whatever

saturday…

look what we learned from emily.
she makes everything look like fun.
i get at least one great idea every week.
my kids loved the cooked-on designs.
craig made me a $ sign “cause you’re so money”
hee hee hee

friday…

we took the kids for pizza.
does it look gross?
it was.
as they all were going bonkers in the car on the way home
craig said “remind me again why we take them out to eat.”
hmmmm.

thursday….

annie got to play with friends all morning.
they are such creative little girls.
their moms don’t let them watch much tv…
i wonder if that’s related to how imaginative they are?
(i will pretend i didn’t notice that.)

we had a beautiful spring evening.
sunset is my favorite time of day.
the glow of the sun just makes everything yellow.
our poor bunny.
annie loves on him more than he would like…
but i think he’s happy to be out of his cage at the same time.

birthday gifts came in the mail.
craig’s new ties from the tie bar.
(great online source for ties…btw)
he has to wear a suit everyday so he gets excited about this.
then we even had a rare 10 minutes where our daughter was speaking to us.
(and even smiling and being silly)
she asked “how do you tie one of those?”
she got a lesson from a pro.
and had to take a self portrait (1 of 100 that day i’m sure)

wednesday….

photo by annie.

this is the craft room.

this was the west side before…

then i cleared it out.

and covered everything up.

and the new bathroom construction began.

we’re spliting the craft room in half.
there will be a wall between the bathroom and craft side.
this room was a sleeping porch (long ago)
so the floor was built sloped – a 4 inch difference.
that’s why we had to take the floor up to even it out.
we had to do the same thing in our kitchen below this room
for the same reason.
(and by WE i mean the contractor…we haven’t done a thing.)

i will try not to over post about this project.
but i am so excited i can almost feel the bubble bath now.
we have yet to pick all the tile and fixtures.
and i am picky.
poor craig.

this amazing house was 2 houses down from the b&b in OK.
it was so beautiful (once)
and so sad at the same time.

it was tall and grand.
you can’t tell from the picture how big it really was.
i can imagine how it looked when someone was proud to own it.
i wonder who it was.

there were details and extras on everything.
and everything was overscale.
it’s sad that it is so run down…to the point of no return most likely.
there are holes in the roof which ruined all 3 stories of wood floors.
the gigantic porch lights and columns were FULL of bird nests.
the porch was full of holes and i was worried i may fall through.
and the worst part…when we peeked in the windows…
inside it’s totally stripped of almost all it’s woodwork.

it’s for sale….
any takers?
you may want to watch the money pit first.
i love that movie…
although sometimes it hits a little too close to home.

we ended craig’s birthday with strawberry cake at 8:30.
we didn’t eat dinner till 8:00…on a school night!
it was just a busy day.
there are always lots of helpers to blow out candles.

earlier in the day we took in some sun.
bubble guns are too cool.

i picked up the kids from grandma’s on monday morning.
poor annie had so much fun she just conked out.
her seat belt doubles as a pillow.

craig’s birthday gift from me was a weekend alone.
our parents took the kids for the whole weekend!
thank you so much…it was fabulous.
we pretended we were young and cool and kid-less.
we worked on the house, we went out, we cooked grown up food.
i think craig’s birthday weekend was pretty great.
he agrees.

and these are just a few happy pics of the craft room all cleaned up on saturday.
it doesn’t look like this anymore.
i’ll show you soon what’s going on in there.
now…i MUST get out in that sunshine.

happy birthday honey.
you are my best friend.
you are so funny.
you are smart and you are caring…in a manly way.
i am the luckiest girl in the world.

are you embarrassed enough yet?

oh one more thing…
you are HOT!
happy birthday.

we went for a walk
so we could see this.

it’s hard to see
but half of this great big old tree just blew over in the wind.
it must have been so loud.

we continued on our walk
and came home with this.

he followed us all the way home.
no one was looking for him.
we gave him a bath and brushed him.
we fed him a hot dog.

all the kids loved on him all evening.
they wanted to keep him so badly.

i called the humane society the next day
and got a call back from the supposed “owner.”

s.o: “i let the dog out and my wife is so worried. is he really really tiny?”
me: “no…he’s small but not tiny”
s.o: “but is he a puppy?”
me: “like a baby? no…he has gray hair all over his back”
s.o: “but is his hair shaved?”
me: “no…he looks like he needs a haircut really bad?”
s.o: “i’ll be right over”

?????
is it just me or did he just describe a completely different dog?

he showed up at my door a few minutes later.
his car died in my driveway.
he was a big dude.
he said “oh yeah that’s him. that’s jackson! thanks”
he took the dog and left.
just like that…no questions or small talk.
it was over so quick.

i am wondering if he was going to try
the old switcheroo on his wife.
like on ‘meet the parents’ with mr. jinxy.

oh well…it’s not my problem right?
i kept him from getting run over by a car.
and sometimes that’s all you can do.

i have been tagged twice…
by amy and jimaie and kate.

so 7 more random things.
i was tagged way back in november too.

let’s see….

1. i have been to the oprah show.

it’s almost 10 years ago now.
we lived in the chicago area and i called all the time when they asked for people to call in to be on a show to discuss a topic. it didn’t matter the subject i just wanted tickets. when i finally got someone to answer i was so excited. then the operator asked me “so you are a big tony bennett fan?” i said “um…yes. he’s like a frank sinatra guy right?” she semi-laughed. i told her i just wanted to come to see oprah. she put me on a list. they didn’t find enough tony bennett fans so i got to go! it was a show with the stars from general hospital…luke and laura? and then tony bennett sang and showed his paintings. it was pretty cool. i think i wore a navy blue jumper!! oh my goodness. hopefully we never see that tape.

2. i have seen every SNL show since high school.
it’s a weekly guaranteed laugh.
and to the people who say “it used to be funnier when….”
i question your loyality.
it’s always funny.
period.
i apologize ahead for the bleeped out swearing…
it’s worth it.

3. i hate american idol.
gasp!
did i admit to that?
well it’s true.

i don’t like to watch any singing on tv so that show just makes me cringe.
i don’t watch the music on SNL either.
(unless maybe it’s U2)

4. if i am going to do sit-ups (that’s a big if) i have to be in line with something.
either straight in line with the wall or lining up with floorboards. does that weirdness make sense? i can’t concentrate if i am not straight. like in an exercise class…my mat and step must be straight exactly like the instructor.
there is no picture to go with my weirdness.

5. i have accidently locked my children in my car 4 times…as far as i recall.
it could be more.

*the first time was when lauren was a baby. i shut the door and realized immediately the keys were inside. it was raining. i stopped a woman walking by and frantically sent her to get help. she came running out of the mall waving her arms and yelling “DON”T WORRY! Mall Security is ON THE WAY!”
everyone likes that story.
*the second time i was at a gas station and i locked them inside with baby lauren.
craig had to drive all the way over and help me.
*the third time i had my daycare children with me. i parked in front of my apartment building then i locked them all inside. some were asleep, some weren’t. one of their moms showed up and i was in the parking lot and said “i locked the kids in the car. our janitor is getting an extra apartment key so i can get an extra van key. sorry.”
*and the 4th time…i hit the lock while i was loading in bags of dirt in my truck. this time it was running in the k-mart parking lot with 2 babies inside in their carseats. i had to run inside and call a friend to drive to my house and go in my back door and find my extra key and then bring it to me at k-mart.
it’s rough being my friend.
thank you again sue k. if you are reading this.

6. once in high school…my friend and i stole a straw dispenser from mcdonalds.

the entire big box that you push the thing and one straw rolls out.
isn’t that terrible?
but man, at 16 years old we sure thought it was hysterical.
especially every time we got a straw while driving in her car.

7. on my first date with craig we sang “Ice Ice Baby”.
“word to your mother”

we went cruising that night with it cranked up on his stereo in his little rusty mazda glc.
good times.

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are you glad you asked amy and jimaie?
that’s doubtful…