Labor Day weekend

It is Labor Day weekend and although this has become a time when everyone celebrates the extra day off and plans are made for that last BBQ of the season it seems to me that the real reason for the holiday is forgotten, or was it ever really known?
I know that I truly do not know the history of this national holiday and if truth be told I would say that I am not very interested in researching it. I am sure it is to celebrate the working man but I must say that I celebrate that everyday when I am constantly reminded of my humble roots.

My parents were, and still are, working folk. My Dad met my step-mom (from here on referred to as just plain old MOM) in the factory where they both worked. My mom worked her way up to a supervisory position in that factory and my dad was able to finally follow his dream to quit that job and become a farmer. This seems to me like jumping from the frying pan to the fire but it is what has always made my dad happy so.........
My mom had a stroke about 9 years ago and since then there have been some changes in the house but nothing really that different. Dad now helps all the neighbors with their farms and is now able to do all the things he enjoys without the headache of the financial worries many farmers face. He also 'makes wood', something I thoroughly loathed as a child but my dad seems to get perverse pleasure from, probably knowing that he has provided heat for his family as well as the satisfaction that must be there when he sells the wood to the city guy who thinks that burning wood for heat makes him country even if he didn't cut it himself :-) Mom can't work anymore, at least not outside the home, but let me tell you that the work inside the home is still done to her specifications. Our house was always clean, sometimes too clean, and it still is. Mom is still proud that you could eat off her floors and drink from her toilets if ever necessary.

So, in honor of the working folks I am going to enjoy my extra day of rest. Today I am going to the Taste of Madison and eat some good food, drink some cold beer and hear some great music. Tomorrow I am thinking a day at the zoo may be in order.

Enjoy your weekend!!!!

ABC's of Me!!

Stole this from a friend's blog just as she stole it from someone else. Seemed like fun.

A-Age: I will be 36 this year. I didn't start to feel old until my kids started getting older. I have 2 teenagers and 2 pre-teens!!!! What!!!!!
B-Birth date: August 7th.
C-Chore you hate: Putting laundry away
D-Dog's name: Charlie
E-Enter or Exit: Enter, with all eyes on me ( I am a Leo after all)
F-Favorite color: Green
G-Gold or silver: Silver
H-Hair color: My real hair color? We are trying to achieve this again. I am pretty sure this brown is really close.
I-Instrument: I never played an instrument unless you count cymbals LOL
J-Job Title: Library Student Help/ Bartender
K-Kids: Sean-16, Rayce-14, Cutter-12, Brinna-11
L-Living arrangements: Me, my boyfriend Casey, and the kids live in a big old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, I love it!!
M-Monkey or Moose: Monkey- wouldn't you just love a pet monkey?
N-Nicknames:Minky, Minkstro, Minkleburry, Fudge, Ri
O-Odd thing about you: There are probably too many to list but I can't think of any since I don't find them odd!
P-Pet Peeve: People who don't want to learn how, they just want you to do it for them.
Q-Quote from a movie: "You know, there's a million fine looking women in the world, dude. But they don't all bring you lasagna at work. Most of them just cheat on you."- Clerks
R-Right/Left Handed: Right
S-Siblings: 1 brother, 1 half sister, and 3 step brothers but I don't think of any of them that way, they are jsut my brothers and sister
T-Time you wake up: 5:30 when I have to work and whenever when I don't
U-Underwear: thongs or bikinis or none
V-Veggie you dislike: Lima beans, taste like chalk
W-What makes you run late: underestimating my drive time
X-X-Rays: Kidneys, I honestly think that may be the only one I had
Y-Yummy food you make: I think everything I make is yummy but the kids like my chicken enchiladas and sloppy joes
Z-Zoo Animal: Lions and monkeys

So there it is. The ABC's of me.

It's been awhile.......

It's been awhile since my last post and although there doesn't seem to be much to write about I thought I should throw something out there.

Summer is half way over. I cannot believe it. Where are my days of fun and relaxation? Rayce is finally done with summer school but I just got a second job so I am not so sure how the vacation plans are going to work out. I have off most Thursdays and Fridays but it seems like I am so tired from the rest of the week that I don't get much enjoyment out of my free time. I am a voracious reader but this summer I have made it through one, maybe two books, tops. We have gone to the cabin once, been to one fair, one baseball game, and zero pools, zoos, parks, or beaches. Before I know it the summer will be over, I'll be into my third semester of nursing school and my life will officially reside inside of a text book. I just checked out a review book from the library so I can be sure to be ready for classes to start.

Back to books I am reading. I just started a book called "Monster Island" by David Wellington which is about zombies. So far it is pretty good, actually put it down last night to fall asleep at a very interesting turn of events, looking forward to finding out what happens. Just finished "The Zookeeper's Wife" by Diane Ackerman. This was one of the few non-fiction books I have read about a family in Warsaw, Poland during WWII that used the zoo they ran to help Jews and Poles survive the Nazi invasion. It was very interesting and I even learned a thing or two. I've also been reading "From Chaos to Calm" by Janet Heininger. It is an interesting read about a child with ADHD, something I am living daily. Reading this book helps me to deal with my child a bit more, understanding what is going through his mind when he doesn't even know.

Well, that's about as random as I can get for now. I'll try to be back soon!

Just another Friday......

Today is Friday and although I seldom work on Friday I was able to get a few extra hours in so I took them, money is money after all. It was scheduled to be a beautiful day today and so I took the cycle to work. I love the fact that I can ride almost everyday in the summer, we had some rainy days there but I think I have been on the bike everyday this week but one.

I have to ride into Mt Horeb today before going home so that I can get my servers license. I will be bartending at The Firehouse. Pretty excited to be back behind a bar, in a bar where there are no owner's sons running around thinking they run the place that is. My friends Dad owns this place but I have a feeling things are run a bit differently than the other bar I worked at.

One month from today my son turns 14. He is the last of the children to have a birthday for the year so I can then quit saying my kids are 16, almsot 14, 12 and 11. It is so hard to believe that my babies are not babies anymore, I guess that means I am getting old too.

One year from today my best friend from High School is getting married. I am sooooo excited. I have not seen her in 16 years but there has not been a single one of them that went by when I wasn't wondering what she has been up to. We have been in and out of touch many times since High school but I still feel like she is one of my best friends, I just wish she lived closer. Oh well, time for a road trip!!

Not too much else is happening around these parts. I'll try to post again soon!

Saturday with the Boys

I spent today with the boys today, only one of mine, and 4 of his friends. I took them Paintballing, it was definitely worth it. Last year I got tickets to the paintball place and decided that it would make a good 13th birthday gift for Rayce. We finally went. Now I think we need to invest in paintball equipment so the kids can just go out in our woods and do the same thing. Boys are still staying over tonight so I have a house full of teenagers right now. I guess it is better than if they were girls, LOL.

Tomorrow its a day with the dog, Dog Fest!!!

Just a thought................

I was thinking the other day that I should start using my blog the way others do, as a sort of diary to get things off of my chest and just vent about daily life while also keeping a written record of what goes on in my life. The problem I have with this is that sometimes the things I want to write are about other people and although they do not currently read this blog it is possible they may stumble across it someday. Should I really be worried? If its how I am feeling I should probably tell them anyhow. The problem with that is sometimes that just causes way more problems than it solves.

So, I'm thinking that maybe I should start with just the diary thing, here goes.

I am supposed to have Fridays off this summer but when I got offered some hours at the downtown campus I decided I kinda needed the money. I worked 4 hours today, took the motorcycle into town, yea for the beautiful weather, boo on the road construction. Riding a motorcycle in stop and go traffic is just not very fun.
I got home and planned to take a bike ride with Rayce into town, not for fun but because Rayce has to go to summer school in order to get into High School next year and he will need to bike in since I have to work. I figured we should make the trip so that he knows how long it is going to take him to get there each day. EVERY bike we have has something wrong with it, except for Brinna's which is a little girls bike that no one else wants to ride. I ended up taking Rayce into town to get a new rear wheel for his bike as well as a new chain and now he doesn't know how to put it back together. UGGHHH!
Rayce's friend is supposed to be coming over tonight because we are going Paintballing for his birthday present for last year. Haven't heard from him since he called to RSVP. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. If he doesn't get here I may end up at the beer tent with my friends after all!
Making dinner and looking forward to a nice quiet night at home (unless I can go out :-)), maybe open a bottle of wine, who knows.

BBQ, Barrels, and Bonfires

Yesterday we had a BBQ for Memorial Day weekend and had a bunch of friends come out. It was a great time, tapped the keg at about 2pm and got the grills going by about 5. Tons of brats, hot dogs, and burgers amid the other things people had brought to grill. The fire got going around 8 or so and thanks to the wonderful firebug friends we have it was very lively.

Now of course I have a huge mess to clean up!! I spent the day on Friday getting the house clean so that people wouldn't think that I live like a slob. Now, all of my hard work is undone and I must begin again. I think I may wait until later, Bratfest is waiting!!

Happy Memorial Day everyone and remember all our veterans tomorrow as you continue to relax on this long weekend.

Spring Break

Here it is Spring Break, or rather the end of it, and I am SICK!!

I had such plans. Keep the house clean (this has kinda happened but I was gonna do some real cleaning today), work on my motorcycle (I lost the key, now I will probably have to buy a new ignition and tank lock unless the keys show up soon), work in the yard a little bit (may still be able to do some of this tomorrow or Sunday if the rain holds off), and just plain relax.

Instead I woke up Wednesday morning feeling kinda yucky, super headache, crampy (thanks to my little friend), and just overall blah. Wednesday night was a friends birthday so we went out and although I was pretty congested I did sing some karaoke but should have stayed home. Yesterday was parent/teacher conferences and so I was on the go more than I wanted to be and this morning I woke up, can't breathe, throat hurts, and strange colors are coming out of orifices. Oh what fun!!

I hope that everyone else is doing well and enjoying this beautiful weather for the first day of spring. Bring on the Robins!!!!

Baby Boy

My baby boy turned 12 yesterday. I can hardly believe it. I remember when his favorite thing in the world was swinging on the swing set, I could not push him enough, now he asked for pellets for his BB gun. He also got video games of course and we went to Rocky's for pizza and games. He said he had fun and that's what its all about.

Happy Birthday "Butter"!!!

More Meanderings

So its Saturday morning and I am just chilling drinking my coffee before I start cleaning my house and finishing laundry. You see, there is nothing else I can do today because my car is broken!

Thursday night I work at the library and Casey has class so since my clinical is temporarily over we have been car pooling. This means that we have also been stopping for a few drinks afterward. Thursday night is 1/2 price margaritas at Pedros and they have karaoke! This week we also had an ice storm, maybe we should have went straight home.

On our way home I was driving carefully because the streets were slick and I didn't want to get in an accident. We live out in the sticks and there are some major curves in order to get to the house. I guess I underestimated the roads because I got to one of the curves and lost control of the car. I was still going around the curve but the car was also sliding to the other lane. I overcompensated and the next thing I knew I was turned completely around and sliding into the ditch. Once there I was stuck and Casey and I had to walk about 1 1/2 miles to the house on those slick ass roads. I only slipped once, Casey was not so lucky.
I called the tow truck yesterday and when he pulled me out we discovered that I had broke a few things on the tire. I got the car towed to the garage and found out it will cost me a little less than $500. Thank god this is tax season!

So now I am home because Casey has to "work" at the Fishing Expo and I do not have a car to get anywhere unless I take him there and pick him up. I do not want to do this so I am going to use my afternoon alone (the kids are here but they are cleaning too, little do they know) to clean my house. After all I am having a Tupperware party here in a few weeks and there is no way that anyone is seeing my home in its current condition.

(P.S. No one was hurt when we went in the ditch, just the car, so no worries)

Taxes

Just finished filing my taxes online, still have to mail in my paperwork for State but soon I will have money. Now, what to do with it.

Some of it is going in the bank and hopefully staying there. I want to take a vacation this year too so some will go in that account. I also want/need to buy a new sofa, gonna start looking for good deals now I think. Also gonna put some money in the kids accounts and take them shopping for something special since they are the sole reason I get such a lovely refund. I am also going to pay off some bills that I have.

Every year this happens and every year I have pretty much the same ideas of what to do with the cash. Hopefully this year it will actually work out as planned. Last year I went and bought new furniture just in time for my transmission to blow on the van. I do NOT need anything like that this year.

So, what do the rest of you do with your taxes? Anything fun?

Dream Wedding

My friend Carrin is getting married and so she asked all those who follow her blog to come up with some idea for a dream wedding so that she might steal one or two. I decided that this might be kinda fun so here goes.

Let me start by saying that for the longest time I said that I would never get married again. I was married once and it didn't last, some might say it was the biggest mistake of my life actually, and I didn't have my dream wedding then by far but I still didn't think I wanted to go through that whole ordeal again.
After some serious soul searching lately I realized that it wasn't the marrying that was the problem, it was the divorcing, so now I have decided that I will get married again when (if) the right man comes along and I am 150% sure that he's the one.

My dream wedding would be something similar to what I wanted the first time around but didn't get.
It would be outside if at all possible. The last time it was supposed to be outside and it started raining just before the wedding was supposed to start. We foolishly had no back up plan. Just when we had everything moved down to my future great uncle-in-law's bar (that's right, bar) it stopped raining, so I got married in a bar. The next time I would have a tent set up so that if need be we could move under cover and if nothing else the guests wold have a place to get out from the sun.
My dress would be simple but elegant, last time it was just simple. I found a dress one time when I was shopping with an engaged friend that I sort of fell in love with. It had a very medieval feel to it and I thought it would be perfect for an early fall wedding.
Flowers, this is where I would make the most changes. I would have real flowers and lots of them. I love flowers but in the interest of saving money my MIL and I hand made all the bouquets and boutonnieres with fake flowers from Micheal's Crafts. They were pretty but I want real Lillies this time, or maybe tulips, depends on the time of the year I guess.
The food could be from anywhere and I don't think I would do a sit down dinner this time either. Informal, grab food when you feel like it, pull up a chair where you find one is more my style and the majority of my friends style too.
I would splurge on a professional photographer. The last time mu aunt-in-law took the pictures and developed them as our wedding present, they were nice but not like the ones taken by a professional. I want the beautiful 11x13 to go above the mantel, assuming I have a mantel that is!
The first time I got married my Dad walked me down the aisle with my 18 month old son. This time around the kids would definitely "give me away" as well as being worked into the ceremony in some way because any man who marries me has to claim the kids too. that's just the way it works now, I'm a package deal, sort of a "buy 1 get 4 free" thing.

So, that is a snapshot of my dream wedding. Of course everything would go off without a hitch as they say and it would be the most perfect of perfect days. Everyone would be smiling and then we would leave for the most perfect honeymoon somewhere warm, romantic, and fun for at least a week, no kids (they are part of the deal but sometimes they need to stay home lol). I don't think I gave Carrin any ideas she didn't already have but oh well, it was kind of fun.

Just to catch you up...........

I have just finished my 3rd week of clinicals in nursing school and with only 2 more to go in this go round I can't believe its almost over. I am loving and hating it at the same time. I love going to the hospital and taking care of the patients but I still have a hard time thinking like a nurse. I hate all the paper work that fills my weekends now. I should be doing my homework right now but decided to put it off for just a bit longer.
The kids are about the same. Got their report cards and Brinna did OK. Cutter and Rayce on the other hand must like Middle School cuz it looks like they may be there awhile. Cutter was not nearly as bad as Rayce, he got one incomplete and one F with Bs and Cs for the rest. Rayce however got all Ds and Fs with an incomplete thrown in for good measure. He did get better grades in PE and Choir but those really don't count in my book. The boys are grounded to the kitchen table with books and homework until the grades come up but I am not so sure that is going to get through to them. I sometimes think nothing will.
Everything else around here is pretty much the same, some good and some bad but we are all still alive and healthy. Maybe once I don't have clinicals for 5 weeks I will start trying to blog more often and try some of those fun things my friend Carrin is always posting on her blog. Till then it will probably be hit or miss on the updates.