25 Randoms

I was tagged on Facebook to write a note with 25 random things on it about me. I figured it would also work for here. On Facebook though I didn't include the explanation because we weren't supposed to.

1. I have been married for 8.5 years; we've been together 12.5.

We met at the Fremont County Fair in July of 96. For the next 4 months or so we talked to each once a week and wrote letters back and forth.
Two days after my 16th birthday I drove to Ames to a hockey game and the rest is history. Really old history because we didn't really have email. As I said we mailed letters back and forth and talked on the phone 2 hours a week. I can't imagine we would be together right now if we had had cell phones. Just a feeling.

I still have all of our letters. The ones he sent me and the ones I sent him. I didn't find out until a couple of years ago that he kept them. What a wonderful surprise that was.



2. I like to cook... just not supper.

I hate having to decide what is for supper. If I had my way we would have hamburgers every night. I do a lot of my experimenting at lunchtime.



3. I wash my bedding every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I don't know why. I just do. It isn't even that those same sheets are going to go back on the bed. We have something like 11 sets. The comforter and all gets washed. We also have a lot of comforters. Enough that I don't want to count them.

Austin used to think that this needed to be a couple's joint decision. After all it is about decorating. He no longer thinks that because I refuse to get his okay every time I want to change the blankets.

I have a new one in the closet that I got on clearance and I don't feel one bit guilty about that at all. It would be on the bed but it is more of a summer theme one and just looking at it makes me cold this time of year.

All the comforters have a light brown color in them somewhere so that every one that I get blends right into the colors in the room.



4. I might be OCD on some things.

The bathroom must always be clean. Sink washed out and the toilet scrubbed. Floor swept and mopped. Mirror wiped down. Everything clean.

Sheets get washed on schedule. If I am gone on one of those days and get back the next it is okay I just change sheets and they still get washed on the next scheduled day.

The blankets on the bed must be centered. They all have to be pulled up to the same evenness at the top. No exceptions. I have been known to safety pin them together. My husband just realized this quirk last year. Crazy.

DVDs must be alphabetized according to the first letter of the title not including 'The'. DVDs with numbers in the title go at the end in numerical order no matter what the title is. Unless it is just a second movie in which case they go alphabetically.

Glasses in the cabinets go one right side up, one upside down, etc to prevent chipping.



5. I like to go grocery shopping late at night by myself.

I think this one is self explanatory.



6. We have one too many houses.

We have a second home in Indiana that has been on the market for a really long time. It will be a miracle if it ever sells. We have an accepted offer on it right now but I am not holding my breathe. After 3 years we have had more than one failed offer. Nothing to do with the house but with buyers financing going bad.

I am really glad that we bought the house we are in when we did. There is no way we would have qualified for another loan in the current credit market. Not that we can't pay it but because the banks are a little more skittish now.



7. I count the steps in my house every time I go up or down them like I expect there to be a new number of them. There are 14. That isn't going to change.

If I happen to lose count on the way up I will usually trip. If I lose count on the way down I have to stop and check myself because I have been known to fall down them. Thankfully I usually lose count on like number 12 or 13.



8. I hate when people talk about nothing or try to monopolize the conversation and will often change the subject to better suit myself. ;)

I don't like when people just talk about themselves and don't let anyone else in on the conversation. That or they just talk to hear themselves. That just doesn't fly with me. I also don't like when people have to think about what they are going to say. Like they are reading off of a teleprompter or crib sheet. Don't get me wrong if they have some kind of mental problem or disability that is something else entirely. But most of the time it is just people trying to keep their lies straight. I might be a domineering conversationalist but I let everyone in on the conversation.



9. I am a morning person that for some reason likes to stay up late.

Just call me stupid. Thankfully I don't need a whole bunch of sleep. 4 or 5 hours a night is enough.



10. I kept Mason rear facing until he hit the limits of his seat.

It was and is so much safer to have little kids in rear facing. He hit the limit of his seat and I have reluctantly switched him over to forward facing. I did look around at other seats and decided for the extra inch I would have gotten out of it was just too much. I really struggled with this decision because I do drive a lot. Now when I go somewhere I am more likely to find a route that isn't traveled very much. I don't worry about my driving so much it is more those other stupid bastards out there talking on their cell phones playing with the radio while trying to light a cig that make me nervous.


11. I am scared of snakes... really scared.

I have always been scared of snakes. I used to have nightmares about them, they would be climbing the walls and coming out of toilets. As I got older I realized how ridiculous it was to be that afraid of snakes. That was until we moved here. Most snakes in the state of Iowa won't bother you. Once in a while you will run over while you are mowing the yard but that is the extent that you might see one.
Here at my house though we have a more aggressive bread of bull snake I believe it is called a fox snake and they will follow you around striking. I currently have one in the basement and have caught others down there.


12. There is an unwanted snake living in my basement.

Here is a pretty good of what it looks like. It is bigger than this though.


13. During the colder winter months Hyde can usually be found under my sweatshirt with just his nose sticking out of the neck hole.

We started this when he was just a cute tiny puppy. Whenever he is tired or cold he likes to get on my lap and he will worm his way under my sweatshirt. He cuddles up and then sticks just his little nose out the neck hole. He is my own portable heater.


14. I am a closet smoker... SHHH don't tell.

Yep, been a closet smoker for many many years. I know your wondering how in the world do I hide this from the husband. Easy he just associates me with the smell of smoke. He can take something of mine out of the dryer and say it smells like smoke. It could be something that I have never smoked in.
And he said I would never be able to brainwash him.


15. I go to the mailbox everyday but don't always check it...(refer to #14)

I make it look like I checked it if there is snow on the ground or it is muddy. Really anything that will show my foot prints.

16. Most of the time I just bring the bills in and let the junk mail pile up in the mailbox.

All I care about are the bills. I just let the rest of it pile up out in the mailbox. My mailman thinks it is hilarious. We get a lot of magazines every month and I don't even bring them in. We can fit 3 months worth of junk mail out there.
I have tried to train Austin that on Mondays to just empty out he mailbox when he takes the trash to the end of the driveway but he won't go for it.


17. I love to sit and watch my son play 'trucks' on the dining room table.

He will line up his cars and trucks on the edge of the table and push them around for house. They have to stay in line and it is just fun to watch him try to get them all moving and keep them in line. Sometimes he gets frustrated and starts to grumble and sounds like his dad.
He does the same thing in the window sills.


18. I like sweet tea with a bunch of ice and don't understand how people can drink it unsweetened.

My family has always had sweet tea with a bunch of ice. Austin's not so much. I don't know what they drank I have a feeling it was probably pop. I buy no pop. Austin will not drink sweet tea. He likes it unsweetened and at room temp. So wrong, so very wrong.
I have given up and make it unsweetened but only because I have figured out that if I add two sweet and low packets it taste almost the same. There are some days though that I just don't care and add sugar right to the pitcher. Those are usually the days that Austin decides to drink some. He is very aggravating some times.


19. I love the aftertaste of black coffee but I drink mine with enough sugar and creamer to qualify it as candy.

There is nothing like warm candy to get me going on the weekends. I don't generally make coffee during the week. I don't know why I just don't.


20. I love to read. I always have a book in my purse.

Perfect for those times when Mason falls asleep in the car and I know that transferring him will wake him up and it will still qualify as a nap. It never fails he falls asleep during the last 5 minutes of the drive.
I have finished many books in the driveway sitting in my car with a sleeping child in the back.


21. I talk to my little sister everyday on the phone. She truly is my best friend. I just stay on her good side...

My little sister is a bitch. There is no other way to put it. When on her bad side she can become vicious. She is my best friend though. We fought like no other all through high school.
There aren't very many days over the last 10 years that we haven't talked on the phone.
She is a very protective mother with two of the naughtiest little boys. Smart naughty boys and a protective mother is not a good thing.


22. I wish I had more time for photography... time to myself for photography.

This should be easier this summer when the sun is out later. I used to feel guilty when I would need some time alone because that meant leaving my husband with a crying baby but i don't feel guilty anymore. Why? Because he gets the crying side from his father and I totally believe Austin should know how to take care of his own child. I shouldn't have to be afraid every time I leave them home alone.
I have taken this so far as to get a job. I love it. Adult interaction and it doesn't involve me asking them to bring down their dirty clothes or cooking them supper. Wonderful. I will only be working about 12-15 hours a week but that is perfect.


23. I have decided to paint my office a pink color; I just need to find a way to tell my husband how it is going to be.

My husband spends no time in here. I let him have an opinion on every other room in the house and I am claiming this one as mine. I have already bought the paint and am just waiting for a weekend when he isn't in the house. It might have to wait until summer when he is helping his friends hay.


24. I can survive on very little sleep.

I found this out because my husband cannot. I have had more than job where I had to close and then open. Casey's specifically I would close Friday nights, get home about 12 and be back up there to open on Saturday mornings. I had to be there at 4:30 to get the paperwork done before we opened at 6. There is a very good reason I don't work at Casey's anymore.


25. I DON'T drink. Like at all. Cost too much to get tipsy and taste bad too boot. No Thanks.

I have way too high a threshold. When I would go to the bar with my siblings I would usually drink my own drinks and finish off everyone else's and didn't even get buzzed. It has been years since I have tried that. Mainly because it taste bad. Sorry don't like the taste.
More recently when we have friends over they will bring over different alcohol for everyone to try and I keep up with the guys and so I just get to sit there and watch them get trashed. There has been more than once that one of our friends has had to have help getting to the car and yet I am clear headed and sober. Sucks.


Well those are my 25 random things. If you follow this blog I am sure you knew some of them but I know you didn't know all of them.

A Nice Weekend...

A nice weekend... oh, what I wouldn't give for one of those.

Saturday was spent doing laundry. A ton of laundry. I really need to go through Mason's closet and sort through all his clothes. Then I need to go through all the little boy clothes in the upstairs storage closet and get all the 2 and 3T stuff.

That should be fun. Some of the sizes are the wrong season. I can't have Mason running around in shorts and tanks in the middle of winter.

Sunday I got up early and made cookies for the party. Which was really good. If memory serves me it was around a $500 show. I think I am going to get most of my hostess credit in gift certificates because I saw the new catalog that doesn't start until the 16th and it is really good. Now I can't wait to cash them in.

Too bad I didn't get any females in my family for Christmas. Which reminds me I need to get to Hy-Vee and get gift certificates for the guys I did get. I know real thoughtful.

After the party we went with my mom, aunt, sister and grandma into to town to eat at LaCarretas. It was good. Mason flirted with the waitress and the ladies in the booth behind us. I forgot his sippy at home. Let me rephrase that, I thought he had a clean unused sippy in the diaper bag so I didn't double check. Turns out he didn't because the last time Austin took him to town he stopped at Casey's and got Mason some milk and used the clean sippy and then didn't tell me and just put it back in the diaper bag. Totally gross. Mason didn't mind because he got to drink out of a straw. I minded though because Austin knew better.

All in all the weekend was really good and I really shouldn't complain but I like to and today is a complaining sort of day.

Thanksgiving...

This year for Thanksgiving we are staying home and having friends over. Well friends and Austin's parents.
I decided that I didn't want to drive for 3+ hours to see my family for an hour. Luckily our friends felt the same way so we are all meeting at my house.
I love to cook so we are going all out. The only thing I am not making is the pies because Austin's mom wants to. That is just fine with me I don't especially like to make pie. Especially pumpkin pie.
I am really surprised that his parents decided to join us. I think they are even more antisocial than Austin. They say they don't like to come over when we have friends over because they feel as though they are intruding. Mind you, I am a sweet and wonderful daughter-in-law when they are around. Sweet and wonderful dammit!! So much so that it is just wrong, sometimes I am afraid my face will break. It really doesn't go with my personality.
We get together with our friends and their parents all the time. So it isn't like it is an unusual occurrence for one or more sets of parents to be at our gatherings. I think it is just something they will have to get over.
Thursday should be fun. Busy but fun. Austin has decided that we need to have turkey and ham. I think he just doesn't want everyone eating his turkey. Which is odd considering I have made 4 turkeys this year. This will be number 5, I figured he would be tired of it by now. I spoil him shamelessly. I really should stop. I guess it probably makes up for all my other... um... "good wife" behavior.
Now I just have to hope that Mason's black eye is gone by Thursday. Poor little kid is Austin's, that is for sure. So. I will set the scene. We were all in the kitchen and I was making supper. Austin, Mason and Hyde are all playing with a ball on the floor. I go to the fridge to get out the butter, it is one of those fridges that has the freezer on the bottom, so I had the door open and Mason gets up to chase the ball and runs right in to the corner of the fridge door. He cried a little bit but then got distracted when Hyde tried to run off with 'Mine', his bear. So his eye is to the ugly brownish greenish stage.
I realize that little kids get hurt and I wouldn't be afraid to take him to my any one of my family because they know things like this happen and aren't judgemental. They wouldn't ask where I was when it happened. Then look at me like I was the devil when I said right there beside him. So just to keep everyone happy on Thanksgiving I really hope it is gone. After all I am just the 'spoiled princess' who married her wonderful son.
It's alright I am laughing too. At least Princess Hateful Raquel isn't coming this year. I am afraid I won't be as fortunate come Christmas. She better not even think she is controlling Christmas this year. She might run her husbands families holidays but she has to remember I am the only daughter-in-law on this side and I run things. I can't wait for the fight that will ensue. It should be monumental because she wants to get together on Christmas at her parents house that is 3+ hours from where we are going to be. Can you tell I am excited just thinking about it. I really can't wait to show her who is boss exactly. I think it is about time to remind her that I always get what I want by being sweet and wonderful dammit!!
I know the holidays really bring out my... um... yeah... good side... yeah that is what it is called.

A long weekend

Or maybe it just felt that way. We were busy from Saturday morning until we went to bed on Sunday.

Austin left Saturday for Slovakia. I actually didn't have to drive him to the airport this time. He got wise and got a driver from work.

I had to have him at Sauer at 2. That sounds easy enough right. Well not for him. at 11:30 he asked me if he had any clean work jeans. Naturally the answer was no because if he doesn't bring his clothes at least to the bathroom then I assume they are clean. They weren't, they were sitting in the corner of the bedroom with a pile of dirty socks and misc stuff.

Mind you there is a hamper in the closet where I put all my dirty stuff, but I digress... So after throwing him some jeans in the washer and then the dryer we actually got out the door on time.

He even had clean underwear thanks to me. I had gone upstairs to get my hair clip and noticed he had a pile of underwear on the bed so I helpfully took them downstairs and put them in his suitcase. I'm not one bit ashamed to say that that was my one and only good dead of the day.

After dropping Austin off I had to go to Wal-Mart and buy some new curtains and a b-day present for a b-day party we had to go that evening.

I am still upset about my curtains. Austin squashed a bloody bug on them and got the blood everywhere. I did get the blood out and had the curtain laying to dry on my table in the kitchen. Austin, Mason and I went to a friends house and came back and the curtain was in the dog kennel where Hyde had torn a huge hole in it. I don't like the new curtains. I know big surprise. I think I will remind Austin of this often. After all it is his fault they were off the window.

After Wal-Mart Mason and I went to a b-day party for another 1 year old. Fun stuff ya know. Presents, supper, cake and homemade ice cream. Yum, homemade ice cream!! Then the little kids went swimming. Who would have thought that the second weekend in July would be chilly. Well it was so the kids didn't swim too long.

After the swimming we picked cherries. I detest picking cherries. Growing up we had a cherry tree and every year we picked cherries. I think mom used it as more of a punishment than anything. After all my years of practice I have gotten good and picking and pitting cherries. So that is exactly what I did on Sunday.

Sunday Mason blessedly slept in and we had a very lazy morning. About 1 we headed up to Jess's house to pit cherries. Pitting cherries is very messy, very very messy. Not to mention long and tedious.

It wasn't as bad as I remember. That could be because this was done by choice not by order and threat of grounding. It was nice sitting around pitting cherries with Jess, a nice breeze coming in the windows, the tv in the background for noise, and the kids playing nice on the floor. I will still count it as being part of my lazy Sunday. It didn't feel like work at the time. My hands felt it the next day but as you can tell I survived.

After Pizza Hut for supper Mason and I got home about 8. Mason went right upstairs to bed with minimal fussing.

Monday morning Mason woke up about his normal time and was ready to play. So that is exactly what we did all day. I think we wore each other out because by the time it was bed time we were both beat and neither of us put up a fight. Needless to say we are ready for Austin to be home. Even though he is a pain in the butt I still like it better when he is here.

Now all I have to do is find something to fill the rest of today and Wednesday. This week is taking forever.

How It Really Went

Well we did spend 5+ hours in a car. The storms didn't end up holding off.
I got up early Saturday morning to start getting ready before Mason woke up. By the time Mason woke up I was ready to just jump in the car. Couldn't do that to him though. I like to stick with our same morning routine while at home so I had to wait for Mason to get done eating breakfast before we could go. We got on the road about 9:30 and Mason did cry all the way into town. I am a radio listener. I am not a fan of CDs because it is the same artist for 10 songs or so. Mason is a music baby in the car. He likes the male artist with the deep voices. So for that reason I keep a Trace Adkins CD for last resorts. Saturday was a last resort! I popped that CD in and in less than one song he was out. I like Trace Adkins but I'm only good for one song in a row of anybody. So we continued with our thankfully uneventful drive. We got to the b-day party about 12 and Mason was so good. For the day he was the perfect cute little kid. Didn't cry, blew kisses, didn't bite or throw food or tantrums. I got lucky because it was hot and humid and just plain sticky outside and that can make anybody cranky.
So after food, gifts, and good times we were ready to go. Now all day the sky to the northwest was getting darker and darker while the wind was coming out of the south sometimes southeast. Anybody who grew up in Iowa knows that hot humid with clouds and wind going different directions is bad news. Before jumping in the car I decided to check the TV in the camper for weather and discovered that all the counties that I would drivethru to get home were getting hit by t-storms pretty bad so I made the decision to wait it out. After all it wasn't a very wide line of storms. (I also got to see Big Brown lose the triple crown. I was really hoping he would be able to pull it off.) Anyways so an hour later I decide to check again and what do you know it looks like they hadn't even moved. That was when I gave up on going home.
My younger sister Cammie and her troupe were going to camp with everyone else but they were going to be in a tent so they decided to go stay in a hotel and I joined them. We finally left the campground about 9. (I couldn't believe the weather held out that long other than the occasional sprinkle) Mason didn't take an afternoon nap and he was asleep before we were to the highway. Thankfully he stayed asleep on the way into the hotel and didn't wake up until 9 the next morning. (I am going to invest in some room darkening shades for Mason's bedroom) So after checking out of the hotel and grabbing some McDonalds for breakfast, that we aren't going to tell Austin about, we are all finally ready to hit the road. It is then we hear this beep. The same beep that plagued the hotel room all night. We knew it wasn't any of our cell phones because they were either off or in the vehicles. It is coming from Cammie's purse. (the cutest purse I have ever seen) So she dumps her purse out in the truck seat and come to find out it was Marianne's phone. After some laughing it was decided that I would be the one to take Mare back her phone seeing as how Cammie and them were heading south and my main destination was north. Mare was shocked to see that we had her phone all night. She thought it had been lost outside and was ruined for sure if she could even find it. So at 11am Sunday morning we finally get on the road to head home.
We roll into the driveway at 1:15pm and we have to be to Du & De's by 3. We both needed a bath so a quick shower was in order but true to my husband's pain in the butt way he was in the shower. He knew what time we would be home. So after wasting 15 minutes waiting for him to get done with something he had all morning to do, Mason and I finally get a turn. (multi tasking: Mason had to shower with me after I was done because we don't have a tub and didn't have time to pull out his baby tub after Austin's stunt) We get to Hy-Vee, to buy a side salad because we are good cooks like that, right at 3. We did make it to Du & De's by 3:15 which is as close to on time as we have been in awhile. We finally made it home at 10:20pm after some good food and good times with some good friends. It was all I could do to get Mason and I up the stairs to bed.
So today we are doing nothing and it feels wonderful. When he goes down for his nap I am going to go out side and play with some bubbles and set up his little pool. I have tons of stuff I could be doing but it is all grown up stuff and I just want to be a kid today. The sun is shinning and the wind is nonexistent. Perfect for bubbles and swimming pools.

Interesting tidbit: drivethru on spell check comes up with the suggestion of diphtheria. I wonder if the symptoms are the same.

Our Weekend

Is it a rule that the longer the week the shorter the weekend. I am really beginning to wonder.
My weekend went so fast. Saturday Austin's sister, Raquel, came out to visit and spent a couple of hours playing with Mason. That evening we went to Sterling and Julie's for supper and games. Six adults and six kids. It was loud to say the least. We always have fun there. We have more fun after all the kids fall asleep because then we aren't chasing them but fun anyways. We got home about midnight. Sunday we didn't do anything. Nothing it was wonderful. I love those kind of days. I would have liked to sleep in but Hyde was having none of that. He was up at 7:30 and woke Mason up so I let Austin sleep in. After all it is him that gets up every morning and goes to work. I did a couple loads of laundry and called it good for the day. Very productive.

Another Reminder- Like We NEED One

One of our good friends is celebrating a birthday so we are all getting together, sans kids, for dinner. I remember when we could get together with just a 10 min notice. Now a week sometimes more. Everyone has to have time to get a babysitter. I remember when people would call me so that they could go on a Friday night. Then I remember that was over 10 years ago. Where does the time go?

It will be nice to be able to go out and eat without having to tell one to sit and stop pestering the people in the next booth. We won't be able to stay out as late because of said babysitter and their extortionist like prices. You would think they were part of the mob. The only jobs I know of that pay that good you have to have a 4 year degree, or more. Julie said they have to pay their babysitter $40. I don't know what Jess and Joe are pitching in.

We have found that it is easier to just get together at one of our houses. The kids go to bed about 8 and then we play cards until around 10. Now between us we are evenly matched 6 kids 6 adults. Hopefully in the next couple of years it will get easier. Every birthday we celebrate together as a group is just a reminder that we are getting older. We don't like to stay out as late, no alcohol, no loud noise. Every year we need to plan farther in advance because it is hard to find babysitters willing to watch that many little ones on a Friday night. Or even a weeknight. It is like well how far into the retirement fund are we willing to go for one night without the kids. Truthfully we aren't willing to go that far. We get lucky with November and December birthdays because the teenagers are always looking for extra money this time of year.

Julie and Sterling found twin 17 year olds willing to watch all six on a Friday night for this time. We don't have to worry about them not doing a good job because Hannah, who is 3, loves to tell on people. She doesn't see it as tattling. At least we know that we get our moneys worth out of them.