Toy Box

'I've been on a constant diet for the last two decades. I've lost a total of 789 pounds. By all accounts, I should be hanging from a charm bracelet.'

Okay, so I don't diet... sometimes I try, but I've never been on a specific diet, just the whole I'm going to cut back and/or eat healthier, but it never lasts. I weigh more than I would like right now, but it's not enough to get me to do something drastic about it. I still fit pretty good into most of my clothes. I admit, I have a pair of 'skinny' jeans hanging in my closet that I would love to fit into again. I think I've worn them maybe three times. I bought them after Ayden was born, for some reason a few months after he was born I got back to being pretty skinny again (not even trying) and bought these jeans. They fit like a glove, but not for long and since then, well yeah... you get the point. Until I get any ambition or win a bazillion dollars to afford a gym membership I'm content at just admiring them. At least they didn't cost a lot of money... a Gordman's steal! Anyways, way off on a tangent here... just thought the quote was funny and Monday's need a bit of funny in them!

Hey Jack! You know, this not being home on the weekend stuff really puts me behind on my blogging, but that's okay I guess. Just gives me more to write about when I have the time. So, I think I left off on Friday, right? Pretty sure... Jay and his cousin's and brother did end up going golfing which was a good thing. I got to babysit little Ayla. She was so good! Because she is nearing one I didn't know how she would be with the whole stranger thing, but she didn't cry at all, not one little tear the whole four hours that I watched her. We had fun chasing the cat, tipping block towers over, learning to accersorize (lol, yes I was totally teaching her that already, she loved trying on my rings!), and NOT eating her peas for supper. Mommy said she really loved them, but you could have fooled me. She was more interested in the grahman cracker and would smile everytime she took a bite. Too bad Ayden wasn't there because I know that he would have had fun trying to entertain her and would have wanted to help feed her.

Jay said that he did pretty bad golfing, but I know that he enjoyed it none the less. Steven spent the night with us seeing we were coming home on Saturday anyways. That way Jenny and Jerad didn't have to run him all the way home and then back to Neenah or Menasha where they live. Don't know which town it is exactly, although they are in pretty close proximity to each other. I felt kind of bad though because we didn't have a lot to do at our house that I thought Steven might enjoy. Jay kind of taught him how to play WOW and they both played Play Station for a while. I worked on a shirt that I am making for Ayden's birthday party. The shirt turned out super awesome, at least so far. I am debating if I want to decorate it a little more or not. The sayings turned out good and I'm afraid if I add anything else to it I might take away from the words, but I'm also afraid that if I don't, it will look to plain. Ah, the decisions, lol!

I also finished my powerpoint for Ayden's party! I then tried working on getting it to a DVD to play on the TV, but so such luck yet. I found a program that said would work for me, but it wasn't and I was kind of upset about it because I spent $10 on miniDVDs that said would work, but my computer won't read them. And we really don't need them for anything else. Maybe I will see if someone else can use them. I am still not resigned to giving up trying to get it to work on a TV, but if it doesn't then I guess it will be okay too. I have a few more things I want to try before giving up though. But in any case, the music works with it and the timing and everything are perfect! I cannot wait for everyone to see it!

On Saturday on our way to Chilton we stopped at Walmart and got Ayden's birthday present and some cat litter. We stopped at the one in Neenah because my mom said they had the big bags of cat litter and it was on sale and for some reason our Walmart didn't even have any small bags. So we got two big bags and that should last us for quite a while. The one thing I hate about having a cat is the whole cat litter thing. I like our new cat litter, this Feline Pines stuff because you cannot smell the urine which is sometimes pretty potent, but the BAD thing is that you can smell the doo-doo throughout the whole apartment when he goes. Thus, it needs to be cleaned ASAP as soon as he has done is business. Jay claims he can't smell it, but either he is lieing or has a really bad nose because it's disgusting!!! And well it's Jay's job to clean the litter box, however I do end up doing it probably at least once a week. UGH, I don't like it. It's hard to believe that we've had Diesel for over a year now! Too much time to get rid of him and have Ayden not remember. I don't think Ayden remembers that we had a cat before Diesel for about two weeks.

Okay, back to shopping trip. Btw, we spent SO much money this weekend, and it wasn't even splurge stuff. Okay, maybe we didn't need the $30 helium balloon kit for Ayden's party, but Jay wanted it and I liked seeing him get excited over stuff like that. We also stopped at the party store and got some decorations for the party as well. A few dinosaur things, but they were all out of the big dino balloon that I wanted to get. Prolly a good thing because it was $9! Ayden deserved it though, lol... well he would have if they would have had it in. After shopping we went to a surprise birthday party for three of Jay's cousins and I think it was actually a surprise to one of them. The other two had some what of an inkling, but weren't sure on anything. Lots of people came. Tons and tons of kids. Had we had to bring Ayden I am sure that he would have had a great time. Speaking of that, I really wanted to go see Ayden sometime on Saturday, but I decided against it because I didn't want him to pitch a fit when I had to leave without him. My sister called on Friday night saying that he had a bit of a fever and threw up while they were out. I told my dad that he could give him some medicine if the fever deemed it and I think he did end up giving him some. Ayden threw up twice more at about 3 and 4am, but was completely fine on Saturday and Sunday. One of those little flu things I guess. Alexis didn't get it. I blame Emily on giving it to him because she wasn't feeling very good Wednesday night, even though she said she didn't go by the kids. I didn't care though, he survived and better there than at our house.

We didn't stay at the party late because we had plans to go to bed early Saturday night because we had to get up at 3am to go fishing on Sunday morning. However, I forgot my rain maker noise thingy at home and thus couldn't fall asleep very fast. I am so accustomed to background noise that when it was completely silent I couldn't stand it. I ended up sleep on the futon and Jay in his bed and I think I fell asleep sometime after 10pm. 3am is definitely too early to be getting up and I don't think I've voluntarily gotten up at 3am or early since we went to Punta Cana with my dad. But I really wanted to go fishing so I got up.

We got out on the boat by about 5am. The boats name was the Toy Box! Thought that was a pretty cute name. The lake was by no means like glass, but it wasn't super wavy either. I didn't get sea sick either, yeah! But, the fishing was kind of a bummer. I couldn't believe how many lines Roger had out. I think 13 fishing poles and like 15 lines! And we didn't catch a single fish or have a single bite for the first three hours. We weren't the only one though, according to some other fishermen the fishing was going pretty slow for everyone. We ended up with four fish, of which I didn't reel any in. Jay did two and Steven did two. I did have one, apparently a pretty decent sized rainbow trout, but it got off the hook when it was almost in. I reeled it about halfway in before I could no longer do it and then handed the pole off to Jay. Somehow the fish got wrapped into another line so Jay and Steven were both reeling it in. They got it pretty close to the boat and it looked pretty dead, and all of a sudden the hook came out/off. We high tailed it around as fast as we could with all the lines we had out to go back for it, but then it disappeared. According to Jay and Rog, it was a nice size one that probably could have won a tournament, had their been one. Doesn't make me feel bad that I couldn't get it all the way in then because it was a pretty big thing and well I have absolutely no muscles. Lol, but all in all, it was a fun trip. LONG, we were out from about 5am until almost noon. I definitely got some sun on my face, but I had a sweatshirt and jeans on the whole time.

After the fishing trip we went to my dad's to get Ayden. He was just as excited to see us as we were to see him. We visited with my dad for a while before we left. It was kind of nice and I know that he enjoyed having Ayden for the week. A quick trip to pick up our things at Gerald and Michele's and then off to Point. I drove Jay's truck home because he was so tired. I don't often drive it, especially long distances like that, but I was okay with it. That way I didn't have to freak the whole time on the way back because of his driving, lol! Although the traffic was pretty light so that was good. When we got home it was about 6pm and then everyone pretty much crashed. Ayden fell asleep about half way home (he didn't have a nap yesterday) and I tried to wake him up when we got home, but he didn't want to so we just put him in bed. I didn't think he would sleep until 7am this morning, but he did. Actually, he woke up around 8pm and said he wanted to sleep on the futon in the living room so Jay and I moved him there and that is where he slept for the rest of the night. I don't know why he wanted to sleep there, but I didn't care, as long as it doesn't become a nightly thing. He deserves a treat like that every now and then. He is currently in his room 'resting', may or may not take a nap today, but I don't really care. I'm just happy to have him home.

Next week is Gerald and Michele's week to have him and as much as I enjoyed my free time last week, I am seriously probably going to go crazy without him. I know the grandparents love their time with him and that's how I justify it. Plus, Ayden loves being with them as well. As I'm sure he can get away with just a little bit more than he can while he is at home with us. Lol. At least they will be coming up by us on Thursday to go camping near Lake Emily, which is pretty near Point. Then I can go see him after only four days instead of five. Plus I take the GRE next week and will be really greatful for the extra alone time to study. Which by the way I have already set aside alotted time for the next two weeks to do. I'm going to try and do two hours a day of studying/practice tests to get on my game. I even took my books back to the library early so I wouldn't spend my time reading them. Even the one that I was already halfway through and would really liked to have finished. I will check it out again after my test though and finish it... it was getting pretty good.

Later today... this afternoon went pretty good. Ayden did not take a nap, but he's been very well behaved. I did get quite a bit of studying done, YEAH ME! However, I just get more and more depressed about this impending test because of the answers that I continue to get wrong. I thought this study guide was supposed to increase my score. Maybe I need to work a little harder, who knows? Lol! Ayden needs to take a bath tonight and I will probably study more. John and Kate Plus 8 is on, but only a half hour new show. Laundry needs to get done sometime this week, but it will not be tonight. I'm thinking Wednesday night is the time for that. Always putting it off. I made spaghetti for supper tonight and it turned out pretty good. I haven't cooked a decent meal in a while. Ayden was so excited to hear that we were having spaghetti because it is his favorite! But he told me he likes daycare's better, but then he said that he likes mine too. Made me feel a little better. Right now Jay and Ayden are playing with Ayden's machinery. I like that Ayden is getting older and now Jay can relate to him more.

A few pictures... hope you enjoy!

Me struggling to reel in my fish, which eventually got away in the end!
Jay holding up his fish!
Jay, me and Steven standing by our fish, even though I didn't reel any of these ones in.
Ayden and me at the swimming pool!
My girls (minus Robin) at Six Flags... Leah, Ciera, and Kristi!
Ayla giving me a smile while eating!
Me lounging at the top of the boat waiting for the fish to bite!
View from top of the boat... you can see five poles out and this is only one side of the boat.

Gonna get in a bit of 'relaxation' time before I hit the books again, and not the enjoyable reading ones that I took back to the library today either. :(

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Kind of a SSLLOOWW Week

'Nothing is too small to know, and nothing too big to attempt.'

I kind of like this quote. When you think you can't, believe that you can! Nothing is beyond reach as long as you BELIEVE!

Started Thursday... finished Friday...
Jackeres... There's a first time for everything, but not today... almost bounced a check. I think I may have a few years ago when still living at home, but never with USBank, and it's a good thing because they charge about $20 or $30 for a bounced check. So, it was a good thing when I checked my bank account today and realized that I need to transfer a bit of money. It wasn't anything major, but it showed that I wasn't on top of things like I usually am. I admit that I don't balance my check book on a daily or even a weekly basis, but I do go through them and compare them to the online statements and make sure that they clear. I have been on top of this very good lately because of our shortage of money. I was always making sure that we had enough for our bills. And we do, but apparently one check got overlooked and I didn't make sure it was counted the last time I got online. But in any case, I got online today and all is good because the check wasn't cashed yet so problems are okay. Well, even if the check would have been cashed, I would still have money, it would have been the following two checks that I sent out on Tuesday that would have bounced, and since today is only Thursday, odds are the companies are first getting the checks today and will probably cash them today or soon. All is good!

I had another weird dream last night. It involved needing to build something and the directions were not clear enough and I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I think I was in some sort of contest as well and Jay was with me. He kept asking me what to do next and I couldn't tell him because I didn't know. Stupid directions and building things, lol!

Tomorrow afternoon I get to babysit one of Jay's cousins for a little while. Jay, Steven, and his cousin and her husband are going golfing at Sentry. Jay is really excited because Sentry has an awesome golf course, but it is super expensive to golf there and his cousin has a coupon or gift certificate. Something along the lines of making it cheaper to golf and they have been trying to plan this since last year. Last summer it didn't work out, so they managed to fit it in this summer. However, the weather men are calling for a 50% chance of rain/storms tomorrow afternoon into early evening. Well they aren't going golfing until 4ish so that is like prime rain time. I really hope that it doesn't rain or storm on them because they have been waiting to do this for such a long time now. And I can't wait to babysit. Well, it's not so much 'baby' sit as the little girl is almost one, but it has been so long since I have been with little ones that I can't wait. I love it when they are little, however am glad that Ayden isn't that small anymore. I don't miss the diapers, bottles, etc... but I do miss the tinyness and rocking to sleep. Ayden does give me cuddles here and there, but it is never for very long. Is he already starting the 'I'm embarrased by my mom' thing? Lol... I CAN definitely wait for the day when he tells me, 'Mom, you can drop me off at the corner and I can walk the rest of the way.' And that will be the day that I drive him all the way to the front of school and give him the biggest smooch and squeeze (our household terms for kiss and hug) that any mom can give. LOL! Okay, probably not because then I would probably be getting the silent treatment for the next day and a half. But it was a funny thought. Oh how I wish that day never comes!

Friday now, last night me, Leah, and Ciera ended up getting together at Ciera's to study some. And guess what, we actually did some studying. It got me more motivated to study farther. Yeah! Leah is supposed to be taking the GRE next Friday, but she is thinking about cancelling it, which would cost her about $50 and rescheduling for later. Now I'm not sure if she would get refuned the orginal $140, but I would imagine so. I don't know what she is going to do. Whatever it is, as long as it is best for her. We also had a fun time chatting it up for a while. We only stayed for about 2 hours because Leah had to get back to her sister's, but after two hours of studying we were pretty much ready to call it a night.

As I stated earlier, Jay is supposed to be going golfing later today, but that might not happen. The weather is looking kind of iffy and I don't know if they will end up going if it gets bad. He has been keeping an eye on it to let his cousin know if she should come up or not. He just left a few minutes ago to go practice his swing at the driving range. It's kind of cloudy and drizzly out right now. Overall just one of those kind of days I think.

Jay and I slept in until 9am this morning. Something that doesn't happen very often. We often get up with Ayden around 7 or 8am and then lounge on the couch for a few hours, but to be able to sleep in our bed without interuptions until 9am... better cherish it! Lol, but I am really starting to miss Ayden. When I called my dad last night he said that Ayden was doing fine and having lots of fun. Sleeping good, going potty good, not missing mommy and daddy good. He didn't even want to talk to me on the phone. Kinda sad about that, but I figure it's better that he is having fun and not realizing that I'm not there than crying about wanting to come home. I think I might have mentioned that my brother and sister are also at my dad's house this week so he has them to keep him company too. I know that having my sister there must help a little as well. Ayden knows my dad, but is definitely not as close to him as he is with Emily.

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Reading and Relaxation

'I am tempted to think... there are no little things.'

Now, I'm not so sure I wholeheartedly agree with this quote because I tend to like the little things. Sometimes I think those are the things that mean the most, but maybe we should consider the little things big things too?! Either way, I liked the quote and hope my fellow readers do as well...

Jack, today was nice and relaxing. I started a new book, another one by Jodi Picoult. Only 30 or so pages into it and thus far it is pretty good. I also worked on Ayden's slideshow thing for his birthday. It's coming along pretty nice now. Well at least I am happy with it. I didn't watch a lot of TV like I thought I would, but really I didn't have the time. I was busy working away. I also didn't take a nap, which is good so I will be able to sleep tonight.

It's been nice to have Ayden gone for a little while, but I feel myself kind of lost. I looked at the clock before and was thinking, oh about an hour and then it's bed time for Ayden and then had to tell myself, wait, I don't have to worry about that tonight because he is not here. And this afternoon as I was reading, I didn't have to worry about checking on the time to see how long Ayden had been napping for. I kind of wanted to call my dad tonight to check up on Ayden and to even talk to him for a bit (the little that he does talk on the phone), but Jay suggested that I wait until tomorrow and to at least give Ayden a day before I call. I know that he's not missing me right now and I don't want to call and then get him to miss me. You know? I'm sure the first few days will be fine, well I think he might be fine the whole time he is there, but maybe, just maybe he will be wanting to come home by Sunday. He should, lol, I'll be really wanting him to come home then.

Tonight I think I will just work some more on Ayden's project and probably read again. I know that at some point I should study for the GRE and I probably will. Friday maybe when I am super bored with myself. Hopefully we are still getting together tomorrow night for a study session, as we've been trying to get together for about two weeks.

I had the weirdest dream last night about my first boyfriend. I can't remember much about it, just that he was in it. I can't even say if we were together, I was interested, or whatever, just the fact that he was there. But I do know that when I woke up I was like, hey, that's weird that I dreamt about him, I haven't thought about him in gosh knows how many years. I always have weird dreams though so I guess it isn't something new. Some I remember more than others. I also dream a lot about things I shouldn't be dreaming about and I'm not so sure how I should be feeling about that. Always confused, lol.

CIAO FOR NOW! LOVE ME!

No Quote Today

Jack, there will be no quote today and simply because I am feeling kind of lazy and don't want to get the quote books out and look up one. But I do have to say that my all time favorite quote is 'I love you Mommy!' Now tell me a mom that wouldn't melt at hearing those words. Thought so, so hope you enjoyed that and hope all the mom's reading this relish those words as much as I do and all the will be mom's someday look foward to it just as much as I did before I first heard it.

Things have been kind of crazy at work this week so far and it's only Tuesday. It's not what I'm doing, but another section of the office and some brochures that they ordered and the result that came back and the over 5500 that have been sent out wrong! Oh the joyous stories that I've been hearing, it is too funny! Everyone at work is super nice and great and so funny!

Ayden woke up kind of crabby this morning. I thought that we might have a hard time with getting dressed and ready for daycare, but after a few minutes he was fine. He just needed an extra few minutes to adjust being awake. When I went into his room to wake him up his first words were 'I'm still sleeping!' Not the first time he's said it and I know it won't be the last either. In fact, I'm sure it's only going to get worse as he gets older and older. I can't even begin to imagine him as a teenager. My sweet little guy growing into someone like Steven or Casey, ha, lol! But I know that if I blink too many times he will be that old already!

I finished my book this afternoon while Ayden was resting, he didn't nap today. I was kind of upset with the ending, but it's usually that way. Overall the book was good and I stopped at the library today to get two more books to read this week while Ayden is gone. Another Jodi Picoult and a Patricia Cornwell. I haven't read any of her books in a long time. I used to read them all the time and have probably read 3/4 of them. Most of them have the same characters in and I like that. To see them progress as each new book comes out. Although I was pretty mad when she killed off the love interest and then brought him back to life a few books later. Well not really brought him back to life, but he wasn't really dead in the first place.

My dad showed up around 6ish to get Ayden. Wendy and Alexis came with him. They stayed for about an hour and Alexis and Ayden were already playing really well together. I like to see that. Ayden was getting really hyper though and I know it was partly because of the new people here and partly because he didn't have a nap and was kind of over tired. They were going to Mickey D's for supper and I know that Ayden was excited about that. They were going to the play place one at the edge of town. Expend some more energy... I hope that he behaves pretty well and doesn't get too homesick. I don't think that he will because he will have a playmate.

Jay and I went to Pizza Hut for supper tonight. It was nice to just get to go out to eat with the two of us. Doesn't really happen that often, so when it does we relish it. Although, it's too quiet in the house now. Nice to just get that alone relaxing time, but it hasn't even been three hours and I miss my little guy. Lol, I will probably miss him more than he will miss me.

I thought work was going to suck today because I didn't have anything that needed to be done, but then my boss surprised me and gave me a big task which was kind of nice. It wasn't hard and/or super boring and kept me there making money. Plus, I like helping her get things done.

Think I might go work on Ayden's powerpoint thing for his birthday now. CIAO! LOVE ME!

And $800 Later...

'Remember tonight, for it is the beginning of always.'

No comments on this one really, just thought it was nice!

Jack... Today was a good start to the week for the most part. This morning Jay ended up taking his vehicle in. Yesterday while we were driving we started to hear Jay's brakes grind. He said that they still were working fine and we were stopping like normal, but it just didn't sound all that good. So he called the shop this morning and told them of his scenario and to see what a diagnostic would cost. They said not a whole lot and we brought the truck in. A few hours later Jay called me with the bad news saying that his brakes and roters (whatever those may be) needed replacing. He also gave me an estimate which included fixing his exhaust as well, as that has been pretty loud for the past couple of months. The price tag stung a little bit, but seeing as we had a bit of extra money set aside I said to get it all done. There is never going to be a good time to get these things fixed and I was just happy not to have to charge it. I didn't want to dip into the little money that we did have set aside, but at least we had it there. We still do have some left, in case anything else comes up, but I'm hoping that nothing does. And so, $800 later Jay's truck has new brakes, roters, and exhaust and hopefully everything will be fine for the next year, if not longer. Although, I will be needing new tires on my car within the next year because they are almost five years old.

Ayden gets to spend the week at my dad's house this week. My dad is coming to pick him up tomorrow night and Ayden will be with him until Sunday afternoon. I know I will be missing him by Wednesday afternoon, but I know that he will have a blast playing with Alexis. I love when they get to spend time together because it isn't very often. Also, my brother and sister will be at my dad's house so Ayden will get to spend lots of time with them as well. Ayden spends a lot of time with Emily when we visit usually, but not really Casey. I am going to insist that my dad takes tons and tons of pictures. I still need to pack his clothes and get a few other things ready. Ayden is really excited about it as well! I also know that my dad likes spending time with Ayden because we don't visit him as often as I would like either.

Also on Sunday morning, and by that I mean starting at like 2am, Jay and I are going to be going fishing on Lake Michigan. Well, if the weather cooperates and no one charters a fishing trip between now and then. I am really excited and hope that I can reel in a big fish. The biggest fish that I have ever brought in was some little sheephead off of Lake Winnebago and you don't even keep those. I like to fish as long as I get something and it doesn't take too long.

This afternoon we had to take back some window blinds to both Walmart and Menards. We are trying to replace the ones in our windows, but cannot find the right size. Jay is thinking they were custom cut. The string broke on the ones in our room so the blinds are stuck half way up, won't go down or up, and Ayden broke some of the blinds in his room a couple of months back. His still work so I don't think we will worry about that more until we decide to move. But it just sucks that we cannot find the size that we want. We will have to call the manager and see if they can provide us with some new ones.

I decided today that my mom can get me the two books that I really want to buy for my birthday. That way I won't have to spend the money and she will be able to give me something other than money for my birthday. I really wanted to get Breaking Dawn on the day that it came out, but if it saves me money that is good. Also, if I get it that day then I won't study for the GRE like I should be during that time. I hope to get a lot of studying done this week while Ayden is gone as well.

I started a new book by Jodi Picoult... My Sister's Keeper. It is pretty good thus far. I am about half way through it. Reading is just so nice and relaxing and it makes time fly. Something that I wish would stand still for a while here and there, but never does. Too bad, because Ayden is just growing up too fast!

I have to say that this blogging really feels kind of nice. I didn't realize how much I missed writing about my life. I am a writer, well not of stories, but I love to write letters/journal/etc... and I'd like to think that I am semi good at it. I don't know if I can say the same about essays and such forth for school, but I also try to be as eloquent as I can for those. Being in the profession that I am going into, you need to know how to write half way decent. They press that over and over again. So, I try. But really, this outlet, venting, whatever you want to call it, it's really been nice these past couple of months and I hope that I can keep up with it faithfully once school starts again. I cannot promise anything, but I think it is good for my inner self being able to get everything out that is bothering me and not being judged for it. Well maybe I'm being judge, I guess I don't know who all reads this... in any case, it's just good.

John and Kate Plus 8 is new tonight, yeah, because it seems like it's been forever since I've seen a new episode. And next week they meet the characters from Sesame Street. How cool would that be for little kids?! CIAO! LOVE ME!