Happy New Years Eve!

I had my first date with Beerman 7 years ago today. Wow, lots has changed in 7 years. He's getting high on epoxy fumes (re-painting tile in the bathroom) and I'm in an old pair of his jeans watching C-man terrorize the dogs. I realized yesterday when I got the mail that C-man's daycare is closed on Tuesday. Why in the hell would they be closed on the 2nd?!? Anyhow, now I'm scrambling. Our usual babysitter can do the afternoon. She just e-mailed me saying her 26 year old social work sister can do the morning. Apparently she works at MPS and they don't start school until the 3rd. I've never met the girl, but like her sister a lot, and am desperate. So welcome to our home! Since we couldn't get a sitter for the night, we're having crab cakes, steak, and Talledega Nights. Wow, lots can change in 7 years.

I Just Ate My Bonus

I ran a bunch of errands this morning. Geocaching, library, bank, etc. Most importantly, I sent in our last daycare payment for reimbursement for the flexible spending account. I hate that use-it-or-lose it crap, but what can you do - $600 is $600. Then I got home, put C-man in bed (he fell asleep at the bank), sat down at the table, and took my sweet ol' time and ate my holiday bonus. That's right, boys and girls, I got a chocolate-covered caramel apple as my holiday bonus. Oh my God, corporate America sucks. On another important note, Beerman and I met 7 years ago today.

Caching and more caching

I found this one and this one. Couldn't find this one -- there was too much trash in the area. Beerman is painting the tile in our bathroom. I'm a bit nervous, but if it doesn't work out, it means I get new tile. So I guess I can't lose anything but time. Off to do some errands. Enjoy your weekend!

4 Day Weekend!

Woo hoo! Don't have to work until Tuesday. I love time off. I took it upon myself to be the off-site lunch coordinator today. The poor saps (me included) never leave that joint to eat. So we went to Su Casa II in Sussex. Let me spare you the visit - don't go. Refried beans from a can, crappy ambiance, and the server told us the difference between the fajitas and the sizzling fajitas was the price. I'm off to geocache tomorrow. Wahoo!

Back to Work Wednesday

I want to start eating better, so what do I do this morning, but go through McDonalds drive-thru. As my past history tells me, this is a bad decision. But, I decided to order the orange juice instead of coffee, at least making one sound decision. And then I get to the window. And the guy hands me a large coffee. My caffeine-deprived body almost went into convulsions. I took it and screeched out of the parking lot, laughing maniacally. "Ha-ha-ha! I've got caffeine." But because I got the coffee, I also got the wrong breakfast. I ate it anyhow, which was a bad move. Guess the joke's on my hurting intestines now. Christmas has officially overstimulated C-man. Last night he wouldn't sleep between the hours of 12:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. because he wanted to "Crawl in fort!" and "Watch Bob Builder!" and "Bounce in castle" and "Big Scoop". Whew... I'm looking rough today. Between the lack of sleep and too much sugar, my face looks like I'm 14 years old. And finally, goodbye Mr. 38th. Your pardon was disgraceful, WIN was a flop, but president you were. So goodbye.

Successful Caching

We went geocaching as Team Rysewyk this afternoon. I got this one, this one, and this one. This could get addicting. Beerman is the driver, I'm the searcher, and C-man yells "Muggles" if someone is approaching. Good times.

Happy Boxing Day!

It's the day-after post-Christmas letdown day. Otherwise known in the rest of the world as Boxing Day. After grandma and grandpa left, we took a trip to the dogpark for H-bones and R-dog. I'm pretty tired after "sleeping" on an air mattress last night. Whew, I usually do better than that. Christmas was nice. My in-laws were here on the 24th and got some quality time with C-man. They're rarely (never) here, so it was nice to have some time together. They enjoyed C-man's antics. My parents came last night for dinner and the night and got to play "fort" and "Bob the Builder". They left this morning for snowbirdville in Florida. So the plans for today are: play with toys, geocache a bit (I have 3 scouted out, and just have to locate the actual cache), watch a little "Bob the Builder", get a new showerhead (Beerman's been working on our never-ending bathroom project and suggested we get one of those multi-head showerheads - woo hoo!), eat some leftover turkey, and nap. For those of you actually boxing things up today, enjoy!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

Here he comes... it's your last chance to be nice! Oh, screw it. Be happy, healthy, and merry. If Santa doesn't appreciate that, then phewy on him. My in-laws are coming today. Parents tomorrow. Let the merriment begin.

Ironies

I bought a pack of scissors today because I can never find mine, and when I do, they're dull. When I got them home, I realized that they were sealed in such a way to need scissors to open them. I took a bottle of insanely expensive French wine to my former boss for Christmas. I took it over about 5 hours before she boarded a plane to Paris. While shopping at our hardware store, we heard an old guy employee complaining about the Muslims of the world, and how there won't be peace until "they're all dead." Okay, that one's not ironic, just so incredibly stupid that I had to include it. I won't be shopping there again. It's the final craa-zy night of Hanaukkah. If that's your holiday, enjoy. My in-laws come tomorrow to celebrate Christmas. I still can't believe they're not staying overnight, but that's their choice. My parents come Christmas night as their springboard to a winter in Florida. So it's looking to be family-filled for the next few days. Enjoy your holidays! Here's hoping you get all you asked for. And if not, then go buy it yourself.

Wet, Wetter and Wettest

I left the house to go in search of my very first geocache find with my brand new GPS. I figured out the coordinates, and then realized I had to walk across a soaking wet soccer field. Upon walking across the soccer field, I realized that it was completely covered in goose shit. Lovely. At least the rain washed my shoes clean. On the bright side, I located my very first cache! Woo-hoo! I took a sticker and didn't leave anything behind because I didn't have anything small enough to leave. When I got home, I removed my wet shoes, and went in the basement to do some laundry while I wrapped presents. I should have left my shoes on because the basement is totally flooded - a veritable river rushing over my feet. I just spent an hour mopping it up. I'll be doing the wet laundry all day. Ugh... who would have thought we'd have to deal with a flooded basement the week of Christmas?! Anyone want to get us a new sump pump for Christmas?

I've Got the Day Off!

Happy Friday!

Coordinates

I finally figured out today, no thanks to the useless frickin' manual, how to locate coordinates on my gps. Wahoo! I'm off work tomorrow, so guess what I'm doing. It still doesn't let me set future coordinates, which is a big bummer. It still keeps trying to "burn in" and failing. Anyone know what that means? I just keep pushing buttons trying to figure it out. Useless technical writers... I don't have to go back to work until Wednesday. But we went from having a quiet time at home to a house full for my days off, so I'm going to enjoy my tomorrow with just me and the dogs. I only have 2 gifts left to buy, and they're not "due" until January. So I'm good there. Yippee!

Thoughtful Tuesday

Only a few days until Christmas. C-man knows that Jesus says, "I love you". I've got a great family, a house, 2 dogs, a healthy body, and lots of crap - more than I need. And I've got Friday off. Guess life is pretty good.

DTE 0

Thursday night I had a nightmare. I was driving in my car, and the DTE (distance 'till empty) was at 1. Friday afternoon I was late to meet our photographer (your holiday card should have been in your box today). I was not quite there, and the DTE was 2. I ran on 0 for a couple of miles until I could get to the gas station. For those of you who don't know me well, this was a nightmare. Today was one of those DTE 0 days... I got to work, pulled in my parking spot, and the guy next to me opens his door wide... smashing into the side of me. I actually felt the whiplash. Good thing his crappy Corolla is no match for my bitchin' van. Then I got to work, went to turn on my computer, and realized I had left it at home. I had meetings until 11, so left after that. But by that point, I was frazzled. Every meeting running late, and then racing 20 mph above the speed limit to get to C-man's daycare by 6 p.m. Whew... glad to be home.

Weekend Wrapup

Saturday we went to Stevens Point for my family's Christmas gathering. Way too much food, and good conversation. It's always good to see the niece and nephews... the loot wasn't bad either. I got a GPS, gloves, and bird bath. C-man got a train set, Sesame Stree tool belt, some trucks, a DVD, and I know something else, but it's alluding me right now. Beerman had his birthday celebration plus Christmas, so ended up with loads of good stuff: hot sauce, crock pot, MP3 player, and a power washer. The best line of the weekend was from my nephew who was playing a video game: "Pussy Puss-nuts, eat my dirt!" After that, we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house for some good cheer. We came back today. We're exhausted and grumpy. 3 days off, and I need 3 more. Maybe I could tell my boss to "Eat my dirt!" without the pussy puss-nuts part... Then again, maybe not.

Wrapping the day away

Beerman and I are home today. We're finishing up Christmas shopping, and I'm wrapping it all. Holy crap, that's a lot of work just so someone can rip it. How annoying. Good news, besides being off today, is that I get my holiday cards at 2 p.m. Look in your mailbox for the family picture! And just a warning, it's not stellar like years past, but makes us laugh, which is why we went with it. Tomorrow's holiday with the Pelot's in Point. Good times.

I'm Lovin' It

On my way to work, I was so hungry I went through the drive-thru at the Golden Arches. Had a sausage biscuit and that new and improved coffee that I'm pretty sure tastes just like dirt. This was the first of several bad decisions of the day. The good news is that the photographer posted our photos online from our session last week. The bad news is, we can now select from the shot of Rileydog licking himself or me with my eyes closed. All in all, I'd say they're all perfect for the Brew Family Christmas card. Now I've just got to get them printed and sent out. I've got Friday off work. I'm so excited to get some sleep and finish my Christmas shopping. Woo-hoo!

Living Healthier

I keep telling myself that I've got to live healthier. Eat better, exercise more, brush my teeth after every meal, not get stressed out about small things, not worry about Christmas card pictures that never come so my cards won't get out until the end of December (damn that photographer!)... So today I ate 3 brownies instead of 4. I figured I can't do them all. I've received a few Christmas letters this year. And it got me to thinking - why would someone subject you to that? And it dawned on me - these are not people I speak to regularly. Yet because it's Christmas, these relatives, friends, acquaintances, etc. feel it's okay to send me an entire letter detailing their lives over the past year. So my question is, if you haven't felt it important enough to speak to me over the past year and tell me these things, why on earth would I want to read a letter detailing the little known facts about your life just because it's Christmas? It's the birth of Jesus, not a time to blabber on about stuff you haven't felt relevant enough the past 11 1/2 months. After all, I've got enough on my plate just dealing with paragraph one.

Pet Peeves of the Holidays

1. People who send cards and have an apostrophe on their name. For example "The Smith's". The Smith's what? The Smith's card? A little lesson - an apostrophe announces ownership or posession. Please, for the love of God, do not include an apostrophe in your name if you send me a card. I just can't post it on my wall if it's grammatically incorrect. 2. Photographers who take your picture for a Christmas card, and then go MIA. Do not tell me you'll take my picture, do just that, and then ignore me for a week. It's the 10th of December, for God's sake, and I haven't even seen our photo yet, let alone gotten it printed and mailed. UGH! At this rate, I'm going to end up with New Years cards... for 2008! 3. Headaches that won't go away. I actually had a nose bleed on the massage table yesterday morning. I was so embarassed.

TGIF!!!

I love Friday. Beerman sent me an e-mail this morning telling me I've got a massage at 10:15 tomorrow morning. Oh, my God... I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. And this is crass, but makes me laugh hard...

Thursday Thinkin'

My head hurts - take 4. 4 damn days of a headache. At least my right eye isn't bright red anymore. I've been pretty miserable.

Happy St. Nick's!

So there was a session on work-life balance at work today. In my 1-hour session, I learned that I shouldn't do anything, but instead hire it all to be done for me. And when I'm in the poor-house and can't pay my electric bill, I'll be sure to call that class facilitator and let her know. One tip was actually to get into transcendental meditation. Sure, I'll sit on the floor and meditate while C-man jumps on top of my with Muck and Roley singing, "Bob Builder - Fix it!" I live on Rexleigh Drive, not Walden Pond, lady. St. Nick came and was very good to me... jammies from Ann Taylor - Loft. Love that. The other notable thing about today is that it's December 6th, and every single piece of my Advent chocolate has gone to C-man. He gets so excited when it's time for his "TREAT!" that I can't deny him. Damnit.

Mission Accomplished

I finished my 52nd book last night - Three Dog Life. It's not on my recommended list unless you want to be bored and depressed. I finished my 53rd book today - The Constant Princess. It's by Philipa Gregory and about Catherine of Aragon, married to Henry VIII. I like the Philipa Gregory stuff and would recommend it if you're into that genre. We've been watching the Sopranos - 6th season. Man, that season sucks. So disappointing. We've been getting a few Christmas cards here and there. It makes me sad because I don't have mine yet. We only got the photo taken Sunday, and I haven't even seen them yet. Poop. I hate being this late. My right eye is red, irritated and really gross looking. How do you know if it's pink eye? I've never had it. It hurts like hell though. St. Nick comes tonight. C-man is getting more in the Bob the Builder hand-sized trucks. He didn't have Muck or Roley yet. In other advancements, he can now sing the theme song. I haven't decided if that's good or bad yet... Hope St. Nick brings you all you wish for!

Blogs and Knitting -- Oh Crap!

So I've got a blog. And I'm teaching myself to knit. Shit. I'm one PETA membership from being absolutely ridiculous. Thank God I ate some good rare red meat this weekend. There will be no pretend-vegetarianism from this girl. At least I'm safe on that front. I'll probably die of a heart attack before I'm 35, but whatever. And to be clear, the knitting is because a bunch of people do it at work. Since I'm so new, I figured I could make some friends if I could eat and at least pretend to knit. And who knows, maybe I'll like it and make something useful. I hope I'm better at it than I was at pottery! We had our 007-themed progressive party this weekend. I don't know what was best - the stiff martinis, the 007 theme, the fact that we had a babysitter for the night, or that the houses were so enormous, I couldn't afford the taxes let alone to buy one. Great night. When we bought our dining room table, we spent an extra $40 to get the wood protection plan. After 3 years, I called it in, and had the guy come today. He's at the house now. At first I thought I would get sick from the smell of his cheap cologne. But at this point, it was marvelous compared to the crap he's spraying around now to fix the table. Whew! The poor bastard is starting to sing... I'm pretty sure he's high from the fumes.

Friday Snow

Poor Mexican president. He rigs an election, makes a democratic nation angry, and now is whining that he doesn't have the support of the people on his innaguration. If he suggests invading Venezuela because of their oil, I'm going to be frightened. It's December 1st. For most people, they see that as the first day of December. Or even of Advent. I, however, see it as the first piece of chocolate in my little calendar. Yum. Since it is December 1st, it's also World AIDS day. While in Botswana, we were told that the interior villages had rates of 70% of the population infected with HIV/AIDS. It's almost unfathomable. So if you can unbury yourself from this snow dump, wear your red. Speaking of the snow, I got to leave work at 1 today. Beautiful. Only one more day until the James Bond party...