Holiday weekends are not always relaxing...

Eli was scheduled to come visit with his fabulous new wife Leah but he ended up with a case of the hives or something. Bummer. So, Ron decided to throw a party for Senate Candidate Rae Vogler at our house. Lat minute preperations are not my favorite thing. We did manage to put together a nice spread of food and have the house (mostly) clean it time. And I enjoyed the evening.

Ella is ready to party! Rae's son Carlos took this shot. Those two ran around with the camera for an hour or so and took some pretty funny pictures.

The usual suspects... and Rae.

Ella's picture of Tray, who was a big hit at the party!

Amy and Rae talking about houses or something. Rae has a victorian, too, and has been going through the same repair and renovating issues as the Hardy Family.

Baby Jed (Jedidiah) received the Cute Baby of the Night award.

Report to the General A Day Late

General Ma'am: I'm up. I guess I will not meet my goal for this month. I don't really know what happened... I had a good week and everything, but I am up. Hmmmm. It's July, so I'll have this month to analyze and stratagize, and write down all the things that may be sabotaging my efforts. Wish me luck.

Sleepless Nights

I just could not stay asleep! I woke up around 3am and layed there listening to the world for about 2 hours before throwing in the towel and getting up to make some coffee. Damn. It's going to be a long day.

Mousetrap

Ella plays with this game for HOURS! She loves contraptions of all kinds. I am thinking of getting her an erector set or something similar. We had a big day at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association fair. Ella and I spent most of our time in the "Rainbow's End" Kid activity tent while Ron roamed about and saw a speaker. This is a picture of Ella "weaving" a basket out of yard and cardboard. She seemed to have a nice time, but I was pretty ready to get out of there at 2pm. And Ella had spilled a strawberry banana smoothie on my head around 1pm. I am glad we went, though. There were lots of vendors and displays of windmills, earth builders, bale houses, solar panels. and I think Ron and I could totally manage to live off of the grid. If only we had that magical gift of 30K to get out of debt... Please, money fairies, help us out! I promise will never go into debt again! Ever!
Hmmmm.
I don't feel like cooking dinner tonight.
I am bummed out that my boss' last day is Thursday.
I got to go play with my baby, she usually cheers me up.

The Thursday "YES! It's Summer!" Post

There's just something super yummy about summer food. All the super fresh produce is fantastic. And it makes eating healthy a whole lot more fun. Ella and I have been having a great time making dinners together. She really enjoys helping prepare the fruits and veggies. Her favorite "recipe" is making fruit kabobs: We cut all the fruit into chunks and then she skewers them on to the sticks.
Ron and I have been thinking about taking Ella camping but we just can't figure out when. It seems that every other weekend there is some event we have to attend so that the weekends we are home there are projects that need attention. Like finishing sanding the trim and baseboards in the former Neptune Suite then priming and painting. This Saturday we are taking a family trip to the MREA, then on Sunday Ron will go there solo for a conference thing while Ella and I have play dates with two friends. Janeta is coming over for a while in the afternoon and then Clio is coming after supper for a little slumber party. I really don't think I'll be getting ANY work done on that room.
Last night we went to watch the Wisconsin Beauty Queen Parade (Or maybe it's called the Miss Wisconsin Parade). It was so lame. Ella enjoyed the pretty ladies in their fancy dresses and waved to every single one of them, but it was soooooo boring. Who organizes these things anyway? There was a marching band, but they didn't even play music. It was a parade of the silent. The only noise was from the shriners and their motorcycle antics, which Ella was NOT impressed by. The only thing I found remotely entertaining was when the blood drive bus went past and they had some one in a costume as a DROP OF BLOOD walking down the street handing out flyers about the blood drive date. We didn't get a picture but, believe me, it was funny.
On to my Report To The General: This is a PMS week. I only have 1 more pound to lose this month (7 more days!) to reach my goal. I have a new plan of trying to lose 3-4 pounds a month. Those first three or so months on WW seemed like the pounds were just flying away, but everything has slowed down that I can't expect to lose 2-3 pounds a week anymore. I figure a slow and steady decline is a good way to approach it. I know I am making progress and I don't have to criticize myself for "only" losing .5 pounds some weeks. It's all moving in the right direction, right? I have been getting exercise, too. It feels good to be out doing fun things with Ella. We ride the bike to work everyday. We went flying kites and I was running to get that damn thing in the air... I have not actually run anywhere for any reason in five years! I even went roller skating on my old roller blades from my street hockey league days. I was wobbly, but it was fun and funny! Once I almost wiped out and went "Wooahaooahaa!" with my arms flailing in the air and Ella laughed SOOOOO HARD. She was all "Momma that was funny" and just giggling away. Very worth it.

Almost Summer

I woke up in a grand mood this morning. Not sure why... Could be that we had a very pleasant weekend, or that there was nothing pressing on my to do list. I rode Ella into day care on the bike and she was pleased as punch. She picked out a pretty sun dress this morning and I put a flower "hair pretty" in her hair, so she was raring to go. It's been nice and sunny and warm.
This week is a little odd at work. My boss is out for the week and so my main goal is to finish the library directory. It's tedious and a little boring, but whenever I look at the clock it's like an hour has gone by! So the morning in moving along. I am a little concerned about something... We are going to have a new director and I have no idea who it will be. We had five candidates here last week for interviews and Open Forums. How are they going to get someone hired by June 30? They wont. And my boss will be gone. I'll be Directorless! So until I get a new boss I am going to keep whittling away at all the little projects that have been needing attention for the last two years here. Boring, but educational for me. I am going to miss Liz a whole Big Bunch. She's a great boss and a super Director.
Break Time is over... Back to data entry. *sigh*
(Good thing I am still in such a lovely mood)

Report to the General

General de Cline: Ma'am, I am holding steady at my low point. I consider this a great achievement due to all of our extracurricular activities these past three weeks. Eli's wedding had such delicious food, we had lots of yummy beer, last weekend we had fajitas and pizza and grilled out and had more beer... It's a good thing I am still down there. I kind of thought I would see a couple of pounds creeping back! But Wednesday and yesterday I was very good. So. No losses, but a big sigh of relief! How are you? How about Chris?

What We Did This Weekend

My parents, brother, and nephew came up on Thursday night and we proceeded to spend the next 5 days making the biggest mess EVER in my house!
The back stair way had some wall repairs that needed finishing so that got drywall patched and sanded. The stair treads were sanded to get all the old paint drips from previous sloppy painters.
That horrible blue "Neptune suite" was a huge mess! First all the wall paper was stripped (Thanks to Karl Loewnstien's steamer!) There was a supper sagging lathe and plaster wall that was cut out and replaced with drywall. Then everything was patched, sanded, patched, sanded, and well, sanded again!

I still need to clean it all up, put up some corner trim, and prime the shit out of it. Then I am going to see where all the little spots show up that still need a tad more fixin' and sandin', then prime it all again before painting it and calling the room DONE! I may just decided to hang some textured paintable wall paper. I hate to put up more paper in this house... I may go with some of that textured paint to hide the little (and big) flaws in the walls.

Check out the new shed!

After building it in the yard for two days we moved it to the side of the house. It took some fence moving and maneuvering, but we got it in there nice and snug. It is so very nice to NOT carry the lawn mower up and down to the basement! And we can put our gardening tools in there, the bikes, the wagon! I wish we had a garage, but this solves a lot of yard storage issues. And it was only about $220 instead of thousands. Here are all the builders from left to right, top to bottom: My mom, me, Ron, Ella, Ben.

Oh, and my mother spent a ton of time and energy weeding the back yard and working in the garden. She split some hastas, moved some flowers and strawberries, weeded the play area... and weeding between the paving stones on the patio. Phew!

The other thing we did this weekend was eat a lot of food. I guess I just did not realize how much is consumed over five days by four grown men, two women and a wee little angel. I think all my emergency supplies are gone. Those guys, Brother and Nephew, were like mice rummaging through the pantry! But these mice new how to use a can opener! I think my replacement grocery costs will be MUCH LESS than hiring a contractor, so I wont bitch too terribly much about that. And we probably needed to use it and re-stock soon anyway.

Oh, the other super great thing about this weekend is that my sister sent up a bed frame and two dressers! And they all match! Seems she just did not want them any more. They are only 8(?) years old and in pretty good shape. And I had two dressers on my wish list! Ella's is falling apart and mine is on it's last leg... That saves me a trip to the goodwill! Ron's little buddy Justin said he will give us a mattress, too! I love free furniture. I love free labor. I love my family and friends for all their hard work and generosity. Thanks to everyone!

What a fun week...

Ella's day care is closed this week so she has been with me at work. It's been fun. A little exhausting at times, but fun. Today we got home and went roller skating around the block, then had popsicles, then played in the hose in the back yard. Ella wanted to post some pictures on her blog, so here's a link. http://sparklepockets.blogspot.com/ She has not posted for a long time! Hopefully she'll start doing it more often.

more pic from the wedding

Ella and Greta, E in purple and Greta is John's niece, having some fun. They had fun all weekend together. Ella had her first sleep-over party in the RV with Greta! And, when Mom and Dad went down to George's, Ella fell asleep for the first time at someone else's house! Greta's Grandparent's! Jim and Sandy Bucher are so awesome!. (We picked her up and took he home, of course, because I'm not as ready for sleep-overs as Ella).

Ella just being her beautiful self. Sorry my hair got in the way...

Ron and Eli

John and Judy

This post is for LA

We had a great time at Eli's Weeding. I know my video quality is bad, but I wanted you to see all the action. We really missed seeing you three there.

Okay: Here comes the bride!

And the big kiss.



We'll see you at the reception!

Ella's snack time

Ella has proven her heritage. She loves to eat chips and salsa with sour cream! It's about damn time, we were beginning to wonder if she was an alien implant!



I have got to work on making more interesting movies... Maybe I'll get some good ones this weekend in Iowa?

Tuesday

The weather place says it may get up to 74 degrees today, and I like the sound of that. A little sun and warm help my mood.
Ella was sick all of Saturday night and Sunday with vomiting and diarrhea, absolutely no fun at all, so yesterday she was with me at work. I like to have her with me all day. It makes me feel solid. Substantial. Purposeful. Valuable. I never thought one little person could make me so complete.
Today she woke up in a good mood and headed off to school. I think some sun and playing outside will complete her recovery. She is such a bright light in my life, and I feel so overwhelmed with love at times.
I have been working on a project at work to update the library catalog and properly shelve every book. I came across The Handmaids Tale and decided to read it again. Boy has it been depressing. When she has the dreams of her daughter, who was stolen from her, it breaks my heart and I begin to cry. I reach for Ella to feel her reassuring warmth. No one will ever take her from me. I'd kill them. I'd die.
So a sunny day is what I need to get that damn story out of my head. Why do I worry that our country is heading towards that fate? Maybe because books like this are soaring? Or laws that we take for granted are being threatened? Will our country turn that frightening corner towards a police state, or has it all ready?
Okay, I'll get out in the sun for a while. I'll take my daughter on a bike ride. I'll think of the fun we will have this weekend with friends in Iowa. Maybe I'll get the dishes done, to soothe my inner housewife soul.

How much does it really mean to me?

The preliminary estimates on getting our fire place operational and up to code are just not in our budget, the price of the downstairs windows is about the same. To get these two projects done would be about $7K, or maybe even $8K. If I had to chose one it would be the windows because arctic cold blasts through the house are really no fun at all, but we just don't have the $3,600 to get the job done. So I think we are going to try and get the interior cosmetic stuff done this year. It's gonna suck, because it's all wall paper removal patching, sanding, and painting... I wish I had a crew of volunteers to help. I just can't face it alone! Who am I kidding, we don't even have enough money to get the brakes done in the Nissan! Makes me wanna give up and move to a cave.

The Greatest Moment Ever

Okay, so I can't get the embed code to work and it is very frustrating. I think I could copy and paste all day long and the string would get cut in the same place every damn time. Maybe I'll try copying to a word document and then pasting onto blogger? Let's try...


Eureka!

My Sweet Baby

I asked Ella to please put away her shoes... I wonder where she gets these ideas?
Mother's Day and she looks so very beautiful. On her lap is "baby chick", who came with us to brunch at Fratello's
I am a very lucky Mom.

Feeling Inspired

Last night we watched some home movies. Ella sure was a cute toddler! It was cool to see how much she has changed, and how some things are still the same. We had big plans to send out tapes to grandparents in Iowa and California, but never quite got it done... Then today I went to LA's page with her baby's pictures and she had MOVIES posted! WOW! I signed up for one of the free accounts at the YouTube place that she used. Now I just need to figure out how to load a movie. I can't wait to get one posted! I think the first one I'll put up is of Ella's first few minutes of life. I hope I can upload from my camcorder.
Mother's Day weekend was pretty good. It rained all the time, but I did get to go shopping for sheets! Yippee! I also picked up a new three pack of socks. I am so lucky. We took G-Peg out for brunch and she said she enjoyed it very much. We got her a beautiful potted hydrangea. We sent my mom a charm bracelet with pics of all her grandkids. I wanted to get one in the mail for Grandma Esther, but my jewelry rep for those bracelets is off having a baby... drat. I guess I'll send her one for Grandmother's Day (or have I missed this holiday).
My summer work hours have changed. The director and I decided to work longer days Monday through Thursday and close on Friday. Now every weekend is three days long, unless there is a training or something that I need to do. My boss rocks! I am really going to miss her when she leaves in June. Who will the new Director be??????
Back to work...

Report to the General

Ma'am: I am down, but not way down. Feeling confident that my 5 pound loop of Feb/Mar/April has been busted! On to the next 10 pound loss!

More from our weekend and new stuff, too

Here is Ella's lovely Unicorn face painting.
And Eleanor and Sierra having a snack...
The cutest little sack racer in town!

So I was feeling so darn great on Friday with all my weight-loss progress and then I got on the scale this morning to a very frightening reality: Junk food makes me fat. I hope the 5 pound gain is due to PMS or something because besides that pasta for dinner on Sunday I didn't think I over indulged THAT much. Or perhaps my two pound loss was wrong? In which case I am only up three pounds? I think I need to restrict myself to Friday morning scale times ONLY to help counter little (or huge) day-to-day fluctuation. It's just so disheartening.

I pulled a muscle in my back. It could have been lugging around my bag on Saturday with all the extras in it, like juice boxes, sunscreen, sweatshirts, prizes, ballcaps, etc... Or from helping my friend Michelle on Sunday with some house project stuff, or from when Ron and I played catch with Ella (as the ball) over at Mandy and Justin's new place. All I know for sure is that it hurts pretty bad and I did not sleep well because of it. I don't even want to walk to work today because every step I take sends a shooting pain through the right side of my body. But I think I will walk, nice and slow with hardly anything in my bag, because I think a little gentle use will loosen up the spasm.

I have a million things to do today. Why are Mondays so darn busy? I bet I don't get to half my list. I better have a cup of coffee and rethink my list.

Saturday, May 6

Ella had such a big day that I think the pictures will speak for themselves... waiting for the bus

playing music with Sierra

Sack Races!

Hanging with Kay and Jenatta

Soccer! What a kick... She shoots and she scores!

Mommy got a sunburn even after applying and re-applying sunscreen, but Ella had a way fab afternoon.

Party!

Yeah, that's right, I am having a party. I am two, not a half or one and a half or 1.5, but TWO pounds down from my lowest weight. An all time low... Well, just since I got pregnant 5 years ago. So I have officially broken my five pound cycle and must keep on going. Unfortunately I am having a real party at my house tonight with lots of yummy food and drinks, but I'll just try to go the moderation route and then tomorrow be super duper focused on my goal again. I'll take some yummy food pictures tonight to share with ya'll.

Bird Flu

It is nice to know that we will basically have to take care of ourselves... Seriously folks, get a few extra weeks of food and supplies stocked up. And cold and flu medicine. It is just a good idea. I am not trying to say that you need to build a bunker and prepare for nuclear winter, but fill that pantry!

Happy May Day

Anyone affected by the National Day Without Immigrants?
I am trying to show my support for them by talking about the day and their plight, but have not been around or heard any news on whether or not it has been a successful display.

Well, I hope my sister had a nice time on her birthday (You so old, lady! Ha-Ha), and the rest of you had a nice weekend.

It was cold and rainy here. Ron was out of town for most of the weekend so it was just us girls. We went birthday present shopping for Jakob on Saturday, then had Thai food for lunch. Ella's idea. I LOVE her. Then Saturday evening we pulled out the ol' couch bed, made popcorn, and watched "Zathura". It was full of excitement and Ella seemed to get into it. We had to snuggle up on a few of the scary parts, but a happy ending made it all okay.

I woke up on Sunday to my ceiling dripping onto my bed. No Fun. We just spent a couple thousand fixing the leaky roof LAST spring, remember? I think Ron is calling the same roofing guys to come out and take a look. The leaks are in a different place this time. So, Ella and I had a work out first thing in the morning moving the bed. It's a huge-o KING sized number with a not-new frame so it kind of has to get disassembled, moved, and reassembled. I aint trying to bitch about it because it was free and all, but dang, that thing is a pain in the ass to move. And it is very lumpy. I think after JoAnn gives us her old bedroom set we are going to give back, sell, or somehow ditch the king size bed. But, then again, it may be nice to have two guest rooms. Oooh, we could put the king bed in a guest room. Yeah, that f-ugly blue tie-dye room. It would cover the whole floor! We could paint the room like outer space and Ella could jump around playing astronaut! I am seriously going to have to look into this idea!

Ron and I did some yard work this morning, in the cold rainy-ness, and I think that cherry tree is finally in it's home. When I left for work Ron was finishing up the weed screen and mulch. I bet it looks just beautiful when I get home.

The first case of bird flu has been reported on the East cost, but not the super deadly strain. Am I the only person who has emergency rations and household supplies? I am going to get the last few things for our stash this weekend. And to re-stock a few things we used. See, you have to keep them on rotation so stuff does not get yucky, and that's the challenge of keeping rations on hand. Who has time to use and restock all the freaking time?

The Decider

Every now and again I get a chance to read Jesus' General and get a good chuckle. Today I heard this. You may have all ready seen/listened to it, but it's worth hearing again.

Maybe next month?

No new Hardy's in December... Maybe another January one?

Ella survived her shots. We did the whole 5 year old check up early and she passed all the tests. I can't believe she will be five...Now she is at work with me for the afternoon. We walked here and she picked dandelions the whole way. It is beautiful and sunny and warm. I have my office window open. Yay spring.

Mumps

Yes, Mumps has come to Oshkosh. I am taking Ella in for her second shot (given between ages 4-6) tomorrow morning. The newspaper said a four year old was diagnosed yesterday and two college kids on our campus were tested last week. Shit. I hate taking E in for shots, but it is much better than the alternative. Have the Mumps come your way yet?

April 18

According to my baby making tracker it is day 23, so I decided to take a test and it was negative. I told Ron and he says he does not believe it because there's no "proof" yet.
Warning: Non-sequitur ahead!
Today is absolutely gorgeous! My walk to work was perfect. Not hot, not chilly. I took down the plastic from the dining room windows, too. Anyone know how to get the tape residue off woodwork? I have not removed the living room plastic because it still gets below 40 at night, but soon for sure because I really need to clean those windows. If anyone wants to donate some money to our "new window fund" please do it quickly. I really need them before fall. We are trying to save up the $3,600 on our own but are sure to miss the mark this year. Windows downstairs would be a dream come true...
Ron's aunt and uncle are coming to visit us this weekend. Ella is sure to have a grand time with them. I hope G-Peg does not stress out too terribly much. I wonder if I'll get my house clean on time? I do have Friday off so that will be a big help. I really need to dust.

a whirlwind of a weekend

Shopping was fun and I stayed under budget! Tornadoes are not so fun, but none of my family or friends were hurt. So that's good. I am heading out to work. No time to blog.

Sweater Complete

I have finally finished Ella's sweater! Yeah! She tried it on for about 5 seconds last night and it fits funny, is a little too bulky, looks odd, but was made with love. I do not think she will ever wear it again because it's too short and wide plus the weather is much nicer these days, but I think I am going to make another one for the fall. I'll pick a lighter weight yarn and use her measurements instead of a kooky pattern from the back of a yarn package.

The other project I did this week was to put Ella's pictures in my new charm bracelet. I really love it. I know, I know, this is a blurry picture, but it's hard to get a close up of such a small thing with my camera. I have high hopes to one day upgrade to a new camera and give this one to Ella. She loves to take pictures. Sometimes when we are on longer car rides I give her the camera to take pictures of the "world" we are driving through. She enjoys it and creates funny stories about the "world" to go along with the pics. I really should get her to blog about it. That thing has not been updated in ages. We have just been so very busy! Maybe after Easter stuff on Sunday.

Oh, and my report to the general will be right now as I am going to Chicago tomorrow morning: the same. Always the same 5 pound loop... It's getting old.

Have a great weekend everyone! (I guess that means the small handful of people who actually read this thing)

Report to the General

I have decided that I have an unreliable and un-trustworthy scale. But it does say I am at -1, three out of five times, so I'll go with that this week. I just think it should be a little more of a loss... Onward ho!

The Sweater

Well, I did not finish the sweater yesterday... I did not have double point needles OR round ones, so I need to go to the craft store today. Bummer. BUT the only thing left is the ribbing around the v-neck. Here is a picture of the almost completed project. One more Wednesday and I think I'll be able to call it done for real!

Knitting Update

Tomorrow is stitch-n-bitch and I am very pleased to report that I will be, if everything goes according to schedule, finishing Eleanor's sweater. I don't have a picture of it right now because I am at work, but all that needs to be done is sewing it together and finishing the neck. Done. It does look like it's home made, by a beginner, but it is and I am proud that my very first knitting effort did, in fact, yield a sweater for my child. I think for my next project I will make her a matching hat and scarf set. Maybe I'll attempt mittens! I figure I had to learn almost every skill to do the sweater, so I should be able to figure out most patterns. As long as I don't have to change yarn or make animal patterns. One color and I'm capable!
I'll post a picture of the finished job Thursday.

Rainy Cold Monday

Well, the weekend turned out to be rainy and cold. Not freezing, though. And we, mostly Ron, got three more bags of leaves and yard waste filled. We have decided to make the yard a bit of a priority this spring mostly because that damn fence is so ugly and we have to clean out around it before we can paint. And we need to fix our gates. I just think it would be nice if I could send Ella out back to play and not worry about her finding some strange piece of garbage, broken glass, or a stranger who takes her away from me. In other words, I want her to have a pretty and safe place to play with her friends. I am hoping that the weather will allow us to have a few evenings of yard work this week to clean up outside the fence and around the rest of the house. As mentioned before, we get a lot of garbage from the street due to our corner location. And people in Oshkosh are messier, much much messier, than other places I have lived. One nice thing, though, is they have free yard waste pick up once a month! And for our neighborhood it is this Friday.
Oh, I have some good news and some bad news. It's really the same piece of info that can be interpreted either way... We found a fantastic Pizza place this weekend, Glass Nickel Pizza Co. Oh my goodness! I had a half Feta-Licious half Mediterranean pie and it was superb! This could most definitely pose a problem on those days when I am tired and cranky and just want hot yummy food delivered to my door. You see, previously there just wasn't any place I was interested in ordering from so I was more likely to cook something healthy. And, if I get knocked up, that pesto pizza business is going to be too hard to resist. It's a good thing they have yummy salads or I would really be screwed.
I wonder if we have any left-overs in the fridge.... No, I must resist! Breakfast today will be cantaloupe and pineapple! Here is to a week of self control!

What? It's really here?

It's 65 degrees and sunny. I have walked to work every day this week, except today because of errands I had to run, and all the little flowers are coming up. I know the weather people are warning that this weekend will be cooler, but I am just loving today. Yes, indeedy.
Has anyone checked out Ron's blog lately? It, and the comments, have been quite good these past few days. And the local elections are coming up. I encourage even you out of towners to participate in his pool, because the prize basket is entertaining.

I think I'll give up

Maybe I should just quit trying to lose weight... It's just NO fun, I feel guilty every time I eat something I shouldn't, and I am tired of feeling hungry. It's so much nicer to sit around on my fat ass and eat nachos.

I just feel so discouraged that I have been stuck for a few weeks. And then the whole womanly thing hits and I am all bloated and gross again. F*ck it. Oh, and about those womanlies... Ron and I have to get busy this month if we hope to have another wee one during this tax year. If it doesn't happen in two weeks I think we'll give up for good on that. I am getting way too old to be thinking about having more babies. And the one we have is just fine, so it's not like we are missing out on anything. I just like the idea of two. For when they are older... they can take turns dealing with their parents.

Thankfully, the weather has been much more tolerable lately. Little flowers are starting to poke out of the ground and there is not much ice left in our little pond. We spent Sunday cleaning up around the yard and that was fun. I need to get more yard waste bags so we can finish this weekend. There is so much crap in our yard because we live on a corner and people tend to throw their crap out the window at our house. Bastards. We want to paint our fence white. Right now it is red and very annoying. Blue house, white trim, red fence. Terrible. So if we start painting now maybe we can get the job done before the grass, weeds, and plants get too high.

blah, I am in a bit of a foul mood. I hope the sun breaks through these gray, gray clouds soon.

Report to the General

General Ma'am: -1/2. This is a great feet when one considers how much Spring Break damage I had to over come. A week ago I was UP over 4 pounds!

I only have to work a few hours today so Ella and I are spending the day together. It's always so much nicer than having to deal with the after school snotty attitude. Man, those kids must get baaad attitudes there because sometimes when I pick up my child I don't even know who she is! She turns into a viscous, rude, whine-bag (not to be confused with a wine "bladder" manufactured for some of the better wineries, like Gallo).

Ron is feeling sick. He has an interesting assortment of symptoms and has been spending most of his time on the couch yesterday and today. I hope the fella gets feeling better by the weekend because the weather is going to be (it better be) sunny and warmer. Maybe even 40 degrees! We have some yard plans and need to get the garden ready soon. And I really need to be outside. I have a serious case of Spring Fever. Last weekend it was nice enough for E and I to spend time at a playground.

So. Back to work. I really like this job.

Ready, Set, Spring!

Two Girls Ready for Spring

Although we have some snow flurries today, we are fully prepared to have some sunny fun!

Snacks

I am snacking today. I just feel like it. Maybe because I was not feeling so great yesterday, or the day before, and I managed to lose all the weight I gained over Spring Break. I am looking forward to weigh-in Friday because I just might have another weight-loss milestone. I've been on a plateau for a while.
On to other things. Ella is fantastic. She is always great, but lately she has been fantastic.
It has been very sunny and it has caused me to want to clean and organize. Oops, I must get back to work...

Spring Break 2006

Sorry it has been such a long while between posts. Here's the General Report... The same on March 10 and up 4 yesterday, due mostly to lots of beer, pizza and road food up in Two Harbors MN.



We had a great Spring Break! We picked up John Bucher in Minneapolis then headed to the North Woods. We went sledding by the beach! We totally enjoyed our visit with Jenny, Henry, Carl and Dale & Paula, Fred, Gullietta & Jan (oh, and Mike the dog) then had a very nice visit with LA, Steve, and Esther. That is one cute baby! We drove through a blizzard and came out alive. All and all it was fun filled and tiring.

It's good to be back home in balmy Oshkosh.

Knitting

The knitting group meets today and I am so glad! I only have a few skills to ask about and then I can finish Ella's Sweater. She says she wants me to knit her a pink skirt. I think not.
I have been working hard and have managed to undo the weekend snack attack damage. If I stay focused (and hungry and a little cranky) I can check off another pound for this week. Go, Amy, go! Wouldn't it be great to be down 23 pounds for spring break? Yes.
Okay, here is the run down for next weeks plans:
Drive to Minnesota on Sunday night and stay at a hotel. Swim with Ella. Pick up John on Monday morning at the Minneapolis airport. (insert visit with Esther if schedules permit) Drive to Jenny's house and have piles of fun. Drive back to Minneapolis on Wednesday (insert visit Esther if schedules permit). Drop off John at airport. Drive to a hotel somewhere in Wisconsin. Swim with Ella. Drive home and go to work on Thursday. Ella is going to have sooooo much fun seeing Henry! I am terribly excited because I get to see all my favorite people.
My sister called this morning asking me to go shopping in Chicago in April. She mentioned something about staying in a hotel. I wonder if Ella is invited? I wonder if JoAnn is going to pay for the room? I am spending all my money next week in Minnesota! But Ikea does sound like fun...

Eye-ye-yeye

Why did I eat all that snack food over the weekend? Jeez....
We are trying to figure out some plans for next week but may just write the whole idea off as a bust and wait for better timing and better weather. We'll see.
Ella spent the day with me yesterday. Man, I am lucky to have a job where she can come with me. She's such a great girl. She just left with her daddy for school and I miss her all ready! If I had a gazillion dollars I would never send her off to day care. I might hire a helper, but for sure she would be with me. And with that gazillion dollars I would not send my husband off, either. Nope, no day care for him.

Report to the General

General de Cline: I know you have not been posting here lately, but I still need to share the progress. Minus one.

I am starting to believe that spring weather might actually be making an appearance around these parts soon. It has me in the mood to ponder home improvements, again. Does anyone have a magic wand that takes down old wall paper? Until I get one I am going to skip that half done project, close my eyes as I walk past it, and move on to the upstairs hall. All that space needs is a little wall patch and sanding, then paint the walls and trim. I could probably do it in a weekend, if I had a nanny. Ron has been clearing out his "Neptune Suite" and moving all his stuff to the basement area he has claimed. I like this idea because his room was bigger than the guest room and with some TLC it could clean up nicely into a new and improved guest room. Of course, there is more heinous wall paper, but I might just primer that shit and paint over the top.

The mid-wall boarder could be a problem. I was thinking of painting it an accent stripe color. Maybe a calming 3 tone taupe/light brown affair. Here is a pic of the pure evil the previous owners created in there.

Should I perform an exorcism first? It's just soooo wrong to do this to a wall.

Is it Thursday all ready?

What a busy week! I feel like I am forgetting something, but just don't know what it could be... I am sorry to say I have nothing to report. But thanks for stopping in! Tomorrows Report to the General is up next!

Report to the General

General de Cline: Minus 2.5 this week. Thanks for the ass whooping! (my total is now minus 20.5 lbs.)
There's hope for shorts this summer!

My new permanent position starts on Monday! Same job, better title, a tiny bit more money, job security! Whew...

Yippee

Yeah, that's right, I got my job!