Big wheel keep on turning...

Couldn't resist posting this...

Matthew couldn't pass this by in Target. I asked if he wanted one in every size. He said no but I don't believe him. (It's a footed sleeper).

Help for my baby shower...

Okay, it's not what you think. I'm making hostess gifts and need a little bit of help.

http://lil-meeces.blogspot.com/2008/07/fun-little-items.html

Gas prices...

Seems like everyone else is talking about them, so why can't I?
To be honest, we have had it pretty good compared to those I know that live in Illinois or higher tax states. To be honest, we're not even sure gas hit 4.00 a gallon here. For a long time when it was $4.10 elsewhere, it was $3.79 and then $3.87 here. Slowly but surely, it's come back down as well. Unfortunately, we may not last. All the snow and rain and flooding and other stuff has taken our road budgets down to nothing and before long, we'll have more tax on our gasoline too. Don't hate us, be glad for us, because we can't give up our truck and we JUST got it paid for. Now we have to decide what on earth to do, get another car, or save some money for a cushion for baby expenses. Life is so hard.

And to top it off (if you know ANY of my family, keep your mouth shut), Matthew has an interview in St. Louis coming up in a couple of weeks. They want to try him out for 3 different jobs. This was totally unexpected. We'd of course like to keep it hush hush as much as possible. They would be so disappointed if they thought there'd be a chance we were closer and then have it fall through. Maybe us having rotten luck trying to find a place to live is fate? Who knows?

At this point, I'm not counting anything. I'm simply accepting what is. I feel my sanity would be in jeopardy otherwise.

Catch up...

I ought to be able to quit playing catch up about the time the Olympics are starting, that's how long my 'one month' run (starting in May) of a temp job will now last, officially. Thank goodness. I was bored out of my mind. Today I made 3 phone calls and sorted the mail. That was it. All day long. Without internet...and with a mile long to-do list waiting at home, much of which I could do online while sitting there waiting for something else to do, but alas, no internet....

Socks.. you say?...

School time is just around the corner, kind of, and the good thing is? Da da da! There are now knee high socks in stores, yes they are in the girls' section, yes they are 'cheap' and yes they are brightly colored and patterned, but the point is that I can wear my boots again! Yeah!

These boots are made for walking...

Registering at Wal-Mart...

was a royal pain. They didnt have any of the batteries for the scanners on the charger, so we had to stop 4 times to get a new battery. Needless to say we finally gave up. But we do have registries at least started at WalMart and Target, so if anyone is looking to buy us a present, they'll know when we need. Okay, we need everything, but that is beside the point!

And, no, that's not a plea for gifts, it's just a statement of fact. I have baby showers coming up in 6 weeks, and time was running out for us to get everything done. Next weekend we have a company picnic for Matthew's work and also we are visiting one of the area hospitals to see if we like it. It's had a multimillion $ facelift just in the 'baby' area, in fact it's a whole building and it's fairly new so needless to say, we'll probably like it okay. Goodness knows what else we'll be up to in the coming weeks, so at this point, getting it done was probably a good thing.

Hilarious post...

Okay this is hilarious! Maybe that's because I relate so well to #21 right at this moment. Check her out.

Gift to myself...

Here's the mug set I bought for myself at Bed Bath and Beyond. Every time that store is mentioned, I think of the Doors and More store in IL where the commercial always went 'What's the More?' and people shout 'windows!' in the background.

So I told Matthew I went to the bed bath and windows store. He got it. right away. He's so smart!

I am creative...

I went shopping this afternoon (mostly to stay out of my hubby's way while he's busy doing the job of someone else who got fired) and got some stuff for the baby's room. Yeah! It was very bare and now it seems a little more 'nursery' like. Only a little. I'll post some pics over at meeces here in a day or so. I think I did an awesome job though with just a little bit of cash.

I also got a cute mug set for myself. Pure indulgence. We don't even have room for them. I don't care. They are really cute.

Isn't it funny?

I was just whiling away the time letting my mind wander where it would yesterday, when all the sudden, I realized I have no idea what time our wedding actually started. I know it took about 20 minutes, I know there was a national guard fly over that a lot of people thought was on purpose... but I have no idea what time the thing actually started.

Of course that's water way under the bridge now and it doesnt matter, it just makes me wonder. What else have I forgotten?

Happy Birthday to Katie!

Happy Birthday dear Katiiieeeee! Happy Birthday to you!

It's ALL mine!

In 43 months (instead of 72), we made this little baby ours...I love my truck! It feels so good to accomplish something like paying off a vehicle. Almost (gasp!) grown up. We did it early of course, too, which says something to our creditors about how awesome we are and how good with money, which of course is exactly what we want when trying to secure a mortgage. Oh and of course a picture with Super Bronco.

Super Bronco...

Because we will soon have a back seat passenger to go 'wheelin' with us in the Bronco, it requires a roll cage that covers the back seat (lest we roll over and the top crushes down) for protection, the roll cage, well its an endoskeleton (like bones) for the Bronco. Yes, it was expensive. Yes, it will be worth every penny should we roll the thing in the next 18 years and one of my babies is in the back seat.

Yes, I intend to allow the baby to go wheelin' with dad. Why not? So soon, well once of course we buy new floor pans, get those installed (so there aren't holes in the front floor boards), then the roll cage can go in. God willing and the Cedar River don't rise again, well we'll have it done by the time it's time to put the car seat base in.

Super Bronco!

More maternity clothes...

Well, I finally have outgrown the last pair of pants I can 'pretend' would be okay for work. So I had to go get more clothes. It doesnt make me extremely happy, but at least I got them on sale. I found a pair of army green? shorts and a pair of those capris or whatever in a nice gray that's suitable as dress pant material.

I really wanted a skirt but the only one in my 'size' wouldn't have gone with anything in my maternity wardrobe, there was one more, but it made me look frumpy and I don't need that. On the other hand, I got a tank top for less than $5 and as I keep stealing Matthew's, it was probably a good investment.

So now I have chocolate brown and grey dress capris, green, denim and black shorts, and 2 pairs of identical maternity jeans in dark blue denim. Since I bought a dress and I found out I have another one I can still wear, then I will only have to wear each pair of pants twice probably in a week and then wear the shorts and such on the weekend. That will be nice, as I was wearing the brown capris like 3 days a week at least. I like having things that fit rather than things I can leave unbuttoned or can merely get into and aren't comfortable. I actually feel accomplished for hitting the 6 month mark while still being able to wear some of my regular clothes.

Don't forget

Keep up with the little meece (link in the left sidebar), I'm updating it as often as I think there is something 'neat' to write about.

Like a bolt from the blue..

Do you ever have one of those moments, those unexplainable moments when something hits you for no reason and brings back a memory you didn't even know you had?

We walked into the garage today, something we've done several times in the past couple of weeks, and for no reason at all, a ditty popped into my head. It was a silly little song that one of our church counselors either made up or changed the words to (a la "I'm a believer" by the Monkees, which was changed to have a Christian meaning, before I even knew that the song existed in "real" life, I knew the adapted words 'he's my Lord.. oooh I'm a believer he's no deceiver, he wouldn't lie') -- anyway, this one was kind of a funky, calypso, Jamaican beat... (Remember, I was shutting a door when this popped into my head, that should make it fairly easy to understand, even if it's written how it is sung, with an 'accent' and was about being a Christian.

Shut de do'
keep out de debil
shut de do'
keep de debil in the ni-i-i-ght
shut de do'
keep out de debil
light de candle
everyting's alright
ohh light de candle
everyting's alright

Pure recall, from the words to the beat. Something I didn't even remember came back with complete clarity. Thanks to Mike Ten Eyck (spelling?) for teaching a bunch of pre-teens it was okay to be okay with God. Even cool. That knowledge has gotten me through a lot in my life.

Baby bunnies, in my yard...

running around about the size of a hamster. Awesome!

I miss football...

Anyone else? Dying for some hard hitting action? Sigh... Baseball just doesn't hold a candle to it, even if the Cubs are doing well this year...

Family reunion...again..

So today was the family reunion. Everyone seemed to think I was 'too big' to be 'just over' 5 months pregnant. I got lots of 'are you having twins' and 'are you sure'? Umm, yeah, thanks for pointing out I look like I swallowed a small watermelon. I have a large baby in my belly. It's daddy was 9 lbs at birth. I have an assumption that this baby is going to be that big, no matter how little I try and eat or how much I exercise. Some things are just destined.

Some other things--I am still going to feel bad when my husband gets sunburned, even though I know he knows better, when I don't offer him sunblock. Can you say lobster?

Illinois gets the short end on the stick with knowledge of politics compared to Iowa, either that, or I pay a heck of a lot more attention than your average bear, err... person.

Payback is great, when it's a good thing. One family member noticed that I always helped in the kitchen, from teenage time on with whatever needed done for family things, and now she helps out when my mom hosts stuff. Payback. It was noticed and thank-you's were said.

I have nothing in common with anyone but my husband, oh and my mother in some small amounts. Basically, I was raised by her, so we share common values. It makes me appreciate my hubby so much more when surrounded by people who are not, well, my people.

Who are 'your people' -- and are you lucky to be surrounded by them, or are you forced to congregate with those that are not 'your people' most of the time?

Land, ho!...

We're still trying to find our own property -- to have a new house and a new place to live. We are looking as often as we can. There is one place we have yet to look at, because there's already a 'trailer' on it, and we don't want to deal with that. We want a house. At this point, though, we're willing to ignore that and hope for positive things out of it (like there is already 'rural' water there, which is really city water in the country, from the google maps it appears there are already trees all around, there's already a barn there, etc). We have yet to go see it. We shall see if it's something we could fall in love with or not.

On the road again... again..

We're leaving after work today and heading back to Illinois.
The good thing is, by the time we get back, our air conditioner should be fixed and we won't end up super hot (in a bad way). The bad news is that it's draining our budget to keep running back and forth. Sheesh. But in a while we won't have the chance to do that, so I am reserving the right to be happy for the moment.

Delimma: Tell them their outfit clashes, or not?...

Okay, picture this:

A spring green top, aqua blue pants, an emerald green headband, and when she gets cold, a dark celery green scarf.

Do you tell her it doesn't match, or just ignore it?

I'll be the first to admit that for a long time I was color blind. I had to look at a color wheel and then observe a LOT before I figured out what went together. It really frustrated my mother because I couldn't tell what went together and what did not. Even my husband was better at it than me, but I learned. But I can tell you 100% that I would NEVER have worn that combo together.

So should I have told her she didn't match, or just let it go?

Family reunion...

We've got a family reunion coming up this weekend, and we also are in charge of taking the family pets to the vet. Oh boy. I knew it was coming up, but the idea of hauling around a 75 lb unwilling labrador is going to be a challenge. I plan on taking LOTS of treats with us.

Rain...

It keeps raining here, rain, rain and more rain...

Extended...

Did I mention my work has been extended until the end of July? I can't wait for it to be over. The people I work with are weird. And not a good weird. They can't take care of themselves. The remodeling of the kitchenette in the building took about 3 days total. You'd have thought they had died.

So far, they don't have their regular coffee pot back through 'automatic' water or their automatic ice and water machine back, and they have whined and whined every single day because of it. They couldn't be bothered to bring in their own water or drink out of the water fountain, so they 'stole' the water that was marked as 'PLEASE DO NOT USE' and set aside for volunteer teams to take for flood cleanup. A whole case plus some out of the second case that was there was taken. Pathetic.

HP 7: Read 2...

I finally re-read the last Harry Potter book this weekend. It was a satisfying read. I got a lot more detail out of it this time and it made a lot more sense, it all was more cohesive this time around, which is what I expected. Normally I read so fast that I end up skipping things and have to go back and re-read to get the gist of it before plowing on. Anyway, not withstanding, I was happy with the way that the story ended. I'd be happy to have ALL the details (which I had heard may be forthcoming in a future book), and maybe one day I'll get it, but for now, I'm happy enough with what happened in the end. Good won, by the way.

Someone's nesting and it's not me...

My hubby lit a fire under both of us today and we cleaned the apartment from top to bottom, fed the birds, rabbits and squirrels, laundered everything, got the dishes cleaned up etc. I haven't had a whole lot of energy lately, so I'd been letting the mail pile up and just getting rid of what I knew was junk every day, just basically tried to keep things picked up, but him joining in really helped. Yeah, future daddy!

Happy 4th...Fun facts..

Okay these aren't about the 4th or July or any of that.. they're just fun!

A clydesdale's hooves are roughly the size of dinner plates. (Think about that the next time you sit down to a meal).

If a baby bird falls out of its nest, it's a myth that the mother won't take care of it if you put it back in (they just tell us that as kids to keep us away from the nests)-- it worked on me!

The p*nis of a rhinoceros is 2 feet long. (hubba hubba)

The p*nis of a mosquito is a hundredth of an inch long. (no wonder they hate us so much!)

Dogs and cats have a gestation period of 2 months, rabbits, just over a month, and an elephant, 2 years!

All seafood is basically an insect (outside shell, meaty inside).

A zebra's stripes are as unique to it as a fingerprint.

What is normal?...

Things are settling back to normal around here. Bunnies happily eating off the porch, birds emptying the bird feeder about every three days ( I SWEAR someone is dumping it)... Matthew working his tail off morning til night, me working all day and then crashing at night. Sports on tv, reruns for the summer all seeming boring.

Just another summer in Iowa. Ahh.. now how about some record heat and humidity? We've had snow, we've had rain, is it time to bake? Or will it be back to normal?

Next weekend is our visit home for a family reunion. I don't think I've gone in about 2 years for various reasons. We may not go for a few years in the future for various reasons. And this one I pledged ages ago to help my mom with preparations. Guess we better show up, huh?

When it rains...

it pours.. you've heard that before right? When you've already traveled 2 weekends in a row (16 hours and 4 hours respectively), and you only have one weekend of a break before you have to do the 4 hour trip again, that's when you're invited to a friend of a friend's house for the weekend for the holiday, oh and by the way they have a dog in the house and a new baby.. what?

Someone has a new baby and they've decided to have a houseful of people over, including strangers? I think not. We politely declined, citing the 3 trips in one month is enough rule. So we're on our own again, as that's basically my hubby's only friend here and I don't have any friends here.

Last year we watched fireworks from Ellis Park, which was flooded. Now they are having them in at least 2 locations in the city, but I dont know where either of them is, I suppose hubby does, so we'll see if we head out there or not.

It really isnt the fourth without the danger of someone blowing their finger off.

Working...

My work contract has been extended again. I gather it's something to the tune of 'we didn't open the request soon enough so it will be another month before we can interview people". Whatever. The only problem I'm getting to is that a lot of the work involves getting up and down, or leaning over (like putting labels at the back base of people's chairs) unpacking boxes, etc.

I'm also not being kept really busy and of course since I'm a temp I don't 'need' internet. I beg to differ! I could get all my work done and still play on the internet a minimum of 2 hours a day. Not that I need it, but when my only other option is staring at the blank computer screen or going to check one more time if any of the printers need paper, etc... you get the picture.