Humor me...

From my sister's blog:
"I am curious. I know roughly who reads this, but I always wonder if I have lurkers. I'm sure I don't, but then again so do all the people who have journals that I lurkishly read. So I'm going to post a question that has two reasons. 1: to find out who reads this. 2: for my own knowledge and entertainment.I'd like everyone (I would demand, but I'm a Minnesotan and we don't ever go to extremes) to post at least one word they feel everyone should use more often.
For example:
Arbitrary
Et al
dust motes
wry
Et al... "
Ok...so I don't know who read this, but I'd be curious to see if I get any comments.

Also, I joined FLYlady.net in an attempt to clutter-free my house. I am uber proud of myself so far. I got the dishes into the dishwasher and started a nightly routine of taking 15 minutes to clean one room. Last night, I cleaned the kitchen. Tonight I think I'll quickly clean the dining room. I also sort of did the 27 fling Boogie...Instead of chucking 27 items and finding 27 items to give away, I chucked as much as I could fit into a garbage bag, and then emptied a box so I could use it for a "bring to work" box...but only if I knew it would have a home at work. That took about 25 minutes...I actually had to stop myself because I needed to start my paper. Worked on that for an hour, had class, cooked dinner, and then worked on Microsoft money until now. I'll finish my paper tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest, with is good, cuz that's when it's due :)
Ok...time to get to work doing bills so I can do my 15 minute de-clutter before heading up to bed. Night :)

lazy weekend

Went to WI to watch MY college alma mater get their butts kicked by my sister's college. I love hockey, and this was no exception...except my team lost, and I had to sit on the home team side of the ice. The refs just ignored all penalties for most of the first period, and then only called them in pairs...one for each side. The game was 1-0, River Falls until the last 5 seconds, when River Falls scored the last goal. 15 seconds from the end a HUGE brawl broke out. My sister says CSS started it, but I missed that part. All 10 guys were fighting...fists and sticks and refs trying to break it up. Pretty exciting! They ended up with 3 penalties a piece, 10 fresh guys on the ice, and BAM, UW-RF scored, game over. The worse part, for me, was that my stomach was not feeling well. We were trapped in the middle of the parent section and i knew there would be NO rushing to the potty....I BARELY made it to my parents. I felt SO sick!! I think it was because I ate in the car on the way to River Falls. For some reason, when I was in college, I could no longer eat and then go for long car rides. I figured 45 minutes wasn't long. Apparently I was wrong.... I came home, threw on my jammies, told Hubby that if I RAN to the bathroom, it was time to send Dragon home, and curled up on the couch to watch a show about Moses. I fell asleep. I've felt ok ever since, but a little achy and had had a headache most of the last three days. Hubby and I both slept in (him until 10!!!), and then took a 3 hour nap this afternoon. I feel like a slacker, but 2 good things happened: My headache went away (for a while), and Tigger actually slept on the bed with me....with Rory in the room! She hasn't slept on the bed in months! She used to sleep right up with me, all cuddled up like a teddy bear. Then the other kitties started picking on her, so she'd only sleep under the bed. I was SO excited :) Maybe she's realized she's safe if mommy and daddy are near....
Ok...I need water, or a snack, or bed.....or all three.....I have a huge to-do list and a bunch of errands to run tomorrow so I can't sleep tomorrow away too!

blah blah...

ok, removing the guest map. Apparently it scared people away....
So there, it's gone. Come back, dear readers!!! I miss you!!

Sorry it's been quiet here...I've had a paper to write (what else is new?!) and have been uber unmotivated. I slept a lot on Sunday, due to crampies and whatnot. My sister and I had lots of fun Friday at the grocery store. Went to get grenadine...now keep in mind that we are both legal, but neither of us drink. So, we see a bottle that says grenadine, but doesn't say cherry or anything to let us know that it is what we are looking for. We start getting giggly (just cuz we do), we get the bottle, and walk back down the pop aisle to get Dew. She says something about how we must be lightweights because we couldn't even handle walking down the alcohol aisle. Then I said we can't even hold the sight of our liquor. She fell on the floor in the grocery store and started laughing!!! When we got the the checkout line, the lady looked at the bottle, looked at us, looked at the bottle then finally scanned it. I think she was trying to figure out if she needed to card us or not.
Ok...gotta hop in the shower before Futurama....or have ice cream, then watch Futurama, then take a shower. I don't think I can shower in 7 minutes......

SNOW!!!

SNOW!!! SNOW!!! SNOW!!!! It snowed today!!! It IS snowing right now!! It will be done in about an hour, they just said, and then blowing and drifting..but it FINALLY SNOWED!!! I'm not sure about the amount, BUT when I tried to pull up next to the curb, the snow reached the bottom of the little flappy piece on the car (the piece I catch on the curb...)
IT SNOWED!!

What the..?

Ok, so I think Hell just froze over.....first, my friend called me back and we actually have plans tomorrow night. Then my friend from Florida called me because we haven't talked in forever. They got goats for Christmas. I can't wait to see pictures :) But the WEIRDEST thing is that there have been no new posts on Ph.com since this afternoon. There is only one member on MSN IM (no Mods, which is weird) and no new email. Monday's usually aren't this quiet there...I'm just a little weirded out.
I never got around to vacuuming due to the call from Florida, and Hubby got sucked into Super Nanny...Nanny 911 is WAY better! Then he went to bed. Plus I got sucked into a stupid online mystery game...thank god for walkthroughs! So, maybe Hubby will do it tomorrow...or I'll get up early enough to do it before work....or Fred will not want to come to the house after dinner....it's kind of a pit....
Time for bed....

Where in the world is Carmen SanDiego?

Well, I don't know where SHE is, but where are you? On the left of the screen, right below the "Powered by Blogger" (or whatever :) ) sign there is a link to my "Guest Map" Put your pin on the map and say hi! My hit counter says I have visitors....now you can tell me where you are :)
Yes...I'm nosy :) You don't have to give any personal info (email or website), just where you live (state or country)...you can even use a little alien to mark you place :) It's super cute!
Ok....I called my friend at work. After I left a chipper little message, I realized she's probably off today, due to MLK day. So, I'll call her cell a little later (just in case she's NOT not working..so I don't look over eager). I'm a freak :)
No class tonight :) BUT, I should work on my case study...or my capstone...or the 900 pages to read before next week. But first, a snack :)

Whose Line?

That's what I'm watching right now. Wayne Brady does such a great job improving songs! Anywho....
Finished "Visions in Death" last night. Good book....I'll have to look and see if she'd got another one coming. OH!! There's one coming out next month!! http://www.noraroberts.com/ I'll have to watch the librar site and get on the waiting list!
Went to Timberlodge Frida night with my parents, my sister and my husband. That was good food :) We shared an appetizer....I only got some potato skins, but boy were they yummy! Hubby liked his steak and REALLY liked the garlic butter. I have to see if I have a little butter tub, and I'll make some up for him. It was a bit of a late night, and was surprised to find that I was in bed, lights out at 11:30pm! Slept really late Saturday am. Woke up and felt like roadkill. I was SO worried that I was getting the stomach flu (it's going around). I felt SO icky!!! But, we were planning on doing fondue, so I had to feel better! Hubby and I got all the food, came home, prepared it and sat down to yummy fondue. It was SO good and I didn't feel icky anymore, just really tired! I fell asleep on the couch around 5, went in and out for a few hours (Dragon gave my a birthday card and I couldn't even unwrap myself from my blanket to open it). I was SO cold, I bundled up in my big blanket and tried to warm up. Finally, around 7:30, I woke up. I almost went up to bed, but wanted to watch Trading Spaces. Stayed up until Dragon left, around 12 midnight, then went to bed. Hubby didn't come up until 2am! He woke me up at 8:30 because his tire was flat and we needed to take it to Tires Plus. Don't go there...at least not the one on 494. Hubby told him "Driver's side", he wrote down "right side" so they repaired the wrong tires. So, back we went to get it repaired....DH was not happy. Luckily, they did the work without charging us (as it should be) or making a stink. Again, I slept from about 10:30 to 11:45 when the tire guy called. What the heck? I suppose all my late nights just caught up with me. Trying to get to bed early tonight...you know, 10:30-11:00 :)
I'm supposed to call an old friend tomorrow to say yes I can get together with you Tuesday. I don't know why I'm nervous...or why I've put it off for a week. I could just email her...but I SHOULD just suck it up an call her. It's weird...I used to spend HOURS on the phone with her in Jr. High and High School, but now I'm nervous to call....
Ok...Hubby says I'm not going to feed the cats. Guess I better prove him wrong :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yup..it's my birthday. ALMOST 30...not quite. Next year. Hubby already is, so if he can do it, so can I :)
Big news here...it's -9 F right now...air temperature, not the wind chill. BRRRRRR! Hubby and I went to Taco Bell for dinner. The dining room wasn't heated...it was like they left all the doors open or something. It seriously felt colder in there than outside. I have never eaten a burrito that fast! I hoping that school is closed tomorrow, or at least delayed...but that just means I'll get a phone call at 6am, which isn't bad because I should be up already...but then I have to call The Russian, and then a bunch of parents. I could see the Director calling staff in, to clean. We've had the flu going through the infant room (all the staff, and I think all the babies now)...it spread to the twins in our room Tuesday, and their brother in the next room up today. And we have pink eye in our room again! Yippee... So, I think we'll spend tomorrow sanitizing stuff and keeping the kids occupied. I would just love to put my co-workers to work doing that, and then I can just hang with the kids all day. I miss not having a little group for the whole morning. I love our long free play and art time, but I just wish I had more time with just my little crew. I'm getting a new child in a few weeks. She visited today and hit it off with one of my little guys. It was very cute. I also have a mom who wants to have a conference about hitting going on in the classroom...but we are confused because we don't see her child involved in much of that, so we REALLY want specifics. Dad said something about the mornings, and Mom told the Director that she saw something and I handled it well, but she doesn't think everyone does the same. So, apparently it would be me and the other opener at this conference. My opinion (and that of The Other Ann) is that it's NOT the other opener that Mom should be worried about. BUT, we wonder if she coddles the one who generally does the hitting, rather than dealing with the problem, taking care of the "victim," etc. That is MY biggest complaint....I can sit and work with two kids on sharing, for example, let's say A and J. A wants what's in J's hand and J won't share. Ok, so I help J see that A would like a turn, and A asks how many minutes until his turn. J says 5 minutes, I look at my watch, and ask A what he'd like to do for 5 minutes. Then the other opener comes over and says, "J, let's go play with the snow." knowing that he'll go...and she stood and watched the whole exchange, so I guess she's thinking she's helping A. And speaking of A...he's getting SO easily frustrated. I have been trying to give him the words, "you are frustrated. I would be too. But, we can rebuild your rocket. Dry your tears and let's work on it together." I get T.O.O., and now The Russian, doing one of two things...rushing RIGHT over when he starts bawling and starting to fix his project OR hauling him out of the room and demanding that he stops crying. He's 3 for god's sake!! I have told the team how I am working with him, and it seems to be working, hoping we could be consistent. The Ann's both said they would treat him the same way.... I know T.O.O. and The Russian have different philosophies, and I know with some things, T.O.O. just does what The Russian does, and unless someone questions it, will just continue to do it that way.
Whoa! Long blog...sorry! I started reading "Visions in Death" by J.D. Robb. I love that series!! So, I guess I better pull out my contacts, hop in the shower, and get up to bed so I can read some more!! And the other two books I finished recently that I would reccomend are "The Brother's Keeper" and "Stones of My Accusers" by Tracy Groot. Very good. I wish she'd write more. I wish I could write a book...I'd love to author a children's book or 7.
Crap....Dragon's online and I can't stay on to chat. If I don't go now, I'll never get off the computer! Too slow....damn....

Hi all :)

I just got listed on Blogwise.com...and had 4 new visitors! How cool is that?!? Of course, my keywords are "daily life, marriage, and graduate school" so I guess I better make an effort to write about those things :)
Daily life: cats need to be fed, I need to shower, I want to watch "Futurama" at 10:30, and I worked from 8:15am-5:30, with a retirement dinner afterwards. Didn't get home until 7:40pm. Blah!
Marriage: Ummm...it's marriage :) I am one of 5 new co-hosts on the new Couples forum on www.parenthood.com (click on "discussion boards"). That's always fun :)
Graduate School: I go to school online, working towards a Master of Arts in Education, Early Childhood Emphasis. 13 months left! We are on a mini-break this week, but I really should be getting ahead, or working on my Capstone paper (topic: Superhero and Fantasy play....my project? Some sort of handbook for teachers or something about how to use this type of play in a positive way in the classroom).
Oh! More "Daily life" I need a snack :) Time for a bowl of cereal! :)

Tis Sunday again

Ok...tree's put away. Christmas is officially over. Ehh...
Hubby and I watched "Elf" last night. Good movie. Ate popcorn and lots of candy.
Worked on homework until 1am. Haven't done any more work on it since. That's no good. But, got my shitty Theories paper back...16/16. Whoo-hoo!!!
Now I'm just waiting for the frozen (now thawed) bread dough to rise a little so I can make bread bowls for dinner. Still need to cut DH's hair tonight and scan my drawing into the computer so I don't ahve to worry about it tomorrow. Oh, and order groceries. We are going to try and order 2 weeks at a time to save a few dollars on the delivery fee. We'll see how that goes. I may just have to start shopping at the grocery store again....

Welcome to the Weekend...

Well....not getting pregnant this month. i won't go into the WHY here, but needless to say, I woke up in a foul mood and wanted to do bad things to Hubby and his new job. BUT, I tried an attitude adjustment and decided that I'll have to be a better seductress next month :) Besides, it should get me out of doing the whole hotel slumber party thing for the conference. School AND fertility should be a damn good excuse :)
Cats had to go the vet this morning for shots. We had The Boy in for shots in Sept. They asked if we wanted the Feline Leukemia one too, we said sure, but for some reason, he didn't get it. So when the notice showed up in the mail 3 weeks later saying he was due, we were confused. I pulled his records and sure enough, he didn't get it. I was mad and decided he just wouldn't get it. Then Roo's notices came and we didn't do them because we didn't know if Hubby would have a job. But, all is well now, so off we went to the Dr. Roo was not thrilled about being in the car, so she peed all over me, all over my passenger seat, all over my floor mat...that stunk..literally! After a great visit (Rory has lost weight! YEAH!!! :) )we came home, cleaned the car and all and I began working on our budget. Apparently a $4000 credit card balance is no good. Especially with the other cards hovering around $2500 a piece.....
On a lighter note (just to show that I'm not a COMPLETE pessimist)...my sister and I went ice skating last night at Centennial Lakes. I haven't been there in years. It's outdoors, on a man-made lake, about 5 miles from the house (just 2 blocks over from Hubby's old store). It was a little crowded in the warming house, but not too bad on the ice. We had SO much fun. We were just being silly and pretending like we were professional skaters. I tried to see what I remembered from my skating lessons (oh let's see...20 years ago I stopped lessons). I remember a lot, but lack the fearlessness of youth to try the jumps...and lack the flexiblity to do anything else! But it was fun to just glide along the ice, going really fast, frontwards and backwards :) I wanna go again!!! RIGHT NOW!!! ok...maybe not. We have to take the Christmas tree down, because we got a silk tree from SIL and it needs a home, other than in our front doorway. And I have homework...and we should think about dinner, maybe....we had White Castle for lunch, so maybe just some popcorn and a movie.

(no subject)

Ok...my foot's asleep, I need to shower, and I'm tired...BUT my paper is done. It's shit, but it's done! I'll print it and read it over tomorrow after work and then send it off. Our instructor got stuck at the airport last night so we didn't have class, but we haven't heard from her since. We were supposed to get a make-up assignment, and I know we are all anxiously awaiting that.
Mentioned to Hubby last night about the divided plates. He got all pouty and didn't talk to me, then gave me the receipt. "Return em or exchange em or whatever. They weren't cheap." Ugh...make me feel icky. We'll probably keep them, but I don't know if I'd use them. Maybe this summer for picnics?
Damn it! I wish I lived in Iowa!! They are getting snow!!! So is ARIZONA!!!! Frick!!!
Weirdest thing...I have a metallic taste in my mouth. I think it's from our tap water, which is weird, because I've never noticed anything until recently.
Any comments from the peanut gallery? I know you are out there :)

Is your homework done yet?

Ugh...I have a paper due this week on the theories of play. Reading the bulletin boards it seems like I maybe have missed something in this assignment. But, part of me doesn't really care....The assignment says write about the major theories, so I am, and it should be 5 pages MAX....I can do that :) Now I just have to start writing the darn thing. I just don't like theories...I like the concrete "right or wrong" and theories seem so abstract. But, once I get myself slightly more motivated, I should be fine.
We had our Christmas with the in-laws last night. I got all my Creative Memories stuff, ummm....a Cherished Teddie that I've really wanted...and fondue plates. 8 fondue plates. The WORST part was that I was thinking during dinner (fondue...) that I really like that we use our regular plates for fondue here because the divided plates are just a little annoying to me. So I kind of comment to Hubby about that and he goes on to say how his mom wasn't sure if she was even going to get them becuase they were not getting shipped (or something like that) and then one day they showed up. Then we ALSO have those bright red divided plates that I got from hubby that I dodn't want. And I want to ask if I can return them, but I don't think THAT will go over very well. I am such an ungrateful bitch...OH!! And a mini-donut making kit. What the hell!?!?
Ok...time to pretend to write a paper.