Feeling better and WDD

Just a short one today. I still need to shower and get stuff ready for tonight. I did sleep late and feel a bit better today so I'm hoping this weekend won't be a total bust. Being sick sucks! Thanks for the well wishes!!

Today is World Diabetes Day, a campaign to bring awareness to diabetes. This year The Domes in Milwaukee will be participating in their momument challenge. Buildings all over the world light in blue to mark World Diabetes Day. Hubby and I are hoping to swing by during our travels tonight and check it out.

Have a great weekend!

It Figures

I've been looking forward to this weekend for weeks now, ever since I found out hubby was planning something for my bday. So why is it that I'm starting to get sick? My throat has been killing me since late yesterday afternoon. What perfect timing!

I've gone years without getting more than a few sniffles during the winter. Now this year, it's not even the middle of November yet and this is the second time I've had a bit of a cold.

So I better get to bed. I plan on sleeping as late as possible tomorrow so I can enjoy the evening tomorrow and not pass out in the middle of dinner!

My Birthday Gift {part 1}

Remember back at the end of October when I mentioned I found out what parts of my bday gift from hubby was? I'd include the link but blogger is giving me problems and for some reason I can't copy and paste it. And I'm too lazy to try to copy it because it's really long and the last time I tried I missed a letter!

Anyway, here's the first part. I mentioned to him toward the end of October that I thought I needed a haircut and was thinking of going the next day. Well, he wouldn't let me because he had made an appointment at a local salon for me to have my hair done.

Yeah, not what you'd expect as a typical bday present. Well, hubby can be anything but typical. He did it because he knows how I "struggle" with my hair. I've never been one to be high maintenance when it comes to hair/nails/appearance etc. I usually just go to Cost Cutters, get a cut and be done with it. But I never seem to be happy with my hair. It's fine and limp and just doesn't do anything! I've never had a regular hairdresser that got to know me and my hair. I usually never went to the same person twice. He did it because he wanted me to splurge and do something for myself and maybe come to like it and her and keep it up.....do something for me.

So that appointment was today. He had told her I wanted a perm. I had mentioned it before because my hair is just so straight and lifeless. But going in I had no idea what I wanted. She looked at my hair showed me some ideas for my length and that's what I did. Got it permed.

It's not real tight, but it looks much fuller and not so blah. Are you ready? Here's the "new" me.

This photo doesn't really do it justice, I don't think. It doesn't seem to look at all like it does to me in the mirror. Plus, it seems much darker in the photo and no not just because I converted it to b&w. I don't know, why is it so freakin hard to get a decent picture of myself?

So far I like it. We'll see tomorrow when I try to style it myself! I also liked the woman who did it so there's a good chance I may just go back.

Eat your veggies!

If your kids are like mine.......or pretty much any kid out there........or like me, pickiest eater in the world......you have a hard time getting them to eat many veggies.

Well, here's my "trick" to get mine to eat green beans. Hey, did you ever think you'd be getting a cooking/food tip from this blog? Probably not!

Anyway, all you need is some butter or margarine, a can of French cut green beans and some bread crumbs.

Melt margarine in a skillet, drain the green beans, spread them in the pan and cover them with bread crumbs. Stir fry them until they are a nice golden brown. Don't be afraid to add bread crumbs until you get the right texture. Even though you drain the beans they tend to soak up the moisture from them. You want them kinda crisp, not soggy!

And viola..........

Bread crumbs and beans! Even I think they are yummy! I'm lucky if I can get the kids to eat a couple beans normally. I make them like this and they take a whole big spoon full and even ask for more.

My grandmother used to make them like this all the time! It wasn't until just recently that I tried them again, not sure why. Hers of course were much better........she used fresh beans and cooked them in a cast iron pan. So all the better if you've got either of those.

Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street!!

Reason #123,456 that turning 40 makes me feel old.......I'm as old as Sesame Street!

Well, technically a week younger but what's 7 days when you're this old! LOL

I grew up with that show. I was just searching youtube for some classic episode clips. It's amazing how you can still sing along with some of those songs like it was just yesterday!

Here's a clip that looks like it features most of the original humans........including the one and only Mr. Hooper!

I knew it!

Yup, I knew it would happen eventually. I just didn't think it would be this soon into the month.

I knew after committing to post daily for even one month, there would come a day when I just didn't feel like it. That day is today! I've been going all day and I'm just tired. Sure, I have a bunch of ideas lined up for the month but none that I feel like talking about today or taking the time and energy needed to formulate a post about.

So you're getting pretty much a whole lotta nothing today! I hope you'll still come back tomorrow when I'll try to have something more fun and interesting to say.

In the meantime, have a look at my lighthouse photos that I posted today.

Happy Monday!

We love the zoo!

Another gorgeous day in Wisconsin today! So we took a little time and went to the zoo again. This time to check out the little tiger cubs that were born back in July. They are on display for a couple hours a day now.

Isn't she cute???

Let's see, highlight of the day (besides the cubs) was when we were checking out the lions. They were outside today and there is a viewing area where you can get up close behind glass. The male was relaxing on a rock and the female came over and at first just looked like she was going to lay down next to him. Well he get up, she lays down..........do you see where I'm going with this??? LOL It was funny because then as soon as he started to straddle her me and about 3 other parents were like OK time to go, let's move on!

We love going to the zoo. Well, this zoo. I think Milwaukee County Zoo is one of the nicest we've ever been to. Every time we go somewhere else we always compare it to MKE. But while we love the zoo and think it is one of the best as far as animal exhibits and activities, their food service leaves much to be desired! We decided to eat there today and afterward also decided that it would be the last time!

So, if you've never been and have the chance to go we highly recommend it. But we also highly recommend packing your own picnic lunch or heading somewhere before or after for lunch!

Family Saturday

What a beautiful day it was today! It got up in the 60s..........in November........in Wisconsin! Now that is my kind of weather. I could handle a winter like that. Then I wouldn't have to go into hibernation!

We took advantage of the weather to head out and do some more geocaching. I won't bore you with the family drama that went on before hand to get us to that point! lol We all have some don't we?

I found my first cache! We usually all look together and whoever finds it gets their picture taken with it.

It's funny, we had no problem with the micro ones like this today but we had a heck of a time finding the one regular size one!

Now we are all playing couch potato and watching "The Fantastic Four"

Flashback Friday: I was a flower girl

This is my cousin and I in October of 1977 when we were flower girls for my aunt's wedding. That's me on the right. My grandmother made those dresses. Aren't they purty? She also made all the dresses for the bridesmaids. They were the same style but they were a rust color like the color of the ribbons on the flowers we're holding.

My latest purchase

My hubby collects lunchboxes, me and the girls are Twihards so this was a no brainer! Actually we got the Twilight one over the summer when the 4 of us were down at the Gurnee Mills mall in Illinois. I spotted it at Hot Topic and really didn't have all that hard a time talking hubby into getting it. So of course we had to get the New Moon one to go along with it.

I saw it online and was planning to get it but just hadn't gotten around to it. Then today I just happened to spot it in Target! I just love me some Tar-jay! Was kind of surprised they had it there, but I just couldn't pass it up. I did have a hard time deciding between this one (it has Jacob on the other side and Bella on the ends) and the one with all three of them together on both sides.

I put it up above the cabinets with the others and am waiting to see who if anyone notices and how long it takes. I of course being team Edward had to face him forward....also wonder how long before team Jacob turns it around! lol

Wreck this Journal {Update #2}

I've started a few pages in my journal and have a few completed that I can finally share with you! The first is the "this book belongs to" page......


I know it's hard to see the first where I wrote in white! I used white out for that.

This next page was fun. You drip something on the page and close it to make a print. I used nail polish. I think it turned out pretty cool.........my room really stunk for a few hours afterward though.

It reminds me of one of those ink blot tests. What do you see? Anything?

The only problem I had with this one is the polish bled through a few pages in each direction and wrecked those pages...........I know, it shouldn't upset me.......that's the whole point of this right? lol

What a relief!

I'm breathing a big sigh of relief right now after visiting the Breast Specialist/Surgeon.

I hadn't mentioned anything on my blog at all but I'll explain what's up. Back on October 8th I went for my annual mammogram. Yes, I know I'm not quite 40 yet but my doctor had me go at 35 to do a baseline mammo. The plan was then to start again after 40. Well, they found some cysts that first time that they followed up on a couple of times every 6 months and now I've been going ever since to be sure there are no changes.

Well, this time they saw something else and called me back to get more views and possibly do an ultrasound. So I went back on the 13th. After 2.5 hours, multiple angles and an ultrasound the radiologist still couldn't figure out exactly what it was that he was seeing so he recommended and biopsy. He said I could give it another 6 months but he was leaning toward the biopsy.

I went home a nervous wreck, discussed it with hubby and decided better safe than sorry and I should have the biopsy done. Well, before I had a chance to schedule it my OB called and he referred to me to a specialist before I went under the knife in any kind of way.

That appointment was today. I'm so glad I went and didn't go the biopsy option right away. He basically took one look at the pictures and knew I had nothing to worry about. They had taken multiple views of the same breast but what they were looking at only showed up in one of the angles. The specialist explained that if it was a lump of any kind we would see if from all the different angles. Because of the way certain tissue shows up he said we were basically looking at multiple layers of the same type of tissue directly below each other which makes it look brighter on the x-ray, therefore looking worse than it really is. Whew!

He said going for the biopsy would have been a waste, they would have been searching around for something that isn't there. Then I would have unnecessary scar tissue to deal with too. He does still want me to follow up again in 6 months because even though the risk is low at my age he says the tissue is constantly changing and it doesn't hurt to keep an eye on it.

No problem! I'll see you in 6 months!

Hibernation

I should have a been a bear! Then I could hibernate all winter and all would be right in my world. Because I don't like the cold and certainly don't like going out in it and driving in the snow!

So I've decided this year I want to do just that. Hibernate. Yup, lock me up in the house until........hmmm??........mid march should be good huh? Hopefully the threat of snow should be gone by then.

I've got it all figured out.

• Skowt takes the bus both to and from school. Tiger rides it home but we carpool with 2 other families in the morning, but hubby has driven 90% of the time this year anyway because of my work schedule so he can just keep it up.
• Food.....we can stock up now on non perishables, canned goods, frozen and meats that we can freeze. As far as perishables, again hubby has been on a mission lately to find the best deals at the grocery store so why deny him that.
• I can do any other shopping that needs to be done online. How convenient is that?
• Entertainment......I have quite a few books in my "to read" pile, my netflix queue is overflowing so I can have a constant stream of DVDs coming in, I watch a ton of tv anyway so I'd have plenty of time to keep up, and of course the hours of fun that can be had on the internet!
• I have a few projects around the house that I can finally make a dent in.
• Since I won't be driving anywhere or going shopping with mom, to lunch or a movie with a friend, not working won't be a problem since I'll be saving money on gas, eating out, movies and impulse purchases!
• SLEEP!

Sounds wonderful doesn't it? I figure I'll start around Thanksgiving time. Because, you know, NEW MOON comes out on November 20 and I just have to go see it at least once........or as many times as my friends and I can fit it in! lol

There, I'm good to go!

OH wait.......there's that doctor appt. I need to take Skowt to at the end of the month. And the Orthodontist appt. both of the kids have in December. And that's right, they both have band concerts around the holidays. Oh and hubby and I have tickets to a show in January!

Dag-nabbit! Maybe it won't work out after all.

Day 1

Welcome! It's day 1 of nablopomo for November and here I am! So far so good! Let's see if I can keep it up. I will try my best :)

Since it's the weekend and I worked this morning and would like to spend some time with my family since it's really the only time we are all home at once, this one will be short and sweet. Hope you don't mind.

Saturday evenings and Sundays are usually our days to hang out as a family. We'll usually try to watch a movie or something on Saturday night (though last night was trick or treat). Sunday we'll find something nearby to keep us busy. Lately we've been doing some geocaching but that may take a back seat for a bit now since the weather is starting to get nasty. Today hubby decided he wanted to watch the Packer game. Needless to say I'm a tad bored!

I'd now like to invite you over the my photography blog to take a look around. Today I have a photo of my daughter in her Halloween costume from last night. Yes, I went and signed up for nablopomo over there too! I'll probably end up regretting this! My posts for October on both blogs have been pretty sparse and now here I'm going to try to post EVERYDAY in November.......on not one but 2 blogs! Someone must have slipped something in my morning OJ!

Back to work and November blogging

Today is my last of 9 days off in a row and I'm not happy about it! It went by too fast. I just starting getting into a groove and getting things crossed off my list and working on some projects around here. Now this going back to work is gonna mess things all up! I know, I know, I should be thankful I even have a job. I am, but I'm sure you know how it goes.

I feel kinda bad......my hubby was planning some stuff for me for my 40th without me knowing about it (ya hard to believe isn't it?).....anyway, I've found out about a couple things accidentally and by way of him having to tell me because of something I was going to do! Poor guy. He finally tries to surprise me with something and he has to reveal it anyway. I will tell you all about it next month after the big day!

I've decided to do nablopomo (National Blog Posting Month) for November. They actually do it every month usually with a different theme. I've done once in the past and since November is the "official" month I thought I'd give it another shot. Who's with me?

I'm debating whether I should also do it on my photoblog too. What do you think?

A Little bit of this....

.....a little bit of that.

Gosh, lately I feel like I've been MIA from the blog world more that I'm here! Not posting, not reading.

Last week I was a bit under the weather and barely logged on the computer except to check emails and play a few games.

I'm out of the loop! And not just here.......I totally spaced out and forgot my niece's birthday. We live about 3 hours away so we don't see them as regularly as we'd like but I usually at least call to wish her a happy bday! Ugh. I'm such a bad aunt.

Not such a great mom either. I didn't want to get into it to day with Tiger and just let her eat Cheez It's for breakfast. She had milk with them! lol

I'm on my 3rd of 9 days off in a row. Don't know exactly how that happened but I'll take it. But I just wish I could get my act together and get into some kind of schedule to get things done! Why is it that at work I'm constantly going and checking things off my list and at home, not so much. Is it just me? Please tell me it's not just me!

I'm heading out today to have lunch with a friend I used to work with. It's been years since we've gotten together. I ran into her when I stopped back in to the bank I used to work at to close some accounts and saw that she was there in another department. We always say we'll keep in touch but it's so easy to loose touch with people when you don't see them on a regular basis.

And just one more thing and I'll stop the rambling for today.....

Are you or someone you know turning 40 in the next year? You know I am! If so, come on over and check out the new blog that Aim and I have set up. Well, Ok....she set it up, I'm just tagging along. LOL

Anyway, we both wanted to do something to celebrate our 40th so we came up with the idea of Paying it 40. What does that mean? Click on the link and see for yourself! Hope you'll join us!

Homecoming!

My daughter marched in her first Homecoming parade on Friday:



Then she went to her first Homecoming Dance on Saturday:

I think she's growing up way too fast!

They also performed at half time during the football game. It brought back lots of fond memories of my days of marching in High School.

Memories of Homecoming dances? Not so much. Can't say I ever went. She didn't have a date, she just went with a bunch of friends. Something I never would have dreamed of doing! I'm glad she went and got to experience it.

Flashback Friday: My First Car

I haven't done a Flashback Friday in a while so when I was discussing my first car with a friend the other day I thought it would be a good time to dig out a photo to post. This is me in September of 1987 with my 1983 Dodge Charger.



I was so excited to have my own car. Paid for it myself too....that's how it should be. My dad co-signed the loan but I made all the payments myself.

I loved that car...........I miss it now.

Wreck this Journal

I have not forgotten about my promise to share my progress with my journal. It just got put on hold for a bit. That's my problem I get all gung ho about something and then don't have time to do it. Not to mention the fact that I just get into too many things at once sometimes.

So the first thing I've done with the book is to crack the spine!

Ouch! Yes that hurt me. It was difficult for me. Both emotionally and physically. Seriously that was one tough book!

I will continue to share more as I get them done. Not sure how regularly but I'll get to it. Some of the tasks are kind of ongoing and may take a while to complete.

We found one!

We went out geocaching again this past weekend. This time we had 4 of them on our list. They were all in the same park so we hoped to be able to at least find something this time. And we did....


Actually, as it turns out we found 2 of the 4 but didn't realize what one of them was until we went to log it on the geocaching site and read some of the other comments from people who had found it. It was so tiny we didn't realize we had it at the time. Luckily we put it back where we found it!!

Geocaching: Our first attempt

First of all, I have to say..........OMG! Has it really been 2 whole weeks since I updated my blog? Wow. I'm such a slacker. Like you didn't already know.

Anyway, we went out Sunday to try our hand at geocaching for the first time. We had ordered a handheld GPS from my hubby's incentive program at work. We had no clue what kind to get but we figured we'd try this out....it's free. And if we decide we like geocaching and need something better we'll look into a better one once we know what we are doing! Don't they all look confused??





We started off with one that was really close to home. It was right across the highway on the hill behind Tiger's school. We've been up that hill a few times before. It was rated a 2 out of 5 in difficulty so we thought it shouldn't be too hard. We thought wrong.

It took us a while to get the hang of the GPS (we walked around in circles a few times). But once we did we were able to follow it to the coordinates, which were off the main trial so we were wondering if we were doing it right. We found the spot and nothing........





It was right in the thick of the brush with trees all around. We looked all over within about 20 feet in each direction and in all the surrounding trees but came up with nothing.

We searched for probably about 45 minutes. We were all a bit disappointed that we didn't find it but it was our first time and weren't exactly sure what we were looking for! We plan to try again this weekend, hopefully with a better outcome.

So random

New fall TV shows are starting to pop up! I love me some TV :) The new season of Ellen started yesterday and I made a list of all the other shows I watch and looked up the start dates for the new season. I need help. There is at least one new show that I was thinking of starting up this season but I already watch too many to keep up with sometimes that I'm thinking I should hold off. Except what usually happens is it turns out to be a big hit and I missed out and have to catch up later through Netflix which is what I'm doing with two shows already!

I went to Walgreens yesterday and found me some New Moon Candy! Way better than the Twilight candy cuz it's CHOCOLATE! In fact I think I'll grab me a piece right now.

Mmmm. Yumm. I'm back.....

I'm getting tickets to see Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood do their "Whose Line Is It Anyway" show in Milwaukee again in January! This will be our 3rd year in a row. Go ahead call me psycho but hubby and I love them! They are so hilarious! And the great part is since it's improv it's always different.

So today I was trying to catch up on reading some of the many blogs I follow. (Didn't get very far) I was reading some of the recent past posts on Angie's blog when I came across some where she mentioned Wreck This Journal by Keri-Smith. She's doing a weekly post showing what she did in her journal. I had to find a copy of this book. It looks like fun! So today while I was out I stopped at Barnes and Noble and got a copy......and talked my mom into it too! I hope to get started soon and join in on Wednesday's when she does her weekly post. I'm looking forward to it but on the other hand I'm so not a destroyer of books it may just crush me!

Why do I bother?

If you've been reading my blog for a while you know I'm a very picky eater. VERY picky. But.......I also like to go out to eat. That combination can spell disaster!

At the restaurants that we go to frequently, I have my regular standard order that I usually stick to. Well, guess what? That tends to get pretty old....and frustrating. I get sick of eating the same thing time after time, but I have a hard time finding something else to eat!

Yesterday we to Panera Bread for lunch. I usually get the ham on rye, no swiss cheese. Well, I just didn't feel like it. So I checked out the menu and there was a Chicken Bacon Dijon sandwich. I like chicken. I like bacon. I like Dijon. It came with swiss cheese but I can just get it without. I ran it by hubby. Sure why not, go for it. So I ordered it. BIG mistake.

Like I said, it can be a disaster. It was the mustard. Did not like it at all and it was swimming in it. I tried to eat it but only took a couple bites. So I pretty much had a soda and a few chips.

It sucks leaving a restaurant just as hungry as when you came in!

Better safe than sorry

There never seems to be a lack of excitement at work. This morning I was back in the deli area baking and a coworker came back asking me what I was burning. Nothing of course!

I walked out in the main area of the store and could smell what he was taking about. There was also a haze around the ceiling. A few customers also mentioned they smelled something burning. We walked around the entire store but couldn't find the source. Another coworker who was back in the office came out shortly to ask us if we smelled anything.

We figured it was probably something in the heating/cooling system but decided to play it safe and call the fire department just to be sure. They had us evacuate the building. Within a couple minutes the police showed up and blocked the entrances to the parking lot. As we were leaving the building I did one last check to see that everyone had exited and found that there was still a guy in the men's room. I let the male cop who was in the building deal with him!

The fire dept showed up shortly after, did a once over of the building and came out to ask us what happened. The assistant manager went inside with them to explain what happened and within a total of no more that 15 minutes they were giving us the all clear to go back in. Huh? What? That was quick. No checking the duct work to see if there was anything? No climbing up on the roof? I expected to be waiting for quite some time. I guess they know what they are doing.

We called they guy to come check the cooling system. Turns out there there was a bad part that caused a belt to get stuck and burn out and that is what we smelled.

Never a dull moment!

And they're off

Today was the first day of school. And of course being the great mom that I am I couldn't let the morning pass without forcing my kids to pose for pics before heading off for the day.

Miss Skowt started High School today. I think I've been more nervous about it than her. That is until the time came that she had to head out to catch the bus. She leaned over and held her stomach saying that it hit her all of a sudden and she was really nervous! But she made it on the bus and as far as I know has made it through the day. Actually as I type this her day should be ending.



Last night she had to made sure her nails were perfect. She now has matching black fingers and toes. She's going all goth on us! lol

But of course the photo that turned out the best of her was the one where daddy had to make an appearance!

My baby, Tiger, started 5th grade today. She's at the intermediate (5th -8th grade) school this year and thinks she's all important now. She gets to have her own locker!

Of course daddy had to get in on the action with her too!

They will both be gone by 7:30 this year so I have all these plans to be all productive this year. Yeah right......we'll try again tomorrow. After they left today hubby and I took a ride and went to breakfast. When we got back we talked a bit and while he headed to the store I laid back down because I was so tired....stayed up a bit too late last night after getting up at 4:45 the previous two days. I just got up when he left for work, had some lunch and here I am.

They should be home in about 30 minutes....this first day went by way too fast. Maybe I shouldn't sleep 2 1/2 hours of it away like that!

Walk for Diabetes

Skowt and I will be participating in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk for Diabetes again this year on September 12th.
I can't believe it's been over two years now since her diagnosis. She is doing well and her numbers are under control but it is something that needs to be constantly monitored.

Researchers still don't fully understand the disease and they have yet to find a cure. Your support of our effort would be greatly appreciated. If you are unable to donate monetarily at this time please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that she stays "healthy" and that they finally beat this thing soon. You can make a donation online at either of the links below or you can send us a check made payable to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation or JDRF.

Thanks for your consideration and all the support you have all given us in the past! Leave a comment or email me if you have any questions.

Skowt's donation page

My donation page

Still "Live and Kickin'" at 60

Today is Rick Springfield's birthday. His 60th. Wow! I can't believe he's going to be 60 and personally I think he still looks HOT! I can't believe I've been a fan for 28 years! Since 1981 with Jessie's Girl and then General Hospital.

Here are a few photos I took about a week ago when we saw him at the Wisconsin State Fair.

This fall he is guest starring on David Duchovny's show "Californication" on Showtime playing a "twisted version" of himself. I am really looking forward to seeing that. It should be fun. I've started watching the first season of the show to see what it's like. Probably not something I would have normally watched on my own. It's quite dirty......but what can you expect with the word fornication right in the title! lol

Here's a clip of one of the promos. Be careful who you watch this in front of........though this is probably the "clean" version!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICK!!!