More fun news

That I forgot to mention earlier.

1. Eric hunted me down today (He's the Senate advisor, remember) and asked me if I had reconsidered doing the Treasurer job. I thanked him again for thinking of me, but said that I could not possibly do it. Thanks, but no thanks!

2. I got a phone call when I got home tonight FROM THE BANK! I go in on Friday morning to sit and have a chat with Barb. This is definitely working out nicely. I don't want to jinx it, and say that I think I can pretty much count on the job, because I know I can't (yet) but I will say that I am feeling fairly confident.

Cool thing is, if I get this job, then I guess I MUST go shopping for the right wardrobe to wear to work, because I just don't think jeans, t-shirts and flip-flops will do. Twist my arm and make me shop, ya know?

hehe, it's been a good day.

FINALLY! I made some progress

First off, I got Jennie's print framed, and took a picture of it. No, it's not hung on the wall yet, so the pic is just it sitting right about where it's going to be, in my bedroom above the dresser.

Now, let's see if I can figure out how to do a link to her site... Jennie is wonderful!!

The other thing I got done today was to get my Spring Semester classes figured out, so I will be all set for graduation.

THEN! I got a phone call from Barb... the woman who is in charge of doing the hiring at the bank! She basically did an interview over the phone (and she called me Nikky, not Nicole, like my resume says... she knows me well enough to call me Nikky, I think that bodes well...) I found out more about the job, what it pays (!!! happy!!!) and that in the summer, it would move to 40 hours per week, it's a 1 year "student" job, with the opportunity to apply for a permanent position after the year... damn, that is perfect for me! It's afternoons Monday through Friday and Saturday mornings, so I'd get about 20 hours per week while in school. I REALLY want this now that I know even more about it.

JP and I have an open house at the elementary school tonight, and dinner is in the oven... I've been busy today, I'm hoping that I will be so exhausted at bedtime that I will actually sleep well tonight, I haven't been sleeping nicely lately, and it's starting to get to me. I actually fell asleep in my Business Income Tax class today... bad, bad Nikky.

Nik's "To Do" list

1. Get a frame for the FABULOUS print I got from Jennie
2. Finish writing the note to include in the envelope I have to mail out to Jennie.
3. Mail it to Jennie.
4. Take a picture of the FABULOUS print I got from Jennie.
5. Hang the FABULOUS framed print I got from Jennie.
6. Read Chapter 1 of Intermediate Accounting.
7. Do problems 1.1 through 1.14 of Chapter 1 for Intermediate Accounting.
8. Make supper.
9. Do a load of laundry.
10. Go to Macroeconomics at 6:30 tonight.
11. Clean out my pigpen of a KIA.
12. Clean my room.
13. Go to the store, buy Diet Pepsi in small bottles.

Ok, so you're thinking "If she's got time to write up a dumbass list, why didn't she just use the time THAT took to do a few of the things on her list?"

Good question...

Oh, and I got asked (read:begged) to take over the position of Student Senate Treasurer today. Remember in the Spring, I "lost" the election, and wasn't too broken up over it? Yeah, the twit Lori who got it, she resigned. Now the faculty advisor wants me to do it. I have a real hard time saying NO! in situations like this...

but I did it today. I have my husband home, and my priorities have changed, and I no longer need something to do every second of every minute of every day in order to keep my mind off the horrible thoughts and "what if's" that go along with having a loved one in a war zone. He's home, and I want to be able to enjoy him every minute of every day (nudge nudge wink wink)

I'm so proud of myself for not allowing someone to flatter and beg me into doing something that I would, yes, LIKE to do, but I know that I would end up resenting it and not doing the job well as a result. I am certain that they can find someone else who will do that job (not as good as I could, but still) just fine. My family is more important than the financial status of the Student Senate, that's all.

Guess what I got??

I got a painting in the mail today!
From Jennie (I will post a link with a picture ASAP)

But for now

I LOVE IT!!

Oh... I'm.... SOOO happy for you

Ever have something like that happen? A friend gives you what they consider to be good news. You feel it in your gut that it is SO the wrong thing for them. Whether it's an engagement or a pregnancy, whatever it may be, why is it so obviously wrong to EVERYONE except the person who is engaged, pregnant, or whatever...

All I can do is be the supportive friend and be there when things fall apart. How can I tell someone that this event, this great and joyful time in their life is something I see as the worst thing that could happen to them. I could be wrong, I wish I were, but I just don't see it turning out all wine and roses...

*sigh*

Get a haircut & get a real job!

I mentioned applying for a job last week. Well, since I can only work part time, it just wouldn't work, and it was a factory job, although it was in the inventory department. It would have been a stretch but still "within" my desired field. So that's a no.

But a couple of days ago in the newspaper, I saw an ad for a part time teller at a bank here in town. It's a good deal, part time, afternoons and alternating Saturdays. My school schedule will work great with that.
Plus, it's the bank we bank at, AND it's the bank that I went to daily when I did the books and deposits while being a manager at McShithole. They know me... they like me. I popped in today and talked to Debbie, one of my favorite tellers, and she told me more about the job, and she directed me to Karen to get an application. I asked Karen if I should include a resume with the application, and she whispered "I would, I think it would really help, good luck!"

So I will do up a resume over the weekend and drop it all off on Monday morning. I start school on Tuesday and the application deadline is Tuesday, too.

Debbie told me that they're looking for about a year commitment on this job, and I figure that as soon as I graduate, I can apply for full time, or really, any position that opens up. Get my foot in the door, ya know?
And it IS directly IN my field.

So everybody cross their fingers for me!!

(Oh, and there's no haircut, it's just a great line from a great song! But I do need to color my hair, so maybe I should have titled this "Get a hair color and get a real job")

The latest purchase

One more thing to add to the list to make things nicer around here.

We went window shopping for the shower surround things we want to do in the bathroom downstairs. We just looked and figured. The shower will be this nice granite looking stuff with flecks of blue in it (the bathroom walls are blue). We also priced the plain white, and the difference is substantial. White is always cheaper with appliances and such! Oh well, the toilet and pedestal sink are both white, so maybe it won't be so bad.

But we had also noticed how crammed, stuffed, and overflowing our fridge has been. Water bottles, Mountain Dew cans, Beer cans, Mike's Hard Berry bottles, small Diet Pepsi bottles, large Diet Pepsi bottles. Not to mention the food.

So we bought a new refrigerator. It's downstairs in the utility room. All beverages (except milk) can be kept down there. See, whenever the store has a 'stock up sale' on the beverages we drink, we end up stacking it next to the upstairs fridge, in the kitchen, in the way.

NOW we have a solution. It's a small white fridge (with a freezer on top, for when frozen pizzas go on sale!) and it's already full.

But geesh, we have to be done soon, I will say, it's nice having a truck to haul things home, and it's nice to have the money to buy the stuff, but holy balls, we still have to haul it OFF the truck and INTO the house!
Washer
Dryer
Refrigerator

All three were big, and heavy and awful and all three went down the basement stairs! That's IT! No more big heavy things going down there!

But it's worth it... (yeah, I say that now that it's done... you should have read my thoughts while trying to fit it through the door

*can I just say 'never mind'... can we just take it back and forget the whole thing? Please?*

Something like that, with swearing mixed in, too, of course.

I AM McLovin'

I took Alex and Diesel to see "SUPERBAD" this afternoon. It's rated R so they needed an adult along, and honestly, I've seen the previews, and it looked pretty darn funny, so I was happy to volunteer.

OMG, seriously one of the funniest/stupidest movies I have ever seen.

So Dazed and Confused showed a day in the life of the 1970's high schoolers... The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles covered the 1980's teen angst, THIS is the story of the kids in this day and age.

It was dumb and obnoxious and crude and disgusting and one of the funniest things I have seen in far too long!

I highly recommend it, although I'd recommend waiting for it to come out on DVD so you can sit in your living room with some alcohol and some friends and laugh as loud as you want, and throw a (throw) pillow at your friends across the room to razz them when something in the movie reminds you of the time they did EXACTLY the same thing back in high school.

Yeah, good movie.

Friday's shopping excursion

Friday was our big school shopping outing.
We had to take 2 vehicles, since all 6 of us COULD have fit in the Kia, but there would be no room for the purchases we had to make.

We decided ahead of time that we would divide and conquer. We brought my mom along so that the kids did not outnumber us. I made the shopping teams with such care, taking into consideration everyone, adult and child.

I took Alex: because 1. he's easiest for me to deal with and 2. he wants me helping him pick out his clothes, not his dad. His dad would not allow some of that silly ass baggy pants crap he tries to pull.

Mom took Emma: because 1. she's ... finicky about clothes and I just don't have the patience to deal with her, and her dad would pull his hair out trying to deal with her and 2. Mom LOVES to take a little girl shopping; picking out outfits for her granddaughter just makes her day.

JP got Eric: because 1. Eric doesn't care about brand names and silly crap, he's the easy one and 2. JP deserves an easy one this year, kind of ease him back into it.

My mom pointed out that not alot of men would do a day long shopping trip like this... and I know she was referring to my dad, because I remember clearly every August going school clothes shopping with mom and Steven. She's right, JP was a real team player, and I really appreciate him.

Each adult grabbed a cart in Target, and their kid and off we went. We met up periodically at the fitting rooms, otherwise we each had our cell phones on to check every one's progress. Alex and I finished first, he's so easy for me to work with.

Mom would meet me by fitting rooms and check Emma's choices with me, and of course, they were all perfect, Mom's taste and mine are so similar, and I am blessed to have a daughter who thinks dressing like a Bratz doll is skanky-looking.

After Target, we went to Kohl's. I will still need to go get Alex his Etnie's and Emma wants those stupid Heelies (shoes with retractable wheels in the heels) and of course we will need to do all the school supplies, I think that will happen Monday or Tuesday.

Even with the amount of shopping we got done, we are not done. But we were all wiped out, so before we left Fargo, we rewarded ourselves with Red Lobster.

The one great thing about the trip to Target was that the day before we went I got a coupon in the mail from them. 10% off my next purchase... when you use the card, you acquire points...after a certain amount of points, you get the 10% off coupon. So thanks to that coming in such a timely manner, I saved $60 off the total.

So the kids were very concerned about who spent the most. I was shocked, I thought Emma had the title of "biggest spender" all wrapped up...but no. They spent in their age order. Alex was the most expensive, then Emma and sweet little Eric cost me the least. What a good boy!

Well, it was fun, and I am so glad it is over for another year!

Step Monster

I think it was Demi Moore in St. Elmo's Fire who first uttered the words (or is it one word?)

Step Monster

I have liked that word ever since, and I think I saw that movie when I was 12 or 13. I did not have a step monster at that time. I have one now.

I love my dad. I have made such efforts with his 'lovely bride'. I am officially done. I'm done even making an effort.
We had a family reunion this weekend. She did not say hello, she did nothing other than sit in a corner with her arms folded across her chest and a scowl on her surly face. Mark tried to speak to her, start a conversation with her, and she snubbed him.

If she is that horrible in front of my dad's family, I can only imagine what a heinous bitch she is to him at home. I love my dad, he does not deserve this. He doesn't deserve my mom, but he certainly doesn't deserve the complete opposite end of the spectrum either.

Friday was a good day, and worthy of a blog post, but not right now... there's elk steaks on the grill and corn on the cob in pots on the stove, so obviously, I have to go!

Will my son be the weird one,too?

When I was a kid, being the child of divorced parents was becoming more the norm and less the freak show. Just becoming. Most of the time, until I reached my Senior year, I was not normal. My parents were happily married. I was not shuffled off between one house or the next, I did not spend weekends with my dad and live with my mom during the week.

Once my Senior year hit, and my parents divorced, I finally became normal. I went on little excursions with my Dad on Saturdays, and had to call my dad to come help me when my car broke down. Had to call him, couldn't just pop down to the living room to find him. Finally, I was normal, I was not the freak.

Yesterday, Alex came to me to tell me that his best friend "Diesel" (not his real name) 's parents are getting a divorce. His other best friend, "Shitball" has parents who are headed in the same direction, fighting constantly.

I'm not going to spout off statistics about the divorce rate, mainly because I don't know the numbers and I'm too damn lazy to Google it or anything. But it's high, we all know the divorce rate is pretty damn high.

So what I'm saying is that my son (and all my children for that matter) is going to end up being the weird one.
And I'm ok with that. I hope they are, I hope they realize that in this respect, they're lucky to be weird.

But mostly I feel bad for Diesel... and his mom.

I'm such a dork

This is what I was so happy about JP making for me.

We just got the new washer and dryer, with the pedestals, so they're high.

It's a real P.I.T.A. using a laundry basket waaaaaaay down on the floor. Bigger loads, heavy wet clothes to lug across the room... ugh!

This would not be an issue if the washer and dryer were right next to each other, but they're across the room, thanks to the idiots who built this house. It could be done, move them next to each other, but it would require rerouting water or the dryer vent would be too far to run outside... SO, anyway, this is what we have.

I told JP that I wanted a laundry cart, like they have at the laundromat. We went and bought a mechanic's little stool on wheels, and the big blue tub with handle strap things. He bolted the tub on the top instead of the little cushioned seat, and VOILA!

Now I can easily transfer laundry from the washer to the dryer and from the dryer to the laundry table.

He's so sweet to me.

Family fun

So I was sitting here paying bills when the Pizza Man rang the doorbell.

BREAK TIME!

The whole fam sat down to eat (Taco Pizza for JP and I, cheese pizza for the boys and mushroom for Emma)

We're sitting around the table eating and laughing and teasing each other and I just sat there and smiled. It's been so long. Too long. Just to have everyone joking around and laughing.

The laughter was the best thing.

Taco pizza was a close second though!

*********************************************
After supper I was out in the sun porch having a cigarette (because I don't smoke in the house) when Emma popped out to join me for a chat. There were two plants in pots on the desk next to me, between Em and I.

I pointed to them and asked her if they were hers (as opposed to belonging to my Mom) She confirmed that they were hers, and knowing my daughter, I asked her what their names were. Yes, she names her plants.

Her response: "Billy, Mandy and Grim"
Me, being the good mom, knew immediately to whom she was referring. Cartoon Network. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. But there were only two plants. She gave three names.

I asked her about that.

"Oh, you're Grim, Mom. You can't touch Billy and Mandy. They'll die. So don't, ok?"

(camera's batteries are dead, so the pic of what JP built for me will have to wait a day or so)

Clean Freak

JP went on a cleaning spree last night.
We did Alex's room and the family room. 3 industrial sized garbage bags from the boy's room later, and hours and hours of vacuuming and changing things... I was exhausted, as were all 3 kids. We will go today and get Alex a frame for his bed as well as a box spring. He had one of those metal tube rail beds, so he didn't have a box spring before, and he had a twin-over-queen bunk bed, that's gone now. His room looks really good, clean and actually looks bigger when you take out all the extra furniture and clutter and junk.

He wants to do the same thing in Emma's room, and Eric's room, and the whole rest of the house. He is turning into a cleaning nazi, he must be stopped! We were up til after 2 a.m. for cryin' out loud!

Now we've got a big pile in the garage of stuff that needs to to go the dump. I think the plan is to go through Em and Eric's rooms before we make the trip to the dump. That would make sense. I'm just glad we have the truck, that's alot of stuff to haul.

I love having him home... things get done, things we didn't even know NEEDED to be done.

Next post: he built something for me... wanna see?

If you fall off, you have to get right back on

This is my younger son. He is 9 years old. My heart is breaking for him because I know what he's going through and no amount of my talking to him will help him through this. I can tell him that I have been through this and that I know how he is feeling until I am blue in the face but it does not make his tears stop and it does not encourage him to try again.

He is trying to ride his bike. He got this bike over a year ago and has never rode it. He says it's too big and yes, it is a bit big, but he should be able to ride it.

This kid has self esteem issues that I can barely fathom. I had a domineering and perfect older sibling, and I quite often felt incapable, but Alex and Emma don't really put that kind of pressure on him. Eric puts so much pressure on himself. He gets so mad at himself when he fails that he gets all red in the face and starts crying and yells at himself and calls himself stupid.

I just want this kid to do this, for himself, to feel that incredible sense of accomplishment. He deserves this triumph.

He is a good kid and I want this so badly for him.

Tunnel covers and pedestals

JP and I went to Fargo yesterday morning.
We picked up our special order pedestals for the new washer and dryer that we got last week. I LOVE them, btw. Front load, HUGE capacity... very nice, really cuts down on laundry time with that much laundry to do!

We also got a new ladder (no more kicks to the head for me, this is an 8 ft ladder, he can get up on the roof all by himself!)

and a NEW LAWNMOWER!! This thing is NICE. I've never had a self-propelled mower before. This thing is so cool. I was actually happy to mow the back yard yesterday...dog poo or not, it was nice to mow and not worry that any second now, the dogs won't be the only ones taking a dump in the yard.

Then we stopped in at a place that sells car and truck accessories. JP was looking for the next step in the "Pimp my Ride" series. He already got a new Alpine stereo that plays his iPod in his truck, and now he wants chrome handles and a tunnel cover. We grabbed the tunnel cover yesterday, but he is waiting on the chrome to do some more price checking. So he spent the afternoon mowing the front and side yards and doing the trimming and then put on his tunnel cover, and it looks amazing, really dresses up the truck.

Not that the truck was a POS before, but it's def. getting 'pimped' now.

I went out and applied for a job yesterday. For the next 2 weeks, I can work full time 2nd shift, and after that, when school starts, I can work part time on 2nd shift. I figure I can get about 22 hours per week without losing too much sleep or study time, or 'honey time'.

Well, it's housecleaning day, I am hoping to get JP to get a few more camo things out of here and stored away. He's been home 2 weeks and I've let it go... it can wait, right? But there is an enormous tote in the kitchen that I have stubbed my toe on for the last damn time!

I'm off to grab dirty laundry, I want to collect it before JP thinks of it so I can do laundry, not him! (Wow, you can tell I love the new appliances if I'm eager to use them!)

Holy Crap, thanks Scott!

So I go check my site meter tonight.
Holy balls, I don't think I've ever seen a number that big on this silly ass little blog!

Cool.

Not that I blog for readers, I'd have quit by now if that's what it was all about! I guess now that my delicious hubby man is home, I blog just for the sake of it, it's sort of like a diary now. But it is nice to see other people reading what I write. Whether they comment or not, whatever, but I do love a comment!

Now tonight I see things settling in nicely. I had a few Smirnoff Ice's while watching the Twins kick ass on the KC Royals while my husband is standing in the back of the room happily bouncing his racquetball ball. I didn't realize how much I missed that sound. thumpthump. grab. thumpthump.grab. It's one of those comfort things... like the smell of Grandma's house. Just hearing that makes me feel better.

Did you ever notice that racquetball balls are blue?

Now THAT is irony folks! This poor guy had blue balls for the past 2 years in Iraq, and now that he's home, he's got to deal with it again! HAHA, I crack myself up!

I, too, am a conceited biotch!!

Flat tagged me last week before I left for WE Fest for this meme of narcissism.

I'm supposed to list 10 things I like about me. I told her when I agreed to do this that 5 was probably pushing it. I will do as many as I can think of in the time it takes my dear man to finish up the dish rewiring downstairs... and I'm not tagging anyone... someone wants to do it, go for it, and leave me a comment with a link so I know to go check it out!

ok...
1. I like my legs. Alot. I really think they're my best feature. Gimme a pair of spike heels and a short dress and I'm a happy girl!

2. I fixed our financial issues a few years ago. I am very proud of that. We had over 13K in credit card debt, plus owed hubby's parents 2K for bailing us out of another debt. I took over bill paying and within 2 years I had everything either paid off and gone, or at the very least, current and no longer hurting our credit score. This was one of the big things steering me towards my current goal in life.

3. I have a wonderful relationship with my Mom. I am very proud of the fact that despite hating her as a teenager, I have overcome my "I am smart and you are dumb" attitude and realized that she really is one of the smartest women I have ever met.

4. I am pretty handy. I can do all sorts of carpentry, just about any power tool, and I can fix things... dishwasher? No problem. Well, I figure I can fix just about anything except a f*cking lawnmower!

5. (crap... I don't think I can make it much farther) OK. So there is one more thing that I like that I can do. I am not going to mention it here, but JP knows what it is. I like it fine, but I think my favorite thing about it is that JP likes it very much. If he had his way, I think I would be doing it for hours on end... but it is exhausting. (Get out of the gutter, maybe I'm talking about my lasagna recipe... I'm not, but maybe it is something just as innocent! PERVERTS! lmao)

Yep, that's it, that's all I've got.

I forgot

Ya ever forget? Happened to me.*

I forgot that when I ask my husband to do something, he will do it. He will not only DO it, but he will do it above and beyond the minimum requirements. Usually this is wonderful, and even though it takes more time, I am usually very pleased with the results.

I asked him to see if he could get the dish set up so my mom could have TV in her room. I mentioned it last night. Today he made a trip out to Menard's (for those who don't know, Menard's is a huge Home Depot. Lowe's type of place up here in the North) and he came home with a spool of cable and a bunch of little clipper things, and proceeded to ask me to assist him.

His plan was simple (HA) He wanted to redo the entire thing. There are (with my Mom's) 3 televisions in the house with a dish receiver. The box thing that connected all three cables to the dish were right next to the dish, on the roof.

Now, we live in a single story, finished basement house. It is not high. It IS a real P.I.T.A. to get up on the roof, but not as bad as it could be, if say, we had a big ol' two story farm house or something!

So he did the basement work, he is going to move that connector box into the basement, for easier access. I can see the logic in that, I guess. He got all the wires done downstairs and shoved through a hole in the side of the house. Then he asked for me to help him get up to the roof, and be available to hand him (read: throw up at him...hehehe) tools.

But first we had to get his ass up on the roof. We have a rickety old wooden ladder (note to self, go to Menard's TOMORROW and buy a new damn ladder!) He got up on the ladder to the last "safe according to the manufacturer" step, and then he asked me to hold it to steady it so he could go up the last two steps against the manufacturer's recommendation so he could haul himself up on the roof of the sun porch. So I did that.

And he kicked me in the face.
Full side of foot (and he's got big feet, normally I consider that to be a good omen, but not tonight!) making contact with my nose, my left cheek and jawline (smashing still-tender cheeks into metal) and oh, let's not forget smashing my glasses INTO my eye socket. IN TO the eye socket.

And as I gasp and pull backwards (but not letting go of the ladder, because I love him and do not wish any harm to come to him) I hear him say, as he finishes the haul of his body

"Did I just kick you?"

@#%%U&#!@!*&

I mean, um, yes honey, you did. Don't worry about me, I'm fine.

To play my own devil's advocate, if not for him being here (and kicking me) then I would be the one up on the roof not knowing what the hell I'm doing. At least he knows. I am not complaining about him doing stuff. Not at all. I am just stating the fact that I forgot HOW he gets things done.





*quote from Ron White

WE Fest Pictures

EDIT: added 7/31/08: These are pictures from the 2007 WeFest. It was a great time... now as I am gearing up and getting ready for THIS YEAR, 2008, I have some advice for those googling to find out stuff about it. This year, you may be compelled (read: NEED) to run in to town to visit the liquor store once (or twice, who are we kidding, right?) Here's the deal... this year, our town has been renamed Detour Lakes, because of all the road construction. I advise anyone to take Hwy 59 North, and when you get to the intersection of 59 and Hwy 10, TAKE A LEFT, go West young man, go West! There's a little town just 6 miles down the road, with a great liquor store right along the highway. Prices are better, and NO CONSTRUCTION to fight with!! Trust me, and when you're there, you'll meet some of the nicest people ever, including Charlie Brown. Tell them Nik said HI!!

It was a great time, I am in pain from sleeping in a tent on the ground, but it was worth it. I didn't know who Gary Allen was, and found out that I was about 10 feet away from him backstage and was checking out his jeans... then half an hour later, he's up on stage and I realize it... I had no idea... such a dork. I wish I had talked to him, he's kind of a hottie.

Toby Keith on Saturday night was AMAZING, what a great show! Sawyer Brown on Thursday was really good, too.


JP and I had a really great time... even though it looks like we are cranky...the sun was in our eyes... and it was still early, we hadn't had enough to drink yet at this point!

Bridge Collapse

I talked to my brother's husband last night. Mark was home when the I-35 bridge crossing the Mississippi River collapsed. My brother Steven is in London.

My thoughts are with those who lost a loved one and the families who are waiting to hear about their missing loved ones.

that's all.

Metal mouth is now

METAL AND RUBBER MOUTH.

Oh. Joy.
I have entered the next phase of my braces. Rubber bands pulling my upper and lower jaws together to someday mesh nicely. Oh. Almost forgot. I will also have a surgery to break my lower jaw to 'help' them mesh, too.

Sometime in the winter I will go to a surgeon and voluntarily have my jaw broken, yanked outward (they're gonna suck fat out of my chin/neck area tho, nice. And have a small chin implant, too.) and then WIRE MY MOUTH SHUT! The estimated time I'm hearing for wiring shut for healing is anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks. Holy. Crap. Batman.

I will be on a liquid diet. Hear that? Diet. One I will not be able to cheat on. I will be drinking my breakfast. I will be drinking my lunch. I will be drinking my dinner. My body will rebel against the wussy liquids and start to digest it's own fat stores. Yippee. I can force myself to use up fat stores. No sneaking a chicken nugget. No picking up a candy bar while out at the store. Nuthin'.

It may sound like I am worried about this, or dreading it, but in reality, I am looking forward to it. I finally weigh in the 150's, and if I'm lucky, by the end of this whole ordeal, I will have a pretty and straight smile, AND a smaller ass and thighs that don't touch each other. I am so looking forward to starving myself into dietary submission!

But for now, the bands are a real pain in the jaw, I mean really!
I am allowed to remove them when eating, but the goal is to have them on for 22 to 23 hours per day. With them on, I can only open my mouth enough to fit a fork of food. A small fork with just a little food. My husband is so not impressed with my 'oral abilities' being stifled right now.
Me either honey, me either.

Pitch a Tent!

Yeah Baby!!

Tonight JP and I are off to my friend Gina's house to pitch a tent. She lives right next door to

WE Fest.

Google it.

It's a huge annual country music festival with booze and concerts and camping that lasts 3 days. Thanks to Gina's parents living so freakin' close, they get great (free) seats every year. Dave and Joy (Gina's parents) offered 2 of them to JP and I this year. We are going to have soooo much fun!

Who is in the lineup this year?

Keith Urban

Trace Adkins

TOBY KEITH!!!

Sawyer Brown

just to name a few.

I'm starting to get really excited about this, it is SO MUCH fun!

And my mom is going to stay here with the kids and dogs for us, she's the best!

I will have my camera out there and try to get a few pictures here and there. OOOO such fun, I am really looking forward to this, even if I have to sleep on the ground in a tent... I'll be sleeping in a tent alone with my husband...nudge nudge wink wink!!

See y'all in a few days!!