I'm horrible at daily life lately...

I'm really not a scheduled type person. I don't ever plan to be, nor do I want to be. That said, the only constant in my life lately is exercise. This is a good thing, really. Everything else in my life is put on hold it seems. Just when I think I'm getting caught up something else happens. It has all been good things until yesterday though. My dad, my grandpa and my uncle came over for dinner, my mother and father in law did as well. That went very well. It was seriously the first time our fathers have met and we have been married almost ten years!!! That's not the bad part though. Shortly after my dad had left, he called very upset. His auntie passed away. Granted, she was very ill and in the hospital for 20+ days, it was still very emotional for him. I didn't grow up close to his side of the family, not that it matters, but it did make me feel very sad for him. His auntie actually did a good portion of raising him as a child. They were extremely close. It's always so hard to hear my dad so upset, it has only happened maybe three times I can vividly remember.

Other than that things have been going quite well. The cubs are right smack dab in the middle of a basketball tournament. It's so fun watching them play. Both have gotten increasingly better with time since last year. I really should be getting to bed, I have to get up in 5 1/2 hours. So quickly I'll say... Cub4 has tooth #3 (top tooth now.) He's busy trying to take off up the stairs~ YIKES!!!! He can stand for a few seconds at a time, pulls himself up, but still not interested in "normal" crawling. He's improvised and does his own thing. He's a little too mobile for his own good, he's scary!!! Anyway, I'm off to sleep.

Quick few lines here...

Art show was great!!!! We should be getting new flooring because of it, so that's pretty exciting!!! Yay!!! We are just not carpet people. LOL Embarassing to admit, but it's true. We've only had our carpet for 2 years and it looks like it's been through some rough times.

Tomorrow we should be moving our bedroom back upstairs. Everyone's been sick the last couple days including myself, so things have been on hold. I did wind up finishing up proofing the baby shower from a couple weeks ago though. FINALLY!

Our current room will be used as a studio/workspace, so that's exciting!! Then to figure out my lights.... hope that doesn't take long.

More from my busy life...

It's been pretty hectic and I swear it has to be on the verge of slowing down here sometime!!!!

Print #4 is commmmmplete!!! It's the first with hubby's signature feather burned onto the print itself. It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. I figured this is good as spot as any to keep track of when these prints were "hatched."

Cub#4 has two teeth now, don't know if I already blogged that or not, but he is soooooo great at letting me brush them. Man this kid is awesome!!!

I also bought a bunch of new toys. I'm just waiting on a few more then I can really play! Hubby told me for early Christmas to go ahead and order those "bees." So I'm just waiting on my softliter and then I can play. YAY!!!

I still haven't printed a Christmas Card this year, oh no!!! I really hope people don't get the idea I've crossed them off of my list LOL.

What else is happening~ For New Years I have been commissioned to take pictures at the local casino, prom style :oP So that ought to be interesting. I've also taken some shots for some company through my brother, it was nothing big, but a part for his quad and they will be using the shots for marketing purposes :o) I finished my friend's order for 2 photo blankets too. I really doubt they will be here in time for Christmas though. That sucks. This same friend also announced her engagement a few days back, guess hubby and I will shoot her wedding too. Like I said, busy life!!!

One mildly interesting inquiry had me grinning though. Someone had seen all the pictures I have been taking lately and asked if I photographed people at all. She was asking hubby, I wasn't there yet. Anyway, she was saying how backlogged she gets with requests for her photography and asked if I would be willing to travel around the US to take pics. LOL That would be interesting. I really don't know if anything will seriously come of it, but that sounded like fun :oP

We have another art show this weekend, so hopefully it will be as successful as the last few. Hubby is trying to get one more print done before then so we have to head out of here soon!!!

When life slows down...

I'll wonder what to do with myself. I took pictures at a baby shower on Saturday, still not done proofing them. It was just a favor for my sis, but still, I don't want pictures floating around there with people knowing I took them. That's another thing!!! I took pics for my friend, I actually had to reshoot. Man, oh man that sucked. Not the photoshoot itself, but the lighting in her house wasn't that good at all. It's ridiculous. I took the pics, put together a collage so she can get 2 photo blankets made from a company on ebay. Unfortunately, they are sending her a kit, that she can send the pic into the company or upload it to their website. Oh please!!! I know we wound up cutting it really close, but wow I really wish we would have bookmarked the company which promised delivery by Christmas if ordered by Dec. 5th. Oh well, it should all work out, sooner or later.

I'm still busy digitizing more of hubby's paintings and he's busy filling orders for the business, it has been doing quite well for itself the last few weeks. I know it's just the holidays, but it's enough to make these holidays happy.

I'm still trying to figure out my dang printer too. I just bought an Epson 2200 printer which can print up to 13 inches wide. It's huge and the ink is supposed to last 100+ years on paper :o) That's fine and dandy and all, but what good does it do me if my pictures look terrible?!?! I'm confused on whether it's my monitor, the printer, the picture, the software, all of them, none of them or just the combination!!!! Ugh!!! I really hoped it would just be a simple hook it up and go, but apparently that's too simple of a wish. The good thing is, I'm learning a lot about the printer, just not the right stuff, I guess.

Tiring, tiring, tiring...

but in a good way. Print #3, put a done sticker on that one!!! Yay!!!!

We had our first snow Thursday. It was gorgeous!!! It's pretty well melted now, but it was great. The kiddos got early release due to the snow, but Friday came along and nada, school as usual.

Cub#4's second tooth is finally making way. He's absolutely wonderful at letting me brush them~ what a great kid :o)

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

We were supposed to be hit with about 5 inches of snow lastnight. Ha. Not even an inch. No biggie, it's too cold for me anyhow. They even delayed school even before it started snowing. That's a lot of trust in the weatherman if you ask me!!! :oP

I took Christmas pics for my friend and some of them turned out cute, the others are okay, but I've decided... I NEEEEEEED LIGHTS, and a new wide angle lens. I had to use the stinkin kit lens because it's my only lens that goes down to 18mm. Other than that it was fun. I am supposed to go back today to do the individuals. That's 7 kids!!!!!!!!!!! Yikes.

Just to add a few things that made me smile about cub3, just because... he insists he neeeeeeds a spongebob bike for Christmas. This is honestly the first year he has "requested" anything. He even told my dad that was his wish. Now here's the kicker... I've looked online and they have a spongebob big wheel, but nooooo bike. hmmmmmmm..... anyway the other cute thing.

He put some coins he found in an earring box without the back to hold the earrings, just one of those clam type thingies. He was counting his "moneys." The kid can count in spanish too, it's cute (thanks dora!) and off the topic though. He wanted to know which one was a quarter, I showed him. This went on with all of the ones he had. Well he was pretty good at remembering, so I call hubby in and he does it for him. It went something like this, " a quarter, a dime, a nickel, and a fifty-five cent piece." LOL I have no idea how he came up with that, but it was too cute.

2 prints done, should be 3 by the end of the week. Hubby went to get more paper yesterday. Get this!!! It's official, his prints have made the gallery. A reallllllllly nice one at that!!! He still needs to talk to about 5 or 6 more, but the response was more than he could have hoped for.

I returned my camera. I'm not a point and shoot gal anymore I think. I took about 16 pictures with it and only one turned out with the color I wanted. The rest had a bit of a cyan tint.

We also decorated our tree lastnight. I always have to wait until the dinner with hubby's father is done to decorate, but it feels good to have it up finally. For some reason I was really anxious this year, I could have put it up before halloween and been content. haha.

Dinner went well, although there was a slight change in guests. Hubby's dad and his wife were replaced by my dad and his wife. They were all amazed at the dinner hubby had made. It went really well and they are now officially invited to our Christmas dinner, which also takes place after the holiday.

I think I'm going to try to sneak in a nap, both boys are so wtheck.

Black Friday...

Man oh man, was that tiring or what??? We left to go at 4am. I swear they are opening up earlier and earlier for those crazy sales. We got to Walmart at 4:15, so officially 45 minutes of anxious shoppers, just counting down the minutes to checkout. The lines were huge when we arrived and only got longer. I maneuvered quite easily through the madness though, I played it smart and didn't grab a cart. I was wandering around the electronics/photo center. There was a kodak camera 6.1 megapixel camera I was considering at a whopping $199. It wasn't that I needed it, I just want a camera that sits in my glove box for those moments you can't plan. My 20d is far too bulky to carry at all times. I thought about leaving the rebel under my chair in the van, but I honestly don't trust anyone, I'd hate to be out my digi rebel even if it is just my backup. People just suck, you can't trust anyone.

Anyway, I was standing around when they unloaded the pallet of kodaks and I still had 15 minutes to go. My brother was standing around with me, my mom had already gone to the car. To buy or not to buy... Well since I was there :oP I waited out the few minutes and grabbed one up and picked up a 256mb sd card for 13.88? It's all good. There was a woman who was crowding out the line to check out and she hadn't even gotten her stuff yet. I hate that. I, of course, asked the checkout lady to ring my stuff up as I was handing it to her. I could feel the woman burning a hole in the side of my head, but I really didn't care. I had places to go, money to spend. I quickly swiped my card and was swiftly making my way through the gobs of people. I was stopped at the door to make sure I paid for what I was walking out with, which took maybe 7 seconds and I was on my way. 5:04, we hit the freeway. That's not too shabby, considering it takes a minute to get to the freeway. So 3 minutes after the big announcement (on your marks get set go!) we were headed to our next stop.

5:17 we drive by Best Buy, oooooh heck no. People are in line just to get into the place and they'd been open for 17 minutes. I was looking for mp3 players for my girls, just little cheapo ones, I didn't want to make a huge investment unless they really like them. Okay, next stop ToysRUs... well that makes it easy they don't open until 6. Off to Walgreen's, they have cheapo mp3's there, a little tooooo cheap though I still didn't get them. We waste too much time at Walgreen's and the goofy part is, their sale didn't start until 7!!! They had other sales though, good ones for wrapping paper and foil gift tags. (buy one get two free or something like that!) Good deal, but we were missing out. My mom went through the other checkout line and the lady was VERY concerned my mom's tags weren't ringing up on sale. UGH! Anyhow, $1.07 & 10 minutes later it's 6:05. Target is already open and we aren't there. LOL

We fixed that shortly though. My mom dropped us off right at the front door, again I didn't grab a cart. (actually I needed one here.) Here I wanted a printer dock for my girls and another kodak cam for cub1, cub2 already has a kodak digi. I quickly grab all the dvd's that were advertised and looked of any interest to me. (simpson's season w/homer's head, not sure what number :OP, family guy season 3 I think, but lot of good that did, we already have it, and Lost season 1, and sex and the city season 6 part 2 :o) I am running out of space here already and don't have the camera or the dock. I grabbed the camera printer dock a couple aisles over then I hurried to the counter and waited in line, the camera was in the back of the counter. Woohooooo! I'm done. Or so I thought.

Hubby wanted me to get the Tumbling Tigger, and cub2 wanted the operation game. So I head off to the toy department, still no cart. I grab all the stuff plus a battleship game for cub1 and head back up to the front of the store. I am about ready to drop all the items, every which way and my brother came to the rescue!! Yay! We're outta there. We hit the checkout line for 10 items or less and turn around, there's mom at the other lane. Oh the timing. We have been doing this so long together I think it's down to a science. This was my brother's first year. Only time will tell if he got hooked or not.

By this time it is not quite 6:30 and we are headed across town to Shopko, still looking for an mp3 player or 3 :oP We luck out and get a parking spot right up front. Again, no cart. I go in and grab the last mp3 player for $99 (half off) for hubby. (shhh... he doesn't know LOL) Actually it was just a stupid little tag that had the price and the numbers/barcode on it. So I basically paid for a piece of paper. I paid 9.99 a pc. for 3 movies (that travelling pants movie, fever pitch w/Drew Barrymore, and Constantine.) Not really for anyone in general, but it was a good price. We were stuck waiting for them to bring me that player for about 10 minutes, I would have been upset, but I'm nearing my imaginary guesstimate of how much I wanted to spend by this time. Again, my mom is already in the car, man is she quick~ :o) They bring it out and we fight our way out through the crowds again.

My mom then asks if we want to go eat since that's what we do every year, only the restaurant changes. After a quick breakfast, we were across the way from the other walmart and it is not even 8 yet, so the sale is still on. So wtheck, we go again. I picked up some more 256mb cards and a dvd player/recorder for $68. Not sure if that is something we even needed, but oh well.

I was so dang tired by the end of that though, all I could do was come home and sleep. It wasn't the shopping or the getting up early part it was the getting to bed so late factor. I didn't get to sleep until 2:30 and had my alarm set for 3:45. That is just plain stupid. Fun, but stupid.

I was supposed to go out with hubby and make his 2nd print today. He went alone and it is done, turned out quite well. I'm really excited to be giving the business a little boost like that. He has 2 orders to fill right now, so I guess that makes my spending a little easier to swallow.

To top all of that, I got a new cell phone (motorola v276) and a new printer (epson 2200) The price on the two was just too good to pass up, so I don't feel screwed LOL. I still have to figure out the printer, unfortunately my computer froze while charging the inks, so it doesn't recognize them. It's a huge printer though. It oughta help out with the biz quite a bit. We have an art fair coming up on dec. 9th and we will be printing our own greeting cards with hubby's designs on the front. They are pretty good sellers though, at least they are for the people who are helping "boost" our biz.

Well that's it for now. I'm sure I'll find more to blabber about later, so until then I'm outta here.

Happy Turkey Day...

Turkey Day~ Round 1. Every year we have two thanksgivings. This is the one with my mom, sunday will be with hubby's father. YUM!

We will make hubby's second print on friday, if I can get it digitized right (*insert screaming here*) I've been working on it forever and a day it feels like.

Black Friday shopping on Friday~ woohoo. I go every year. Hubby's first year was last year, unfortunately he's staying to watch the cubs this time. That's okay though, I've done it many times without him, I'll survive.

A day of firsts...

Well, that's it!! Cub4 finally has a tooth. It took a whoppin' 9 months, but it's there!!! LOL We also had hubby's first print made, which also turned into his first sale of a print. We also sandblasted our first plate, now that's something cool.
:o)

My brain is going 100 mph...

My oh my... So, last minute my mom tells us we can sell some of hubby's stuff at the holiday bazaar at the casino. That's where I've been. We aren't making anything and probably spending more than we are making. (We have the cubs with us all day long :oP one dollar here, two there, I'm hungry, etc.) Here's the cool part. I am learning corel draw from a cousin of mine. No biggie, I know editing software basics, but this is totally throwin me. If I can get this figured out and done, we'll have prints of hubby's paintings made in a few short weeks. The lady who is teaching me, is going to show us how to silk screen prints as well~ Yikes!!! Completely insane. My head is just whirling and whizzing with ideas, but corel draw is not cooperating!!! :( I guess I'll have to figure out why in the morning, it's getting late.

Email for me later, from me now...

Very cool. You can email yourself anywhere from 1,3,5, 10, or 20 years from now. I just emailed myself for a year from now. I'm sure I'll forget about it, but that's what makes it fun :O)
Link is above in the title or click here!

A Cute Funny...

Not much time to do much else, but thought I'd share this one from my email. :O)

Knock Knock...

Do you remember when the dumbest knock knock joke would have you laughing? I'm not talking the "ha did you see him trip?" or the "haha she's got toilet paper stuck to her shoe!" kinda laugh. I mean genuine happy laughter.

I was sitting in the car listening to my cubs (ages 3, 9 & 11) tell knock knock jokes back and forth. The laughter was just too much for me not to join in as well. It definately is contagious. (They say smiles are too.) It makes me wonder if the adult in all of us is nothing more than an aged child. Not that it's a bad thing it just makes me wonder at what point in one's life does the laughter turn to a mere smirk and a hmmmph & a chuckle or two? Wasn't life much more interesting and fun when we could laugh openly? Who says we can't laugh out loud? Who says we can't enjoy ourselves? Why do we stop?

I once heard that a child can laugh approximately 300 times a day, while an average adult can laugh at the rate of 8 a day. That's pitiful. We can do better. At least we should try.

So here's my questions...
1) How many times a day would you say you laugh?
2) What is one thing that makes you laugh?
3) Got any good jokes?
4) I'd be the coolest mom ever if you can share your favorite knock knock joke with my cubs, so let me have it ~ please!

Go out and laugh a little, you'll live longer and at least you'll have fun doing it.

Oops!!!

Well, we didn't go take pictures of the salmon. I plain out forgot!!! I did get to sleep in again :O) So it seems a little worth it for now. Of course I'll be thinking differently when we head out next weekend to see stinky fish.

I still haven't watched my netflix movies. I still don't have a clue what the other 2 are!!! I really should get to that. I know I probably won't though. Desperate Housewives is on tonight, so that is usually a late night workout. It's only a half hour later, but it sure seems to screw up the night. I could tivo it and watch it later, but hey guess what????!!?? I'm probably the most impatient person I know. Okay, I do know a few others who are slightly more impatient, but not by much!!

I did watch Little Black Book on Starz lastnight, tivo'd of course. I definately wouldn't buy it and add it to my dvd collection, but it made me smile a bit and also made me realize I like Carly Simon's music. LOL Again, I'm not going out to buy an album, but I just realized I "know" a lot of her songs and can actually enjoy them :oP Going to hide under a rock now.

Yum!!!

• 
  Now hubby brought these home for me to try and I must say, these are reallllly realllllllly good. They aren't good enough to replace the originals, but they are yummy :o)
  
  
  Are there any other must have cereals???
  
  
  
  
  
  Other meaningless jibberish...
  
  ~Waking up super late on a Saturday feels wonderful.
  
  ~I should go to the post office before it closes, although I'm not really expecting anything.
  
  ~Tivo Rocks!!! I usually try and fast forward through the commercials, but it's those times I forget it's on Tivo I truly appreciate the convenience.
  
  ~I still have 3 movies from Netflix I haven't watched in the last two weeks. I don't even remember what I have?!?! I know House of D is one of them. The others I have no clue. I now have a goal, get these in the mail by Monday.
  
  ~It's a 3 day weekend, I really should get the house in order while I have the help.
  
  ~I went to the dentist last week and my gums still hurt from the dentist forcing the dental floss down into my gums. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but she just yanked and yanked until it went down. She was trying to get the dental dam in place. I have no idea why it wouldn't go this time. She was replacing a filling and I'm just very grateful I don't have any more to be replaced or filled. I am soooooo through with the dentist. This is crazy, it's been almost a week and my gums are still sore. She did her whole, "you should floss" routine. Honestly I floss like a maniac, pretty much every time I eat. Another one of those obsessive compulsive things. LOL
  
  ~I am so ready for it to be warm again. It's toooooo freakin' cold for my comfort. We are getting new wall heaters this week. Only 2 of the wall heaters are safe for use, at least I don't deem them safe. They attract way too much dust and junk. We are getting a coil kind, which apparently are supposed to be better? I sure hope so.
  
  ~Almost turkey day. I wonder if FIL will be up for it. Every year he and his wife come over, but after his heart thingie who knows. Hubby's sister was thinking of coming up from Utah too. I suppose I should ask Hubby if he knows if either two are coming...
  
  ~I bought a new tripod, which reminds me!!! Hey I know this is going to sound really nasty, but I better get the kiddos ready or maybe I can do it tomorrow. Here it goes. It's November, which here means the salmon are spawning. Doesn't sound all that cool~ does it? Well, every year we go and check it out and snap pictures. It's absolutely a gorgeous scenary, but if you go up there too late in November it STINKS!!!! It's still relatively early, so it should be okay!
  
  ~Looks like we are going to get the mail and groceries instead. Tomorrow it is!

It's definately fall...

I'm busy trying to gather pictures to put together a slideshow for a group of people of just random shots. This was one of the shots I took and thought I'd share. It's sooooo beautiful around here, this is just 2 minutes from my house. It is gorgeous any time of year, but there's just something about fall colors mixed in with all the shades of green. :o)

I was out late lastnight trying to gather some night shots too. This is abouty 20 min. from my house and only 5 from my dad's. Brrrr.. it was cold. Anyhow here is a picture of a powerhouse???? It's Hydroelectric anyway, it's the building with reflection on the water. :)

Two more, this first one of two was taken down by the post office about the same time the bars were letting out. That made it interesting. Picture squealing tires, racing headlights, a tripod in the middle of the crosswalk, and me rushing back every time headlights came within blocks. This is a lone taxi. I was hoping to get pictures of the street decorated for Christmas, but apparently that is after Thanksgiving, so I shall try again in a couple of weeks.

Lastly, a clock tower down by the post office. I couldn't help but think to myself "save the clock tower!!!" Back to the Future was one of my fave movies ~LOL

It was definately fun and I'm just surprised my brother was willing to help with this project.

*Images have been resized for the web.

Update...

Well, it's official Cub2 is 9. Her party at school was a hit, so was her skating party. Only half of the kiddos made it from school, but it was to be expected honestly. I would have been shocked if all of them made it. The party was about 40 minutes from school~ LOL.

The auction went well, hubby raised a couple thousand dollars for their organization. Only a third is ours, but it's fun and any little bit helps :o) My friend cancelled her photo shoot of her family and postponed until after Thanksgiving. That's good honestly, it's been raining for the past week and a half nonstop. I know, I know, I can't complain, it is just a rainy state :P

I left neutral feedback for the lady with the yoda and chewbacca costumes, basically because I didn't receive anything, but she did refund me after a couple emails. (here's what mine said~ "Took a chance, didn't pan out, she did refund like asked though.") I don't know what I expected, but she left me 2 neutrals too. I'm honestly kinda bummed. I don't know if it's the fact I have 2 neutrals now or what she said. It kinda irks me. clearly stated presale item, refund given upon request Seriously~ don't sell crap you don't have. If you're not sure you can get it, why ruin someone's halloween??? If I didn't go with my gut on this one and buy more outrageously priced costumes, the boys wouldn't have had any. She's got private feedback, so what's it matter what I wrote on hers. I guess that should have thrown up a flag right there, but I still sent her my money. I figured she was a powerseller, so it ought to be okay. I was wrong.

I paid in a timely manner, the product wasn't there. Why is this my problem??? It just seems a little retaliatory (sp?) to me. So answer me this... should I have left positive feedback because she held my money for a month and I received no product, but did receive my money back after 2 emails? Would I have received positive in return? Or if I would have gotten nasty and given negative, would 2 negatives been sitting in my profile???

It is just feedback, but seriously how many of you does your feedback matter to you? Am I just weird that it matters?

Okey dokey...

the monkey cupcake cake. The names have been changed to protect the innocent

FIL hasn't heard a thing, the dr. hasn't been in yet. We're off to go party it up at Cub2's class in a sec. Thought I'd drop the monkey pic by for PM

Much Ado About Nothing...

Oct. 1st I ordered one yoda costume and one chewbacca costume for cub 3&4. Time passes I go with my gut and bid on replacements. Apparently, the lady sells them on a presale basis. If I wanted to wait to receive them she says after Nov.1 I can wait or request a refund. Her auction states after 29 days you can request a refund. As soon as the clock hit Oct.30th I emailed for my refund. That was my 29th day. She finally refunded me today. Big sigh of relief here.

Anyhow, back to me going with my gut. I ordered the replacements and they showed up with time to spare. We were able to dress the cubs up 3 times and have loads of fun each time. Poor hubby had tons of school work to do and his sleep suffered severely, but hey we had fun~ right? LOL I think we are just plain lucky it's only one time a year.

We've been busy trying to make sure the auction goes smoothly, that's saturday. A couple of the pictures I shot of hubby's art landed in the paper too. I love that feeling. Before the auction I am supposed to go take a billion and a half pictures of my friend's children for her. I think that will be fun, let's hope the weather cooperates though.

My sister had to get an MRI done on her shoulder. She has been having a heck of a time with her shoulder, they were thinking it was a torn rotator cuff? I think that's what they were saying. Well, she got the results back yesterday. She has a cyst in between the muscles in her shoulder. It's a pretty good sized one too. (5+cm long, 3.5 cm wide, almost 2 cm deep) That's a little freaky, not sure what to think about that or even what they can or will do. The doctor is referring her out to a surgeon to explore her options, but he doesn't want her to have surgery!?!! I'm not sure what his thinking on that is. She's a little freaked out as well, but has to wait until the 21st to speak with the surgeon about her options.

My FIL just got admitted into the hospital. He was there to have a stent? put in for his heart. It's not working as well as they had hoped and they want to do a bypass. We'll find out more on that tomorrow.

Other than all of that, the girls are still busy with basketball and cheerleading. Cub2's birthday is on Sunday. We'll have her skating party on Sunday and her classroom party at school tomorrow. I ordered a Monkey Cupcake Cake. I sure hope it turns out okay. Last time I ordered a duck and it was cute, but not what I had hoped for. Anyway, Hubby just walked in from the hospital, I'm off to see how it went.

Pumpkins, pumpkins.....

Everywhere!!! Here's one of the pumpkins we carved lastnight. Hubby's of course! Just thought I'd share, we had lots of fun.

Cub1's conference went great, it was a little out of the ordinary, I'll have to blog about that later. ttfn!!!

eta... That was one weird conference. Okay picture this, about 20 +/- tables, 20+/- sets or so of parents/child and oh about 4 teachers. The conference was hosted by none other than Cub1. There were 2 teachers who kept coming back between checking on the other students and parents. Cub1 had a checklist to go through and make sure she shared all the reports, projects, and tests she was to share with us. She's doing great. Her teacher is the one I worry about. She (the teacher) lost an assignment I specifically remember helping her with and it is bringing down her grade. She was a little too ditzy for my taste. Cub1 assured me she isn't always soooo scatter brained, but she was a little stressed with 4 days of conferences. With how the conferences were conducted, I can see how!!! The good thing is she told Cub1 she could make up the work or if she can find it, even better.

Her math & science teacher was awesome!! I really like that guy. Apparently, he really likes Cub1 too. He's a real personable guy and is so willing to help Cub1 with anything she needs to help her in her studies. He is just one of those teachers who you can tell the kids adore him and the feeling is totally mutual.

Friday night, we went to the school's Harvest Carnival. Everyone had a great time, we took my littlest sister with us, she was dressed as a witch, but the rest of the gang were all decked out in their Star Wars costumes.

Saturday night, we had another Halloween party to go to, that one was awesome!!!! They hired a company to come do activities and basically this science type experiments for the kiddos. It's called Mad Science?!?! There was also a Haunted House for the older kids. That seemed to go on forever, but it was fun, fun, fun.

I'll post some pics to the Cub Cave later after I sort through them. The actual big day is approaching quickly!~

Sloooooow Down...

she says. What a novel concept. My soon to be 9 year old seems to have inherited her parent's work habits. Her parent teacher conference was today and went absolutely as I had expected. She's great, such a joy, does excellent work, buuuuuut... she needs to slow down. LOL She doesn't need to slow down because she is making mistakes right now, but her teacher doesn't want to get her in the habit of speeding about life and basically reflecting on her accomplishments. Again, haha what a novel concept.

That comment made me think about my life. I feel as though I am the busiest unemployed person I know. Yes, I know I am a stay-at-home-mom, but I can't even get that down just yet. I worked throughout with my pregnancy with cub4 and all the others for that matter, but that's not the point. I still don't have a grip on what "should" be done around the house, I have no real schedule, and you know I hardly "stay-at-home" at all. I thought being a "sahm" involved more staying at home is all. So with that, I need to work on slowing down too.

Back to the conference, the teacher apologized and felt she was wasting our time~ LOL that's a first. I hadn't heard that one before. It went pretty well though, we just chatted back and forth for 15 minutes and that was that. In the spring time she is suggesting cub2 be tested to join the highly capable class at another school. She's already involved in the program, but this would be an actual school change and all studies would be more advanced, rather than just added work. Cub2 is a little worried about leaving this school, but I'm sure she would do fine. It is a brand new program only in it's 2nd year. So we'll see how that pans out.

Parent Teacher Conference~ Round 1...

Well, Cub2 has her parent teacher conference tomorrow afternoon. I just love those. Talk about a big pat on the parent's back~ LOL I know it is their doings and what not, but I just love hearing how well they are doing, how sweet they are, what joys they are in class, etc. It always makes me smile. I'm just sooooooooo proud of how they do in school, it's just all that much better to have someone rave about their accomplishments to you.

Cub1's isn't until Friday, I'm a little anxious to see how that one will go. She's in middle school this year and has 4 different teachers now. I think we are only meeting with the homeroom teacher, but nonetheless it will be different!!! I'm honestly not sure how she is adjusting to middle school. She seems to be doing okay. They sent home progress reports and she hadn't turned in a few things (due to us keeping her out to go to the fair back in Sept. tsktsk) It makes me feel a little guilty, okay a lot guilty. I know the teacher's gave her a chance to turn that stuff in, but I just hope she did it and it's all good~ hope, hope! I honestly forgot how much work counted in middle school, it's a lot more intense than elementary.

Cub1 started band this year. She's playing the flute. I played the flute for 4 years in school. Strange, but I did. I have heard Hot Cross Buns being played waaaaaaay toooo many times to count since the beginning of the year. She is getting better though. whew! LOL I found it kind of odd, the song mixture they have her playing. Hot Cross Buns, yeah okay I can see it, Jingle Bells, but of course it's almost Christmas Kinda, Good King Wenceslas, okay same reason, the Funeral March??? uhhh I don't get it. Da-da-dmdm-da-dmmdmmdmmdmmmmmm (sorry the best I can spell it out.) It's just kinda freaky is all.

Both the girls started basketball up again. UGH!!! So that means basketball twice for cub1 for a couple days only next week, but still... basketball 4 times (for both) plus 2 days of cheerleading. (for cub2) Busy, busy, busy. I'm not complaining really, it's just sooooooo much running around to do in such little amount of time.

A boring photography post...

After reading Mel's comments in the blog entry below. I figured I could at least explain what camera and such I'm using. I've provided links so you can get an idea of how to get the same stuff relatively cheaply. (I know Mel is interested in getting a DSLR, sorry to bore anyone else~ LOL)

I have 2. Yes...2. My hubby was kind enough to encourage me to buy the best I could at the time and after reading many reviews almost 3 years ago, I bought a Canon Digital Rebel(the 6.3 mp, like I said this was almost 3 years ago, the xt wasn't released yet, at least as far as I knew.) I have the 18-55mm kit lens I bought a sigma 28-80mm macro lens and that was and still is a lens that doesn't go far from my camera. I also bought a4gb Hitachi Microdrive, so it saves mega pics *wink* Next Joining my camera bag was a sigma 100-300mm, this soon became hubby's favorite lens, he loves taking nature pics.

I was fully content with this setup until I started reading photog forums and reading more about photography, it was time to move up. First I added a 50mm 1.8 lens. This was a great addition, but I wanted more and quicker. I told hubby the top of my wishlist was a Canon 20d.Canon 20d. So after fireworks season, he told me for my birthday (Aug 2005) I could buy it, but the rebel was his *LOL* oh what a sacrifice :oP I got it early in July :o) Love, love, love it!!!! It's soooooooooooooooo quick! The rebel is and was great, but the 20d is instant power on and shoots so quickly after powering on and rapidly! I also bought 580ex Speedlite Flash and also ordered anOmniBounce for diffusing the flash.

Finally my latest 2 additions (beginning of this month) to the camera bag... my all in one zoom, Sigma 28-300mm Macro, which has only left my camera a few times to be replaced by the 50mm to take portrait shots. Lastly, my Sekonic L358 Light Meter. I think that's it!!!

Anyhow, I have shot a few events for the casino down the road, that's the need for the light meter. The lighting in there is terrible!!!! I, along with hubby also shot my sister's wedding back in August. This has also been a great help for our side business in taking pics of hubby's artwork. He has a few art auctions every year and it's that time of year again. The next one is Nov. 5th. We are busy trying to build up enough images for a gallery to add to our website. It's also been very helpful in taking pics of his paintings and digitizing them. So, as helpful as these cameras have been they have honestly paid for themselves and surely will in the future too in one way or another!

What's next??? Bees! and a Photoflex Litedome Softbox & a Photoflex Litedisc 52" Silver/White and most of all space!!!! LOL

Just one...

pic. These aren't there costumes, but I bought them anyway. (just for pics :oP) It's a Pumpkin Costume and a Spider. Initially, they were both for Cub4, but Cub3 fit them as well, so wtheck.

I'm posting more to the CubCave That's where I've been posting a few pics here and there if you wanna see.

It made me grin...

It was probably an evil grin, but nonetheless it curved upward. I read this joke in my email a short moment ago. It reminded me of sooooooooo many people. It wasn't the situation, just self proclaiming bs that people say.

I don't even know if that's the right way to say it *LOL* I guess it's just the disclaimer people add to before they are going to do something they normally don't do. Such as, "I'm not one to judge..." Seriously, here guess what follows??!? That's right folks... JUDGEMENT!!! ding~ding~ding We've got a winner!!!! Or "I normally wouldn't say anything, but..." insert gripe here. ahem, yes you probably would or you wouldn't have made such a deal of it in the first place. Like adding those key phrases makes it any better, seriously folks it just draws attention to it. People can benefit a lot from Thumper, you know with the whole "don't say anything at all" bit. Ya think that will happen though??? Prolly not.

Anyhow, onto the joke!!!!

A guy walks into the local welfare office, marches straight up
to the counter and says, "Hi... You know, I just HATE asking for
assistance. I'd rather have a job."

The social worker behind the counter says, "Your timing is
excellent sir!

We just got a job opening from a very wealthy old man who wants
a chauffeur and bodyguard for his nymphomaniac, underwear-model
daughter. You'll have to drive around in his Mercedes, but
he'll supply all of your clothes.

Because of the long hours, meals will be provided. You'll be
expected to escort her on her overseas holiday trips. You will
have to satisfy her sexual urges. You'll have a two-bedroom
apartment above the garage.

The starting salary is $200,000 a year".

The guy says, "You're bullshi@@ing' me!"

The social worker says, "Yeah, well... you started it."

Just a quick check in...

It's another week already. Still no costumes for the girls.

The party arrangements are set, the invitations printed and now we need to send them out. How far in advance are you supposed to send an invitation to a bunch of 8-9 year olds? Her birthday is Nov. 6th, also the day of the party. It lands on a Sunday this year.

This shall be interesting. 20+ kiddos skating about. Yikes. Good thing it's only 2 hours.

I almost have a 9 year old...

I'm busy masterminding a party for her and I think I have it set. We will have a skating party. We will be renting the skating rink. (I'm always so confused on that?!?! what is it a skating ring or skating rink?) We will order the party favors from Oriental Trading. We will have a monkey theme. We still have to check into a cake. We have to print out the invites. Then we have to wait.

Waiting. Waiting for the invites, waiting for the rsvps, waiting for the favors, waiting for the day.

I actually have never thrown a party and invited "non-relatives," she wants to invite some of her friends from school. She has been begging me since Kindergarten for that. I'm finally caving this year. The price I pay for having such a social butterfly child.

*Questionable content below...*

Anyhow, we watched History of Violence lastnight. WOW! That was actually a really good movie. There were a few scenes in the movie that had me a little shocked I was sitting there witnessing that... (hint, hint*69*) I've never honestly seen that in a movie. Not that I'm against it or anything, but it was just something I've never seen in a movie, like it's almost an implied action in other movies or just simply taboo. Who knows?!?! Hubby really got a kick out of me discussing that after the movie with him, but it just threw me for a loop they were so explicit ~haha. Once hubby thought about it, he couldn't remember a movie with that type of scene either so ~ HA! he knows where my shock was coming from. Although, I must admit he must have found that funny it was the first thing I brought up, but what the heck it was on my mind, may as well say it!!! :oP

I sure liked the movie though. It kept me watching and actually interested. Hubby told me he had read a review somewhere that the less you know about the movie, the better it is. That was hubby's response when I asked him what it was about. I left it at that and was genuinely glad I did. I enjoyed it probably more than I would have if I had read about it.

The other movie I watched on dvd, thanks to netflix, was Maria Full of Grace. That captured my attention immediately. Hubby had started watching it without me, so I walked in on the movie halfway through. I did actually watch it from that moment on, but started it over to see what I had missed. I had seen it on the guide for HBO a couple of times, but figured if I was going to watch it, I'd better do it on my own time. I'm really glad I did. Another good flick!!

Okay, enough is enough. I'm off to catch some zzz's, I'm a very tired mommy right now.

Much to his surprise...

Thought it was cute. Took a double take at first, what can I say, I'm lacking in the sleep dept.

I met hubby for lunch today. It was a nice break from the ordinary, whatever that might be. I'm still not set on what I "should" be doing. We (cub3&4) went to get the mail today. I totally forgot what it's like to be out with two little ones in tow, by myself. They were pretty good overall though.

In the mail was this letter from the school for cub1 to set parent teacher conferences. Realistically, we can only do it on Friday, due to hubby being in school Tues-Thurs. So it was really important to get this preference list in by the due date. Hubby hasn't missed a conference yet and I don't want him to start now! I look at the due date... Thus Oct. 13. Dangit, wtheck are they thinkin'???? So I rush it up to the school and turn it in, making sure I comment on how I had just gotten it in the mail 10 minutes prior. She apologized and explained how they were supposed to mail it out last week, but it didn't get mailed until Tuesday. Well the good thing is, I'll probably get my preferred day because most people won't get it back that quickly. HOPE HOPE!

Anyhow, we have 2 costumes down, 2 more to come in. The girls' are in. The boys' ( the ones I am really worried about ) are not. I think I am going to email the lady to see if I should be looking for new costumes or how much longer I'll have to wait. I guess I shouldn't worry until I have a definitive no, but I'm really impatient :oP

Finally, one last pondering for the day... I have Go Diego, Go! on season pass for Tivo, which is fine and dandy until I go to play it and it's LazyTown~ ARG! I hate LazyTown, well cub3 does ;) Why the heck is it recording LazyTown when it's supposed to be Go Diego, Go!?? That's happened like 4 times~ LOL talk about disappointment for a 3 year old.

Would you like a little cereal with that???

Here's what I found in the cereal box *LOL* It's sitting on my desk now. I just don't have the heart to throw it out. Although you know with a little santa hat, it could be the likeness of St. Nick ~haha.

34 weeks...

Well pictured over to the right here is cub4 ------->
It's hard to believe he's almost 8 months old. I'm still torturing him with the weekly pics, every monday. It makes me wonder how long I can actually keep that up! *LOL*

I've got all the cub's costumes ordered and I am seriously hoping they make it in time for Halloween. One of the places I ordered from is just about 20 minutes away from me, but I ordered it online and it was a "pre-sale." I hope she doesn't email me back saying they are out of stock. They are totally HTF costumes too... ARG! I ordered a Yoda, a Chewbacca, and Amidala from Episode 1 & another Amidala from Episode 2. (2 girls what can ya do??) As always hubby will be a Jedi. He's leaning towards a Darth Vader next year, just to have the option. I'm still undecided whether I will dress up or not. I was going to be the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland but my whole family has this theme going, it doesn't fit :oP Who knows? I usually hand out the candy anyways, so I wouldn't even be with them while they are out and about. We usually get 100+ trick or treaters, so we always load up on the candy trying not to disappoint!

Anyhow, I'm still alive. We went to a birthday party for my littlest cousin (he's 8) He had it at the skating party. It was so much fun. I actually roller bladed myself. I went and bought an umbrella stroller to push cub4 around in and he absolutely loved it. Cub3 is getting the hang of skating very quickly. The lighting was terrible, so I don't have any good pics though. Ohhhhh well...

Before I go I thought I would throw out a few questions for anyone willing to answer...
1~ Do you dress up for Halloween? If so, as what?
2~ How many trick or treaters do you get every year?
3~ Do you roller blade or skate? When was the last time you had?

It's been far too long...

Hubby has started school. It's going quite well. YAY! I've been just super busy with the kiddo's basketball & cheerleading. Cubs 1&2 are loving it though. Cub 3&4 are keeping me super busy during the day, it should calm down here in a bit.

We did go to the zoo with Cub2's class. I took some awesome pics and the boys had lots of fun too. We just met her class there. I've been pretty busy with pictures honestly. I shot an employee anniversary dinner/reception dealy last week, and a baby shower. That was pretty fun. I bought a new "all in one" lens last week too. It is a 28-300mm zoom for my Canons. It came yesterday, so I spent a lot of the evening messing with that.

Time to go exercise again. I'll make sure and blog more often, I can't believe how much time has passed!!! I must start making this habit again!

How reassuring...

After looking through the fair pics, I ran across these. The sign just cracked me up, so I thought I'd share and for good measure I took a pic of the ride they were referring to. It's basically a big ferris wheel that only holds 4 people (2 on each side.) If you're interested it's good to know your meal "shouldn't" be left on their seat. Who knows how many meals flew through the air?!?! ewwww!!!!

***no, I did not ride this ride. I actually didn't ride anything this year. Hubby was feeling sick :( So I just hung out with the sick guy.

Man, do these scare me...

These things show up in Jerky, Vitamins, Electronic Stuff, etc. Well, tonight they showed up in the kids' fluoride. Talk about scare me. Cub4 opened the "childproof" lid of the flouride bottle that fell off the shelf of my desk. Yikes! It's gotta be bad if it states DO NOT EAT all over it. I was quick enough to pick it all up, but I started thinking about how often I see these and they freak me out everytime. Anyhow, onto better things.

We went to the fair today. So much fun! Cub1&2 stayed out of school~tsktsk *LOL* It was worth it though. Tons of rides, funnel cake, elephant ears and scones. I suppose it wasn't tons of the food, just lots of sampling. I feel pretty good about how I did :o) It's been a really long day, so exercising will resume tomorrow.

One good surprise though, we made it back in time for the season premiere of LOST!!!! No biggie, because we have tivo, but I've watched it twice tonight, once live and then once again. I'm so glad it's back on. I also watched Invasion, it was on right after. I'm not totally sold on that one. It was super slow to me and I'm not "into" the characters either. I'd love to have another show to be hooked on, but I don't know if that's the one.

So I'll leave you with my shows I have on season pass for my tivo.

• Desperate Housewives
• Lost
• House
• Grey's Anatomy
• The Biggest Loser
• The Outer Limits
• The 4400
• Spongebob & Dora (of course, these aren't my choices *grin*)

Busy, Busy, Busy...

It's been super busy around here lately. Cub1 started basketball and Cub2 now has cheerleading 2 times a week. I have officially become a bus driver. I really like the idea of them being so active though, keeps them busy and out of the bad stuff, so it's totally worth it.

Hubby starts school on next week!!!! Then it will be Cub3&4 and me alone in the house 3 days a week. Oh the damage we could do... *evil grin*

Hubby has been super busy with art auction items and that won't let up until the middle of October when the last item is due. On Saturday, he had an art auction and it was pretty successful. He made a few good contacts, sold a few sets of plates, and has a potentially big sale coming out of it within the next year *cross fingers*

We will be going to the fair on Wednesday. I can't wait. By this time, we usually have gone at least 3 times, but this will only be the first and probably only time of the year. We just have been extremely busy and have had far too many car repair expenses, but hey at least it's over with and we can go on with our lives~ right???

Little things...

I remember from childhood:

• I remember missing the bus and my Grandpa would jump to my rescue to get me to school on time.
• I remember reading One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish to my baby brother, who turned 20 this year.
• I remember being allergic to ketchup.
• I remember having chicken pox in 2nd grade.
• I remember in 4th grade the first day of school my mom made me wear a dress and I couldn't play on the playground with the rest of the kids, it was also the last year I was forced in a dress.
• I remember going to movies on holidays like Christmas and Easter and being surprised they were open when nearly everything else was closed.
• I remember my mom buying my sister and I, a Ronald McDonald doll (so hideous) when my now 24 year old brother was born.
• I remember staying at my Grandma's house and pretending to be asleep in the morning while they watched the morning news.

Now the reason I'm remembering all of these things... There was a poem on my Grandma's wall. I read this poem over and over and over. It made so much sense to me as a little kid and I enjoyed the dual meanings. It has crossed my mind in the past and for some odd reason it has again. So here it goes!!!!

This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Open up and say ouch...

I just went for a checkup. It was only a checkup, I was being a good girl, really!!!! I didn't even get in to see the dentist because of their wacky scheduling. Who sets an dental appointment for noon??? Obviously, I wasn't thinking either, because I agreed to a noon appt. LOL All they were able to do was take x-rays and clean my teeth. There's the ouch.

It was really cool though. It just amazes me the technology they come up with in such shorts amount of time. I didn't get the ole scraping of my teeth and gums with a metal pokey thing, instead I had pulsating water sprayed between my teeth and along my gum line. Very cool in theory. This water comes spraying out of a pokey thing too, and when put in the wrong hands hurts while scraping along gums. No, I'm not talking the gum line, I'm talking actual gums here?!?!? OUCH! Good news, my teeth feel great and I imagine my gums will be clean after the swelling goes down. :oP

I felt sooooooooo bad though, being schooled on how to brush and floss my teeth. There has got to be a better way to do that sorta thing. I felt like a dog who had an accident on the carpet. :( I had to remind myself, I do brush and floss religiously, just let her go through her speech. It made me feel a little better thinking I was just one of many who will get that speech just today. The dentist was out to lunch, obviously it's his lunch hour, so they rescheduled me for the 27th at 10:30.

What else is new on the homefront???
Cub1&2 started school yesterday. Cub1 is in middle school!!! Holy cow! I took pics and will upload them to flickr.com on the side there.
Cub3 will stay home with me while I put my early education degree to work on him :o) (after hubby starts school the 28th)
Cub4 is 29 weeks old and I'll also be adding his weekly pic to flickr. com on the sidebar as well. He is still toothless!!!! He's taking his own sweet time with crawling as well. He can army crawl, but that's as far as that goes. All the other cubs crawled by 5 1/2 months, he'll officially be 7 months in 6 days. It's quite alright though since he's the final cub, he can stay a baby as long as he chooses.
That's us in a nutshell, I'm off to workout again after I upload those pics!

That's it!

It is officially game over for the blazer. I must apologize about doubting my neighbor's stepdad below. He was right. The transmission is going. Aamco officially sucks a$$. Rebuilt tranny 6 months later needs a rebuild??? What's wrong with that picture? Here's the kicker... we parked it a month and a half ago, due to the noise. It has been driven oh I'd say 20 times since getting our new van in February. Oh well, that is life.

Anyhow, I'm off for probably the whole weekend, we've got a busy weekend lined up and who knows maybe I'll share what I'm doing or maybe I won't. All depends on if I get the time or the urge.

Oh, oh... I think I liked the thought of the day with my daily newsletter, not quite sure though, I'll have to check. Yep, I did. Here it is below. I'm outta here!
Life is circular;
what may seem like the end may actually be the beginning.
- Ivy Baker Priest

Just before dark today...

It's not often I can catch a good sunset from my house. It's not that they don't happen, I just live too close to people. The houses tend to ruin the beauty. :P Luckily, this one was really dark, but light in just the right spots!!!

Well, they shipped out my new cf card and it should be here in up to 10 days. I must have packed it satisfactory.

***vent below***
We took hubby's Blazer in to get looked at today. I'm not exactly happy about that one. I can just say, screw aamco *insert two honks here* We had the transmission rebuilt in February at aamco. I was always pleased with them before, but this time was different. They ripped the exhaust off and it was ruined.

Initially they said it wasn't their fault and it was like that when we brought it in. Luckily, the mechanic came out and apologized to hubby over the holes he had caused while ripping the exhaust off to get to the transmission. So since he admitted fault they paid Midas to fix the exhaust. Midas sucks too. It wasn't completely fixed. Of course, neither was the tranny at this point. We had to bring it back twice, once for the exhaust and once for the tranny making rattling noises. It was honestly worse than when we brought it in! They refused to warranty the job they did for more than 30 days, or maybe 90? Anyways, all other times we were guaranteed 1 year or a lifetime.

Okay, skip ahead, hubby just deals with the loud exhaust but then the transmission is making noise again. Instead of taking it back to aamco, we take it to our neighbors stepdad to fix it. Hubby's cousin had informed him it's the throw out bearing??? and aamco should have replaced it with all the other work they had done. Figures.

So we take it in Monday to get fixed. We get a call from the neighbors mom, who says, bad news... your transmission is gone. uhm no!?!?! Hubby asks how she figures. Her "mechanic" husband drove it and he said it's bad. Hmmmmm... I don't believe it. The guy owns a wrecking yard and fixes up cars to sell. We've sold him a couple of cars we refused to fix because the cost to repair was more than the car was worth. (makes me wonder if those weren't as bad off as he said) I can only think this is probably the case too. He used to have a really great mechanic working for him, unfortunately he's no longer there. So, instantly hubby is ticked and says, well we're junkin it. Nope, not a good idea. I want a second opinion.

There is a place we take our cars to now, which is a little more expensive, but they are quick and accurate, so hubby calls them. They tell him to bring it on in, it does sound like the throw out bearing and possibly some other bearing? I think he said pilot, but I'm not sure. He also says they repair aamco's "fixes" more than he likes to say. Oh nice.

The good news is, it will be 6 hours of labor and 60 bucks for parts. So hopefully that is all it is. I can't believe I'm hoping my neighbor's stepdad is as lazy and predictable as I think he is. We find out tomorrow whether it's worth fixing.
***end vent***

I'm actually really tired with no real reason to still be awake. So, I'll leave you with a joke I thought was kinda cute. I get an email newsletter daily throughout the week and there is a joke of the day, this was today's...

At a southern university,
students in the psychology program
were attending their first class on emotional extremes.
"Just to establish some parameters,"
said the professor to the student from Arkansas,
"what is the opposite of joy?"
"Sadness," said the student.
"And the opposite of depression?"
he asked of the young lady from Oklahoma.
"Elation," she said.
"And you sir," he said to the young man from Texas,
"what about the opposite of woe?"
The Texan replied, "Sir, I believe that would be 'giddy up' ".

There's also a thought for the day enclosed in that newsletter. I liked todays.

The ultimate measure of a man
is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,
but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ouch... now that left a dent!

***disclaimer*** this is not a complaint on gas prices merely an observation, a big wow, times have changed, shocked sorta dealy, etc. ***


Okay, now I've been reading all over the gas prices are up and must be completely honest! I have not paid much attention. I went to gas up tonight before working out and YIKES!!!! This is for a minivan too!!!! Talk about sticker shock
So anyway, I happened to have my camera on hand, so I snapped this. It sure made me think though. Gas used to be under a buck when I started driving. How insane is that? Now I'm either getting to be one of those old people who reminisce about how things were back in the day or these prices are high before their time. Nah... they are definately high before their time.

Earlier in the day I took cub1 to orientation for middle school! When on earth did that happen??? I have a middle schooler. She was talking to me about how many more years until high school. That's a whoppin' four years. That I'm sure will fly by like no one's business too. 2 years at middle school, 2 years at Jr. High and 3 at High School. Way back when I went, you know when I had to walk uphill to school and back??? We didn't even have Jr. High. That is something they started in our school district just last year. We had straight middle school for 7&8th, 9-12th high school.

Cub1 is starting band this year... there was this one time at band camp... She is going to play the flute. I actually played the flute for 4 years, way back when too. I hope this year goes well for her. I'm really excited to see how she adapts. She's really good in school and all, but I'm not sure how the change will be on her. I really like what her principal did though. He had a half of a day "meeting type" orientation for the students today. This time was spent just getting to know other students and showing them the school and basically getting them excited to go there. It worked. She was all amped by the time we picked her up. She was a little nervous about being left there in the first place, but she said it was a lot of fun. We were able to find her classes and meet her teachers too.

After the orientation, I had to rush home and get cub2 to cheerleading practice. We paid for uniforms today, so I guess it's official, she will be a cheerleader. I'm still not sure how I feel about that. I really try to support my cubs in their decisions in the activities they choose, but this is sooooooo unlike hubby and I. On Sunday, she actually had me out there washing cars for fundraising!!! I don't even like to get out there and scrub my own car!!!! A few weeks ago, we were out selling chocolate bars, another thing that is totally unlike me. Now we have pizza cards to sell. Luckily, it's only 5 of them at $5 a pc. I'm just not a rah-rah type of person. <----not me. So needless to say, this is a whole new experience for me. I ran into an old friend at her practice though. She was absolutely shocked I had four cubs. It's amazing, but it sure doesn't feel like that many kiddos, until you get the look. That's a lot??? It was really weird to see someone I've known since the 2nd grade and then not see her for 10+ years to see her as a "grown-up" LOL

With all that past coming back, while I worked out, I brought out my old cd I bought at Target. It had a little BoyzIIMen, Bel Biv Devoe, PM Dawn, Wreckx-N-Effect, even a little MC Hammer I can honestly say the trip down memory lane left me happy to be in the present. I can only look back with fondness for a short amount of time until I realize even at less than a dollar a gallon for gas in the "old days" there were still times I could only afford a quarter tank of gas. So I guess I better just be happy with my $62.01 *only a penny over because I stopped too late. tank of gas and be grateful it cleared my bank account without any problem.
Until next time Gnite!

A Cub after My Own Heart...

So, I was taking pics of my now 28 weeks old cub, (been torturing him weekly since birth :oP) when cub3 gets the idea, he wants to take some pics too. I couldn't help but snap a shot. (I did a midnight sepia conversion on it, I kinda like it!) Whatcha think??? I suppose I shoulda posted the color version too. Here I'll do that in a sec.

I did a black and white conversion on it, but it looked to newspaperish. I can't get his skin tone to look good with that conversion. Anyway, that's a whole other story.

My sister was nice enough to watch cubs1-3 while we went out for a movie lastnight. Hey, and it wasn't a drive-in either. We walked right in and watch 40 year old virgin with cub4 LOL. What a time for that kiddo to decide he wants to "talk." He was doing lots of babbles lastnight. I thought for sure we were screwed and would have to leave. Fortunately, he fell right asleep after the movie started and slept through the entire movie!!! That movie was just hilarious. I know I've heard a lot of complaints how it's not something to be made fun of and such, but I think overall they handled it all so sadly realistic it wasn't really making fun at all. I don't know if that makes much sense, but I could seriously see how time would have just passed that poor guy and he just didn't do it, so to say. ;)

On Friday night, we went to the drive-in, last minute and saw Wedding Crashers again with Deuce Bigalow 2. Deuce was tons funnier than I thought it would be. I'm not saying I'd rush right out and see it or anything, but I'd watch it again if it were on HBO :P

On Saturday, we were busy with a car wash for cub2's cheerleading organization. I can honestly say it was more fun than I had anticipated. Hubby and I were both not looking forward to it, I ended up being the nominated one to go. He stayed home with the other cubs. I think we only had to wash no more than 10 cars, so it really was no biggie!

Cub1&2 start school next Wednesday and we are pretty well set for that. They are excited and I am actually really excited for them. They both do so well in school, and they both enjoy it so much. Don't get me wrong, I love having them at home, but it will be nice for them to be back on some sort of a schedule. We are not really big schedule people to begin with, so when they are home it is a bit chaotic and not a lot gets done. LOL

It is that time again. Exercise. I'm off to burn my butt off, as cub3 would say.

People can be so nice sometimes...

So we headed out to mail off my bad cf card. We had specific instructions.

1. It had to be in an anti-static bag.
2. It needed to be shipped in a box, not an envelope.
3. It could not be packed with packing peanuts, newspaper or bubble wrap.
4. It could be packed with foam rubber??
5. It had to have a label with specific information they had emailed us.
6. The box had to have a specific number written on it LARGE so it could be quicker.
7. It had to have a tracking number or delivery confirmation.
8. It couldn't be from a PO Box, had to have a physical addy.

So we set out on this mission to meet these 8 goals. Anti-static bag??? Okay, so I look it up and It's one of these Hey that's cool and all, but where do you buy one of those??? I had one when it was shipped to me, but that's long gone. We take off to Walmart thinking hey maybe, just maybe. Nope, but the guy there said try G&S Computers downtown. Okay, but where is that??? I have lived outside if this town my entire life, but only know the basics (how to get to the post office, the bank, pizza hut, the school, and walmart) Nowhere in my database is G&S Computers. So Walmart guy says they may just give you a bag, they are easy to come by for them. (#1 nice person of the day) Yeah I imagine so.

Anyhow we drive down the main street downtown, no store. Okay, try the next street, this is where all the bars seem to be. What do ya know! There it is!!!!!!! Hubby goes in and asks the lady at the counter, she smiles and shuffles a few things (I can see through the window) TADA!!!! We're in business! It's a used one, but she gives it to him FREE!!!!! Hubby tells her thanks and she's awesome. She grins. (#2 nice person of the day)

Next, find a box... ugh come back to that later, we need to see how big this box needs to be considering the restrictions on packing peanuts and such. So Foam Rubber. Who has that and sells that? Nope not Walmart. Try the UPS store across the street. Nope. She suggests Radio Shack next door. (#3 nice person of the day) Radio shack guy says nope, they don't have any laying around, but aren't surprised the lady at ups store sent him over, they always bum that stuff off of them. He suggests the other mailing center downtown. (#4 nice person of the day)

We go and find the mailing center, which is just doors down from the computer store. The lady in there grabbed some foam stuff she had laying around and wrapped it up and taped it as well. Money refused again. (#5 nice person of the day) Now to find a box. We're off to the post office. I've already got the label printed out from home. Hubby brings out a box, a tiny one. We need this big wad of foam to fit in that??? So I take the foam apart, use the excess tape to tape the label on and we're in business. I then write in HUGE letters the given number on the label, for quicker processing. Only two more. Delivery confirmation ~ check and no PO BOX ~ check, that's the only one that scares me, our mail gets lost if we use the physical addy, but I'm hoping they ship it fedex or ups!

So there for less than $5 to ship and 5 nice people in a day later, it's on its way. As far as I see nice people just don't come around often enough these days. It was quite a pleasant experience all in all. It's just a nice change to see people helping people instead of all the grumbling about their days, rotting in their little portions of the earth. How often do you see nice people? Or am I just in a very angry, annoyed part of the country?