Kay Kay Round Two

Yep... PST baby is here! He's a little cutie, I only wish we could see him in person. It's kinda rough having them living so far away. Jerome is actually going to take a trip down to see them, but unfortunately I can't go... why you ask... well... I'm saving my pennies since I was laid off last Friday. Yeah. Yippy frickin' skippy.

Any ways... back to happier topics... Codeion arrived July 17th via c-section. He and mom PST are doing just fine now and are home. Go check out his blog... yep... I started another one!

Whew... only two more sleeps

Until I see NKOTB again! I leave tomorrow for Chicago. While I'm there I'll stay with my college buddy Melba and her hubby. I also meet the cutest little peanut who's already 2 years old, Nicole, their daughter. Melba is actually going to the show with me... it should be a fantastic time! But I don't think she knows what she's in for!

Anyways... we had a pretty busy weekend this past weekend. On Friday we had a family photo shoot with a coworker of mine who's just starting her photography business. Which family you ask... well... Me, Jerome, his girls, and Tink. Yep... my family. I don't have the proofs yet... but when I do I'll post a few... to hold you over I give you this gem...

The girls stayed at our house then Friday night. It was fun to hang out with the girls for more than a few hours. Then on Saturday was Tink's first birthday party. Yup... that little chickadee is a whole year old. Check out her very own blog for photos.

Sunday I had yet another Blockhead party. We actually were getting together at Tiff's house to watch the VH1 special on them. She had a great spread of food and beverages... which reminds me... Tiff... send me those recipes! We had a great time, and of course missed those who weren't able to make it.

I'll be posting again once I get back from Chicago! See you soon!

Trip in review

The day started off not like any other. At 12:01 am I was wide awake thinking of all the things that I did or didn’t do yet and if I forgot something or needed to remove something to lighten the load. I stayed awake debating on if I should just get up and go check the luggage or stay in bed and make myself go to sleep.

I opted for staying in bed because I had just finished painting my toes in a bright shade of pink and didn’t want to have to redo them. I tossed and turned. Jerome was snoring away.

I’m not sure when I feel asleep but I suddenly woke up to find Jerome with Pork Chop outside. He came inside the house and cooked himself an egg and a bagel and I did the same for myself. Jerome left for work, Pork Chop went back in his crate and I went back to bed.

I was awaken by my alarm clock, jumped up and headed for the shower. I let Pork Chop out one last time, scooted him back to his crate and gave him a treat.

I ended up leaving early and was to work all too early. So early that Richard asked me if I came in early just because of the move. (Our team moved from one floor to another yesterday – but our computers and boxes never made it to our new floor by the time I left yesterday.) Ughhh I hate it when people notice what time I come and go!

I set up my desk to my liking. Putting up pictures and notes, my white board and posters. Everything was just right. I notice it was almost 1pm when I looked up. I had planned to leave at 1:30… but that didn’t happen… 2pm I was out of there. Wishing everyone a great holiday weekend.

I went home, checked the mail and gathered Pork Chops baggage. We were off to drop him off at the Puppy Hotel – his vet and also place where his puppy class was held. Pork Chop is spending a week at the puppy hotel and suite where he will be pampered beyond recognition I would guess. Thankfully the tech told me to call any time I wanted to check in on him. Poor guy… momma misses you!

Then it was off to the grocery store to purchase a bag of ice for the cooler and cash a check that came in the mail the day before for Pampered Chef. Back home I went. I carried all the bags into the garage when I noticed our neighbor across the street leaving. I went to the end of the drive to let her know that we would be out of town to watch over the place and call me if anything goes wrong. She of course said she would.

Then the wait began. I was waiting for Jerome to show up with our rented Mini Van to haul us away… us being the two of us, PST, JST and Tinker. Yup, all of us are heading out of town to Mississippi for his family reunion. This will be Tinkers first extra long trip and first time down South.

When the girls arrived I took a look at both of their extra large suitcases and wondered what could possibly inside of them. Were they packed correctly? Would they all fit? These were all good questions.

I started loading the van, first the pack and play for Tinker, then PST hard sided suitcase that I got her for her graduation a few years ago and then Jerome and my carryon rolly suitcases. JST’s wasn’t fitting. Ughhhh. It was so large and flat vs. wide. We ended up switching out her bag for one of our other ones… everything fit just fine – even though I’m sure she’s upset that we just tossed her stuff into the new fitting suitcase.

And we’re off. I was driving, Jerome was shotgun. Behind me was Tinker and behind Jerome was JST. In the way back was PST and the cooler. We turned back around before we even were a block away double checking to see if the door was locked.

We stopped at Stout to fill our bellies on Wendy’s and stretch our legs. Back into the van we were loosing daylight. I drove until about 10pm when I decided that I should get my night vision checked and we were at a ½ a tank of gas!

Oh… I didn’t tell you… the Mini Van that we picked up had 15 miles on it when we left… yup… BRAND NEW! It even has a DVD player in it for watching movies which everyone did while I was driving for the most part, until everyone fell asleep. It’s funny because I called it a movie on tape since they were watching movies that I hadn’t seen yet and I was making up my own pictures in my head of what was going on.

Anyways… back to the switch. We stopped at a gas station to top off the gas and empty bladders and garbage from the van. Jerome started the drive and I became the co pilot. We were good to go… until we remembered that we didn’t bring any change for the tolls. Shoot. Thank goodness PST knew that her pop would forget the change and brought some with her. The girls fell back to sleep and Jerome and I chatted.

I made us ham and turkey sandwiches with tomatoes and cheese from stuff that I knew wouldn’t last at home. It started to rain… and then we got sleepy. We pulled over to a rest area to go to the bathroom and maybe take a snooze. But since it was still raining when we came back from the bathroom we both felt pretty revived… but then again became sleepy.

It’s time to pull over… and since I’m writing this in the van as we drive it’s 2 miles to the next rest stop where we will be stopping for a brief nap. We’re about 70 miles away from St. Louis.

Honestly... nothing

Nothing much is going on... I know... pitiful.

We're getting ready to head south for Jerome's family reunion. We being myself and Jerome and his girls PST and JST and Tinker. A full carload going down. Yes, we are driving. So I know once I return there will be things to post! Pork Chop isn't attending the reunion with us though... he's going to be safe and sound at his vets boarding facility.

I worked outside a bit this weekend, cleaning gutters and such. I didn't get around to trimming the bushes.

We've finally met our backyard neighbor, a single woman who adores Pork Chop. Her daughter and son-in-law and brand new grand-baby have moved in with her while they search for a house in the area. Come to find out they have a pup that is Pork Chops new friend. They play in the backyard chasing each other along the fence. It's pretty cute.

Tomorrow my team will move to a different floor - not the entire department... just my team :( Sad. I'll still have a window view from cubeland and will even face the window this time. That's about the only selling point.

Who wants something free? I do I do!

So I pretty much suck. I've forgotten to update my blog - or didn't really have anything interesting to say for a whole week. I've also slacked on my blogrolling posts for some time... FORGIVE ME. Today... a two for one plus a deal...

So Amy over at MomAdvice.com tipped me off on a tripod. Now I know what you're thinking... what on earth is Kim doing buying a tripod.... well... I hope to use it on my camera for taking excellent shots of Tinker and perhaps I'll use it at PST's wedding next summer (bomb dropping there... I'll post more about this soon!) for taking video with my camera. And it's FREE.

My note on how to get it completely free is included in both Amy's post and Heather's over at Freebies 4 Mom. Just take note that you need to not have ordered thru Google Checkout (if you have... sign up your hubby!) and change the shipping date to the 7-9 day delivery, resulting in free shipping. ENJOY! I will in 7-9 days :)

Another Year Older...

Happy Holidays...

So last Thursday Jerome and I had the cutest little company. Tink came to our house for the night while her momma went on a date. It was fun to play with her all night long, we even did a little photo shoot. She slept like a log till about 3:30am. She woke up kicking in the bassinet. Jerome brought her into bed and she fell right back to sleep till about 7am.

Her mom, JST, called at about 8:3o am the next day - Friday morning. I guess Jerome told her that we would bring Tink back to her at 8am. Needless to say Momma was missing her baby :) She and PST came to our house to pick her up instead of waiting for us to finish breakfast and get dressed and then drive over that way.

Once they left Jerome and I drove to Minneapolis. I know, I know... I'm naughty. I should have done this a long long time ago... like a year and half ago... we finally went to get my social security card/number updated with my married name. Jeesh. We did some other running around and then headed for home.

Saturday I made a turkey and all the fixings. Mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese and green beans. PST came over to chow down on it with us. We watched Rush Hour 3 (yeah... shhhh!) and a few other movies. She left to pick up JST and Tink and headed to their mom's house for the night.

Sunday the girls (PST, JST, Tink) came over to open their Christmas presents. They got some pretty practical items for the most part and then some slippers with some sparkles on them. We hung out and had chicken and pizza for dinner... ends up the roads got kinda bad so they stayed the night! It was pretty fun. We watched movie after movie after movie.

Monday, Christmas Eve, the girls left in too big of a rush forgetting a few items. Jerome called but ended up taking the stuff over to them. After he returned we took a short nap and then got up and got ready to pick Anna up from work. We hung out with her and her family eating some tasty ham! We headed for home and Jerome managed to fall asleep on the couch within about 15 minuets. I've sent him off to bed and then jumped online to see that no one in my Yahoo Messenger group was online.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

This past weekend I got the tree put up and the holiday decorations out. There was a bit of a debate as to where to put the tree this year since we have some additional furniture in the living room - the two striped chairs and ottomans. Ends up that I put it in the same exact spot as last year in front of the side window.

The tree went up with the same decorations as years pasts... with the exception of two. The first is one that I didn't put up... Lily's paw printed ornament up. But what I did put up brought a smile to my face... what do you think?


On Saturday it snowed our first "storm" of the season. We got about 7 to 8 inches of snow plus drifts in places. And today it's snowed another 3 to 4 inches already... and is still snowing. Ugh. I would be complaining more... but.... I have to say that dumpster diving paid off this past year. Remember that snow blower that I said I picked up and hoped that it would work... well... IT DOES! Yahooo! Free snow blower!

The girls ended up not coming over this weekend... so... I didn't get as much candy making done as I had hoped. (I was thinking I could teach them some of the recipes for what my family makes this time of the year.) Needless to say, I still got some done.... chex mix, chocolate covered pretzels, peanut clusters, cornflake cookies, cashew turtles, and Jerome pecan candy. I had wanted to also do some of Ella's sugar cookies, Oreo Balls and who knows what else... but I'll have to do that some other time. Check out the new recipe blog for recipes and photos.

I did also make the lasagna that I had planned on - even without the extra mouths but I didn't get to the point of wrapping presents... which I need to do before we head to Wisconsin so I don't have to ship GWM and MJM's presents.

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow...

So the cities are under a winter storm watch. We could get up to a foot of snow by Sunday...

To make it a bit more like the holidays the girls should be coming over for the weekend all three: PST, JST, and Tink. I plan to make Christmas candy this weekend and put up the tree and other decor. I'm even planning on wrapping up the presents for shipping out (oh to be ahead of the game... you think it will happen????).

I think I'll also put together some lasagna this weekend... with all the mouths we'll be feeding it will probably go quickly.

Sorry!

Two weeks pasted just like that?!?!? Whoa.

Sorry to my people who are looking in each and every day to see if something new has come up. I honestly can't say I was doing much of anything special. Let me ponder on the last two weeks and find out what I was really doing...........





Okay... here's something. Jerome, JST, Tinker and I went to Jerome's other daughter PST's apartment for Thanksgiving. The story goes that Jerome and I left home right when we got home from work. Jerome was in the driver's seat of the Neon... he decided that he didn't want to take the main highway that runs all around the cities because he thought it would be packed with rush hour and all. Then the phone rang. JST was wondering when we were going to be picking her up. Jerome thought she wasn't coming with thus why we had already left - without picking her up. He got off the phone and I told him he should go get her. That if he didn't he would be feeling it later.

We turned around and picked up JST and Tinker. Yep, we were still in the Neon. But now I know what it'll be like with a little one in the back... hopefully when we have kids ours will be as calm as Tink was. She didn't make a peep the whole time... and when I say whole time it should have been only three hours... but it ended up being a five hour tour. Ugh. It was rush hour, it was the day before Thanksgiving, it was snowing - only flurries though.

We arrived around 12:30 or so at night. Whew. We made it. Jerome and I claimed the couch while PST and her boyfriend CT claimed their room. I'm not actually even sure where JST and Tink ended up honestly... ? The girls stayed up giggling and talking while Jerome and I dozed off into sleep.

When we woke in the morning I let Jerome know that I needed a paper... for the BEST HOLIDAY paper EVER. Yup... Black Friday. True, not a real holiday... but I celebrate it none the less! Jerome left to pick up my paper and came back to pass the sacred paper to me. It smelled of fresh printed ink. Tasty! I studied each and every paper. Searching for the must have deals. I had already looked online at some of the ads thru Black Friday websites... but it's something about the actual paper. Once I had gone thru we decided to shower and pack up to head back to the Cities.

When I got out of the shower I was informed that PST was coming back to the Cities with us. Wha? How? Oh my... will we all fit in the Neon???? Truth be told, yes... we all could fit. Now were we all comfortable... that I can't say. I bet Tink had the best spot in the car! We made it back and dropped off all the girls at JST and PST's mom's house. Jerome and I headed to a gas station to pick up a City paper to view and make sure we received all of the same ads as in PST's neck of the woods. Then we headed to Lisa's husband's family feast.

We weren't sure if we were going to make it, so we hadn't prepared anything. I felt a little bad until we walked in and saw all of the food. Most people had already eaten and people were getting to the point of making their "to go" plates. Jerome and I piled our plates, ate, and then piled up our own "to go" plates.

We headed home. We went downstairs to watch TV and I sat in my chair to study. I got out the flags to tag the pages in the ad. And stuck a post it note on the front of each place where there was something that I wanted with what that item was, the store name and what time the store opened. I also circled the item in the ad. I was set. The only problem was that a few of the stores where I wanted to go were opening at the same time... I enlisted Jerome to help me out. What a great hubby!

Here's the run down:
4am:

• Kim at Kohl's for the opening (standing in line) for an 18 qt. roasting crock pot (didn't get - they sold out on Wednesday b/c they were apparently open then - GRRRR), ear muffs, and flash lights that don't require batteries.
• Jerome at JC Penny for the opening (standing in line) for Queen size air mattress with pump and Adidas sweat pants (didn't get since they didn't have the right size and color combination)
  

5am:

• Kim at Toys R Us for the opening (standing in line) for a few Xmas presents for my nieces and a little something for Tink to borrow when she is at our house
• After Toys R Us Kim heads to Walmart for 2 pk Gerber sleepers for Tink, digital picture frame for my xmas present to myself, a portable DVD player (which was returned later on in the day after I thought about it a bit), GWM Xmas present, a few DVDs and a fry daddy for Jerome (was returned - see Kmart)
• After Walmart Kim heads to Kmart for Xmas presents for Nieces and a Grand Daddy Fry Daddy for a dollar more than the Walmart Fry Daddy
  
• Jerome at the small Best Buy for the opening (standing in line) for a 500 GB external hard drive (which was returned - see Target) and either blank CDs or DVDs
  
• After Best Buy Jerome headed to Target for a different 500 GB external hard drive that was $15 cheaper and either some blank CDs or DVDs. Jerome calls Kim to say his card isn't working. WHAT? Kim heads to Target to make his purchases with her card and also pick up phones for PJM. (More details in the next post)

Now since we had to meet up we are off schedule. Not really that big of a deal. We both head to Office Max to pick up some Anti Virus and also a Wireless Router which we aren't sure if we are keeping yet or not.

Then we went to Menard's for some light and cheap snow shovels, and a few other things. We thought we were done so we went to Perkins for breakfast and to discuss our purchases. We got everything that was on our list with the exception of the roaster at Kohl's and the Adidas pants. Pretty good I think.

Then it was off to bed. We both took a good long nap. When we woke up Jerome headed over to see PST and Tink and I headed out to Walmart to make returns. We met up afterwards and headed to Lowe's to see about ladder that was on sale as well.

I found out when I went to work on Monday that one of my co-workers was in my dust trail. She started her day at the same Kohl's and Toys R Us. Funny! She should have picked up the phone to call since I started with my phone calls to Lisa at 4:10am and receiving a call from PJM around 4:30 am! It was so much fun! I can't wait till the day after Christmas :)

Move over Delaney... Tinker is here!

JST's baby arrived on Thursday, September 27th at 6:13 p.m. She's a little peanut weighing in at 5 pounds 5 ounces but is 20 inches long. Her name is K.S. (pronounced Ka-my-yah Shawn-yeah) but is already know as Tinker.

Mom and baby are doing fine.

Jerome is officially a Grandpa!


To give you an idea of just how tiny she is, here she is with Grandpa Jerome's finger. Look at her nail vs. the size of his nail. Tiny little girl!



Ummm Dave... I'll take my $10 as she is a girl :)

Storm August 2007

Update: We came home from Anna's to find that our power had been restored! I asked a neighbor how long it had been on since we were gone most of the day and he said only about an hour before we came home! Which would mean from Saturday at 3am until Sunday at 7pm is when we had no power. Ugh.


Holy Cats!

So Friday night we had JST over for the night. We ran to the grocery store to pick up something for dinner and walked away with $100 worth of grocery - surprise surprise. We watched a movie and just hung out until we decided to head to bed. We were asleep in our house when for some reason I awoke. It was 3am. Outside there was flashes of lighting - but no lighting bolts - just the sky was light up like daylight. I nudged Jerome and told him to move the car that was on the lawn since it looked like it was going to rain. He got up in a dash and tossed on some shorts and headed outside.

I figured I would take a look at what was outside to see if I really wanted to deal with it getting wet since we were having a Block Party Saturday afternoon. Off came the cushions of the chairs and we tossed the carpet pieces into the garage.

When that was done I went inside and turned on the TV to watch the weather channel. It stated that we were going to get some high winds (50-60 mph) and there was a sever thunderstorm warning. And then it happened... the TV cut off along with the fans, air, lights, clocks... you name it. The power was out.

It's kinda funny that JST had made the remark before heading to bed that there was a flash light in her room! Good thing as we needed it. We found the other flash light and I light some candles. I just stayed watching the rain since it's been so long since we've had some like this.

It started to rain and the winds picked up. I went downstairs to check the window/wall in the laundry room... sure enough there was a leak. A bad leak. It was spurting out of the window well. Ughhhh. I grabbed the dirty towels from the laundry and started sopping up the mess. I ran upstairs to get the mop.

Jerome woke JST up and told her that it was cooler the basement to go and sleep downstairs. Which, we all did after having a quick snack and chat. (Gotta love having an 8 month pregnant person in the house!)

I called the electric company and their machine stated that we should have power by 8am. Fine and good - we don't really need it while we sleep downstairs. We woke up at 9am or so, with no power. I called the electric company again. Now, it stated that we may not have electricity until end of day Tuesday. WHAT?!?!?!?! ugh.

There was a pretty good sized branch in the middle of the road from the tree that recently lost big branches when Monty Crew was at our house last. We had twigs and a few branches in the yard but nothing major. I figured we better check the gutters since I noticed a few of our neighbors up in theirs. Sure enough it was packed. I got to cleaning it out.

Since we had no power, we didn't dare go in the fridge for long. And, with an electric stove now we had to cook our bacon, eggs, and grits on the grill! It was kinda fun, until we realized that both of our cars were in the garage - that has an electric opener.

JST's mom and sisters came to pick her up and take her back to the land of A/C and TVs. We of course stayed in our "campsite". I called Lisa and asked if she had power. Sure enough she did, so I asked if we could bring over stuff from our deep freezer and our fridge/freezer. I packed up the two coolers and we were on our way. We hung out there until about 3 pm when we left for our Block Party, that we weren't even sure if it was still going to go on.

I set out two chairs and a table out front and brought the charcoal grill around front too. We figured we could grill up some of this chicken from the freezer for the party... and figured other people may want to too.

We hung out with Denise and her daughter and a few of the other neighbors showed up too. We ended up going to Denise's garage to "congregate" and stay dry as it decided to rain again.

We headed home and went to the basement to sleep. I'm starting to feel the pains of not sleep in my bed... the floor and that couch are not cutting it. Ughhh. I awoke this morning hoping we would have electricity... not the case. So, today, we headed over to Anna's where we are BBQing up the last of the meat that we kept.

I'm sure I'll be calling into my renter's insurance this coming week. Wonder if they will cover everything????

We went around the neighborhood to find out that about 5 block south of us many large trees were down, along with power lines and electric poles snapped in half. We took pictures, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to load them here.

And by the way, I am not cracked up for this whole camping thing!

A quick Sconnie Trip

Friday night we set the alarm clock to wake us up around 4:45 am. Yes, that's right on a SATURDAY! Jerome woke up some time around 4 am and started his shower. Once he was ready he woke up the bear, I mean me, and tossed me in the shower. We were headed to Sconnie for the day/night mainly to pick up our wedding photo album.

We left around 5 am and saw the sun starting to rise - that's the first time in a long time for me. And it was such a red sky that got me thinking of Dad's old sailor saying... red sky at night sailors delight, red sky in morn sailors be warned.



We stopped for breakfast at McDonald's after I woke up from my sleep and also to fill up the tank. We were back on our way and made it to my parents house around 9 am.

Once we were there I immediately went into the photos. Ughhhhh! There was no picture of us with Anna, there was the black and white photo of Jerome that turned out way grainy, there was one of me and my family that when blown up didn't fit that framing of the page thus white strips around the photo - ummm no... fake the wall and carpet or crop it different! Not to mention all of the ones that were out of focus! And then our large wall photo had totally different coloring from the same photo that was in our book. What the heck?

I will say it again, never do business with Together Photography. Their customer service sucks. Their contract is worded funny, and they chose to pick out our photos - even the blurry ones! Ugh.

So, I took the book and Jerome and I headed down to their shop. Of course, no one was there because it's a Saturday and they are out taking awful pictures of someones wedding. So I called my mom to have her look up the phone number for their New London location, perhaps someone would be there. Nope, that number isn't listed. Grrrr. So I called the owner at her home - but she didn't answer either. I left a message at their location in town saying I wasn't please with my photos and that I am only in town today and tomorrow, that someone should contact me asap.

With that said and done we left and went to The Monty Crew's house for lunch. We had planned to BBQ for lunch, but before that Jerome and Andy were going to build some shelving units for Delaney and Maddee's room while Trisha and I were going to head off to Target for some baby food that was 2 cents a jar.

On our way there though, my phone rang. It was Jerome's daughter JST who is due in September with Jerome's first grand baby. She was having some tightening and she thought contractions. Oh boy. Ends up it was nothing out of the ordinary and the baby is still inside for the time being!

Trisha, Baby M and Baby D and I left for Target. Funny thing happened... we ran into my sister P, brother-in-law J and their kids MJM and GWM. Too funny. They were off to buy glue sticks for MJM's first school year in kindergarten. We split ways and headed to the baby section.

I asked Trisha what Delaney needed, since you know, she's already got three kids! Apparently crib sheets are in order. Can do. Next. ;)

We headed to baby food land and stocked the cart. We headed for the check out and the cashier flicked her light on and called a manager over. Apparently Target's coupon won't work at her Target... how annoying. We even spoke with a manager who said that "corporate" sent out a statement that said to limit people to two coupons... COME ON! Needless to say, I'll be trying at my Target here in the cities.

When we got back the guys were wrapping up the shelving unit and we started the food. It was delish! My compliments to the chefs :) We hung out for a bit longer as I got my baby fix knowing the next time I see Baby D he won't like me, but then again there will be a new Baby D that will "hafta" like me!

We headed home and ate dinner with the family. Mashed potatoes, caramel carrots, beef roast... YUM! Then it was time for cards. PJM, mom and I played 500 solitaire. Mom ended up in first place, I got 2nd and PJM... well she lost. And then PJM and I played 100 solitaire and I won. Yippy!

We woke up the next morning and took showers. We came downstairs and said that the clock in the bedroom doesn't keep time... since it was 11am and the clock said 9am! Jeeze! We had breakfast and then hopped in the car for home. We planned to take the long way home so that we could stop at our favorite cheese factory - too bad they aren't open on SUNDAYS :( Grrrr.

So we kept heading the long way instead of turning around. We went through Green Bay when Jerome said something about taking a picture of Lambeau field. Why taking a moving picture, instead we went and actually went inside. It was first trip inside the stadium... you could totally feel the love. We hopped back in the car and were on our way when someone stated that he should have found the bathroom before leaving. So we made a pit stop for an ice cream cone and potty break at the McDonald's down the street from the stadium - it was even decked out in Packer attire!

We drove home and ended up stopping at our other cheese factory stop for some curds and a brick of cheese - and gas and switching of drivers. Once we were in the cities we stopped for dinner. We unpacked the car after and then Jerome left to see how JST was doing. All is good as far as we know now.

Sink and more...

We acquired a pedestal sink from Linda and Dennis since they recently installed a different pedestal sink in their bathroom. Friday Jerome started working on the upstairs bathroom as soon as we got home from work. I had taken all of the toiletries out of the bathroom earlier in the week, leaving just the essentials. Well those essentials came out on Friday.

I ran to Home Depot to get new lines for the sink and some pipe g

lue while Jerome took out the current sink. When I returned Jerome was working on removing the current (our new) faucet and installing it onto the new pedestal sink.

I don't know if time got away from us or what, but soon we saw the clock hit midnight and we decided lights out, we'll work on it tomorrow. So bright and early Saturday we set out to Menard's to look at how the pedestal bowl should mount onto the wall as they had the same set up plates as what we found at our corner hardware store. We headed back and Jerome started working on the sink again.

I opted to stay out of the whole sink mess unless I was called in for help. Instead I rearranged the closet in the office. It needed a little help, plus we were going to be tidying the room up now that Lil wasn't living in there. We borrowed a Kirby vacuum just for this very purpose.... to bad we will need to borrow it again once Jerome's daughter PST brings down the shampooer portion of the device. We defiantly need to shampoo that carpet again, thanks to Lil...on not thanks....

Anyways.... I worked on the closet.

I picked up a few other odds and ends around the house and thought about making some lunch. Everything I wanted to make I didn't have the other half of. You know what I mean.... want to make a sandwich but there was no meat that I like and no cheese or lettuce. I wanted to make Polynesian, but again no cheese. I wanted to make tator tot hot dish... but no circle meat. Ughh. I wasn't going to go to the store for just cheese. And plus we don't want much left over since we're going out of town and I'll need to get whatever ingredients I need for Linda's potluck Fourth of July party. I'm not going today.

Jerome called me into the bathroom. Finally it was mounted on the wall correctly. The lines we being put on and the water was ready to be turned back on. Gently. Slowly. Leak. Ugh. Jerome went back to work on the sink. He called me back in shortly there after and all was well. Whew... there is now plenty of floor space in the bathroom... almost enough for a dance floor!

While I was putting away some of the tools I knocked my ring on the cabinet. I guess I must have thought it was a pretty good wack that I better check my ring. Good thing I did... my diamond popped out and was sitting in the cabinet. Off to Burnsville I go to take it in with hopes for it to be fixed by Wednesday for me to pick up. I even had them call the jeweler to make sure he would be in on Wednesday as we're going out of town soon! Should be no problem. Whew! (Mind you I took it in around Christmas and was turned away because the didn't think the could fix it in time for all the holiday parties and such... and hadn't taken it back yet!)

We headed cleaned up and headed over to Anna's house for a late night BBQ and Rum and Cokes. Yum... Rum and Coke... never thought I liked them. They were pretty good Saturday night!

Sunday when I woke up I was in our bed alone. I didn't hear or feel Jerome get up... but he was. There he was down stairs vacuuming the floor with the borrowed Kirby. Boy that thing does a great job... I just couldn't imagine spending that much on a vacuum cleaner though!

Jerome wanted to the steps... and I wanted him to do them! But he was having a hard time getting the regular long handle off of the vacuum cleaner to swap out the small hand held handle. Well, after I looked at for 5 minuets I had the handle off and the other one on. He did the stairs.

Then onto upstairs. I cleaned out the room while Jerome was working on the steps. I pulled everything off of the floor but left all the big pieces in place. I won't pull everything out of the room until we have the shampooer portion. For some reason the suction wasn't working very well. We gave PST a call and she walked me through step by step on what to do. We fixed the issue and went onto cleaning.

When that was finished, I'm not sure if Jerome's second job instinct kicked into high gear or what but out came the mop. Jerome mopped the kitchen floor... and did an excellent job at it if I do say so myself, (he should do it more often now!). I started gathering clothes and bags for California as we will be leaving soon while he was mopping.

Jerome wrapped up mopping and jumped in the shower. He then left to return the vacuum cleaner. While he was gone I rolled all our clothes for the trip and started to actually pack our suitcases. I looked at the outfits that I wanted to take and realized that I really needed a pair of white tennies to make everything work. I also needed to pick up some one quart bags for our carry on liquids/gels since we aren't checking our bags. Off to Walmart I went.

There I debated on two different shoes... one was, get this... $5 the other $6.50. FOR THE PAIR! One was a clog type (slip foot in with no back) and the other your basic white laced tennie. I ended up with the tennie for $5! That's the cheapest pair of shoes I've purchased in a LONG time.

I made it home and still no Jerome. I had been at WallyWorld for an hour at least. I gave him a call. He was on his way home.

I made steaks and potatoes on the grill for dinner. Yum-o.

Number 17 today!!!

What did you do this weekend?

I became a housewife...

I cooked, I cleaned, I sewed, I painted, I even did laundry.

What do I have to show for it... nada. Or actually... I do. I had a PC Show on Saturday which so far has sales around $500 and one booking for September. Guess I did get something for "cooking".

JST was here Saturday and most of the day on Sunday. She and I went Father's Day shopping for Jerome. We ran to a few stores and I managed to pick up something for her at each. Bad part is, she wasn't even trying to get stuff for herself!

This is what brings me to the sewing. With her bulging belly she tries to wear jeans that she wore before baby belly. Well, that doesn't work for Jerome and it sure doesn't work for me. Jerome and I bought her some outfits the last time she was here, but they are still too big for her I guess. So off to Walmart we went for some of her Father's Day present. While we were there we spotted a clearance rack in the maternity section and got her a few things.

We found pant... but it's June. The girl needs some shorts.... but I wasn't about to pay $20 for a pair of capris. Nope.... I'll make 'em! That was the easy task... just moving a hem. But, that was after I tried to make a pair of shorts out of some knit pants. Oh my.... those were a doosie.... and it didn't help that I was up till 2 am trying to figure the shorts out!

Well, once I got the hang of it, Jerome ran upstairs since we set up "shop" in the laundry room. He brought down a pair of jeans that he wanted a cuff on. Here we go. I broke two... count them two needles. Off to Walmart again....

Only to find out that they were having a huge sale on their grills.... so... yup... I called Jerome and he came with the truck to pick it up. We even had it assembled for free. Wooo hooo! Who's coming over for some gas grill now????

Jerome took JST home once we took this months baby belly pics in the living room... I took a quick cat nap. Then decided to get up and work on Jerome's pant legs again now that I had new needles.

I ate a bowl of cereal for dinner and went outside to spray paint the signs for my garage sale next weekend. Jerome came out to help after I was out of the first can... six signs and four cans of red spray paint later I've got the base coat done and will do the lettering tomorrow if it's not raining.

What a jam packed weekend.... now onto this week.

A long weekend... finally!

So Jerome and I took off of work on Friday so that we could meet with our photographer back in "Sconnie". We left Thursday night and rolled into town around 9 or so.

Friday we met with that "fantastic" photographer... ughhh. Needless to say, it was irritating being there. I have the feeling that my tiny home town will soon have a life size mirrol of my husband on the walls of the local photography place just because he's not pasty white. Yup I said it. I also think that the reason why the lady is so short with us is because she really doesn't like the "idear" of us being married... me being of the pasty white variety. I also think that the actual photographer that we had was "building her portfolio" with Jerome's family... thus why we only had two pictures of our groomsmen with Jerome. Yup... I said it.... and I won't take it back unless I'm proven wrong.... but she was defiantly building her portfolio.... there is no way to deny that one.

After that we hung out at my Mom and Dad's and then headed over to The Monty Crews place. We were just in time to catch a glimpse of Mads... what a cutie pie. And of course Miles was trailing behind his Momma... I went inside to find little Dawson upset because everyone had left him. I picked him up and thought back to the last time I held him... met him. He was a "fresh, new baby"... only about a week or two old when The Monty's came to visit us and head to a concert while Jerome and I babysat the kidlets. He's so big!

While we were there Susha asked if I would be Delaney's "fairy godmother"... I mean God Mother. Of course I said yes and will try my best to fulfill my required duties of being at as many events as I can.... wooohooo... God Baby # 3!!!!

Momma Monty (Trisha) and Papa Monty (Andy) along with Miles and Dawson went with Jerome and I to take in some wings at The Bar. It was Double Bubble so there was some great Margaritas for Jerome and I. Then we headed to a cute little coffee shop where a friend of the Monty's had a gig. We ended up back at their house and watched a movie and then left out.

Saturday we hung around Mom and Dad's and visited with my sister and her family. That night Mom, PJM and I played a fun game of Triple Solitaire while Jerome watched some crazy shows... maybe they weren't crazy but the sounds of them sure were since we couldn't take our eyes off the board in fear of loosing!

Sunday we headed back home. It was nice to be back home. I worked in the garage a bit to get ready for the garage sale that is quickly approaching. I priced some stuff... and still have two or three boxes yet to price that is out in the garage. We were planning on seeing Pirates while we were out of town and didn't get around to doing that.

Monday we went to Anna's for a BBQ in the afternoon. We decided we would go see Pirates for a matinee and left. I asked Jerome if he thought JST would like to go and he thought she may. We headed over to see if she wanted to go... but then our plans were changed when she stepped out of the door. Oh what a belly she is getting! We had to take her to buy some clothes that would cover her expanding baby belly... so still no pirates. We headed home and thought about what we would do for dinner.

Lisa called me and asked if we wanted to come over for a BBQ that she and her soon to be hubby (in 4 count them 4 days) we starting. But of course! The only thing was that I had to work on Tuesday as did she. We ended up not leaving their house until way past my bed time for a "school" night. Boy was I tired this morning.... so tired that I had to crawl my butt back into bed for two more hours before heading to work after I sent an email to my co-workers. Ugh.

This week I've got a few things that I need to accomplish:

• I need to get my "bridal emergency bag" together... you know all the possible things that could go wrong which hopefully never do on the wedding day... nail polish, sewing kit, band aids, etc etc since Lisa and Rod's wedding is this weekend.
• Write my Matron of Honor toast... yep... just like when I had a report due for school... waiting till the very last minuet!
• Pedicure with my Hubby on Friday
• Get Jerome's suit all set once he finds all the pieces
• Get all of my items ready for the wedding

Whew! Thank goodness I'm off on Friday and can put some of these things off until then.

More guests in town...

This past Friday we had some guests come into town. Yup... Monty Crew visited us - well the adults did anyway! They had a little "get-a-way-from-me" weekend from the bambinos and their dog and choose to come to MN to visit us!

Friday we had plans to meet up with them at the stadium for the Twins vs. Red Socks (baseball - for those of you who don't follow that's MN vs. Boston). Jerome had a happy hour gig after work so I road the train to the stadium to meet him. As I was waiting for him to ride the train from the other way to the stadium one of the security guys walked up to me and told me that the train that was coming in next would be out of service once it reached the stadium. I told him, "I don't care as long as my boyfriend gets off the train"... WOOOOPS... (go back and re-read that sentence.... I'll wait....)
Yup... I called my husband of nine months my boyfriend. Doh! I started laughing as soon as I said it and the security guy probably thought I was crazy so I told him what I was laughing about and he chuckled himself! I was glad to see Jerome actually get off of that train and walk away from this situation.

We waited for The Monty's since they had purchased our tickets so that we could all be seated together. Finally Susha called and asked where we were... we saw them standing at the corner of the landmark that I gave them looking for us. I told Susha to turn around, keep turning, keep turning... (making a full turn around!)... then she spotted us and headed our way.

We made our way into the stadium with our tickets in hand. We also made a whole lap around the stadium... thanks to Andy's guided tour :) Tee heee! Jerome went in and found four seats - ends up there wasn't assigned seats for our section - what do you expect for $10??? The three of us went and picked up some food and drinks and then headed up.

We saw a very drunk little girl (little girl ha... she was probably 20, maybe even 21... isn't that just how old I am????) fall all the way down the steps and knock poor Jerome's beer over a bit. She'll feel that in the morning I suppose. We left at the 7th or 8th inning since The Monty's were giving us a ride back to our house and had parked in a parking ramp. Now I'm speaking from experience here... if you are going to stay all the way through some event... do not park in a parking ramp... it will take you an hour to get down from the 9th floor of the ramp (Smile Lisa!)
We headed home and I warned them ahead of time of the dumpster dives that were going on in our area to beware of crazy drivers and heaps of junk on the lawns. Well guess what we did... yup... me and Susha went out for a bit! We left the guys at the house and took some flashlights to sniff around. It's much harder in the dark but we still managed to find a few things... and Susha made the bigger haul than me :) Needless to say she said she wants to come out next year when this is going on... should be a fun time!

They stayed at our house Friday night and when we awoke on Saturday morning I thought to myself I wonder what I should make for breakfast. I went to the cupboards... hummm only enough pancake mix for two people. Went to the fridge... only four eggs... enough for two people... checked the milk - we could always just have a bowl of cereal... only enough for one person... JEEEEZE! Andy saved the day by heading over to Mickey D's for some breakfast... yummy!

I checked for when the nail shop opened - 9:30 a.m. We planned to get there shortly after they opened... and we did. Trisha and I both got pedis I couldn't wait. The guys ended up going after Trisha eBay winnings an hour north of us. Her kids better be on their best behavior... momma got them some nice things this weekend!

After our pedis we looked around Bloomington to see if we could find any dumpster treasures in the daylight... on pick up day. We didn't have much luck - I wish she could have seen it on Thursday... she would have died! We decided to go on a quick shopping trip into Target, I picked up some coals for the grill. Then I showed her The Avenue. Great store for big girls and plenty of sale items! We headed home and started getting food ready for lunch. Brats and hamburgers on the grill. I ran to the store to pick up milk, eggs, tomatoes and potato chips. This way I was set for Sunday's breakfast! After dinner they hung out for a bit and then headed over to their hotel for Saturday night after their concert. Sounds like it was pretty posh.

Jerome and I headed to Anna's to take her the twin bed that we use to have in our 2nd bedroom in the apartment. It was originally hers and she let us borrow it for when we had guest or the girls over night. Jerome helped her switch the locks on the bedroom doors (one had a lock and one didn't) and Chris made himself at home in his new bed. We watched Firehouse Dog and then left out.

We headed home and I started cleaning up the kitchen to prep for Sunday's breakfast with The Monty's. We made plans to have omelets in the morning. They were bringing the bacon and juice, I was supplying the eggs and veggies. I chopped up the veggies and shredded the cheese. I also set the table and got the coffee pot ready. I headed to bed around 2 a.m.

I woke up Sunday morning and was brushing my teeth as they called to find out if we were up yet or not. But of course! The headed over and breakfast started. The winds started to pick up while we sat at the kitchen table chatting and while Jerome was eating since he was the last to have his omelet made. It sounded like the house was shifting from the wind, the lites even flickered a few times (I'm sure it had nothing to do with cutting limbs down last weekend... wink wink!).

At one point I got up and walked into the living room... and then I noticed... two huge limbs from the tree that is between our house and our neighbors had broken off and were sitting in our driveway. Oh boy! Well at least The Monty's had pulled their van up to our garage... imagine if they had just left it near our front door vs. our back door... well I'd be writing a totally different post! The guys got up and hauled the branches to our backyard. And the Monty's left out of town while they could. Jerome went back to eating his omelet and I went a picked up other sticks that had fallen from all of our trees.



I told Jerome they should have just put it between our houses instead of our backyard... what were we going to do with it... we couldn't cut it up! So he and I hauled it to the grass between our houses and told the neighbors son about it. He came right out with his chainsaw and chopped it up. We picked up the rest of the yard and Jerome told me he was heading to St. Paul to pick up JST.

I stayed home and chatted with the neighbors since it seemed like everyone was out picking up their yard. To bad the dumpster crew picked up on Saturday - lots of people had tons of sticks and limbs to go out!

JST came to our house and hung out for a good bit. She and I chatted while Jerome mowed the lawn. For those of you who have been wondering.... JST is the mommy to be. Yup, I'll be a grandma before I'm a real momma! We caught up about things going on in her life, how she's feeling and we even took some belly pics. The photo is manipulated to protect her privacy. She's five months and is due Sept. 25th. She seems very happy... I hope she stays that way.

She looked at our wedding pictures that I had out on the table since we are going to be ordering them in two weeks. She asked why some were glossy vs. matte. WHAT?!?!?! Oh good lord. Here I or Jerome had mixed up the original pictures with some that we had reprinted. Big no no since we needed to bring the originals to the shop to order. We figured everything out... thank goodness but without JST looking at the photos we could have had some big issues with the photography people (not that we haven't already!)

All in all it was a pretty good weekend. I even managed to cut some lilacs for inside the house and plant the rest of my peas in my garden.

Oh shooot... that's another thing. When my parents were in town last weekend we tried to help one of my purple lilac trees from growing into the while lilac bush. Well perhaps we shouldn't have helped it by tying it to the fence... one of the limbs busted in the wind storm. I don't know if lilacs will "regrow" or not... but I stuck it in the ground in hopes that it would... we will see!

Dumpster Diving - week two part two

Here's the truck... filled to the brim...

This is the first time we've ever had to tie something to the roof! We found two shelving units with doors but I didn't take pictures of them. We're looking to see if they will work for in the laundry room or somewhere else. I also found a sewing machine. Not sure if it works - heck I don't really know how to even use one... but we will see!

Looks like a brand new golf bag - mom?

Car ramps for those oil changes that Jerome will be doing :)

Another umbrella - this one came with a base though... oh wait... we switched that out at a different house... but we've got a base now too!

Baby highchair. I'll explain more in a future post... no it's not me!

Baby stroller - same thing. Not me. Exciting part though... this is an Eddie Bauer stroller!

Baby bouncer/net enclosed chair. This too is Eddie Bauer. This I will keep - especially if it works once we get batteries in it.

Metal folding shelf - see the butterfly or bug in the wire?

Migraines

So on Monday I left work early to pick up PST and her boyfriend from the airport. They were off in Mississippi visiting family there for about a week. I arrived early even though they had already landed so I was driving the loop in and out of the airport baggage claim area. In sunlight, out of sunlight, in sunlight, out of sunlight, in sunlight, out of sunlight... and on and on.

I'm not sure if this is what triggered it but that's when it started. A dull ache behind my eyes. Ughhh.

PST and boyfriend jumped in the car and we headed for home. They were going to stay for a taco dinner and have Jerome install a CD player in the car. The two of them ran to Best Buy while I ran to the grocery store for taco supplies that we didn't have on hand. When I returned they were waiting outside - wooops. At least they hadn't been waiting long.

They came inside and started watching some college basketball game or another while I started dinner. I chopped and minced and did all the wonders of the kitchen with no problem. Jerome came home and all three of them went out to look at the car where they were going to install the CD player. Thank goodness... now I can turn the basketball game down! I wrapped up dinner and set the table. Boyfriend came in first, took a seat, and I told him to dig in while it's warm. PST came in next, pulled up a chair and dug in. Jerome was still fussing outside. I called him in and we sat down for dinner.

Then it hit me. I was in my 2nd taco and there was nothing more that I wanted to do but to go to sleep. Noooooooo! I made myself finish dinner, not knowing when I would be able to eat again. I went and sat on the couch - turned the TV onto something "less active" while everyone else went back outside to work on the car. Apparently they forgot a screw or bolt or something so they ran to a part store. I remained on the couch. When they came back they all came inside. I reached for an ice pack out of the freezer and I think Jerome knew something was up. I told him I thought a migraine was coming on. Boy was I right.

I told them that I was going to go lay down for a bit, but I would try to be back up before they left. I went to bed into one of the deepest sleeps I've had for awhile. One block solid hour later I was awake. I turned the TV on in our room and watched a little while I drifted in and out of sleep. I had taken two Tylenol before I had gone to bed. Then my cell phone rang. What the heck??? Doesn't everyone know I'm out of commission? Jeeeze...

I went to answer it and missed the call. I called back the number. Here it was a Pampered Chef host wanting to place an order. Great.... I take her info, and feel fine. As soon as I get off the phone though I head back to bed.

I slept pretty good Monday night, all things considered. Then Tuesday started. I took the day off of work since I couldn't lift my head without it causing me extreme pain. I slept most of the day.... and ended up eating a whole package of Saltine crackers throughout the day and only water. I was to the point of going way beyond my normal migraine - boy do I hate to say normal. (I've only had about 3 or 4 but none of them were like this!) I got sick around 11 am and went back to bed. I woke up and watched about a half hour of TV and fell back asleep. I woke back up to hear Lily yakking herself. I don't need sympathy puke Lil! Back to bed.

I was in bed all freakin day.

I woke up at about 3:30 and headed to the bathroom. Before I went there I called Jerome and told him to stop at Walgreen's on his way home from work. I told him to ask the Pharmacist to show him where migraine over the counter stuff was because the Tylenol is not helping me at all. I got sick. Stayed in the bathroom covering up with a towel. I was freezing. Jerome came home and tossed the box my way. I attempted to open it.... and just put it on the counter. He came back after hearing me dang near dieing and asked what he could do... Ummmm open the bottle??!!?!

Off to bed again. I woke up at 7 pm feeling okay. The throbbing was gone. But light and loud sounds still weren't cool. I finished off the 1st package of Saltines and started on my 2nd. I sat on the couch with Jerome watching Stargate. He should know that I was sick if I was watching that without complaining. :)

I went to bed at about 9 pm. Woke up at midnight thinking I heard Lily getting sick. False alarm. Then I was up. I got sick at 1 am and decided I'm going for an appointment Wednesday morning. I stayed on the couch for the rest of the night.

Jerome woke up at his usual time and got ready for work. He cooked himself an egg and I about died from the smell. Ughhhhhh. Please migraine just go away. I've been up ever since, but not getting sick - knock on wood.

I called the appointment line for my clinic at 1 am and even tried to make an appointment online. No go. The phone line isn't manned all night long... so I called at 7 am on the dot to get an appointment. My usual clinic is all full for appointments today and doesn't open until 8am anyway. So I've been writing this here post since 7:05 or so. I'll go take a shower and head over there and hope they can squeeze me in.

So my big question to all of you... do you suffer from migraines? What are you symptoms? What do you do to fix it?