Jennifer's Picks

Yes, I know, I'm not Oprah. But I figure if she can pick her top things she likes from the previous month, so can I.

Kiss My Face Lavender Lotion

Paraben-free, good smelling, and works really well

Super Why!

C-mans favorite show. It makes him LOVE books. We have to record it because it's on at 9 a.m. on PBS, but that's okay. Last night he even ate dinner because we said it was the only way he could watch it. Now THAT'S something!

Silver Palate Cookbook

If you don't have this one in your arsenal, get it yesterday. It's fabulous.

Simply Vera Vera Wang pajamas

So comfy, you'll never get out of them

Homedics Back Massager with Heat

My back has been killing me. This is the only way I can sit up straight at night.

TGIF

C-man's picture won the photo of the month award. So we get his picture professionally framed. That's pretty cool. My back is beyond killing me. I haven't slept more than 1 hour at a time in a week. If my back doesn't kill me, the lack of sleep sure is. But, it's the weekend. And we have no plans. That is the only thing that's going to save me. I am so excited, I can hardly contain myself.

Happy 2008!

Last night, C-man had his first official, traditional New Years Eve fondue. It was a giant hit. Well, the cheese or hotdogs being dipped. The broccoli... not so much:

And of course, I'm not one of those people to say, "I don't make resolutions". I LOVE New Years resolutions. So here are my top 3:

• CREATE A HOUSEHOLD BUDGET. (I know, I know, we should HAVE one already. But that's precisely the problem! I hate the finances. Beerman hates the finances. So we're just lucky enough to have enough to not worry about it. But with an impending job loss this year, this is beyond foolish. So I'm creating a budget we can live with and stick to.)
• LEARN THE GUITAR. (I've wanted to do this for years. So 2008 is the year that I get on it and learn how to play.)
• SECRET. (Yes, I shouldn't have a blog and have secrets too. But trust me, I've got a third resolution that I can't publicize. Maybe someday I'll let you in on it. Then again, maybe not. But it's my 3rd one, and I'll do it.)

8 Years Ago...

...I met my husband at the Milwaukee Ale House. Wow. 8 years of living the dream, baby. ******************** After my hour-long massage (heaven), C-man and I went to the laundromat. Yes, the laundromat. I'm pretty sure I was the only woman in the laundromat with a Gucci purse and having just come from the spa, but I guess that's a different story. Because it won't stop snowing, and Beerman has to shovel it off our roof and blow it out of our driveway, (and because a lot of good football has been on) he hasn't gotten to fixing the dryer. And because we were down to our last towel, (and I refuse to dry myself with some scratchy sandpaper towel that's been air dried) we trucked to the ghetto to do our laundry. (A gazillion dry cleaners around here, but not a single laundromat). Anyhow, it might have been the best day of C-man's little life. We took a couple of his backhoes along, and there were a few other little boys who had so much fun playing with him. For 2 hours he ran around that place, driving his trucks, yelling into open dryers, eating Old McDonalds and Skittles (one of his new "friends" shared his enormous bag of them, much to my chagrin), and having the best time. So, I got the laundry done, our towels are fluffy, and C-man went down for a giant nap. Good times. ******************** My acupuncturist/herbalist has now prescribed some herbs for me to take. I'm supposed to take them 3 times a day in a cup of warm water like tea. Holy crap, are they awful! Like tree bark mixed with unsweetened chocolate. I am choking it down once a day. It's going to be on of my resolutions to get myself up to twice a day. But since the new year isn't until Tuesday, I'm sticking with just once today.

Three French Hens...

... and a whole lot of snow! Holy crap, I hate winter. **********************************************************

You're The Hobbit! by J.R.R. Tolkien All you wanted was a nice cup of tea when some haggard crazy old man came into your life and told you it was time to do something with yourself. Now you're all conflicted about whether to stick with your stay-at-home lifestyle or follow this crazy person into the wild. While you're very short and a little furry, you seem to be surrounded by an even greater quantity of short folks lately. Try not to lose your ring, but keep its value in perspective! Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

Non-stop Baseball... take day 2

Happy Boxing Day!

We went and got a LaCrosse net for C-man to hit into. Harrydog remains completely unimpressed with his antics, but C-man is exhausted and not asking to watch any movies. Beautiful!

Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread men, milk, and a carrot ready for Santa and his reindeer: At least we got one Christmas miracle, C-man willingly ate a carrot to be like a reindeer!

Woah! A backhoe!

Modeling his batting helmet, and backhoe

Hope Santa brought you all you wished for...

He's Coming to Town...

C-man is getting right into the holiday cheer, wearing/using every gift he got from Beerman's family gathering yesterday as much as possible. If only he could wear his football helmet and swing at baseballs while doing it all, then it'd be perfect. Here's hoping Santa's good to you this year. I know we're praying for a few Christmas miracles ourselves.

The Earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Psalms 33:5

Counting down the days...

Today we had to make gingerbread cookies, because they're what Santa likes best... I gotta say, this is a great age. Now we just have to keep C-man's hands off them so that Santa can get one!

Tomorrow we're in the car for at least 5 hours. That's going to kill me. But, fa la la la la la...

Picture of the Day

My kid was the picture of the day on the local morning talk show: http://www.themorningblend.com/NewsArticle/tabid/1474/xmid/17241/Default.aspx

Guess the Christmas Song

1. Bleached Yule White Christmas 2. Castaneous-colored Seed Vesicated in a Conflagration Chestnuts roasting on an Open Fire 3. Singular Yearning for the Twin Anterior Incisors All I want for Christmas are my 2 front teeth 4. Righteous Darkness O Holy Night 5. Arrival Time: 2400 hrs - Weather: Cloudless It came upon a midnight clear 6. Loyal Followers Advance O Come All Ye Faithful 7. Far Off in a Feeder Away in a manger 8. Array the Corridor Deck the Halls 9. Bantam Male Percussionist Little Drummer Boy 10. Monarchial Triad We Three Kings 11. Nocturnal Noiselessness Silent Night 12. Jehovah Deactivate Blithe Chevaliers God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 13. Red Man En Route to Borough Santa Claus is Coming to Town 14. Frozen Precipitation Commence Let it Snow 15. Proceed and Enlighten on the Pinnacle Go Tell it on the Mountain 16. The Quadruped with the Vermillion Probiscis Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer 17. Query Regarding Identity of Descendant What Child is This? 18. Delight for this Planet Joy to the World 19. Give Attention to the Melodious Celestial Beings Hark the Herald Angels Sing 20. The Dozen Festive 24 Hour Intervals 12 Days of Christmas

Out of Time

I saw my rheumatologist tonight, and those are the 3 words I didn't want to hear more than anything. And there they were. Out.Of.Time. I knew that's what I was going to hear. I can feel it getting worse everyday, after all. But to hear it said so clearly, albeit with a strong Indian accent, makes me sick to my stomach. So I'm on my way to have a pity party for the night before I have to swallow this whole.

Monday Mucks...

I think I'm getting C-man's flu. Awesome. The roofers couldn't fix the roof today because despite Beerman's hours and hours of shoveling, we have inches and inches of ice still on it. Awesome again. A whole week of work and doctor's appointments. Triple awesome. At least the Christmas cards went out today. I've got that goin' for me.

Happy Birthday...

Remember when I said I wouldn't ask when it'd end, because there's always more? C-man's been up sick since 4 a.m. I've gone through 4 shirts now, and the smell in this house has been officially classified as "bucolic". Awesome. So Beerman is snowblowing the 5" off the driveway before he has to get back up on the roof and shovel the 5" that came down last night in addition to the half of the roof with over a foot on it he couldn't get to yesterday so we can get a roofer to come and charge too much money to stop our roof from leaking. Happy Birthday to him, eh At least the storm went through, so I can bend my hands again.

Pre-Birthday Birthday

C-man couldn't wait to give Beerman his birthday gifts, so we gave them to him tonight. Funny. The kid has as much patience as I do. Beerman's been shoveling off our roof so we can get a roofer to come look at it and fix it. He worked on it for 5 hours today, and isn't even halfway done. We're supposed to get 4"-7" tonight. Which means he'll have that much more to do on the roof, and we have to get our driveway cleared. I will never say - when will it end, because so many worse things than this can always happen. But I will say - Come on, give us a half a break! At LEAST let us catch up with this. The dryer is still broken because we can't get to it with all the rest of this crap. Ugh. And of course, with all the storm/low pressure, I feel like total poop. One on top of the other these days. But, enough whining. Tomorrow is Beerman's birthday. Our Christmas cards are finally ready to go out. And all in all, things are good.

Roofer Hell

There are a billion roofers. And somehow they're too busy to want to fix my leaky roof. Argh! I had one guy actually tell me he could look at it in spring. Um, sure. Until then, I'll be all Feng Shui and just enjoy the peaceful sound of natural water in my bedroom. I hate this house!

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

I got home from work, and my bed was wet. "Huh?" I said, while scratching my head. The ceiling wasn't wet. Drip, drip, drip... from the ceiling lamp. Flat roof be damned! It's leaking through our ceiling lamp, filling up the dome, and overflowing on top of my bed. AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! Beerman has disassembled everything so we don't fry. In the meantime, we're calling roofers to come tomorrow while he's in Chicago. So guess who gets roof duty? I hate this double-wide piece of crap. I hate it. Hate it. HATE IT. In good news of my life, yesterday while playing baseball outside forever I captured a really fun picture of C-man for our holiday cards. So I got that going for me.

Snow Day

Our first snowman of the season Harrydog enjoying the snow

Rileydog exhausted from all the play

Snow or not, baseball is still in season

Manic Monday

Back to work for a full week. Ugh. Big Sis did really well with her surgery today. She's quite a trooper. Here's sending good thoughts that everything will continue to heal the way it should. C-man has a double ear infection. The doctor put him on a z-pack. I know ear infections don't respond to antibiotics, but we're giving them to him anyhow. I have to hope something will help. Poor thing. I keep trying to get a family photo for our Christmas cards. I just can't seem to get everyone to cooperate. I guess there was a reason we spent so much money to get it done professionally. The homemade ones just look homemade... but I'm running out of time. Guess this year's is going to have to look like I made it at home... which I'm doing... which sucks... anyhow, if you get a card from me, sorry. Enjoy your week.

Creak, creak

Can you hear my back creaking today? I swear it's audible. Ugh.

Adventure to Leafs Land

My artistic version of the CN Tower on my way to the game. Okay, really, it's my drunken self trying to take a shot at night. In the Toronto subway on the way to the game.

This is what $80 gets you. Clearly, I can see why hockey is hurting so bad... not enough money. Did I mention 95% of the crowd had on the $150 Toronto Maple Leafs official jersey with $9.50 beers in their hands? Clearly, just not enough money in the NHL.

Me taking an attractive double-chin picture of myself with the rink in the background during warmups. If only you could see my killer Leafs shirt I am wearing while loudly singing the American National Anthem and secretly cheering for Nashville to win. Killer Leafs shirt though.

Go Leafs Go! This is the best chant this crowd can come up with? No "Sieve, Sieve, Sieve", no "Nationals are Assholes!" No "We've got drummers!" Yikes. I thought this would be so much more of a party. These people are too frickin' polite here.

I got 4 people in my row to sing the American anthem with me before the game started. Suckers. I wonder how many Americans know the Canadian anthem. Scratch that, how many Americans know the American anthem?

3-1. Go Leafs Go.

Get me out of here

I'm stuck in the Toronto airport with 3 guys from Halifax. The beer is schlflowing... if you get my drink, I mean, drift. I need my plane to get out before I turn into an alcoholic! I sat in a training session today with 18 other people discussing what the Canadian dollar is doing and why. I'm pretty sure if I asked all 3000 of my colleagues if the American dollar is strong or weak - 75% wouldn't know. I would be willing to bet that 50% of those who did know it's weak would have any sensible information about WHY it's weak. Yet here were 18 people having an incredibly intelligent conversation about the importance of subprime and the American foreclosure rates on their manufacturing. Oh, it makes me so very sad. I took a few pictures at the Leafs game last night. I'll post it once I'm back and have quicker access. Well, back to my old Halifax guys. There's still beer in the keg and Caesers to be drunk...

Quizzical Canadians

I like Canada a lot. I find it to be clean, safe, and for the most part - friendly too. I took time away from my job to take a training in Toronto, spend my money in Toronto, and speak highly of Toronto when asked why I came. Which is why it kills me that it only took 3 Goddamn hours for the stupid American comments to start flying at lunch. So I politely informed the offenders that there are stupid people everywhere. And you can't expect every single American to know every trivial fact about a country that is #14 on the world's GDP list... behind such astute countries like India, France, Russia, South Korea, and Brazil. So the conversation went like this: Them: Do you know who the Canadian Prime Minister is? Me: Stephen Harper. Thank God you finally picked one that can speak English, albeit a Conservative one. But oh, wait, you don't pick your leader do you? How silly of me to forget that. By the way, when was the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup? Them: How do you like the pizza? :-) Don't mess with me, damnit, or I'll kick you where it hurts. Off to the Leaf's game. I'm sitting way up high, but I don't care. That way if it sucks, I can leave.

Oh, Canada!

I'm in Toronto. And it's frickin' cold and windy. Yikes. This place is supposed to get just blasted with snow tonight. Awesome. I walked for a few hours earlier today, then came back and laid around in the hot tub at the hotel. Then I went back out to see some of the sights. I am in training all day tomorrow. I'm told that the Leafs game is sold out tomorrow. I'm not sure how, since when I went online, there were hundreds of tickets out there all over the place. Anyhow, I am going to try to see if I can get a scalped ticket in the nosebleeds. Could be fun.

Snowy "Christmas"

Had Christmas with my family this weekend. It snowed so bad, everyone stayed another night. It was a nice time though. C-man is having a riot playing with his new toys. I'm off to Toronto tomorrow. I'll be there until Wednesday. I'll miss Beerman and C-man, but yippee! I love Toronto. I'm hoping to get to the French restaurant Troy and I went to on our honeymoon. Not quite the same being alone, but I want to go back anyhow.

One down, the rest to go...

The tiramisu is made. At least the most important part of tomorrow's dinner is done. Now it's time for the short ribs, manicotti, chicken cacciatore, potatoes... ahh...

Go Pack Go!

The best part about today? Wearing tennis shoes with my Favre jersey at work. The worst part? Working all day after only 2 1/2 hours of sleep because my back hurt so bad. Ugh... Low pressure is not my friend. ******* This is a bit longer than it needs to be, but I really like this: http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/2006/02/the_spoon_theory.php

I don't care who you are, this is funny...

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9628141229

This Will Teach You to Have a Private myspace Page!

I told you this photo existed. :-) Give me access, or the photo stays: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=195904772

The joys of being older...

Furniture

Beerman has taken it upon himself to rearrange the living room. We now have furniture on the edges of the room, all pointing toward the tv, which is located directly opposite the windows - thereby full of glare. I absolutely hate it, but my back is hurting too much to be able to move it back. And my mind hurts too much from looking at it to think about it anymore. Ugh!!!!!!!!

Happy Friday

Ah, the post-tryptophan hangover. Luckily for me, I don't like turkey much. Unluckily for me, my back hurts so bad, I have been hardly able to move. The 5 hours in the car didn't help yesterday. Despite that, we trudged out on Black Friday to get a new Christmas tree. Of course, we were suckered in by the cheap deals, and ended up spending too much on a brand new razzle, dazzle, completely loaded with the lights so I don't have to go to hell for saying so many swear words I'd make a sailor blush while attempting to put those fricking things up Christmas tree. And C-man HAD to get the baseball-look alike ornaments. So, way too much money later, we made it home. But I'm sooo glad it's Friday, and I have 2 1/2 more days to enjoy being home and preparing for the tribe to come celebrate Christmas next weekend.

First Place

I just checked my Arthritis Team page to see if we ever made the goal our captain set for us. It was then that I noticed Beerman threw down some cash to put me in first place. Ahhh, it must be love. Wishing everyone safe travels, full bellies, and no fights with the in-laws tomorrow.

Catalog Spirit

C-man sure does have the hang of this Christmas thing. Everyday he excitedly gets the 5 gazillion catalogs with me out of the mailbox and proceeds to go through them one by one over his dinner. "I want that, Mommy." "I want that too, Mommy." "Mommy, look at that! I want that!" Ahhh, young materialistic innocence. At least it makes shopping easy. But if I got him everything he wants in these things, I'd be paying for it until next year! ***************** I could barely move when I got up today. That was true for the entire day. Luckily, I had acupuncture scheduled tonight. I say luckily, because I can move now. Granted, it's not pain-free, but wow! I can move my neck without screaming like a stuck pig. ***************** Beerman came back last night from the great, wild hunt. Thankfully, with no deer. There is a God, and he loves me a lot.

So Tired

Most days, I feel I can keep ahead of things. But after being gone all week, just finishing 8 loads (yes, 8 GD loads!) of laundry, steam cleaning the floor from Rileydog barfing on it not once - but twice - last night, aching like there's no tomorrow with the cold and crappy rain, and Beerman being gone on the wild hunt... I'm completely exhausted. C-man wants me to fight crocodiles, and I can't even stand up without wincing. I played an hour of baseball this morning, and I am done. The groceries need to be bought so C-man has something to eat this week, and 2 more loads of laundry have to be folded. Ugh... The laundry's going to have to wait, because I'm going to go have a pity party.

Funny Stuff

It's cold and rainy out. So here are some funnies to warm you up:

Deer Hunting Widow

After a total of one hour with my husband, he's off to hunt. C-man and I are going to eat pizza and watch movies. Enjoy your weekend!

I'm Coming Home!

Oh, it's been a week. After last night, I'm ready to be home...

Rocky Mountain High

Mountain top chapel by our ranch. We walked up the mountain to it tonight.

The view off my deck: Sing it now... Rocky Mountain High...

I'll try to post more tomorrow.

Snow!

I woke up to everything covered in snow. Maybe I should re-think this desire to live in the mountains... Everyone is wheezing from a lack of oxygen. I'm doing pretty well - knock on wood. We had a chili cookoff contest last night and the local cowboys judged. And I'm not kidding - Wrangler wearin', horse wranglin', lasso throwin' cowboys. I won. Pretty funny.

Rustic Tuesday

I got to use a gps today in one of our activities. It was a simple geocaching trek. I ruled! It's been so windy, I feel like I'm going to be blown away. Only 2 more days...

Rustic Rockies

I'm in Colorado, in the middle of nowhereville. I don't have a TV in my room. Thankfully, there's internet. On the bright side, the mountain stream below my deck is so fabulously loud, I have to keep my windows shut. It's quite beautiful. We saw an amazingly beautiful church today on our explorations. Apparently John Paul II was there in the 90s. The website does nothing for how amazing it is. We're heading to another local church tomorrow for the sunrise. You have to hike about 25 minutes to get to it. It should be a pre-conference adventure. I called C-man to see how he was doing. He told me that he had waffles for lunch with syrup to dip them in and that Daddy wasn't letting him have any more ice-cream-sherbet. Yup, things are going along splendidly at home.

Rocky Mountain High.... Colorado

Off to Denver. See you later!

Arthritis Walk Day

A 5k around the zoo on a great day.

Making a List, Checking it Twice

It's your last chance to donate to my team. I'm only ahead by about $20. https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=236160&lis=1&kntae236160=FD5E4EBEF20F40B5A054C7B20A66B3A0&supId=193905329 ********************************* I spent the day with my parents. We went geocaching all morning -- 5 for 5. We did a little shopping. Then we got more baseball stuff at Toys R Us because C-man broke his 2 bats already and needed a few more balls. I don't think that Grandma and Grandpa understood they'd be playing all day and night. :-)

Race for the Chase

Last chance to make me #1 in the Arthritis Walk and help cure this miserable disease. I'm now behind by about $100. You can put me in first! https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=236160&lis=1&kntae236160=57DF5E3C3E1942EF8EDF11E94DA9CE71&supId=193905329

Back Hickies

Another day, another dollar

Another round of acupuncture today. I'm still not thrilled with this, but I have been sleeping at night. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence, but it's enough to keep me going. Today, at the end, she declares she's going to try cupping on me. I laid there thinking - I could be having a massage, but instead, I'm getting my back sucked into glass cups, leaving me with 9 enormous back hickies. What the hell am I doing? I fell out of first place on the arthritis walk fundraising, and then got back in it. The walk is Sunday, so keep me there! https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=236160&lis=1&kntae236160=C16AECFF72784DC5AA3A1776E1B925E2&supId=193905329

Sweetness

It's hard to believe we've got fresh blooms in November. It almost makes them sweeter knowing they're the last of the year: And, then there's the sweetness at the end of an ice cream cone:

Coleman Cat Chasin'

We went to Coleman today. Car rides are awful. It was good to go though. C-man spent the day fighting crocodiles, climbing, eating pizza and chasing cats. It doesn't get much better than that!

My Dog Ate the Candy!

Riley ate the entire bag of Halloween candy. I am NOT taking him to the 24-hour vet for $500. He's just going to have to take care of this himself. And NOT on my carpet! I'm so furious. The good news out of this is that I don't have to worry about what I'm going to do with any of it. But the Playdough too? Ugh!