Day 30

This is a tiny little tree that the kids' school planted last year. It looks so, well, let's just say it, Dead! I hope it's comes out come spring!

Day 29

This is a bush in front of my house. I think it's a boxwood. It's HUGE!!! I love snow covered greenery. I wish my holly bush was more dramatic 'cause I LOVE holly covered w/snow!

I have some pics

But haven't bothered to upload them yet. Sometime today I'll get it done :)

Day 28

Well, I got my wish! After Scott went out & tried to snowblow the 1" of sleet (didn't work!) it started snowing. Real snow. Big fluffy flakes of snow. It snowed for hours. Both my school & the kids' school canceled classes before 10pm! We woke up to a winter wonderland (I slept in until 7am!! That NEVER happens!) It was soooo pretty!


Scott had to work yesterday but was able to leave really late so he missed the icky roads. The kids and I got out to run to the Post Office, the bank, the library and the LSS (which was closed :( ). The roads were really clear. The street dept really did a great job.

Here is my favorite pic of the day tho. This time, the snowblower worked! Well!

day 27

We were supposed to get a huge storm yesterday. Well, we got sleet overnight. There was supposed to be more snow in the morning so all the schools were canceled, just in case. Nothing happened all day. We did get about an inch and a half of sleet. Seems like we never get snow anymore. Cold weather, yes. Ice, yes. Snow, not so much. Global warming at work?? If I buy a Prius & replace my light bulbs w/CFLs, will I get more snow???

Day 26

No big story for this. Jack dissappered for a bit last night & we didn't know where he'd gone. When we turned on the lights, this is what we found. Goofy cat!

Day 25

Here is today's pic. And, there is a huge long story to go with it.

My kids are responsible for cleaning the litter box. One week Becca does it, the next, Nick. Needless to say, they aren't thrilled w/the job. Nick accepts it better than Becca but Becca does a better job. LOL.

So, last week was Becca's week. She and Jack (the cat) have a love/hate relationship. She likes him when he's asleep and is TERRIFIED when he's awake. To be fair, Jack does seem to chase her a bit more than any of the rest of us. So, when it's her week to clean the poopy, she yells, screams, runs and generally tries to lock him away from her while she's completing the job. Usually, that just means closing the door from the family room to the laundry room thus keeping Jack out of the garage where the litter box is. Apparently, she either decided to lock the kitty door or by coincidence it got locked. But, for several days, Jack was locked away from his potty. Neither Scott nor I realized this. Jack was extremely vocal but, it's not like he was standing at the door crying. He sat in the family room & whined.

So, Thursday afternoon I'm tired & cranky & I sneak out of work early. Scott meets me at the door when I get home. This is NOT a good sign. He has discovered that Jack was locked out of the garage and his discovered that Jack finally couldn't hold it anymore & he pottied in the laundry room. Somewhere. So, being as Jack is "my cat" (just means he doesn't want to take care of him), I have to find the poopy (behind a roll of gift wrap), clean it up, wash the items that were under the poopy and spray the room to rid it of the delightful smells of kitty crap.

Ok, seems odd that Jack would have pooped but not peed anywhere. We're thinking that maybe he was only locked out for a couple hours & that's why we can't find the pee. We notice that Jack will not sleep in his kitty bed. He doesn't sleep in it during the summer but during the winter, he loves it. So, Scott tries to put him in his bed. He immediately jumps out. Scott puts him in again, out again. Finally, Scott picks up the pillow in the bed to turn it over & the whole thing is wet. Jack used his bed for a litter box?!?!?!! WEIRD.

All this to say that we pitched the old bed & bought Jack a brand new kitty bed! He's having problems getting used to it & won't go in there volunentarily. If we put him in it, and he's sleepy (he's a cat, when is he NOT sleepy?) he'll stay in there & sleep. I guess time will tell if he will get used to it or not.

BTW, we are now checking the kitty door several times a day to make sure it's open.

Tag, I'm it??

I've been tagged Today I was tagged by the talented Barb to take part in a fun little blog tag. Here is the instructions: 1. Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures. 2. Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder. 3. Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with the picture. 4. Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.

The way I store my pics is bizzare so maybe I'm not following the rules totally. I have a digital pic file. In that file I have folders for years. Not quite 6 folders yet so I just picked last years pics. This is the 6th folder, for August 2008. Inside the 6th folder, I have 4 more folders, inside the first folder, I had 2 folders. So this is from the 6th folder in 2008 and the the first folder, first folder, 6th pic. This is in Schaumburg IL, on our vacation last year. We've stayed at this hotel about 4 times. The pool is outdoors & the weather hasn't always cooperated so the kids could swim. But this time, it did. We had a great time swimming (and sunning) until a group of 3 older adults showed up & started taking over the pool & getting upset 'cause the kids were loud & splashing. HELLO?!?! It's a pool. So, we went back to our room. The kids were ok w/that 'cause the room had Becca's computer & Nick's video games.

Ok, now to Tag 6 people. Hmmmm

Tracey -- Fence Posts
Debbie -- Shoe Closet
Monkey Hut
Vicki -- Angel Stamper
Cindi -- Hooked on Crafts
Pam -- Stamping with Serendipity

Day 24

Here was the plan yesterday: I was going to the SU Open House, Scott was taking his mother shopping and the kids wanted to go with him. I was going to lunch w/my girlfriends, Scott could figure out what he wanted to do when lunchtime rolled around. I was going to spend the afternoon going thru my new catalouge and eating the coconut cream pie I brought home from Josephine's.

All went well until Scott got back to his mom's house and I was sitting down to look thru the catalouge. Scott calls me & his mom's computer was messed up. I tried to talk him thru it over the phone but it didn't work. So, I jump in the car, meet him there. We look at it together for awhile. He leaves (w/the kids and the $130 worth of junk he bought at WalMart. WHAT????) and stay another hour trying to figure her computer out. Never did happen. Now, I have to go back, call my bro in law while I'm there & try to see if I can find out why her desktop icons are in her "contacts" folder and why her internet favorites are missing. There ought to be an age limit for people to have computers!!!

ETA -- I finally ate the pie. It wasn't that great. I gotta stop BUYING pie when I know I can make better & its probalby CHEAPER. $6 for one piece of pie??? What was I thinking???

Day 23 Late & it's Basketball, AGAIN!

Yesterday was a supremely bad day is oh so many ways!! I left for work at 7am, worked until 1:30, came home & took a 15 minute nap, drove to South Roxana to pick up the kids, drove them to Edwardsville (to run into Michael's for just a minute :), drove to Collinsville, found the school, drove to Culvers (yum!), drove back the the gym, waited, waited, waited, waited, finally someone else figured out the the gym was in the CHURCH, not the SCHOOL, watched the boys get creamed (which is good 'cause then Nick gets to play) in a gym that had NO ROOM FOR CHAIRS -- while sitting on the sidelines, our feet were "in bounds", drove back to Culvers for ice cream (w/my nephew), dropped Andy off, came home & pretty much fell asleep at 9:30. I do have pics of the game but, nothing that interesting. I guess I could post one of those & be done for the day. Hmmmm.

Day 22

(What am I going to do when February hits & I won't be able to easily figure what day it is????)

Last night the kids had sports pictures taken after school. This is the first time that both kids have been involved in a sport at the same time. This is good & bad. I spend ALOT of time waiting around for practices and driving to home & away games. But, I digress.

Since I had no idea what time we would be done w/school, I talked Scott into eating out. We went to Jack in the Box. I LOVE JitB. Yummy burgers & tacos, so-so fries. Until a few years ago, I didn't realize that they were not a national chain. I'd seen them in the StL area and I'd seen them in California so, I assumed they were everywhere. They're not! Shame, they have terribly funny commercials & the cutest antennae balls. Hmmm, a pic idea for another day?

Oh yeah, my kids (and in the last few years, my hubby) are addicted to ketchup. Scott usually only eats it fast food resturants (the ketchup at home is cold, he likes his at room temperture). So we get ALOT of ketchup.

Day 21 pic

Found my purse & my camera wasn't in it. It was down here the the whole time. Suprise! I'm lazy. LOL

Anyway, here is my view when I got to work yesterday. Wasn't the pic I had hoped for but I think it turned out pretty good. One of these days (when the sunrise is earlier, I'll take one from my house!)

Day 20

For Inaguration Day, all the teachers were allowed to take their classes into the gym or library and let the kids watch the ceremonies. For us, this meant we needed a portable lunch that the kids could take w/them tot he gym or library. So, what's more portable than CORNDOGS!! We packed them into their sleeves (not shown) and put an apple, carrot sticks, Teddy grahams and milk into a paper bag & off they went. Apparently, one of the classes either didn't stay long or couldn't find space 'cause they came back & ate their lunches in the cafeteria.

Day 19 (for real this time)

On MLK, my Florissant girl friends got together & invited me! Woohoo! Stamping on a Monday. So I pack all my stuff but, when I got there, I worked on a project they had done & wanted to replicate. We had such a good time. Marge showed up a bit late as she had to take her hubby for a minor medical procedure. We always have so much fun when we get together. I wish I lived closer to them so I could get together more often!

BUSTED

Ok, if you read my previous post, I was trying to put one over on y'all. Well, my mom always said "be sure your sin will find you out". My computer decided it needed to scan my EHD for errors & locked my computer up all afternoon & evening. No fixing the scam post. No posting for today's pic either. I promise, sometime tomorrow, I will post days 19, 20 & 21!!! I have the pics, just need to get them on here (although I am worried 'cause the problems w/my EHD were regarding my pics!!! YIKES!!)

Day 19

Ok, this is really bad: I took my pics today, I crafted today. Both the pics (ok, the camera) and the project are upstairs & I'm too lazy to go get them. I'm seriously thinking of packing it in & going to bed at 9:16pm!!

So, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm posting this drivel. Tomorrow, early, before anyone (at least anyone in the US) is up, I'll edit this post with the pics & the "real" blog entry. The date & time will show tonite & no one will be the wiser. Unless someone is up late & actually READS my blog.

Until tomorrow then.....

Day 18

Well, it's the end. End of Sunday football. Yes, I know there is still the Super Bowl but, that's different. I will no longer be a football widow. I will no longer have something to sleep thru (I'm sure I can find something). Dh will be available on Sunday afternoons for other projects. Until Spring Training games start.

Can you see the Hubby decorating touches? The books of baseball cards? The Cubby bear? The Cubs blanket? The framed pic o Wrigley Field above the baseball cards? Above the TV, there is a cross stitch pic of a Cubby Bear & a Football Bear. I made it for Scott when we were still dating. Technically, the big screen, HD tv is dh's contribution so he can see the baseball games in HD. Guess what? WGN is NOT in DH thru DirecTV.

Day 17

I drove up the "River Road" to Elsah today. I love the river road. For some reason it makes me feel peaceful. I think there is a deep, psychological reason for it but I'm not about to delve into it here :) Anyway, I was looking for eagles but didn't see any that I could easily take pics of.

I did want to take some pics of the frozen river. It was really cool looking I thought. The ice was not smooth & flat and, in some places, it was very free flowing. A number of barges were going up and down the river. I don't think the river freezes solid anymore. I still remember reading the Little House series and learning about people driving across the frozen river before there were bridges (and cars for that matter!)

After I got home, I picked up the kids & we went back downtown to look for eagles. They have an eagle at the Alton Visitors' Center. The kids were unimpressed. They agreed to drive along to the dam but I think it was just to kill time until 2 when they thought I would buy them sodas at Sonic. They were disappointed.

Day 16

Well, tonite, they lost :( BAD!! This is Nick's first year and he's not what anyone would call athletically gifted. He's having fun & that's all that matters. I'm sure ALL the boys would like to win more but, I hope, somewhere in their minds, they know they are learning something.

Day 15

I'm going to remember to post TODAY'S Pic today!!

Even tho Alton (and every other school here-abouts) cancelled school today because of the bitter cold, Bethel still had school. The kids weren't please 'cause mom got a day off & they had to go to school. Nick was less disappointed 'cause he had a basketball game. So, we traipsed out into the cold for his game. The JV team is still learning how to play an organized game of basketball. I must admit, they've lost every game but one tournament game & the very first game of the season.

Well, tonight, they won!!!! It was a very good game & the teams were very evenly matched. The final score was 35 to 18. My nephew (who just transferred back to BCA) sank a 3 pointer just before the buzzer. Pretty Awesome!! Nick did at least TOUCH the ball this game. He knocked it out of bounds but, whatever.

Day 14

Ooops, missed this one. Here is my pic for Wednesday.

When I left to take the kids to school on Wed, it was still dawn, cold but the sun was coming up. When I got to school the sun was shinning. When I looked outside again after the breakfast rush, no sun!! No sun the rest of the morning & into the afternoon. When I left to pick up the kids the sun was shinning brightly again. Odd weather that turned MEAN later on. Down to zero overnight. School was canceled for Thur before 2:30pm on Wednesday!!! Weird.

Anyway, when I got home from the "bus run" the sun was shining thru the window making this pattern on the wall. It's from the snowflake light in the window (see Jan 8 blog post). Thought it looked neat.

Day 13

Scott decided I needed an iPod for Christmas. I made the mistake of asking if I could add 2GB of songs to his 7GB that he has on his 30GB iPod. I thought that way, when we are on vacation, I could listen to MY music. I might have just as well asked to use his spleen! I had a MP3 player but he had the car adaptor thingie and it seemed my MP3's battery was ALWAYS dead!

Anyway, I ended up w/an iPod, a car adaptor & a charging/playing "dock". It's cool but I was not overjoyed w/it. I wanted stamping stuff!! (which I did get but, as you know, you could always use more!)

After having it now for 3 weeks, I don't know that I could live with out it. I used to listen to the radio when I picked the kids up from school. Now, I listen to my iPod. I used to listen to the music on my computer while at home, now I listen to the iPod. I even downloaded games so I can play on my iPod when I'm waiting around. I think I like it!

Day 12

Does it ever end??? Ok, so I got the fancy pants washer last Monday, did tons of laundry. I guess since the new washer has such a large capacity compared to the old one, I felt I couldn't do laundry until I could fill it. This is just 3 loads of laundry!! There are 3 more in the laundry room to be done & one more here!

Last night we watched Dirty Harry on blu-ray and I folded. And folded. AND FOLDED!!! That was a whole lotta folding. The sad party is, while it sat so peaceful overnight, more dirty stuff was created. It's an unending battle.

By the way, I do have some matching laundry baskets. LOL

Day 11

This is one of the most fabulous gifts I think I've ever rec'd. I got this from my boss (in addition to a GC from my lss!) Her hubby works for a local refinery & had gotten these tool kits for vicci & her daughter. Somehow he was able to get FIVE more of them for all of us girls at work. It is the coolest & has everything I could need. Yesterday, we got the new knobs for Becca's new dresser (needed ones that matched her desk better) and of course I needed a phillips screwdriver to replace them. The phillips that was actualy upstairs was so worn down, it wouldn't work. So, I went downstairs, got my handy dandy tool kit & had like 5 different choices of phillips screwdirvers. WOOHOO!!

Of course, I'm torn w/the idea of taking all the tools out & using this for a scrap tool kit! LOL

Day 10

WINTER!!! It's gonna be a COLD week this week. On Thursday, our low is supposed to be -6!!!!! And where will Scott be spending this delightful StL winter week?? Tulsa. How do you type a rasberry?

This photo does not show how cool my coat rack is. Last summer, I had one of those coat tree things. Worked well but was so big & bulky. I was at Lowe's buying something else & saw this BEAUTIUL (I'm so into brushed nickel right now, I'll buy just about anything w/it) wall mounted coat rack. Luckily, my dad was in town & "installed" it. I love it so much more than the coat tree!!

Day 9

...didn't really turn out as cute as they were in real life! The cat was asleep on the back of the couch (where he TOTALLY isn't supposed to be!) I took him off & put him in his bed and covered him w/his blanket. Being the contrary creature he is, he decided he was no longer tired and got out of his bed. Unfortunately, the blanket didn't leave him. Static had it stuck to his hiney. It was hallarious to watch. The pics, not so much.

After that 5th pic, I did take pity on the poor thing & removed the blanket from his hiney. Did he appreciate it?? NO! Silly kitty!

Day 8

...it's time for snow!! We found this adorable snowman at a Hallmark store after Christmas. Isn't he so cute!! Now, the snowflake lights are LED lights. Kinda burns a hole in your retina if you look at them too long. I really don't like the way the string of snowflakes looks on the banister but I'm not sure what else to do w/it. I'd like to get some sort of garland & then drape it so the flakes don't stick out so much. But, it's lights & lights make me happy!!!

Well, I didn't manage a 2nd post.

I put a TON of stuff on eBay this afternoon. After that & dinner & catching up at the Shack, I didn't have time or anything intersting here. Sorry. No decent pic either. I'm feeling a little bit like a failure. It was such an easy resolution, why couldn't I keep it up??

I'll re-evaluate & decide if I will keep on plugging away or give up & let it go.

Day 6

Wow! I spent all day thinking I had posted and I guess I didn't. Wow, that resolution didn't last long. Well, I guess I'll make up for it w/2 posts today.

Yesterday was laundry day. I got my fancy new LG Front Loader washer. It's pretty but, I'm afraid that might be all it is. I'm not sure I'm thrilled with it. I think I'll have to buy the HE soap to see if that make it all better.

Pros: LARGE capacity, detergent/softener/bleach dispenser that can be CLEANED (one of the problems w/my old washer was that it was FILTHY!!) and clearly, the cat likes it!

Cons: LONG wash times (48 minutes for an average load. Don't ask how long for a "sanitized" load!!) and even when I added MORE time for "stain cycle" the wussy stains on shirts didn't come out. I had to pre-treat, run it again & then the did come out, same as my old washer. The rest of the problems are user error or at least user ignorance: how much soap? how much softener, how big a load can fit into the dryer??

I was not able to purchase a new dryer ('cause the old one still works FINE) so now I'm worried that the giant loads I can wash in the washer are going to KILL my dryer. Although, I'm sure the dryer is just going to die of embarrassment as it looks so OLD compared to the washer. Poor dryer. It's 20yo (the washer was only 8) and still running like a champ. A champ that has had the snot beat out of it a couple too many times!

Anyway, I'm going to go today & buy the HE soap. Then, I will be confident that I'm putting enough soap in it. I'll learn to live w/the long cycles 'cause one day I'll be able to get the fancy pants dryer & it'll all balance out. The stained clothes are a rarity so I can deal w/that. I am REALLY HAPPY to have the washer & to be able to wash clothes when I want. I never realized how important that was until it was gone.

As soon as I posted this, I saw this cartoon. Thought it was appropriate. Although my kids, who had a snow day yesterday, pretty much kept themselves busy while I did all the laundry. I sure hope you can click on it & make it bigger!!

Day 5

Hmmm, is this table a metaphor for my life?? This is my scrap/stamp table. Sad, huh?? Needless to say, I have not worked on anything for a few days. So much for my resolve to clean up after my projects. On the plus side, all the Christmas stuff is down & put away. Well, almost all. I realized that my lighted garland is still up (and lit & pretty!) I'll take it & the C'mas cards down later (today, this week, this month??) Scott put all the snowflake lights up (I'll take pics later) and I got almost all the snowmen out. But, for now, I have to do laundry!! My new washer FINALLY got here. I'm on load #2.

Day 4

All day yesterday was spent taking down the Christmas tree. Everything except 2.5 hours spent w/my older brother (Wayne) while he took apart my computer (literally!) to get a tiny media card out of it (I was the one who stuck it in, not one of the kids!)

Anyway, back to Christmas. I hate taking down the decoartions. Really, really HATE it!! The house is plain w/o them. I have trees in all the bedrooms, candles, garland & wall art in the bathrooms, things on the doors & bubbly, glittery nightlights in the kitchen & bathrooms. It is all so GONE when it's gone!!

So, today: the upstairs tree comes down and I clean out Nick's toy drawer. That boy wants to save EVERY Happy Meal toy that ever makes it into this house! I told him to do it but we'll have to wait & see what he actually REMOVES from the room. Then I'll go thru it again. After that, we'll make a run to Goodwill!

Back to my computer. My brother took the whole thing apart & still could not get to the card reader to remove the media card. So, after he left, I was messing around with it & got the card out!! Yea me! Unfortunately, all the messing w/the card reader messed it up so it still doesn't work. Oh well, back to the USB cable!

Eventually, I'll take pics of my ATCs!