Purple

Purple. That is the color of the cast that now encases Igor's leg from his little toes up almost to his hip. So let me back up the story a little bit.

Sunday afternoon the boys were out playing in the yard and periodically begging to go the big sledding hill in the park behind our house. Hubby had taken his car seat out to fix the heated seat element and we were working on it in the kitchen floor. Hubby suggested I be a hero and take the boys over to the hill, I stated I didn't think it was the greatest idea as most of the snow had been worn off and it was too fast. Hubby gets the bun warmer going in his car (let me tell you leather seats in WI without a bun warmer are not fun) puts on his boots and takes the boys to the hill for a couple of runs. I sit down at the computer to surf around and hear Hubby outside yelling my name with a desperate sound of fear and freaking out. I run to the back door he's yelling at me to grab the keys and is cradling a crying Igor. I scatter around putting on shoes, hunting keys, purse and coat and run out the door (later at the ER I wondered if I'd left it standing wide open) poor Hubby is so flustered he's not quite sure what to do with Igor, we've all been so trained with carseats and all he's got all the doors open on the van and I think was planning on riding in the way back with him with all the seats folded. Anyhow I tell him just to get in the passenger seat, run around slam the side doors and pull out. In the meantime Sonny Boy has gotten in his seat and strapped himself in. We go the ER which is only about 3 minutes away while Hubby gives a brief description of what happened. I asked " Are you sure it's broke?" his reply was "Look at it!" Igor's boot had come off in the accident so he was sock-footed on the injured leg. Let's just say it was an amazing feat that I didn't puke right there in the van while I was driving.

The rest of the story progresses how you might figure, ER, lots of meds, an x-ray, set the bone, a splint and an appointment today with an orthopedist. Igor picked out purple, Hubby declares it's Vikings Purple.

To tell a tale second hand Igor had already done one run down the hill and was on his second run. Hubby had held on to the sled as there were quite a few kids on the hill and he waited on them to clear out. When the did he let go - Igor says he pushed!- well there was a kid on a snowboard who cut into his path and then fell down and it sounds like Igor t-boned him in the midsection. Sonny Boy cried "Awesome!" and Hubby went running down the hill. Hubby stopped and asked Igor if he was hurt or scared and Igor replied "scared" and checked on the other kid who was already getting up. It was then that Hubby turns around to see Igor trying to put his boot back on a foot that was flopping at un-natural angles. He then scooped up Igor and started running for the house. Sonny Boy figuring out things were indeed not awesome slid down the hill on his rear (we only have one sled) picked up the sled and caught up to his Dad. A long narrative but Hubby declares all this happened in like 25 seconds.

Igor did as well as you could expect a freaked out four year old with a compound fracture of the leg to do. He was more scared than in actual pain and who could blame him as it must have been a slow afternoon in the ER since he garnered a good share of nurses and techs, was hooked up to heart monitors, oxygen, and an IV. He remembers none of it thanks to drugs and we've quietly agreed to not talk about any of the goings on at the ER. After they set the fracture and splinted it Igor settled quickly and it was just a matter of waiting on all the drugs to diffuse so I sent Hubby and Sonny Boy home to get out of their boots, eat, and gather some PJ's for Igor to change into to go home. An hour later he was on the couch watching cartoons. Today they simply took off the splint and casted his leg. The break is through both bones right above the ankle but the ortho said with little kids they had to cast up past the knee.

The biggest quandry is what to do with him in the car? I'm open for ideas.

Pictures to follow, they gave me a CD of the X-rays but I managed to loose them between the Dr's office and the house. My hunch is they are in the van, but it was already snowing tonight by the time I realized it so they will wait.

...and may all your Christmas's be purple.

Waiting to Chill.

Just a few lines while I wait on the sugar cookie dough to chill and have the burny smell of bleach in my nostrils.

Why you may ask bleach? Well I've had a little visitor of the rodent variety take up residence in my kitchen so before I felt comfortable to cook I thought the kitchen needed a good disinfecting. So I wiped down everything with bleach water and still have it brewing in the sink as I plan a second round of wiping down before I roll out the cookie dough and just didn't want to drain it away. In hindsight I probably have too much bleach in the water, but better safe than sorry.

I did set a trap the first day I saw evidence of the little disease spreader, however it was an old trap and he was sneaky. I just fed him a dab of peanut butter that night. The next day however I purchased myself FOUR traps for whopping $1.98 and set them up last night after supper, turned off the kitchen lights and told the kids to stay out of there. The little booger was smart because even after the kids were in bed, and I was reading in the living room he still didn't spring a trap. Later though, as soon as I turned off the bedroom TV and rolled over to sleep I heard the trap spring. I came downstairs to find my nemesis had met his demise. Good riddance. I hope he was the only one. It does seem we only get one or two mice at a time for some reason here, no plagues like we did when I was a kid living in the Arkansas cotton fields. I'll keep the traps out for a few days or so just to make sure though.

Christmas has crept up too quickly this year. I do think I have finished the shopping though. My list has gotten shorter in the last year or two since Hubby's family has decided to stop the exchange of gifts in lieu of a get-together similar to last year's Dells trip. So with the exception of my mother we only have the kids and each other to buy for. Last year Hubby and I didn't even buy for each other due to the craziness of our life. This year we are because it just seemed wrong not to buy each other at least a little something.

So far the plan is to be home for Christmas and leave the day after for the in-laws. I'll likely spend Christmas day baking my niece a birthday cake since her birthday is the day after Christmas. I've been wanting to make a girly cake. Mom will stay south as it's a pretty certain thing she will loose her job the first of the year. Mom works at the city hall in the little town I grew up in and a new mayor was elected in November. The rumour mill has it that he is going to replace all city workers. Mom's job is not political in the least, and a normal mayoral turnover generally wouldn't effect her job. There is bad blood with the new mayor and the city council and it sounds as if he's half crazy as he thinks he's going to have an inaugural parade. The town doesn't even have a Christmas parade, so my guess is it's gonna be one crazy guy riding around town in the back of a pick-up with another vehicle behind. Good luck with that one Mr. Mayor. However she has to wait it out to be fired so she can draw unemployment. Yay, her prospects in this economy don't look good and she's hoping to move up here to be near us. It may prove to be an interesting new year.

Anyway if I don't get around to posting again, here's wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

UG, Holidays

Well I'm sitting here the day before Thanksgiving really wishing it was just an ordinary Thursday. I have a turkey in the fridge thawing but that is as far as I've gotten with meal planning or prep. Hubby says cook a turkey and do the rest simple, I wish it was. I just can't say "Here's the turkey" without at least some cranberry sauce and deviled eggs, and pumpkin pie. Which that there makes it a huge meal with just two adults and two kids. We decided not to travel for Thanksgiving which is good since a storm is supposed to blow in right through where the majority of our driving would be.

So Thanksgiving will be simple. Hubby had planned with his friend to smoke a couple of turkeys on the big smoker on Friday (we would just do the meal on Sat) however with the huge temperature drop the last few days he has decided against that saying he'll never get the smoker hot enough when it's only 20 degrees outside. So with two days to go Hubby has not called friend who is probably thawing his turkey as we speak. I don't exactly know the plans since the whole idea was for the couple to come over and play cards and hang out while the birds cooked. I don't mind if they still come over of course but it would be nice to have an idea of what kind of groceries to go get, clean the house and the like.

All is well however, I can't complain except about piddling stuff. In an effort to improve my mood and since it is Thanksgiving some things I'm thankful for in random order.

My kids - though they drive me to the brink a lot of days
My Home - not that mold filled, tiny little rent house we lived in last Thanksgiving
My Husband - He's a good guy
Family - who can be counted on in a pinch - though I wish were a little closer to babysit occasionally
Too much to eat
The fact the tornado quiet literally skipped over our town on Monday


I do want to say a goodbye to our neighbor Mr. Elmer. He passed away on Monday morning. Two weeks ago he was out blowing leaves and fell hitting his head hard on the driveway. A neighbor found him upright and talking clinging to the steps. Mr. Elmer's family was called and he was taken to the hospital where he was life flighted into a bigger hospital in Milwaukee with bleeding on the brain. He got better for a few days but then started getting fluid on the brain again. Knowing Mr. Elmer short of dropping dead immediately I'm sure he was happy to go. He was getting on in years, wasn't getting around so good (probably had no business blowing his leaves) and had told us as much. He was a good neighbor and will be missed on our little block.

Nothing.

I'm just writing something out of pure meaness. Life in Winnie's immediate litter has been blessedly busy and quiet. Sonny Boy is quite involved with Cub Scouts and got his "bobcat" badge tonight along with Hiking belt loop and pin. Due to Hubby's crazy work I was trapped in a teacher conference and didn't get to see the honors bestowed. Sonny Boy's teacher had nothing but praise for him. Mrs. D said he's reading several levels above where he is expected to be and is a "model student". Great news and nice to hear. If you'd asked me a few years ago how I thought Sonny Boy would do in school I'd have told you that he'd be in the principal's office at least once a week!

Igor is trucking along being his normal self. Not much gets him out of kilter except being tired. Unfortunately that's every afternoon since he's in the too-big-to-take-a-nap-but-still-kind-of-needs-one stage. I'll be glad when that's grown out of, it makes doing anything after 5:00 a crap shoot of attitude from the little guy. He did pull the funniest stunt last week. Igor and I were grocery shopping and we ran into his pre-school teacher. He wouldn't even look at Mrs. V much less speak to her and then acted like a little toot the rest of the way through the store which is SO not like him - he loves the grocery store. Even when he's being a toot he's still not bad (nothing on Sonny Boy) so it's easy to ignore and other people just see a pouty lip and hear toddler-ese mumbling.

I took the boys to have pictures taken today. Cripes I've raised some hams. Some of them were quite funny, too bad they were so expensive or I'd have purchased them.

The winter around the corner funk is creeping in. I really do dread all the Christmas preparations. I'd love to come home and find that elves came in and put the tree up and decorated. I know that ain't gonna happen though, I can barely get hubby to drag the boxes up from the basement and I'm pretty sure in the 15 years I've known him he's hung exactly two ornaments on the tree. This year I'm inclined to agree to the humbug. I hope it leaves by Thanksgiving.

Well that's my writing to mean update.

NYC was nice

But I wouldn't want to live there. I honestly don't get big city living like that, but it was fun and one of the few places I would really like to go back to and explore some more. Two days was not nearly enough time to cram in all the "must see it's" and I walked so much my bum knee is still awful two days later. Gonna have to get something done soon about that I'm afraid.


Here's Hubby in Times Square, the cliche tourist photograph I suppose. There is one of me as well but basically the same with me and different signs. Times Square was cool but so jammed packed full of people. I didn't really see the big draw to it other than it was central to most of the the transit.

Hubby at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That is King Henry VIII armour from when he got old and fat. Henry was a pretty big man as you can tell that probably would have fit Hubby who would have towered over most men of that era. I thought the armour was cool as I've been reading lots of Henry and his wives books lately. In fact had brought one along for plane reading. The Met is HUGE, I thought we could dart in for a couple of hours and run through it quickly, you know not read all the cards, just take in the big stuff. Not hardly. Three hours later we may have ran (almost literally) through only about half. The stuff I really wanted to see - the costume gallery wasn't on display and was closed. That was a bummer.

A rare picture of me. I couldn't resist reclining on a Swarvoski studded couch with a crystal curtain behind it. Just a little glam. Truth was my feet hurt something terrible. We ended up walking NYC in our dressier clothes on Friday as that was our theatre night and we wouldn't be able to change. We went to see Wicked. It was fun and we both enjoyed the show. I will say the tickets were a little pricey but no more than I really expected. I wish we'd had better seats as we were like two rows from the ceiling but the good seats were over $200 each. If your not into trends - I'm not but I tell you the entire female population of NYC wears a scarf. The fashion must have. Not such a trend here in the midwest. Maybe it's because we are forced to wear a scarf to keep from getting frostbite on our neck six months of the year?

I'll definitely go back to NYC sometime. So many things I'd like to explore more, we didn't get into SOHO, or Greenwich village really, or the fancy shops on Madison Ave (like I could buy something there!) I'd love to see more of The Met as it was neat and the Museum of Natural History sounds intriguing. I will say I never felt intimidated in NYC. I was worried the world of subways, buses, taxis and large crowds would be a little scary to a girl that grew up in a town without a stoplight. It wasn't. It was easy to move around, all I needed was a map and the gumption to get on the subway (while a little dirty not that scary) and I could land just about anywhere.

The boys had fun with Grandma. She took them to every activity I had given her info for. That wasn't really my intention, I just thought she might want something to do with them that was local instead of staring at the walls and watching them bounce around.

Since being home I've been exhausted. I cleaned up the yard from the windstorm last week and blew leaves. I've ripped the zipper out of Sonny Boy's winter coat and intend to replace it today. Went to Sam's Club and stocked up on some stuff, and of course all the other baloney of life. I'm tired. I'm gonna run, have an appointment with PT in 13 min and the roofers should be here soon to start on the porch roof.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Happy Halloween!

Oh my what a busy weekend. The kids Grandma and Great Grandma came and handled Halloween festivities. I flew to NYC to be with Hubby and tour around. Today my knee is sore, I'd REALLY like a nice long nap and the yard is knee deep in leaves. Fun was had by all and we have WAY too much candy around the house now.

I'll write more about the NYC trip soon. I'm thinking I might try sneak a doze on the couch while Igor watches PBS kids.

Jack of all Trades

Master of None

The beautiful fall weather we've been having here inspired me to plan a camping trip. I had one last picture of a maple tree, in all it's wonderful yellow glory, to load and blogger disabled picture upload for two hours. If I was really good I'd come back and add the picture, but face I'm not gonna.

Well about Tuesday last week I got the bug bad. Went and purchased a HUGE tent since our former one had really taken it's last camping trip, and started locating our camping gear which was pretty scattered due to the move. I checked out Wisconsin's DNR site and decided that Wyalusing State Park was going to be our destination. I know all this is a little crazy with two young kids and no adults, what can I say, the thought of spending the weekend in the house without a whole lot to do, had me going a little nuts. Things were a little crazy at times (mostly in the morning, which isn't out of the norm) but for the most part things went swimmingly smooth. The only real issue I had, was an inability to shower -which I REALLY wanted- after hiking and huddling up to a smoky campfire. There were decent shower houses there, and they were open, however I didn't have anywhere to stash the boys while I soaped up, that offered me any privacy. So I went a few days longer than I would have preferred without a shower.

Wyalusing State Park had a lot to do and lots of that was hiking. We hiked, not serious hard, difficult trails but certainly long. We arrived on Friday (Sonny Boy was sick, wink, wink) and set up camp in what was probably the prettiest camp site I've ever had that overlooked the Wisconsin River. We then went on a couple of short jumps to overlooks and a small cave that was only a hundred yard hike from the parking lot.

Igor and Sonny Boy near Treasure Cave

Overlook of the joining of the Wisconsin and Mississippi River
This is also the best I looked all weekend, it went downhill from here!

Sonny Boy is pointing out Wal-Mart, honestly could see it but it was a 20 min drive.

Freight Train Crossing the Wisconsin River

The color in this part of the state wasn't so good. I think we were a little late, but most of the trees seemed to be oak which just turn brown.

Big Sand Cave - this and Little Sand Cave were on the same trail about a mile and half. Ended up piggy backing Igor out the last quarter mile or so. I was exhausted.

This was Picture Rock Cave, about a half mile, done on Sunday morning.

Near Pictured Rock Cave was an eroded sandstone formation with tons of little mice running around in it. Strangle how less disgusting they are when they are out in the woods and not in your basement.

Other wildlife worth mentioning was a bald eagle that was hunting near our campsite the day we arrived and an early morning spotting of a coyote crossing the road on the park's edge. Oddly we saw no deer or waterfowl. Both might have been noteably absent due to hunting seasons. Both mornings we awoke to guns blazing in the valley and the sporting goods guy at the local Wal-Mart said there was an early deer season due to CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease) in the area though I really doubt all that shooting was at deer.

Other activities that have been keeping the kids busy....ever wonder why they say T.V. rots your brain?

This was the cake I made for Mom's visit last week. I think it turned out well but I wish I could have gotten the icing smoother. The flowers were made of gumpaste. I had intended to make them a deep dark red but got this purple instead!

Thinking maybe it would pay me to take a small engine repair course lately. Before Hubby left on his long trip I asked him to look over the leaf blower as it had been acting funny, he did and pronounced it fine. Today it wasn't so fine. I've been on the phone with him tons getting a crash course in engine repair and now I have the blower taken apart to a level I'm not comfortable with and loads of leaves falling as we speak. I. Am. Not. Amused. I will try to tackle it again tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning might prove chilly as the heating contractor came this morning and started installing our new boiler. Not a quick job and gee were they LOUD, not the guys, just their working and pounding. My house also smells terrible from the glue used on the new PVC vents that go out the side my house instead of up the chimney. New fangled high efficency stuff you know. We are also putting in a high efficency hot water heater that is somehow attached to the boiler. I'm not well versed in all this stuff but hopefully it will cut our heating bills down which can be pretty tough in a 120 year old house. My biggest complaint is that the new vents look pretty ugly - might have to do some creative landscaping there, unfortunatly it's on the high side of the house and whatever I plant would need to be about 3 feet tall and tolerate dense shade.

That's all for now, off to tuck in Sonny Boy and wash off the gasoline/oil smell from the leaf blower.

Trudging along...

There's not a whole lot to report right now which honestly is a good thing. All the drama of the last year seems to be put to rest (may it stay in it's grave). We have settled into a new blah normal that is wonderfully BORING.

Sonny Boy is off to school every morning. He's doing quite well but we fear he is bored out of his mind. The homework he brings home is not even remotely challenging for him and he tells us the stuff in class is the same way. Teacher conferences should be coming up soon and I'll discuss with the teacher to at least get him some more challenging reading material. Sonny Boy's math skills are going to soon surpass my own - which sadly are about a third grade level, yes I know Ms. Allen my high school math teacher's ears are burning (she's not dead so she can't spin in her grave) Sonny Boy is enjoying his stint with Cub Scouts. I'm not enjoying Cub Scouts so much, I did not realize the time commitment involved. Ugh. I think kids tend to be overscheduled most of the time now days so we try to be pretty minimal around here. It's hard though when scouts take up one evening a week and then Sonny Boy wants to do wrestiling through the Rec program that starts up in a month or so that will run two evenings a week. That's a lot of time watching 6 and 7 year old boys bounce around.

Igor is doing well and being Igor. He's developed a hilarous gesture of of slapping his forehead in disgust when you tease him. It's quite comical to see the little guy do it so of course we come up with anything we can to elicit this response from him. " Igor your shirt is on backwards" when it is obviously not - that kind of thing. He knows he's funny. A regular Yakov Smirnoff (you younger ones start googling)

Hubby left Sunday for a long sting on the east coast for work training. YUCK, yuck, and double yuck. I'll be single parenting for several weeks now. All the work with none of the fun of dating or being able to ship the kids to the spouse every other weekend. Hubby did send me a lovely picture of his feet in hotel slippers with a view of the football game on the TV between them. Jerk.

Me, I'm trudging along. My mother and a family friend just left this morning after a long weekend stay. It was fun having them around. I do not think I will encourage my mother to drive up anymore. She managed to miss an interstate exchange and was nearly two hours away before she realized it and stopped to asked directions and call me. Then she proceeded to get back on the interstate that she had just gotten off of and go even further away. When I spoke to her I told her to call me when she got to a neighboring town and I would come meet her as there are some tricky detours getting into town due to road construction. When she finally called an hour later she was even further away than the first call. AAAAAK. Anyway by now she finally bought a map (why she was traveling without one I have no idea) so I told her to call me when she reached X. I left the house going toward X and figured I'd be in X about the same time she was. Of course mom didn't call me when she reached X and we passed each other somewhere along the way. I finally had her stop in a bar parking lot and I turned around and went and found her. Well the next morning I sent Hubby to Wal-Mart and guess what mom got for her birthday a couple of weeks late? A GPS. Worrisome. Unfortunately the family friend wasn't much help on the drive as she's in her late 80's and can't see to well currently.

I'm pleased to report I've been headache free for a week now!! You don't know how much better that makes me feel. I went to my TMJ doc last week and she adjustement my mouth gaurd, wrote me a scrip for some medicine and physical therapy. The physical therapy really gets started good tomorrow but I've already been in for the inital evaluation. Mostly the change is due to having a mouth gaurd that is properly fitted and drugs that relieve some of the nightmarish clenching I do at night.

That's it for now, wonderfully busy, sane, boring, and no drama. Yay!

Either Busy or Misery

Busy or Misery you may ask? Well that's been my life the last couple of weeks. Either I've been slammed with errands, chores, projects or the regular flotsom of life or I've been knocked down unable to function with migraines. Fun huh? The migraines are being triggered by my TMJ issues. I have an appointment with the TMJ doctor first week of October, I couldn't get in any earlier. The mouthgaurd I'm supposed to wear at night is all out of whack so I haven't been wearing that, couple with stress and the miserable teeth grinding I do all day and muscle spasms that are typical of TMJ flares and I have the trifecta of misery. I do have lots of drugs but honestly sometimes the drugs woozy feeling make me feel worse than the actual pain. Yuck, I'm just not enjoying life a whole lot right now.

Therefore when I do feel at least partially human I have so much to do to keep from falling to far behind on everything and at least feel like I'm enjoying life a little. Needless to say I'm busy.




Sonny Boy participated in the NFL Punt, Pass and Kick event this last weekend. He won his age division (there were only two kids in it) I think his punt went like 4 feet. He's thrilled though and will move up to sectional competion in the next few weeks. He's excited and has been in the yard kicking around a little.

Igor had a birthday as well this last weekend. My little one is now 4. He had a good time, no huge party but he was excited to have presents and a cake.

Last week was the week of cakes. I mentioned I may do a baby shower cake for a freind and I did, unfortunately it happened to fall on the same day as Igor's birthday. The baby shower cake took a lot of time and revisions (mostly mental revisions) and by the time I got around to making Igor's cake I was rather caked out.

Yes those are tea light candles, I forgot to buy regular candles. I'm not too thrilled with this cake at all. I was super tired of dealing with frosting and the cake kept tearing on me. I used a cake mix from Aldi and the last time I made a cake that tore like that the mix was an Aldi brand too. I won't buy anymore Aldi cake mix. It also didn't really taste all that great either.

The baby shower cake turned out well though. I battled making that topper out of fondant and then rice krispie treats and then gave up and made it out of construction paper. The other decorations are all edible gum paste. The bottom tier was chocolate with caramel filling, the top was marble yellow/chocolate with caramel filling, both were covered in buttercream and homemade marshmallow fondant. The cake matched the invitations and paper goods that they used at the shower and recieved rave reviews for taste and appearance. It's far from perfect but I'm pretty proud of it. The girl whose shower it was said several people asked if I had business cards. I don't but maybe I should print some up? I'm tempted to practice some more before I go out and sell, however materials can be costly and frankly we are sick of cake.

Well that's about all for now.

Really?

I put that way embarrassing picture of myself up and nobody comments?

Just call me " Domestic Goddess"

Martha Stewart ain't got nothin' on me (unless you count millions of dollars and a staff to make you look really good) I've been the domestic goddess the last few days. After loosing yet another article of clothing to grease spatters when I cook, I though investing in an apron might make sense. Well I looked around and my supernatural tendency to be cheap kicked in. $15 dollars for an apron! Shoot I can sew that, so I did for $14.95 and a lot of stress because I was tired and the instructions didn't make a whole lot of sense at 11:00 pm.
This is the result. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Did you get that I think it looks hilarious! Actually the apron came out well, no huge sewing disasters associated with it, it looks like it's supposed to. Ha ha ha ha ha ha but it looks like I should be sporting a bonnet and a long skirt. Watch out that picture would count as porn 120 years ago you can see my elbows and my ankles! The fabric is actually pretty modern but at a distance tends to look like calico. Igor told me I looked pretty - I knew I loved that kid!- Sonny Boy just told me I looked "old fashioned" Hubby hasn't seen it yet but I'm guessing he'll have a big time poking fun at me . Yes unfortunately that's typically what I look like when hanging around the house, no make up and hair pulled back out of my face with a headband when it's too short for a pony tail. You know, a REAL HOUSEWIFE look.

I'm still caking around. I made this creation the other day, more to try out a recipe for cake than actual decorating.

It's a dense chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling covered in marshmallow fondant. Taste pretty good and surprisingly not that sweet, it's got more of a dark chocolate vibe going. I didn't spend a very long time decorating it and it's not a very tall cake. It did taste good though, however we are already tired of it and there's still a fair amount left four days later. I guess I'll end up throwing it out.

I did hit up a girl I know that's pregnant and told her I'd do her baby shower cake for free since a) I need to practice and I'm sick of eating cake b) she knows or is related to half the town and hopefully it will turn out well enough to get a bit of word of mouth going. I guess I'm sort of in business now, We'll see. If I was smart I'd bake a nice one and take it down to the farmer's market and hand out cards, however w/o having a commercial kitchen and an inspection by the health department I don't want to draw too much attention to myself.

That's about it I suppose. Sonny Boy starts school on Wed, Yay! Igor will start after labor day, three afternoons a week at the public school for speech therapy etc and two mornings a week at the private preschool that I had already signed him up for before the school district told me what they were doing. It's going to be a lot of shuttling again this year but all the schools are just a couple of blocks from home and there is enough shopping here in town that I can get all the errands done while the kids are in school.

I kept expecting Pinky Tuscadero

You know the Happy Days episode where Fonzie and Pinky are in the Demo Derby? Awe yeah, the staple of county fairs in the midwest. We took the kids to the county fair on Sunday afternoon and attended the "Crash-up Derby" while there. Let me tell you that's a cross section of society you don't see very often. What I would like to point out to you is the people standing on the far side the arena with only orange construction fencing between them and car knocking into them. Doesn't seem too safe does it? Well it wasn't, unfortunately a car rammed into a crowd and injured a fireman and one of the flagmen working. I can't understand why they were not behind something sturdier and while the people standing behind that orange fence seemed to be actual drivers there were children in that crowd as well. Just pure DUMB. Sonny Boy loved the thing and was disappointed when we left, but it was late, it was hot, we were out of money and I had a headache going and the loud engines and smell of untainted exhaust was more than I could handle. We did other things at the fair as well. Igor is now proclaiming he wants to be a farmer when he grows up, so goodness there's no better place for a want to be farmer to learn the difference between a sheep, goat, pig, cow, and horse. However he still calls most large creatures in pastures horses when he'd be better off to guess cow here in "America's Dairlyand". I do think he might be a little horse obsessed (due to his mother's good influences I must say!) but I hope he can see the difference.

I think this is a sweet picture, he wasn't real sure about sitting next to that goat though.

OOOO was he proud to be on that tractor!

Of course we rode some rides as well, Igor rode this one all alone.

The kids were enchanted with this little guy, he was remote controlled and pedalled around the children's area talking to the kids. Took Sonny Boy hours of pondering, is a robot? It's not a mascot because no one could fit in that costume. Finally he figured out it was remote controlled and somebody must have been in a nearby building running him. He was close, but the guy running him was only about 15 feet away and blended in with the crowd and looked as if he was on the phone.

Sonny boy saved one of his rides for the "big" rides. Hubby doesn't do well with rides, I don't do too well with spinning rides but can handle tamer ones. This one is pretty fun and does give the impression of flying a little.

Things are settling here. Kids are bored and we are all wanting school to hurry up and start. The weather here has been beautiful, however the mosquitoes are just horrible and I hate having bug spray on me and or the kids. It's a necessary evil sometimes though.

Glad to be back though, it's so nice to have the space, a dishwasher, laundry that is not in dank dark smelly basement, normal (mostly) neighbors, and a clean little town to be in. What a difference your surrounding make on your outlook on life.

Mulligan!

Isn't that the term they use in golf when you get a do-over? That's what I need today, is that possible? Anybody? Cripes, I'm on the third margarita and just now able to put things in order.

I suppose you could say the nightmare started yesterday. I woke up with another elephant killer headache. I have migraines fairly often but they do seem to come in cycles, unfortunately I seem to be in one of those cycles right now. FUN. I pretty much left the kids to their own devices you know TV, Wii, DS for hours. Hubby and I had planned to go the DMV to get our car tags and driver licenses done, however at one I texted him to say that was impossible he might as well put a day's work in. However in typical Hubby job fashion he got tangled up and was way later than an average day which figures when I needed him home the most. Anyhow the kids didn't die and I didn't end up in ER (with our short break in insurance would have been a disaster) so the day was a success but a total wipe for me actually DOING anything. I honestly was in my PJ's all day.

Needless to say today was rather booked with errands, school needed to be registered for (that's another raving post) I had to go take some mortgage papers to the bank we are refinancing with, library books due, and of course the never ending need of groceries. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER. Let's just say the evening ended with Sonny Boy going to bed having eaten a peanut butter and jelly for the second time today (it was the fastest thing I could fix and he was lucky I didn't send him to bed hungry!) at 6:00 pm, he'll tell you it was 5:00 but it was really like 5:50. If there was an act of defiance, obnoxiousness, or general being a pain in the ass he hit it today. I hope tomorrow is better. I can't wait for school to start.

Today's rough go really worries me though as Hubby now has dates for his marathon length schooling in New Jersey. My sanity lies in being able to hand over the baton of craziness when Hubby comes through the door after work, and I won't have that for 5 weeks. In days past I would have loaded up and taken extended trips down south to visit my mother and friends, maybe north to visit the in-laws, but with Sonny Boy now in first grade it's not really an option. I'll muddle through but it's going to be a long month - gee that's how long I was in Ukraine! I do see that I'll have to schedule a sitter for at least once a week to keep my sanity, the problem lies in just what do I do when I have the sitter? I'm not really a shopper beyond groceries and necessities, so do I go sit on park bench, hang out in the library with the old people (we don't seem to have homeless here, I think that's just in large cities) or go sit in a bar, Goodness knows there are plenty of them here.

In other wonders of the world, have you discovered Pandora Radio? Google it. It's a pretty neat thing, you can enter an artist you like and it will do a mix of that artist and all artist that are in a similar vein. Maybe it's old news, I do come to things a little late sometimes.

Anyhow I'm feeling the margaritas now and I'm hitting backspace a lot to correct the type-o's so I guess I should finish this and my drink.

...But here in the real world, it's not that easy at all....

Busy, Busy, Busy

As you can imagine we've been on the extreme end of busy the last couple of weeks, unpacking, taking care of this and that. You know all the craziness that comes along with moving. Last week Hubby was away for work orientation and I decided to tackle the office. Well the office was the last vestige of needing a coat of paint REALLY bad. Probably should have done it while the house was on the market, but at the rate things were going I don't think a coat of paint in one small room would have made much difference in the long run. So while Hubby was gone I dragged the young 'uns down to the hardware store and purchased a gallon of paint for the walls thinking I had some leftover trim paint in the basement. One thing led to another before I got to work and when I started painting the trim I thought the paint seemed a little thick but it was still going on pretty well until I got to the closet door and then disaster struck and suddenly it was like somebody put sand in my paint bucket. Too late to do anything about it that night I gave it up and started prepping the window (the one behind the desk) and discover that I could easily attach the weights to sash so it would work properly. This is good news as previously we have used everything from a book to a beer bottle to hold that window open as it provides good cross ventilation upstairs. I take a gander make a list and hit the hardware store early in the a.m. to purchase new paint and the rope and other little things for the window. Three trips to the store and 9 hours later - there was some kid tending in there as well of course - I finally get the window reassembled. A day behind on the office "remodel" (using the term loosely here) The next morning I awoke with a migraine that would have knocked down a bull elephant. Thankfully I had good drugs and the kids were more than happy to vegetate on TV and video games most of the day, needless to say no painting was done. Friday I got back to work and made progress but if you've ever tried to paint in a small room full of stuff with two kids tearing around the house you can imagine the level of progress made. So much for getting it done before Hubby got home. Anyways I worked on it all day Saturday and spent most of the day Sunday unpacking as well. Still not totally complete and lacks some touches but that's typical in most of the house now. I'm just chipping away at small things a little at a time.

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm here to tell you that bookcase is groaning. The mover guy said "Geez, ya'll have lots of books" I thought he was just exaggerating because that white bookcase wasn't really full at the rent house, had lots of junk stuffed in it. What I didn't realize was he was counting all of Hubby's airplane training manuals that had been in boxes stuffed in a closet I didn't ever go into. I am officially out of bookcase space now as Hubby needs the manuals accessible now.

Now that I'm back in my old territory I attended the Tuesday night meeting of the civic group I'd been a part of for several years now. I received a warm welcome and added the roster up to meet state mandated requirements so hey they were even happier. The group is hosting a get-together for local business people next week and we are expected to bring food. A list was passed around but I hadn't a clue then it dawned on me I should debut my cake skills if I want to put a little money in my pocket. I don't plan on doing it for a living but if I could buy a new pair of shoes now and then might be worth my while. Oh dear I better come up with something and practice it, especially after my last cake wreck.

This was my creation. They are cupcakes, don't tell anyone but the cupcakes on the back are not decorated, I ran out of frosting and didn't want to make another batch for 6 cupcakes not to mention the color would have never matched. One of the reasons I wanted to practice and getting an idea of how to place the cupcakes in the basket etc. I think it turned out pretty good and I'm pretty proud of this one. Ignore the giant skewers sticking out the basket - that is so I can cover it with a tea towel, I have an issue with uncovered food. So now my kitchen looks like a bomb went off in it, and there is a bowl of blue stuff soaking in the sink that might make someone wonder if I cooked a smurf. The good news is I HAVE A DISHWASHER!!! and a kid who thinks it's quite great to load it. I doubt that will last too long though.

Hubby's new job

Well ya know the old saying "Careful what you wish for?" I think I'm learning it. Hubby had his first official day on the job today. He called me after the day to tell me all about it. He says that everyone is super nice and he was issued lots of nifty new gadgets like a laptop (no more fighting over this one) and a Blackberry without a manual. Hubby while handy with most things is not always up to date on the latest and greatest of tech geek gadgets has no idea how to use the Blackberry - neither do I for that matter, our cell phones are just barely a notch up from a tin can and string. Tonight I rest assured that he's googling how to work his new phone and is not out painting the town in NYC and the surrounding boroughs. It all sounds great until he starts relaying the information that he will be sent to massive amounts of training. Not exactly news, however the first round will be in a few weeks and will last three weeks. NOT FUN. However that's not the worst, the second round will be in November and will last FIVE WEEKS. The five weeks does not include a break at all. UG. This training does not include a shorter little trip and short jaunts he will take in the nearby area to meet his customers. I figure in essence I will for all intensive purposes be a single parent without the respite of sending the kids to their father every other weekend and navigating the dating scene. I may really have to get a job in order to have some adult company. Thankfully we are back on my turf and I at least know a few people here.



Speaking of knowing people.... I went to Wal-Mart on Saturday and could hardly shop for bumping into people I knew. I saw at least 5 people I know and of course I looked like something the cat dragged in. Don't get me wrong, NOBODY has ever called me a fashionista or anything but I was really scraping the bottom of the barrel with my appearance. So my first excursion back into hometown society I looked like a bag lady. I bet the gossip at the dinner table sounded something like this :



Mrs. X - I saw Winnie at Wal-Mart today, they moved back into their old house. Hubby got a job back up here.

Mr X - mmm huh, Really, how are they doing with all moving ( I imagine this in an off handed way while he's forking supper into his mouth and trying to watch the Brewer game)

Mrs. X - Winnie said they are doing fine, but I don't know she looked pretty rough, I'm not even sure she had combed her hair and her clothes looked like she had been working in the yard.



I'll have to make sure my public appearances are a little more groomed from here on out. Back in Kornfield there was never danger of actually seeing anyone and if you did, well you looked better than them anyway.



If your a long time blog follower you'll remember my house stalker from last summer well as I was writing the above paragraphs he went by on his bicycle and nearly turned his head completely backwards on his body checking out the house. If I see him down in the park I'm gonna just frankly stop him and ask him what the hell his issue is.

Kids are doing good. Bored and mad that I haven't taken them to the city pool which is right behind our house. Quite frankly I'm just a tightwad and don't want to pay $7 bucks per to swim for a two hour stretch. Maybe if the weather and my sanity holds I'll take them to the lake tomorrow. Igor is settling now, and while still a little nervous about having his own room isn't really scared anymore. Funny is that he asks me every night when I tuck him in " Will you check on me when you go to bed?" I always assure him that I do, mainly to make sure he's not about to roll out of the bed. The next morning he tells me that " Momma you didn't check on me." I'm not quite sure what he expects me to do, wake him up and say " I'm checking on you" too funny.

The unpacking is mostly done with the exception of the office which has a large bookcase to fill with books, a file cabinet to load, a gun cabinet to load and walls I want to paint before I do all that. I'm pondering what color I want to go with in there and need to make up my mind as it's really a disaster and stacked with boxes. I hope I don't have an urgent need for any of the papers in the file cabinet, a particular book or a gun!

Well I'm winded I guess, I can always tell the post I put up when Hubby isn't around as they get long and babbling.

LUCY! We're HOME!

Well the truck pulled up at 8:00 am on Thursday morning and pulled away at 12:30 pm having spewed forth it's contents into every room, basement, garage and nook and corner of our house. The last day and a half has seen Hubby and I emptying boxes and putting things away. It's certainly an easier task when everything already has a home and just needs to land there as opposed to finding a place like with a new house. It was wonderful pulling in the driveway Wed night as the first three people we see were people we know well - two neighbors and another person who lives in the neighborhood who was walking home from work. I wouldn't say we are totally unpacked yet, not even close but we have a good dent in the work now. Right now Hubby is putting up a shelf in the linen closet which makes it into his own personal walk-in closet. Lucky him, though I will say he's been battling lack of closet space for years, though it hasn't been much of an issue because his work wardrobe was jeans and polo shirts. The new job will require a little more proffesional attire, and trying to jam dress shirts into his tiny little closet wouldn't have worked.

The kids are adapting well. Igor had a couple of nightmares last night which we expected, new room, no brother etc. We hit the floor running at his calls though and he settled back to bed easily enough, some of it was likely overtired as well since we've been on a hectic schedule with the move. Sonny Boy hasn't flinched and has been a video bum because we've let him. MUCH easier to get things done if he's occupied and only one child (Igor) is following you around asking questions at 100 mph.

Probably the worst problem we have encountered is a smelly dryer. Our dryer was simply in storage in the moldy basement and we moved it back and it stinks up the laundry room. I soaked some towels in some strong bleach water and threw them in pretty wet to tumble. I don't know if worked or just burned the bleach smell into my nose. I hope it's not a permanent condition.

Well I must really get back to work before Hubby rebels, honestly I just want to take my shoes off and land on the couch and veg in front of the T.V. but I've got to keep the momentum going or I'll stop completly.

It's good to be home.

A post of pure boredom

Well the movers came today and boxed EVERYTHING except the TV and computer that would fit in a box. I think they would have put the kids in a box if they'd gotten in the way. Happily the boys were very well behaved while they worked. I did let them have unlimited access to TV and the DS so they were entertained with brain candy. However it's now 6:00 pm and that's pretty much all any of us have done today and we are bored. Tomorrow the movers will load everything on the truck and pull out, I imagine I'll have the afternoon to clean and make sure we don't leave the rent house in a huge mess. I am not going to kill myself over it though, it was quite dirty when we moved in and pretty much if I leave it as is it will be cleaner.

Right now we are waiting on hubby to get home and unload his giant toolbox that he normally keeps at work so the movers can take it with our stuff tomorrow. Once Hubby gets home we will go out and get some supper. We are in for a few days of eating out or scratching up food that does not require heating up. Fun. Tomorrow night we will stay at a hotel and drive north on Wed.

So far so good with the move. I tell ya if ya gotta move and there is anyway to afford movers to pack and haul for you do it. I don't care if you gotta sell a child or something, it's worth it. Three guys got here at 9:30 and packed the entire house and garage by 2:30. Granted we don't have a hutch full of china and lots of little nick-nacks but they did in one day what it would have taken me at least a week to do. Unreal. Now we'll see how well everything makes it there and I suspect things aren't packed together like I would have done it, but hey I really don't care right now.

Well that's the update. Exciting huh?

Just Can't Wait...

To get back Home. Isn't that a line in a song? I'll be moving very soon so the lapse between posts might be longer than normal. I won't be seeing this beautiful farm near the WI house though as there is construction on that highway into town and we will end up taking another route.

The movers will be here next week and we are supposed to be unloaded into the WI house by next weekend. I love the whole idea of movers. I'm still sitting here in a house that's as together as it ever has been and will simply just pick-up the junk before they get here so it doesn't get moved or boxed oddly. The only real prep I've done for the move is take down curtains and wash or air them on the line. This is the high life. ha ha I'll pay for it on the back end though as Hubby will be out of town two days after the truck unloads, hardly enough time to get things together but I'll manage. The rough part will come later as the new job starts putting him through many training schools. Good for Hubby, long weeks for me. The good part is I'll be somewhere that I know people, go to a church where I know what to expect and any work I do around the house will be for me instead of a landlord.

Well I guess that's the latest.

Agravation

To say I'm aggravated is understating it a bit. Early last week Hubby asked HR at his new job to see if there was anything we needed to get in motion for the move, estimates, forms - whatever. He still didn't have an official start date but we knew it was coming soon and wanted to be pro-active with the move. The HR guy said don't worry, we should be able to get you moved in a week, but I'll call S and have her give you a call etc etc. Well S called Hubby several times last week but never left a message. Hubby not know who the call was from didn't call it back. Well finally on Friday he was available to answer the phone and S says it will be difficult to get us moved by the end of the month! AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGG In fact they are booking things a month out. double AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGG. We have given notice to our landlord and she has people moving in this dump the 15th of Aug. I don't know, I'm hoping that husband's new company will do some rear chewing on Monday and get things in gear. I guess we'll see. What makes things more difficult is that Hubby's first week is an orientation in New Jersey! I really don't want to do all the moving alone, even though I'll have muscle with the movers I would like to have Hubby's help with the unpacking phase and I half expect to find minor issues with the house when we get there due to the fact it's sat empty for a year.

So this weekend Hubby has promised to help me empty the basement and go through the boxes down there. Why? Because we had a framed poster that the boys had broken the glass on sitting on the basement floor, Hubby went to un-frame it and throw the old frame and discovered that it had wicked up moisture and grown mold all over it. Now I'm worried that stuff that's in there has done the same. We have most things up on pallets down there and that should protect them but I don't want the movers picking up a box, the bottom falling out, and finding a box full of linens wet and moldy and having to make decisions to toss, try to clean ,on the fly and having a huge pile of "to clean" when we are still looking for our forks.

Today though Hubby is taking Sonny Boy out for his birthday. On the agenda is the Hubble Movie at the I-Max (Sonny boy still wants to be an astronaut) and the Magic House. I don't expect them back till late afternoon at the earliest. Igor and I are going to hang out, go pick a few groceries and maybe do some chores. I hope Igor is helpful with the chores but highly doubt it. He's at the age where he wants to help but really just gets in the way most of the time. I wish he'd take a nice long nap but of course that's really dreaming.

Well better do some chores

I can FINALLY say

what the big secret is. I know I've been hemming and hawing about it for a while, some of you know what I've been alluding to, but Hubby has not allowed me to make announcements until today. WE ARE MOVING BACK TO WISCONSIN!!!!!! Hubby has been chasing a job for quite a while now, and the process has been agonizingly slow, as with any big company I suppose but we've been gnashing our teeth (quite literally) waiting on this to happen. Hubby accepted the job a couple of weeks ago now but just now got a start date and the go ahead from them to turn in his resignation at his current job.

This possibility of this job is what made us keep the house and suffer through several months of payments and not working too hard at renting it. Might have been a disaster for us but things worked out. Now we just have to move. Luckily Hubby's new job is paying generous moving expenses with REAL MOVERS. I've never had that before, they'll even come pack!! I'll feel like the Queen of England and just point to where things go.

There are still a few details to work out with the move. We don't have a specific date yet, but we expect that by the end of the week. I'm starting to make lists of things to take care of, address changes, school records, medical, dental etc. However I'm not too stressed as I know about where I'm going, what's there, who my doctor will be, (though I'm gonna get a new dentist) and all that jazz. May have a few blips with Igor's IEP and pre-school since he should have been registered in spring but hey I know people. he he

I'm so glad to get out of this dump. Unbelievably the landlord has already rented this little house to a family with 4 kids we are cramped with 2 here. I'm only hoping maybe they are a little older and don't need quite the running space that my two do. Today is miserable heat wise. Both window units are blowing full blast and it might be 80 degrees in the living room. Thankfully I can close up the bedrooms to cool it off in there when I go to bed.

Well that's the BIG news. I'll write more when I know more.

WE ARE MOVING HOME!!!! MORE LATER WHEN I SETTLE IN FOR THE NIGHT!

Cruel, Cruel, Summer.....

If your my age a certain Bananarama song will pop into your head, if not look it up! I really had to look up the lyrics to see what it was about because I could only remember the lines " Cruel, Cruel Summer, leaving me here on my own..." of course I don't know the rest that's when humming kicks in.

The summer has been cruel. I loathing the miserable heat and tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter. The air conditioning is barely adequate here. The boys go out to play and come back in within 10 minutes little sweaty heads having stripped down to their shorts, leaving their shirts somewhere out in the lawn. I don't know how Hubby is managing at work working in that big metal building must be akin to being in an overly large oven. He says he's used to it but I can't imagine adjusting to that heat. Yes, I suppose I've gotten soft, being a native Arkansans I wouldn't even call it hot till we hit 90 and scoffed at people that were miserable if it was anything under 100 but I suppose 5 years in Wisconsin and dreamy summers that rarely made me turn on the a/c spoiled me. Yes winters are long and miserable, but I can always put on more clothes, turn up the heat or otherwise adjust my temperature when it's 10 degrees. I can only be so naked at 100 and I'm there already.

Thankfully to combat the heat a co-worker of Hubby's has offered the use of his pool to use during the week. They live out in a cornfield and it's one of those places you have to look for, I'm pretty sure it won't show up on a GPS. They have a nice above ground pool. The only problem with the pool is it's depth, right at 4 ft, which is the same height as Sonny Boy. Sonny Boy can just barely get his face above water if he stands on his tippy toes and tilts his head back. Igor I put little arm floaties on him and off he goes, but Sonny Boy can almost swim and wants to dive under etc so the floaties are not cool to him so it's a constant watch to make sure neither kid is drowning. Not too relaxing as my idea of pool time is getting in to cool off occasionally and lazing by the side with one eye open enough to keep the kids from drowning. Beggars can't be choosers though so we go for while a couple of times a week.

The other cruel of summer has been this waiting game we are playing. It's wracking on our nerves and has us on edge. I can't reveal the news yet but things look good for a big reveal at the end of the week. The stress in manifesting it's self in some strange physical symptoms that make us worry and then realize what's happening.

I did get a wild hair last Friday and took the boys to the St. Louis Zoo. It was fun, but in an effort to not look too dumpy I wore some flat sandals. BIG mistake. My left foot has not been happy since. I have since gone to the fancy store across the street aka Dollar General and purchased some arch support insoles for my sneakers and have been trying to be good about wearing them while around the house - I prefer bare feet. Doesn't really seem to be helping and I have a hunch it has something to do with my cranky knee that is also making it's self known. Momma always said after 35 it's "Patch, Patch, Patch" and I'm beginning to think she's right.

Well I guess I'll sign off. This has got be one of the most boring blogs on the web lately.

Thursday

Hey, I don't have a better title to this post, sometimes inspiration strikes and sometimes it doesn't. What can I say?

It's been quite here in Kornfield for the most part. The weather has been miserably hot. Can't believe I spent most of my life suffering through sweltering summers in the South and I don't even really think this area qualifies as "the South" in fact I had a waitress in WI tell me I wasn't really southern because I didn't hail from Mississippi or Alabama! Humph, I can drawl with the best, much to chagrin of Hubby. I will say that five years in Wisconsin has thinned it out some, Hubby lost most of what he picked up while living in Arkansas. I'll never sound totally midwestern I'm sure but I will say that in this area I don't seem to be linguistic sore thumb that I am in Wisconsin.

Big things are just around the corner for the Litter. Keep your fingers crossed, I'm dieing to make an announcement but Hubby will not let me for another week or two. In the meantime we are just wishing all the particulars would hurry up.

The holiday was nice. FIL, Hubby, and Sonny Boy all went to the Cardinals game and watched the fireworks through the arch. They roasted in the cheap seats like three peanuts but had a good time. Igor and I stayed home as trying to keep Igor corralled for nine innings sounded about as much fun as sticking my finger in an electric pencil sharpener. Much better that the big boys go. I do wish I could have seen the fireworks through the arch though as that would have been quite memorable.

Overall we are just bored and tired here. Hubby is still working tons, it's too hot to do anything outside. I'd forgotten how boring a hot summer day is. Wisconsin gets hot weather but at least it goes away in a day or two. The kids are watching too much TV, playing too much Wii and fighting a lot. Quite frankly I'm just too tired to care. Not the best parenting strategy I know but sometimes you just gotta have a sanity break. If the weather cools maybe we'll brave a day at the zoo or something soon but I'm not going dragging around in 95 degrees, 80% humidity and a whole bunch of tourist.

We did go see Toy Story 3 in 3D last week. It was cute and had it's moments but it wasn't near as good as the first, I guess you sorta knew what to expect. I don't think they made the best use of the 3d, particularly since we paid a good bit extra to see it in 3d. I do want to see Despicable Me and Sonny Boy wants to go see the space movie playing at the IMAX. I have a feeling the IMAX movie is going to be way above his head but since he is astronaut crazy I may take him or try to talk Hubby into that adventure. The Imax movie gives me a head ache, any movie I actually have to turn my head like that is too much going on in the periphery of my field of vision.

Well I guess I really have nothing to say, just babbling.

Mute Monday

Just what I always wanted - a double decker mobile home.

If You Build it They Will Come

Wouldn't you know I didn't have my camera with me. Tonight we went to a town (but just barely) quite a little jaunt away for Sonny Boy's baseball came. The town/village so small that even native Kornfield residents were saying they had to google where it is. Along the winding route of back roads lined but none other than 6 foot tall corn I came to conclusion as to why I do not like the Cornbelt. I can't stinkin' see anything. Drive down a two lane highway with mature/near mature corn on both sides and you will only be able to see the sky. Maybe that's why Kevin Costner built the baseball field in his yard - so he could just maybe get a 100 yard run of open space before hitting the wall of green that a cornfield is.



However I digress, we arrive in the tiny village of Podunk and find the field. We wandered up to the field which needed a good mowing, but that wasn't the funniest part, the outfield was literally a wall of corn, just like in the movie. The references to the movie ran rampant through the game and we theorized just what would happen if the ball made it to the corn, do you even look for it, or just let it lie and be tilled under? I wonder if a baseball jams up a combine with a corn header or would it be low enough to the ground not to do damage? Hmmm, anybody know anything about farm machinery?



On the way home we take a different route. We come to another little village, very dumpy, ratty and ran down. Hubby remarks he's wandered through there before (he explores around a lot) and calls it a dump without one nice house in the place, as he finishes the statement we pass a sign with the name of the village on it and their slogan. The slogan gave me a good laugh " A village in progress" problem was it was hard to tell the direction of the progress but my guess it was a quickly descending spiral.



Baseball season is coming to a close, thank Goodness. Even Sonny Boy is loosing his enthusiasm for the game and quite frankly I don't blame him. I would think he's getting pretty disappointed by the team's record. While actual score is not kept and none of the teams we have played have put an emphasis on winning the kids know who won, they aren't stupid. Unfortunately Sonny Boy's team hasn't been on the winning side and with one game to go it's not looking promising. I will say I think the team is put up against teams that are quite a bit older than his on more than one occasion. The game last Friday looked like they were playing a Cardinals farm team with a long string of batters coming to the plate and hitting like mini Albert Pujolses (how do you make that name plural?)

I've found a new hobby. Maybe it's a rude one, I don't know. On my last post I made a remark concerning the amazing amount of yard art here in Kornfield. A comment on my blog led me to this blog which I find quite humorous. Of course I had to go out and take some pictures of some of the more embellished houses nearby and send them in. I still have a few houses here in town that I find worthy of submitals The problem is you become very conspicuous standing in front of a house taking pictures so my very favorite yard had me driving by and snapping pictures at 30 miles and hour and I realized today I still didn't get all the stuff in the yard. I'm going to do a stealthy walk by with Igor in the stroller tomorrow and see if I can get it all in with one or two shots and make them much more clear as the blogger does not allow points for angels, saints or religious statues, however I somehow feel Madonnas tackily displayed should be good for something. Tough part was explaining to Sonny Boy why I was taking pictures of stranger's houses and Igor was a reporter to Hubby later in the afternoon remembering just what houses I had snapped pics of. So here's fair warning if you have tacky yard art your fair game. I will need to start taking the camera around though as I saw more than one house worthy of a snapshot and tally. However I feel a walking tour of Kornfield will give me plenty of submissions and a stroller and a couple of kids will give me good cover to get pictures.

Other projects include "The Eating of the Garden" Cucumbers, tomatoes and zucchini are starting to trickle in. yum. You know you read all the books that say kids will eat the veggies they see grow and it's really true, they don't flinch and we are generally fighting over the last slice of tomato.

Until next time....

A startling wake-up call

This morning as we were sleeping in and the kids were wasting brain cells watching TV oldest ds runs in and informs us that someone is knocking on the door. Dh throws some clothes on and goes and answers it. I wander into the LR and see it's the elderly neighbor from next door and go back to the bedroom to put on some clothes, not really thinking much about it. When I come back out dh asks me if I know the phone number for the local police (happens that it's programmed in my phone) so I went and found him my phone and he called the local police. I was really just too groggy to join in the drama and went to make a pot of coffee, by the time I get back to the porch a cop is out there, the little old lady is madder than a wet hen, and the cop is writing down our phone number. The cop escorted the elderly lady next door to her house and evidently somebody called her daughter -maybe the police dispatcher as dh said they seemed to know her when he gave them her name-. Seems little old lady beleived we had stolen her medicine and given it to the neighbors who live on the other side of us, Lucille had signed for a bouquet of a dozen roses and kept them (no Lucille in our house of course) We had noticed that the lady had been sitting on her porch a lot the last couple of days in the 100 + heat index and was a little worried, but honestly it was the very first time we'd ever even seen her since we've been here almost a year. For what it's worth the elderly lady insisted that dh called the police, we would have simply called her daughter as it was apparent that she was very addled and confused, and I'm guessing the porch sitting the last few days was in paranoria of us.
So anyway the cop, the daughter and the irrate elderly lady pow-wowed in the yard for a little while and the cop moved on w/o speaking to us anymore. I'm not upset with the elderly lady, it's pretty apparent that dementia is setting in pretty hard. However I thought the daughter would have come over and offered and apology, maybe her phone number in case her mother does something similar again as honestly it wasn't really anything the cops needed to get involved with, and alerting her to mom sitting on the porch in the miserable heat might have been a good idea in retrospect.
So in case your taking tally of the neighborhood. One dementia addled elderly lady on one side of us, a lazy trashy (literally doesn't pick up trash) and lets the yard grow, I itch to use a weed eater there on the other, across the street are new neighbors who seem pretty quiet, haven't had issues with them (WAY better than previous tenants) but my landlord did tell me their teenage son was kicked out of school for calling in a bomb threat. A couple of houses down is a house I'm have a good hunch is a prospect for the show hoarders and the entire block looks like a disply of every tacky yard animal that is sold at Wal-Mart. I love this town.