Time to get caught up

So things have been a bit nutso lately! Just last week my boss made the decision to switch real estate offices. So he's no longer at RE/MAX but is now at Ayre/Rhinehart REALTORS. We're still in the process of getting settled and organized but so far, it seems like a great move. He'll have some adjusting to do because my office will be in a different building than his so he won't have me at his fingertips to get things done right at that moment. My office space is under construction because the day before Rich made the decision to move, a water main broke and left 4 inches of standing water in the basement area which is where my space is. So right now I'm temporarily set up in the conference room with all of the other stuff that is stored in the basement. For a neat freak like myself, it's not fun but it's doing the job right now. I've heard that the basement should be ready within the next couple of weeks so I'm super excited about that.

This morning when I went to drop Emily off to school I noticed that the staff looked really sad and horrible. I asked Em's teacher if she was ok and she informed me that they just got news that Eastlawn is one of the schools set to close for next year. I can't believe that. That school is amazing and has the most wonderful staff there. I went there as a child and so did my sister. And what I love is that Emily's teachers are ones that had me as a child too. So I know that I can trust them without a shadow of a doubt. Tony and I are very sad and quite upset too right now. We don't want to see this school close.

I'm still plugging along with school but I can say that I will be grateful when this semester is over so that I can have a break. Maddie thinks I live at the Library now because I'm there so much studying. :) This class is really teaching me that I don't have to get an "A" as long as I do my very best.

We're looking forward to two small getaways that we've got planned for this month. This weekend we'll be heading to Lake City with my sister and her family to stay at the Bergs' Cabin. Or as the kids call it, "Gramma Lee Ann's Cabin." It'll be a nice time to relax and have some fun in a low key fashion. Then at the end of this month we're heading up to Mackinaw to stay at a hotel that has a small waterpark in it. The girls call it the "Dumping Pirate" because there is a huge bucket with a Pirate's face on it that dumps lots of water on you while you're playing. I'll try my best to take pictures and to post them.

OH! One really fun thing we did over the weekend was to visit the lizards and snakes alive exhibit at the Center for the Arts. Our neighbor works there and was so thoughtful to give us tickets to see the exhibit on Saturday. It was really neat to see all different kinds of snakes and lizards and to watch the girls have fun playing and exploring. I did take pictures of that event but my battery died so my camera is sitting at home waiting for me to charge it. So if you have kids, nephews/neices who like those kinds of animals, it'd be a fun little something to do out of the ordinary.

It's been a while

I haven't blogged in a while. Not because there isn't anything to blog about. But because there's been a lot to blog about and just trying to pick the time to sit down and type it out. And also figuring out how much you'd like to know. Since I'm not one of those amazing blog writers, I guess it really doesn't matter because I don't have a cult following. Hee hee hee.

Things have been a little nuts lately but I can say that I'm peacefully accepting all the craziness and watching it work itself out. The girls really enjoyed getting back into the school swing of things after the Christmas and New Year's holidays. And this past weekend, they really enjoyed going to "Grandma Lee Ann's" house to go sledding for the first time this year. They're still talking about how much fun they had!

We also got to celebrate my mom's birthday over the weekend as well. That was interesting because it happened to be the day that we got another huge batch of snow. We enjoyed dinner together and then had our own mini-tournament of playing dominos at my aunt's house while we let the kids run wild and play.

Tony's been super busy with work right now which is a huge blessing for the finances but stinky that he's so tired and has to work a lot. But we are thankful because it's the exact opposite for me. Business is so slow for my boss that I'm looking at being laid off at the end of the month if things don't change. I'm confident that everything will work itself out and I'm trusting God to come through for us. He's done it before for us and I know He'll do it again.

The new semester recently started too so I'm getting back into the swing of things there. It's been SO long since I've had a science class and I've got Anatomy & Physiology right now. Thankfully I've got an amazing professor who wants to see her students do well. So I'm getting a crash course in chemistry and hoping that the information sticks! :0)

I think that kind of sums things up in a nutshell. I'll try to post something more interesting later. I really need to get creative like some of the other blog writers I know.

Thought for the day

One of my dearest friends took time to talk with me last night and shared a prayer with me that was given to her. It truly touched me and I think it can apply to anyone and anything that you are or may be going through. I hope that in reading it, it can come to life for you as well. Here it is:

Thank you for the gift of learning to live 24 hours at a time.
No undue looking back, except with fondness.
No fear of the future, but only the expectant wonder of what tomorrow's dawn will bring.
Today we were healthy, well-fed, and warm.
Today we loved, and were loved in return.
Who knows of tomorrow?
It is enough that today you shared the riches of your bounty with us.
It is enough, Lord, that you have been here.
For this blessed, yet triumphantly normal day - and for all the days to follow - I give you thanks, my Lord.
So be it.
Amen.

A new year's eve reflection

Wanna know how we spent celebrating New Year's Eve 2008? The girls and my sister's two boys thought it was an occasion for dressing up. No one gave them the dress code so they went the jammies/ninja/soldier/karate kid route. And Trooper was their mascot.












Maddie kicked 2008 out with a bang and lost her first tooth. At 4 1/2 years old! I was later told that Tony started losing his teeth this young as well. So I'm not worrying about her early need for dentures when she gets older just yet. She let Uncle Eric do a "wiggle check" with a tissue and she had no idea that he popped it out until after he told her that he couldn't find it. I took a picture of her making this face and then turned the camera around for her to see for herself that he tooth was gone. She was jumping up & down and screaming with joy because now she was going to get a visit from the Tooth Fairy and she could go shopping. Well.....we got home really late after toasting in 2009 and at 7:15 am I woke up out a dead sleep and realized that the tooth was still in my purse and that the Tooth Fairy didn't pony up the dollar that she owed Maddie. After slapping Tony awake in a panic for a dollar, we managed to russle up 4 quarters and I quietly dropped it in a cup and set it on the window sil for Maddie to find when she woke up. She was so excited to get the dollar (after we explained that 4 quarters is the same as a dollar bill) and take her first trip to the dollar store to buy her own toy with her Tooth Fairy money. This is something that the girls look forward to. Any time that they get money, they get the joy of feeding their piggy banks in hopes that Tony and I can create children who like to save money instead of spend it (like their mommy & daddy). But when the Tooth Fairy comes, that's fair game. They can either go right away and buy something at the dollar store with mommy & daddy helping by paying the sales tax, or they can save up their money to buy something a little bigger. Maddie ended up choosing a plastic recorder as her first tooth fairy purchase. Feeling generous she told Emily that she could get a toy too and Emily got a recorder as well. I thought it was a good idea since it's a musical instrument that would allow them to be creative. Until we brought them home and opened them up. Eeeeekkk..do you remember playing those in elementary school? I do, but I don't remember them squealing and sounding so bad. Oh well!

Today was also the first day back to school after the long break. Both girls were super excited to go back and see their teachers and their friends. Maddie went into Emily's classroom and school office to show everyone her "lost tooth" and then promptly ran down the hall to show her teacher at her school her "lost tooth." Very precious!

Permission Slip Required

Tony was my source of humor last night. Poor guy.

Soooo......we finally celebrated his birthday with his family on Sunday night and his sister, Amy got him this really nice Winchester knife set. We ,of course, started joking with Tony because the last time he received a knife as a gift, he cut his thumb and shoved it in a dirty sock to try to get the bleeding to stop and to avoid getting stitches.

Last night Emily asked Tony to help her open up a porcelain doll that she received from Great Grandma Bartlett for Christmas while I was cooking our gourmet dinner of hot dogs, mac & cheese & peas. Yummy, I know. All of a sudden I turn around and see Tony wiping something up off the kitchen floor and I realize that it's blood. Sure enough, the boy cut himself. AGAIN. Through my laughter, I told him I wanted to see the cut this time to see if it needed stitches and he wouldn't let me see it because he hadn't assessed the damage first. I followed him into the bathroom and once he removed the paper towel from his hand, you could see a nice gash on his left hand where the knife cleanly slashed him. He said that he didn't need stitches, of course. He said that he only needed a band aid. Well that lasted about 30 seconds before he bled through that one. After he nearly immediately bled through the 2nd band aid I told him that he had to go to Urgent Care to get the stitches that "he didn't need."

After waiting there for nearly 1 1/2 hours he was seen and the doctor looked at his chart and said that it was 6 months and 1 day from the last time he was in getting snitches. He's getting pretty consistent don't you think? He ended up with 4 stitches in his hand when it was all said and done.

So now the joke will always be that no one is allowed to give Tony a knife for a gift anymore. And if they do, a permission slip must be signed first in order for him to use it.

Moral of the story? Winchester knives are very nice and very sharp!

The big 3-0

Today's the big day for Tony. He turned 30 today! Tony thought (and some of the rest of us did too) that he'd have a crisis in celebrating this birthday. About 6 months ago when another friend turned the big 3-0, Tony nearly broke out into a cold sweat and begged me not to throw him a surprise party. I was throwing a fit inside of my head because of this new anxiety that he showed because that was just what I had planned in mind. Instead.....here's what we did! We got a huge group of people together and had a night out on the town. Pretty much, we spent a majority of the night at Shooters in Saginaw riding the mechanical bull. The first picture you see here is of Garth (Katie's boyfriend) and Sue (one of our friends) riding the bull together because they matched with their pink striped shirts. What you can't see right now is the video that goes along with this that shows how hard it was to get Sue on the bull. On the 3rd attempt at mounting the mechanical animal, Garth put his hands together to give Sue a boost. In reality what happened was that on the count of 3, Garth shot Sue OVER the bull. It was one of those up and over moments that had us all nearly running to the bathroom about to wet ourselves.



Next, you see another hilarious moment with the lovely bull. That would be Sue (again), me and Tony all trying to ride this thing together. I think we migh have made it 1 second before we all fell off together. And now Sue is left bruised and so am I. My left elbow, that you see pictured, is now so badly bruised that the entire area is black. Tony escaped uninjured which is a Christmas miracle.








And then the night ended with a trip to good ole' Lil' Chef for some breakfast. I think Tony was a little excited when his pancakes finally showed up to the table. What do you think? And I think we could also agree that he has a tongue like Gene Simmons from Kiss.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

I'm telling you what, someone forwarded this link to me and these guys are amazing. In fact, when I forwarded the link to some other friends and family, my exact words were, "Holy cats Batman! These guys are amazing!" The group's name is Straight No Chaser. I cannot believe their talent and ability. Check the link out and see for yourself. Let me suggest a few more songs to listen to once you are there:

• Lion Sleeps Tonight
• Carol of the Bells
• Sitcom Medley

Ok, let's get real. Just check them all out. I was so impressed after listening to everything on YouTube yesterday that I purchased their holiday album that just came out not too long ago. Normally I don't like holiday albums, but I've got a feeling I won't be disappointed this time. I can't wait to get it in the mail.

Yes people, I have an iPod so I could download everything. But you see, my husband commandeered it just about oh.... a day after I received it. So I never get to use it. And now Emily thinks it's the best thing since chocolate milk and LOVES listening to it and singing her little heart out. I should really record her doing that. It's pretty funny and I'm sure it'd be a video that she'd kill me for later in life when I embarrass the pants off her in front of her boyfriend or something.

Now go and have yourself a lovely day. If you live in Michigan, have a lovely day digging yourself out of the crapload of snow we just got. And if you live in Florida, like my cousin does, do me a favor and quit bragging about still being able to wear short sleeves without freezing to death. Only kidding Cuz!! I still love you! I'm just insanely jealous, that's all.