'Sending Out Invitations'

'Rule #1... No sending out invitations!'

This isn't going to mean anything to anyone but me, but it was the joke of the day yesterday so I had to include in here! And just because we could, we sent out all the invitations that we could!!!

Jack! OMG! Yesterday was the most fun that I had had in a LONG time. Yesterday was Six Flags with the girls from school and it was a blast! It was a long day filled with adventures gallore! It started for me at 5:30am when I got up and got ready. Two of my friends, Leah and Ciera, were at my house by 6:30am and we left towards Six Flags. We were going to be meeting Kristi at a truck stop in Milwaukee and continue from there. I had watched the weather all week to see what it would be like and the chance of rain only increased. We ended up in some rain in Milwaukee which was kind of heavy and actually saw someone in an accident (luckily it was only one car and no injuries). Leah drove the whole day down there which was kind of nice. We took her mom's car because her Jeep is in need of some fixing. Leah has a bit of road rage, but it is so funny. She has a lead foot, but overall a pretty good driver. We made it unscathed so I suppose that is good for something.

I was kind of bummed that it continued to rain as we got closer (well on and off). We successfully navigated to the correct spot to pick up Kristi. I don't think there was a moment of silence in that car the entire way down or back we were all gabbing so much! So much to catch up on and well we are usually talking about something when we are together.

Upon arriving at Six Flags it was continuing to rain, but thankfully it wasn't a down pour, more of an annoying drizzle like rain and the rides were still going. Because of the inclement weather during the early hours after opening the lines stayed relatively short for a while. Leah was a roller coaster virgin so we broke her in with the Viper first. A pretty decent one... wooden, doesn't go upside down... but still good. Kristi and I took the second row and Ciera (had been on coasters, but never to Six Flags before) and Leah took the third row. Kristi and I held our arms most of the way and I'm glad to say that both Ciera and Leah liked it. After the Viper we took a leap and hit up Raging Bull. Now if you know Six Flags, this is a CRAZY ride and has a HUGE first drop! I love the ride, just not the first drop, gives you that stomach in the mouth sort of feeling. Because you can sit 4 across on this ride we took the second row. Kristi and I would have took the first row, but we decided to all sit together and Leah didn't want the first row. I think we could have gotten Ciera to come with us.

I kept my arms up for some of this ride, but definitely not all of it. Leah kept her eyes closes for the whole thing and ended up getting a bit of a head ache and queasy afterwards. I felt kind of bad because that kept her from going on a few other rides with us. After Raging Bull, Ciera, Kristi and I did the Giant Drop. Freaking scary, but fun! Then we hit up Batman and Iron Wolf during with Leah also sat out. We got on both of those rides relatively fast as well so Leah didn't have to wait too long for us. Iron Wolf shakes your head too much and I didn't care for it, but loved Batman. Batman and Superman are my favorite rides. Then we headed over to Superman where the line was pretty long. We had Leah wait in line with us this time because we would be waiting for a while and she could just skip the ride when we got up there. However, about half way through, Kristi got a little queasy and her and Leah left the line. Kristi just needed something to eat and then felt better. By this time it was about 1pm and we still hadn't had lunch. After a total of waiting for about an hour and a half Ciera and I got on the ride! I was nervous that she might not go on because as we got closer and closer she could see more of the ride she looked a little apprehensive. But she came on and really enjoyed it! I was excited that she liked it so much!

Lunch came next. We had packed a TON of food and sat in the car gorging ourselves. It was all so yummy. We decided that while we were here we might as well put on our suits and hit up the water park. Some of the water slides looked super fun and wanted to try them out. None of us had been to the water park there so wanted a new experience. By this time the rain had stopped, but it wasn't extremely warm. In fact, the sun didn't come out until we were leaving at 7pm. So... we toweled up the windows of the car and took turns slipping into our suits. Aren't we ever the innovative group, lol!

The first water slide we went on was called the Tornado, but personally I think the Vortex sounds better. It was a water slide for four. You have to carry this huge tube up a billion stairs before getting on the water slide. We all thought it was kind of dangerous. The wait in line for the water slides wasn't that bad, but kind of cold after we got wet. The Tornado was super fun!!! But the water was kind of cold. I would have liked to go on again, but we decided to hit up some of the others. We did some more rides on tubes and one where you went down by yourself on a mat HEAD FIRST! Now that was a crazy one, but also fun! The only bad part was the water spraying into your eyes. We probably spent an hour at the water park and then decided that we would do a few more rides before leaving to come home.

We did the Viper again because Leah wanted to go on that one and would go on it. Kristi and I took the front this time and Ciera and Leah sat behind us in the second row. Held our hands up the whole time and even Leah had hers up for part of it. We told her we had to do in honor of Robin, our friend who couldn't make it. Lol! After this we wanted to do Raging Bull again and American Eagle and Superman again. But because of the time and the impending three and a half hour drive home, we decided to do Superman again because Kristi didn't get on it the first time. The line was shorter this time and only took about an hour to get through. Leah waited in line with us once again and then skipped the ride once we got up there. Because the line for the front row was just about as short as the other rows we took a chance and went for it. Two front rows for me on the same day! But front row on Superman was definitely the BEST! It was so worth it and I kept my arms up for all of it expect for like two seconds where we were about go upside down. I really wish Leah would have come on with us. She said she will next year.

Yes... Jay quote 'You are already planning next year?!'... we are planning a next year. And hopefully next year Robin can come with us. But next year we are going to rent a hotel room because that was just TOO much driving in one day. Especially for Leah because she had a 45 minute drive before she picked up Ciera and me, and a 45 minute drive after she dropped us off. I can't wait until next year because this year was too much fun! We talked and talked about EVERYTHING! And we definitely sent out invitations!!! I know, you don't get it, but seriously it's just too funny!

Our drive home was pretty uneventful until we got around Fremont. Jay called me around FonduLac letting us know that we were headed into storms and pretty bad rain. Ugh, just what I wanted to know. It was a good thing I brought my glasses along otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see anything. Leah drove until Fremont where the rain got too hard to see anything and we exited and sat at a gas station for a while. Then Ciera said she would try driving and got us home safely. The rain let up after a while and I calmed down a little. I'm a nervous wreck when it's bad weather and we are driving. But the girls were both great drivers! We left at 7pm and got home at 11:30pm! Long drive and even longer due to the weather! But at least the traffic wasn't too bad. We saw enough cops with people pulled over though and for sure thought that we were going to get pulled over at one point, but apparently the cop was not paying attention because he didn't pull us over.

Overall the day was UBER FUN!!! I'm so glad we were able to get together and have some fun. We are planning a study session this following week.

More later... CIAO! LOVE ME!

Raring and ready to go!

'Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.'

Except when it is HOT AND HUMID! I love the summer... being barefoot... going swimming... and just not worrying about being cold, but this humidity is really getting to me! Ugh, but at least it isn't 20 below outside. Happy for that!

Jacko! Plans are finalized and everything is a go for Six Flags tomorrow! Meeting one of the girls in Milwaukee near the airport. She told me kind of where it was, gave me a name on a sign to look for, so hopefully me and the other two girls will be able to locate it. She said she was going to email me the place/directions, but I still haven't gotten an email. Oh well, she called at least which was a good thing. I can't wait. So excited to get together with everyone again (haven't seen them since school got out) and catch up. We always have super good gab fests!

Today was pretty good. Didn't do a whole lot besides get details ironed out for tomorrow. Ayden and I made some puppy chow... YUM! And tonight we made chewy bars... YUM AGAIN! Jay made some french fries from fresh potatoes for supper. Those were pretty good. He got home from work a little early today which was kind of nice.

I bought a new pair of shoes today. They are super cute and got two compliments on them even before I bought them. Hopefully they don't make my feet sore tomorrow. We'll see though. I hope to get a lot of pictures as well.

I know this is uber short and probably pretty boring... maybe tomorrow I will have a super long post about how great of a day we had or some great story about how we got lost (I hope not) or about how great the rides are, etc...

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Extracurriculars?

'Go for long walks, indulge in hot baths. Question your assumptions, be kind to yourself, live for the moment, lossen up, scream, curse the world, count your blessings, just let go, just be.'

Couldn't have said it better myself... nothing more to really say about this one than 'just be!' Sometimes we have to let go and just be and realize we cannot control everything, we DO NOT control everything... it's out of our hands. JUST BE! And smile!

Hey Jack- Six Flags details are slowly getting worked out. YEAH! But the forecast is looking more and more bleak for the day. I keeping my hopes high though! Was able to get a hold of the two other friends accompanying us on the trip. Both had been out of town for the past couple of days so that explains it. Need to take a bit of a detour though on the trip down there and probably on the way back as well, as one of my friends is dropping off her daughter by her parents (her husband has to work on Saturday), and they are going to babysit. She is driving to set location with her daughter and then we are going to meet up with her. I personally think it would be cheaper for her and her daughter to ride with us to set location, but oh well. That way she wouldn't have to pay for her gas on the way there and just chip in with whatever we have to pay. I don't know.

My toe is feeling better today. Still rather black and blue and a bit swollen, but I can walk on a little easier. Good thing for this weekend. Oh, another bummer though... I was under the impression that Six Flags tickets were only $40. Don't know how or why I thought that, but I checked the website today and said price for adults is $54.99! Was it really that high two years ago? I can't remember, but we still have the $20 off coupons which get us in for $34.99, the kids price. So instead of the original $40 that I thought I would end up spending that day, I will probably end up spending about $60 or a little more. Ugh, I hate money, but oh well. Jay and I decided that we will have to tap into our little reserve despite not wanting to. We may be able to get through the summer without having to tap into if we save and scrimp on EVERY LITTLE THING, but what's life without something extra every once in a while. And we would be especially tight since we are going to be doing a lot of traveling in the next few weeks. But we shouldn't have to dip in too far which is good.

I'm not a self proclaimed spender/buyer, but I do sometimes get things I don't NEED. I like to get little things for Ayden here and there. I'm a mom and although I don't give into his every wish/want/gimmie, sometimes he deserves a little treat. Sometimes though, his little treats that he wants are just too expensive and he has to deal with a 40 cent candy bar at the check out. Lol. Why do we have to live in such a materialistic society? I honestly hate it! Why do there have to be social classes and people who thing they are better than everyone else? What happened to treating everyone fairly and equally? Yeah right, did we ever really have that?

Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, stereotypes and prejudices do exsist. We recieve food stamps and day care assistance, but does that automatically classify us as unemployed lazy slobs who take advantage of the system? I sure hope not because both Jay and I are employed, getting college degrees, and trying to do the best for our son. But some people can't look past the fact that we are recieving assistance. Okay, enough of that...

Onto the title of this post, when is the right time to start extracurriculars with children? At what age? How do you know if your child is ready or not? You see, I am considering enrolling Ayden in t-ball or soccer at the Y in the fall. It's about the same price as swimming lessons, and well I think we are getting enough swimming in this summer the way it is. But I don't know if he will be too shy and not want to do anything or if he would really like it. I think he would, if he could get over his shyness. The thing is, I don't know if he would like t-ball or soccer better. He knows what baseball is and kind of what soccer is. Maybe I will talk to the people at the Y and see what they would suggest. I'm not all in it for the competition, mostly for getting out of the house and expending some of his energy. It would be nice if they had a session in the summer (well for all I know, they might, but the next one is in the fall).

Well, I'm getting kind of perturbed with this whole situtation with my friend. All I'm looking for is an apology, I mean, what she did was kind of rude. A simple apology and not doing it again would fix everything. Am I making too much out of this? Isn't what she was doing considered rude? But this none apologizing thing makes me think that she doesn't care and doesn't see that she was in the wrong. What kind of friend does that make her? ARGH! As much as it bugs me... she is after all my best friend (or so I thought), I'm not going to expend any effort towards the situation right now. I'm not apologizing for anything nor taking back what I said because it will only allow her to continue treating me (and others) that way. This just in... proper phone ettecuite (sp?)... listen to who is talking to you and don't text someone else at the same time, we were on the PHONE not INSTANT MESSANGER!!! Whatever though! Needed that little vent...

Work went well today, as did this afternoon at home. Ayden took a nap today which was nice and I worked on some scrapbooking stuff. For some reason my program was moving a little faster today than normal which made me happy. We had some rain, but no severe weather and Jay did not get off work early. More money though, as I explained earlier.

I think some chocolate marshmellow ice cream is calling my name tonight, sounds yummy!

CIAO! LOVE ME!
ME (my signature isn't working tonight)

OUCH!!!

'The past is written! Close the book on pages sad and gray; within the future do not look, but live today today.'

I am a guily one when it comes to relishing the past. Sometimes I forget the past is the past and cannot change it. Always the what ifs and why... but more often than not I need to concentrate on the present and make every moment count for what its worth. I need to stop relishing on the sad things and remember the good things!

Jackers... What are you supposed to do when you are trying to plan a study date with three friends and you can't get ahold of two of them? Either by email or phone? Voicemails have been left and nothing yet. Not to mention these two girls that me and my other friend cannot get ahold of are also coming to Six Flags with us on Saturday. Me and my one friend are definitely type A personalities and super organized. In fact, I think she is even more organized than me. Is that even possible?! Yes, but that is what makes her so great. She is the one of the group without a kid so I'll credit that to being the reason she is so super organized. Once you have children your organization can only go so far, lol. Okay it can really go far, look at Kate from John and Kate plus 8. She is uber organized, but I think with large families you kind of need to be, otherwise there would be too much chaos.

There are supposed to be some pretty good storms today and tomorrow. Might cut into my plans of going to the park a little later. I suppose that that is okay, but being stuck in the house all day isn't always that fun either.

I went and layed down in bed pretty early last night. I didn't feel like computer scrapbooking anymore (sometimes my patiences wears thin with how slow my computer goes while I am running that program) and didn't feel like reading or studying either. Hence, I layed in bed and waited for my show to come on. Tori and Dean was pretty good last night, but before that was on I was watching a show on polygamy (sp?). It was rather interesting...

A little while back there was this big thing on the news about the FLDS (a polygamist sect in Utah- I think) and lots of drama was brougth up. I tried not to make any opinions either way, but some of the stories these people were pretty bad. Was the public supposed to believe this or not? While I don't particularily believe in plural marriages, people are allowed to live in whatever manner they want. Well, although it is technically illegal I think. Anyways, some of the stories that were being told last night seemed to be coming from honest enough people. They didn't deny that there was probably things going on in other sects that shouldn't be, but claimed that it didn't happen in their family. Like I said, it's not something for me, but if it is the way that makes them happy, then so be it. However, this one wife was explaining her lifestyle and how she chose to raise her children and it seemed to be kind of confininig. But everyone has their own parenting styles and I respect that. I may not agree with certain things that other parents do, but then I'm sure some people probably don't care for some of the things that I do Ayden and they are allowed to have their opinions as well.

On to the OUCH part of my post. I think I might have broken my pinky toe on my left foot. How you ask/wonder? Well, I was going through the freezer complining a list of groceries that we needed to get when out slides one of those cooler ice thingy and lands smack dab on my toe. Not even two minutes later my toe is black and blue and starting to swell. Not enough pain to cry, but enough to want to use some choice words up and down. I held my tongue because Ayden was in the room. I can still move the toe (does that mean it's not broken?) but it hurts mighty bad when I walk on it. And talk about great timing too, right? Going to Six Flags on Saturday and will be walking most of the day. At least it was my left foot and won't interfere with driving.

The storms that were called for today pretty much passed us by. They got hit north and south of us, but we only got a little bit of rain, lightening, and thunder. At Jay's work, a couple of miles away he said they had torrential down pours, quarter size hail and lots of lightening and thunder. He luckily got off work early again today which was nice, but once again spent the afternoon on his computer. But like yesterday I didn't much mind because after my toe incident all I wanted to do was lie down and take a nap. Just so happened Ayden was napping at this time as well. So it was nice that Jay got home early, but also kind of a bummer because that is less money coming in, and well we aren't exactly flowing over in that department right now. The weather people are calling for more storms tomorrow as well so we will see if gets off early then too.

Our afternoon was kind of blah. Ayden and I napped from 2-4pm and then we went grocery shopping. Got home and made some supper, gave Ayden a quick wash off because he didn't want to take a bath tonight, and then played some Uno Spin with him and Jay. Oh, I replenished Ayden's prize bag today with some stuff from Target. Everything that I got was $1/piece and it's all educational stuff so I was happy with that. Ayden won't even noticed. He reached his sticker goal today and earned a prize and he chose the dinosaur flash cards. Funny thing is that he knows most of them already. Doesn't quite know the whole alphabet (we are still working on a few letters, I know I know, he's almost 4) but he can tell the difference between a Stegasaurous and a Kentrosaurous and that is pretty good because they look very similiar. He also know the difference between a T-Rex and Allosaurous which also are very close looking. Boys and their dinosaurs, lol.

Tomorrow is the last day of work for the week and then it's relaxing on Friday before fun times on Saturday! CIAO! LOVE ME!

All I Want To Dooooooo....

'In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back.'

-Oh how this is true... if the answers were in the back we'd all be perfect and what is the fun in being perfect. It's the twists and turns, the rights and wrongs, the happiness and saddness that make life what it is. So quit looking for the answers and make them up as you go along!

Jack... Bring on the heat wave! It's supposed to be super hot and humid today and so Ayden and I might just have to venture off to the pool. It's Tubes n Toys night tonight, but they are calling for possible storms so we might go this afternoon and forgot about the tube. We'll see I guess... It all depends on if he is in a good mood. He was this morning when I dropped him off at daycare. I hung around a little longer than usual to watch him play with his friends. It's so cute to watch them interact together with each other. But it's sad because one of Ayden's best friends will be leaving soon. It also sucks because his mom works there and is the 4 year old teacher (Ayden's teacher) and she will be leaving as well and once again I REALLY liked her. Why do all the teachers that I grow to REALLY like have to leave. It's unfortunate. His current teacher is pretty good too, but I liked the other one better.

I cannot wait until this Saturday... going to Six Flags with my girlies from school. Well, minus one, kind of sucks she can't come. But we still have a few details that we need to iron out and two of them are not getting back to me and another girl. We've sent emails... going to have to get out the phone and then if still can't reach them, send out a search party. Hehe. We have coupons for $20 off the ticket price so that is sweet! And if we each pay $20 in gas (I'm thinking at the most, maybe less) our total for the ticket and gas would come to $40, which just happens to be the total ticket price without any coupons. I'm thinking we did pretty good. Also, we are bringing our own food so we don't have to worry about paying high prices for there. When we went two years ago and they year before that (me, Jay, my sister Emily, her friend Sarah, and our cousin John) it worked out pretty well that way. Only we will be extra careful not to loose our keys, lol! That would definitely not be good! Been there, done that, don't want to again!

I still haven't heard from my friend. Is that a good sign or bad sign? Don't really know and right now I'm not going to worry about it. I don't need a friend who doesn't care about me right now anyways. Well, not that I'm being conceieted or anything, well not trying to sound like it, but I want friends who care about me as much as I care about them and as much as they care about themselves.

I don't know what time Jay came to bed last night. I think it was pretty late. I remember waking up around 11pm and realizing he still wasn't in bed and getting kind of irked, but told myself to calm down and that he deserves some time to himself as well. But we didn't get our Will and Grace cuddle time last night. Was kind of getting used to that. Probably tonight though. He is hopefully going to cook some potatoes on the grill, well if the rain stays away. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.

Night time now... have a habit of starting this earlier in the day and finishing it at night time. The carpet guys didn't come today, so they are going to come tomorrow. Fine with me I guess. I just hope it is when I am not at home. Oh well if it is though. Jay only had to work until 2:30ish today which was really nice. I wasn't expecting him at home that early at all, but it was a nice surprise. Although he didn't do too much this afternoon except play his game. No complaints though because I was on my computer as well.

Ayden and I did end up going swimming tonight. We had loads of fun too! The rain held off, actually the radar is crystal clear and we had potatoes on the grill as well! They were SUPER YUMMY! At the pool we were able to bring the tube tonight, but Ayden hardly wanted to use it. He started to jump in with it on all by himself and then I asked if he wanted to take it off. So he took it off and proceeded to jump in all by himself (not needing mommy's hands) over and over and over again. I was so proud of him. He did that over and over for probably a good 20 minutes. I couldn't believe how brave he had gotten. He was also putting his head under again a lot! My little fish! I wish that we had the money to be able to go every day because I know that he would love it, but that's okay. Maybe we will go to the beach tomorrow because we haven't been there in a long time and it is free. Also the weather is supposed to be pretty hot as well.

I bought a dress today for Jay's cousin's wedding this August. It was the same one that I almost bought a few weeks ago at Penny's and then put back. Well I went back today just to look at some clothes and it was still there and still on sale so I tried it on again just for good measure and really liked it so this time I didn't put it back. Jay likes it too, I think. You can never tell with guys.

I also sat down and studied/read for the GRE today for an entire HOUR! That is a long time for me because I haven't really studied all that much for it in recent weeks. The study guide book that I purchased is really helping me out though. It has a lot of study techniques and is telling me all about the test and the types of questions so I am really grateful for that. I should be well prepared for that. My friends and I are supposed to be getting together again this week sometime, a make up from last week, to study, but only one other person has gotten back to me about it. Even if it is just the two of us it should be okay. Even to get someone else's perspective on it will be nice. I figure we can also do some studying/quizzing on our drive to Six Flags on Saturday. Yeah right, we will be too busy catching up on everyone's summer so far.

Time to relax now... CIAO! LOVE ME!