Melissa

It's official, Winter has arrived here....its cold!   Gma came for a nice visit during Thanksgiving and we had absolutely perfect weather, day after she left, we had 6 inches of snow after freezing rain!  It has been here ever since - could be a long winter for this lizard.

 

We are trying to get ready for Christmas but try as I might it always seems to be a mad dash and stressful.....just once I would like to be that perfect mother who is organized with gifts purchased well before Christmas, so she has time to bake, wrap, decorate and entertain like Martha Stewart - seems like my decorating and baking gets less every year.   The hardware store is decorated better than my house.   Well enough of the pity party, doesn't help anyway.

 

My blessings are bountiful and I wish a joyous Christmas to everyone and hope you all can stop and reflect a little on what exactly we celebrate at Christmas.

God Bless,

M

Just a note, we had snow flurries the last 2 days and its not even November! - not a good sign.  Axle Rose gets to go help the "Extreme Home Makeover" with her Beta club from school....I dont think there will be any taping while she is there but its still exciting to be a part of it.

We are still eating well with the kids cooking - tbag's duck was awesome and the little man's homemade crepes were delicious, big A's homemade pizza is always a hit.

The traveling man gets a pass due to his travels and school but his time is coming.

M

Happy Fall!! I love this time of year - celebrated my 40+something birthday and our 26 wedding anniversary - the weather has been spectacular and everyone is still happy  and healthy.   Since our local grocery store burnt, meal planning has been my biggest burden.....so every weekend I try to shop for the following week of meals, which I have always tried to do but I had the local store as my safety net.  We also decided that the kids could help more with dinner - so they sign up for a weeknight to cook.  This as helped me a ton and added a little more variety of menus......needless to say it has become a little competitive and so far no food poisoning

We are now at week 3 of this and the tbag is going to try serving duck!!!his sister showed him up the first week and he is trying to gain some ground on her.

Our food budget has gone up a little and there is always extra kids at the table but I am loving the break.   Some day my future in laws will thank me for this life lesson.

Go hug your kids.

M

As I was adding some photos, I realize that Summer has come and gone and what have we done?   Seems like we were always busy but doing what?  Cousin, Schmegan came for a short visit and that was great, too short, but always fun being with her.   We explored Dubuque, Iowa and Galena, Illinois for a long weekend.  The big man and I got to go to Chicago for a Hardware show - always fun but for the most part we worked and hung out at home....projects that seem to never end!

We haven't even made it to our favorite winery this summer and its just down the road from us.

We have decided we need a flow chart to keep up with all the new members of the extended family - I cant even keep up with the birthdays of my immediate family!

Being so far away doesn't help either.

The big man and I will hopefully get away for our anniversary next month (26 years) and perhaps another long weekend for the family before the real bad weather hits.

 

School is in full swing including the big man, who is still working on his business degree (cant help but be a little jealous) and the store continues to grow and keep me busy.

Our town's only grocery store burnt a few weeks ago and our store is right across the street from it.....it was sad to watch....we were interviewed on the local news, so I have had my 15 seconds of fame.

 

I'm looking forward to the political debates and am hoping one of the candidates will start giving some real answers and real solutions - first time I have been so undecided this late in the game.  This will be the first election to vote in for the T-bag and it has been interesting to watch his views/positions change.

 

M

Well school is out here and we've gone right into summer weather - its 90 and 80% humidity already.   We had 2 tornadoes Wed. night and spent some time in our basement under cover.   For once, the traveling man was here to witness it but missed seeing the actual tornado because he insisted on taking cover.  It went right over us and touched down a mile away in a field.  Axel Rose actually saw it while at her church meeting - they didn't hear the sirens but took cover once they saw it!  Our dog was even whining....apparently we are expecting more severe weather so I'm thinking we should stock up on our basement supplies and maybe be a little more prepared - this occurred to me as I was sitting on the cold cement floor, having to go pee and realizing our emergency preparedness kit was not there.  

"there's no place like home" 

here's to wishing I was back home

M

 

Well now that our starlet is off her crutches and her show was a success, we now have oral surgery to recover from.  4 wisdom teeth extracted at once and she looks like the ghost from Scrooge - you know the one who had the scarf tied around his head to keep his mouth closed.....anyway big brother is playing nursemaid today - God help her.   The traveling man is back in town - just got back from sunny Florida and he tries to down play the fun he has but he's not fooling anyone....he tried to refer to his excursion on a "big boat" as "o.k."  -  seriously, an 80' boat is a YACHT, not a "boat" who does he think he's kidding?

I get teased alot at the store because I never seem to have all the details of where he is, which airline, etc. etc. but really, can you blame me?  All I really need to know is when he'll be home. 

The t-bag is back home now - seems living on his own/working/trying to go to school is hard - DUH!  I have refrained from saying "I told you so".  More life lessons - as he put it, "turns out, my life sucks and I need to get back on track"   well Amen to that brother!

Not sure why I keep blogging but it does have some therapeutic merits.

M

I can finally say that Spring has arrived here in the Midwest and its been busy.   The potting station is built except for the sign and I'm still looking for a good deal on terra cotta pots.   Hopefully it will be a big hit here at the store, I could use a paycheck soon!

Traveling man is off again this week and usually anything that can go wrong, does when he is out of town - but after last week, I'm not sure what else could go wrong:

it started with my truck - all of a sudden the brakes start grinding really loud; so I take it in and the mechanic says "how long have you heard that noise?" just started yesterday - I dont think he believed me - apparantly the pads,rotors or whatever were shot - he was surprised I even had stopping capability.  Tuesday am the "little man" is debating on going to school or not because his ear hurts - how bad does it hurt? I ask "about a 3 but I cant hear"   so off we go to the doctors office and low and behold it is a raging infection with pus oozing out....nice, once again I feel as though the doctor doesn't believe that this just started.   Mind you, we were just there the week before for sports physical!   That same evening the Mr. and I are grocery shopping and the high school calls me on my cell "Mrs. L, this is Mr. Mac and well, your daughter just passed out on stage, I think she is o.k. but could you come here asap?"   so, we think, oh she gave blood today, she's o.k. - the Mr. says you go get her and I'll finish shopping and you can pick me up.  Seemed reasonable, so off I go and then the cell rings again, Mrs. L. we called the paramedics because she cant move her leg and she has a big lump on her head.   Great, so now the Mr. is stranded with groceries and no car.  when I arrive at the school, they have her strapped on a crash gurney, neck brace, oxygen, leg wrapped and ice strapped to her head.....needless to say, I wasn't going to say unwrap her and I'll take it from here.   Of course, its awards night at the high school, so everyone in town knows by now - so off we go in the ambulance to the E.R. as I am calling our son to go get Dad and take his groceries home and get the car from the high school.   After 4 hours in ER it was determined that she had torn something in her knee - no concussion, just 2 good size lumps on her head - soft cast and crutches and we're good to go.  Not sure I like the saying "break a leg"

M