Well if I dont' have one of the kids to talk about, I'll pick on our next closest thing, our dog, Lou.
He has decided to cost us some money, but he is worth it. (maybe not according to Steve).
A trip to Dr. A at the Kimball Vet and $106 later (which is actually probably $200 cheaper than most vets would have charged me), Lou has a issue with his allergies again.
We are able to keep most of his skin issues under control with benadryl and fish oil pills daily, twice a day as a matter of fact, for the rest of his life. Every once in awhile he will get some more severe skin reactions, hot spots, ear infections, skin irritations, etc. This was the first time in 6 years I've noticed him licking the bottoms of his paws though. Inbetween the pads he has developed an infection.
Cause: allergies. It was sore and red and I just noticed him licking them on Monday, so yesterday I was able to get him in to be seen. He looked at his paws, shaved the hair from inbetween the pads, and I will be applying ointment, he also ran a CBC on him just to check for all over body (systemic) infection, which wasn't the case. Just localized, and found allergy related cells in his blood work, so like always we know we are still dealing with allergies.
He'll be on Cephalexin (antibiotic) for 2 weeks and Pred. for 6 weeks along with his benadryl/fish oil. Goodness Lou. I know Pred. makes him drink more and pee more, which is always a nucience, but Cathy will take good care of him this weekend, while we go to WI.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Kids teacher's conference
Bailey had his middle school conferences last month. It was just an open type of conference. All the teachers were in the gym, and I got to see most of them. They all said Bailey is a bright kid, and doing very well. With the conf. being so early in the year, they really didn't share much information or note any areas of concern yet. His allied arts classes this semester include band, art, music and PE...all of which he was given the grade of P(passing). He has the same teacher, Mrs Veith a good majority of the day, for Math (B+), Spelling (A+), and Communications (A), and he is doing very well, with occassional trouble in understanding math concepts. Sometimes I don't even understand his math homework, so dad has to take over and save the day. Then he has Social Studies (A), which he seems to like, and also likes the teacher, Mr Schmidt, and finally Science (B), which he loves doing all the projects, experiments, and labs. She only had 4 grades in her grade book at the time of conference, so his grade has lots of time to improve.
Bailey is liking middle school to a point, still says he doesn't like school, but I believe he is having a good year so far being in the big school.
He is liking playing his trumpet so far.
I think he mentioned band being his favorite class so far. He practices at home and has shown remarkable improvement....he knows notes, and even these notes are starting to form recognizable songs. Hannah gets annoyed when he practices, which is usually right in the livingroom. So she usually heads upstairs in a huff. I'll have to add a video on here soon, of his accomplishments on the trumpet.
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Hannah's conference was last night, and Steve and I both made it to hers. Yea!
She has a few issues to keep on top of, mostly her social skills. She will again be going to do "groups" with the school social worker once a week for 30 min. She did this last year in Kdg., and it seemed to help some, so we will keep at it.
Hannah just has some shyness when it comes to group settings, and also dealing with adults, so we will keep working at it. I know how it feels, and to see her improve in these areas with some help in the right direction is awesome. I never got much help with my shyness so therefore I had to just grow and learn on my own. She has many friends at school, and I believe most of the girls in her classroom are all close, she has no problems relating to friends and being a friend, and she can even be a little bossy....oops
Other things she needs to work on in that respect is communicating mathamatical thinking, and communication in general classroom discussions.
She consistantly meets grade expections with her writing, it is very neat, but has some issues of still writing capital letters when they should be small, mostly K, P and sometimes E. She doesnt' quite have the lines and spacing down yet.
Spelling tests and reading are her strong points and her grade is occassionally exceeds grade level. She meets once a week in a "reading group" as well, for another way to challenge her. She is reading ALL the time at home and loves it. She has even been reading small chapter books, such as Junie B Jones and several others. Her comprehension of what she reads is slower, but is reading most to all of the words. She needs to work on verbally sounding out the words she doesn't know using her reading stragities, which she tends to do silently in her head, so her teacher is not sure what she is thinking in that respect. We will work more on that at home too, as the same thing happens when she reads to me and gets to a word she doesn't know, she pauses, and seems to be working it out in her head and then impatient mom will give her the word and we move on, we need to work more on sounding out word chunks. She does read along at a good clip and knows most words that I even wonder how she knows.
She is also in classroom rotation classes with the 3 other 1st grade teachers... Health with Mrs Hall (Mileka's mom), Social Studies with Miss Silverberg, Art with Mrs Ophsal and her teacher Mr Karlgaard, does Science. All of those classes she is at grade level in. Math is a little more tricky for her, and for the most part she meets expectations, but has some trouble counting. She has done it to me at home, so I think it was just the day he verbally tested her on it that made the difference in her grade. For example when counting by 10's to 120, she stopped at 100 and the same with by 5's.... and counting by 2's to 50 she stopped at 30. I know she knows these things, but he graded her as "needs improvement", because of her knowledge at the time. PE and Music are also at grade level and she loves music class with Miss Litzau. They have started to work on their songs for the upcoming chrsitmas program, and she is very excited. Hannah really loves school at this stage yet, and rushes home at the end of the day to tell me all about it!!!
Bailey is liking middle school to a point, still says he doesn't like school, but I believe he is having a good year so far being in the big school.
He is liking playing his trumpet so far.
I think he mentioned band being his favorite class so far. He practices at home and has shown remarkable improvement....he knows notes, and even these notes are starting to form recognizable songs. Hannah gets annoyed when he practices, which is usually right in the livingroom. So she usually heads upstairs in a huff. I'll have to add a video on here soon, of his accomplishments on the trumpet.
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Hannah's conference was last night, and Steve and I both made it to hers. Yea!
She has a few issues to keep on top of, mostly her social skills. She will again be going to do "groups" with the school social worker once a week for 30 min. She did this last year in Kdg., and it seemed to help some, so we will keep at it.
Hannah just has some shyness when it comes to group settings, and also dealing with adults, so we will keep working at it. I know how it feels, and to see her improve in these areas with some help in the right direction is awesome. I never got much help with my shyness so therefore I had to just grow and learn on my own. She has many friends at school, and I believe most of the girls in her classroom are all close, she has no problems relating to friends and being a friend, and she can even be a little bossy....oops
Other things she needs to work on in that respect is communicating mathamatical thinking, and communication in general classroom discussions.
She consistantly meets grade expections with her writing, it is very neat, but has some issues of still writing capital letters when they should be small, mostly K, P and sometimes E. She doesnt' quite have the lines and spacing down yet.
Spelling tests and reading are her strong points and her grade is occassionally exceeds grade level. She meets once a week in a "reading group" as well, for another way to challenge her. She is reading ALL the time at home and loves it. She has even been reading small chapter books, such as Junie B Jones and several others. Her comprehension of what she reads is slower, but is reading most to all of the words. She needs to work on verbally sounding out the words she doesn't know using her reading stragities, which she tends to do silently in her head, so her teacher is not sure what she is thinking in that respect. We will work more on that at home too, as the same thing happens when she reads to me and gets to a word she doesn't know, she pauses, and seems to be working it out in her head and then impatient mom will give her the word and we move on, we need to work more on sounding out word chunks. She does read along at a good clip and knows most words that I even wonder how she knows.
She is also in classroom rotation classes with the 3 other 1st grade teachers... Health with Mrs Hall (Mileka's mom), Social Studies with Miss Silverberg, Art with Mrs Ophsal and her teacher Mr Karlgaard, does Science. All of those classes she is at grade level in. Math is a little more tricky for her, and for the most part she meets expectations, but has some trouble counting. She has done it to me at home, so I think it was just the day he verbally tested her on it that made the difference in her grade. For example when counting by 10's to 120, she stopped at 100 and the same with by 5's.... and counting by 2's to 50 she stopped at 30. I know she knows these things, but he graded her as "needs improvement", because of her knowledge at the time. PE and Music are also at grade level and she loves music class with Miss Litzau. They have started to work on their songs for the upcoming chrsitmas program, and she is very excited. Hannah really loves school at this stage yet, and rushes home at the end of the day to tell me all about it!!!
Friday, November 7, 2008
a photo oppourtunity
Look what we woke up to this morning.....
The kids were more than excited and got up out of bed for school this morning in a flash, when I said "look outside". Our first snowfall. Hannah was ready to run outside in her jammies that minute.
I'm sure it will be mostly gone by this afternoon, so I took the opportunity for some pictures.
As you can see we still have leave on our tree in the front---it can't snow yet, I'm not done raking leaves!!!
hardy mum plant, still beautiful despite the snowfall
kids having a snowball fight already
The kids were more than excited and got up out of bed for school this morning in a flash, when I said "look outside". Our first snowfall. Hannah was ready to run outside in her jammies that minute.
I'm sure it will be mostly gone by this afternoon, so I took the opportunity for some pictures.
As you can see we still have leave on our tree in the front---it can't snow yet, I'm not done raking leaves!!!
hardy mum plant, still beautiful despite the snowfall
kids having a snowball fight already
Thursday, November 6, 2008
An ever-present help
Our family learned a few short weeks ago that Steve's dad has cancer. A dad, a grandpa, a husband, a son, a brother, a friend.....so many people care. First the prostate, then the bladder....now we learn that it has spread to the bone, muscle and also the lungs. I am careful not to post too much information, as I am just learning the details and don't want to get it wrong. It's not the details that really matter though, and most of all just want to gain strength from all of you reading. There is no getting around it, the word "cancer", is a scary thought. I imagine it will be a rough road for the family, and although the outlook is uncertain at this time, I AM certain that God is with Steve, and with his family. Please keep us all in your prayers. The family currently has a web site set up on Caring Bridge.com
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/steveemery
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God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging" (Psalm 46: 1-3).
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6
Dear Heavenly Father, how amazing it is to know that whether we are a child afraid of the dark, a couple going through relationship issues or a soldier on the battlefield, you are there holding us and protecting us. We praise you that you are all-powerful—giving us refuge from whatever evil comes our way. We thank you that with you by our side we have nothing to fear. Neither natural disasters, terrorists, financial issues, bad relationships or the day to day worries of life are too big for you to handle. Thank you for calming our fears and holding us through whatever comes our way. What an awesome God we serve, are grateful to, and offer all of our praise! Amen.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Halloween night
Thought I would say my 2 cents worth about Halloween this year. It didnt' turn out how I had hoped and maybe that was my problem......never hope that things will be totally fun and go perfectly, when kids are involved... plus is it really about me??....nope.
I had a very stubborn, crabby "Hannah Montana" on my hands. She wouldn't dress up to look like Hannah Montana, yet she had to have the costume. Next year I refuse to buy a costume that needs accessories...we will buy something that you put on and
wha-la!! So I tried to remain calm and let her do as she pleases, which was no make up and no wig, and I pretty much forced the jewelry and headband on her.
Bailey on the other hand was changing his mind constantly, as he so likes to do. First he wasn't gonna dress up, then he wanted a football uniform, then he decided just a scarey mask, which I found one in St Cloud, but he ended up picking out a scarey $2 hockey mask at Walmart on Thursday night. Then he said he'd just stay home and hand out candy and scare people....then he decides to go trick or treating on our street, because once again our little crabby "Hannah Montana" was throwing a fit not wanting to go herself. So Bailey made it to about 5-6 houses on our street after which he said he was done and was going back. After having Hannah calm enough to go with Bailey she started up again crying and whining about not wanting to go herself...
A look back in time, last year the same thing happened, where Bailey only lasted a few houses...BUT Hannah and I then took the van all over town, and she had so much fun...even doing it by herself. I'm not sure what changed this year, but she was stuck on having Bailey with her. The night just started out bad and she wasn't budging. So I gave her 2 options, I will go up to the doors with her and we can go in the van all over, or we go home. She didn't want to do the first one obviously, so we went home and she wasn't too happy and cried all the way back home.
GOOD GRIEF.!! She was just so wound up and so full of anxiety that I actually had to send her to her room to calm down. She came down about 15 min later and was much more relaxed and it all got a little better as she enjoyed helping Bailey hand out candy then. Dad and Bailey watched Ghost Hunters for awhile and then we turned on our new Sing Star games, and we sang for a few hours, I popped a tub of popcorn and we tried to enjoy the rest of the night. I put on the "Hannah Montana" wig (since my daughter wasn't making any use out of it) and I rocked to the tunes of Hannah Montana on our new PS2 game "Sing It", I'm sure I looked pretty darn silly, but heck it was Halloween and I was gonna have some fun.... out of breath, out of shape, and totally not a blonde (or so my family says). Hannah says she would never hug me again if I was blonde, and both my "boys" said I didn't look too good...my husband said he would never sleep in the same bed with me if I was blonde, and Bailey chimes in..OOOH that's harsh. So we did have some laughs, last night.
Kids pumpkins and Steve just drilled holes in his pumpkin (far left)
mommy's pumpkin
I had a very stubborn, crabby "Hannah Montana" on my hands. She wouldn't dress up to look like Hannah Montana, yet she had to have the costume. Next year I refuse to buy a costume that needs accessories...we will buy something that you put on and
wha-la!! So I tried to remain calm and let her do as she pleases, which was no make up and no wig, and I pretty much forced the jewelry and headband on her.
Bailey on the other hand was changing his mind constantly, as he so likes to do. First he wasn't gonna dress up, then he wanted a football uniform, then he decided just a scarey mask, which I found one in St Cloud, but he ended up picking out a scarey $2 hockey mask at Walmart on Thursday night. Then he said he'd just stay home and hand out candy and scare people....then he decides to go trick or treating on our street, because once again our little crabby "Hannah Montana" was throwing a fit not wanting to go herself. So Bailey made it to about 5-6 houses on our street after which he said he was done and was going back. After having Hannah calm enough to go with Bailey she started up again crying and whining about not wanting to go herself...
A look back in time, last year the same thing happened, where Bailey only lasted a few houses...BUT Hannah and I then took the van all over town, and she had so much fun...even doing it by herself. I'm not sure what changed this year, but she was stuck on having Bailey with her. The night just started out bad and she wasn't budging. So I gave her 2 options, I will go up to the doors with her and we can go in the van all over, or we go home. She didn't want to do the first one obviously, so we went home and she wasn't too happy and cried all the way back home.
GOOD GRIEF.!! She was just so wound up and so full of anxiety that I actually had to send her to her room to calm down. She came down about 15 min later and was much more relaxed and it all got a little better as she enjoyed helping Bailey hand out candy then. Dad and Bailey watched Ghost Hunters for awhile and then we turned on our new Sing Star games, and we sang for a few hours, I popped a tub of popcorn and we tried to enjoy the rest of the night. I put on the "Hannah Montana" wig (since my daughter wasn't making any use out of it) and I rocked to the tunes of Hannah Montana on our new PS2 game "Sing It", I'm sure I looked pretty darn silly, but heck it was Halloween and I was gonna have some fun.... out of breath, out of shape, and totally not a blonde (or so my family says). Hannah says she would never hug me again if I was blonde, and both my "boys" said I didn't look too good...my husband said he would never sleep in the same bed with me if I was blonde, and Bailey chimes in..OOOH that's harsh. So we did have some laughs, last night.
Kids pumpkins and Steve just drilled holes in his pumpkin (far left)
mommy's pumpkin
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
this thing I call my life.....my ramblings
It's been a bit hectic around the Emery house....I feel like there is not enough time in the day. There are mini messes in every corner of the house, I can't seem to keep up with housework lately. Bailey has hockey almost every day, there is homework, school stuff, and trumpet practice to keep on top of too. Thank goodness Steve takes over the hockey part of it. The yard looks a bit caotic as well, as the leaves bearly have been touched....( my job for later today :). I've been working alot, and trying to keep on top of my exercising routine, so that takes up alot of my time.
I can't believe Halloween is almost here, it's my favorite holiday....we've been busy making halloween cookies, Hannah loves to bake.(and eat them)!!!!!! I have had most of my decorations up for about a month now, and we need to carve our pumpkins...hummm when are we gonna fit that in.....??
In between all the hockey this week, I have managed to squeeze in a follow up dentist appt. for Bailey today after school, to take care of 2 cavities. The kids had their dentist appts. a few weeks back. Hannah's teeth looked good, besides the fact that she STILL hasn't gotton in her permanent tooth, after loosing her baby tooth almost 2 years ago. They didn't take x-rays this time, but continue to show me the xrays from the last few times which clearly shows the tooth in there ready to pop through any time...hummm. She has a few semi loose teeth, teeth she says hurts a bit, but are not really very loose yet. She is a slow tooth looser, not to mention tooth grower. The dentist also said she does not have her 2nd molars yet, supposed to get those about age 4-5yrs. What the heck, oh no---is she gonna have teeth problems like her mommy ??
Also after school on Thursday the kids and I will trek to Hutch to get our flu shots, the kids are not to happy with me for scheduling that, but it's a part of life now days.... Hannah and I already have had one early season bout with colds/conjestion, and I don't want to take any chances this winter.
Tomorrow I have the day off (finally), I am gonna go to St Cloud to SHOP. I love that time to myself..... Bailey has decided last minute to dress up for Halloween, he wants me to run to Scheels and see if they still have the Patriot football dress up uniform set....if not he says he wants to be a ghost...we'll see what I can find...don't want to be running all over. Hannah of course, is gonna be Disney's "Hannah Montana"....she was so insistant, and would not even consider any other costume when she saw this one, but yet she will probably not wear the wig I bought her to go with it. I hope she changes her mind.
I also have $30 in Kohls cash, and hope to find a new winter jacket to use that money towards. I usually eat lunch at LeeAnn Chins, and then have to head home by about 2:30 to be back before the kids get home at 3:15 or so.
I guess we'll be carving pumpkins Thursday night, since there is no hockey and then we'll be all set for the "big night" on Friday. It's supposed to be a nice night for "trick or treating".
My grandparents are on their way to Arizona and should be within a day or so of arriving. I worry about them driving so far at their age, and grandpa having been so sick this summer....so maybe this will be their last year of driving and they will consider flying.
I have recently found out my father in law has cancer (prostate/bladder), although the outlook is uncertain, I am hopeful that he will be able to get though it. He has some surgery/treatment to get through, and I am looking to God for strength for him and his family to be strong and supportive.
Also I have learned that my good friend from high school has been recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia. After a what seemed to be a minor car accident last year, she has continued to have pain, which seemed to set off the disease. She has improved but the disease is so unpredictable, she can have some good days and some very bad days. The pain in her body however, is almost constant to one degree or another. She is struggling with accepting this for her life, not being able to do things she loves and even to the point of dealing with her family differently. I just told her to continue to do the things she loves on her good days and don't give up, don't let the disease define who you are. Her friends and family are here for her.
oh, one more rambling....and we finally got our TV back. It was a bit of a struggle but the handy dandy Geek Squad guy came through for us. It had been 2 full weeks since the guy was here the first time and had to order parts for our TV. I was told they would call us, but we were becoming increasing impatient every day that passed. So I called them last Wed to see what was up, and they told me that the parts were in.(ok so why weren't we called)...whatever, so she set me up with a service call to install them, and the earliest day was Nov 3. Once again, I stated, are you kidding me? That's another almost 2 weeks away.!!! She said he was busy and that was the earliest, whatever...uuggh.
So now we are even more angry that they never called us to say the parts were in and that we have to wait again. I then proceeded to call Best Buy in Waite Park/St Cloud to see if we can bring our TV in to them to either get fixed or exchanged. I was ready to be done with the TV altogether, and get a new one. Of course they said no, and no returns after 3 months. But the man on the phone was very helpful, although he wasn't able to help me right then, he had to take all my information and relay the message to a Geek Squad Supervisor, I guess he was only the manager. He told me we would have a solution to our situation in 24-48 hours and they would contact me. So already by the next morning a woman calls me from the Bloomington Best Buy, and says that the tech that has our TV parts would have some time available that day, which was last Thursday between 12-3pm. I worked at 9am, and Steve was working in Waverly, so had him come home for ,lunch in case the tech came, and I was home by 12:45 or so. Steve went back to work and the tech came at about 1:20pm. I thanked him so much for sqeezing us in, and he had our parts installed in about 30 min or less. He was very nice and we are so happy to have our TV back working.
Well I better get out to get some leaves bagged up.
Will post some more pictures soon.
I can't believe Halloween is almost here, it's my favorite holiday....we've been busy making halloween cookies, Hannah loves to bake.(and eat them)!!!!!! I have had most of my decorations up for about a month now, and we need to carve our pumpkins...hummm when are we gonna fit that in.....??
In between all the hockey this week, I have managed to squeeze in a follow up dentist appt. for Bailey today after school, to take care of 2 cavities. The kids had their dentist appts. a few weeks back. Hannah's teeth looked good, besides the fact that she STILL hasn't gotton in her permanent tooth, after loosing her baby tooth almost 2 years ago. They didn't take x-rays this time, but continue to show me the xrays from the last few times which clearly shows the tooth in there ready to pop through any time...hummm. She has a few semi loose teeth, teeth she says hurts a bit, but are not really very loose yet. She is a slow tooth looser, not to mention tooth grower. The dentist also said she does not have her 2nd molars yet, supposed to get those about age 4-5yrs. What the heck, oh no---is she gonna have teeth problems like her mommy ??
Also after school on Thursday the kids and I will trek to Hutch to get our flu shots, the kids are not to happy with me for scheduling that, but it's a part of life now days.... Hannah and I already have had one early season bout with colds/conjestion, and I don't want to take any chances this winter.
Tomorrow I have the day off (finally), I am gonna go to St Cloud to SHOP. I love that time to myself..... Bailey has decided last minute to dress up for Halloween, he wants me to run to Scheels and see if they still have the Patriot football dress up uniform set....if not he says he wants to be a ghost...we'll see what I can find...don't want to be running all over. Hannah of course, is gonna be Disney's "Hannah Montana"....she was so insistant, and would not even consider any other costume when she saw this one, but yet she will probably not wear the wig I bought her to go with it. I hope she changes her mind.
I also have $30 in Kohls cash, and hope to find a new winter jacket to use that money towards. I usually eat lunch at LeeAnn Chins, and then have to head home by about 2:30 to be back before the kids get home at 3:15 or so.
I guess we'll be carving pumpkins Thursday night, since there is no hockey and then we'll be all set for the "big night" on Friday. It's supposed to be a nice night for "trick or treating".
My grandparents are on their way to Arizona and should be within a day or so of arriving. I worry about them driving so far at their age, and grandpa having been so sick this summer....so maybe this will be their last year of driving and they will consider flying.
I have recently found out my father in law has cancer (prostate/bladder), although the outlook is uncertain, I am hopeful that he will be able to get though it. He has some surgery/treatment to get through, and I am looking to God for strength for him and his family to be strong and supportive.
Also I have learned that my good friend from high school has been recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia. After a what seemed to be a minor car accident last year, she has continued to have pain, which seemed to set off the disease. She has improved but the disease is so unpredictable, she can have some good days and some very bad days. The pain in her body however, is almost constant to one degree or another. She is struggling with accepting this for her life, not being able to do things she loves and even to the point of dealing with her family differently. I just told her to continue to do the things she loves on her good days and don't give up, don't let the disease define who you are. Her friends and family are here for her.
oh, one more rambling....and we finally got our TV back. It was a bit of a struggle but the handy dandy Geek Squad guy came through for us. It had been 2 full weeks since the guy was here the first time and had to order parts for our TV. I was told they would call us, but we were becoming increasing impatient every day that passed. So I called them last Wed to see what was up, and they told me that the parts were in.(ok so why weren't we called)...whatever, so she set me up with a service call to install them, and the earliest day was Nov 3. Once again, I stated, are you kidding me? That's another almost 2 weeks away.!!! She said he was busy and that was the earliest, whatever...uuggh.
So now we are even more angry that they never called us to say the parts were in and that we have to wait again. I then proceeded to call Best Buy in Waite Park/St Cloud to see if we can bring our TV in to them to either get fixed or exchanged. I was ready to be done with the TV altogether, and get a new one. Of course they said no, and no returns after 3 months. But the man on the phone was very helpful, although he wasn't able to help me right then, he had to take all my information and relay the message to a Geek Squad Supervisor, I guess he was only the manager. He told me we would have a solution to our situation in 24-48 hours and they would contact me. So already by the next morning a woman calls me from the Bloomington Best Buy, and says that the tech that has our TV parts would have some time available that day, which was last Thursday between 12-3pm. I worked at 9am, and Steve was working in Waverly, so had him come home for ,lunch in case the tech came, and I was home by 12:45 or so. Steve went back to work and the tech came at about 1:20pm. I thanked him so much for sqeezing us in, and he had our parts installed in about 30 min or less. He was very nice and we are so happy to have our TV back working.
Well I better get out to get some leaves bagged up.
Will post some more pictures soon.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Trip to Wisconsin
We are back to reality, back home in Dassel. We had a fun weekend in WI. I got accomplished all that I went there for, and had many more laughs and memories to add.
Kids didn't want to stop up at Rib Mountain on the way there, I was disspointed. I didn't want to force them, since I wanted to take some pictures and didn't want crabby kids.
Anyway, I got to see my friend Friday night, and her house that she is having built. We had a great night catching up, and had supper at the Italian restaurant Gratzies. We had a glass of wine and just talked, just like old times.( minus the wine of course.) We are at a rebuilding point in our friendship, it's been several rough years. We are childhood friends, who were inseperable in the summer months growing up. We attended different schools throughout childhood, so therefore had busy summers to catch up, it was easy cuz we just lived across the street. As we got older we grew closer together, and did more things outside of school time, but the time came when I moved to MN, and then things got a little shakey. It is finally now that I feel that same connection with her, as I did so many years ago. We are trying to get past all of the hurt and dissapointments, and move forward. She is getting married on November 15 and we'll be heading back to WI for the wedding.
I got to spend some time with my sister, on Friday morning before she went to work, we all went to the mall to have Hannah's bear stuffed at Build a Bear. Lisa got her the Hannah Montana Bear from there for her birthday, and we finally got her stuffed. Hannah named her "Savannah". Then we ate lunch at the mall before Lisa had to leave.
We visted my grandparents at their new apartment that afternoon, and I got to see them for a spaghetti supper at my parents house the next evening. We all played Apples to Apples after supper, and had so many laughs...it's impossible not to laugh in that game, esp. with 4 generations playing....makes for an intersting enjoyable time. My grandparents will be leaving for AZ on Saturday so I'm glad I had the chance to see them before they left, something I haven't yet had the chance to do.
Lisa/ Wil then had a football get together at their new house on Sunday, where we watched the Vikings and then the Packers play. My grandparents and parents and us were invited. It was a fun time. Lisa and Wil's house is beautiful and I am so jealous. Makes me more determined to better our situation so I can move.
Hannah and I went through the millions of pictures I have unorganized, as the rest watched football. (football is not our thing). We had many yummy snacks and then grilled out for supper, and then guess what???----- played Apples to Apples again, this time with Lisa and Wil added to the fun....it was even funnier.
Monday, then we had to come home, and as we approached Rib Mtn. I gave the kids the option to go up, and they AGREED!! Really?? Yeah!!! It was a windy chilly day, but the sun was shining, so I was happy to have the chance to get up there and take some fall pictures. The leaves were mostly blown off the trees, but we still saw a little color, and had fun romping in the leaves and climbing the big rocks at the top. On the way back down, we pulled over on the sid eof the road where there was a hiking trail. It was covered with leaves, so we kinda went off the trail a bit and headed into the woods. It was so much fun, and I think the kids enjoyed it there. Hannah even said she wanted to stay in the woods and camp. Silly girl.
Back home again, back to work, had 5 days off, now have to work the next 8 days in a row get one day off and then work 2 more before I get the following weekend off. I am also struggling with a cold, just some coughing and conjestion in my chest. I mostly feel fine, just sleeping is difficult with the laying down.
I had my yearly review at the hotel and got my annual raise. I can't believe I've been there a year already. I still have hopes of getting back to being a vet tech, but as the years go on, it looks slim. I still am certified until 2010, and am keeping my eye open for an oppourtunity. Otherwise my review at the hotel was great, they "love" me there, and I enjoy it there. (to a point). It's working out fairly well so far, so who knows where life will take me in that respect. I feel like this is where I should be now, but yet, have this feeling in the back of my head that I should be doing more with my love of animals or photography.
Kids didn't want to stop up at Rib Mountain on the way there, I was disspointed. I didn't want to force them, since I wanted to take some pictures and didn't want crabby kids.
Anyway, I got to see my friend Friday night, and her house that she is having built. We had a great night catching up, and had supper at the Italian restaurant Gratzies. We had a glass of wine and just talked, just like old times.( minus the wine of course.) We are at a rebuilding point in our friendship, it's been several rough years. We are childhood friends, who were inseperable in the summer months growing up. We attended different schools throughout childhood, so therefore had busy summers to catch up, it was easy cuz we just lived across the street. As we got older we grew closer together, and did more things outside of school time, but the time came when I moved to MN, and then things got a little shakey. It is finally now that I feel that same connection with her, as I did so many years ago. We are trying to get past all of the hurt and dissapointments, and move forward. She is getting married on November 15 and we'll be heading back to WI for the wedding.
I got to spend some time with my sister, on Friday morning before she went to work, we all went to the mall to have Hannah's bear stuffed at Build a Bear. Lisa got her the Hannah Montana Bear from there for her birthday, and we finally got her stuffed. Hannah named her "Savannah". Then we ate lunch at the mall before Lisa had to leave.
We visted my grandparents at their new apartment that afternoon, and I got to see them for a spaghetti supper at my parents house the next evening. We all played Apples to Apples after supper, and had so many laughs...it's impossible not to laugh in that game, esp. with 4 generations playing....makes for an intersting enjoyable time. My grandparents will be leaving for AZ on Saturday so I'm glad I had the chance to see them before they left, something I haven't yet had the chance to do.
Lisa/ Wil then had a football get together at their new house on Sunday, where we watched the Vikings and then the Packers play. My grandparents and parents and us were invited. It was a fun time. Lisa and Wil's house is beautiful and I am so jealous. Makes me more determined to better our situation so I can move.
Hannah and I went through the millions of pictures I have unorganized, as the rest watched football. (football is not our thing). We had many yummy snacks and then grilled out for supper, and then guess what???----- played Apples to Apples again, this time with Lisa and Wil added to the fun....it was even funnier.
Monday, then we had to come home, and as we approached Rib Mtn. I gave the kids the option to go up, and they AGREED!! Really?? Yeah!!! It was a windy chilly day, but the sun was shining, so I was happy to have the chance to get up there and take some fall pictures. The leaves were mostly blown off the trees, but we still saw a little color, and had fun romping in the leaves and climbing the big rocks at the top. On the way back down, we pulled over on the sid eof the road where there was a hiking trail. It was covered with leaves, so we kinda went off the trail a bit and headed into the woods. It was so much fun, and I think the kids enjoyed it there. Hannah even said she wanted to stay in the woods and camp. Silly girl.
Back home again, back to work, had 5 days off, now have to work the next 8 days in a row get one day off and then work 2 more before I get the following weekend off. I am also struggling with a cold, just some coughing and conjestion in my chest. I mostly feel fine, just sleeping is difficult with the laying down.
I had my yearly review at the hotel and got my annual raise. I can't believe I've been there a year already. I still have hopes of getting back to being a vet tech, but as the years go on, it looks slim. I still am certified until 2010, and am keeping my eye open for an oppourtunity. Otherwise my review at the hotel was great, they "love" me there, and I enjoy it there. (to a point). It's working out fairly well so far, so who knows where life will take me in that respect. I feel like this is where I should be now, but yet, have this feeling in the back of my head that I should be doing more with my love of animals or photography.
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