Went to see night at the museum last night. I had hoped to take the kids to a 7-ish showing, but alas we were in north pole still at 615 and the next showing was at 640, totally not enough time to scramble in to town, get junk food, and get seated.
So we went to a 935 showing... the kids seemed tired on the way TO the movie. I had to enourage my 7 year old to stay awake. She is my morning person and doesn't seem to stay awake during movies much. But really once the movie got going, they all stayed awake and attentive.
My youngest curled up on my lap, and I had my son on the left side and my other daughter on my right side. That's the way I like it. All my kids nearby while we engage in family time, even though when we are all staring at a huge screen surrounded by complete strangers, you can't really call it quality time, but it is nice just knowing that we are together.
I did pretty good last night not thinking about being gone soon. The preview are really what throw me. I see a movie that I think "that'd be cool to take the kids to," then see when the release date is and realize we will be on opposite ends of the continent at that time :-(
Ah well, it is only 7 months and really this last year has gone by so darned fast that 7 months is only a drop in the bucket, right?

Oh yeah, as you can see, our swimming plans got changed. I had forgotten to grab a suit for my youngest from her dad's house, and well, I wasn't feeling up to par physically last night so a relaxing event just suited me better. I promised the kids that I'd try to snag them from their dad later in the week for some swim time. If he is working graves, I can't see how he'd care, he goes to work the same time swim starts AND I'll return them to his house and his wife before he gets home, or maybe he can just want to pick them up when he finishes his shift the next morning... who knows. Maybe he'll just decide that he doesn't want to be nice and say no. I hope not, for the kids' sake, but if so there is still time during this break to do fun things... AND I have planned time off in January. YAAAAAAAAY!!!!!

Have a good day all, and maybe some day soon I'll regale you with tales from the gym... just as soon as I experience them :-)

I guess we are going swimming tonight. Open swimming is always a very chaotic time to swim... but maybe my little people will play amonst themselves so I can get a few laps in... you know to train for my virtual triathlon... I'm not sure how I'm going to do that... it has to be indoors and the pool at the gym is closed until January 9th, so I'll have to do my swim at one place then drive 30 minutes to another place and do the bike and run on a stationary bike and treadmill respectively.

My daughter had a choice of going out to eat (her idea) or go to a movie ( my idea, since we got a bunch of gift certificates for christmas and my award for being the employee of the month for the lab (YAY)), but somehow we ended up agreeing on just going swimming.

Maybe I'll stop by storage and get a different swim suit... mine seems to be a big too big for me right now (?) which is odd because I haven't lost any weight really... maybe it just got stretched out from the drag or something... who knows.

So happy day!

Looking forward to spring, so enjoy my new tacky color scheme!

since I can't buy a house, I'll buy a bike. Actually I'm wanting to do a triathlon while I'm in training down in texas. Of course, that is added to the long list of other things I want to do while I'm in the CONUS. I'm doing research for bikes right now. Actually I've been doing that all day long. We've definately come a long way from the good ol' huffy generic fits everyone kind of a two wheeled contraption of our youth... and the youth of others :-) since apparantly I'm not as old as I feel sometimes :-)
I have to decide if I should buy it down there while I'm away and undoubtedly will have more shops to choose from, or if I want to buy here before I go and have it shipped to me while I'm there. If I buy here, I'll have the ability to utilize a local shop and will have that shop to help me in the future when I need it. Also if I buy in the dead of the winter when everyone else is looking at snowmachines and snow shoes, skiis and skates, I'll probably get a sweet deal. And the BF gave me an awesome gift certificate so I could take it in and put it towards a good bike (YAY!) Which sounds way more productive than buying clothes, now that won't fit when I come back, or worse yet, don't spend it until I come back and risk losing it or it expiring even though there isn't an expiration date on the card. Oh dear, life just doesn't need to be this complicated, does it?
Man it is 5:15 and I sure am ready to go home, actually I was ready to just not come in at all, but I gotta show up to build my PTO bank so I can take time off with the kids in January. People think I'm silly to take time off other than their xmas break, but they're only in school from 9am to 330 pm, sooooo.... really that is just enough time to do the administration type things before I go... or even to spend time at storage to organize things better so the awesome BF can find the things I want and can send them to me :-)

So I hope everyone had an awesome xmas, I know I did.... and there are so many games at home calling me... my neice got a new pair of shoes so she'll go to the gym with me. She may be only 11 but she is taller than me and if they don't pay too much attention to her she'll pass as older and be allowed on the cardio equipment... it'll help her stay in shape for b-ball until she goes back to Minnesota... she comes from a K-12 school so the Basketball program starts a bit earlier than schools up here... and well, if an 11 year old girl is 5'6", well let her PLAY!

Dorkness OUT!

My son has a writing assignment due each week. It is coupled with his spelling packet.

This week is:

All of us have moments when we feel proud of something that we have done. Write a paragraph that describes a time when you felt proud. Tell what you did and why you were proud.

Any one want to answer that?

I wrote a reply and sent it to his teacher so he could see it.

But I'm curious to see if anyone else has something they're proud of!
Dorkness out!

The holidays are here. My mind is going a billion miles a minute trying not to forget anything.... good thing santa visited me early with a blackberry, with the promise that the box will be wrapped and under the tree on christmas morning. I've been able to put everything in the calendar, or make notes on phone calls. That is a really handy feature I'm finding lately :-)

So as of today only 7 weeks left, and I can't believe how much I still feel like I need to do, but naturally once I get home, I don't want to do any of it! How funny is that?

Have a good day everyone!
And thanks to those who gave me happy birthday wishes!

she is a girl!
of course this girl had to buy a dress, shoes, a new bra, and the nylons to make this look go together... damn halter top dress :-)
ah well, it was good times, and next time I'll find comfy dress shoes.... is there such a thing?

Had an awesome weekend so far... and I got extensions for my online classes, so that is awesome since I really don't need to fail this semester :-)

have a good one, all!

You Are Dasher

You're an independent minded reindeer who never plays by the rules. Why You're Naughty: That little coup you tried to stage against Santa last year Why You're Nice: You secretly give naughty children presents.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

"These Four Walls"

Wasn't that long ago
I was skipping school with a lunchbox
Pigtails in my hair
Where did the time go
One minute I'm playing in the sandbox
How'd I get to here from there
Making lunches and folding clothes
Is not the most glamourous life I know
But I've got so much more than most

[Chorus]
I'm not famous but my kids think I'm a star
Im not rich but I've made a million memories so far
I may not be a model 
But My man thinks I could be
I may not be from royalty
But in these four walls
I'm the queen

I had it all planned 
First I'd make it big in Nashville
Then take hollywood by storm
But it was in God's hands
There were three little lives that would need me
To one day be their mom
I wouldn't trade it for anything
Those movie stars don't have everything
I know I'm right where I wanna be

[Repeat Chorus]

I had to let it go, but I have no regrets
I would have never known this kind of happiness

[Repeat Chorus]

 

Pictures!

Me running on the track... I look unhappy...










Finally I got my camera, my USB cord and my computer all in the same spot at the same time!
Yay...

If anyone objects to having pictures of themselves or their kids (my relatives) on this site, let me know and I'll remove them, but I'm going to put them up for now either way... since it is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission :-)

This is a giant roll of toilet paper, on the sink....


I thought it was hilarious since that is something you see at home, not in a hospital!

(we found out that the housekeeper had the wrong key and couldn't unlock the dispenser...
what kind of a nation are we, that we need to lock up our TP?)

This is Chris at the Halloween Carnival at his school, despite the uncanny likeness, he is not Bob the Builder.... he is a mechanic :-)

Now we have Eryn at the same carnival, dressed along with her mom, her grandma and her aunt (not pictured), ready for a slumber party! There's a bit of Desarae in the picture, too, but she has her own also.

It is crazy how much attitude a 4 year old and exude. I think it is the crown mixed with sugar consumption...

she was actually behaving quite nicely, the camera caught her in the middle of saying something.

Apparantly being a pretty princess is hard work! The flash didn't even wake her up from that very uncomfortable looking slumber in her car seat!

Monday I ran 20 minutes on the treadmill. I think I made it 1.93 miles, but I'm not positive about it. I could probably math it out

Tuesday I lifted upper body and did 50 situps
I went only 1.87 miles today in 20 minutes

I did the math: monday was only 1.58 miles... so yay I did better today.

Christmas Presents are on their way. I got an email this morning that a portion of my order had shipped. YAY!

Today is day 3 of my new found commitment to healthier eating and actually working out :-)

I had previously fallen in love with the body for life way of eating, so I'm back to that. I prefer to eat small meals throughout the day... back when I thought I was leaving soon for basic I tried to adjust my habits to the 3 squares and maybe some snacks... big mistake... and now I am leaving soon, and well, I don't care. I will work out the issues when I get there.

Yay for me, I've turned down spaghetti last night (not made to my specifications of healthy, so....) and I ate a chicken spinach salad and had a portion of a sweet potato baked in the microwave... dry... as in no butter or toppings... I actually like them like that.

I turned down an offer for a peanut butter cookie... yay me again!

---

It is slow at work today. I'll say it, I'm kinda hoping to jinx it "SLOW"... huh, nothing happened.

Ah well, the main doc is out of town again. At least he was awesome enough to fill out my letter of recommendation to nursing school before he left yesterday... which is awesome because I just gave it to him yesterday. Horray. I'm waiting for the other two letters to come in, one from his chemo nurse (one of them anyway), and the other from the manager of the Laboratory... when they look at those, do they even care who wrote them? Are they weighted by prestige? Hard telling.

I also need to register to take the nursing school entrance test (NET)... that ought to be fun! no really, I mean it.

So either way, I'm slowly ticking things off my to-do list, which is really impressive since I haven't even really made a to-do list :-)

I woke up super early and went to the gym, 20 minutes of interval training as prescribed... but I think I'll add some warm up and cool down time... I don't like to hop into things like that. Maybe there was one there and I missed it. I like the work out though... then I tanned real quick, trying to continue conditioning my skin. I think in a few more weeks I'll be able to go just twice a week to maintain until I go... I'm not trying to get super dark or anything, just enough to keep myself from burning at inopportune times.

Have a good one!

Dorkness OUT!

just testing something...ignore me

Sing along if you know the words:

"If you hate Wells Fargo, clap your hands *clap* *clap*"

Ah I just LOVE the holidays... since when, maybe I just didn't notice before, did banks say you could only spend x amount of your own money using a debit card? Then when you call them to see why you can't charge on your card they say because it is for your protection to only allow so much in charges... no they can't override it over the phone...(how does their computer know if I'm there in person or on the phone?) I called my local branch and they could override it for today only... uh okay... I guess it is better than nothing. I unerstand they need to protect themselves from shopping sprees and bounced charges and whatever, and identity theft... but yeah, I'm on the phone with ALL the right info saying, yes it is my charge, please let it go through... I'm like Sandra Bullack on "THE NET" I don't like to enteract with real people, just leave it on the doorway and I'll come out and get it when you're not looking :-)
Well obviously I'm not that bad, but I don't like pressure shopping... If I want to pay $25.00 in pennies, I WILL... of course I use the U-scan so I can be my own cashier... but whatever... I can't believe how banks handle their customers... Like I don't know that they make millions off of people like me each year (obviously not me, cuz I guarantee there isn't a million of my dollars going through there a year :-) ) so yeah, some common courtesy would be awesome!

On a happier less rant-y kind of a note: I had an awesome weekend. Thursday was a quiet night with my parents, my one sister and her daughter and myself with a giant ham and some other foods... yummy... then I made a carmel pecan cheesecake from scratch, thankyouverymuch, and then gave it to my ex-in-laws. I felt bad for them because it was just the two of them for thanksgiving dinner. Had I known that before I would have invited myself over. Quite honestly I had assumed since their son had my kids for the day that they'd be over there. I guess when his parents bought him his own house to live in... he wanted to make dinner himself... I would have invited my parents if it were me, but I guess if he were a thoughtful considerate man, we might have still been together... or not, but still I couldn't get over the inconsiderateness of it all!
I gave them the cake on Friday and thanked them for all they do for me. I appreicate them and I want them to know that... someone should thank them! :-)
Sunday was Thanksgiving the sequel... both my sisters and my regular family, a few of my parent's friends and kids came over and it was good times... not to mention S. came over and very sweetly helped me (as in did it for me and I pretty much shuffled papers as he handed them to me) clean my room. It was embarrassingly messy... and now that it is all organized and awesome, I might be able to get some homework done tonight!
It was awesome to have him in the same room as my family... it doesn't really happen on purpose, they don't really see eye to eye with me on life, so it has been kind of separate thus far. So yay! Good times!
I hope everyone else had a good time...
and I'm sad to report that in 10 weeks and a half a day (depending on when I leave on the 6th) I'll be on my way to Texas... I'm not too sure what to feel about that...
Dorkness OUT!

Solicited Harrassing

---

I think we should all gang up on the people who own the house I want to move into. It would be alright, just no violence... just annoy them a bit. I don't have the credit to buy it outright, but apparantly there are other ways to make it work. I've contacted them, by mail, certified mail, so I know they've gotten it. Of course they just got it on Monday, but still I'm impatient.

I'd love to be in a home where I can make MY rules before xmas. I don't know if it will happen or not. I don't know why somone who had a house on the very stale market for that long (at least 2 months) isn't willing to just rent it out for a measely 6-12 months... then sell it to the renter... guaranteed ontime rent also!

But ah well, I'm snobby so I'd think: if you can't afford it on your own merits then why would I let you live there? But again, I like to think the world has less mean people wandering around :-) It just sucks sometimes to hear the word "NO" so often. I know how a toddler feels. *SIGH*

So it is turkey day tomorrow... I think I'll go to the storage place and organize boxes... sounds like excitement doesn't it :-) There is actually a purpose for it. I'd like to run during the day tomorrow since I don't have any kids and I'm pretty sure we get a few hours of daylight, even if I don't see them since I'm at work for all three of those precious sun lit hours. (not really bright, still dimmish, or twilight... something like that) but if it stays above 20 below I'm all for a run outside cold (disease) or no cold.

Happy turkeys all!

More proof that the world revolves around me:
I wanted chicken noodle soup... I have a cold and it just sounded good, plus it is 40 below zero outside!

I checked the online menu for the cafeteria... okay wow! We're having chicken noodle soup today... but that isn't always 100% right... so I go and check in the cafeteria in person. And there is no soup, the whole pot is missing! Uh-oh, what a cruel world... oh wait, what is that you say, they're bringing out a fresh pot of chickeny-noodley-goodness?
Saweeet! I got two bowls, one for now and another for a few hours from now when I'll be inevitably hungry again.

Such is the woes of a girl who for some unexplained reason had gotten herself out of eating breakfast, which is quite unusual, indeed.

I have a cold. I tell myself it is "allergies" that way it will go away with a blink of an eye, rather than 7-10 days!

This past weekend, and into the present, I've been viewing my relationship a bit differently. In all honesty not much has really happened to cause this shift of view. I guess I was able to step back a bit and see things almost through another's eyes. I've picked up things that he used to do when we first got together... perhaps he's been doing them all along and I hadn't realized it. I had been so focused on negative things or what was going wrong.

Maybe it was the all night talk session that we had, or impromtu dates that seemed to just make themselves available... all of a sudden a very booked week for both of us had some cancellations at the same time! That never happens. The gods are smiling down on us, and I am very thankful for that. Times like this will need to be fresh in my mind, memories this fond will help me bear the time away from my family and loved ones. Times like this will remind me that no matter what I decide to do in life, he will be there supportive and awesome in his own ways... and it doesn't really matter if people understand what we're about or what we plan on doing in the future, or what we've done in the past. I love him, and he loves me and all else is insignificant in the big picture.

Eventually I'll get my act together and post a family picture on here... we just got them back from Sears Portraits... not my preferred place to get portraits done, but we are posting about being grateful, not gripeful!

Little doses of reality make me wonder if I could be a nurse. Today, like all other days when I'm not in the sanctity of knowledge that the end is coming, I feel as if the world isn't as rosy as it may first seem.
When I work with cancer patients, there are the greiving processes, by both the patient and the family members. They know what might happen. A young teenager who is being kept alive after a gun shot wound to the head, until they decide what to do with her organs, well that's just a bit much to swallow. My condolences to the family, regardless of the nature of her death.
Every time I work these shifts, it makes me realize that most of my problems are puny and I really need to stop whining. I have my health, even with some stuffiness and a bit of sniffles, I am very healthy. I have awesome kids, and an awesome support network that may not be there all the time, but I know they'd be there when it is really important.
So what I'm living in a place I hate, so what if I don't have strong credit and I can't go and buy whatever I want... I can't take them with me anyway. But I will always have memories of my daughter standing on a seat at a basketball game holding a small bucket of popcorn, and dancing to music... she can move to a beat and recognize a beat at the age of 4... I'm so proud of her.... I can hardly keep a beat while I practice my saxophone... and my trumpet, I can hardly hold a note :-)

I'm here at work - do not adjust your monitor, it really is saturday - I volunteered for it. And it really is only 3 hours... not even a shift really, so I can't complain, and I'm.... well, busy, so I guess I'll be back to update this tee hee!