BURRR.....

Ok, I officially don't like winter. It hasn't even snowed yet, and I can't stand this weather!!! It is as cold as...ice (no ice is warmer than Hays today)...as cold as...a polar bears nose!! Right now it is a meer 8 degrees! It did get up to 12 today...not really sure when that happened though. On cold days like this I love to kick back with my favorite mug full of cappuccino and a good book!

I had a few days off from work and I spent them washing up clothes and packing for my trip. I managed to get all my stuff in 1 federally regulated bag! I have a couple last minute things to throw in, but I'm ready to go! My little travel tip: roll your clothes; they take up less space...this leaves more room for the all important shoes!!

ALOHA

I have exactly 17 days until I officially become a beach bum. I can't believe it's coming up so fast! I have added some links, so you can check into what we will be doing. We fly out on the 24th at 6:20 AM....not so excited about this little detail! We'll be staying on the North shore the entire week...I hear that's where the surfers hang out....possibly I'll pick me up a surfer and bring him back! Ha! Ha! Thursday we will be laying on the beach...expect a Merry Christmas phone call from Hawaii...I have to check on my friends and see how the weather is in KS and MO!!!! Friday I sky dive...pray for my mom! I'll be fine, it's my mom who will be a basket of nerves! Then that night we have our first Luau. Sat. or Sun we will visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial. Monday we go to the 42 acre Cultural Center and have our second Luau that night (I did a little reading up on this activity). Then Tues. night we fly out...so sad about this. We depart at 10pm and arrive back in the states at 5am...can you say JET LAG?!?!?! Sprinkled in here and there will be many trips to the pineapple plantation for icecream...I hear it is the best ever. I'm also hoping to snorkel and have plenty of beach time. OOO...I just found info on a Papaya and Pineapple scrub at our resort...that sounds so relaxing. I'm off to dream of warm weather and white sand beaches!

Thanksgiving

I know I'm like a week behind for this post, but bear with me, ok. I woke up Thanksgiving day, very thankful. This year I'm most thankful for the health of my family and friends. I'm also thaknful for the healthy pregnancies my friends have had this year. I'm also very thankful that I'll be waking up Christmas morning on the beach! There will be more to come on this in a later posting. I'll share flight plans and activity plans with you. For now, here are a couple pictures. The first one is our first snow of the year. It was the perfect snow last Friday. Everything was covered so nicely. Rachel, look what you missed!!! My second picture is my Christmas decorations. This is all I'm putting up this year. I'm going treeless this year, since I won't be here during Christmas to enjoy it. I'll try to find a lighted palm tree to celebrate under this year, instead!!

Technically incompitent

Every day I feel just a little bit older. This week I felt really old! I decided to upgrade; keep in mind when I upgrade things are bound to go wrong and I'm left feeling rather dumb. Let me preface my little story with this: Yes, I am behind the times. Ok, with that being said, I went to Wal-Mart last week and made a small purchase, that being an iPod nano. Exciting, right....I was kind of excited, because this means I'll have something to listen to on the plane ride over to Hawaii. So I open up the box, expecting instructions on how to work this new fangled technology. Oh no! I get this: . Come on, I need more than that! So I go to the web site to get the actual instructions...they are of no help either. I get the iTunes downloaded, then the problems and feelings of incompetence begin. I can't figure out how to "Sync". The instructions are of no help, the tutorial on the web site is not helpful, and the downloaded instructions make it sound super easy, but they don't help either! So what do I do? I call my brother and we figure I got a bad iPod. So at 8:45pm I take it back to Wal-Mart. The next day I try things all over again, only to have the same problems. Then I figure it out on my very own...without the help of the dumb instructions! Note to the people at apple: There is more than one way of doing things...include these ways in your instructions so us common folk can work your iPod. Now I have music for my trip!

Update on the trip: There are 35 days till the rubber leaves the cement and my feet touch the sand! I'm getting a list of things to pack together in my head. Christmas songs to sing in the mean time include: "I won't be home for Christmas", and "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, on the beach"

My day off

So today was my day off. I went to the dentist...no cavities!! I can't remember the last time I had a cavity, so Yeah for me!!!! That reminds me, Lac have you had your appointment with your dentist? I hear it's really important when you are pregnant.

Then I went to vote. Speaking of which, there is a fun site where you take a quiz and find out which cantidate you are most probable to vote for. I thought it was kind of fun and I'm sharing it with you: http://abcnews.go.com/politics/MatchoMatic/fullpage?id=5542139. I hope all of you go to vote, because if you don't vote you can't complain for the next 4 years!!!

Next on my schedule of events was a massage. I was sooooo looking foward to it, but was soooooo greatly dissappointed today. I got there and they failed to tell me they were remodeling. It was so noisy in there! There was no way it was going to be a good experience so I told them I would reschedule. They were kind enough to give me $5 off my next appointment. So what shall I do with the rest of my day??? I know, I'll go scrapbook! Thanks Becca for giving me the urge to scrapbook again!

Baby Shower

Becca, Megan, and I hosted Laci's baby shower on 10-18-08. It was well attended, a lot of fun, and the best part: Laci got tons of cute things for Baby Schrant. Becca and I got together a couple weeks before the shower to make mints...boy was that fun!! Here are some of the photos of the weekend.

What's a shower without games? The ladies have paper plates on their heads and are drawing pictures of baby Schrant. There were a lot of good artists in the group!

This was the cutiest cake I'd ever seen! Becca's cake lady did an awsome job. It was delicious, and Megan made great punch, too!

And the gifts!! Baby Schrant is going to be well dressed and have a bunch of fun toys to play with!

The month in pictures

Hello fellow bloggers! Some of you may be wondering where I've been and what I could possibly be doing that has kept me from blogging for such a long time. Well, there have been two projects I've been working on.

First on the list was to finish up the baby blanket for Baby Schrant...after all, his mommy and daddy will be welcoming him home in January. The baby shower for Lac was well attended, about 30 people! She got a bunch of cute things for her little one.

Dad's birthday was also this month. As you can see, he's already practicing the hula for our Hawaii trip, now that he's finally got his "official Hawiian shirt"!

And my final "confession": I've been scrapbooking! Talking to Becca has gotten me excited to get back into it. When I do this, I like to spread out on the kitchen table, as you can tell!!!! The pages I'm currently working on are from our family trip to Mobile, AL about 5 years ago! That's how far behind I am. I don't know what I'm going to do when I host my scrapbook party! I guess I'll have to have my pictures and page ready to put together so I have space for my guests!!!!

New Hobby

So, I went to camp this weekend, and I found a new hobby! We had craft time and I chose to do card making. Just a side note: my other two options were flower arranging and scrap booking. I didn't pick scrap booking because I already know how to do that and I wasn't really excited about flower arranging so I picked the third option, which I wasn't too excited about to be really truthful. But in all actuality, I had a good time!! And now I have a new found hobby! Did you know they make pre-made packs of paper and envelopes just for card makers?!? This may be something I'll have to check in to. Becca, are we going back to Hobby Lobby any time soon??? Ha! Ha! Ha! I have to show off my creations....see below.

Another thing off my to do list: this big boxy thing once held the city trash cans. Now that Hays has gone to the "polycarts" I had no use for this, so I tore it apart. It only took me 45 minutes! That thing was nailed together pretty darn good!

I'm happy to report that the patched wall is holding, too! We have had quite a bit of rain, and none has leaked in, at that particular spot. Now, if the far northeast wall would quit leaking I'd be a very happy camper! I guess I can't complain too much, it only leaks if there is a torrential downpour. I'm just thankful and happy I have a roof over my head.

Welcome to the World

My dear friend Jessie and her husband Matt, and daughter Scarlette welcomed this little bundle of joy into their family Friday. His name is Maxwell Alexander! I think he is just precious.

I found some way cute clothes for little Max, and I even found a special shirt for his big sister! I just love giving baby gifts!!

The "To-Do" List

So, dad came down this weekend to help me get some of my home improvement projects done. We had a list of things to do, and did a pretty good job of getting many of the things done. We also did some things that were not on the list, but that's ok! One of our main projects was to try to stop the leak in my basement. We re-caulked around the windows and even poured some cement in front of one of the windows, to prevent water pooling in that area. I also patched the crack in the wall where the water had been leaking in...we'll see it that remedies the situation. We hung blinds and a curtain rod, put weather stripping along the bottom of the doors, fixed the down-spouts, changed out a couple screws in the garage door, so now it shouldn't fall off the track. I also bought a new weed eater because my old one was causing a lot of problems, and wasn't very reliable. Then dad and I moved on to our last project: changing out the bedroom fan. As I recall, dad said, "it should only take a couple hours." Well, 3-4 hours later, you have picture A (below)!!!

You are probably asking, so, where's the fan? Well, typically with projects around the Gittinger household they take longer than expected and we run into problems. Dad had the fan all hooked up and we turned the switch on, and it wouldn't work! Come to find out with his handy-dandy voltage meter there weren't enough volts coming from the switch. Dad wasn't sure why this was the case..maybe it was the broken wire in the ceiling. So he has wire nuts on the ends of the wires and is going to ask someone about this problem. So this little "2 hour job" stays on the "To-Do list" for another day when dad can come back down to finish it. So for now, if you come to be my guest, you have no light/ceiling fan in the guest room. I've set you up with the floor lamp pictured above!!!!!
The to-do list is getting things marked off of it!!!! How exciting! Thanks dad for helping out this weekend...I really appreciate it.

Here's some updates on other things going on since I last posted. Mom had her birthday on the 10th. Tim participated in his second demo derby and placed 5th overall...this was better than the first demmo of the season. His car is still running and there is rumor that he may in fact take it to Nebraska to finish it off. The motto of a good demo guy is: run it till it don't run anymore! For those of you who don't know, our Hawaii trip is booked, and we do have insurance. I'm back on track to sky dive!!!!! Word is I'm only being allowed one suitcase...size small to pack everything in. I'm not sure how I'm going to get all my clothes in, but I'll figure out a way, because I'm sure as heck not going to miss a trip to Hawaii! I may have to do a trial run in packing before the trip! Oh, our church is having an open house Sept. 6th! Our new addition is done and we are already putting it to good use. We have hosted youth conference and VBS and we have KidFest coming up. We are also adding a third service...yes, a third but this service is geared for youth and will be held in the new gym at the 10:45 service. What an exciting time for our growing church!

One more thing.....Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad on the 27th!!!!!

Tim's Tradition Continues

Well, it's official, derby season is here. Tim had his first of the season last weekend in Goodland. He was third in his heat, which qualified him to move on to the main event. Unfortunately, the distributor failed and there were some other problems that kept him from getting his car up and running in time to run in the main event. He decided to fix the car and is taking it to St. Francis this weekend. He has a really sturdy car this year, if only he can keep it running. Tim also has another car, which he may take some place else this year. Because of the problems in Goodland, he may get to run in 3 derbys this year! Tim just lives for this time of year. I'll keep you posted on Tim's achievements of the season.

July 20

Is it really July 20th??? I really don't have any new news. Last time I was home I got to see Tim's demmo car. It's that time of year that he has the "leave me alone, I'm working on my car" attitude. He was, however, more than happy to show off what he had accomplished thus far. The demmo is the first part of August, so I may be making a trip home for that, we'll see how the work schedule goes. Oh, I added a new member to my blog today. My cousin is studying abroad and she has a site, so now, I get to keep in touch with her, which is exciting! It rained in Hays over 2 inches again. My poor basement; I had a little water seep in (in the usual spot), but nothing that the towels didn't catch. I really don't know what to do; I fear that it is going to be a huge fix, though. Dad says he's going to come down soon to take a look at the problem. Thankfully my toilets are still working fine!!!!!!!! Ha! Ha! Take care, everyone!

The Royal Throne

So, I feel like I've been tested lately. About a month a go (maybe not quite) my upstairs toilet ran over and leaked down into the basement AGAIN! I put it out of commission and was down to one toilet, the one in the basement. Until this week, all crap broke loose, so to speak. The basement toilet began to continually run. I figured the porcelain gods were out to get me!!!! So I had to shut off the water so I wouldn't come home to a mess after work. After work, me and my basement toilet bonded and I managed to fix the problem--yea for me! I decided that I was not about to attempt 2 toilet repair jobs so I called a plumber. They came today and fixed the upstairs toilet and replaced the float in the basement toilet and fixed my shut off valve to the basement toilet, as well. I now have 2 working toilets!!!!! Praise Jesus!!!!! Now you can come over to my house and use my throne(s)!!!!!

That's not all to this story, though. So, I come out of work on Tuesday and the battery on my car is absolutely DEAD. I go back in to work and call the security office and they come out and jump my car and get me on my way. I go to Wal-Mart, but they don't have time to check my battery so they sent me to Advanced Auto. They check the battery and say it's ok, but it's my alternator that's going out and that I need to get it replaced THIS WEEK and they are more than happy to price one for me. I'm pretty naive at car parts and I'm thinking 150.00 at most, right? Oh no, this puppy is going to cost $370! Then this nice, very handsome man proceeds to tell me they don't put the part on, but he knows someone who will and it shouldn't cost more than (wait, are you sitting for this?) $600 to $1,000!!! I about wet myself in the parts store!!!!!!!!!!!! He says, and I quote, "I'd get an estimate first, but would not have it done if it would cost more than that." I'm thinking, "NO KIDDING!!!" So at 8:00 that night I set out for Grinnell, KS--the half way point to meet dad to exchange cars. Dad is having the car checked in Goodland by the VoTech, so the jury is still out on whether or not the alternator is going to be replaced.

I know there is a lesson to be learned here, I'm just not sure what it is, just yet. I told dad the other night that I'm tired of being tested. He told me to keep my head up and keep going (boy he's so wise)! Looks like I'll be eating PB & J's till I gag!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you'd like to make donations to POOR Man's fund you may make checks payable to Amanda Gittinger!!!!!!!!! Ha!Ha! Ha! Here's my theory, Ya gotta keep laughing, or you'll cry!

Ellen funny

My mom sent me this link to the Ellen DeGeneres show. It's about 6 minutes long, but very funny and worth your time! Enjoy!

http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/ellen-gladys-hardy-p1.php?emf=1

WAKE UP

This weekend was our 5th annual youth conference, and my first time helping out. I had a great time! I helped out in the kitchen and the concession area throughout the weekend. We had a great crew to work with and everything went smoothly. I showed up on Saturday to help cook pancakes and was told we were making 900. I was wondering if we would be able to be done by 5:00. We started at 12:30 and were done in about 2 hours!! Did I mention we also filled syrup cups, butter cups, and browned sausage in that time as well? We finished by filling juice and water cups and set up tables for the food line and were done by 4! God blessed us with a little time to sit and relax.

Throughout the weekend the kids had games on Friday night, worship lead by the Ignite band, and a visit from Dan Meres (KC Wolf) who gave a great talk on how important it is to have a relationship with Christ. Saturday started with worship lead by the Ignite band, breakout sessions on various topics, and the evening was ended by a concert lead by Every Day Sunday. There were about 75-100 kids who made the decision to give their life to Christ, as well!!! We give God all the honor and glory for a very powerful and successful youth conference!


The troops are ready to feed the hungry kids. We made over 900 pancakes, poured syrup into small cups,and put butter into small cups as well. Then we filled juice cups and water cups, all prior to the 5:00 feeding frenzy!







As the kids filed in, they were given pancakes and sausage, picked up their cups of syrup and butter and a drink, then went to any spot in the church and had supper. The supper feed went really smoothly!







This is the Ignite band leading worship. They did a wonderful job all weekend!








Another picture of the Ignite band leading the crowd in worship to their God and King





Youth Pastor Brant talking about Waking Up (the theme of the weekend). He talked about how we tend to hit the snooze button on our spiritual lives and what we can do to find allies to help us out of our slumber. The verse of the weekend is found in Romans 13:11-14--The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

OOPS!

I don't think this set of pictures warrents an explanation, except for the following phrases:


1. Oops, I did it again.
2. "Holy Crap" (famous line from Frank Barone)
3. Not again

So after this happened, I procedded to the church to help make 900+ pancakes for youth conference. Can you believe they let me near a griddle?

Father's Day

So, here are some pics from father's day. My grandparents were down for the weekend, so it was great to see them again. All in all, it was a nice, relaxing weekend!

A pic of the card I made dad! I think home-made cards are the best kind!

Continuing with the home-made theme, I made apple pie ala mode (dad's favorite). It was very tastey!!!

Hawaii update

So, here's the latest update. Our family trip dates are December 23 through Jan 1. The thing is we may not be able to get trip insurance. We really don't want to put out all that money and risk loosing it. So dad is going to do some more checking on the insurance aspect of things. If we definately cannot get the insurance then we will postpone going to Hawaii. Looks like skydiving may have to wait. If we don't go to Hawaii we may look at going some place else, instead...any suggestions?

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

10 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY DAD.....

1. His creativity. He always comes up with the funniest Christmas gifts for mom.
2. His kind heart. He is always helping others, in fact, I don't think he knows the word "No".
3. His annual light display. Every year he puts up this fantastic light display that doesn't disappoint! If you've seen the Griswold's Christmas, you'll know what I'm talking about.
4. His love for the simple things. My dad has the spirit of a kid. He also loves kids!
5. He made me feel special as a kid. Dad would take me on "Father/Daughter" trips. My favorite trip was always Stars on Ice, especially when we got to meet the figure skaters, thanks to Diane.
6. His teachings. My dad is very wise, especially when it comes to a "nutritious meal".
7. Seeing my dad in a servant's role. We've been to Mexico twice together and have also gone to several soup kitchens to serve others. It's a pleasure to serve with my dad.
8. His love for my mom. They still hold hands after 31 years of marriage; I just love that! And he has taken such good care of my mom over this last year when she was sick--good job dad!
9. His ability to calm me down. I don't know how he does it, but I can call him in a panic and by the end of the phone conversation, everything is alright.
10. He is a very hard worker. I can remember when he would work 2 jobs to make ends meet. We never had fancy things as kids growing up, but we sure had enough. We were comfortable, well fed, and very much loved, and that's all that mattered!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!!!

MAY MADNESS

I know, it is typically termed "March Madness", but around our house it's known as "May Madness". This time of year mom always says, "Don't ever get married or have your babies in May." In our family May is filled with Tim's birthday, Mother's day, Graduations, my birthday, Memorial day weekend (which Dad and Tim spent at the Indy 500), and Indy 500 weekend (this is a holiday in and of itself around our house!) Did I forget anything???

Happy Mother's Day!! Mom made out well this year. 2 boxes of dark chocolates from Tim and some books and a foot massage from Amanda. If you know mom well, you know she loves books. This year I had a "Secret Agent" search through her book list and her personal "library" collection to see if she had 2 certain books. After much investigating it was determined that mom did not have the books, so I purchased them for her. When I got home for the weekend, what was laying on the table by her reading chair?!?! That's right, one of the books I had bought her!!! She had just been to the library and thought that book looked good and checked it out! Boy did we have a good laugh about that one. Did I tell you about the time she bought her OWN book back at the library book sale? She got home and found out it was her book because her name was in the inside cover!!!! I love that about my mom, she's always finding great books to read, even if she's read them before!

Happy Birthday to Me!! This year I turned 26! I know! I can't believe I'm that old either!!!!!! Mom and dad came down the week before to celebrate. It was a great weekend; mom and I went shopping for garden flowers and I got my first sun burn of the summer (mom thought it was hilarious when I started turning 20 shades of red!). I got a new faucet set for my kitchen (you won't see pictures/a blog of me putting this in because I don't know the first thing about this type of plumbing!), some gardening tools, a picture album for my Hawaii pictures, and a wall plaque about daughters. We also went shopping and I found some dresses for Hawaii. I'm really getting excited for our trip. Thanks mom and dad for such a great weekend!!!

To continue the celebrating, I made cupcakes for my co-workers. A couple of them had anniversaries of their hire dates at work and it was the week of my birthday. They were very tasty strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting and sprinkles.
Happy Birthday to ME! For my birthday I got to have lunch with my dear friend Lac! And for supper I got to go out with another of my dear friends, Becca! It was so great to see these two gals! Thanks ladies for making my day so special!!! I also want to say thanks to my family and friends for all their thoughts,calls, and cards. They all mean so much!!! A little side note about my birthday: it always seems to rain! And this year there was even a tornado warning issued for Ellis county! Sorry Becca, I should have warned you of the weather situation on my birthday! I was always the girl with the indoor party when I was little!!!
And finally, it's Memorial weekend. Dad and Tim had a great time at the Indy 500 race. For the Hays area it rained most of the weekend. We even got a little hail with all the rain and tornadoes in our area. I did manage to grill out on Saturday. Saturday I spent some time at the church cleaning and Monday I painted a room that is going to be the new coffee lounge. We are getting closer to being done with our renovations. In June we will be remodeling the worship area, and during that time we will be worshipping in the new youth center gym. It will be very exciting when our project is all done. I better go enjoy what time I have left of the day. Tomorrow it's back to work! I hope your month of May has been as great as mine!

Home owner tip of the day

So, an adoring fan has recently told me, "You haven't posted anything since the carrot cake." I know, I know. I'm not sure what happened! I can't believe it's almost June.

Here is my home owner's tip of the day:

CLEAN OUT YOUR GUTTERS!!

It's really a simple process, I'll walk you through it.

1.) Get out your ladder. 2.) CAREFULLY scale the ladder with garden hose in hand. 3.) Hook nozzle of sprayer on gutter while you steady yourself on top of the ladder. 4.) Say a quick prayer that you don't fall off or your friends don't drive by while you are steadying yourself on top of the ladder!!! 5.) Aim sprayer along gutter and down into drain spout until all debris is clear of gutter. (It is understood that you turned on the faucet before you climbed the ladder and prayed.)You may need to repeat the above steps a few times, moving the ladder along gutter, until you have a clean gutter.

Notice the pile of sludge that came out of my gutter today. No wonder the rain water was spilling over the sides of my gutter the last couple days!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Just wanted to quickly post my carrot cake recipe (see "featured recipe" section to the right) for everyone. This is really yummy, but I'd make a couple changes next time. Enjoy!

It rained here today, but much to my delight, my basement stayed dry!!! I think I can finally rest assured that it won't leak again. The forecast is rainy the rest of the week so we'll see if I have any rain leak in!

Have a great week!

What have you done?

Here's a fun little quiz for you to take and answer. Hope you enjoy learning a little about me!


Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not. Answer the 30 questions at the end and send it to your friends (including me).

Gone on a blind date?X
Skipped school?
Watched someone die? X
Been to Canada ?
Been to Mexico ?X
Been to Florida ? X
Been on a plane? I will soon when I go to Hawaii and sky dive!
Been lost?X
Been on the opposite side of the country?
Gone to Washington , DC ?
Swam in the ocean? X
Cried yourself to sleep? X
Played cops and robber?
Recently colored with crayons?
Sang Karaoke?
Paid for a meal with coins only?
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? X
Made prank phone calls?
Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose? X Does food count?
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? X
Danced in the rain? X
Written a letter to Santa Claus? X
Been kissed under the mistletoe? X
Watched the sunrise with someone you care about? X
Blown bubbles? X
Gone ice-skating? X
Been skinny dipping outdoors?
Gone to the movies? X

1. Any nickname? Man
2. Mother's name? Marilyn
3. Favorite drink? Diet A&W RootBeer
4. Tattoo? Not yet
5. Body piercing: yep
6. How much do you love your job? Some days are way better than others
7. Birth Place? Goodland Kansas
8. Favorite vacation spot? Pensacola Florida (but I think Hawaii will soon make the top of the list)
9. Ever been to Africa ? no
10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? yes
11. Ever been on TV? I’ve been told I was, but I didn’t see myself
12. Ever steal any traffic sign? No, I know someone who has!
13. Ever been in a car accident? Had some close calls
14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 door
15. favorite salad dressing? Raspberry vinigerette
16. Favorite pie? homemade apple
17. Favorite number? 3
18. Favorite movie? Shrek
19. Favorite Holiday ? Christmas
20. Favorite dessert? Carrot cake
21. Favorite food? mexican
22. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
23. Favorite brand of body wash? suave
24. Favorite toothpaste? Colgate max fresh
25. Favorite smell? roses
26. What do you do to relax? Watch tv, crochet, cook, go to the movies w/friends
28. How do you see yourself in 10 Years? 10 years ago I answered this question as being married and having kids by now; we’ll see what the next 10 years bring!
29. Farthest Place you will send this message? Kirksville MO
30. Who will respond to this the fastest? Lac

Man Land

Just a little update on "Man Land". It rained this weekend so now I'm going to have to get out this week and mow my lawn. I've been trying to put it off as long as I could. Suprisingly my tulips are still bluming (it was down to 32 degrees last night)! What is up with this weather? I had to turn my heater back on today for a little while to take off the chill in my house. Despite the cool weather, my friend Britt and I went for icecream at DQ Saturday. One can never say no to a dish of icecream shared with a good friend!!!!

So, the ceiling in my basement still has missing tiles and dad has been really busy at work and has been unable to get back down here to finish up this little project. Last night I had a dream that my house started falling apart. It started in a closet where the wall was paper thin, then the floor started deteriorating and I could see right into my basement!! I sure hope this isn't a premenition!!!!!! Yes that is a tuppeware container in the second picture. Do you suppose this was God's intent when he created the person who invented tuppeware? All I can say is "Thank you God for Tuppeware." I was instructed by dad to "find the biggest container and put it under the pipe since it is leaking." So I did as I was told!!! I can happily report, though, the pipe has not leaked since then.

Today I renewed my RN license, so I'm safe to practice for another couple of years. This little license is rather expensive, though!!! Oh, did I mention I'm being audited on my CEUs, though? Yea, I get to be the lucky one! All I have to do is send in copies of all of my CEUs to the KS Board of Nursing, so I don't think it will be as bad as being audited by the IRS!!! I also made Tater-tot cascerole tonight; it is the best recipe ever, so I'll be sure to post it for you. Doesn't it look yummy?