Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I Told You So...?

I wasn't wrong, but I wasn't right either....

I find it hard to not say I told you so a lot, because even though you don't like what I have to say, I am not always wrong and actually things might be easier if you listen to me once in a while. I do have life experiences that help me to know better how to handle things and what needs to get done.

Puppies...

E loves puppies...and kitties... and...

E got to pet some "puppies" last night. One of our neighbors has miniature pinschers (their own and ones they foster for a rescue group). Every night they go out for a walk and sometimes we are outside to see them and other times not. Well yesterday evening J, E, and I were outside playing and talking and the "Pins" went for a walk down to another development, and we happeend to still be out there when they came back.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Summertime Fun...

Splash pad...

E, J, J's friend A, and I spent a little time at the splash pad yesterday. As soon as we turned the corner and E could see the water on the splash pad, she got so excited and started saying "Water, water, water, water" over and over again. She was so happy to get out of her carseat so she could go check out the water.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Military Service...

I miss everyone (well almost everyone) from our deployment…
In my attempt to fall asleep last night, I was doing Google searches of people I know. Of course I searched our own names, because I know there was stuff out there. I just wanted to see if there was anything new. In searching our names, I ran across newspaper articles from when Hubby and I were deployed to Iraq. I was able to find some links to pictures that were taken by the embedded reporters that were with our unit from New Jersey. I found a few pictures, which I did not know about, of other people in our unit. Makes me miss everyone all over again.


Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Attitude...

I hate attitude…!

I know, I know, I am one of the worst ones for giving attitude, but that doesn’t mean I don’t hate it all the same. And why is it when kids/teens give you attitude all you want to do is wring their necks? Or when they don’t think you know what you are talking about and say “Well, how would you know?” I hate it. HATE IT! For once can’t they just listen, accept it as the truth (which it is), and just do what they are told? Why is that so hard? I don’t recall back talking like that to my parents when they told me something (like this). I know I did in other situations, but there are times when I knew my parents knew what they were talking about.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Going Back To School...

And so a new schedule starts...

Since cross country practice starts next week, J needs to start getting to bed at a decent hour and waking up early. For the first week, practices are at 8am then in the afternoons after that. For the girl that hasn't gone to bed earlier than midnight to 3am all summer, waking up at 7am is going to be tough. But she has to get used to it. I just hope she is still as interested in cross country now as she was when she first mentioned it. We don't think she realizes that it will be a lot of work. Too bad she will already have started before she decides what she wants to do - costing us money in the long run.

Hubby says the only way she can quit is if her grades slip, which is more than likely going to happen. I shouldn't be so negative, but this girl is more interested in boys and friends than she is about buckling down and focusing on what she really needs to do. This girl has proven to us time and time again that she is capable of getting good grades (A's & B's). Too bad we had to take away her phone, her iPod, her computer time, her friends, everything in order for her to do that. Why do we have to basically jail her in order for her to study? It is the one thing that her mother always did, and the one thing she absolutely hated, therefore we don't want to have to do that, but what if we have no choice? Sadly since hubby is gone Sundays through Thursdays, I get to be the bad guy, the one that has to follow up on everything that she is supposed to be doing.

I just don't understand why it has to be this hard. Wait, its hard because its parenting. The one job we never get instruction manuals with. Oh well, this is our crash course so we have some idea what to do with E when she becomes a teen. Scary thoughts!

Our Heathen Felines (aka Our Pets)

Our Pets?
We have 4 cats. All of them are rescues of some sort. Three (Maybe, Simon, Lily) were obtained from the Humane Society and one (Pitter) was rescued from my porch in the dead of winter when I was in college.

Pitter belonged to the neighbors in the basement of the house I lived in while I was in college. She was allowed to stay outside overnight with no shelter. After almost a month of me feeding her and providing her with warm water and shelter on my porch, she decided she was going to come inside and has never left. I had her for over a month before they even noticed that she was gone. They saw her one day in the window and were a little upset, but I told them that if they weren't going to take care of her in the dead of winter, then they didn't deserve her. It takes her a long time to warm up to strangers. It took her almost a year before she decided that life doesn't start at 10:00 at night. Now she come out often during the day and early evening hours. She is great around other animals as well as my little girl.

Maybe is the talker in the group. She is very much a people cat. She is always around even when there are strangers in the house. My mother found her for me when I was in college. She asked me if I wanted a talkative kitten. Little did I know how talkative she was. After a month of having her, I had to get another kitten (Placebo) for her to interact with. When she was left alone, every time I left the house or came back, I would get the 20 question drill as to where I was and why I wasn't home with her. It was much better when she had another kitten to interact with.

Simon and Lily were adopted together after my other cat, Placebo, had to be put to sleep. We went there looking for just one, namely Lily, but Simon was such a cuddle bug (Big Faker) that we adopted both of them. They were almost full grown. Lily is the reincarnation of Placebo (the one I lost), same coloring and later on the same weird personality. Simon has turned out the be the big pain in the butt for the other cats. He likes to try to bully them around, mainly because he is a really big cat.

They are all pretty good around other people and around other pets, mainly dogs. They all also tolerate E so well, especially when she tries to lay on them and just hold them down. We have taught her how to be gentle with them, but there are times when she just wants to lay on them until I make her get off. Crazy kid...

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Intro to me and my life...Thanks for joining me here!

Why?
Why am I starting a blog? No idea.
Do I think people will read it? Probably not. Maybe. Who knows.
Am I funny and interesting? Not really. Sometimes I can be, depends on the situation.


I follow a few other blogs where I would love to meet the women who created them. I think I am creating this blog as an outlet for all the things that happen to me in my life. I do not have a lot of close friends so sometimes the anonymity of the Internet is where I feel the most comfortable venting/expressing my opinions/emotions. I think I have created this blog just so I can have a voice and a forum to express my opinions about my life. Not all will be pleasant, but hopefully some can be entertaining. I thank you for joining me on this ride. I know there will be ups and downs, and probably some loopy loops. Before I get started with more posts, I want to give you a little insight into me and my family.

Who I am?
I am a first time mom who works full time in county government as a records technician. I grew up in a small town in northwestern Minnesota and attending college in North Dakota. I graduated college in 2003 and got married in May 2004. I moved to central Minnesota in 2003 and have been here every since. I am very opinionated, but I try to keep an open mind about many things. I am learning as I go in this thing called life and motherhood.

My Family?

My husband of 5 years is a over the road truck driver. He is gone 5 days a week and home on the weekends. It is hard to have him gone so much, but I am thankful that he is able to be home as much as he is. I am also thankful that his daughter is old enough to help out around the house as well when he is gone. My husband is pretty good overall, but we could use some lessons in communication. We are both very stubborn, hard headed, and impatient. Makes for some very petty arguments.


My stepdaughter J is 13yo and going into 8th grade this coming school year. She is the typical teenager where she thinks the parents don't have a clue about life and what she is going through. While we try to protect her from a lot of hurts in life, we also have to let her have some freedom in order to experience that life is not all roses and honey. She is in a love/hate relationship with her"boyfriend" next door. That in itself makes it very scary for us during the summer months as she is home alone during the day. I am sure I will post more about her later.


My daughter E is 20mo and changing everyday. When I met my husband, one of the first things I told him was that if we were going to be together he had to be open to having another child, because I definitely wanted a child of my own at some point. It took us a few years, many things got in the way, but when I found out I was pregnant, it was one of the happiest days in my life. This little girl is what keeps me going and what I live for each day. I never thought I would love anyone/anything this much.

Anyway, thanks for reading this far. Where this blog will go, I have no idea. I cannot guarantee that you will agree with all my thoughts and opinions. I will try to stay away from the more controversial topics, mainly because I hate debates. I also hate politics, so unless I really understand something, I pretty much will not comment on it. That's just the way I am. I know I have some thoughts right now that I would like to get down "on paper" per se, but those will be another time... See you then.

Safe Winter Jacket Use in Carseats

To keep our babies safe, use the thinnest jacket possible under the carseat straps or zip the jacket over the straps. Check out Car-Seat.Org for more info.