into the whole experience, but it is FANTASTIC!!!

Sorry I can't gush any longer, but I'm off to finish a current project and then start making a case for my new bff.

We've Been Busy..Again

Pictures are taken with the web cam because I can't find the actual camera!! ARGH!

We're back at it. Moving things around that is. This past weekend we moved our swing-set from up by the house to down under the apple trees. This meant that we had to move the fort that my dad built for my brother and I from under the apple trees to another spot. The fort is in temporary holding on the far side of the lawn until we decide just exactly where I we want it to go. I think the swing-set should be moved over to the right a little bit more so that the tree is more behind the climbing area and not the swinging area, but I guess it is ok for now. (I'd hate to have to tell the Hubba-Bub and neighbor to move it again).

I just wish I had my camera while the moving was going on. It took two days. 1 to move the fort and 1 to move the swing-set. What a fiasco. There was almost a tractortastrophe! The fort was being moved by the neighbor's tractor and all of a sudden it just started rolling backwards and wouldn't stop (the tractor). Finally the neighbor dropped the fort down and PHEW! everything was ok again. After that we had to move the fort with the tractor, the rhino and a "trailer" on attached. It was redneck interesting.

I wish I had the regular camera, so you could see how the fort is being "levelled" on the far side. It is with an aluminum milk can and a tire rim. We're high class.

So why did we move it? Well because at it's former location it was in direct sunlight 24/7 (If the sun was up 24/7)!!! There was no winning. In the morning it would be beating on your back. At noon it would be glimmering in your eyes and by evening it was burning your retinas! It was just not conducive to good swinging. Thus, we moved it to a more shady spot. Which really, if you know where we live was quite a feat! There's MAYBE 3 spots of shade in the whole 3 acre yard.


UPDATE: (p.s. I "found" the camera. It was left at my Memmy & Pappy's.)

I Begged, You Came Through.

As you know I begged you for help a couple of days ago and I thought I'd let you know the results...

I love that you confirmed what my gut told me to do: keep both and go with Bugaboo Love. So there you have it.. I'm keeping the shop open (working on switching it over from candnco.com to bugaboolove.com) and have started creating the etsy shop (still have a lot to do, like umm... add products?!) You'll notice a nice little gadget on the left that will let you preview some items in the store (once they are added) and of course will be able to access either store via the "shop" button at the top of the page.

So go have a look at the esty shop header and profile image and tell me what you think!

Umm Yea... I did it again..

As you can probably already tell, I've changed up the blog's look AGAIN. When bordem sets in this is what happens. I'm still not happy with it, but think it is better than the lemons. While I love the lemons and all it just reminded me of a foodie blog, which this is the farthest thing from being.  What I really want is to go back to my simple white background but the new Josh Peterson layout won't let me! Until I find a hack it will stay this grey polka dot. I like it. For now.

I wish I had some awesome pictures to show you of what we've been up to, but umm... my camera battery died when we went to the zoo and after that I...ummm...well... left it in the Rhino and it got rained on. Now all the pictures I take look like this:

I'm referring to the strange purple tint and lines across the photos not the silly smile I'm sporting. Or maybe that is why I never take any of myself? Hmmm... 

So here's the game plan for the camera issue. I'll keep it for anytime we need to get our Barney fixes, but I just ordered the HP PB360 12 MP Digital Camera with 3-Inch Touchscreen LCD (Bronze)  as my "temporary" camera until I get my DSLR. If I am being completely honest, then I must say that the only reason I bought the HP was because of it's price. $139.99 on sale for $85.32 with tax (free shipping). You can't beat that for the reviews. Ok maybe you can, because I was looking at a polaroid for $70, but the HP is TOUCHSCREEN! Now that you CAN'T beat. Hopefully it comes soon, because I hate being without a camera. (Christmas in July just keeps on getting better!)

Oh there is great news to be passed along too! For one, the DSL guy came yesterday and hooked it up. That means GOODBYE HUGHES NET!!! Hughes net wasn't all that bad, just annoying that you have a certain limit you can use daily and if you go over, then it is SLOWER than dial-up. (I kid you not) The second wave of good news is that the new sewing machine came tonight. Although, I haven't had time to play with it yet. I'm hoping that tomorrow will lend itself to that, but it's not looking that way with cleaning that needs to be done, company coming over, and a fourwheeling campfire adventure to be had with the neighbors. 

I wish I wasn't my camera wasn't so stupid!

New Look...Yet Again...UNDER CONSTRUCTION

My need for a change has occurred again. Please excuse the mess happening on the blog. I promise it will be up and running in no time some time flat!

It's been a long time...I shouldn't have left you...

Long time no lie! It's been over two months since my last blog post! I think that might be the longest I have ever gone without blogging. It wasn't that I didn't have the shakes and shivers from not blogging, because I assure you I defintely did. I even had some serious jonesing for it, but I just didn't have time to sit down at the computer for a period of time and write blog post. I could manage maybe a few minutes here or there and if I was at the computer for a period of time it was to either work on grad school stuff or to work on regular school stuff. No, there isn't any better descriptor for the work I was doing than "stuff".  The good news is that I am now on summer break and have much more time for myself and my family. THANK GOODNESS! I actually dropped one of my summer courses because I just needed more time. Ironically the class I dropped was about analyzing and preventing dropouts in schools. Thanks for making me feel like a failure LHU! Get this though...my GPA so far is a 4.0! Yea, I rock the nerd look!

Ok so let me try and get you caught up on all that you have missed in the past two months...

1. My kids did AWESOME on the English Regents
2. Nick bought truck, sold a truck, bought a truck, fixed the truck, fixed the truck again, and now the truck is running fine.
3. Our lawn mower broke.
4. We bought a lawn mower from CL and it broke.
5. I have been sewing up dresses for Bug.
6. We became an aunt, uncle, and cousin again!!!
7. I made the cutest little gift for the big sister (tutorial to come).
8. I still haven't mailed out the gifts. (I PROMISE I WILL SOON!)
9. I got my YUDU but haven't used it yet
10. We are working hard on the house....painted the kitchen, cabinets, fixed the deck stairs, are staining the deck this week, installing the kitchen backsplash (pics soon), etc. etc. etc.
11. We GOT NEW furniture. Really...NEW. not CL...NEW. Leather and I LOVE it. (Pictures soon)

Ok I think that is enough for now. I will go into more detail on some of the other ones later, but for now it gives you an idea.  I just thought I'd drop a line and let you know that I/we are still alive just busy. I promise there will be more to come....maybe even today?

Catch! (up)

Ok, I'm ready. Are you?

This might be a long one, so consider yourself warned.

I think the best place to start is March 5. March 5 started as a seemingly innocent enough day and then it all changed when Bug went to bed. She woke up barking about 1 hour after falling asleep. I followed the Croup to-do of taking her outside in the cool air to ease her cough, didn't work, tried the steamy bathroom, didn't work, tried the humidifier, didn't work. In fact things were getting worse and so we loaded up and went to town. 15 minutes later and she's doing much better. Instead of going to the hospital we drive around town a bit and then decide we're really tired and start to go home. We get to the top of the mountain and WHAM! back to the old stuff again. That's it we're going to the hospital. We arrive at 12am and are there until 2am. They give her some steroids to open her throat and a breathing treatment. She is doing much better and we go home. I camp out on the living room floor with her next the humidifier. Saturday morning we wake up and she's doing good but does have a little cold. The hubba bub and I go to pick up a wooden swing set that we bought for $100 off of CL.

T

The swing set is finally painted and up. Bug LOVES it! Now we just have to get some wood chips to go around everything. (Another thing to add to the to-do list)

 

My mom watches Bug and she slept most of the time we were gone. It wasn't restful sleep though because she would cough and wake herself. When we get back Bug looks sick, but she's running around, playing, and joking. We eat dinner at Mom's and then come home. Bug's breathing is labored and we put her next to the humidifier. That seemed to help and we all cuddle up in our room in our bed. I wake in early morning of Sunday (~3am) and see that Bug is back to having labored breathing. I hold her next the humidifier some more and we go back to bed. When we wake up at 6am she is once again having labored breathing, and we decide that enough is enough and take her into the ER. Let me try to paint a picture for you of what it looked like when she was breathing... Her chest would puff up, her diagram sink in and the little spot on her neck would be sucked in so much. She was trying so hard, but not it seemed like she wasn't getting much air....Back to the hospital...They gave her some more steroids (the same kind they gave before which are supposed to be good for 36 hours), and more breathing treatments. At 10:00 they said that she needed to be admitted and would have to be transferred to another hospital because they don't take care of pediatrics. 1 hour later an ambulance arrived (which we questioned if we actually needed and they said that if we didn't they'd start a FILE on us because of parental poor judgement) and Bug and I took a ride in the ambulance to the next hospital (1.5 hours away).  When we arrived the sweetest nurses and doctors checked us in and explained what was going to happen to us; they were going to keep us and do an RSV test as well as continue to monitor her oxygen levels. Bug was great. You could tell she wasn't feeling good, but she was still really good. The only time that Bug would ever be a problem was at night when she was extremely tired and couldn't sleep because she'd cough too much to sleep. Sunday night was no different. It felt like an eternity. Monday came and Bug was doing MUCH MUCH better. (We didn't receive any treatments or medicine while at the new hospital- she got better by herself!) We were discharged at around 3pm with a follow up appointment scheduled on the 10th with her pediatrician and an appointment in May to see a pediatric pulmonologist. FINALLY we were able to sleep Monday night.

 This is what we do with a sick "baby" in recovery at our house. Let her wear what she wants, how she wants and play with bubbles!

Then something happened on Tuesday. Bug woke up crying and was unsoothable. She kept tugging at her ear and saying "Ow." Oh and did I mention that her eye was pink? As the day progressed so did her ear ache and pink eye.

 I think this pictures explains it all pretty good.

I didn't make an appointment because we were going the next day. Wednesday we headed to the doctor and had a confirmed case of pink eye and our first ear infection ever! (There's a milestone) We were sent home with some medicine to give her twice a day for ten days.
    Bug was getting better and one day we got a phone call from her doctor saying that she was able to reschedule the pulmonologist appointment sooner as in one week away! One week later we are on our way to Albany Med to see the pediatric pulmonologist. This guy was AWESOME!  He was funny, professional, and great for the kids. He explained that she will most likely grow out of it and he wanted to start us on a nebulizer once a night until June 1st and then start back up in September because of how fast the Croup comes on in her case (without any warning signs). She has been doing really good with the treatments and looks so cute with her little mask on. (Pictures to come)


In other news....

I have been SUPER swamped with grad school work and preparing for the state tests in April (8th grade ELA) and June (11th grade Regents) for regular work. I really can't stand state tests and usually don't worry too much about them, because I am really hard on my kids when it comes to their writing and reading (oh do we read A LOT!) This year I am freaking out because as I mentioned in one of my quick posts that cuts are being made this year. I am the only English teacher, but the way things are going, it looks like if someone doesn't like you it doesn't matter what your job is; you're outta there! The good news is that I'm really well liked around the place. I really don't want to go into too much details over what is going on right now (to protect myself once again), but one day there will be a time and place for this whole can of worms.

Something we can talk about...

It all started with my genius idea to make over Bug's room. I started popping off those annoying drywall seamers and started plastering. Her room has been a MESS since the project began, and I think it is fair to say that the project is moving quite SLOWLY! Most of the time the door is shut: out of sight out of mind. To my defense though... I had ran out of plaster and living outside of civilization had to wait until Monday to get some more, then I couldn't do it during the week. The weekend would come and the weather would be too crappy to work without proper ventilation.

 This is how it has been for about 3 weeks now. Don't see the mess? That's because I cropped most of it out. I'm sneaky like that. ;)

FINALLY we have nice weather again and I am thinking that I should finish the last bit of sanding and primer today so that I can work on painting tomorrow.

Oh and did I mention in there that part of the reason I fell so behind is because I would randomly pick up another project and start working on that? For example...painting the trim around the windows in the living room so that I can hang the new blinds? The problem: I now have to paint the rest of the trim in the living room and prime and paint the walls. C'mon over to the house of many projects all of which are works in progress.

And then there is the sewing/fabric side of me... 

Those projects will have a post all to themselves (like they deserve) :P

Fallen into an ABYSS!

I do realize that the little posts I have done in the past couple of weeks are well, SUCKY! My biggest apologies. Let make a quick little list to help you try and understand why.

1.   Bug was sick and in the hospital
2.  Bug has had MANY follow up appointments (she is much better now)
3. BIG grad school assignment is due this Sunday. I've been trying to find time for it, but much like the blog that too has been neglected. I dare to say that I should be doing my homework rather than blogging this little bit. (WHOOPS!)
4. Work stress. State tests are coming up. People aren't getting tenured. Threat of cuts. Lots of SCARY business happening around the halls.

Those are the major things happening. Of course there are the little things that just add to it all.

I promise I will get back into the bloggy world as soon as I can. I miss it so much. I feel like a big creep-o for blog stalking and not contributing. Could it be that the C in C&N stands for Creep-o? lol

Life Intermission

I just wanted to let you all know that I am alive. I didn't fall into a woodchuck hole, fall off the face of the earth, or any other crazy thought that might have been going through your head as you wondered where my posts have been! The truth is that life has been a little more than crazy around here, and I can't get into the details just now because there is more craziness that lies ahead in the next 5 minutes, but I PROMISE I WILL TELL when I finally get some down time.

P.S. I have an actual tutorial coming up (once I find the downtime to put it all together and post it lol)

Million Dollar Car!

It has seriously been one of those days. The hubba bub had to take my car to the shop to get the check engine light shut off, so we could get it inspected (it ran out the end of Feb). We were quoted months back for about $450 but in reality we figured about $650 (because there is ALWAYS SOMETHING!). I drive the hubba bubs car into work, park, and get ready for the day. We take attendance in the cafeteria then head to our classrooms for first period. When I get in my room I see the message light is blinking on my phone, but I don't have time to answer it; I have a disgruntled group of 8th grader just dying to start their day off with some vocabulary to attend to. About 10 minutes into the class and after making a call the the Vice Principal to get a student to move his seat and one disappearing to the "bathroom", I get a phone from a clearly frazzled hubba bub. Here's the convo:


Me: "What's wrong?"
Hubba bub: "The car's a piece of ****!"
Me: "What do you mean; what's wrong?"
Hubba bub: "I just got off the phone with the guy, and he said he can't inspect it unless we fix the check engine light, the front suspension, the rear wiper motor, and put new tires on it."
Me (trying to remain calm): "Are you serious?! How much is all this going to cost?"
Hubba bub: "The check engine light $650, the wiper motor $270, the suspension $840 the tires $5** (I can't remember exactly), the inspection $21, the oil change $53, a missing bolt replacement $17. The total is (he knows I'm so not adding all this up in my head as he was speaking) $2387."
Me: "AH HUGH! YEA RIGHT! You call them up and tell them to fix the check engine and THAT'S IT! I have to go; I can't talk right now."


We hang up and I call him back in 45 minutes when I have a class  that can be trusted to work on their own for a longer time span than 30 seconds.
He the tells me that they scratched off our old inspection sticker and won't give us the temporary one that you get when your car fails and inspection.

F.R.E.A.K   O.U.T.

Welcome to Freak Outville. Exit 305 on the second floor. Mayor Crystal welcomes you!

Long story short...The car participated in a sleepover at the shop because they didn't even have the right part to fix the check engine light until the next day. They were nice enough though to let the hubba bub drive home a brand new rabbit!

**Day after the million dollar car incident**

Hubba bub picked up the car today and drove it home without an inspection sticker. I will be driving it to work tomorrow to see if it is anything that they can fix up there and stopping by a shop to get an estimate from them too. Please if you're a cop, or related to a cop, or in cahootz with a cop, PLEASE don't hunt us down! We're trying, and it will be all fixed asap.

Quickie

A quick little update in fragment form....

Snowday Today!

Sewing Maniac

Building Website

LAUNCH TODAY! (hopefully)

Home "Renovations" Begin
Phone Calls-GAK!

Busy. Busy. Busy.

I'll leave you with a glimpse of the infamous "Super Streaker!"

God Speed The Adderall...

I am beginning to think that I really need to be checked for some adult ADD. I'm not even kidding! Today was the day that I was going to reveal the "teaser" surprise, but instead of working on that today I went grocery shopping painted the top of the coffee table, took apart a cheapy picture for the frame and painted that! It isn't even that I would RATHER do those things. No, that's not the case at all, I just can't seem to work on something and finish it. I am determined to get that darn teaser finished tomorrow and posted so there will be some excitement around this blog because as of lately it has been pretty lonely. (I hate being back to regular school days; it makes it so hard to post regularly)

On a bit of a side note. I have found something that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE! I was searching the addicting Etsy when I melted into a puddle as a result of spying this beauty on the main page. If anyone is feeling a little more lovey than usual this holiday and has an extra $1400, well then by all means contact me for my address because I truly don't mind you buying me this beauty from Beth Cyr Weddings - Organic/Metal Etsy shop! To some this might not tickle their fancy or might even look repulsive, but to me, it simply speaks to me. I love the simplicity, the "bark" look, the tree representation (I LOVE TREES!), I just love it all!

Don't worry my hubba-bub won't be at all disturbed by the gift, I promise!

New Name!

I've been wanting to change the name of the blog for quite sometime now, but couldn't think of anything to change it to that I liked. I wanted something simple, but something that represented the family, the blog, and our lives all in one. Not too much to ask, right?

Finally last night I was talking to Nick half joking around and said, "We need to have a little boy!"
Nick: "Why?"
Me: "So we can name him Oscar, and then become C&N co. Get it? C-Crystal, N-Nick, little c-bug, little o-oscar!"
Then I got to thinking that I could name the blog C&N c{o}. and have the "o" in {} because, well, we don't have an "o". Not to mention that it looks so darn cute!

After playing with some fonts we now have a new blog name! I tried changing the URL, but realized that if I change it without telling anyone, then you won't be able to get to the blog! Plus I can't get the url that I want! ARGH!

Our Dream House

{click HERE to see more}

Well it may surprise you that our dream house is fairly modest. None of that 3-story-$300k+ houses. It is pretty simple. Nick and I both feel that if we are going to buy a house it needs to be something that we would want to live in for the rest of our lives. We do realize that you can sell houses, but we think that when we buy a house that is where we will stay. Let me explain the house a bit.

First and foremost I would like it to have a full basement. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths on the main floor. The second floor is something that we would have to finish off. Perfect for a playroom, craftroom, storage, and/or guest room. The basement we could finish off into a den area or one of the other rooms already listed. The floor plan of the house is open. The living room open to both the dining room and kitchen with a nice little room off the dining room for the laundry/mudroom. All the bedrooms on the same end of the house and near each other. Maybe not the blue and white color for the outside; I don't hate it, just not crazy over it. I am thinking more of a grey/black/white exterior. It is just perfection!

The optional finishing off the upstairs allows Nick and I to close off the upstairs when we are older and live on the main floor. :) Maybe we're crazy for thinking and "planning" that far ahead, but we can dream, can't we?!

So when would we like to get into this dream house of ours? Well, that is something we keep going back and forth on. First we have to get this house/land signed over to us, which will probably entail a purchase price. Then we have to decide what we will do from there. Are we going to wait and save up to pay for the basement, well, and a hefty down payment? Or are we going to finance all that as part of it? I'm not sure. I'd like to save as much as possible, but at the same time I would like to get into the house as quickly as possible. "Haste is waste." So very true. We have been waiting and probably will continue to wait some more. Our goal is to be in during the summer of 2012, but as that is fast approaching I'm beginning to think that 2014 is more realistic. We'll just have to wait and see where we stand when those times come around.

I can't wait!

WIP

Well, I'm not done with the blog. There are still so many things that I need/want to do it, but I think that this is the look that will stick around for awhile. Maybe not the background per se, but the general layout. (I still have things to add) Sorry if you don't like it, but I do. :P


Now I can get down to doing some long over due posting that I've been dying to do. Jeesh!

Under Construction

I am working on making changes to the blog. Please be patient with all the switching around...


Sorry for any inconvenience.

Not so sure...

I'm not really sure what is going on lately. I've been in some sort of a slump. I feel extremely tired, nauseous, and just moody. Yes, I realize that these sound much like the symptoms of the 9-month bug, but I'm pretty sure it's not that.

Yesterday I left work 45 min early because I didn't feel good. I came home and slept until Nick came home. Luckily he was able to pick Bug up at the daycare so that I could sleep. Then this morning when I was getting ready, I still didn't feel well. It didn't help that I slept with my contacts in (DUH TO ME!) and was fighting off a migraine. All day today I have been SUPER tired and thinking that today is Friday. News flash: IT IS NOT!

I do have tomorrow off. That is because tomorrow is the service for Nick's grandmother, who passed away this past Saturday, but that is it. Can you believe I couldn't use my bereavement time for that? I had to take a personal day! What crap is that?! I'm really not looking forward to tomorrow. I hate these kind of things, but I know that it is important to go. I hope that Nick will be ok. He seems to be doing well with it, but he also hasn't been up to his parents or up to Gram's since, so I don't know how that will be. I hate to see him upset, which rarely happens, but when it does it's just that much worse.

Christmas Tree Up!

We finally put up our Christmas tree. I am glad we did because I have been itching to do it for awhile now. On Thursday Nick called me on my cell on my way home, but I didn't have good reception on the mountain (go figure) so I couldn' t hear him. When I got home I called him, and he said he called to see if I would stay in town so we could get a tree. Well I wasn't going back into town, so I just told him to go pick one out. It will probably be the last time I let him pick out a tree without Bug and me...He came home with a blue spruce (which I don't really care for), and while the one side of the tree is nice, the rest is ummm...barren. It's ok though, he meant well. We set up the tree that night and started getting out our Christmas decorations. I started stringing the lights around the tree and only made it 3/4 the way up. We were out of lights! I wasn't going to back into town so the tree had to wait.

The next night I had a girls' night planned with my coworkers. We were going to dinner and then to watch the play "The Producers". It was an excellent time, but needless to say I didn't get home until 12:30 am on Saturday.

FINALLY... after two days of having a half-butted decorated tree in the living room Bug and I went to town to get more lights and some more ornaments. I don't know what happened to all the ornaments we used to have, but I can't find them! We came home and started decorating the tree. I was wrapping the ribbon around the tree and all of a sudden it started leaning!!! The tree almost fell over 3 times before I could get to the base and secure it more. What a fiasco! The good news is that the tree is up, but there is bad news....I'm lacking about 6 ft of ribbon to finish off the top.

Calla's eyes lit up when she saw the tree all decorated. (She was napping while I finished it up) Her eyes lit up and of course she went over to the tree and starting playing with ball ornaments. I can't wait for Christmas! I can't believe it's only 13 days away, I wish it was closer, but I don't because I still have 90% of my shopping to do. I know what I want to get, but I have to go get it. I'm finding that this year is much different then past years. I used to be 90% done by now, and did most of my shopping online. This year I'm the complete opposite. I am doing most of my shopping in the stores. I think this is because I like going out with Nick and Bug to have a "date" where it's just us and doing something as a family. I think the next time we will go shopping will be this coming weekend, but I don't know if we will take Bug. It all depends on whether or not we can find someone to watch her. It'd be nice to go on a date just Nick and I.