Random thoughts

I haven't posted in awhile, so here are some things I've been thinking about.

** I love Spring, but hate my spring-time allergies.

** I'm contemplating repainting my kitchen...any suggestions?

** I love America, but get annoyed that I hear more Spanish, German, Chinese etc... being spoken than English!

** I enjoy watching Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel!

** I don't like my next door neighbor. Never met him, but not really a fan of any man who doens't like to get his hands dirty. He's a pretty-boy--YUCK.

** I'm tired of picking up sticks from the yard. I have feeling, after this winter, I'll be finding them all spring/summer long.

** I can't wait for May and 3rd Sunday Market!

Say Goodbye, Herb

No tears are being shed today as we gladly say farewell to our Summer Home in Wilderhaven.

In other words:

WE FINALLY SOLD THE MOBILE HOME!!!!!!!

I can't tell you how relieved we are to finally be rid of this thing. Of course, we're taking a loss on it, but it's well worth it to get it off our hands.

**doing the happy dance**

Sorry to those of you who were looking forward to using our summer home for you're own getaways. But those are the breaks. You'll just have to vacation somewhere else.

Why I might need therapy!

My mom gave me a bag of stuff that was left over from old room at home. Apparently, I had left behind a few odd and ends. Anyway, last night I am going through an old box labeled "Birthday Cards". I had birthday cards, graduation cards (8th grade), college graduation cards... I figured it was time to go throught them and throw some of them away. So as I am looking through them, I come across this card.


Now there's nothing too out of the ordinary about this card. It's kinda cute. It's gotta somewhat funny punch line. And it's got a picture of a ten speed bike that mom cut out and glued inside the card.

Now, I'm thinking about this bike picture and I'm saying to myself:

I NEVER GOT THAT BIKE!!!

I totally got scammed for my 13th birthday! The promise of a bike that never came to be.

So I called mom last night to inform her and dad that they owe me a ten speed bike. She tried telling me that I got a bike at some point, but I clarified by saying that I did have a small bike that I learned to ride on and then later KIMBERLY got a red ten-speed bike that I would ride, BUT I never got a new bike after that. The forgotten child once again!!

So what did I get for my 13th birthday if I didn't get that bike???? I can not remember. I'm sure I probably got something, but it sure doesn't stand out in my memory.

Mom and I had a good laugh about this over the phone. I'm going to have fun bringing this up for years to come!!

Two little monkeys

These two monkeys, aka, Meredith and Natalie spent the evening at our house Sunday evening while Kim and Roscoe went out to dinner alone. A much needed break, I'm sure. Our evening included watching Mickey saves Santa, playing the Dora Memory game and playing dress-up. The girls were good and seemed to have a good time. I even did their hair. As you can see from the pictures, I think I missed my calling as a stylist.

* In my best singing voice* --OH, ya got to have friiiiieeends, la la la la la .....

Last weekend, Dan and I went to the big ole' town of Ozark Illinois. Well, ok, it's not really a town. It's more like a Willie's Station, for those of you who know what that means. Anyway, to give you a better picture, we were 20 miles south of Marion Illinois. Now what would take us to such a rural area of the state? Well, friends of course. Meet the Coopers!!




This is Aaron and Michelle and their adorable kids Kristin and Luke. Michelle and I met at SIU while we were both majoring in Elementary Ed. (we're both retired from teaching now) and have continued to stay in touch and see each other about once or twice a year.

We had a lot of fun visting with them. Dan and I even got to be Kristin's show and tell for Pre-school. She took in pictures of us to tell her class about our visit.

Here's a few more pictures of our visit.






Kristin loved playing with Dan. He'd pick her up and turn her upside down, and she liked the way he could talk like Donald Duck. Luke didn't really like it when I held him. He wasn't feeling good that day, so he was wanting mom to hold him, not me.







Thanks Coopers for a great time!!!!!

product rave!!

I recently bought one of those new Glade candles. I really didn't think I'd like it any more than any other candle I have but, it really smells good. I got the one that smells like fresh laundry. It smells like the Bounce dryer sheets that I use. Mmmmm, I love it! I am anxious to try some of the other scents now.

Walmart really does have everything!

This afternoon I went to Walmart to get groceries. I was browsing through the home decor section, which is near the electronics. As I was looking around, I noticed a song start playing. It was Every Rose Has it's Thorns, by Def Leopard, or Guns -n-Roses??? I don't remember, but it's some 80's band. Anyway, as I listened, I thought to myself, that's not the original version, cause it doesn't sound like the original singer. So I walked around the corner and there in the middle of the isle, was a large man in his 40's singing to the American Idol Kareoke game. Right in the middle of the store, he's belting out the words and singing away. I was cracking up!! I wish I'd had someone with me to share the giggles. It was so hysterical. Then I walked down another isle, but still close enough to hear, and at the end of the song, the "judges" told him he wasn't good enough. It still makes me laugh as I think about it and type this....

And, if that weren't enough, later on I heard an associate come over the intercom and sing happy birthday to another worker. She was singing her heart out, let me tell ya...

You never know what a trip to walmart will bring...

Water in the basement.

City's main line backed up.

Been pumping water out for last 2 hours.

Hoping that the city workers will get here soon.

What a mess.

This spring we'll get a sump pump!

Shout out to Lori!!

Doesn't my mantle look great? Lori, my SIL, came over last week to help me rearrange my decor. I felt stuck in a rut and Lori's great at putting things together. So this is what she and I came up with. THANKS Lori!!

Wrong Number?

What is it with the wrong number phone calls we've been getting? We've lived here for a year and a half and we still get several wrong numbers a week. Last week I think I got 5 in one day! Today I got some poor guy that called twice, he couldn't figure out why he was getting me instead of the military office. I would understand if all the calls we were getting were for a specific place, but we get such radom calls. And most of the time when they repeat the number they've dialed, it's our number.
The funniest call I've gotten was last year a lady called and just started talking to me like she knew me. I thought maybe it was someone from church or something and played along so I wouldn't embarrass myself, but after about 3 minutes when she asked about our lunch date that I realized that this lady had the wrong number!

I'm a little late at posting these, but I've been meaning to put upsome pics of my holiday decor and our new tree. So, even though they're a bit late, here you go:



Dan and I had to do a cheesey pose in front of the tree...






This is just a little of what I did for the holidays. I have more that I could post, but I won't...

"I just had another one of my brilliant ideas"

You take the good you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life, the facts of life. If you hear them from your brother, better clear them with your mother. Better get'em right, call her late at night. You got the future in the palm of your hand and all you gotta do to get you through is understand.....la,la,la,la la ........

Can you tell I've been watching too much of the Facts of Life??? I think I have a problem. BUT I'll be quitting cold turkey in just a few more episodes. I'm almost done with season 3 and they don't have season 4 out yet.

It's beginning to look a lot like....January

Today is such a depressing day. I'm taking down the Christmas tree and putting my holiday decorations away.
Even though I'm ready to get my house back in order, there's just something depressing about putting it all back in storage.

I decorate with a strategic plan though. I use lots of things that can be considered "winter" decorations. That way when I pack up the Christmas stuff, I just rearrange a few things and I still have some stuff that I can enjoy through February.

Resolutions

So, I suppose I should set a few goals for myself in the coming year. Januay is the time of rebirth, so to speak, and a time to start fresh.

First of all, let me say this: I will not committ myself to any diet or exercise program because I know that I will never stick to it.

The only real goal I have for myself is to spend more time with God. I've become very lazy with my Bible reading and right now do not have a daily quiet time. I am home all day and should be able to take 15-20 minutes of my day to give to the Lord, but it's so easy to find other things to do.
When I think back on 2006, I am amazed by how blessed Dan and I are. We celebrated our 1st anniversary this year and I see how God is blessing our marriage and our home. God truly does supply all our needs and even our wants.

So, that's it, my one real resolution for this year: To spend more time reading my Bible and more time with God on a daily basis.

Good thing the God we serve is a loving and forgiving God. Because as hard as I try, I'll probably not be 100% in my goal.

Just thought I'd mention that I am blogging with my new laptop while sitting on the couch watching Season 1 of The Facts of Life. Life is Good.

What a Christmas!

Dan has really outdone himself again this year. He really does a great job of gift giving. I got lots of great presents, including my new 8 inch LCD tv/dvd player for the kitchen. Now I can watch tv and wash dishes at the same time. I won't miss out on some of my favorite shows. I also got THE JOY OF COOKING, some fuzzy socks, a cd, and perfume. And then I opened my last gift. As I opened the box there was a piece of paper on top that read: Sorry Honey, your gift is not in this box. Let's go downstairs to get it.
I couldn't figure out what he had planned....but my surprise gift was a laptop computer. We have been talking for awhile about getting me my own computer but I didn't think he would get one so soon. I am really loving my gift.
Yesterday evening, we went to my parents and celebrated Christmas with my family. It was alot of fun so I thought I'd post some pictures.




Griffin Garrett Natalie



Meredith


I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Modern technology is great...when it works correctly. I am really annoyed right now at the brand new celing fan that we put in the spare bedroom. We replaced the old one back in Sept/Oct. and because it's a room we seldom use, the fan hasn't been used very much either. Here's the problem: the fan we installed did not come with any pull chains to turn the light/fan on or off. Instead it came with a wall mounted remote that has the switches on it. Tonight I was working on a painting project in the spare room and when I left it to dry I wanted to keep the fan on but turn the light out. So, I pushed the light button on the remote and it went off. Something then happened in the next 20 minutes because when I went to turn the light back on, nothing happened. Dan and I both tried and tried but for whatever reason, the remote is not working and there is no other way to turn the light on. *SIGH*

This means, that Dan will have to take down this fan so I can try and return it tomorrow for a better model. ONE WITH PULL CHAINS!!!!!!

Why divorce is sometimes inevitable...

Check out this link to a page I came across. Pretty crazy. I'd call this one white trash in a wedding dress.


http://www.tenthousandframes.netfirms.com/phpbb/nfphpbb/viewtopic.php?t=44

What a week!

This past week I have realized just how thankful I am to NOT be Laura Ingalls. I've always loved that show and they make their life seem like so much fun. I always thought it'd be great to be a part of the Ingalls family. This week I was jolted back into reality when we were without power for 6 days. *Note to self* It was not fun!

Last Thursday evening when the storm hit, we were at home watching the tree branches fall out of our neighbors tree. Then my mom called to let us know they didn't have power, and that made me realize just how bad it was. It hadn't really occurred to me to be concerned about losing power, until I talked to my mother.

We finally lost power late Thursday night sometime around midnight. There wasn't much we could do about it, so we went to bed.

Friday morning, Dan went to work and left me in a cold house with nothing to do. I lasted until about 10am and then I called my neighbor across the street, that still had electricity, and asked if I could come over and spend the day with her and the kids.

When we realized that we weren't getting power restored anytime soon, Dan and I packed up and went to Matt and Diva's to spend the night.

Saturday morning was the realization that if we don't get heat in our house soon our pipes could freeze. We have the old hot water radiators and if that water froze we'd be in BIG trouble. So, we set out on the hunt for firewood. The plan: To build a fire in the fireplace and try and raise the temp. in the house enough so that it could sit overnight and not reach freezing. Well... that didn't work as well as we'd hoped. We got a blazing fire going, but it wasn't heating more than the living room. Luckily Dan's dad had gotten his generator going and he was going to bring it over to our house and let us borrow it for a few hours. Finally by 10pm we'd gotten the temp up to about 59 degrees.

So, back to Matt and Diva's we went to spend the night. After church on Sunday we located a generator at Sear's in Danville and so we headed over there to pick it up. Of course it didn't come with the right plug and we were already home before we realized that and every place that would carry them around here were out of stock.

By now it's about 7:30pm and Dan's dad comes back over to help him hotwire the generator. Finally at about 9pm they get the generator going. Now we have heat! Dan was able to get the right plug Monday morning at Ace Hardware. They'd just gotten a shipment in and he got there early enough to grab one.

The generator was such a blessing because we could run the heat and lights and pretty much everything we needed except the oven and washer/dryer. I was extremely thankful though when we finally got full power restored Wednesday at 4:30.

The men who worked in our backyard were from Florida. I'm sure they aren't used to this cold weather. The channel 3 news was even in our backyard too, but they didn't knock on my door to talk to me. That's just as well, I wouldn't have wanted to anyway.

So, now I can start my holiday baking and start preparing for Christmas. We are hosting Dan's side for the holiday's this year. I have alot to do before then.

Here's what it looked like out our front porch window.

I want to go to NYC so I can take a ride in the Cash Cab. That looks like so much fun.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, check the Discovery Channel for listings.