Tee Time

Jack... The boys went golfing again today which left me a few hours by myself. What is a girl to do when she is alone and has a replenished bank account? Shop of course! I mentioned a few days ago that I had wanted to get myself a few thing when our money came in, and well today was that day. I also forked over enough money to pay the rest of our bills, but that had to be done. I feel better now that Jay and I have some money (definitely enough to make it through the semester) but we've since tried to change our habits this summer and TRY not to spend too much. But today was sort of the exception. I figured I deserved it a little because all of the money that I had gotten for my birthday went towards neccesities of the house (ie: laundry detergent, shampoo, etc...) and I really didn't get to 'treat' myself.

So, today was a treat myself day. I started off at Target and tried a few things on. Had some things in my hand, but in the end decided they weren't exactly what I was looking for. Walked out of Target with two $5 books, some deordant and a small bottle of body spray. Then I decided to hit up Kohls, but no such luck there. I am sure that I could have found something for Ayden and/or Jay, but today I wasn't looking for them and quickly headed out of there. After Kohls I had to make a pit stop at Walmart for some buns for this weekend and originally wanted to look at the necklaces and bras, but I was in too much of a hurry and completely forgot until I got back out to my car, and then I didn't want to go back in. The next leg of my unsuccessful shopping trip lead me across town to Vanity (a little pricey, but I found two pair of jeans there last year that I LOVE and thought maybe I'd try again), but like the previous stores, nothing bought. I could have bought some stuff, but it was too much in my eyes.

But did I give up, no. I went on to JC Penny's in hopes that I might find something there. Jackpot! I ended up with 7 shirts and 2 pair of jeans... all on sale! Most of the shirts I can wear for clinic this fall too so that was really good. And then before I headed out I saw that Bath and Body Works was having a sale on their soap. 7 for $20... and I love their soap, especially the foaming ones. So I just had to replenish my stock at home... get some hand sanitizer that was 5 for $5 as well, and then three lip gloss (buy 2, get one free). What a haul, eh? I thought today ended up pretty successful and I'm happy that I finally got to treat myself just a bit. Even though I love buying for Ayden and Jay as well. The cashier at Bath and Body was super nice too! She complimented me on my purse (one from my sister's party) and actually that is the second comment that I've gotten on it. I also tried on this lotion at the counter and the whole way home was thinking that I should have bought it because it smells so good. Even as I'm sitting here I'm thinking about how good it smells because I can still smell it on my hands and how I should go and buy it still! But I probably won't. I might go back to Walmart though to look at the necklaces and bras like I had orginally intended, don't know yet. I don't know when we are leaving in the morning.

Yeah, leaving once again for the weekend. Up to Rhinelander for the shindig... Should be fun though. Found out there will be another little boy up there for Ayden to play with. So it will be Ayden, Baden, and Alex. They are all within a few months of each other age wise so they should have a grand ole time. Gonna go now... getting Ayden ready for bed and then I am going to pick up on the movie that I was watching (The Lake House) before the boys got home and Ayden asked to watch a little cartoons. He picked up a cold today (funny though because when I picked him up from daycare yesterday his teacher said that the flu was going around... I guess better to have a small cold than the flu) and he didn't have a nap so he should sleep good tonight, that and he was up around 6:30am. We'll see though.

CIAO until probably Sunday. LOVE ME!

Clean Car?

Jackers...My day started out like any other day... pretty normal, if even pretty good. Then Jay comes into the kitchen just as he is about to leave for work and suddenly stops and gets this look on his face. Not a good look either, and then he says oh crap. I asked him what was wrong and he says that he forgot to put my car back in the garage last night. Okay, that's fine, not like we broke any rules or anything... but then I remembered that it rained at like 2am this morning (and not a light rain because I woke up and shut all the windows) and guess what? My car windows were down! Not just a little down either... they were all the way down! Left out in the rain and now my seats are soaked! Jay apologized profusely, but honestly I didn't really care. I could have been irrate at the fact that he forgot, but I simply said, well just go dry it out as best you can before you have to leave. So he grabs a towel and does a bit of a dry job and moves the carseat from his truck to my car because the one in my car was wet. As it turned out, he didn't even have to leave for work until 9am because his boss called and said stay home until then (due to the wet weather). Things happen and it wasn't worth getting upset about. Obviously it wasn't something I was glad that happened, but I wasn't about to let it ruin the start of my day.

Last night we went to Menards and got some paint for Jay's washer toss game. Actually pretty cheap which I liked, then ran to Walmart to get Ayden a toy. No reason for it really other than he wanted it and I gave in. It wasn't anything expensive or all that glorious. Actually, it was toy garbage truck and because I love him and missed him so much these past few weeks and he's been such a good boy lately I was like what the heck. And then we ate at Mickey D's for supper. I did tell Ayden though that he could not get a happy meal because he just got a toy and he was okay with that. We ran into his best buddy from daycare (Seth) and his family at McDonalds. Seth and Ayden were excited to see each other. They would have played together had this place had a play place, but it didn't. And as it just so happens, we saw them again at the open house at daycare a little while later. It was nice to meet Ayden's teacher and hear a little bit about what he would be doing during his 4K time. He even got his first 'assignment'. She handed out little paper bags for the children to decorate and to put 3 or 4 of their favorite items/pictures into the bag and bring it on the first day to share with their friends. Ayden is excited to decorate his bag today when he gets home. I also found out that Ayden really didn't need any school supplies (besides a backpack and folder) but that's okay because I really didn't buy anything for him anyways. I think we bought some glue and a pencil case that we didn't have lieing around at home. A whole $1 worth of stuff I think, lol...

Tonight now... I am sitting at Jay's computer typing this. I haven't had my computer on all week. Doesn't happen very often, but I really haven't been doing too much on the computer and his starts up so much faster than mine that I thought I would just come on here. The kitty litter stinks pretty bad. Jay was supposed to clean it earlier, but he didn't get around to it. Which pretty much means he forgot to. He got home a little early from work today and worked some more on the washer toss game. Just a few minutes ago Ayden and him left to go golfing with JT. Kind of a spur of the moment thing which I was okay with for the most part. Costs a little more than I would like, but Jay is not going every day, not even once a week, so it's okay I guess. And now that JT is back in Point for good I guess that I should get used to it. Lol. And it leaves me alone for a couple of hours. Its about 6pm now and they probably won't be home until 9pmish. Last time Ayden was really good so I'm assuming that will be the case today as well.

Jay grilled us some hamburgers for supper. Didn't take him too long on our new grill. He said that he really liked that fact, even though it's not charcoal. Fine with me and they were pretty yummy anyways so I didn't care. That and the fact that I didn't have to cook supper. Actually, my house is quite the mess right now. But that is what Friday's are for, cleaning! Pretty much when I get all of the cleaning and organizing done around here. Last Friday off though which is going to be kind of a bummer, but oh well.

I finished my book today. It was a lot better than I had thought it would be. I was hesitant to read it in the first place because it sounded more sci fi ish and that is so not my thing, but it was really good. I am anxious for the next one that the author rights because all of her books thus far have been super good. Well, she has only written the Twilight series and this one so I guess that I don't have all that much to off of, but still. At least that is my opinion. I'm debating if I want to grab a book for up north this weekend. Not that it won't be fun to see everyone again, but it will give me something to do during the down time. It would have to be a short one though. We will see I guess.

I am kind of in a bummed mood right now. It's kind of hard to explain. I don't know, just not all that happy and elated, kind of tired and just wondering about a lot of things. The summer is coming to an end, maybe that is why?!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

4K Teacher Introductions

Tonight we get to go to and meet Ayden's 4K teacher. She send out postcards to all the children in her class welcoming them. Ayden was so excited to get some mail all to himself. Usually we just get bills and junk mail, got to love being an adult, right? I'm excited for it, but I'm not so sure about Ayden. Today was water day at daycare and stupid me didn't bring any water stuff. Well, actually I didn't know it was going to be water day because when I picked him up yesterday they didn't have any signs up about it or tell me so technically it's not my fault. That's okay though, Ayden didn't seem too upset that I didn't bring his stuff. I told him that he will just have to stay dry and he said okay. I think he was just happy that his buddy Seth was there today. Tomorrow will probably be one of the last times they really get to play together as Ayden will be in the morning 4K and Seth in the afternoon one. I think I might have mentioned this already, but as you probably already know, that happens a lot during my writing. It's called being a parent and not remembering. At least that is what my mom claims, lol!

I am excited for tomorrow... our school money should be coming in. I'll be rich again! Oh wait, what I meant to say was that I'll be more in debt! In any case, there will be money in my back account because right now it's pretty darn empty. Also, that means I get to do a little shopping and this time for myself. I'd like to claim that I have been a good girl this summer when it comes to clothes buying and well I have. I bought maybe a handful of things for myself this summer (actually none of us got lots of new stuff this summer) and I thought I deserved a few new things for this fall. There are a few cute things from Walmart that I want to try on. It's not often that I find things at Walmart that I like, but we'll see. And there are also a few things from Target that have caught my eye. We will see if I come away with anything. I could stop at Kohls, but I'm sure I could spend WAY too much money there. Trying to get all credit card balances at zero.

I also want to get Ayden's pictures taken sometime this fall now that we will be able to afford it. I haven't had them taken since January and actually didn't get any of just him. This time it will most likely be most of Ayden, maybe a few family shots. Jay's not so sure about that, but I love family pictures! We'll see I guess. Sometime in the next month or so. I already know what I want Jay to wear, now I need to find coordinating clothes for me and Ayden. Actually, now that I think about it, I might actually have a good shirt for Ayden already too. Now it's just me... hmm... I am going to be doing some shopping tomorrow or Friday.

I have about 200 pages left in the book that I am reading. It started off a little confusing, but now I am really into it and will easily have it done by Tuesday. It is going to suck not having the time to read and relax anymore, but what can one do. I think that I got plenty of books in this summer and that is a good thing. I went and picked up my text books for class today. All relatively small (thank goodness) because I am one of those nerd students who brings their book to class just in case. Actually for a lot of my classes it has come in quite handy. We will have to see how this semester goes.

Gotta run now, Ayden just said he split his milk. 'Mom... it just slipped out of my hand.'

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Tuesday Blahness

Jack...Did I allow a new source of addiction to enter my household? I hope not, but it just might be that I did. You see, Jay FINALLY got the Deadliest Catch computer game that he has been trying to get since the beginning of the summer. Actually, he got two of them because Amazon.com screwed up, and he got both of them for less than the price of one! Kind of sweet, eh? A free birthday present for JT and I think he might like it as well! At least I hope so. In any case, I expected Jay to play the new game last night, as any person would probably jump at the chance. He was even involving Ayden (as much as Ayden wanted to be involved), however… it was the coming to bed at I don’t even know what time because I woke up at 2am and he was in bed. I know it was after midnight because I wasn’t asleep yet then and he still wasn’t in bed. I don’t know, kinda disappointed me. But I can’t really say anything. It was just last night. I hope this doesn’t start a new trend… :(

Ayden keeps saying that we are going to go swimming today. I don’t know about that either. First off the weather isn’t all that spectacularly warm and I don’t even have any extra cash laying around. I told him we will have to wait and see about it this afternoon. I need to do some laundry today. Wait, didn’t I just do laundry? Yeah, but we have a pile of stuff that needs to get done again. It’s a never ending cycle and there is just three of us. I can’t imagine when I have more kids. And I do want more. Three or four more! Coming from someone who said they never wanted children in the first place. Secretly (well okay not so secretly because I’ve already told Jay and my mom) I want to have twins next. Of course I have no idea what I am saying and I know I’m already crazy so you don’t have to tell me that. I won’t be having any more kids for another 4 years at least (unless I win the lottery or something) and so that will make me 26… if I had two at a time it would take less time to get the kids I want. Lol, I’d like to be done having children by the time I am 30-35ish, so when the time is ‘right’ I want to get those baby making years agoing! Call me crazy… that’s okay! Like I said, I already know!

I get to pick up my books tomorrow for school. One of the big plusses about Point, we get to rent our books versus buy them. Of course the cost is built into our tuition, but it’s better than having the books laying around at the end of the semester and then trying to resell them and not getting half of what you paid for them. But then again, there are some books that I would like to have kept that would go well with my future career choice, but I can always go and buy those. Start my own Audiology library. I already have enough fiction books in my library, time to add some academic ones to the mix. Lol! But seriously though, my mom and I have so many books. She keeps a rather good inventory of them so that we don’t get duplicates. I commend her on that because there are books all over the house (both mine and hers) and to know where everything is and kept track of the ones coming in. I’d say we have well over 200 books (most hardcover too). That’s what happens when you get all those super deals from the book clubs.

Jay is attempting to make his own washer toss game. He found the blue prints online and got the wood for free at work so I said why not... Got an email from the clinic director at school today and it made the fact that I am starting clinic in less than a week all that more real. Although, she confused me with her email and I had to clarify some things with her and as it turned out she was wrong in one of her statements and did not apologize for the confusion and I am sure I was not the only one confused by the email. Oh well though, at least I know what to look for now. We get our clinic assignments as early as next Tuesday! I am scared beyond means to go into clinic. I feel like I don't remember anything from the last few semesters. I need to have some faith in myself, eh?

I've been waiting to hear from a friend of mine, but haven't in a few days. Not too bad I guess, but they were supposed to have a state eval last week and I'm kind of waiting to see how that went. Everyone was hoping for the best and I think it would be about time for things to go in favor of him this time, but who knows. Hopefully I will hear something within the next couple of days, but I have a feeling that it will be another year of waiting. I don't know...

Not so long today, but I'm not so in the mood right now... CIAO! LOVE ME!

Soccer Mom!

Jack! It was a pretty good weekend... well a pretty great weekend actually. Busy busy busy like the last couple of weekends and the one thing that I am looking forward to about the fall is that it will hopefully be a little more restful. Well at least weekend wise, I have a feeling that this semester is going to be very busy and stressful, but hopefully I am wrong. I don't know?!

Friday was Jay's cousin's wedding. We didn't go to the actual wedding, but we heard that it was really pretty. We went to the reception and I thought the food was pretty good. We didn't stay all that long, really just until the cake was cut. I wasn't going to go to a wedding with Grandma Hoerth cake and then leave without even having a piece. I thought it was so cold in the building though. I should have brought some sort of jacket thing to wear so I wasn't so cold. I suppose that I wouldn't have been so cold had I actually done some dancing, but I'm not really that type of person. Well, I take that back. I can be the type of person around people I am more comfortable with. One would think after dating Jay for almost five years I would be pretty comfortable around his family, however despite the fact that I know most of them (found out yesterday that there are still ones that I don't know, lol) it doesn't necessarily mean I'm comfortable dancing like a fool in front of them. I will leave that up to Justin, lol... he just eats the attention up. I've proclaimed it before, I'm an introvert... that's me!

Okay, anyways, wedding went okay. Got home and in bed around 11pm and then it was off to get Ayden on Saturday morning. I had planned on spending the morning at my mom's house, but Ayden was ready to leave just a few minutes after we got there. I suppose, he had been there all week. I was okay with that and then we went back to Jay's house. Ayden kept whining about leaving for the corn roast, but we weren't going to leave until later in the afternoon. He was pretty good for most of the day. He was even pretty well behaved at the corn roast. We only stayed there for a couple of hours before Ayden was asking to go home again. I was fine with that as well because I was getting kind of bored. We got back to Jay's house again and sat down to watch a movie. Ayden played a little and we all went to bed around 10pm. I was surprised that Ayden stayed so well behaved until then, but if he hadn't, he would have been in bed way earlier. He slept until past 9am on Sunday morning which was GREAT! Not too often that happens. He also didn't have a nap the whole weekend! Oh well though...

Sunday was mini golfing and out to eat with my cousin and the bridemaids for the bachelorette party. Ayden and Jay and his family took the boat out to go fishing. Apparently that went pretty well and Ayden caught two fist and Gerald one. Everyone else got lots of bites, but nothing into the boat. Jay said he got kind of annoyed with Steven, and because I have been out on the boat fishing with Steven before, I knew exactly what he was talking about. Mini golfing with the girls was a lot of fun! It was nice to get away with them and chat it up for a while. I wish that we could all get together more often like that, but with me living in Point and Emily in GB (for the school year at least) it is hard. I did pretty good golfing for the first nine holes and then went downhill for the last nine. But that's okay... I came in 3rd place, not that score matters anyways. No holes in one for me, but two of my cousins got them! Yeah for them! Ayden was sad that he didn't get to come along, but I told him that we would go some other time and I know that he would really enjoy it too!

After the golfing it was out to eat. We ended up at a place called HuHot and at first I was a bit nervous because it's not too often that I have that type of food and didn't know if I would like it, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was soooo good! And it was fun to watch them cook it right in front of you too. And the price was very reasonable. I thougth Jay might like it, but when I explained it to him after I got home he didn't sound all that excited about it. Oh well, it's not like we have one here in Point anyways. We don't go out to eat all that often anyways, or at least try not to. It gets kind of pricey. I got back from the party around 6:30pm and to my surprise everyone else hadn't even eaten yet. Needless to say, we didn't get back to Point until after 9:30pm last night. It was a late night, but the drive went pretty fast. Probably because Jay and I talked most of the way. He even did pretty good driving too, lol.

I've come to the realization that my fear of his driving has to do with my lack of control over it. I hate to relinquish my control, lol. I'm a controlling witch, lol. Well maybe not that bad, but I do like things to go and be my way. But I'm a woman, who doesn't like that?! Okay I am sure that there are people out there.

Back to work and daycare today. The director at Ayden's daycare asked if we wanted him in the afternoon 4K instead of the morning because that is where most of his friend are going to be and I thought it might be a good idea, but after looking closer at our schedules, it will be easier to keep in him the morning one. I feel kind of bad that he won't be with his best friend, but he is young and can make new friends too. And the director didn't care either way, just a suggestion. I signed Ayden up for the soccer at the Y today... first game is September 6th! I'm so excited for him! I talked to him a little bit about it today and he seems excited about it. I've also decided that after soccer (it's only 7 weeks) we will do swimming lessons and then for the spring term it will be a gym class and then hopefully T-ball. I don't want to be running all over all the time with so many activities that he is in, so I thought one at time would be a good start for now and we will see how it goes. Get him out and meeting new other kids. I'll be sure to keep you updated on it all!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

HAPPY BIRHTDAY AYDEN!

Jack- there is a Hoerth wedding today, and do you know what that means? I do... Grandma Hoerth cake! Okay, so I can't be sure that there will be Grandma Hoerth cake there, I can only hope because it is so good. I will be sure to report to you after the wedding whether or not there was any there. So yummy! I got a new dress for the wedding a couple of months back and I am excited to wear it tonight. I really like it and Jay says he does to. But men kind of have to say that stuff so us women don't get mad, lol!

On today 4 years ago at 8:31pm I became a mommy. Okay, so if you are being technical about it, I was a mommy before Ayden was even born, but you know what I was getting at. He weighed in at 8lbs 4oz and well I can't remember how long he was. Funny that I even remember the time, but I remember hearing someone say the time when he was born. What a wonderful experience! And now he's 4!!! My mom is still watching him... I called her earlier to say happy birthday to him, but he didn't want to talk to me for very long. I suppose that is a good thing because he isn't crying to come home yet. I cannot wait to go and pick him up tomorrow morning. My mom is making him a cake today. I don't know how much he understands about today being his birthday because we had his party already, but that is okay.

Tomorrow is a corn roast and grad party (I think) and then Sunday it's mini golfing for my cousin's bachorlette party. I'm excited! It should be lots of fun! I still have to pack my clothes and all. I hate packing! I have started and cleaned the apartment today. It got kind of messy looking after doing no cleaning at all this week. I finally got the laundry done as well. I have one basket that needs to be folded and put away yet, but I think I did pretty good.

I got my writing score back today for the GRE. The writing is scored out of six points and I was thinking I got at least a three or a four at the worst and I ended up with a 5! I was super excited to see that because then I am leaning even closer to not retaking the test. We'll see though... not something I want to think about futher right now, lol. It caused too much stress in my life in the first place, don't want to reinstate that stress just yet.

I probably won't be talking to you again until Sunday night or Monday sometime. Speaking of Monday, a two hour special of Prison Break is on. Old episodes of course, but I can start my Wentworth Miller time a week early and get a double dose. Oh do I find him gorgeous or what!!! Take a look for yourself... super yummy eye candy or what? It's probably a good thing Jay doesn't read this, he might get kind of upset that I'm drooling over some other guy. Talk about sex appeal! Okay, closing the jaw now and getting ready to go.


CIAO! LOVE ME!

The Host

Jack... Stephanie Meyer book number 2, might be started today! I say might because I haven't decided if I am still in the reading mood. I've read so many good reviews about the book that I want to read it and I would really like to get one more book in before classes start again. Plus it's a long book and I always feel good after reading a long book, lol. Wierd, I know. I'm crazy, but what can you do?

Jay told me something last night that made me feel really good. He told me that he missed Ayden. I never questioned whether or not he missed him because as a parent, you just do, but men are different than women with their feelings and so I could never tell whether or not he did a lot or just a little. I know that he appreciates the time that Ayden is gone more than I do. I love that Ayden was able to get his grandparent time in this summer, but I would have much rather had him at home with me for the three weeks that he wasn't. I miss my little guy!!! I talked to my mom last night and they had a great day at Bay Beach. I decided that I probably won't call tonight to check up on him. I would love to hear all about his day, but since we are nearing the end of the week I don't want to push him and then get him whining to come home. Although, I am sure my mom will call me anyways because she is like that.

I watched the movie 'Little Girl Lost' today. It of course was a Lifetime movie. It was sad throughout it and what not, but I didn't think it was anything tear jerking, until they got to the part where they revealed that yes indeed the little girl was the one that the mom was looking for. Even though it's just a movie, I couldn't help but cry with happiness. Well, it is a true story as well. I didn't quite have the tears streaming down my face, but they were on the edge of my eyes about ready to go tumbling over. I'm a sap like that, lol!

I haven't done much today. I worked this morning and was able to get a lot done, came home and did the laundry and then watched that movie. Oh and had some lunch somewhere in there. Lazy day... but it's prepping me for the busy weekend that I have ahead of me. I'm actually kind of getting sick of all this running around on the weekends. I mean, I knew that we would be busy in August every weekend, I just didn't think it would take so much out of me. We've done so much driving already this month. I really don't want to have to drive home and then back again. Of course we will, but still. I'm tempted to say screw it to Labor Day weekend in Rhinelander just to stay home and be lazy. Well isn't that what I am doing now, yes, but I want to be able to do that on a weekend with Jay and Ayden. I want us to just have some alone family time on the weekend. I know I'm sounding kind of whiny, but everyone can be whiny sometimes, right?

We will see about next weekend. See how much this weekend takes out of me and what kind of mood I am next week. I dunno... not that I don't mind seeing all the family and what not because we really don't get to see everyone all that much and so I should appreciate every second that we do, but I'm a self proclaimed introvert and I love my alone time. I need my alone time or I feel too overwhelmed.

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Where does the time go?

Started 8/19... finished today...

Jack... I had a great dream about Wentworth Miller and Prison Break last night. Not very often that I dream about him, or well that I remember it anyways. Must be a sign that I cannot wait for it to start back up in less than two weeks! I'm so super excited! And let me tell you, it was definitely a good dream, lol! Okay, not good in that way, but we did break out of prison together and then hold hands on a walk to some restaurant. I know... you are probably thinking, huh? What kind of dream is that? I guess you'd just have to have been there. That gorgeous face! What a way to start the morning, right? Sounds like a good day is on the way!

But I should probably put it into rewind for a little bit and pick up from where I left off in my last post. Let's see here... my weekend, how did it go? It went super fast and was really busy! Saturday morning we got to sleep in to about 8am and then Ayden woke us up. Despite the fact that some mornings I would love to sleep in a little longer, I absolutely love it when he gets up in the morning and comes and crawls into bed with me and Jay. Then he lays there and pokes your nose ever so gently and says 'Wakey wakey' and then when you open your eyes (because I actually wake up when I hear his door close in the morning and thus am already awake, but pretend sleeping when he crawls into bed with us) he has the biggest smile on his face. It's not too often that he will crawl into bed with us in the morning and be in a bad mood. That is usually when we have to wake him up, and might come a little more often this fall when we are going to have to get up a little earlier than we do now. So anyways, we got up and lounged a little bit watching some cartoons.

Then I decided to shower and finish getting things ready to leave. I think we were out the door at 10am which was about the time that Jay had wanted to leave I think. We didn't really have any plans until 2pm, but that was okay. We could hang out at Jay's house until then and that was precisely what we did. Ayden played his V-Smile Pocket most of the way home and I was glad that he finally had something to keep him occcupied with because I know how sometimes those rides can get pretty boring. Especially for a little kid. I often wonder what he is thinking about when we take those long drives and he doesn't end up falling asleep. Oh to know the minds of children, eh?

After we made it to Jay's house we played outside for a while and caught up with his mom, even though it had only been a week since we had seen her. Jay practiced his shot with his bow. He says that he is going to go bow hunting this year. I guess that that is okay. He hasn't gone in a couple of years and I know that he really misses it and likes it. Maybe he will get another deer. I told him though that that would be fine, but we wouldn't be able to pay for it to get processed because that is a hunk of money in and of itself. He said his grandparents would pay for it. Okay, yeah because I'm so open to taking handouts. My pride is too high for that. Who knows? We will cross that bridge when we come to it I guess. We ate some lunch and watched a little bit of Santa Claus 3 and then it was off to the Chilton Pool for some swimming!

Jay decided that he wasn't going to go swimming, which was fine by me. Ayden and I could go and he could watch, which was precisely what he did. Plus, a lot of my cousins were there so it wasn't exactly as if we were alone. At first the pool was pretty cold, but as you moved around more it got better. My sister, dad, brother, Alexis, etc... were there so we had lots of people to play with. Ayden was also able to wear a tube so I didn't have to be as watchful of him. He loves the water, but this pool starts out a little deeper, 3ft 6in, so he definitely can't touch without going under. The pool in Point starts out at 2ft 11in and this year Ayden can touch. I want to go to the pool here a few more times before the summer comes to a close, but I don't know if that is going to happen.

We stayed at the pool for just about an hour and then decided to get out because Ayden's lips were turning blue. I had fun doing a little 'swimming' of my own while someone else watched Ayden. I raced my brother and sister down the pool, but didn't do so hot because I couldn't stop laughing. I was definitely no Michael Phelps, but props to him for winning all those gold medals! His parents must be beaming with joy. I couldn't imagine how proud I would be of my child if they were destined to do that. However, I feel proud of my child everyday for just being him. It's a gift beyond description to become a parent! Sometimes I wonder why I was given such a gift... why me? I'd like to think that it's because someone thought I'd be good at it. Who knows?

Getting out and dressed was a little more difficult that usual. At our pool I usually just get Ayden dressed and I stay in my suit until we get home. We live like a minute drive from the pool. Pretty easy stuff. Well, I decicded to shower and wash my hair because of all the chlorine (usual for me) and Ayden decided to shower with me. Fine with me... but I couldn't get the shower to work decent so we took a very luke warm shower with very little shower pressure, however we made it... clean hair and everything. Then it was time to dry off and since Ayden had gotten out of the pool at one point and used his towel, it was already soaked and hard to get him dry with it. We managed and ended up fully dressed (if not still a little damp) and headed off to the corn roast, which just happened to be a short drive down the road to my aunt and uncle's house.

It was good to see a lot of my family again since I probably hadn't seen Easter and/or before then. A cowboy golf/ladder golf/whatever else you want to call it tournament was set up and Jay and I entered as a team. I warned him ahead of time that I was not very good (he already knew that though) but really wanted me to play with him so I did. And like I said, I was not very good and we lost in the first round. We were winning, right up until the end though. I think I may have even played a little better than Jay, lol, but it doesn't matter. We had fun. At first Ayden was a little shy. I also think that he was tired because of all the swimming that we had just done and the fact that he had had no nap yet that day, but after a while he warmed up to everyone. He had lots of little cousins to play with and he enjoyed that a lot. I think it was probably the first time that he really got to play with a lot of them. My aunt and uncle have a big trampoline with one of those gate things around it and that was the hit of the party for the kids. The rule was that only four people could go on at a time and it was so popular that a list was kept to make sure that everyone got a fair shot and equal time. It was so funny, but it worked very well. And needless to say Ayden was one of those kids who loved the trampoline. He has jumped on Gerald and Michele's, but there doesn't have a gate around it so he's always had to be super careful about jumping, but now he could go crazy wild and not worry too much. Of course I was a big worry wart though. I tried not to be and just to let him have fun, but I'm a mom, it just comes naturally. And the corn was so good as well! Wendy brought some of her infamous chocolate carmel bar thingys and I think I had like four of them! I was so stuffed by the time that we left!

At some point during the party Jay and I ran to Walmart quick to get some munchies for our day at the zoo on Sunday. Emily watched Ayden for us, and it only took a few minutes. We wanted some juice boxes for Ayden so he would have something to drink during the day. We stayed at the corn roast until about 8pm, although I know we could have easily stayed longer. But we needed to be up by 6am to get ready for the zoo and I didn't want Ayden super tired or crabby. He didn't fall asleep on the way to Gerald and Michele's like I thought he would. They were having a small bonfire too and we sat outside with them and then somehow Jay remembered that we still had our fireworks there and then he decided that he was going to set them off. Ayden loved watching them! We had maybe 20 of them and the were moderately big. Big enough for some oohs and ahhs and to get some of the next door neighbors dogs barking, lol! And then it was bed time! I think Jay and I got into bed around 10pm and I had the alarm set for 6am. We brought our own pillows this time because the ones that were on his bed were super firm and niether of us liked them very much. I slept okay, but not super good. The morning came too fast and then it was time to get up and ready for the zoo.

Ayden was in a pretty good mood which I was happy about. We made it to my mom's house shortly after 7am and left around 7:30am for Milwaukee. The drive down didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. It was a good thing that we left a little later than we had wanted to because Milwaukee got rain and it looked like a lot. In no way did I want to get stuck driving in the rain in Milwaukee. Okay, so I wasn't driving, but you know what I meant. And I thought we were supposed to have a sun filled day?! Well, we got to the zoo about ten minutes before it opened and you could see the sun trying to poke through the clouds. My awesome mom took care of our ticket prices (well she got them for super cheap through her work) and then she even took care of the food ticket costs (which once again were super cheap through her work). She refused to let me pay her for our portion of the costs. Hey, I was okay with that though. So before we started our animal adventure we stopped at her work's booth for the day and picked up some free soda and then we were off! We were at the zoo from 9am until 2pm. I couldn't believe how fast the time went and we all had so much fun! This time we payed to get in by the sting rays and shark and were going to feed them but we didn't go at the correct time for that. Ayden put his hand in the water by the sting rays for a little bit, but then when they would come closer he would pull it out and say that he didn't want to touch one. That's okay I guess, wasn't going to make him do anything he didn't want to and scar him for life. Okay, probably not scar him for life, but you know. I think everyone else managed to get a little touch of a sting ray. They are the same slimy that I remember from Florida, but it was fun anyways!

I think the only animals that we didn't really 'explore' were the farm animals. We went there last to feed the goats and get some ice cream and then Ayden decided that he wanted to go. By that time he was getting kind of antsy and I think everyone else was pretty much ready to call it a day. Five hours at the zoo is plenty for me! I started off taking some pictures, but somewhere along the way I got stuck pulling the wagon and Jay took over camera duty. He was snapping pictures left and right. Not that I needed a picture of every animal or anything because I don't think they changed all that much since last year, but he seemed to think I did. Thank goodness for digital cameras. He took over 100 pictures. But at least he had fun doing it!

Our drive home was uneventful and seemed to take a little longer, but then again, don't they always. We got back to my mom's house around 3:30pm and planned to hang there until after supper. Jay found out that Casey got XBox 360 and the game Alaskan Crab Fishing or something like that. Anyways, its the one that Jay has been trying to get for the computer since the end of May, but they always push back the release date. To date it is still on 'backorder'. So Jay got to play that and was pretty happy. Casey and Becky were cleaning Casey's room, and Emily, Ayden, and I were relaxing and playing. I also got my birthday presents which were the books I had asked for. Actually my mom got me all three of them. I was so stoked! I was about to jump into Breaking Dawn right away, but my sister said that she wanted to read the Tori Spelling one as well and so I had to read that one first. I was okay with that because that one was only about 300 pages... easy read, done in a day and a half. And it was pretty good too. I think I might have been a bit disappointed had I bought the book for myself though and then read it. And right now I have about 200 pages left in the 742 page book of Breaking Dawn. I started it Monday night and got about 150 pages into it then and read until page 542 yesterday. I've been a book hermit after work this week so far. Literally, I've been stuck on the couch reading hardly ever coming up for air as Jay likes to say. I hope to finish the book today so I can actually get some stuff around the house. 200 pages should take me just over two hours if I have it uninterupted. I'm excited to see how it ends!

I have a meeting with our case worker today to get everything straightened as far as our daycare help goes. Actually, it is an annual meeting. We get reviewed every six months to make sure everything is up to par like we say it is. Ie: to make sure we are still working, etc... At the six month one we just fill out a bunch of forms and send things in, at the year one, someone has to go in for a face to face meeting. Pretty much the same thing goes on, except I have to sign something saying I understand it all and yada yada. This time though I have some questions because our 'help' is up when it comes to us being in school in like two months. Would be fine had I graduated this past year like the rest of my class, but I still have another year left. I will need to see how it works out and if we will still get some assistance if Ayden is in daycare during hours that we work. It will cost us about $150 to send him to daycare/week. Outrageous! However I have some questions for the daycare director as well regarding 4k and how that will work into there too.

Is this a long enough post yet? I haven't even gotten to my birthday and that is another story in and of itself. See, all I wanted for my birthday was to sit at home alone and read... the whole day, well after I was done with work. And Jay knew this, afterall, I had just gotten three new books from my mom. But I was expecting something kind of big from his as well, as he had told me that he budgeted about $250 for my present. Little did I know I was about to be hugely surprised! The morning started off like any other morning. I got up and ready for work and so did Jay. He left and then I left. So far so good. I worked for a while and got done a little early and headed home ready to relax and read. I pulled into the driveway and Jay's truck is there. Hmm... what is he doing home? Did they really have that little of work to do? Did he stop by to fix something for my birthday and I wasn't supposed to be home yet? Did he get hurt and sent home for the rest of the day? What was going on?

None of those things... he took the day off for my birthday. Great present, huh? Well, it was really sweet of him to do that and I admit that I didn't fully appreciate it at the time. I was pretty peeved. We need the money he brings in from work, how could he take a day off of work and not discuss it with me first? And if he knew that I just wanted to be alone and to read on my birthday why did he take off in the first place? We weren't going to spend anytime together so what was the point? It was pretty much a waste if you ask me. I was sick of the arguing about it and was already in a bad mood so I grabbed a lawn chair and headed off to the beach to read for a while. I just needed to be alone and to calm down. I stayed at the beach for a good three hours and then headed home in a much better mood. I didn't do anything more than read when I got home either, but the overall mood was better. Jay and I went grocery shopping and then made some super good pizza when we got home. It was really yummy! And that was pretty much my day.

The rest of this week has been good too... just reading! Well I finished Breaking Dawn today and I'm kind of sad. I get so sucked into the world of Edward and Bella and don't want to leave it. They are too perfect and I'm sad to see the story end. The book was definitely worth it and I would love for there to be another, but so the story goes... there will not be anymore. Do I dare start the next book I have on my list? I have two days before the little monster comes back, think I can finish it in that amount of time? I don't know... not sure if I even want to start another one right.

Speaking of the little devil, according to my mom, he is having quite the time at her house and so is she. Today they were supposed to go to Bay Beach. The weather has been good so I hope that they had a good time. He went last year with my dad, but I think he might have more fun this year. I would love to take him at some point too because they are still uber cheap and I haven't been there since a couple of years before he was born. That is a long time! It would be a lot of fun, at least I think so. I can't wait to see him though, you know that mommy part in me is dieing to see him. He didn't want to talk a whole lot to me on the phone last night, but I could hear him in the background telling stories left and right. He's been taking good naps too which is a super good thing!

I'm sure this post is long enough and that I'm probably missing a few things that I had wanted to talk about when I started it, but I will let you go now. I'm sure I kept you for enough minutes today... CIAO! LOVE ME!

Freebie Fanatic!

Hey Jack! It's been a nice Friday thus far... Ayden let me sleep in a little bit, and by that I mean like an extra 15 minutes. I was up as Jay was leaving for work, but then I layed down on the couch while Ayden soaked up a little morning cartoons. I don't think I showered until almost 10am! Ayden and I enjoyed a lazy morning watching cartoons and eating some breakfast. He was very good and we had some funny conversations. I also spent some of this morning download scrapbooking freebies from the internet. I found this awesome site that has a ton of freebies and got sort of addicted. I may claim to be creative and artistic like with scrapbooking things, but after looking at some of the pages that other people do I feel like a huge amateur. I have NOTHING on them and feel just a twinge of jealousy. I wish that my pages would turn out that cute or have awesome ideas like that, or maybe just the time to create them, lol! But seriously, they are so awesome!

Anyways, I downloaded a few kits and then Ayden and I played some games on the computer. He was doing Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train. He was actually doing pretty well, I was proud of him, and we were having lots of fun together as well. I was just about to get lunch started when Jay got home. He had said something earlier this morning about possibly being home early today, well hoping that they would only do some mowing and then call it a day, but I had no idea that he meant by noon. I was surprised and mega happy that he got home at that time.

Oh, before that though, Ayden and I were kicking a ball back and forth across the room. He has got quite the kick. I said that we could go outside, but he didn't want to. In any case, I think I have a future David Beckham on my hands here! Future Olympics star? I dunno?!

Later tonight now... Jay headed off to Alltel tonight to see if he could upgrade his phone/renew our contract. Techincally our renew date was at the beginning of September, but his phone has been acting up (I think I may have said something about this before) and thus tried to renew early. He took my phone along as well just incase he could get us both new phones. I wasn't expecting anything because then I would be let down when he came home empty handed. He was gone for over an hour so I thought that something was going down and/or there were a ton of people there. To my surprise, he came home two new phones in hand. Well actually they were in a bag. We got new phones! Well of course we payed a price for it too, but they were TONS cheaper than what we would have had to pay had we not renewed our contract... two more years with Alltel, but I have to say they've been good to us. We both got the LG Scoop. He got the one in orange and I got the one in purple. Our favorite things about them are the slide out keyboards... makes texting SO much easier! Now I just need to text a little more, lol! Don't think that that will be a problem.

I don't particularily care for our monthly bill, but we don't have a home phone line. If our Chartner internet doesn't go down soon, we might have to switch to Alltel internet as well. It would be slower than what we have now and my computer would be even slower because I'm wireless, but I don't know, our internet is kind of pricey and I don't care for that either. Ah, what we think we HAVE to have these days. Cable TV, high speed internet, fancy cell phones... etc! The luxuries that life affords us that aren't doing us any good. It's not the material things that matter. I don't need cable TV, we didn't have it for the first year and a half we lived up here, high speed internet is definitely an advantage when it comes to getting online for school stuff, and well cell phones are just more convient than having a land line.

After lunch today we went fishing again. This time we tried a different location (Wisconsin River) only to find out when we got there that they are draining part of it. Long story and kind of complicated and don't know all of the details, but Jay saw something about it on the news this morning and we both just kind of assumed that it wasn't going to be done in Point. Don't know why we assumed this, but we did. They had just started the draining process this morning and already the water was down a good two feet or more. It was actually kind of weird because you could see all of the stump fields, etc... We did catch some fish, well Ayden did I should say. We only brought his pole along because we didn't know how long we would be staying and if the fishing would be any good in the first place. What we did catch was only small blue gills and we threw them back right away. Ayden seemed to have a pretty good time.

While Jay was gone to the Alltel store Ayden and I went outside and played a bit of soccer. I taught him that during the game he can't touch the ball. He was doing pretty good dribbling the ball back and forth and keeping it away from me. Of course being mommy I wasn't playing full force or anything (not that I am any good at soccer anyways, lol). But it was good to see him having so much fun!

Tomorrow my aunt is having a corn roast at her house. It will be the third annual one, but the first one that we have been able to attend. In the past years we have not been at home. Before hand a bunch of us are going to the city pool to go swimming. I hope that a lot of my cousins come because that would be a lot of fun, especially since we don't see them all that often. Ayden is excited! And corn on the cob... YUMMY!!! The third time that I will be having it this year. Not sure if I mentioned this earlier this week, but Jay came home with some the other day and it was sooo good! Ayden loved it! And then on Sunday it is off to the Milwaukee zoo. This year it looks like we will have no rain, but the weather is supposed to get pretty warm, at least according to my mom. I haven't looked at the forecast since earlier this week. I am super excited though!

I probably won't be back until Sunday night (probably not even then if I get my book on Sunday) but then Monday for sure... don't miss me too much over the weekend as I am sure that everyone else will be busy doing something fun enjoying these last few weeks of the summer!

CIAO! LOVE ME!... Hope everyone enjoys my pictures... funny, I update pictures on here now more than on facebook, oh well...

Part of the 'Thank You' cards I'm making for the people who came/gave gifts to Ayden. Ayden wrote the 'thank you' and I scanned it in. Got the 'u' upside down, but I figured that people would get the meaning and can't be perfect everytime. I think he did GREAT!

Ayden's 4 cupcakes for 'almost turning 4' with the dinosaur candles. He loved them!

Ayden with his big hummer! It was a gift from my mom... actually Jim had bought one way back when they were really popular and didn't want it anymore so my mom gave it to Ayden for his birthday.


Here are some pretty flowers that Jay's grandma (Grandma Hoerth) picked and brought for us from her house. I thought they were so gorgeous and suprisingly are still holding up really nice!

Our sunflower... grown from seeds! We have two more heads on top that should be opening up pretty soon! I'm so excited, most of the stuff that I try growing doesn't even make it out of the ground, but I can't take too much credit for these as Jay does most of the watering.

Some of my decorations outside our apartment and my friend Victoria, her husband Chris, and son Parker on the tractor.

Ayden going around and giving hugs and kisses for the birthday presents. The lucky reciepent this time was Jay's grandma (Grandma Cook).


Alexis... doing a great model pose!

Jay's infamous friend JT... and in white shorts none the less! White shorts, seriously?!

Close up of Parker! Too cute!

My sister and I in our bridesmaid dresses for our cousin's wedding! They both fit perfect, just need a little hemming. Oh and of course my bra straps are showing, but I don't care...

Back view... love the lace up on it!

Ayden fishing on Grandpa and Grandma Hoerth's boat. We love boat rides!

The shirt I made for Ayden for his birthday party... I thought it was so cute, especially the 'almost turning 4' thing because he won't be four until next Friday.

Ayden standing outside by my lovely decorated door!

Adding some flair

Jack, unless you are blind and having someone read my boring life to you, then you will have noticed that I got unlazy and added some much needed flair to my blog. I was actually getting used to just the plain white (maybe because having my blog look 'attractive' really wasn't on my mind lately) but today I decided to go all out. Actually, I could care less whether people think my blog looks good or not, it's not for them, it's for me. And being the naturally creative person that I claim to be (trying to make myself feel good here), searched the web today and managed to do a nice little face lift. I like it... if you don't, then too bad. You don't need to be here then!

Today went really well. Work went fast as I continue working on my mega huge project, I should be able to finish it up on Monday. Ayden took a good nap today and I got the laundry done. And it needed it as Ayden was out of clean underwear. You know that you need to do laundry when the clean underwear is gone. Although I have to say, he only has about 10 pair so it's not as if I haven't done the laundry in weeks. I only had five loads to do which was nice as well.

This is going to be short as Jay wants me to come watch the Olympics with him. Not so much interested in that, but I know that he likes spending time with me, as I do with him (surprised he isn't on the computer right now actually) so tata for now!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Slackage over?!

Jackers... major slackage on my part lately. Sorry... I've just been doing a bit of relaxing. We've been so busy these past couple of weeks and will continue to be until the beginning of September so I'm trying to soak up what down time we have. I've also been thinking a lot. Me think? Yeah, I know, doesn't happen all that often, but when it does it's some serious stuff. Lol! No, but seriously, I've been thinking about a lot of things and re-evaluating my life. This happens every now and then. It's all a part of life, eh?

Today was a pretty decent day. I was meaning to get the laundry done as I am going to have to pack for Ayden for next week, but I didn't get the far. I did manage to get the kitchen closet back to some sort of organization and the kitchen table clean again. Mostly just moving the stuff from the table to other spots in the house. Ayden's room really needs to get cleaned again, but who knows when that will happen. Probably tomorrow or Friday when I am packing for him. Ayden and I both took a nap today. I have just been so tired lately. I only slept for about a half hour, but Ayden took a good nap. After he got up we played for a little bit and then Jay got home from work.

Actually, before nap time Jay called me and asked if I had any plans for tonight. I didn't and then he suggested that maybe we have a picnic and then go fishing. I was surprised that he would even want to do something like that, but happy as well. So, he got home from work and we got some stuff together and headed to Subway (the main course of our supper because we don't have any meat or bread at home) and then off to the river. We had our subs, chips, and drinks and then did some fishing. Ayden started off fishing and then quickly fell into the water. Thankfully the river that we were at was very shallow and that only led him to want to go in further. I resigned and him waid in with his sandles on until he started playing with the mud, that was it. While he was in the water, Jay and I took over the fishing part. We didn't get anything and after trying three different spots on the river I only ended up with a couple of bites, but no fish! Ayden was very well behaved for not fishing most of the time (although we only fished for maybe an hour, maybe a little less) and then we headed home.

Ayden has recently started taking showers. Yes, you read that right! My little guy, who used to love taking baths progressed from long soapy sudsy baths to just wanting quick wash offs to taking a shower all by himself. Okay, so I shouldn't say that it's exactly by himself. He is in the shower/tub by himself, but Jay or I are standing right outside watching him and helping with the soap and/or shampoo if he needs it. Just one more thing that he doesn't need my help with and it's only going to continue like this. But I'm honestly surprised because he used to not like water on his face or in his eyes and now he stands with his face in the water. It's crazy!

He also played his computer game that he got from my Dad for his birthday today. Mr. Independent didn't need my help with anything, nor did he want it. I think that he is really going to enjoy that game. It is actually the same game that we had checked out at the library a couple of months ago, but of course had to take it back, only this one has three more cds with it. It is the advanced game, so Ayden already knew the concept of it. He also is using his VSmile Pocket now too which is good. He's played it a few times in the car on the way to the store and daycare which is kind of what we had gotten it for. Well actually we got it for the long rides home, but the short ones work just as well.

Diesel (our cat) got outside on me this morning. I really thought that I was going to have a hard time catching him and getting him back in the house, not to mention that it was just about time for us to leave for daycare and work. But thankfully he didn't run off on me and I quickly caught him and hauled him back into the house. Ayden and I had a little talk about how we need to watch more carefully when we are going outside by the screen door.

Last night Jay and I layed in bed and watched the Olympics together. It was kind of nice to just lay and cuddle with him for a while, even if we were watching something that I wasn't totally into. We were watching the synchronized diving and it was pretty cool. I watched a bit of the swimming today, but that was only when one of my other shows was on a commercial. I hate commercials and can't stand them. I am a self proclaimed channel changer (if I haven't already mentioned that).

This week I got a huge project to work on at work. It's going through some excel file and deleting a bunch of names and weeding it out for some project that my bosses are going to be working on. To give you some sort of idea as to how big this file is... there are over 3000 names that I need to weed through. I am about 1/3 of the way through it and I've been working on it for almost two days now. Of course that two days only means a little over 5 hours because that's about as much as I've worked in the past two days.

That's it for now... CIAO! LOVE ME!

Blah blah blah... and more blah!

I finally have a minute to sit down and blog... FINALLY! I haven't even had much time to catch up on the blogs that I usually read on a daily basis. So after I'm done with my book of events that occured over the last four days, I will need to catch up on some good reading. Funny how I can find joy in the lives of others, right? They let me know that I am not alone in this place they call a world because sometimes I feel like I am...

Okay, so when was the last time I entertained you with the events that I call MY life? I'm thinking it was Wednesday before the dreaded GRE. I will oh so joyously pick up from there and boy do I have a lot to dish. I slept pretty well Wednesday night considering I would be taking this mega important test the next day. I got up and got ready for the test and was nervous as all get out. I tried to eat, managed a small bowl of cereal down and thankfully that is where it stayed. I thought I might throw it up, yes I was that nervous, but I didn't. I arrived at the testing site at 8am (parked in a parking lot to which I did not have a permit, praying I did not come out four hours later to see a ticket on my window or worse yet, my car towed) and proceeded to get ready for the test. Needed to sign a few documents before the testing got started and viola here begins the test. The two essays were first which was good and bad. I was glad to get them over with, but didn't want to have to use my brain that much right off the bat. I was lucky and think I got two pretty easy essay questions and think I did fairly well on them. Probably not a 6/6, but hopefully at least a 4/6 on both. I could deal with that. I was kind of bummed because I got done with the essays early, but could not proceed to the next sections of the test until the time ran out on the essays. So I probably sat for 15 minutes reading and rereading my essays to make sure everything was perfectly the way I wanted it and finally the time was up.

Next came the math part which I did way good on and then the verbal part of which I did the same as my practice tests. But wait... I thought I was done after that... nope! Then came ANOTHER math part!!! I couldn't believe it! I was all brained out and I had yet another whole section to do?! And because I didn't know if this was the actual test or just the research part I had to do good on it no matter what. In the end my score was ten points below what I had strived for. I haven't yet competely decided if I am going to retake the exam. I am going to talk to my professors and see what they suggest and go from there. I would like to not retake it. First for my sanity and secondly because it costs $140. If I decided to retake it, it would not be until after school starts because you are only allowed to take it once a month. After the test I went to work for a little while just to get my brain off of it and after work I crashed on the couch. I seriously could not do anything, not even clean! Jay was the sweetest boyfriend and had made reservations for us at a restaurant that we have been wanting to eat at since we moved here three years ago but haven't, however I had him cancel those because we didn't have the money for that kind of food at this point. Instead we sat at home both too lazy to make anything and finally decided to still go out to eat, only way cheaper at Arby's. But I LOVE Arby's and it was so yummy! It was also nice to just get out. I wasn't of much use that night. I even tried to start a new book, but I just could not get into it.

So that was Thursday... Friday was busy as well. Oh wait, forgot about something that happened Thursday night. My diligent readers know about the 'fued' between me and my best friend. So, I get an email from her on Thursday wishing me luck on my test and saying she would like to talk, that is, if I wanted to as well. Well, I didn't want to talk to her on Thursday night and seem to intrigued (maybe that's not the right word for it, but I cannot think of a better one right now) so I didn't call and kind of kept myself busy with the little bit of cleaning I did manage after we got home from Arby's. I ended up texting her saying that she could call in the morning if she wanted to before 11am. She did call, which I was glad about, and we talked for just over an hour. No apologies were given, but whatever. I'm not going to worry about that anymore, as long as the whole issue does not come up again. We talked like we hadn't even had a 'fight'. And I did find out that she was feeling kind of like I was about the whole not talking thing though because she dished that she was talking to a friend at work about how we hadn't talked in almost a month and we were best friends. She even came to Ayden's birthday party which I was even more excited about because I didn't think that she was going to because of our little rift. But I guess that I shouldn't jump to such conclusions about things, eh?

During the morning hours on Friday I cleaned some more and made two cds for my car to listen to, along with talking on the phone. And then 11am rolled around and it was time to head out to visit my friend. Down side, said friend currently lives an hour and a half away which meant three hours of driving. I arrived at my destination around 12:30 with no help from the GPS that I brought along. Okay, so I did use it, but at one point it told me to take a turn that I was pretty sure I wasn't supposed to take because I wasn't even to the city yet and then when I passed the turn it reconfigured it's directions and then they were correct. I was a little worried at first because I thought that it was going to get me lost, but I made it fine. I had told Jay ahead of time that I would only stay until 4:30pm, but I could have stayed the whole 8 hours. Surprisingly enough, Jay wasn't angry Friday morning when he left for work... of course that didn't last.

My visit went so fast! Of course though, any time spent with friends seems to go fast. It seemed like I was there for 10 minutes and it was already four hours later. Doesn't help any that I hadn't seem them since last September. Hopefully it will not be another year before a subsequent visit, but I'm not making any plans right now. Anywhoo, good times... lol... Merry Christmas! Sorry, private joke. However, happiness was short lived as Jay and I did get into it once I got home. Arguement also short lived, but an arguement none the less.

Then it was off to get my baby boy! We high tailed it over to the camp grounds where Jay's parents had taken up home for a couple of days. It just so happened that it was only about a ten minute drive from our apartment. Very nice considering all the driving that I had already done that day. Ayden was definitely excited to see us which is always fun to see. He told us all about his week at Grandpa and Grandma's and everything they had done while camping. We hung out there for a couple of hours and got home around 9:30pm. Ayden was allowed to stay up until 10pm, but then didn't fall asleep in his bed until almost 11pm. One would have thought that he was going to sleep in then on Saturday, but he didn't. Okay, I guess that was fine.

Saturday morning went by fast with more cleaning and getting ready to trek to Chilton for the family reunion. I think we made it to the reunion around 12:30... A bunch of people that neither Jay nor I knew, but it was still an okay time. Ayden slept on the drive which was good. We decided to take my car to save on gas and I drove. So, not only did we save on gas, but I didn't have to yell at Jay for his driving the whole way home. Lol, but the roads weren't that bad which was good. Jay and I sort of got into it in the car as well. First this, then that, and then he didn't like the music I was listening to. It was really pissing me off and finally he just layed the seat back and took a nap. He apologized later and said that he was tired, had a headache and just needed an outlet. Whatever, we got over it.

I got to hold baby Quinn at the party. Boy, he is a little chunker, but definitely a cute little chunker! I should have taken a picture, but of course didn't. I've been bad at my camera moments lately. Naughty Ashley! I think we stayed until about 4:30pm and then headed back to Point. My friend Victoria, her husband Chris, and their son Parker were coming over to spend the night before Ayden's party. We got home around 6pm and they arrived shortly there after. Jay went to get the rest of the food for the party and we went to the big blue park. I had taken them last year but Parker was still a baby and couldn't do anything. This year he is walking and had just as much fun as Ayden. It was great to see them enjoy it. Afterwards we came back the apartment and played for awhile and called it an early night. I think everyone slept halfway decent.

Sunday... PARTY DAY!!! I spent the whole morning decorating the apartment inside and out and Jay spent it in the kitchen prepping food. Victoria and Chris helped a little, but they also had their hands full with Parker. I miss that smallness, but I'm also glad that now that Ayden is older he can be trusted a little more and I don't have to keep my eye on him every second. Ayden had lots of fun pulling Parker around in the wagon hooked up the tractor. I think Parker had more fun out of the wagon, but oh well. Lol!

The party went really well, at least I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Food turned out good and even though we did have left overs it wasn't a ton. Ayden got so many toys again, I couldn't believe it. He is TOO spoiled. He got the big Hummer from my mom and then a smaller one from my sister. As expected, the TV from Jay's grandparents was the hit. That was the first one that he opened because it was the biggest and he was so excited. I wish that I would have gotten his reaction on tape because it was too cute. We haven't gotten it hooked up yet, but even so he loves it. He also got a cute dinosaur bedspread from Jay's parents among some other things. And even better... the weather was perfect! Casey's girlfriend even got him something which was really nice of her. And JT showed up! Wowsers, lol, considering I didn't even think Jay told him about the party. Actually, him and his girlfriend, Kelsey, came for a little while which was a nice surprise.

Speaking of JT... Jay and Ayden are gone golfing with him right now. The house to myself. Enjoying it and not enjoying it. You see, I only have this week with Ayden before he heads off to my mom's for a week so I need to get all the Ayden time in that I can, even if he is driving me crazy during it. Actually, today has been back and forth. He didn't take a nap this afternoon so I think that lead to a little bit of his whinyness, but during supper he was being so talkative that it was hard to stay upset with him. He was telling me all about his day at daycare and how he made a new friend, but this new friend wasn't old enough to be in his room yet and he couldn't remember his name, but he was wearing a red shirt today. How adorable!

I'm sure I'm leaving some important details out somewhere, but I'm done for now...

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Don't Be Scared

Jackers...I've decided that today is going to be a good day. I am not going to let this GRE get the better of me. I was pretty crabby last night and took a lot of it out on Jay, but being the ever loving boyfriend he is, he was extra nice to me and that lightened my mood. Always a good thing! I had a study session with a friend last night and he told me to stay as long as I wanted and to even go out afterwards if I needed it. Woah, he never says stuff like that! So, I had my study session and it lasted for about two hours. We studied for probably an hour and talked for probably an hour. It was nice to get out of the house.

Before hand, Jay made me a grilled cheese for supper. It was supposed to be potatoes on the grill, but he didn't feel like it. He says that potatoes will be for tonight, but who knows? I don't really care either way. But the grilled cheese was good. And... wait for it, wait for it... he apologized for his behavior last Thursday night when we had it out before I left for my mom's. Okay, so he apologized before I left, but he basically said it then because he didn't want me to leave mad. For him to bring up the issue last night (and yes, I know I haven't ever come on and disclosed this 'issue' in full laymans terms, although from deductive reasonin, I'm sure you readers have some inclination as to what some variables are) was a BIG step! So, he apologized and actually told me that he is semi okay with my impending friend visit Friday afternoon. I doubt there will ever be a time where he is even just okay with it, but he acknowledged the fact that I need to see my friends too. A step forward maybe? I hope so... but you know what they say, one step forward, two steps back. I'm holding my breath.

This week has been kind of nice thus far without Ayden, getting the extra studying done. And Jay has been more romantic. Wanting to lay by me on the couch to watch TV together without any ulterior motives. Just wanting to be with me basically, it's kind of nice. But I'm excited to possibly see Ayden Thursday night. I could go see them at the camp grounds, but I don't want to chance him wanting to come home with us because I have plans for Friday. I'll have to wait and see how things go. Wait, I just realized that I wrote possibly see him Thursday night, well that is tomorrow night... this week is going WAY TO FAST!

I took a math practice quiz earlier today and I did really well. Everyone wish me luck for tomorrow! Even better, the weather is looking to be super nice for this weekend. Sunshine and good temperatures, nothing hot and humid or stormy and rainy. Let's just hope that the weather people keep saying the same thing over the next few days. Please be right, please be right, just this once! I bought a bunch of decorations today for the party. Found a dollar store and got everything for just over $15, and I got a lot. I cannot wait to totally deck out this apartment! I'm so excited!

Now, the title of this post means two different things. Don't be scared about the lackage of background on my blog. I was trying to do something and well it didn't work the way I wanted it to and I didn't feel like trying to fix things last night. And who knows when I will get to making things look all pretty again. I'm a woman of change. Always changing! And it's meant for me, not to be scared about my test in the morning. I just need to keep telling myself that. And with that, until later...

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Math Shmath...

Ugh Jack! An uneventful morning at work has led me not to want to study today, but I must... I have a few more practice exams that I would like to get done. Might just help the score, eh? I found another website that states good scores. They say at least a 700 in the math and 550 in the verbal. I'm close in the math with my 650, but my highest verbal was about 470. Here's me worrying again, right?

I ventured to the library yesterday. Cannot remember if I told you that already. I have less than 100 pages left in the book that I rechecked out. Plan to finish it today and maybe start another one. I have two other Jodi Picoult books waiting to be read and I really like her books so I'm hoping these ones are as good too! I should slowly be cleaning the apartment for the party this weekend, but I haven't felt that motivation yet. I will probably do some laundry today, although without Ayden home there isn't a whole lot that needs to get done. But I have a few items of mine that I want to wear this week that need to get washed.

Potatoes on the grill tonight! I think Jay might even try out the new grill. He's been getting home from work a little early these past couple of weeks. Not like hours upon hours or anything, but like a half hour or hour early here and there. Definitely not working late like he used to. Don't know if that is because they don't have the work (which I highly doubt because Jay is always talking about how far behind they are) but more than likely due to the fact that his manager said they will not be working any overtime if he (the manager) wasn't going to be getting paid for it. It's a family run business with lots of issues, but Jay likes it so all is well. Hopefully this fall JT will be back because I know Jay misses him, lol! They still talk on a daily basis... Jay is actually on the phone more than me! How does that work!

Even later this afternoon now... and I finished my book. The ending kind of left me wanting more, but oh well. I am in such a blah mood right now. I feel like doing nothing and just being depressed, but I'm not really depressed. I'm super stoked for this weekend and want it to come faster (even if that means one less week of summer vacation) but I cannot make myself study anymore. I'm meeting up with a friend tonight to study some more. She was orginally going to take the test next Monday, but there was a mix up when she scheduled her exam time and it got moved to the 22nd now. Gives her extra time, which I wish I had, but actually not. A small part of me wishes for more time, but that more time would just be to put off the test. I'm so ready to just go in and get it over with. Thursday's post will be both full of joy that the test is over and possible saddness (depending on how well I did). So what did I spent my afternoon doing... watching Tru Calling on TV. Anyone remember that show? I watched it when it was originally aired and kind of liked it. Today was some sort of marathon and I watched 2 1/2 episodes and successfully did not study during that time. But I DID do some studying. I've been working more on my verbal quizzes. I could not get myself to do any math today. Hurts the brain when you do too much thinking! Getting sick of me complaining about this stupid test yet? Because that is what it really is... just some stupid test! Just think, in two days no more complaining about it, just how badly I did and the fact that I will not be able to get into grad school and I will have to pay another $140 to take the dang thing over again. Talk about being Ms. Pessimistic today, eh? Sorry, just not really in all that good of a mood.

I miss Ayden! And to think I thought all this grandparent time would be good for him! Okay, so I know that it is and that he is having tons of fun and probably not missing me like I am missing him, but dude, I need him back to give me some purpose, lol... true mom attitude.

ARGH! Just not in a good mood right now... need some mood altering drugs... anyone have any available? Maybe a cocktail of koolaid, has lots of sugar in it! Maybe that is what I am in need of, sugar, yum! Lol... CIAO FOR ME!
LOVE ME!

GRE this Thursday?! What am I going to do?!

'Just BELIEVE'

Can it really be as simple as that? I think so... I KNOW SO!

Oh Jack! And so the countdown begins... 2 days until T-day... test day! Well, not counting today that is. I took some more practice quizzes last night and on one of the math ones that I thought I was doing pretty well on, I got more than half wrong. I couldn't believe it. Do they really think we are supposed to remember all of this? I couldn't believe it! But I have faith... just need to keep the positive thinking going, right? The power of a positive mind, isn't that what they say? Or something along those lines.

I got ahold of my friend who is coming to Ayden's party last night and we talked for a good hour. It was definitely good to catch up. Her and her husband and son are coming up Saturday night and spending the night with us before the party and are going to help us get ready. Are we starting a tradition here or something because she did the same thing last year. But I am super stoked and will gladly take the help if they are offering it. Plus it will give us more time to hang out! YEAH!

This week is going to be filled with ups and downs... today, tomorrow, and Wednesday equal work and studying... Thursday morning test time and afternoon work... night time... RELAXATION AND DECOMPRESSION, maybe a night at the bar to soothe away my depression of how badly I did. Lol, yeah okay because I don't drink. Isn't that what the 'normal' person would do though? I was surprised to find out that two of my friends smoke. Well one just picked it up and I was definitely bummed to hear that (maybe she will quit after her wedding) and another one said she just does sometimes when she goes out to the bars. But she said the last time she didn't so I was proud of her. Even though I can't tell them to smoke or not, I definitely don't condone it and would prefer them not to. At least they've never done it around me.

So anyways, back to my week... Friday morning start cleaning the apartment, afternoon a visit with a friend I haven't seen in almost a year (so excited), Friday night, grocery shopping for Ayden's party. Saturday morning, more cleaning if it needs to be done, afternoon, family reunion, night, hang with my friend and start decorating for the party. Sunday morning, get food ready for party and finish decorating, afternoon (please pray for nice weather and no rain!) Ayden's party, night, clean up and RELAX AGAIN and relish that Ayden is home for another week before off to Grandma Wendy's house. Oh, and play with all of Ayden's new gifts. Back to normal schedule on Monday! Sound busy enough for you? Does for me!

And next weekend we get to go to the Milwaukee zoo, pray for no rain then too because last year it was rainy and kind of crappy out. But at least most of the animals were out. We want sunshine and warmth, but not too hot that the animals are all inside. And this time my mom is driving so I don't have to freak about Jay's driving the whole time. Lol, yes I am totally like that. I've vented enough about how I don't like his driving a lot of the time. I'm learning to just look out the passenger window or shut my eyes and deal with it. He's gotten moderately better, but I still don't like it. I have a Jay driving complex... Would you blame me though?

I didn't sleep all that well last night. Don't know why though, but had horrible dreams about the GRE and not doing so well. Great, right? Can't tell what I was thinking about before sleeping at all now can we?

Most of today, well okay half of today (the part where I was home) was spent on the computer doing more practice tests. I took a full one (minus the writing section, don't know if I should be practicing those or not) and got halfway decent scores. I was surprised with my math score and kind of bummed with my verbal score. I looked up what some okay scores were and have decided that if I can get a 1200 combined score I will be okay with that. I would like to get higher, but right now I'm averaging 1100 and like I said, not doing so hot on my verbal section. But I've been trying to find what are acceptable scores for the test and really haven't come up with anything conclusive. Some say higher than the 50th percentile is good and others are saying 75th percentile. I searched UWSPs website and couldn't find anything specific. Everyone seems to think that I will do just fine. They keep saying that I'm so smart and I don't need to worry... but they haven't been seeing my scores. Today I ran into the word pettifogging... seriously, does anyone know what that means? I didn't even know it was a word!

The other half of my day was spent relaxing the brain muscles in front of the TV, but then I decided to make a quick run to the library and get some books. I would rather be reading during my 'relaxation' time than watching TV and I found some good Jodi Picoult books that I haven't read. I also picked up the one that I took back last week that I hadn't finished yet. Still on the 7 day rental list and today I could have gotten it without paying the $1 for it because the lady totally forgot to ask for it, but I'm not like that and gave it to her. I would have totally felt guilty for not paying for it. And besides, I had the change anyways. Always good to get rid of some of my change. Even though I'm poor enough the way it is.

Lasagna for supper and then probably going to read for a while. John and Kate Plus 8 is on, only for a half hour tonight, an hour of new episodes next week though, YEAH! And then more reading. I've already invested a little over two hours of practice tests today and think I need to rest. If I keep on studying TOO much I'll go bananas when I have to sit down in front of the computer on Thursday morning. I will want to do anything BUT that. More studying and practicing tests tomorrow.

CIAO! LOVE ME!