A Little Bit Longer

This post has been swimming in my head since yesterday afternoon. I need to get it all down before I forget all I wanted to say. Hopefully now that I'm putting it in print it will make some sense.

Those that read my blog regularly know that my older daughter Skowt was diagnosed with diabetes last July. I can't believe it's been almost a year now. Within a week of finding out, my mom found an article in People magazine about Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers. Since then Skowt, or maybe moreso I, have felt a connection or sense of inspiration from that. Knowing that even though my daughter has this life changing disease she can still be what ever she wants. Including a famous pop star! I think part of what helps is knowing someone who seems to "have it all" is going through the same thing.

My mom subscribes to Diabetes Forecast the magazine put out by the American Diabetes Association. Since she lives with us I usually see her mail everyday. Yesterday this magazine came and Nick was on the cover. I haven't normally been reading the magazine. I don't know, maybe I'm still afraid to admit we don't totally have it all together. But seeing his face on the cover I couldn't help but open it up and find the article.

The more I read about him and his family, the more of a fan of them I become. Their story of his diagnosis sounds so familiar and hits so close to home. The same things his mom worries about are constantly running through my head. Though on a much smaller scale. My kid's not a pop star traveling the world and playing to thousands of screaming fans every night! But on some level I know what she is feeling. They seem like a very down to earth, grounded and close nit family. I really hope the boys can retain that even with all the fame.

The first thing I read was a few lyrics from a song he wrote. The title track for their new CD "A Little Bit Longer" due out August 12th, is a song he wrote about his diabetes.

Got the news today

But they said I had to stay

A little bit longer and I'd be fine

When I thought it'd all be done

When I thought it'd all been said

A little bit longer and I'll be fine.

But you don't know what you got 'til it's gone

And you don't know what it's like to feel so low

And everytime you smile or laugh you glow

You don't even know,

no, no

You don't even know.

Here is one of many youtube videos of the song. I dare you not to cry

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Silly girl

My youngest daughter Tiger hasn't eaten soup in months. Not even during all the cold winter days we have around here.

What has she had 3 out of the last 4 days for lunch this summer?

In 80 degree temps.

Yup, soup!

My kids are weird. They take after their dad.

Redecorating

I've been wanting to change up the look on this blog lately but wasn't sure what to do.

I didn't like much of what blogger has to offer in the way of templates besides the ones I've already used. I tried a pre-made one a while back but I lost all my sidebar stuff.

I know very, very little about HTML so making my own was not an option.

Thanks to Amy at Escape To Thought, I figured out what to do. She blogged about her new layout from Leeloublogs so I went and checked it out. There are a bunch of free templates available for you to use. All you have to do is put her button on your sidebar. No problem! She also does customized work so if you need or want something more personalized there's a link for her custom design site there too.

I found one I like and it was super easy to get set up. I emailed with a question and had a response later the same day. Great service! Thanks Leelou!

Now I feel like a real blogger. LOL

Market Research

If you are looking for a way to make a few extra bucks here and there, this may be an option for you. I just got done yesterday testing a product at home for two weeks. I won't mention anything here about it because we signed a form that we wouldn't discuss it. I'm not sure if that applies now that the testing is over but just to be sure I won't.

The company that I'm registered with is called Lein Spiegelhoff. I started doing testing there when Skowt was still in diapers, so about 11-12 years ago. A co-worker of hubby's referred us because they did (and I'm assuming still do) a lot of testing of diapers and pull-ups. Basically, over a two week period or so you would go pick up a 4-5 day supply of diapers, use them as you normally would, fill out a log sheet for each day, return it all to the facility and get your next few days supply. At the end of the study you would get paid for your time. Not a bad deal........two week supply of diapers AND you got paid for it.

Sometimes, like the one I just did you have to participate in a focus group at the end. It's really not that bad. If I can do it, anyone can!

Since doing the diaper studies I have kept my name on the list for other products. This is the first testing I've done in about 3 or so years though so don't expect to get rich! (I do plan on heading to the camera store and checking out the camera bags with my payment from this one though!) They hadn't called for a while. But I've probably gotten about 5 calls in the past 6 months. They ask you a bunch of questions to see if you qualify and if you do they invite to do the study. You can always decline if you are not interested in the product.

Looks like LS is only located locally in Wisconsin. I have a friend that does the same thing for a place called J. Reckner Associates, Inc. They have locations in WI, PA, NY and NJ. I haven't signed up with that one yet because it's a little further away. If you're interested and not in one of these states you can try searching online or in the phone book for Market Research companies.

I just found this directory online and the place I go is listed there....http://www.marketsdirectory.com/focmkt.htm

Good luck!

Oh please, not Trevor!!

Yes, I'm talking about Army Wives again. I just love that show! This may just become a weekly post. Right now with the summer Tv schedule, it's about the only show I watch regularly. Well, besides GH (looking forward to Noah/Eli's return) and The Mole.

They've been showing previews of Roxy getting a phone call. You can tell it's bad news but not what it was about. The previews for next week show Trevor in combat and it looks like he gets shot! Please, no, don't kill Trevor. Please.

He is my favorite!

One Year Blogoversary

So I knew this was coming but forgot the exact date. I went and checked today and realized today is the day! I wasn't sure if I'd even make it this far when I started one year ago. So congrats to me! lol

Sorry I didn't do anything exciting to celebrate. I added a countdown on my sidebar so I should be prepared next year and maybe then I'll do something special. I'll have to think on that. What do you do to celebrate a blogoversary anyway?

Professionally Speaking

Friday night was movie night with the premiere of the Jonas Brother's movie Camp Rock on the Disney channel. Had to watch the Jo Bros! It was a cute little movie. Only two more weeks until we see them in concert. I think I'm looking forward to it more than the girls. Yup, I'm a dork.

Saturday was tennis. While waiting for Tiger's class to finish and hers to start Skowt demanded I become a professional photographer. She knows how much I love photography and sometimes gets sick of the camera in her face. I told her it was a deal as long as she becomes a professional tennis player! She is doing great. She just needs to be a little more aggressive. Then she says I need to get rich so we can get a bigger house and she can design her own bedroom. Yeah, I'll get right on that!

Oh, before tennis we decided to take Tiger in to see the pediatrician. On Thursday she started getting a rash on her face and then it was spreading to her arms and legs. Turns out she has Fifths disease, I had never heard of it before. It's a rash caused by a virus, luckily it's nothing serious but there is really nothing we can do for it. We just have to let it run it's course. He's having her take some allergy medicine to help with the inflammation and itching.


Last night both the kids had sleepovers at friend's houses. Hubby and I didn't know what to do with ourselves! We went out to dinner then walked around at the park. We got home, checked the pool and added the chemicals it needed. Then we sat around for about a half hour going "Now what?" LOL We ended up watching some boring movie he had from netflix and went to bed.



Aren't we exciting??

Flooding

As of today 12 counties in WI have been declared disaster areas from the flooding this past week. Including the county I live in, though luckily it hasn't directly affected us. I do know many people who had water in their basements.

Part of the freeway is closed in the area because of flooding. The detour starts right at the exit that the store I work at is located. I don't how many more times I can take explaining the detour to every other person that comes in! Especially since it takes you about 115 miles out of your way. People get mad at us, like it's our fault half the state is flooded and the roads are closed. We didn't just randomly come up with this detour, it's the official Dept of Transportation's directions. But it's all our fault.

Here is a pic I took today of one of the lakes nearby. I stopped at our Recreation Dept to sign Skowt up for tennis. It's located right on the lake, there's a small beach and boat launch right there. The water is halfway up the parking lot, which is quite a steep hill, though you can't tell from the pic. I put two arrows to show where the water line should be. They are both pointing to ramps you walk up on. The left is where the boat launch is and the right is a little pier you can walk out on. The little grey building to the right is the lifeguard's building right next to the beach, which of course is under water also. It's weird to see it all covered! And this is nothing compared to what I've seen and heard about surrounding areas. Entire cities are under water in some places. Very sad.

17 years and counting

Holy crap! I'm slipping! I didn't even realize until about an hour after I got up this morning and looked at the date on the newspaper that today (besides being father's day) was also our 17th wedding anniversary!

I'm usually more on top of stuff like that and thinking about it a couple months ahead of time. Planning what we might do for it. Which is usually only going out to dinner and a movie or something. But it's without the kids!!

I guess I can't get on him anymore for forgetting things like this now that I fall into the same category! lol Happy Anniversary to my other half! And to the rest of you....

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Good Morning Sunshine!

Yay! We woke up to sun today! Hopefully it sticks around a while, though we have more thunderstorms predicted for this afternoon, tonight and tomorrow. Gosh, if we get too much more rain around here WI will be swallowed up by Lake Michigan pretty soon!

Like I mentioned last week, I moved my Photohunt over to my photoblog, so have a look!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and stays safe in all this weird weather we've been having lately around the country!

I'm in Love

I finally got to watch the season premier of Army Wives last night. This show rocks! I don't think I could handle what so many military wives must go through on a daily basis. Being away from your husband for months at a time, not knowing where he is, if he's even alive, basically raising your kids alone. The season premiere was a real tear jerker. Totally unexpected and very sad ending. I'm really looking forward to a great season.

So all during the 1st season I really was liking the character of Trevor LeBlanc played by Drew Fuller. But it wasn't until yesterday that I found this picture online.....

............that I knew for sure that I was in love!!! Look at those eyes! And that mouth! Sure he's 10 years younger than me. Who cares! Age is just a number, right?

Darn Storms

One of my favorite shows, Army Wives, is back tonight for the second season and I can't watch. The darn thunderstorms are interfering with our satellite! Argh! It repeats a bunch of times overnight and tomorrow so I'm hoping I can still catch it.

It's been raining like crazy here the past few days and I've had enough now. Ok? There's been some flooding in parts of the state but luckily no problems by us.

Two more days of school. I'm looking forward to not having to get up at 5:30 every morning and a break from homework! We're hoping to get the pool set up next weekend so the kids will have something to keep them busy. They get bored so quickly!

Time to get some shut eye!

Photo Hunt: Bad Hair

Or should I say bad fur? This was taken last year at the zoo. I always think of polar bears being pretty white animals. These didn't look so white, lots of green in their fur. I'm guessing from the algae in the water.

I think next week I'll be moving my photohunt over to my photoblog. When I started doing this I wasn't sure if I was going to keep up the photoblog, but I've decided to keep it going.

To see more photohunters go to tnchick.com

Hangin' Tough

So, the New Kids On The Block are back this year for a reunion tour. A co-worker friend of mine was a big fan back in the day. They will be coming to Milwaukee in October so she asked if I'd go with her. Sure, if you come see Rick with me, I told her! Well, her hubby got our tickets yesterday. Are you jealous? Let's see if and when she makes it to a show with me! My cousin loved them too, had all the dance moves down. Wonder if she is going?

I almost forgot about giving an update on hubby's MRI. We got a call a couple days after saying that he had a "Small disk" whatever that means. Basically they said it was herniated and that it isn't that bad and more physical therapy should help. A different routine this time because now they know for sure what the problem is. Hubby isn't too happy with the whole situation. He just doesn't get why they have to go through so many steps to figure out what the problem is and how something in his neck could be affecting his arm too. It's all connected!

Dells Adventure, Days 2 & 3

Day 2


Day two started out cloudy and cool. We went to the breakfast buffet at our resort and were planning to do one of the boat tours of the Dells. We weren't sure if it was going to rain but decided to go anyway. We could just sit in the lower part of the boat so as not to get wet. Here is what the boats looked like. (click on the pics to enlarge them, I posted them smaller because a had a bunch.)




Here is a shot of some of the sandstone formations.

We made a couple stops on the tour. One was at Stand Rock pictured below. This is where H. H. Bennett took one of the first "stop action" photos of his son jumping across to the rock.

Lunch this day was at the Moose Jaw another favorite of Tiger's. We've eaten there before and she always asks to go back. It is very similar to the place we ate the first day. Pretty sure it's the same owners.

After lunch was mini golf time and then just a walk through some shops in town. Skowt had to have some cheesecake on a stick. The rain finally looked like it was on it's way so we decided it was time to head back and dad hit the water park again with the kids while I relaxed in the room.

Day 3

On our last day we took another walk around the resort before we checked out. We realized on our boat tour the other day that there was another area to walk out on the cliffs and get a closer view of the river. Here is one of the boats taking the tour we were on.

There were 2 stairways built along the cliff for you to walk down to water level. Unfortunately they were both closed when we came by :( I had really wanted to climb down there. After we checked out we took another walk along the water in town. Saw this jet boat and the passengers getting soaked and decided that's what we'd do on our next visit.

We stopped for lunch and ate out on the patio overlooking the water. Skowt and I had our backs to the wind so had a fun time trying not to eat our hair. After lunch we took a wagon ride through some of the sandstone canyons. Here are our leaders for that ride, Sonny and Kenny.

Our last stop before heading home was at another resort that my mom had been at the weekend before. They had a local wildlife park set up inside the front entrance with a white tiger cub that you could get a photo with. So Tiger got to get her photo with her favorite animal......the tiger! She was quite excited. I do have a copy of it, but I still need to scan it. Sorry I can't share it yet.