More Chatter

I went to Goodwill yesterday. I got a pitcher and bowl for my mom. She has been looking for one for a long time. She was so happy with it when I showed her today. It was cream with little yellow and blue flowers around the edge of the bowl and one big one on the pitcher.

I also got all of the laundry washed, dried, and put away. I had to go to the laundry mat. It is much faster but so expensive.

I bought groceries. I didn't have to buy much because of the angel food ministries. We are eating that food this week. I only spent $20 on things like cereal, bananas and some salad mix. Next month does not seem like as cool of a box. Oh well.

I cleaned the house. The house is vacumed. I washed walls today. The house is sparkling. I dusted. It is nice that the house is clean.

A little fun

Today we went to Chucky Cheese. My brother did not get to do anything with the boys for their birthday so we went to CC. It was fun. It was so PACKED nothing like close quarters. I did see Melissa there and she introduced me as her aunt to everyone. I guess I am her aunt but it is weird to be called that.
The boys had a good time and it was only $30 for pizza and fun. Well my brother's $30. :) So it was a good weekend. I got the house cleaned and I am getting ready to run errands tomorrow.
I need to do laundry too.

Cost of the Inauguration

I have been blown away with what our country spent to inaugurate a new president. In our economic crisis I have a hard time spending 150 million dollars. WHAT! Does any one else question this? When our house flooded the governement graciously gave my brother 20 thousand dollars for the total loss of a house. Then they go and spend 150 million dollars on getting a new president? I have issues with a country that spends their money so friviously.

UGGG another one of those days

Well I was going to just hang out at the house and not do anything. Courtney got sick at school. Her tummy hurt. So I went to go get her from school. I had to pick up some 7-Up and chicken noodle soup. So she comes home and eats some chicken noodle soup and feels a hundred times better. I don't know if it cut through the mucus in her tummy or if she just played the nurse at school. Her temperature was 99.7 so they did not have to send her home.

A friend called and she was at her mom's house because she had a migraine and needed me to pick the kids up because of her medications. So I went and got them and dropped them off there.

The boys got home and did their homework. They were very good about doing all of their homework tonight. I don't know why but they did it. They had tons of homework this week. I suppose it has to do with only having 2 half days of school last week and they need to make it up.

I did get to listen to the Cd's today and exercise for an hour. It feels good to be exercising all the time. I also have lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks. I have been exercising and watching what I eat.

We made it

We made it through the really cold spell. It was terriable. -50 at the worst. Sunday we had Grandpa's 75 birthday party. He said it was the best party he had ever had. It was a blast. I am glad we did it for him. I will post some pictures later. :)

I hate Iowa Winters

We got more snow last night. School is closed today again. It is supposed to be really cold today so we are not going any where. :) I am sitting here debating what to do with our day. I need to make mints for Grandpa's Birthday.
This is our forecast:
As snow ends this morning, the concern turns to strong northerly winds causing blowing and drifting, along with dropping mercury. Wind chills tonight will approach -40 in Eastern Iowa.

Can any one else say YUCK!

So I don't think the kids will have school tomorrow if the temperatures are this low.

Missing 6 year old in FL

Nancy Grace has on tonight and talking about a missing 6 year old boy in FL. He is disabled and has a mind of a 2 year old. They don't know if it is an abduction or if he just went out to play. They have searched. He can't speak or understand English. I feel sorry for his family. Grandmother found him gone after found missing when playing with friends. Why would you let him out to play if he has the mind of a 2 year old. They are using over 150 officers. I pray for his family and him. May they find him safe. He was lost on Saturday. Poor baby.

Our lovely neighbors

I try to be a good neighbor. In our apartment I know it can be hard to keep you children quiet. Well for the last week I thought the neighbor was going to come through the wall. Their kids cry and scream all the time. It sounds like they have a baby and about a 3 or 4 year old from the crying. It drives me nuts. I said something to management about the noise level. It is terrible when it wakes you up at 10:30 at night from a dead sleep because of the yelling and the kid screaming.

The other side of us they smoke pot. I have spoke to management and the police. It has not been smelling as bad lately. Some days you can really smell it. I can not wait to get out of this apartment. Only 6 months left to go! You don't know how I am looking forward to moving. I normally hate to move but I will be ready when the time comes.

I am working for an hour and a half today. I know. Not hardly worth going but the girl I work with her mom needed me because the other girl can not be there for the whole time. UGGG.

Courtney in the Snow! Blizzard!

The blizzard is here. It is awful. School is getting out early. I got my grocery shopping done early before the snow hit. It is snowing really good. I need to do laundry but I don't want to go outside and I forgot to get quarters at the bank. I wanted to get home before the storm started. I got all of the groceries put away. I bought a ton of food today and the freezer is full. I wanted to do as much as I could. I am supposed to work tomorrow afternoon but we will see. I think if the blizzard keeps up we won't be going any where tomorrow. :) I guess I bought a bunch of junk food so the kids will be happy.

Well we shoveled out our car and Courtney played in the snow.

Blizzard conditions

I just go a text. Blizzard watch on Monday night. UGGG! That means more snow and it will blow around all of the other stuff that has been on the ground. YUCK!

More snow

I hate snow. We got another 7 inches of the white crap last night. YUCK! I wish it all would go away.

Operation Homecoming

I have been listening to Operation Homecoming it is a book on CD. It is very interesting. I understand what the families feel. I can hear how the soldiers feel. It is scary. I hate the thought of sending my husband over there. I know there is some time in our marriage that it will happen. I have prepared myself. But how does one prepare themselves to have the one you love sent to the sandbox. I miss my husband so much. The thing that makes me feel better is I know he is safe. It is hard to not worry about what may come. I pray that he is safe and that he stays safe.

Dog Tired

I am so tired tonight. I am waiting for the boys to finish their homework so we can go to bed. 10 more math problems for Caleb. I hate Thursdays because all of their weekly homework is due tomorrow. The procrastinate and save it for Thursday night and then make it miserable for all of us.

There is supposed to be more snow moving in tonight. Maybe there will be a late start tomorrow. :) Then I will not have to work. I worked all day today so I am dog tired. I am glad I worked some extra hours today so in case there is snow I have some time on my check this week.

The boys have sleep over birthday party I need to get a card for the boy, we are just giving cash as a gift. I think at the age of 12 it is the best gift you can give. I don't know what else to get him. The boys didn't really have any ideas either.

So I have to round up the sleeping bags so they can take it over to his house.

Brittle Gold

Okay so I pick my ring up from the jewler today. She said there is a small hair line crack in my mounting. This is caused from brittle gold. She said that unless I have had a major accident or something like slamming my hand in a door I should not have that kind of a crack. Hmmm let me think, I think I would have remembered slamming my hand in a door. It sounds painful. :) So I guess that rules it out. Did you know that if you have your ring in clorine like in a pool it can damage it. Well no I haven't been swimming at all in the last year. So that preaty much makes it a defect from the manufacturer.

So I call AAFES and I called the online number. Could not find a person to talk to. UGG

So I called Ft. Gordon's PX down there and talked to a lovely woman. She was trying to be helpful but with us in Iowa and she said the only thing she could tell me is to drive to the nearest store and talk to one of their cashiers at the jewlery department. Then it would have to be sent to the Cherish jewelery quality control. Yea I am not to pleased about driving 2 1/2 hrs then to have it gone for 2 months. Then drive 2 1/2 hours to pick it back up. So I am going to have to get this done soon.

I went to Micheals and Walmart they did not have the mint molds. Thankfully Harmand's mom had some so I can make the mints. I was getting ready to drive to Iowa City to the nearest Kitchen store. The one here in Cedar Rapids closed.

I felt like I accomplished very little.

When I was at the mall today I saw a soldier walking in. Mind you here in Iowa we don't see very many guys in uniform. I almost started to cry because I miss Harmand so much. It is bad when you see a guy in uniform and you start to cry. If I had the guy would have thought that I was crazy. :) I think this all goes with the PMS going on. I have felt terriable all day.

My day did get better today

Well the sun did come out today. My ring is fixed but it is not under warenty. So I will pay to have it fixed. I went to my mom's house to do laundry today. I worked on the basement and cleaning up some of the boxes from our old house. When the floods came we packed what was left in one day. So everything is a jumbled mess. My stuff, my brother's stuff and my parent's stuff. So I worked down there and helped my mom sort through the mess. I accomplished something.

Courtney stole my work bag and is using it for her school bag so I need to figure something out to carry my paper work around in. I don't think the reuseable Walmart bag will do it. I refuse to use her Tinkerbell or Hana Montana backpack. It has to be big enough for a binder.

The boys took their Wii back upstairs to their room because they were tired of sharing it with their mother. I have been playing Wii Fit that is fun. LOL I guess I am getting the exercise. The don't like to share their toys. Caleb goes "MOM you can use it all day while we are at school!" I still like to play with it.

So I volunteered to make mints for my grandfather's 75th birthday party in two weeks. Any one want to join? I have a good recipe. It is made with cream cheese. I have to go pick up a mint mold tomorrow so I can make them. I think Wal-Mart might have them or Micheals.

Well I still have to put my laundry away. At least the dishes are done for the night and the kids are ready for bed.

My day I probably should have stayed home

Well I had to turn in my paper work today. So I had to leave the house. The kids had a late start. I had not looked at the tv to even see so I was getting the boys ready to go to school and turned on the news. Low and behold a late start. It was because of the ice. I really did not think they would delay school. So they were home a few hours longer.

The good thing is Courtney was a bear to get out of bed. She hates to get up on the week days but is up at the crack of dawn on Saturday. WHY I ask?!?

So I made my grocery list and got ready to go. I had my tea. So I have to go to work, drop off paper work and pick up paper work. I needed to go to Walmart. I have needed to go to the jeweler since July to get my rings soldered together. I needed to stop and see Harmand's parents. So I was off, I didn't get started till after 11 because Courtney's bus didn't pick her up till 10:30.

I could not find my leather coat and gloves. So I found my other coat that I look like a black snowman in. So I dig out a pair of gloves. This should have been the first sign to stay home. As I was talking to Krista I told her "maybe someone is trying to tell me to stay here." I laughed it off and left. By the way I did find the coat tonight. It was hanging up behind one of the kids coats. Don't ask me how I missed it.

From there I went to Walmart. That in it's self says it all. The lines were long. I think every one else was restocking their cupboards since their kids went back to school today. :) So I got the things on my list.

From there I went to work to drop off paperwork and pick up paper work. The drive over was not so fun. I was going down the interstate and some old guy moved over into my lane. I had to slam on the brakes so he did not take out my whole front end of the car. I was honking my horn. He moved back over but I swear I saw my life flash before my eye at 60 miles an hour.

I don't ever say where I work because of confidentiality. So I will just call it work. It is a great place to work and love the job that I do. I do hate the paperwork. :) I work 2 or 3 days a week with one consumer that I love. She is absolutely the greatest. Besides what better job can you ask for than getting paid to go shopping and out to lunch or the movies.

So my next thing is I stop at Harmand's parents house. I stay for a good hour chatting about how he is and what he is doing. I tried to help his mom with her computer but honestly it is a dead horse.

I had about 25 minutes before the boys got home from school. So I decided I would stop at the jeweler before I went home. I wanted to get my rings welded together and this is one place in town that does the work right there and they don't send it out. Very professional place and They state how much the diamond is worth and all of that. So anyways I take it over to have it done when I called they said they could do it while I waited or pick it up in an hour. So I went over and she was doing a pre-check on it and she said did you know that one of your prongs is gone and two others are loose. I am like what? She showed me. She said I was lucky to not have lost my diamond. It is a nice sized diamond and my husband paid quite a bit for the set. So anyways my ring is there being fixed so I can wear it. I am so frustrated that the ring would already have had that happen. It has a warranty. I got the work done and it should be refunded to me. So I guess I should have stayed home but one good thing is I still have my diamond in my ring. :)

One good thing is I did get to call Harmand tonight. I called to tell him about my great day.

This weekend I did fit into my size 2 jeans. I have been having to wear a belt with my size 4 jeans because they keep falling off my back side. I think this is a good thing in a way except I have all of my clothes I love in a size 4. I really have not been trying to loose weight.

I am ready for the kids to go back to school

Well Christmas vacation is over tomorrow. I am ready to have my house back. Less dirty dishes and not constantly cleaning up after the tornadoes. The boys eat all the time. Courtney is being a monster. She has been so demanding the last two days. She has been scratching the boys if she doesn't get her way.

I cut the boys hair this morning before they showered. We were unable to go to church again this am because of the ice. It is another hard winter.

I got my big pictures. Tomorrow I am going to hang them up in the living room and other places in the apartment. I will take pictures when I get them hung.

I am going to make my grocery list and go to the store tomorrow. We are almost out of food again. The boys eat 24/7 now. I think they have hollow legs. They are growing so much.

I did get my closet cleaned out yesterday.

Oregon looks at taxing mileage instead of gasoline

After reading this article, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090103/ap_on_re_us/mileage_tax
I became a little upset. I bought a smaller car that got better gas mileage in order to save money. So now that I have a fuel efficient car you want to tax my mileage I drive? Why should we have to pay for that? OPEC increased gas prices so people drove less. Maybe the government should think about this before they go and charge people for the mileage they drive. I bet no one will buy a hybrid car any more. I thought we were trying to save the auto industry by showing everyone how great a hybrid car is and we all should go out and buy it. If you are getting taxed on mileage then what if you leave the state so your paying extra taxes. Your paying Oregon's mileage tax and then the gasoline tax of what ever state you drive in. That sounds crazy to me. But oh well they want to tax us on more things. This is so our government can give the auto industry can be bailed out or so the people who make meth can get almost free prescription of Sudefed to make meth. More on that subject another day. LOL

Twins Born on different years

I found this to be an interesting artical. http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/18399579/detail.html

The set of twins were not just born on different days but a different month and year. I wonder if people will still ask if they are twin?

I think it will be good for the parents in a way. Our past insurance company had such issues with the boys having the same birthday. It was really bad with our dental insurance. Got to love Delta Dental. How many sets of twins are out there that have the same birthday? And you have to tell me that you can't figure out a way to have the boys both be able to get dental cleanings?

Boy does this mother have a long way to go. Now that the boys are older I don't want to go back.

Harvest Moon

The boys bought the game Harvest Moon for the Wii. They have been playing it all the time. The love this game. It is kind of like Sim. They build a ranch and then animals and crops. The boys have been asking for help so I got some hints from a website. The hint sheet was 44 pages so I didn't print it out. I wonder how long it will take for them to win. :)

Courtney has her Spore game she got. She seems to like it. It is only on the Gameboy. It is different than the computer version. Not as complicated or something like that. The boys have the computer game but Harvest Moon has over taken it.

I think today I am going to clean the kitchen and then work on my closet today.

Courtney is going to go to the movies with her big sister. It is nice that they are going to go there.

I have to go over to work to drop off my paper work. I forgot yesterday but they were not open.

Happy New Years

Happy New Years. Well it is now 2009. The kids stayed up all night and then got up back up at 5:30 am UGGG. I stayed in bed till 9. I was so tired.

I kind of napped off and on during the game. Iowa won! YEA! So that was really cool.

I cleaned the kids room and organized their toys. I put labels on all of their rubber maid totes and boxes. I feel like I am always cleaning their room but it is because there are three of them in one little room.