Good Eat'in

Who loves a holiday even more than when there is family around to share it with--- this girl. I just got off a ridiculous stretch of consecutive days at work but it was totally worth it because I have the next 5 days off--- woot woot! We welcomed my dad’s side of the family last night and had a great visit after a much needed BBQ feast (weight watchers is killin me with all this delicious food around!!!) We started the 4^th at Bay Beach so all the kiddos could run around and burn off some energy and frankly the grown ups got to play too. We started on the giant slide racing down to see who went the fasted. You would think that the heavier you are the faster you would go but it must create more drag or something because I was not triumphant---boooo. We took a spin on the giant swing set (my personal favorite and I know Theresa likes that one too wink wink). Uncle Bruce and Anna went on them with us too! I will never forget it… I laughed and laughed the whole time. We braved the other rides including the bumper cars (good thing Kyra has a few years before she turns 16 because the child can’t drive lol). We got a crew of us together and hopped on the Zippin Pippin (the wooden roller coaster) and it was just as good as the first time I went on it. At the end of the ride there is quite a bump and Bruce (who has been having trouble with his back) got jarred pretty bad. So hard actually that his cell phone jumped out of his shirt pocket and into the air. Luckily there was a quick reflexes man behind us because he caught it- crazy I tell you. The morning started warm and by lunch time it was literally HOT so we stopped for a bite to eat and then went home to cool down for a bit. AJ and Anna hosted a cook out at their place where we were all able to just sit around, relax and visit for a while. I ate the most delicious strawberry cream cheese desert mom made. I had a bratwurst for desert and a whole lot of diet coke--- what a great day.

Evil Among Us

Funny story: I was in the elevator this afternoon when it shut down, went dark and then restarted. There were other employees in with me including a physical therapist, a housekeeper, a cardiologist, a occupational therapist and someone from the kitchen. Now I am not sure if y'all believe in serendipity, fate or karma but my heart was about to jump out of my chest. If you have seen the movie "Devil" it is about a group of people that are stuck in an elevator and not to spoil it... they all die. But throughout the whole movie you the viewer are unaware who is killing everyone and why all these people were brought together in the first place. We later find that they have all come in contact with each other in someway and have wronged the other person. However it took two hours to tell the story. I can tell you it took me two seconds in the dark elevator to make my peace with God and prepare to be offed. Luckily this didn't happen, but it sure made me stop and think about how precious life is and how happy I am with mine... and that I should go to church more. Damn you Catholic guilt!!!

Roadtrip Shenanigans

Can I tell you how good I feel. Its like when you go to get a pedicure (granted I have only had one and that was in Texas for Jennifer Jo’s wedding) and they scrub off all the dead skin and you rub your feet together and it feels amazing… well that’s how my whole body feels—inside and out. I spent the entire weekend with my best friend Jackie getting in and out of trouble throughout the Wisconsin landscape. We started in Chicago where I spent Friday night. I made awesome time getting down there but I always get in around 2pm which is horrible because I hit traffic- guaranteed. So my three hour drive turned into five (again) but I made it and that’s what important. We went out to dinner at a local hipster restaurant (the cool kind not the lame kind) and stopped to get guacamole and liquor on the way home. After visiting for a while she and I hit the streets to go watch a Chicago native burlesque (classy stripping--- not that trashy stuff). It appears that we will be on the internet too because they were taping the performance and we were in the front row…woot woot! We got up early Saturday morning and started to make our way north to Green Bay but we have been planning for years to do a “Weird Wisconsin” tour where we go to all the odd things we are interested in. Low and Behold most of it is in or near the Wisconsin Dells so we were in luck! As we got into the Dells we did not hesitate jumping right into our awesome itinerary (I printed a mini-booklet… a geek yes… but always prepared). First stop was the Devices of Torture Museum which was just that: a history lesson on all the torturous activities throughout the last however many centuries. It was gross but cool. I was disappointed but not surprised in how many of them were just for women. Like the one for women that gossiped too much… this weird leather gag head gear… totally messed up. Luckily times have changed and women are no longer physically restrained but only emotionally (this makes me angry even typing it) I am not going to get into the whole women and men are equal because its not even close to true and it just makes me crazy but I will just say this… thank goodness for progress and lets push the limits ladies. Moving on. At the museum there was a signed painting by Sir John Wayne Gacy (You know—the serial killer) of the 7 dwarfs (side note: which was weird because the last time I was in Chicago Jackie and I went on a Haunted Chicago tour last summer and we stopped at a famous Gacy pick up spot so this coincidence totally creeped us out—I guess you could say he is the mascot to our longtime friendship). There was a copy of his death certificate too which added to the macabre feeling. We followed the torture museum with a good ‘ol fashion haunted house and ramped up our adrenaline. We singed up to go on the boat tours of the upper dells which let me tell you I am super proud of Jackie because she is deathly afraid of water so to be on a boat was a totally big deal. And she did great. We made two land stops one of which was at Witches Gulch and I cant wait to go back there. It was so creepy and cool but super super quiet and damp… I loved it. It started to rain at one point but it didn’t last. I bought a plastic poncho because I hate having a wet butt, and frankly it was useful but more trouble than it was worth… a good joke if nothing else.

 We went out to dinner and stopped by the Forevertron to check out what the good Doctor Evermore was up to. Jackie had never seen it so I thought it was important to show her one of my most special places. It recharged my battery. We stayed overnight in Baraboo right outside the Dells and wouldn’t you know the hotel bar was hosting a costume contest and Karaoke? We were in heaven. Especially because the booze was cheap and we didn’t have to drive anywhere. YES!!! We woke up a little worse for the wear but it was all good. We hit the road and headed out to find Wisconsin’s largest Ice Cream Cone and Ed Gein’s home/grave (Google him if you need to)… (they really are polar opposites I guess- oh well). And wouldn’t you know, we found both. Each creepy in their own way. I was pretty certain that my car was going to stall out there in the middle of nowhere and Ed Gein’s ghost would take over our souls but it never happened so we are safe… for now ooohhhhhh.

First Week of Summer Vacation

And we are lovin it! Kyra was done with school on June 6^th but because the way our weekend rotation falls it wasn’t until the 13^th that we got to see her. It used to be that we got to have her for the whole summer (save for every other weekend) but last year she chose to do a week at a time at each parent’s home. Which was hard for me because I took it personally that my little buddy didn’t want to spend that time with us. Of course I had not yet considered what it was like to be a 13 year old again… yah- just what you want to do is hang out with your mom. But I am cool!!! (Obviously not hahahaha). So I got over it (after everyone told me in their own way that I was crazy and freaking out for no reason). And now we get her every other week and every other weekend. On one hand I know she likes to be available if her friends want to hang out but on the other hand she is remorseful because she can’t always participate in all the cool stuff we do. Case in point: Chucky Cheeses. I promised her that based on how well she did in school we could go play at Chucky Cheeses to celebrate her last semester. Well she blew it out of the park with all A’s in all of her subjects. Now if we could get her to all her classes on time or make it to school for the first bell she would be in tip top shape. But for now we are just going to enjoy the moment and play some games!!! It’s a free for all!!! The little girls had never been to Chucky Cheeses so I think it was a little bit overwhelming for them. It didn’t take long to acclimate though and soon enough they were right in the middle of all the action. Bella was a token hog and wanted them all to herself. She was like Golem from Lord of the Rings… “my precious.” We chose to go at 9am and I am so glad we did because save for a few other kiddos my girls were the only ones in there. There were no lines to wait in and they got to play in the climbing areas undaunted. I not only watched the girls but even played a few games myself-- like Fruit Ninja on a giant screen! It was awesome. Chucky himself made an appearance and taught the kids a dance… Bella loved that. At the end of the song he threw some tickets up in the air and all the kids went after them like adults would 20 dollars bills floating around. I was proud that Katie didn’t throw any shoulders to get what she wanted and still got a few even though she was possibly the shortest one in the group. The girls still get to see a different Grandma once or twice a week for a few hours usually and Auntie Karla watches them on Tuesdays so I anticipate a pretty eventful summer for these girls. Viva Summer 2013!!!

Finally a Rummage sale

 

After months and months of waiting (not to mention some hefty tapping into my vacation time) I have finally had my annual “Spring” Rummage Sale. I am ambivalent to its turn out for a few reasons. Typically I hold the sale in April or early May which bodes well as I live very close to a few schools and businesses. I never realized how much of my traffic came from parents dropping their children off, teacher stopping after school and various sports enthusiasts swinging by. So that was strike one… I just didn’t have enough people. I encouraged my extended family to drop things off and I would throw them into the sale for them. I made the mistake of mentioning that I would hold what didn’t sell until my fall sale in September (hopefully) Which usually is not a problem but for some reason there was a surplus of Christmas items this time. And wouldn’t you know that people just aren’t into buying holiday items in June. Whoopsie—Strike 2. Here comes strike 3-- Usually as a group we make pretty close to 750 or 1,000 dollars but this year I am not sure if I just didn’t have enough treasures or what the deal was because as a group we only cleared 500.00 and that was by the skin of our teeth (I still don’t understand that euphemism) but its accurate because we just made it. Of course, that was not all mine so I had to pay out to my in-laws, brother and a few other people. I shall now follow up with the positives. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to see who comes to my garage sales. Its like a social experiment for me. I find all the peculiar people so interesting especially to see what they buy, what they decide is too much or not exactly what they are looking for. I even will plant some “treasures” to see who will buy them. For example I had a pair of bright pink high-tops from Kyra when she played basketball. You would think that a young teenage girl would pick them up but oh no- It was a 45 year old women in cut offs and a Harley vest- interesting. I had a gentleman that was riding his bike with no less than 6 bags (I swear) who was in the market to purchase even more bags- ha! I didn’t have a lot of big ticket items so I am sure that played a role in the bottom line. My parents were nice enough to watch the girls Thursday morning so I could set up the sale. Although this is the first year that I have done it all by myself. 3 hours and a few Tylenol later I was feeling like a total buffy and quite accomplished if I say so myself.

I was only able to have the sale Thursday and Friday because there was a threat of rain forecasted for Saturday. It was disappointing but que sera sera I guess. So we packed up the sale and hunkered down for the impending thunderstorm… which never came. LIARS!!! (I can’t imagine being a meteorologist-yuck) It wasn’t all bad because I was freed up from hosting a sale and could go running around with mom to hit a few that morning… and did we ever. I think this may be my “story” for the season (we rummagers always have a bright and shining star of a deal that we like to brag about) So here it goes. There was an add on Craigslist (which can be creepy at times) of a sale in our area (Mom and I tend to only rummage in a particular 10 block radius) and the way they worded their post it just seemed like it would be right up our alley. Antiques, artsy farsty items and weirdo treasures- hells yes I will be there! So we walked up the gravel driveway and right away I noticed this old dresser that was displaying various antiques and other items. There was a small tin sitting on the top next to a sticker that said 7.00 I thought it was a bit much for a piece of metal but really what do I know about antiques? Nada. I couldn’t find a price on the dresser (which had three tiers all topped with marble and my favorite part was the glass drawer pulls) so I asked the lady hosting the sale how much she would like. Her response was “I stickered it for 7.00 but am hoping to get 10.00” After waiting two beats I retort “Well if you take 7.00 I will buy it.” While I wait for her to come back I am trying not to dance for joy in her driveway and she says yes 7.00 would be fine. OOOOMMMMGGGG!!! I couldn’t believe it. It was like the skies parted and it was raining glitter on me right there in the street--- just try and wipe that smile off my face and the great finds kept coming. Way to perpetuate an obsession/addiction. In the end we had to call it quits because my little family had a lunch engagement to attend with Tim’s aunt Karla so I had to pry myself away from the sales and head home to get myself and the girls ready--- woosah. I have been on Weight Watchers for a couple months at this point which has been going well but boy was it fun to pork out on pizza and chicken! Bella had a total breakdown in the restaurant (we went at nap time which is always a gamble) so I took her out to the truck to settle down. Thank God because I swear I am Liger (you know--- a combination of a Lion and a Tiger… the kind that can eat themselves to death) but damn were those mashed potatoes delicious!

The Big 85

This very well could have been one of the best days of my life. Grandma turns 85 this year which when you sit down and think about it is quite the accomplishment. I sometimes feel a little desensitized to just how long that must be. I turned 31 this year and it seems like forever but then I look back to age 20 and think “Man that feels like only yesterday.” Although I must say that in no way or shape do I ever want to go back to my twenties. Too many life lessons and trying to find myself. I am enjoying my thirties and frankly so far they have been amazing. Enough about how happy I am (lol) and back to Grandma or Great-Grandma (my best friend) as Katie would say. This weekend we celebrated her birthday with a party at my Aunt Barb and Uncle Bruce’s house in Melrose, Wi. It is about 15 minutes from Black River which is on the Western side of the state. As soon as we got there the girls b-lined it for the bunny hut and to see the donkeys. They had so much fun picking grass and feeding it to the little guys. We spent probably a good 45 minutes (I swear it felt longer) saying hello to the donkeys before we made it up to the house for lunch. Bruce had ordered Amish donuts and if it wouldn’t put me into a diabetic coma I would eat a steady diet of them (shhhh I had 4) -- Amazeballs. After lunch and a few gifts we all loaded up and took a tractor/trailer ride to the nearby Amish farmstead/garden/greenhouse. I love to go to these places because it can be so taboo in society today. I mean you walk into the local WalMart and if you see someone in a floor length dark dress, a pioneer style hat and apron most people can’t help but be inquisitive. However, cutting out the middle man and seeing them in their natural surroundings (I am not trying to make them sound like a zoo exhibit but am failing miserably I know) was super cool! I have such respect and admiration for the Amish, as they can obtain from all the conveniences of today. And they know about them too! It’s not like they don’t know what they are missing. I am not sure that I could do it--- cell phones yes, face book you bet, but music--- that’s a no go for me. It is absolutely not ok to take photos of the Amish so I had to be sneaky about getting a few snapshots. I guess Karma was not in my corner because as soon as I turned to take a picture Katie got nipped by a dog on their farm---argh. This is her second dog bite in two days (We were down at the barn on my Uncles farm and one of the dogs scratched/bit her face when she leaned in for a kiss) so I am pretty sure she is traumatized (hopefully not) for life.

After our ride to visit the Amish we all visit a bit more. Dad got to see some of his Aunts and Uncles and even a few of his cousins. I got to visit with my cousins Kristina and Teresa which was nice because I don’t get to see them all too often. You would think that it would be easy enough just to pick up the phone or to shoot off an email but it never seems to happen. So it was great to sit around (in-between running after the kiddos) and chat with them. Krissy even brought a piñata that the little ones took turns trying to whack… they were adorable… and the best part??? CANDY!!! Thanks Kris ;)

Adventures in Landscaping

I am not sure if dad is feeling empowered, motivated or just down right crazy but our latest project (mind you the others are not completed yet) is to pull out the side hill and replant the front lawn. YUCK! Dad borrowed a rototiller from the next door neighbor and tilled up my front lawn which was super cool to watch but also made a tiny bit nervous. The down side of this is the fact that on the way here he accidentally dumped off the back of the trailer --Whoops! All is well in the end as the neighbor who borrowed it to him was all good with it. Just a few scrapes and a little ding on the handle. After a few months of watering and some tender loving care this hillside should look amazing. AJ was even able to pop over and utilize his previous landscaping experience and help us set the sod in place. For the past few years we have had a new neighbor to the north and the strip of land (this makes it sound big but it really isn’t) has been in question as to whose property it is. Well after buying wood chips and maintaining it I am sick of it. I frankly would just rather plant grass and mow the thing instead of spending money every year to just have to rake it in the fall and the spring. So that’s what we did. The neighbor is home only once in a blue moon but the starts aligned and I was able to pop over and make sure it was okay with him. His English is so poor which worked in my favor because he pretty much just nodded his head, smiled and gave me permission to do whatever I wanted—yes!