Random Thoughts

1. I really need to do a holiday post but I've already uploaded all holiday photos to Facebook and so I kinda feel like there is no point in holiday blogging. We'll see if I get inspired sometime this week.

2. Plus I did a post yesterday on my quilting blog. I'm obsessed with hexagons!

3. I'm working this week. When I left the apartment this morning, the Polack was burrowed under the covers in our bed, Nicklas was reading a book in his bed, and Seeger was on the floor of his bedroom drawing dinosaurs. It was very hard to leave them all!

4. We went to the IU basketball game yesterday. The boys' school gave out tickets to families that wanted them. We also received one ticket for the first row, just behind the visitor's bench. The Polack took that one and I trekked up the stairs to our free balcony seats. Sitting up there was more fun that I thought because we knew some of the kids and their families who also had free tickets. Nicklas sat with his friend Noah and I sat with Noah's mom who also has a first grader that Seeger got to meet.

5. I really miss having friends close by.

6. We're headed back to Lafayette for the New Year. The Polack and I are going to a ROYGBIV New Year's party. Everyone had to dress as a color of the rainbow. We're going as orange. I need to find something to wear!!

7. The Polack got season 1 of Deadwood. I'm looking forward to watching it with him.

8. We have some gift returning to do and I really need to get on that. But I'm definitely not looking forward to it. We have four stores to go to.

9. The boys received a Wii from us for Christmas. The Polack spent all day yesterday getting the apartment cleaned up - we took down the tree and it was a mess! Plus he had a lot to put away and a lot of cleaning to do. So he didn't get around to hooking up the Wii. Nicklas has been so patient because he's been dying to play ever since ours pooped out on us last year. Hopefully it will get hooked up for him today. When we took our Christmas decorations back to storage, we got the box of Wii games and accessories out so he'll be ready to go.

10. I'm thinking about starting another master's program. I started one when I was working at Purdue and I was five classes into a master's in higher education administration. But Purdue cut the program so I never got to finish it. IU has a high ed program but it focuses on student affairs so I'm not really interested. Now I'm thinking about starting a master's in public health. I'm not sure what I'll do with that but I know a lot of the faculty and I get 3 free credit hours a semester. So why not? Stay tuned to see if it really happens!

Random Thought Thursday on Friday

Hey there internet, I missed yesterday's RTT and since I didn't RTT last week, I thought I better hop to it.

1. I had an interesting start to my morning. I took the boys to school and went in to have breakfast with Nick's class. We ate some yummy holiday treats and I went to leave but I couldn't find my phone. I looked everywhere - in my purse, my pockets, my car. Uh oh. I definitely don't have a good history with phones. There was this incident. Then this one. Luckily, when I left the school I stopped by the apartment. As soon as I drove up, I saw my phone on a snow pile in the parking lot. Thank god for the Otter Box!

2. The real reason I went home was to change my shoe. Shoe, not shoes. I had put one one black and one brown shoe which I wore for the entire party in Nick's class and no one said anything. But now I know why I got a few weird looks. At least I hope that's why people were looking at me funny.

3. Tonight is our School's holiday party. Yay for that because the Polack is coming with me. But there is no open bar/drink tickets so I'm a little bummed.

4. I should be happy that it's Friday but I have to work tomorrow. It's commencement and once again I have to read names of our graduates.

How do you pronounce Jayawardene?

5. I'm getting a cold. Yuck. Hopefully I can get a lot of sleep this weekend so I'm refreshed for the holiday week.

6. Yesterday, the Polack drove all the way to work only to find out that school was cancelled because of the snow. Today, he drove all the way to work only to find out that school was on a two hour delay.

7. I love Mother Bear's pizza!

8. The Polack and I are in the process of buying some land. We keep going back and forth with the listing agent and the land owner. It's not a fun process. The realtor seems really slimey.

9. I finally got my Christmas cards mailed last night. YAY! With only 8 days left until Christmas, I hope they all arrive in time.

10. I still have a few more gifts to buy but for the most part, I'm done shopping for Christmas. Which is good because I seem to keep getting more and more stuff for the boys. They are some lucky kids. And I'm pretty lucky too. I'm feeling very grateful for a great husband, family, job, and soon to be home. Good tidings to you too!

Spreading Holiday Cheer

The Polack and I decided to get a real Christmas tree this year. Our fake one is tucked away in storage and way too big for our tiny apartment. Plus the Polack loves real trees much more than fake. And since we didn't do pumpkins with the boys at Halloween, I decided we should go to a real Christmas tree farm to purchase our tree. We opted to get one that was already cut instead of trekking through the farm to find one to cut down. The big barn had rows of different kinds and we weren't really sure what to get. Then we came across this aisle.


Norway Spruce? Of course we had to get it in honor of Mia. And since it was half price that was an extra bonus. After picking out the tree, we went to pay and the boys enjoyed popcorn and hot chocolate. I love this photo of them!


We even got a family shot at the Christmas tree farm.


After a few days and a trip to our storage unit to get our decorations, the tree was decorated. When we picked it out, I told the Polack that I didn't want anything too big for our apartment. Well, all the the trees look little under the big barn they're displayed in. So when we got the tree up at our house, I was surprised to see it was so big!


We also spent a night last week walking around downtown Bloomington. The city does an incredible job decorating the downtown square with lights. I took some photos but they definitely don't do them justice.






As we were walking around, we saw this sign. Nicklas immediately went down the stairs to check out the fencing folks. We got a whole big spiel about the club and Nicklas now wants to join. I want him to take drama classes and he also wants to do hockey so we'll see how this plays out.


Here's one more shot of downtown. I really should look for some google images so you can see how pretty it really is!


And this is a recent photo of our tree. I've since vowed never to buy a Norway Spruce again. The branches are so weak that the ornaments keep drooping and falling off. We'll be eating dinner and will suddenly hear an ornament fall. Plus look at all the needles on the carpet. Our tree will be up for another 12 days so I'm really not looking forward to the clean up.


This is why the Polack gets overruled on the fake vs. artificial tree!

I wore this shirt in 1982

It's Freddy's Birthday!

Best and Worst

Seeger's worst - Freddy was trying to get his popcorn
Nick's worst - not being able to see the broken glass he made
Mike's worst - went to put creamer in his coffee this morning and
couldn't find it anywhere and finally had to put his boots and robe on
to find it in Natalie's car
Natalie's worst - dealing with retirement savings issues
Seeger's best - having a popcorn and pizza dinner
Nick's best - it's Friday (aka the weekend)
Mike's best - looking forward to seeing the downtown Christmas lights
tonight
Natalie's best - got a lot accomplished at work today

Impressive Ladies

I promised a photo from the Jane Pauley-Meryl Streep event I attended last month. It was a great experience! I hosted a group of alumni and donors and we went to dinner afterward. Definitely a memorable evening. Jane is an IU grad and Meryl's husband attended for a few years.

Back Blogged - Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is always a fun holiday for us though this year we spent the Wednesday before attending a funeral. It was nice to see our family from Michigan despite the circumstances. It was a sad day and I really felt horrible for the family that has been through so much and keeps taking hits. They are the strongest people I know.

On Thursday, we went to the Lake and spent the day with the Gallogly family.








Seeger spent the day drawing and writing in a notebook that Uncle bill gave him.


I love this picture of him with my youngest cousin, Lizzie.


Nicklas received a puzzle for his birthday and several family members ended up working on it.


Friday was spent shopping and Saturday was spent shopping some more. We saw a few movies and the Polack and I got to spent some time with my youngest brother and his girlfriend. We went to the Fort Wayne Festival of Trees, hung out at in Irish Pub, watched a Redbox, and listened to a band that was really good live but not as good recorded.

On Sunday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family. I took lots of indoor pictures but they didn't turn out. So here's a the big group shot. On that side of the family, I have my grandma; 9 aunts and uncles and spouses; 24 cousins and spouses/girlfriends/boyfriends; and there are 13 children from those cousins. When you add the 9 from my family, it makes quite a gathering.

Back Blogged - Nick's Birthday Party

I never got around to posting pictures of Nick's birthday party. I blame my camera. It's on some weird setting and my pictures are terrible. I change settings and they are still bad. So I've taken lots of pictures lately but most are getting deleted. I should probably get the instruction book out.

ANYWAY... This wasn't Nick's year to have a birthday party. (We do parties every other year.) But since we're new to Bloomington and he's new to his school and I made him leave a really great group of friends from Lafayette, I decided he should have a party this year. He chose a laser tag place and we invited all the boys from his class. All but 2 came which I thought was a good turnout. The cousins were visiting for the weekend so that was an added bonus.







While the cousins were visiting, I helped Anna make a blanket for her doll. She picked out the fabric from my scraps and I helped her sew it together. A girl after my heart!


I love the fabric she chose for the back so it was hard to let her use it. But I'm glad I did but she loves it just as much as I do.


We drove the cousins back to Lafayette on Sunday and celebrated Nick's birthday and Thanksgiving with the Kubat family.

Let the turtle making begin...

First big snowfall

It's great packing snow. Hopefully we can build a snowman tomorrow! Seeger calls this Frosty the Car. He was sad when we cleared it off.

Go Hoosiers!

Seeger's Christmas Tree

Seeger has been playing with my Christmas Tree app.

Random Thought Thursday

1. Yesterday, the Polack, kids, and I went to have dinner with Uncle Bill. I still had clothes at his house from the time I lived with him so I thought it was time to finally come retrieve them. I kept his house key though!

2. On the way to see Uncle Bill, Nicklas started a conversation about an article read regarding schools selling advertising space on lockers. We debated the pros and cons and it was so great and I especially loved and appreciated that he brought up the topic on his own. It made me think he was grown-up though.

3. Remember the Atari game River Raid? It's a favorite in our house.

4. I went to a holiday party tonight and the hostess had white carpet. I knew this ahead of time and was worried I was going to spill red wine on it. I opted for white wine though but as I was eating a meatball, it went bouncing off my plate and onto the ground. Luckily, I was on the tile and not the carpet!

5. The Polack and I have finished season 2 of Breaking Bad. AWESOME SHOW! We decided to get a new show to watch and since our Borders is closing, we went there for the discounts. Only the selection wasn't great. So we got the first two seasons of Moonlighting. I was excited about this but I've fallen asleep each time we've watched it.

6. I miss Arrested Development.

7. I wonder how many times I've mentioned Arrested Development on this blog?

8. I'm typing this on the Polack's computer and his iTunes is playing some weird music. Me no like.

9. We're going to decorate the apartment for Christmas this year. Our artificial tree is way too big for our living space so we're going to get a smaller real tree this year. I'm looking forward to the pine smell.

10. All the presents I've gotten for the kids are in bags on the floor of my bedroom. They could go snooping anytime but they haven't yet. I need to put them away but I don't really have anyplace to put them.

11. Ever read the FML site? I love it. One of my favorite apps. In close second is TWI.

12. I joined Twitter. But only so I can celebrity updates.

13. On Twitter today, I learned that the latest season of America's Next Top Model is ending this week. I'm sad I missed the season.

14. Despite my love for ANTM, I can't stand Tyra. I'm not sure why I follow her on Twitter.

15. I'm working on a project that involves C. Everett Koop. Up until a few weeks ago, he was the only former US Surgeon General I could name which is weird because he served in the 80's.

16. There is only one other Surgeon General I can name and that's Jocelyn Elders. I learned she got fired by President Clinton because she said masturbation is healthy and should be taught as an alternative form to riskier sex acts.

17. The iTunes music is getting crazier.

18. Over Thanksgiving weekend, I spend a lot of time with my brother Jake. It was nice. But I think he likes the Polack more than me and that's not cool.

19. We've starting giving the boys a weekly allowance. It's great because I can ask them to do anything and if I hear a whine, I can threaten not give money that week. They rarely whine but it's nice to have it in my back pocket. They get $5.

20. I think this is good for now. I gave you all 19 thoughts since I missed last week. La Bamba just started playing...

Look Mom!

I'm wearing my new boots!

Double Digits!

Today, Nicklas celebrates turning 10 years old. He is very excited to be heading into double digits. Me? Well, I can't believe I have a ten-year-old! For a recap of his birth story, visit this previous post.

Nicklas is such a special kid. He is ALWAYS THINKING. I don't think his brain ever turns off. He loves to laugh and tries his best to make others laugh. He's not a natural comedian but he's slowly learning how to be funny. He'd rather hang out with the adults at a party, instead of the other kids (unless it's his cousins!) He loves sports and could spend all day on the couch in front of ESPN. He used to spend all his time reading statistics and figuring out who needed to beat whom to be in which place of the league. He still cares about stats but now he's learning more about the athletes, their fans, and their traditions.

Nicklas is also super smart. I'm so proud of his hard work this year. All A's! And he's in the gifted program doing work a grade ahead. That's pretty amazing. Except he came home the other day with a 63% on his math test. We were all shocked! Math is his strongest subject. There was a section he struggled with and he was SO disappointed in himself. He's not used to having to ask for help with math. He's his harshest critic. I worry about him taking life too seriously. He's going to have an ulcer by the time he's 12.

Buying gifts for Nicklas this year has been difficult. He's outgrown toys but I'm not ready to buy him his own gaming system/laptop/cell phone. He's not into clothes either. We got him a wallet, an IU puzzle, a little table top game, and a Calvin and Hobbs book. He liked everything but he wasn't wowed by anything. I think he's outgrowing the wow phase. Regardless, we'll keep trying. Parenting Nicklas is both easy and hard. Easy because he's a great kid who does what he's asked (for the most part). He rarely gets into trouble. But difficult too because I worry that I'm not doing everything I can to help him be successful. I'm always wondering what else I can do for him. (Maybe he gets the overthinking from me?) I hope he knows that I'm trying and I'm doing my best. I might make mistakes along the way though. Regardless, I know he'll grow up and do some incredible things. Because he's Nicklas. And he's awesome!

Seeger's Haircut

I mentioned in my RTT that Seeger recently got a haircut. I won't go into the how or why it happened - it's too upsetting - but I wanted to share the before and after photos.





It's been pretty interesting to hear people's reactions. Some like it better but most liked his longer hair.

Random Thought Thursday

Yay, it's Thursday and I'm posting an RTT. I hope you enjoyed my guest posters. I know some of you did and some didn't. I had a few complaints from people who said they wanted to hear from me, not strangers. Well, I didn't know I was that popular! But most people did enjoy my guest posters and I want to give a big thank you to all of them - my mom, Christy, Wendy, The Polack, Beth, and Mel. Thank you!!

Anyway, on with the show...

1. In the decision to buy or build, we've finally decided to build. It wasn't an easy decision. The Polack has been wanting this but not me. I have this fear that it will end up costing WAY more than budgeted. But in looking at existing homes, we haven't been able to find what we want. So we'll be signing on the dotted line soon.

2. We walked through a model of the home we want to build and there was no closet downstairs. I think this is really weird. Where are people supposed to hang their coats? The original floor plans call for a closet but if you add a basement, the stair end up where the closet should be. We talked to the building though and found a spot for both basement stairs and a closet. As we were walking through the model, I kept wondering if the owner who was building the house realized that there is no closet.

3. The Polack and I saw A Chorus Line last night. I was excited because I'd only seen the movie. It was good. Not great, but good.

4. When I was in fifth grade, I was in my elementary school's show choir. We sang One (from A Chorus Line) and the students in the front row got canes or hats to do moves with. The rest of the choir had to just stand and sing but the front row got to do all the cool moves. I was in the front row so I was really excited about this. I wish I could remember if we used canes or hats?

5. Renee Tomaszewski and Katie Warren were NOT in the front of the choir. They stood behind me and used to poke me in the back. They were like my elementary school frenemies.

6. I went to New York last week for work but got to see two shows. Maybe I'll do a post on this.

7. Seeger got his hair cut. I should probably do a post on this too. I've been meaning to but the shock and sadness and bitterness of the situation has been a little too much. I'm slowly recovering so I will definitely post pictures soon.

8. I've been eating a lot of bagels lately.

9. There was a stalker making threats to a department chair in my building. We were on semi-lockdown however no one could tell us what that meant. We were given stalker's picture and told to have a community phrase that we could say if we saw her - so that everyone else realized the danger. Our office came up with "This clock is always wrong!" So of course, we say it all the time, making fun of the situation. Probably not smart. But it makes us laugh.

10. I have a quilt design in my head that I've been dying to start on. DYING! But I haven't had any time to do quilting this week. It's been a long time since I've felt this inspired to start a project!

11. Saturday Nicklas is having a birthday party. We usually only do parties every other year and technically, this isn't a party year for Nicklas. But since he's new to his school and I haven't really met any of the kids in his class, I thought it would be good to have one this year. We invited all the boys to a laser tag place and almost all are coming. It will be a fun day.

12. This weekend, we're also having my neice and nephew spend the weekend. Nicklas and Seeger are super excited to see their cousins. We're taking them home to Lafayette on Sunday and having the Kubatski Thanksgiving celebration.

13. Black Friday is only 8 days away. I need to get prepped for it. My mom and I go every year but she was sad to find out she has to work this year. I was like, "no problem - we'll shop before you go to work." I'm so smart.

14. My brother and his girlfriend got engagement-like photos taken recently. I'm guessing an announcement is coming? If that's true, I think he should tell me before he tells other people. Because I'm his favorite sister.

Hear me, Jakob??? You better call or text me before you get engaged. I want to hear all about the plans.

15. I have been super hot lately. I rarely wear a coat anymore and I have to wear short sleeves at work. It's really weird.

16. I love my mom. She's awesome. Are you reading this mom??? I love you!!! You're awesome!!!

17. Oh, another post I have to do includes a picture from when I went to see Meryl Streep and Jane Pauley last week. It was a Q&A between the two and I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the sold out show.

18. I've been working on updating my iTunes lately. What a big job!

19. I can't wait for Thanksgiving. Hmmmmm.... turkey and mashed potatoes. And I'm really excited about seeing my family.

20. The Polack wanted to get basketball season tickets this year but I thought it cost too much. So instead, I've been telling people that I'll buy any tickets they have. And so now I've shelled out so much money, we probably could have gotten our own. Oh well! At least we get cheer the Hoosiers on in better seats than we would have had with our own season tickets.

Random Thought Thursday

I have one more RTT guest poster and then I should be back in the blogging game. This weeks post is by Beth of EB Bead and Metal Works. I would link y'all to her blog but I'm currently sitting in the LaGuardia airport with no Internet access. (That's right, I've been in New York!!)

My first Random Thought Thursday – how exciting is this!  Ok, here we go.
1)Today was Veterans Day and it is a great day to say thank you to a veteran!

2)Because it was Veterans Day I was able to get a free lunch at Applebee's and it was packed with every other veteran thinking the same thing, Free Lunch, SCORE!  I did have a wonderful lunch with my friends, and mom, who helped me celebrate.

3)I think it is great that mom now works on campus.  Too bad she still doesn't work in the same building anymore.

4)On the way back from Applebee's drivers and pedestrians were crazy.  I don't know if it was the nice weather or what, but dang, can you be anymore oblivious to your surroundings.  One person was talking on the cell phone as he was crossing the street, hello!!!

5)Mom and I are finishing up the last of our preparations for our show this weekend – Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  This is going to be a long weekend, but I have my fingers crossed that we kick butt at the show.

6)Comcast, Direct TV, Dish Network – it is a racket!  Why can't we pick and choose the channels we want?  There are only a few channels I watch, why can't I just pick those channels and not the 250 channels Direct TV gives me.  Most of those channels are infomercials, religious, sports or Spanish channels anyway.  I wonder how much it would cost to start my own TV distribution company.

7)I am counting down the months till I get a new phone – May can't get here soon enough!  I haven't decided between a droid (I really want the R2D2 droid) or the iPhone.  I would love the iPhone just so I could play Bejewled.  Though really I would get it for our business because there is suppose to be an app to use for credit cards when we sell inventory at art shows.  How cool is that?

8)The last few days the weather has been absolutely gorgeous.  These are the days you want to call in sick and go do something fun.  I hate being responsible sometimes!

9)I am not looking forward to the cold weather, can you believe it is November.  It should be interesting this winter to work out in the garage.

10)It will be Thanksgiving in two weeks, yum lots of food (and of course family, but oh, the food!). I am just thinking about my aunt's stuffing.  That is all I really look forward too, her stuffing.  I am weird, I don't like turkey.  Give me the stuffing and I am set.  And here is another thought, it will be Christmas in a little over a month.  OMG!  Time does fly when you get older.

11)That was kind of fun…just sit here and brainstorm and type whatever comes to mind.  It is kind of cathartic, now I see why people like doing this.  Thanks Natalie for letting me play!

An unexpected shout out

I volunteered at the elementary school library and got an unexpected shoutout.

Random Thought Thursday

This week's RTT is brought to you by my friend Melissa. (Boy, do I know a lot of Melissa's.) She's a former co-worker from Purdue and she graciously volunteered to serve as our guest writer. Let's all thank her!


1. In a bad mood the other day, I was (wrongly) antagonizing my 3 year old by pretending to hear the opposite of what he was saying. Our conversation ended when he said "I WANT to do the laundry ALL BY MYSELF." I think I should antagonize him in this way more often.

2. What WOULD my laundry look like if he did the laundry "all by himself"? ... Must budget more money for new clothing.

3. I don't care who you are, you should NEVER wear a swim suit in a grocery store. People don't want your naked business around the food they want to buy. (And yes, some people do think it is ok, i have a friend who has a terrifying picture...)

4. If i were a squirrel, I would totally live on Purdue's campus... and spaz out in front of people like me as they approached... after holding very still. Its a little embarrassing being scared by a squirrel.

5. I think drive-through liquor stores are just asking for trouble.

6. In the future, we have decided we will pass out suckers for Halloween . This is because we as parents like it when Tyler gets these because it 1) Lasts for a long time and 2) Keeps him quiet for a long time..

7. I got my first smartphone this weekend. A Droid Incredible. Every time I hear a new noise, I think it is my phone... and about half of the time I am right. I'm not sure how to set all the notifications yet, and I'm not sure what all the default noises mean! There is definitely a learning curve with these suckers. They'll do anything. On a "awesomeness" note, the SWYPE keyboard, is the coolest thing EVER!

8. As a driver, I am not a fan of the Halloween yard strobe lights. As a lover of the holiday, I can't help but think it would be more awesome if you had one of those life-size creepy guys they sell at the hardware stores, and put the strobe light on him!

9. Halloween television is my absolute favorite. I love scary and suspenseful movies, unfortunately, with a three year old in the house, and the sleep deprivation provided by a newborn, I was able to watch and stay up for absolutely none of those movies. I hope my sons are horror and suspense film lovers. I hope that Tyler's love of Scooby Doo is an early indication he loves paranormal television.

10. I think this year is shaping up to be the most expensive year of our lives thanks to our preemie and his chaotic delivery. I have to say though, it was the best use of $175,000 I could ever think of. (Thank god we have good health insurance or we would be paying way more than we are.)

11. Happy November! Thanksgiving is next!

Tricks and Treats

Here is a photo of the boys right before they went Trick or Treating. Nicklas is an IU basketball player. Seeger is Super Kid, a superhero he made up. I had to make his costume, under his strict supervision. I'm never sewing with satin again! He was happy with the overall look but unfortunately, the costume barely made it through the night. Did I mention my dislike for satin?



These photos were taken the week before at the Boy Scout Halloween Party. I wasn't able to attend I have no idea what's going on. But they're funny so I thought I'd share!

Tailgating Time

Concert time!

Random Thought Thursday

These were written yesterday but I never got around to posting them. This weeks guest RTT writer s the one and only.... The Polack! I won't say I forced him into it but I definitely strongly persuaded him. 

Alright, I've got to knock this out fast because I don't have very much time. I'm meeting my wife soon so that we can talk to a 2nd builder and then go to look at an existing house. I don't feel very random so we will see what comes out.

 

1.

I threw a kid out of class today and later he told me that he respects me more because I finally threw him out. Evidently he's been waiting for me to do it. Um..okay. Now I have to call home and document it. It's less two weeks until the end of the trimester. I don't want to deal with this at all.

2.

I knew I had the easiest schedule ever at my old school, but as I sit at my desk, WAY behind in grading that point is driven home yet again. I used to never to take work home. Now, I always take work home. I miss my down time…and my family time.

3.

Nicklas got all A's on his 9 weeks report card. Maybe all the tears and fighting during homework time are actually worth it. So proud of him.

4.

Not to brag, but after not going to concerts for a very long time, I've finally made my way back to a few this year. It's been a good year. Since last September I've seen U2, Flogging Molly, Pearl Jam, Ingrid Michelson, The Black Crowes, Train, The Black Keys, Kings of Leon, Michael Franti and tomorrow we're going to see John Mellencamp. Oh, and if anyone wants to check out The Reverend Horton Heat at The Bluebird on November 7th, I'm in.

5.

Don't most cars have cruise control now? Why don't more people use it? I hate when someone passed me on the highway and then slows down after they do. Oh, and while I'm at it people, the lane on the left is called the "passing" lane! If you are not passing people get out of it!

6.

We are trying to go without cable. I miss sports. No NFL and no World Series unless I go out to watch it. I can catch some stuff online, but not enough. Why don't all the networks have a live internet feed? More people watching…more ads…more revenue. Must make too much sense.

7.

Only two more tailgates this year. That stinks. I'm cooking slabs of ribs on Saturday and then next week I'm making jambalaya. I love jambalaya weekend. It's my favorite tailgate every year. Can't wait.

8.

I wish I had a cold Guinness right now. I do, but it's in my fridge and I'm at work. I drink my Guinness cold. I don't care what people say, that's the way I like it. I chill red wine too….and it tastes wonderful. Deal with it.

9.

I can't wait to move out of our apartment. I'm ready to be a home owner again….but I'm willing to wait to get exactly what we want. That's why I really, really want to build.

10.

I finally got an iphone. I'm totally addicted to the gameTrainyard. There I said it. After making fun of my wife for never putting her phone down, I'm in the same boat.

 

Done. Gotta run.

My day with Dick

The School I work for has a few notable alumni. Our most famous was on campus for several days last week and I spent one day with him. That morning he spoke to our sports communication students. Then he had a photo shoot at the football stadium. I snuck in for one picture!



Next, we met up with his co-chairs for a building fundraising campaign. Like the hard hats?


Afterward, I took him to lunch and then we toured the new basketball facility.


We even got to see the inside of the locker room. Luckily, the boys were at practice.


He had some great stories and I was very impressed with his versatility in the world of sports. Plus, he's an all around great guy.

Michael Franti and Spearhead

The Polack and I went to The Bluebird last week to see Michael Franti. It was a great evening which kicked off with the opening band that I thought was from Vancouver because they were all wearing flannel shirts (and of course it would be too obvious to say think were from Seattle so I thought of Vancouver instead.) Except when the singer started talking, I realized they definitely weren't Canadian because their UK accent WAS SO THICK I couldn't understand them. And I say UK because I thought they were Irish but the guy next to me said they're from London but he was drunk so I didn't find him credible but I also don't trust my judgment in accents. And between every song the crowd kept shouting WHO ARE YOU? I'm pretty sure they said their name a few times but no one could understand them. Two things I remember about them is A) the pretty blue guitar one of them had and B) the drummer cracked me up because he made funny faces when he played and holy cow did he look so happy to be on stage.

During all this I felt so young because there were a lot of old people there (as in older than me) but as the opening act finished up and we were awaiting Franti, the students arrived and started pushing their way toward the stage. Man, do I hate people getting in front of me when I was there early and suffered through the opener. So I held my ground and threw some elbows and made friends with two girls beside who were on the same page as I was about not letting people in front of us. Except they were drinking Dirty Birds and so even though they said they'd help, they didn't really seem capable. I might have had a Dirty Bird myself.

But none of this mattered because the show started and Franti was AWESOME. So energetic and people were jumping and jumping and dancing and then these two frat boys jumped right in front of me and I was all, "oh, no you don't!" and they were really pushy. And jumpy. And then one jumped on my foot and the Polack got mad and they realized they better not mess with an angry Pole so they moved behind us and I was able to enjoy the show again. Did I mention that Franti was awesome? Cuz he totally was.

Random Thought Thursday

I'd like to present my third guest blogger. This weeks RTT comes from my friend Christy of I Dream in Fuscia. I apologize for any funky formatting you might see. I don't have the energy to fix it.

 

I was really quick to volunteer to serve as a guest blogger for this week's Random Thought (Thoughts?) Thursday. I have often been tempted to steal this idea for my own blog, thinking it would be an easy post for blog-challenged me. Now that I actually have to write it, however: ooh, the pressure!

1. I love Goodwill. A new one just opened last week near Target. Like two buildings down from where it used to be located. Which is rather weird. I think Goodwill has been getting some hand-me-downs from Target though. I found two brand new skirts and a new sweater there that I had seen in Target just recently and considered buying. I'm glad I waited; I paid $12 for both skirts and the sweater! Sweet.

2. I have fruit flies in my apartment. They are driving me nuts.

3. The women's world gymnastics championships are on television right now. I adore gymnastics, but think the gymnasts alone are keeping the scrunchie and barrette business alive.

4. I haven't been sleeping well, so have been watching more than my fair share of late night television. I've been seeing commercials for Snuggies featuring the song (and dance) "Macarena." I think it's a sign of the apocalypse.

5. Last night I also saw a special on mail order brides from Russia. It was really kind of disturbing. A bunch of old, fat & bald men looking for gorgeous women half their age (or less). I checked out one of the websites mentioned on the show. Men got to pick a country, age range & weight in order to get women to sort through. The weight ranges started at 75 pounds (WTF?) and 18 years old. Sheesh.

6. I don't have a lot of random thoughts right now.

7. I recently got to attend the Super Saturday sale at a nearby quilt shop. It was my first trip there, and the selection was even better than I thought it would be. It's probably a good thing that I can't make it there more often. So many fabrics I'd love to buy.

8. I am really craving something citrus-y, like lemonade. I am way too lazy to get up and get any out of the fridge.

9. I did get up and get some lemonade. We bought a gallon of Chick-Fil-A's diet lemonade over the weekend and there was about a third of the gallon left. Now that my company has left, I drank it right from the jug.

10. I am really glad leggings came back into fashion. I in no way approve of them as a substitute for pants for most people, but I like wearing them under skirts and dresses. It saves me from having to wiggle into tights in the morning and then having to worry about the crotch of the tights sagging lower and lower as the day goes on.

Best&Worst

Seeger's worst - not getting the blue tape measure + leaving his book
that he wrote
Nick's worst - having to drive to Indy and back + feels like Friday
but isn't.
Mike's worst - didn't get any work done
Natalie's worst - things didn't go as planned at work
Seeger's best - mom said no to playing at the playplace but then said
yes
Nick's best - being able to watch tv and see what's going on in the
sports world
Mike's best - Short Stop
Natalie's best - getting to host a famous (in sports broadcasting)
alum on campus

Best and Worst

Due to technical problems (as in Blogger is stupid and won't allow me to format my sidebar), I will no longer be posting the Best and Worst of our days from dinner time on the sidebar. Instead, I'll post them directly in the blog. Here is one from Sunday, October 10....

Seeger's worst - mom was gone yesterday
Nick's worst - having to leave Hayden
Mike's worst - waiting for Natalie to get home
Natalie's worst - very tired
Seeger's best - mom coming home
Nick's best - seeing Hayden and the car ride home
Mike's best - Natalie came home and he got a lot of work stuff done
Natalie's best - home with family after a very fun weekend

Complements of Note Bully

Sent from my iPhone

My best single score EVER

130 points - holy cow! Candy was beating me up to this point.

Random Thought Thursday

Yay, it's Thursday and I'm posting an RTT!  We have another guest poster - Wendy from I Am Like Spaghetti. A special thanks to her for helping me out this week.  It's nice to feel some relief from the pressure of blogging.  I have awesome friends! 

 

This is supposed to be random, so I'll try not to purposefully make it too thoughtful or witty.  Since it's the first time I have ever done this, it will be hard not to do so.  Because I do want to impress you with my random witty-ness.

 

1.    We had our son's 10^th birthday party this past weekend.  We hosted twelve kids between the ages of 8 and 10, both boys and girls.  The social dynamics of children this age are very entertaining.  Basically, kids are awesome.

2.      I went shopping today to buy outfits for family pictures.  And now I am wondering – does everyone put as much effort into coordinating clothes for family portraits as I do?  When I see other pictures, it appears to me that they do.  But I wonder – do they have to work at it as hard as I do?

3.      I really do not enjoy clothes shopping for myself.  Never have.  Probably never will.

4.      But I am looking forward to our first-ever outdoor family photo shoot.  In the fall.  At a great location. The anticipation (of seeing the photos) is killing me!

5.      I had a case of vertigo Tuesday morning.  It was bad enough that I didn't want to drive myself to work, so my husband took me.  I have decided that I could really get used to car pooling with my husband.  It's like stealing some time away from our busy lives to be together.  Hmmmm . . . maybe I'm on to something.

6.       Ever notice how the people you most want to be with are often the ones you spend the least amount of time with?  This makes me kind of sad.

7.      There was a light rain shower this evening.  I love the sound of rain on fallen leaves almost as much as a rolling thunderstorm in the summer.

8.       I also love listening to my children singing around the house (not to the radio).  It makes me feel that they must have a pretty happy life that they feel like singing!

9.       And now I am totally distracted from RTT and singing along in my head with my little girl as she sings "The Star Spangled Banner."

10.  The same few lines over. And over. And over. Again.  But still somehow very cute and heartwarming.

 

Well, what do you think?  Do I have it?  RTT talent, that is?  I just love reading Natalie's RTT posts, so I hope that you have enjoyed mine! Ciao!

Random Thought Monday

Okay, so I've been getting a lot of slack lately for not being very consistent with posting my random thoughts on Thursday.  You see I have this thing called a job.  A job that I love and one that keeps my pretty busy.  Unlike my previous job - one that I didn't like and that didn't keep me busy.  (See the pattern?)  That previous job allowed me to spend WAAAA-AAAAY too much time on the internet.  Time that I no longer have.  And while I'm not planning to give up blogging anytime soon, I'm definitely not able to post as often as I used to.

 

ANYWAY... someone suggested that I feature guest writers.  And my mom volunteered to write the first guest post.  (It's like high school creative writing all over again.  She did most of my assignments because my creative writing teacher was also my journalism advisor and since I was the newspaper editor, she always sent me off to work on the paper leaving me no time for my assignments.) So here she is....  (WITH MY COMMENTS in CAPS!)

 

 
I'm a guest to the random thoughts Thursday because I miss Natalies random thoughts and she doesn't have time. AWWWW - SHE MISSES ME!
 
1. I had a fun weekend quilting, I love to quilt, but it's more fun to me if I get to do it with friends. QUILTING ROCKS!
 
2. Why are guys (some not all) so messy? Do they not see dirty dishes and yucky toilets? THAT'S IN REFERENCE TO MY BROTHER WHO IS CURRENTLY LIVING WITH MY MOM.  HE IS A SLOB!!!

 
3. I,m so thankful for my job. Today I had a good day at work. I was busy ,but not crazy, and the day went fast. YAY FOR YOU, MOM! GLAD YOU HAD A GREAT DAY - ESPECIALLY SINCE IT'S MONDAY.
 
4. I love crawling in my bed at night for a good nights sleep, but i hate it on the nights that i sleep poorly and toss and turn all night. WHEN I WAS A LITTLE GIRL, I ALWAYS LOVED CLIMBING INTO MY MOM'S BED.  I USED TO TELL HER I HAD A BAD DREAM JUST SO I COULD SLEEP IN HER BED.  
 
5. Five of my coworkers have a total of 6 little girls from 1 to 3. They went on the Breast walk Sat morning and took a picture of the girls on sitting after the walk with their pink shirts on and the looked so darn cute. I miss those little girl days, but someday I'll probable have grandgirls, i wonder if they'll be as cute as my little girl was. I WISH I HAD A GRADDAUGHTER FOR YOU, MOM! HOPEFULLY YOUR SONS WILL HELP IN THAT DEPARTMENT.
 
6. My sons old government teacher is running for office, but I remember some ethical issues with him, so I wonder what will happen. I DIDN'T KNOW THIS, MOM.  WHICH TEACHER?  MY GOVERNMENT TEACHER WAS A WOMAN.
 
7. Why do they call adult cartoons  adult swim, I just don't get it. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.

 

OKAY, I JUST ASKED THE POLACK AND HE EXPLAINED IT FOR ME.  HE SAID IT'S LIKE WHEN YOU WENT TO THE POOL AND EVERY HOUR OR SO, ALL THE KIDS HAD TO GET OUT OF THE POOL AND ONLY THE ADULTS WERE ALLOWED IN.  AT NIGHT, THE KIDS AREN'T ALLOWED TO WATCH - ONLY THE ADULTS.

8. About those cartons , If they're cartoons why do they have them say bad words then bleep them out, I don't get that either. MAYBE BECAUSE IT'S FUNNIER TO IMAGINE THE NAUGHTY WORDS?

 
9. I LOVE this weather, warm days, cool night, Wish it would last. ME TOO! ALTHOUGHT IT GOT UP TO 90 DEGREES TODAY.  WHAT THE HECK?!

10. I love all the seasons in Indiana, but winter last at least a month to long. SOMETIMES.  BUT SOMETIMES, IT'S JUST PERFECT. 
 
11. I'm getting in to thai cooking, so everytime I go to the store I try to get another ingredient like fish sauce and coconut milk. i don't normally have those in my cupboards. YAY FOR THAI! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO COOK TAI FOR ME?  MAYBE WE SHOULD HAVE A THAI THANKSGIVING?  (I'M KIDDING.  I LOVE THAI BUT I WANT ME SOME TURKEY AND MASHED POTATOES.)
 
12. Speaking of cooking, I,ve been making homemade bread with my Dads old bread maker. I,ve had it for 3 years and just started using it. WHAT'S WITH ALL THE COOKING?  IT'S NOT LIKE YOU...
 
13. High Def TVs are definately more fun to watch. I'LL TAKE YOUR WORD FOR IT.  OUR HIGH DEF TV DOESN'T DO MUCH GOOD WHEN YOU ONLY PLAY DVD'S.
 
14. Milk tastes alot better with Baileys, think I'll have some. BAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU MADE ME LAUGH!  NEXT TIME, ADD SOME BUTTERSHOTS AS WELL.  YUMMO!

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed my mom's randomness.  I'm seeking more guest random thoughts.  Let me know if you're interested!

Seeger explaining something

I'm not even sure what he's talking about. But he sure is a cutie.

Quilting Away

I'm at Camp Tecumseh!