So Random

Randomness = that which you feel the urge to blog about but does not warrant an entire blog post on it's own

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I CANNOT believe it's freakin' JULY  already people!  Another year half gone.  Just like that.  POOF!

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I've been randomly remembering people from my past that I used to work with.  People I haven't thought of in years!  But I can't remember their names.  Drives me crazy!

I've considered trying to look them up and/or reconnecting via Facebook.  But the the 'Find Friend' section on facebook sucks!!

You used to be able to be a bit more specific when looking by school or employer, like specifying a year or location.  Now it's just choose your past employer and a bunch of random people show up. Well, I used to work at Kmart.  You know how many people work or have worked there?  How can I find someone if I can't specify dates or at least a state?!

Or am I missing something?  If so, please help!

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So at the urging of fellow blogger Janette I joined Pinterest.  I'm still kinda on the fence about it.  At first I just thought it was just a bunch of random photos.  Then the more I checked it out it's kind of more like a bulletin board where you can bookmark all the stuff you like online.  It includes a picture so you remember what it is you're bookmarking.  I don't know how many times I've used the bookmarks on my browser and then later looked through them and thought "what the heck was this?".


I also think it kind of serves as a way to get to know people that you follow, who they are, what they like, what their interest are.  


One problem I have is in re-pinning others stuff.  Sometimes it just leads back to a random photo online and not to the actual original source.  Like the recipe to make those cool looking yummy brownies you're pinning.  What's the point?


I'm a list maker so I find it cool, but I'm also obsessing over what to call each list and what list to pin certain things to!!  


Anyway, the jury is still out on this one!  But feel free to follow me.

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Two weeks until HARRY POTTER!!

As excited as I am to see the movie, I'm just as sad to see it end.  I've read all the books and watched all the movies several times.  It's been a part of my life for the past 10 years.  I've watched these characters/actors grow up on film.  It will be hard to say goodbye.

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As of today we've had our cat two weeks.  He's already been sick and we've had to take him to the vet.  A sore on his cheek and some goop (yes the technical term) in his ear.  Bacterial infections.  What a nice "welcome to the family" vet bill!!  He is kinda cute though!

He likes to sleep on his back with all four paws in the air.

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So that was much longer than I thought!  Sorry.  And thank you to those who stuck through the whole post!

Wee Bit of Me

I've been MIA the past week!  Guess I've just been focused on other things, like planning a vacation, carting everyone else's arse around town and trying to stay sane while my daughter learns to drive!

{one} what color is your kitchen?Green, it's actually called False Cypress.  I seriously just had to go dig the paint sample out to find out the name of the color!
{two} do you have a good luck charm?nope.
{three} do you prefer to write with a pen or pencil?Pen.  Usually a purple one!
{four} can you use chopsticks?haha, nope.
{five} do you prefer baths or showers?Showers
{six} what is your favorite salad dressing?What's salad??  I'm picky remember?  No salad for me and dressing is just so......ewww!
{seven} can you sing the alphabet backwards?I cannot.
{eight} do you have any allergies?Not that I know of
{nine} crunchy or creamy peanut butter?Crunchy!
{ten} have you ever hitch hiked?Hell No!!

Wee Bit of Me

{one} do you wear holey jeans? if so, do you buy them that way?

No, but I was just thinking this morning how I needed some new jeans!  I only have 2 decent pairs and I wear 1 a lot more than the other.

 

{two} do you get a full 8 hours of sleep per night?

No, even if I slept straight through it would only be about 7 during the week.  But I wake up a least once, usually twice a night to pee!  It sucks!

{three} what’s your favorite way to eat an oreo?
I don't eat too many oreos, but I usually take them apart and eat the filling first.  Though that makes for a really dry cookie afterward!  which is why I don't eat many.  I prefer soft, moist cookies.

{four} do you wear shoes in your house?
 Not usually, we kick them off as soon as we come in the door.

{five} who would you call first if you won the lottery?
Hubby and then my mom.  Or vise versa depending on how/when I found out.

{six} have you ever been in a food fight?
Not exactly, one broke out during lunch once when I was in high school and my friends and I ran for the doors!  Wimps!

{seven} do you snore?
I really don't know.  My husband will tell me I do when I complain about his but I think he's just playing around.

{eight} do you know how fast you type?
I'm not sure.  I was tested a long time ago and don't remember.  I'm sure I'm faster now though.  I do remember I did 10,000 keystrokes per minute on the 10 key pad.  I used to use one all the time at work and was able to get super fast.

{nine} can you do a headstand (without using a wall)?
I haven't tried it lately!  LOL  I can't do a full one with my whole body straight up in the air but I used to be able to do the 3 point one where you put your knees on your elbows. Does that count?

 

{ten} how do you like your popcorn?     
With butter and salt. 

Wee Bit of Me

{one} do you always wear your seatbelt in the car?Always!
{two} do you crack your knuckles?I used to all the time, but not any more.
{three} what is your favorite flavor of gum?spearmintoh, and the new Extra Mint Chocolate Chip is pretty good
{four} what is your favorite piece of jewelry that you own?my wedding rings I guess, I'm not much of a jewelry person
{five} who is your best friend?

My hubby.

{six} what is your favorite smell?hmm...Probably Cinnamon.  Used to love the smell when making cinnamon rolls at work!
{seven} what is your favorite lunch meat?pit ham
{eight} do you still have your tonsils?yup, still there
{nine} do you untie your shoes before you take them off?never
{ten} what color is your car?blue

Wee Bit of Me

{one} what is your favorite breakfast food?I'm not much for breakfast foods.  I usually eat something like cold pizza or a ham sandwich for breakfast but if I had to choose I'd say scrambled eggs with ham mixed in.
{two} how many pairs of shoes do you currently own?I have about 30 pairs right now.
{three} city or country?City, I guess.  I'd love to live somewhere a little  more secluded but it needs to be close enough to the city to not feel like I'm out in the middle of nowhere!
{four} what is your favorite part of your job?Not working right now but when I was it was the people I worked with.
{five} what is your favorite junk food to snack on?Chips.  Or Chocolate. Or Chips and chocolate!  Sweet and salty.
{six} have you ever been mentioned in the newspaper?The only time I know of was my birth announcement.
{seven} do you use post-it notes?Yes. Yes. Yes!
{eight} do you have freckles?Nope, no freckles.
{nine} is it okay for men to wear pink?Sure, why not.
{ten} when was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper?Sometime within the last couple months.  I belong to a website where I exchange postcards and have also tried the pen pal thing with a few people I've met there.  I LOVE snail mail!!

How do you sort your laundry??

My husband joined the Army at the end of his senior year of high school and spent six weeks of that summer right after graduation in basic training.  


Of course that meant he was 18 years old and not very domestic.  As I'm sure was the case with the rest of the guys too.  They also didn't have much money.


So when it came time to do laundry for the first time, him and a buddy come up with a plan to try to save some money.  They didn't have much to wash individually so why not wash it together?


Good idea, but how do we keep our clothes from getting mixed up?
I know, you put yours on the bottom.  Then we'll put a couple towels and I'll put mine on top.  
Another good idea, why didn't I think of that?!


I'm guessing those of you reading this know what happened when they ran the washer!  They did not and were quite surprised when they opened it back up to find all their clothes had mixed together!


Live and learn......

AAAYYY!!!

Friday we took a drive to Milwaukee to get tickets to see The Cake Boss.  WooHoo!  We all like watching the show so it will be something fun to do as a family.

While down there we took a little walk along the Milwaukee River and had our pics taken with the bronz Fonz....

The kids weren't interested in making fools of themselves!

Sunday we had a nice Father's day.  We slept in a bit, the kids and I made breakfast for hubby, we discussed a few trips we may take in the future, spent some time checking out an Artisan Faire in town, had cake and did some fishing.

Well, hubby and the kids fished......I took photos.......

Today I got talked into buying a book of Twilight songs for the clarinet!! 

 I guess if it gets her to practice her clarinet over summer break it's all good.

Cheated

Did you ever have a post all ready to go in your mind, then get online and type most of it up only to double check one thing and realize you had a key point in the story wrong and your post is now pointless?

Yeah, well that's what happened to me this morning so now all you get is me rambling about it.  Because dang it I was all ready to post something today and I'm going to!  Whatever, it was kinda lame anyway, I guess.

I feel cheated.  Now you can too!

Reading this is 30 seconds you'll never get back.

And why is it that everyone in my family can eat just half a bagel when they are not that hungry, but then no one will ever eat the other half? 

I love you. Now go away.

I didn't think I was in a bad mood when I got up this morning.  In fact, I still really don't think I am.

But when hubby got up, it seemed like every little thing he did or said annoyed me.  I felt bad but I was kinda glad he had overtime scheduled today and had to go in 4 hours early. 

It doesn't happen that often, I usually love spending time with him.  But every once in a while I just feel like telling him to just get out of my face! 

I guess I just need some alone time today.  Maybe it's the rain.........or the fact that my monthly friend will be showing up soon!  Another thing that can just go away cuz I really don't need you any more.  I've got my two kids and I'm done!

How I spent my Friday afternoon

This is me...

Do you know what I'm doing?

No?

Let me fill you in.  By the time I took this picture I was bored.

 Bored.to.death. 

I'd been sitting in my car for almost an hour.  Waiting.  Waiting for my mom to get home so she could let me in the house. 

 Yup, I locked myself out. 

I stopped home from work quick.  I was just gonna run in the house, grab my new debit card and run to the bank to take care of something on our account. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to lay my keys down on the table while I opened the mail and got what I needed.  I don't know why I thought that was a good idea...because you wanna know what I did just 40 minutes prior to arriving at home?

Sure you do, cuz it's freaking hilarious!

When I left work at 2pm, I took our outgoing mail with me.  On Fridays we have to send all our paperwork to the main office.  So we drop it in the mail box in front of another nearby business.  Well, I was able to grab the parking spot directly in front of the mailbox.  Score!

I left the car running, jumped out, dropped the mail in, got back to the vehicle.  LOCKED! What?  How the hell?  I tried every freaking door.  All locked.  Now what?

I went into the travel agency and asked to use their phone.  Who do I call?  The only other person with a key is my hubby who was at work and probably couldn't anwer the phone.  So I ended up calling the local police to unlock the door.  We've dealt with them plenty of times before at the store when customers have done the same thing.  So I thanked them for letting me use the phone and went outside to wait.  Wondering if it would be one of the officers I knew and how bad they'd make fun of me!  Wondering how long I'd be waiting there because I was supposed to be at the bank by 2:30!

Luckily he was there within 5-10 minutes.  I'd seen this officer before but he's not one of the ones I see regularly and who would have laughed their butts off at me!  He did his thing and I was out of there in no time.  Cool I'll only be 10-15 minutes later to the bank then I planned.  WRONG! 

It was almost 4pm by the time my mom saved the day.  Two hours I will never get back!  I cannot believe I locked myself out not once but TWICE in one day within 45 minutes of each other. 

What a bonehead! 

Welcome to my world.

Conversations

My kids will sometimes have the strangest conversations. And sometimes they are really profound. My 10 year old will come out with something that will sound like it came from a wise old woman. I always think I should blog them but when it comes time I can never remember what it was that was said that I thought was either so funny or intense. I want to try to be better at remembering them and maybe make this a regular part of my blog.

Yesterday they were talking about dreams and I happened to be on the computer at the time so I typed it up right away. I don't know why but this just really struck me funny......

Tiger: I never have dreams, except that one time when I was 5 and I dreamt
that giant potato was attacking us.

Skowt: Dreaming is the best part of sleeping. It's like watching TV.

Tiger: Yeah, but you can't pick the show.

Where's the off switch?

As if I don't worry about stuff enough during my waking hours, it has to enter my dreams too?!

I am one of the biggest worry warts you'll meet. Give me a scenario and I will find something to worry about. It may never happen.....but what if it does? My mind is always racing....it works it strange ways.

Three months from now I have plans to visit Tennessee for my cousin's wedding. I offered to do their wedding photos as my gift to them. I'm really excited to do this for them, but really nervous too!

Of course ever since they agreed to it I've been planning and thinking and yup, worrying! I want to be as prepared as I can. I don't want anything to go wrong and I don't want them to be disappointed.

I talked to my cousin's fiance a little the other night about what they were planning for the day. They do have a co-worker of her mom's who is a photography student who will also be there. I will be with the bride while she gets ready to take photos of all that while he is with my cousin taking photos of the guys. Then we will both be at the ceremony and reception. Does it take some of the pressure off......yes, at first. But then it also gets me thinking about possible problems with that too.

So while laying in bed the other night trying to fall asleep I was just thinking about ideas for photos to get during the day. Where we could go on the property and how to pose the wedding party. Fun stuff, nothing negative.

I wake up the next morning and had dreamt that while I was photographing some things and guests before the ceremony started my camera froze up and would not work. I was freaking out and could not figure out what the problem was. It was scary!

Now, worrying about things while awake is one thing. But dreaming about them makes it all seem so much more real. I tend to have vivid dreams and wake up feeling the emotions from the dream. Not a good thing.

Can't I just turn my brain off?? Just for a little while. please?

Computer time?

How do you manage your time on the computer with the rest of your life? Do you limit your time, have a certain time of day you go on and stick to it?

I need help! lol

In 2010, I want to be more productive, procrastinate less, and stop wasting so much time! I keep putting off my photography goals because of it (not to mention my lack of self confidence but that's another story!) I really would like to make some money with it and not have to work my crummy part time job!

A big part of the problem is my computer time. I like blogging and reading others and finding new online friends, I like keeping in touch with friends and family through FB and a few other groups and social sites I belong to. I don't want to give it all up.....But sometimes it interferes with stuff I should be doing!

You know how it goes......I'm just gonna check my email quick, OK well what's up on twitter, FB? Gotta check out this video, so and so's pics, maybe I'll play Bejeweled Blitz for a bit. Let's check out the google reader and read a few blogs....from there you get 10 other links, books, movies etc. you want to check out. And it goes on and on and the next thing you know hours have passed and you've gotten nothing done! The kids will be home in five minutes and your afternoon was totally unproductive!

Or is that just me? lol

Last week was a bit better. I started putting things I wanted to do in my planner. At the suggestion of my husband who said maybe I need to start scheduling time for things I want to get done instead of just having a running list of tasks or projects. Actually pencil them in at a certain time on my planner. At first I thought he was crazy but I think it just may work for me if I keep at it.

My mind is racing

I finally have a day to sleep in and I can't! It's winter break for the kids but for the past week, even though they don't have school and I don't need to wake them up early I still had to get up because I worked all but Wednesday. Isn't that always the way life goes?

So today we don't have anything going on until this afternoon but I still woke up around 5 am! I did doze back off for a little while but woke up again around 6:30 and have been tossing ever since.

I got started thinking about the new year and some things I want to work on and get accomplished and my mind just starting racing. Usually once it starts I just can't relax. There's so much going on up there sometimes it scares me! Problem is it keeps me from doing things sometimes because I spend too much time thinking, planning and worrying if things will go the way I want rather than just doing those things.

I know I've been kind of vague about what I want to be doing but as they come up I'm sure I'll mention them here. I did start one project yesterday. To me this is a biggie and I'm not so sure I'll keep it up but I'm gonna give it my best. I love photography but sometimes I'll go for weeks without even picking up my camera. Which I don't like. If I'm going to keep learning and getting better I need to get out there and take pics. So I started a Project 365 to push myself to pick up that camera more often. Basically it's a year in photos. One photo a day for 365 days and what better day to start than January 1st?

I started a gallery on my smugmug site and I will also be posting them on my photoblog, though not necessarily every day. I will take them every day, but I may just post them weekly or every couple of days on my blog. We'll see how it goes and what other things I have going on. I know I have at least one trip planned this year where I may not have internet access everyday so in that case I will post when I get home.

Are you still with me?

I'm back. Did you miss me? Didn't think so!

I took a little unintentional break but I think it was a good thing. I was in the middle of NaBloPoMo so I was planning to post for at least the rest of November. I knew I was going to miss one day because of my bday weekend and feeling a little sick. But one day turned into two and before I knew it a month had passed.

I missed blogging but I'm glad I took a break. I was getting to the point where I was always obsessing about when and what I was going to blog about. Always questioning in my mind if something was "blog worthy". I've decided to come back and take a more laid back approach and not always be so concerned about how often I'm posting.

I also have some plans for the new year. Not necessarily resolutions but some things I want to accomplish. So I may not have so much time for blogging. I want to work on getting my act together and manage my time better so I'm able to accomplish those things and still be able to have my computer time.........maybe just not so much computer time! We all know how that can go!

And since it's January 1st I want to wish everyone a very happy, healthy and safe new year! Hope your 2010 is all you want it to be and more!

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!

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.

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!

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!