Update

Well the job is AWESOME. I didn't know I could be such an accountant. I am learning very quickly and stealing as much work from everyone as I can to keep me busy. The people in my office are fantastic (less 1 but hey...you can't ask for better than that) and I fit right in. Keep 'em laughing, I do. There are some students that are very fun; it never ceases to remind me how old I have become when I spend time with them. It is interesting to hear their views of the world & what not. I had no idea there were so many republicans in agriculture. I was expecting a MUCH more liberal undercurrent....don't get me wrong this university is very liberal but the individuals I work with share the same "common sense" attitude towards politics, etc as I do; that party lables fail to separate.

The kids are great and loving school. G was star of the week a few weeks ago & Bug is tyke of the month for March. G is talking about Kindergarten about every other day. He knows after his birthday he gets to go to school....so we here...when is my birthday....is my birthday soon...and so forth. Bug is fully potty trained and full of sass and fiest! She is so funny but man when she decides to throw a fit....whatch out!

Hubby is still with the same shop but he & a buddy are getting their own shop for side jobs on April 1st. It will be nice to have a place he can work on friends/family/word of mouth customers until things build up. It's in a location that if I wanted to do something on the side I could too...and it has a huge place for the kids to play; since I have bins of extra toys...that's where they are going. It is also a weight off knowing if things got really bad for him at work he has a place he could pour some time into & be able to make some income.

Gotta run...just taking a few minutes to update. I'll dump in some more pictures soon.
Moi

Headin' to Kinnikinik island

Kickin' it on the house boat. What a blast....what a way to travel!

Bathing beauties

In the pool at Auntie B's in MN

A Job!

I got a job! Yeahhhhhhhhh! I interviewed for an accounting position with the local university (my favorite :) at 11am on Thursday....they offered me the job at 3pm the same day! Yeah! I start at 8am Monday morning. THIS Monday morning. Wow! Gman's teachers are ecstatic that he is going to be coming to school full time....they have REALLY missed him. Bug's favorite teacher was VERY pleased as well. It's awesome that other people love spending time with my children too!

Other things in our lives: Happy birthday to my Bro today. Happy birthday to my Sis on Sunday. Sending our thoughts and prayers to Hubby's family for the loss of a cousin this week to cancer.

Health update: We all seem to be "fairly" healthy. I am knocking on wood like a wood pecker as I type this. Bug had a follow up today and we discovered why she has acted like the spawn of evil these past 10 days....she has 2 new 2 year molars. Ahhhh! That would explain it. Poor thing was so uncomfortable. Doc said to dose her up with Motrin all day when the next two seem to be coming. We have started a life change this week in eating habits to help in lowering cholesterol, loose weight and get into better shape so we can enjoy our family time better. I made healthy breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks & dessert every day this week...boy do the kids have gas! All those extra fruits and veggies has turned Gman into the Gasman! The first few days were hell but Hubby and I made it. It feels good. Once the food change isn't such a shock we are going to add in the physical side. I took the 3 dogs (all 100 lbs) for a walk (alone) after my interview....it was fantastic. The dogs did great and we had a blast trudging through the snow/slush/mud.

Well I am beyond exhausted...there is more as always but just a quick update. Off to bed; maybe Hubby will let me sleep in tomorrow. I should have gone to bed hours ago but the mind wouldn't shut down.

Sweet dreams.

Taking a dive.

Gman's very first dive (kinda) during our trip to MN in summer of 2006

Dirtball

My daughter loves dirt!

Sub-Zero

It's COLD out there! To say the least. We only added about 2-3 inches of snow but the temp dropped to below zero. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Let's see where to I start...so many things so many things! We have a new addition to our family (we'll see for how long...read on). Reno is a nearly 2 year old male Akita. We adopted him on Monday from a lady who couldn't keep him as her Shepard tried to kill him. He is a fine looking dog and submissive for an Akita. I can't blame this one on my husband one bit since it was ME....yes me the NO lady...who fell in love with him. He needs some training and is not used to our "routine" but he is very smart. He gets along with our existing boys (Taz is still not too sure of the new guy). He is smitten with Bug. Whenever she leaves the room he escorts her to where she is going then returns. He walks her up & down the stairs and will randomly find her to kiss her face and return to his blankie in the living room. But.....and there is a HUGE but.... he is still in puppy faze. He piddles when he is in trouble; he marks (pees) on things in the house; he uses his mouth to play (not biting just teeth), he runs off into the neighborhood (considering we have no fence)..... Hubby had a 2 hour search for him last night (he was NOT happy) after I took Bug to bed (read on for more about that). He (Reno...not hubby) is desperate for praise and love so we have already altered much of the behavior and again I have no one to blame but myself. Which makes me even more mad that I can't be mad at someone else :) Yesterday while walking up the driveway (in flip-flops.....Hubby's BIG flip-flops) to find Reno; I spotted him at the top of our street. As he was running back home I turned around to walk back down (key word down) the drive. My left foot slipped, tried to compensate with right foot that stepped on the back of the left flip-flop and in cartoon fashion arms & legs went flying and I went down....HARD apparently on the only "rocks" that weren't covered by the snow. Thank goodness I have extra padding on the back side.

Later that day....while putting some things in the frig I hit my knee on the crisper drawer that sent me literally flailing on the floor and crying (something I rarely ever do from injury); Bug came in to check on me "Mommy, are you OK?"...then she kissed me on the shoulder. She waited until I regained myself and asked again "Mommy, are you OK?" then gave me a huge hug. When I explained I hurt my knee she kissed my knee and gave me another huge hug. Do I have the best kids or what?

Bug is very sick. It started with a croupy cough night before last but turned into something much more similar to the pneumonia cough hubby had last week. We spent a LONG time in the bathroom with the hot shower going and the window open. Brother was such a great guy, he came in with toys and lots of stories to keep us from getting bored. He rubbed Bug's head and kissed her forehead. She was coughing so hard she gagged every time...which was about 3x a minute. She has slept with me the last two nights so I can monitor breathing etc. Last night as we lay in bed and she was coughing with no end in site I prayed harder than I have prayed in a long time. We were blessed with a fairly peaceful evening with more sleep than coughing.

I got my first call from applying online to jobs. I have an interview with the new hospital (lab) on Tuesday. The lady that called said I was on many of the lists (YEAH) since I applied to about 15 jobs there..hopefully more to come. This one is only PT but I am going to take the interview for practice and to get the interview jitters out. I also have an interview Tuesday with Kings (thank you Kris). I applied for a very cool office manager job with an elementary school in town which my buddy Susan was so gracious in taking my application in yesterday for me (thank you Susan). I was so inspired by my first phone call I delved into applying again with much more passion and found a few great positions. Never did hear from the university so I am putting that one behind me. Hopefully I'll have something in the next week or two (tomorrow well OK Monday would be optimum but not likely since my interviews are not until Tuesday).

In closing we are freezing our butts off out here (& according to yesterday's spill I need all of mine), illness continues to riddle our happy home, we...ahh let me correct that...I have a new project called RENO, the job hunt continues, sanity wains quite rapidly (although last nights discussion with the man upstairs and hours {not minutes} of continuous sleep have helped tremendously), finances continue to suck but I can still find my humor so there you go. Hoping you all have much less excitement than we do. Oh did I mention another storm with SNOW is headed our way. Gosh, I wonder what it will be like to get snow....hmmmmmm...oh yeah I remember I just looked outside at the feet we already have! I kinda like it in a sick sorta way. The only thing that makes it bad is the illness that prevents us from going outside to ENJOY it. With sickies 1, 2 & 3 (Gman please stay well now!) we have only gotten a few moments here & there to enjoy a sled down the hill or moving snow with G's front end loader and dump truck. Do you think our "shut-in" status is helping or hindering my sanity? Thank god the kids have been wonderful.

Stay warm~

3rd Installment of Blizzard 2006 OR 1st Installment of Blizzard 2007

Yep...more snow! We have a good 6" of more snow and it is still coming down. This is the longest we have had snow & the most snow I can remember (over and over) in over a decade. It really is beautiful. Thank god I don't have to go to work :) ha ha ha. Funny thing is it was 60 degrees yesterday and I was in a short sleeve Tshirt with no coat. I'm glad I took Brody's crib up to Denver yesterday....GOOD LUCK on moving tomorrow guys!

Hubby is still very sick but Gman & Bug seem to be doing great. Bug doesn't even have a runny nose anymore (YEAH!). Gman still has a tiny cough and a stuffy nose at night but that's it. I am still upright..and that's a good thing.

I think today we will open up the boxes GW and Bug got from Santa. It seems like a good day for Learning Video games and the Star Station. Hey Johnny, you wanna drive up here and plow some snow...I know they could use you.

Livin' in a winter wonderland.

Gage's first time shooting. He had a blast shooting bottles and cans....quite a good aim too!

Unkie Matt is sooooo proud. My little dirt eater.

This was Antie Kris' birthday dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. The kids loved it...as you can see.

2006 is dead!

Man am I glad to put 2006 to rest...6 feet under. Unfortunately this is a year that will not go into the light....it is going to haunt me for years to come. It may have been the worst year on record for us with some of the best mini-moments. Maybe I can have the bad parts "exercised" from our lives...not bloody likely. I may not have made it through this last stretch without my cherished SIL who has been there day/night/rain/shine/good/bad with a shoulder to cry on, arms to hug me and a heart she shares unselfishly...THANK YOU!!!!

The curse of 2006 continues into 2007 as Hubby has pneumonia (bad) and is not doing well at all. He is miserable and luckily my sanity has granted me not only the stamina to care for him but the warm fuzzies to actually want to do it. Weird considering the recent events (shared & unshared) in my life that I could continue to even want to get out of bed...but I have been a good wife and and an even better mommy through this nearly snowed in time with the fam.

I was up with Hubby at 2am this morning and stayed by his side until the kids awoke at 6ish. He has been having such horrible shivering fits that he had to get into a hot shower in order not to shake the house down this morning. It is very scary not to be able to do anything. At the end of the episode his fever had soared to 104.3 and slowly started falling after that. We spent the night in the living room so he could doze sitting up and I laid on the couch watching DIY listening to his breathing. Both kids had pneumonia in 2006, Gramma had it & now Hubby. I have been nearly inhaling Lysol for fear that if I get it life as I know it could crumble. Not that the life I know at this moment couldn't use a do over but not that way. My immune system seams to have worn armor this year (if you don't count the 2 bouts of food poisoning - 1 in which partially led to my "termination" or the vertigo this summer but those are just plain weird).

Luckily the kids pull me back into perspective quite often. We have had some great times with the munchkins this year. We took our very first family vacation to Minnesota and had a blast with Auntie B & Uncle A. It was "priceless" to share my childhood memories of Auntie B's with my children. What made it incredible is with exception of the carpet and maybe one couch the house, patio and pool are exactly as I remember when I was young (including the way the house smells :). Being there watching the kids swim swarmed back so many great memories for me. It was also the first time Hubby saw where I came from. I have taken many strolls down memory lane with him in Wyoming but it was a first for me to share with him. We didn't get to explore as much as we wanted but next time we'll include that in our trip. Gman was the lead in his Christmas play for school (he was awesome). Next time I'll know not to tell him to "break a leg" before he goes on stage since he stomped his leg on stage throughout the whole program. Miss Amie has become a special part of his life and it is awesome to watch the bond that they have formed...it doesn't hurt that I think she is just incredible. Bug has made so many many many changes this year. Watching her sprout from infant to young lady has been unbelievable. Her sense of humor rivals G's which makes side aching laughs quite frequent....thank god! If they didn't keep us laughing this year I would have spent most of the time crying. We received a new addition to the family this year, nephew Brody! Being present at his birth was the most amazing experience. It mirrors the experience of the birth of my own children except I was "with it" and not worried about pain, exhaustion, etc. Watching him take his first breath, hearing his first cries and holding him moments after birth has branded my heart for the little bugger. Being a part of that experience will stay with me for the rest of my life. (Thank you Kris & Matt for sharing your love with me). As I start remember positive things of 2006 it doesn't seem like such a bad year...but when bouting depression, changing meds, going back to work...then getting fired... not to mention the financial torture chamber we continue to endure it does leave a desire to move on!

2007 is a new year. My hope is to handle many things better this year and that our family finds better health. May you all have a better year!

I gotta get some sleep! If you have any to spare please pass it on! :) ha ha ha

"Ponies" as Bug calls them

From happy to "not happy" in .0334 seconds! Bug loves her "ponies".

Bathtime Beauty!

Cheesy!

Well here are two at least. Just a little teaser. More to come/promise!

Big girl bed!

Bug is in her big girl bed for the first time tonight. It was a tough go getting her to sleep/stay in the bed but she is crashed now. I foresee a LONG night ahead so I am off to dream land too. Looking at our baby in her new/improved room w/out crib and rocking chair almost made me cry. She cannot grow up!

nighty night!

p.s. still hammering away at photos. gotta call/email tech support now...have all the right software it's just not talking to each other.

Zombie Mommie