But let me tell you how bad things have to be to actually get this day off:
A blizzard came in last night
-11 temperature with a windchill of -35
Freezing rain that coated all the streets and then 2" of snow on top of that (Apparently the plows are defenseless against the ice- HAH!)
Wind speeds of 65 mph with gusts up to 80 mph
So I ask you, is it even worth it to have to deal with this crap just for a day off school?
ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are scheduled to have another winter storm system this evening and more snow for the rest of the week. Maybe we can milk this one day off into the rest of the week!
The only downside - I have a laptop and access to work stuff, so technically should be working from home. Oh, yeah, and we are out of milk.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Home Alone!
For the first time in 7 months I am absolutely, positively by myself!! The girls are in Nashville and Bryan has gone to Asia. So that leaves me home alone for 36 hours. I never realized how much I enjoyed the time I had to myself before. Now, I am married and have the kids on a full time basis (a novelty for a divorced woman)! It's not that I don't like my family - I love them. But I like me time too! So what did I do today and will I do tomorrow with all that time you may ask?
The sad reality is that I did exactly what I would do if they were here! I did laundry, straightened up the house, paid the bills, etc... The difference is that I also squeezed in the nap of the century, I finally got to see "Hairspray", I lingered in bed with coffee and my book, and I got to play as long as I wanted in my crop room! Life is good.
Although I must mention that when I dropped the girls off at the airport on Thursday, I cried! I haven't been without them in so long. And I never even got out of bed when Bryan left. Just a kiss and a nod back to sweet sleep!
The sad reality is that I did exactly what I would do if they were here! I did laundry, straightened up the house, paid the bills, etc... The difference is that I also squeezed in the nap of the century, I finally got to see "Hairspray", I lingered in bed with coffee and my book, and I got to play as long as I wanted in my crop room! Life is good.
Although I must mention that when I dropped the girls off at the airport on Thursday, I cried! I haven't been without them in so long. And I never even got out of bed when Bryan left. Just a kiss and a nod back to sweet sleep!
Friday, January 4, 2008
Why don't people in WI use trash cans?
This was a question that I studiously pondered when we moved here. No one uses trash cans. All trash is placed on the street in clear bags. That's it - no cans at all. Well, being civilized from the big city and all, I was having none of that. I went to Walmart and bought a huge trash can. Trash is collected once a week. So, we keep the can in the garage, fill it up (no messy bags littering my garage floor), and dutifully wheel it out to the curb on pick-up day.
The first week we did this, I could tell the trash persons were not happy about it. I came home to find the can thrown haphazardly on the driveway, and the lid was gone. I guess they were too lazy to remove the lid, dump the trash, then replace the lid. My guess was that they just tossed the lid in with the load. No biggie, the can is the important part anyways, right? (I did later that week find the lid about 1/2 a mile from our house on the side of the road, flat as a pancake. I was too embarrassed to admit it was mine, so I just left it there!)
So this goes on for a couple of weeks - can is always thrown somewhere on our property. Now, as the snow begins to pick up, it is not always a fun job to retrieve the can, but still, I am not giving in to them!
I have also realized that the wind in our neck of the woods is close to hurricane proportions, which means that sometimes the can is blown halfway down the block by the time I get home to put it away. I am sure the neighbors are not happy, but none have yet to return it to our drive (and since we are the only ones with a can, they have to know it is ours!) But this week we hit a new "high".
The morning of trash day we set out the can along with several boxes from the Christmas holidays. When we got home, the can was nowhere in sight. I figured that the trash persons had finally had it and had just chucked the can along with the boxes. So they win, I guess. But not quite.
Two days later, I spotted our trash can several houses down in an empty lot, half full of trash, half full of snow. This time, I stopped the car, dumped the contents on the lot, and took the can home. I will not give in!! Civilized cultures use trash cans! Note, however, that in my diligence to stay clean and civilized I have now littered twice!
I have, however uncovered the mystery of why no one in WI uses trash cans -
1. The trash persons have no respect for the receptacle
and
2. Between the wind and the snow, it will not stay in place anyways!!
Just between you and I, if I "lose" it again, I will not search for it and I will not claim it from the neighbors. I will leave my trash can where it lays. I will simply do as the romans and drag my trash to the curb sans can!!!
The first week we did this, I could tell the trash persons were not happy about it. I came home to find the can thrown haphazardly on the driveway, and the lid was gone. I guess they were too lazy to remove the lid, dump the trash, then replace the lid. My guess was that they just tossed the lid in with the load. No biggie, the can is the important part anyways, right? (I did later that week find the lid about 1/2 a mile from our house on the side of the road, flat as a pancake. I was too embarrassed to admit it was mine, so I just left it there!)
So this goes on for a couple of weeks - can is always thrown somewhere on our property. Now, as the snow begins to pick up, it is not always a fun job to retrieve the can, but still, I am not giving in to them!
I have also realized that the wind in our neck of the woods is close to hurricane proportions, which means that sometimes the can is blown halfway down the block by the time I get home to put it away. I am sure the neighbors are not happy, but none have yet to return it to our drive (and since we are the only ones with a can, they have to know it is ours!) But this week we hit a new "high".
The morning of trash day we set out the can along with several boxes from the Christmas holidays. When we got home, the can was nowhere in sight. I figured that the trash persons had finally had it and had just chucked the can along with the boxes. So they win, I guess. But not quite.
Two days later, I spotted our trash can several houses down in an empty lot, half full of trash, half full of snow. This time, I stopped the car, dumped the contents on the lot, and took the can home. I will not give in!! Civilized cultures use trash cans! Note, however, that in my diligence to stay clean and civilized I have now littered twice!
I have, however uncovered the mystery of why no one in WI uses trash cans -
1. The trash persons have no respect for the receptacle
and
2. Between the wind and the snow, it will not stay in place anyways!!
Just between you and I, if I "lose" it again, I will not search for it and I will not claim it from the neighbors. I will leave my trash can where it lays. I will simply do as the romans and drag my trash to the curb sans can!!!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Timber!!!!!
And it's down! The tree, that is. Well, actually it is back up now, but it was down. Fully decorated and boom - on the floor. It started out much less auspiciously...
This year we decided to go to one of those cut-your-own Christmas tree lots. It was very fun. Jordan was sick, so she couldn't go, but the rest of us bundled up to search for the perfect tree. We were very cold, but that did not stop us from meticulously walking up and down every row of trees among the 86 acres to find the tree that was meant to be ours. We immediately set out for the biggies (since we have ceilings open to the second story) knowing that we wanted a tall tree. It's funny how they don't look all that big in the forest. Our first indication that we had selected a "really big one" was that Bryan and I together had a difficult time dragging the thing to the ailse where the wagon would pick us up. Actually, now that I am thinking about it, we should have known when the hand saw was taking forever to cut through the trunk. At any rate, once we climbed on the wagon, our tree precariously teetering on the edge, the customers around started making comments, specifically, "Wow, that's a big one!" The owners of the farm said they would not be able to "shake and wrap" the tree as it was so large. Nevertheless, it was our tree and it was perfect.
Once we got it home, we realized that our meager tree stand was no match for our glorious tree. Since we were in the middle of a major winter storm (that gave us six inches of snow that has not only not melted, but has now grown to about 10 due to more snow) we couldn't get the tree stand that night. We went to Home Depot (the only store in Sheboygan) and purchased the largest stand they had. Once home, we managed to get the tree in the stand (don't ask me how!) and filled it with water. We noticed that it was leaning a little, so we even weighted it down on one side. On to the decorating.
Wouldn't you know it, we had no ladder tall enough to decorate the darn thing! Off to Home Depot again. Largest reasonably priced ladder purchased. Still not tall enough, but we decided to make do. Morgan and I did all the decorating of the tree. We used 20 strands of lights, had to climb on the bookshelf, incorporated some incredible acrobatic team-work, but we did it. It took us 3 hours, and the tree was magnificent (if I do say so myself). Even Jordan who is usually negative about everything said how pretty it was. We enjoyed our beautiful creation for just 2 days before it all came crashing down. Literally.
The story from here on out is typical. I am sure that many of you have had this experience. The mess, the broken ornaments, and a party in 3 days...and of course it happened at 9:30 at night! Long story short, we ended up bungeeing the tree to the bookshelf! The good news is that you can't see the bungee, so the tree will look nice for the party. The bad news is that I still haven't "fixed" the tree (lights and ornaments) and the party is in 2 days! So maybe it won't be pretty for the party after all! I was going to take pictures of the tree per my mom and Sandy's request, but it just doesn't look the same, so forget that!
All I can say is that this Clark Griswold moment has been way too much work!! But anyone getting gifts from me, no worries, no presents were harmed in the incident!!
This year we decided to go to one of those cut-your-own Christmas tree lots. It was very fun. Jordan was sick, so she couldn't go, but the rest of us bundled up to search for the perfect tree. We were very cold, but that did not stop us from meticulously walking up and down every row of trees among the 86 acres to find the tree that was meant to be ours. We immediately set out for the biggies (since we have ceilings open to the second story) knowing that we wanted a tall tree. It's funny how they don't look all that big in the forest. Our first indication that we had selected a "really big one" was that Bryan and I together had a difficult time dragging the thing to the ailse where the wagon would pick us up. Actually, now that I am thinking about it, we should have known when the hand saw was taking forever to cut through the trunk. At any rate, once we climbed on the wagon, our tree precariously teetering on the edge, the customers around started making comments, specifically, "Wow, that's a big one!" The owners of the farm said they would not be able to "shake and wrap" the tree as it was so large. Nevertheless, it was our tree and it was perfect.
Once we got it home, we realized that our meager tree stand was no match for our glorious tree. Since we were in the middle of a major winter storm (that gave us six inches of snow that has not only not melted, but has now grown to about 10 due to more snow) we couldn't get the tree stand that night. We went to Home Depot (the only store in Sheboygan) and purchased the largest stand they had. Once home, we managed to get the tree in the stand (don't ask me how!) and filled it with water. We noticed that it was leaning a little, so we even weighted it down on one side. On to the decorating.
Wouldn't you know it, we had no ladder tall enough to decorate the darn thing! Off to Home Depot again. Largest reasonably priced ladder purchased. Still not tall enough, but we decided to make do. Morgan and I did all the decorating of the tree. We used 20 strands of lights, had to climb on the bookshelf, incorporated some incredible acrobatic team-work, but we did it. It took us 3 hours, and the tree was magnificent (if I do say so myself). Even Jordan who is usually negative about everything said how pretty it was. We enjoyed our beautiful creation for just 2 days before it all came crashing down. Literally.
The story from here on out is typical. I am sure that many of you have had this experience. The mess, the broken ornaments, and a party in 3 days...and of course it happened at 9:30 at night! Long story short, we ended up bungeeing the tree to the bookshelf! The good news is that you can't see the bungee, so the tree will look nice for the party. The bad news is that I still haven't "fixed" the tree (lights and ornaments) and the party is in 2 days! So maybe it won't be pretty for the party after all! I was going to take pictures of the tree per my mom and Sandy's request, but it just doesn't look the same, so forget that!
All I can say is that this Clark Griswold moment has been way too much work!! But anyone getting gifts from me, no worries, no presents were harmed in the incident!!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
So I turned 31...
And nobody noticed!!
I always knew that getting older meant birthdays became, to quote my dad, "Just another day." But I have been spoiled. Living near my parents always meant some sort of "party". Mom would either make a meal that I requested and bake me a cake, or else we would go out to eat at the restaurant of my choice. Then, there would be the gathering with my friends. This usually involved heavy drinking, hence making me think I was still a young chick (until the hangover the next day when I knew I was no longer 21). I got presents - from the girls (who went shopping for me with their dad), from my parents, and from Mindy. Yeah, birthdays were good. (Even last year when I turned 30, my friends and I had a "Sex in the City" night out on the town. I wasn't even depressed!)
But it wasn't to be this year. Now, I know that I have voluntarily removed myself from my family and friends, but I never realized how true the statement "Out of sight, out of mind" really was. This year, I got nothin'. Not kidding. Ok, my best friend called me and sang happy birthday, but she was the one who was drunk. Something was unfair about that. Bryan and Morgan told me happy birthday. Jordan (aka space cadet) hadn't a clue and never caught on. Not one member of my family called. I had talked to Mindy over the weekend and she was the one who even reminded me that I had a birthday coming up, so she has no excuse for "forgetting." Mom sent an email that said, "We just talked yesterday, so I won't call you. Happy Birthday!" And that's it. I cooked dinner. Morgan cleaned up the dishes, at least. No fancy restaraunt. No cake (or candles) of any kind. And no presents. Let me repeat, no presents. I really am old!
To be fair, Bryan did buy me this beautiful jewelry armoir, but he was too excited to wait to give it to me, so he told me about it before it was ever even delivered. And my mom did do a beautiful job in my crop room (which I have used many times since it has been in order), but I still had nothing to open on my birthday. No friends to celebrate with. No family who remembered and called. How depressing!
So, dad, I realize now that birthdays are just another day! (I think next year I will take the day off work and drink cosmos.)
I always knew that getting older meant birthdays became, to quote my dad, "Just another day." But I have been spoiled. Living near my parents always meant some sort of "party". Mom would either make a meal that I requested and bake me a cake, or else we would go out to eat at the restaurant of my choice. Then, there would be the gathering with my friends. This usually involved heavy drinking, hence making me think I was still a young chick (until the hangover the next day when I knew I was no longer 21). I got presents - from the girls (who went shopping for me with their dad), from my parents, and from Mindy. Yeah, birthdays were good. (Even last year when I turned 30, my friends and I had a "Sex in the City" night out on the town. I wasn't even depressed!)
But it wasn't to be this year. Now, I know that I have voluntarily removed myself from my family and friends, but I never realized how true the statement "Out of sight, out of mind" really was. This year, I got nothin'. Not kidding. Ok, my best friend called me and sang happy birthday, but she was the one who was drunk. Something was unfair about that. Bryan and Morgan told me happy birthday. Jordan (aka space cadet) hadn't a clue and never caught on. Not one member of my family called. I had talked to Mindy over the weekend and she was the one who even reminded me that I had a birthday coming up, so she has no excuse for "forgetting." Mom sent an email that said, "We just talked yesterday, so I won't call you. Happy Birthday!" And that's it. I cooked dinner. Morgan cleaned up the dishes, at least. No fancy restaraunt. No cake (or candles) of any kind. And no presents. Let me repeat, no presents. I really am old!
To be fair, Bryan did buy me this beautiful jewelry armoir, but he was too excited to wait to give it to me, so he told me about it before it was ever even delivered. And my mom did do a beautiful job in my crop room (which I have used many times since it has been in order), but I still had nothing to open on my birthday. No friends to celebrate with. No family who remembered and called. How depressing!
So, dad, I realize now that birthdays are just another day! (I think next year I will take the day off work and drink cosmos.)
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Can you still pray to the saints if you don't go to mass every Sunday?
My mom would disagree, but I happen to be a very organized person. At work, my desk is clean and clear, everything is in it's place, and I never go home without putting everything away. The same rings true for my house - everything has a home, and for the most part, it stays there. On the other hand, Bryan is not an organized person. He will tell you that he is, and that he knows where everything is should he need it. His office looks like a tornado hit it. He has miscellaneous papers everywhere. His desk is littered with coke bottles and file folders. He has his office decorated, but that too is unorganized.
So it may come as no surprise that he has lost something major. The sad part is that he lost it at home. (You may remember that my house is very organized.) The sadder part is that he lost it because after 2 vodka and cranberry juices he was too drunk to even remember losing it!!
Here's the story: we had to return our grill to Home Depot because we were not able to convert it from propane to Natural Gas. Naturally, HD gave us an in-store credit. Not wanting to make a decision on which grill to replace the other with at the moment, we simply kept the card and went home. The girls had a math meet, so it was a rare opportunity that Bryan and i had some time alone. We decided to make dinner and enjoy a couple of drinks by our fire pit on the patio. We had a great time. The next day Bryan asked if I would come to Home Depot with him to look at grills. I said fine. (Actually I bitched and moaned about the fact that that is how wanted me to spend my Friday night.) And that leads us to the interesting part of the story. Bryan begins looking for the card. I don't realize that is what he is doing, I think he is just farting around and if I have to spend my Friday night looking for grills, than I at least want to get on with it. I ask what is taking so long and he says, "I can't find the card." I tell him that it is on my table next to my chair in the family room and he says, "No it isn't. Last night I put it in one of the kitchen drawers." I'm like, what?? Why would you do that?? So Bryan launches into this diatribe about how in his "drunken stupor" he thought it would be better to hide the cards rather than leave them sitting out on the table so no one would steal them. OK - there are so many things wrong with this statement, but I'll stick to the one that's the most obvious. WE LIVE IN HOWARDS GROVE, WI!!!!!! Let me assure you that in the town that you can completely drive from one end to the other in less than a minute, you are in no real danger of getting robbed. The most exciting thing that happens in our town is when Piggly Wiggly has a sale on ground beef. And did I mention that Bryan has secured our home with an alarm system that encompasses every door and every window?? So can you see why I was mystified?
And thus begins the search. And by search I mean the systematic removal of every item in my kitchen in the hopes that we would uncover the cards. Of course, the whole time I am asking Bryan, how can you not remember where you put them? All he can recall is that he put them in a drawer. So let's cut to the chase. I was perfect wife not giving him any grief. He was obsessed and seriously could not sleep because he was thinkning about the card (and his loss of a grill if it cannot be recovered). Bryan contacts Home Depot who tells him that they not only will not, but cannot replace a lost or stolen gift card. Round and round we go, more searching. Finally I tell him to pray to St. Anthony (the patron saint of lost things). Bryan, being Southern Baptist, has no belief in saints. So I pray for him. He goes to shower. Next thing I know, he is shouting ,"I found them!!" They were in a drawer, all right. His underwear drawer!! He has absolutely no recollection of putting them there.
Lessons learned: Bryan is a total light weight when it comes to drinking, I am the perfect wife, and yes, you can still pray to the saints if you don't go to mass every Sunday!
So it may come as no surprise that he has lost something major. The sad part is that he lost it at home. (You may remember that my house is very organized.) The sadder part is that he lost it because after 2 vodka and cranberry juices he was too drunk to even remember losing it!!
Here's the story: we had to return our grill to Home Depot because we were not able to convert it from propane to Natural Gas. Naturally, HD gave us an in-store credit. Not wanting to make a decision on which grill to replace the other with at the moment, we simply kept the card and went home. The girls had a math meet, so it was a rare opportunity that Bryan and i had some time alone. We decided to make dinner and enjoy a couple of drinks by our fire pit on the patio. We had a great time. The next day Bryan asked if I would come to Home Depot with him to look at grills. I said fine. (Actually I bitched and moaned about the fact that that is how wanted me to spend my Friday night.) And that leads us to the interesting part of the story. Bryan begins looking for the card. I don't realize that is what he is doing, I think he is just farting around and if I have to spend my Friday night looking for grills, than I at least want to get on with it. I ask what is taking so long and he says, "I can't find the card." I tell him that it is on my table next to my chair in the family room and he says, "No it isn't. Last night I put it in one of the kitchen drawers." I'm like, what?? Why would you do that?? So Bryan launches into this diatribe about how in his "drunken stupor" he thought it would be better to hide the cards rather than leave them sitting out on the table so no one would steal them. OK - there are so many things wrong with this statement, but I'll stick to the one that's the most obvious. WE LIVE IN HOWARDS GROVE, WI!!!!!! Let me assure you that in the town that you can completely drive from one end to the other in less than a minute, you are in no real danger of getting robbed. The most exciting thing that happens in our town is when Piggly Wiggly has a sale on ground beef. And did I mention that Bryan has secured our home with an alarm system that encompasses every door and every window?? So can you see why I was mystified?
And thus begins the search. And by search I mean the systematic removal of every item in my kitchen in the hopes that we would uncover the cards. Of course, the whole time I am asking Bryan, how can you not remember where you put them? All he can recall is that he put them in a drawer. So let's cut to the chase. I was perfect wife not giving him any grief. He was obsessed and seriously could not sleep because he was thinkning about the card (and his loss of a grill if it cannot be recovered). Bryan contacts Home Depot who tells him that they not only will not, but cannot replace a lost or stolen gift card. Round and round we go, more searching. Finally I tell him to pray to St. Anthony (the patron saint of lost things). Bryan, being Southern Baptist, has no belief in saints. So I pray for him. He goes to shower. Next thing I know, he is shouting ,"I found them!!" They were in a drawer, all right. His underwear drawer!! He has absolutely no recollection of putting them there.
Lessons learned: Bryan is a total light weight when it comes to drinking, I am the perfect wife, and yes, you can still pray to the saints if you don't go to mass every Sunday!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
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