Thursday, June 12, 2008

Michael Buble

I have discovered that listening to Michael Buble's love songs while painting above your toilet does not have the same effect as listening to him while...say drawing.
Michael Buble is one of my favorite music artists. He sings love songs; a lot of them are classics that were first done by Frank Sinatra. I really like the songs sung by Sinatra, but never really loved his voice, so when I discovered Buble singing the exact same songs but with a voice as smooth as silk, I fell in love. Not with Buble, really, just his voice.
I spent a few hours tonight painting in the upstairs bathroom. I was listening to Michael Buble and by the time the cd was finished, my hands were too paint-covered to go change the cd. So I let it restart...then again...and again. I listened to that cd 6 or 7 times before I quit for the night. Now, if I were to choose one of my cds to listen to that many times in one night, that would definitely be the one. And for the most of the painting job I really didn't even think about it, but it was about the time that I was standing on a step-ladder right next to the toilet, painting up above it that I realized how totally unromantic it becomes when you're painting there.
So that is all for my ramblings tonight. It is late and I've got to get up in the morning. Two of my aunts are coming and I'd rather they not know how late I can sleep in if I let myself. =D

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Day 8

Today we left Carrie's house and drove home. The highlights were:
1. Peggy drove the entire way home - so I got to sit back and relax and listen to the audio book that we had borrowed at the library.
2. I got to give Jimmy his 16th birthday present to him today, because I was gone while he had his birthday. In our family we are not allowed to drink coffee until our 16th birthday, so I bought him a gift card to a coffee place in town.
3. I came home to find a bunch of graduation congratulatory cards. I loved reading all of people's wishes. It is always an encouragement to me to know how many people care.
4. I came home to find that my closet organizer finally came in. And that Jimmy had already put it together for me! I love that boy! The organizer looks quite beautiful in my closet and I hope to find time to organize my stuff into it tomorrow. I love to organize, so I am very much looking forward to it!
5. My house is in a complete disarray. The dining room is emptied into the living room, and the upstairs bathroom is emptied into my parents' bedroom. In preparation for the open house on Saturday, my mom is getting a few projects done. Two of my aunts will be coming to help out in a couple of days, and Carrie arrived here about an hour after we did to help out as well. I love the feeling of getting things done, so it was very exciting to be working on that with Carrie this early evening.
6. Carrie promised me the game of Hoopla for my graduation gift. I'm very excited! I fell in love with that game.
That is all of the news that I can think of right now. I had a grand time at Carrie's house and am now excited to have her and her kids here for a while longer. It's good to be home and to be caught up in the flurry of preparation for the open house.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Day 7

Today was a day of completing all of the things that we had been planning to do all week. :)
We painted in Cate's room, first, putting a second coat on the green walls and then priming and painting the floors an off-white. Peggy got very little paint on her, Carrie got some, and I got a ton on me. I should show you all a picture of my painting clothes some time...they are quite unique.
We took a break from painting for a while and got Culvers for lunch and took it to the park to eat. The kids played for a while, then we headed back to finish the floor.
After all of the painting was done, we went outside for some yard work. Carrie mowed the lawn, while I ran the weedwacker. This was my first time using a weedwacker...I felt accomplished when I finished. :)
We all cleaned up after our work and then headed over to the Church's softball game. I was feeling very tired, so I went back to the car to sleep, so I missed a lot of the game.
That was about all that happened today, Oh! Except for the swimming pool...it was retired today, because it developed a hole. The kids were sad about that. Other than that, it was a fairly productive day and very worth getting up for.

Day 6

Well, I have failed in my attempt to post something every day while we are here. Night before last I fully intended to post, but fell asleep. The only truly noteworthy happening of the day was that Carrie arrived back home. The kids had missed her a lot and were very happy to see her.
Today was a rather fun day! We went to Church, since it is Sunday...err, was Sunday, before the clock passed midnight...hehe. Peggy had been there before, but this was my first time. I loved the Church here; everyone was so friendly and made us feel quite welcome.
After Church, we had lunch at HuHot Mongolian Grill. Once again, Peggy had been before, but it was my first time. I absolutely loved it! For those of you who have not been there before, I will explain it to you. First you get in a buffet line where you choose which kind of meat you would like, then which kind of noodles, then vegetables and sauce. Next you take it up to this big, circular frying stone, where the food is fried right in front of you. The men move around the stone with spatulas, chopping up the food and turning it to keep it from scorching. They all spend a certain amount of time at each person's dish and after all of the men have gone through, the last one puts it on a plate for you, it only takes a minute before it's all ready. Right behind the frying men follows another one who is pouring water on the grilling and cleaning it off so that as more people come, they can keep putting new food all of the way around the grill, keeping the circle moving. Joel and Cate enjoyed it the most when fire came swooshing out of the center of the stone and when one of the men picked up a piece of Joel's broccoli with his spatula and was batting it in the air like you might see someone doing with a pingpong ball and paddle.



I picked up some chopsticks on the way to our table and was getting ready to eat with them, when both kids became enthralled with them. Peggy grabbed a couple more so that the kids could eat with them too. Both of them liked using the "sticks" so much that neither one would eat with a fork for the rest of the meal. It took a little longer than usual to finish our meals. Here are some pictures of Joel demonstrating the use of the chopsticks.



Then tonight, after the kids were in bed, Carrie, Peggy, and I played a game of Hoopla. Most of you have probably heard of the game series Cranium. Hoopla is another game in that series. This one may be my favorite Cranium game thus far! We had a lot of fun. It always helps to play a game when you have soda, yummy snacks, and when you are slap happy. Okay, okay, only I was slap happy. The other two were perfectly calm, but I was having a hard time keeping from giggling throughout the whole evening.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Day 4

Day 4 was just as fun as the previous three. The kids had been cooped up a lot over the last couple of days, so they got a little cranky. Peggy settled them down for a nap while I made what was supposed to be a quick run to HyVee. The store is like five blocks away...should take 15 minutes to be in and out, right? Well, it took me a half hour to even get to the store. I'm not used to this town, all right? I somehow ended up on the highway into Nebraska. I took the first exit, which was over the border, by the way, and got turned around as quick as I could. I really did very well for a girl who isn't used to this town, but I'm sure that I'll still get teased about that.
Cate woke up from her nap not long after I got home, but Joel slept for quite some time. Carrie and Roger's friend, Derek, stopped by to make sure that we were doing okay without Carrie, which was really sweet of him. I really appreciate having someone that we can call if we have any troubles at all.
After Joel woke up, we decided that a trip to the park would be fun. I have that and the secret snack trip in a slide show below.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Day 3

Okay, so except for my silly headache, today has been fun. It was kind of rainy all day, and then it hailed, and now there are tornado watches everywhere, so we didn't get to do hardly any of the outdoor stuff that we had wanted to do, so we'll see about tomorrow. Peggy still started a water fight, and we did some things inside too. I got so many pictures, today, that I decided to put them up on a slide for you to see.


Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Day 2

Since Cate's not used to sharing a bed with someone, she didn't sleep very well last night. Around 3 or 4 this morning, she woke up and started holding a conversation with me. After another hour (estimated, since I never really looked at a clock) of Cate's tossing, turning, and talking (alliteration, Billy), I rolled off of the bed and onto the floor and from then on, both of us slept very well. Cate and Joel are both early risers, so they woke up and played in the bedroom for another hour or so before Carrie and Peggy got up. I stayed in bed, but didn't get much sleep from then on...especially when Joel tripped over me and landed on my stomach...he's a pretty light kid, but when you're asleep and he drops on your stomach, it still surprises you. :) Hehe.
We went on a couple of errands today, watched movies and tv (couch potatoes, yes, Dad), and ate some more yummy food. We got to have leftovers of that delicious spinach stuff that Carrie had made for lunch and then, for supper, she made stirfry, cornmushsomethingorothergoodstuff, and some very yummy egg rolls.

The kids played with play-doh, swam some more, and played a fun, long game of Copycat. If you have never played Copycat, then I would recommend it. I'm not sure who taught these two innocent children this game, but rumor has it that it just might have come from Benjamin. :) Carrie leaves for Des Moines, for the weekend, tomorrow. Cate said today, "I can't wait until Mommy leaves, 'cause then we're going to have so much fun!" The kids said all sorts of cute things today that I wish I could remember. Joel, especially, has a funny way of putting things. I love the way that he refers to people as either "kids" or "humans" depending on their age. I'm looking forward to some chalk-drawing, play-doh-cutting, bike-riding, pool-wading, park-playing, and maybe even some t-shirt-markering. We'll see what the next three days have in store...but I'm pretty sure that they are going to be lots of fun and fairly exhausting for us "grownup humans."

Now I'm going to go get some sleep...on the couch, tonight.

Day 1

Today was the beginning of a very fun week that I have been looking forward to for a while now. At 11:30 today, Peggy and I got into the car and ran several errands. After seeing Mom, MollyBea, Dunbar, Dan, and the nice banker lady at Associated that I love having conversations with, Peggy and I started out for Sioux City, Iowa. I love traveling...Peggy put in an audio cd to listen to and then fell asleep, so I spent the next couple of hours listening to a children's novel and counting mile markers. Peggy woke up again right before we entered Iowa...I'm pretty sure that it was the change in smell that did it. We got to Sioux City around 4:15 and there we got to see Carrie, Cate, Joel, and Junior. We've both been looking forward to this trip for a long time and were very excited to get here. Carrie cooked us a very yummy supper of this yummy marinated chicken, delicious spinach side, and some not-so-yummy instant mashed potatoes...but that was only because Cate loves them so much. We spent the late afternoon and early evening hearing Joel say "Guess what, Peggy!" and "Watch this, Polly!" and then we encountered a surprise water fight where all of the guns were in the hands of the enemies (Cate and Joel) and where we had no weapons. So we got drenched...but so did the enemy.
I forgot to take any pictures earlier today, so I got out the camera to take these two of the kids sleeping. I plan to put some up each day while we're here...hehe...The key word is "plan."
Now I must go to bed so that I am prepared for whatever the kids want tomorrow. Cate informed me that I was sleeping with her...that is my pillow that she is sleeping on. She put it there to insure that I would come back upstairs. Joel said "I want a human to sleep in my bed, too!"