Fresh Air Please!

Andrew enjoys talking to himself. Sometimes he talks to me and I don't think he's talking to me because he is usually just talking to himself. Sometimes I think he is talking to me and I say something and he says, "I wasn't talking to you." I guess that's another story, but he had a funny conversation with himself this morning in the backseat of my car on the way to the babysitter's house:

That's stinky.
Get that smell out of here.
It's a stinky fart smell.
Get that stinky fart smell away from me.

And then he rolls down his window and announces to me:

Mom, I am getting the fart out of here so you don't smell it.

I thought I was going to wreck the car I was laughing so hard!

Is that funny to you or is it too gross?

Summer is Here!

First sign that summer is here:

I have the urge to cut my hair! This year, I was unable to resist the temptation and I cut it. I am very happy with it, though! It was pretty easy to style this morning and it looks like I did something with it besides just blow drying it and putting some styling wax on it.

Second sign that summer is here:

It's over 100 degrees the past two days and in the 90's today. Ugh!

I was reading Kate's blog and she was sharing the reasons she is looking forward to summer and it made me think of the things I enjoy about summer or things that remind me of summer.

Wisconsin

This will be our 5th year in a row traveling to Wisconsin in August. This is the ultimate enjoyment of my summer! How nice it is to spend a week in warm weather, in a cottage, on a lake, surrounded by towns full of restaurants with food unlike anything in AZ... Aaaahhh, it's the life I tell ya! We have been blessed the last 3 years to spend 2 weeks in Wisconsin, but this year and upcoming years we will only be able to head back there for 1 week (unless AZ decides to start their school year later like it used to...).

Camping

Besides staying indoors for the entire months of June, July, August, and September, the only real way to escape the Valley heat is to head up to the high country. I can remember being young and hearing my parents talk about how it was time to take off camping to get out of the heat for a long weekend. We NEVER camped in the winter time, so obviously when the hot weather hits and I am desperately wondering how I will survive, my mind wanders to the mountains in AZ. A plan quickly forms in my mind for a nice weekend away, far enough from the heat, yet close enough to not have to take off of work for these mini-vacations.

Swimming

Another option in escaping the heat, besides staying indoors 24/7/120 (June-Sept.), is to take a dip! Not really take a dip as in get in and get out, but you must immerse completely from sun up to sun down (and in some cases, until bedtime, because it is still so hot outside after dark). You literally have to make sure your hair is completely wet or else you will begin to feel the heat on your head. Every inch of you must be wet to be completely refreshed! Seriously.

This was how I grew up! We always had a swimming pool and always had access to the swimming pool as my parents were always out there immersed! Since I have my own house, however, I have not had that luxury of the swimming pool access. Jeremy and I are dreaming of the day that we will have our own swimming pool to hang out in ALL DAY! In the meantime, we will commute to Gilbert for the swimming fun!

Swim Suits

Speaking of swim suits, this is an obvious reminder of summer! I used to thoroughly enjoy the season when the swim suits hit the stores. I would buy a new suit (if not more than one) each summer. I do not enjoy that any longer and do not want to spend the money for a new suit every year, but am dreaming of a nice pair of board shorts to match my suits I already own. I don't know what it is that makes this unenjoyable now, but I still get a little excited when I see the suits in the store as if I am going to be purchasing a new one. Hmmm... maybe it's the idea that summer is here when those suits come out. I don't know...

Fragrances

I have noticed that Bath and Body Works have there certain fragrances that only come out certain times of the year? There is something about these seasonal lotions and sprays that take me back to summers past just by smelling them again. Cucumber Melon is one with a memory behind it. I read in Seventeen Magazine once that a good way to cool down after a shower or getting ready is to refrigerate your body sprays. So, I refrigerated my body sprays and can specifically remember the chill of the spray hitting my skin and me being a little miffed at how COLD it was. Even if I was hot, I discovered I do not like the cold spritz of the spray on my skin. Maybe I'm weird, but I don't do that any longer. Plus, I felt it was weird to be spraying that stuff in the kitchen (not to mention what people must've thought to see sprays in the fridge.

Tanning

Another summer favorite is to sun bathe! I love it! And the fragrance of the sun tan lotion can almost be categorized in the aforementioned memory. I enjoy the relaxation of laying out by a pool or on a beach just knowing that I won't be so pale white after just an hour or so. The problem this year is I have no backyard landscaping and it is not so much fun thinking about laying out in dirt... Ugh. At least in our previous houses we had grass. I would have a pool set up for Andrew and I'd have my lounge chair next to the pool. If I would get hot I would ask Andrew to splash me (which he more than willingly does), or if that didn't help, I would have him scoot over so I could get in and drench myself before laying on my lounge chair again. The problem is, it is too hot for that in the later months. No mater how many times I get into the water and lay back out, it is still unbearably hot. At that point I accept that I am as tan as I will be on my own doing for the summer.

Clothing

This is similar to the swim suit topic above. I enjoy breaking out the tank tops and flip flops in the summer. However, I no longer wear shorts, but instead I sport capris or bermuda shorts for the most part. Capris don't keep me as cool as shorts, but I feel more comfortable wearing them. Getting older is a bummer when you have weird veins and lines, indents, cellulite, etc. But going back to the tanning category, as my co-worker Katie said, "tanned fat is sexier than non-tanned fat." Words to live by! Clothing is not so much fun any longer, but the flip flops are GREAT (even if they are worsening my bunions).

Working Out

This is in the summer category for me as it usually isn't until summer that I begin to do it! However, this is the year I plan on changing that. As soon as the swim suits and flip flops hit the stores, I hit the play button on my work-out DVDs or hop on the elliptical machine. This is how I muster up some courage to wear shorts the few times I do in the summer. I figure if I continue this working out concept throughout the year, how much better off will my cellulite legs be next summer? Especially if I tan AND work out!

Nights

This is a favorite for me for the summer. This is the only time I enjoy being outside as it is not too cold for me. I will willingly attend Jeremy's softball games in the summer. I would rather sit on a warm bleacher, sweating a little, than to be huddled in a heavy jacket with my feet being cold, and me physically shivering. I also enjoy having a BBQ at night and just sitting out on a patio or in a park hanging out and eating (as long as there are no mosquitoes). Good times!

Traffic

There is less traffic in the summer on my way to work. It must be because of the teacher and students being off. I LOVE it! I don't have to sit in bumper to bumper traffic as it is now, but it is noticeably less dense which increases my chance of getting through the stop lights on the first green light and it's easier to merge onto the freeway, etc.

How about you? Did this make you think of anything about summer you really enjoy that isn't on my list? Do you share any of the same nostalgia for summer?

Subway Fresh 500

Hi y'all! Holy smokes; them cars drive fast!
I spent my day yesterday at P.I.R. (Phoenix International Raceway). Talk about in the middle of nowhere, AZ! It's crazy; you take the I-10 West and exit as soon as all of nothing appears... Then you head South until more of nothing appears... Then you back-track East on a road that appears to lead to even more nothing... After about, I don't know, 50 miles of nothingness (except some signs that reassure you are heading in the right direction by saying something about "Race Traffic."), you turn a corner and suddenly there's life! Life as in 100 + THOUSAND people and their RVs. Not to mention flags... I mean flags of all sorts; American flags, Racing flags, flags I don't know what for most RVs have 3 flags attached so that would be about 300 + thousand flags. I know; math wiz I am! Jeremy are you proud? To quote Kevin (one of our camping buddies and Nascar pro), "More flags than you could count!" (I hope I'd be able to count up to 300 + thousand; I mean the numbers just go in order...).
Anyway, an entire city is erected in this week leading up to tonight's event. People are everywhere! They erect showers with hot water, bathrooms that are kept surprisingly clean, and they even erect an entire Basha's grocery tent; with aisles and everything! Impressed? Well, I was!
We headed out to P.I.R. yesterday morning. We were meeting a group from our church out there to do some volunteering. We weren't sure what we were to do exactly, but we knew I was working yesterday and Jeremy was working today. That way someone would be with Andrew at the campsite each day.
Yesterday was the qualifying race so it wasn't very busy people-wise. I got the duty of passing out maps/event schedules to everyone at Gate 4. I was by myself, but it went rather smoothly. The people were really nice for the most part and the weather was decent. It got a little hot when the breeze would quit blowing, but it wasn't long before the breeze would pick up again. Once the sun went down it got a little chilly, but not enough to need a sweater or anything.
Once the race started I was told they would move me to an Information Booth. Boy, was I praying the Good Lord would allow me seating in this Booth! My feet were HURTING by hour 7 of handing out fliers.
Well, all praises to God, I DID have seating in the booth I was assigned to! Plus, I was assigned to this booth with 2 other members of my church! We were assisting handicap folks in getting a golf cart ride up the hill to the Tram. It was very easy and there were not very many people that needed a ride. They were all fairly nice and I was in a good mood knowing I was nearly finished with my duties.
We were back to camp by 11 pm. That was probably the fastest 12 waking hours of my life, but probably the most tiring! I got back to camp and ate a little chicken and went to bed. I slept GOOD too! Even amidst the Nascar fans' partying!
We woke up, had a great breakfast, and packed up camp. Jeremy headed off to do his work today and Andrew and I headed home. There wasn't going to be anyone left at camp after about 1 pm so I figured I might as well leave to get stuff done at home. I was home by 1 pm and have been able to do odds and ends stuff here that is really helpful. Plus, I was able to unpack everything, get Andrew and me showered, and we will go to sleep and wait for Jeremy to call us that he is almost at the church and we'll head over there to get him; angrily that he woke us up, of course! Haha! He'll might be the one to be angry that we will have slept the last 4 + hours when he probably wanted to be doing the same thing. Who can blame him?!
Andrew and I just flipped on the TV to discover the race on TV. I started watching it... It's interesting!
People would ask me yesterday who I was cheering to win and I would look at them blankly and say, "Who's playing?" It wasn't until after a few people laughed at me that I figured out the proper term is probably, "Who's racing?" Either way, I'm sure I would've been laughed at for asking such a question. I did get complimented (I think) by a guy that responded, "Well, at least you didn't just say, 'Junior.'" I didn't tell him that my instinct was to say 'Junior' since he's the only one of the racers that I know his name. Well, I know more names now, but at the time. You know what I mean.
I didn't get to see any of the race, but I can now officially say that I am willing to give this sport a chance. I'm gonna get off of here and head downstairs to watch the last of the 312 laps with Andrew. It's really some interesting stuff; I saw a couple mini crashes, the race completely stopped for a power steering leak on the track, and a neck-and-neck intense moment for 1st between Jimmie Johnson and Dale Jr. That's some good stuff right thrrrr!
I do have a question for ALL of you (Nascar fans or not):
"Which driver(s) do you like?" If you don't know anyone, "Which driver(s) have you heard of?"

In Demand

It's been a year since I've posted anything! I've been busy!!!!
My last post was about going back to work so guess what's been keeping me so busy?
If you guessed work... well, you are somewhat wrong. It is part of the reason, but not the full reason.
The short answer is: I've been keeping myself busy.
The long explanation is: I've discovered in the last year that I have an addiction of saying YES to everything I am invited to do or anything I want to do!
I keep a day planner and I almost feel incomplete if there is a blank space anywhere on it. You see, it's not like I really enjoy being super busy and usually stressed out, but I sometimes long for a quiet/lazy day (or at least a couple hours) at home with just Jeremy, Andrew, and myself.
About once a week Jeremy will ask me what the calendar has in store for us for the upcoming week. I say, 'I don't know, let's see.' and pull the trusty planner out of my purse. I then proceed to list off the items on our to do list. When I come to a day that we have nothing I say, 'hmmmm, we have nothing planned for such and such day!' in a baffled yet slightly excited way. In the same conversation we usually come up with one or two things we could be doing that day. The most common being having dinner with friends or family we haven't seen in a while. We can always think of something that we should do to fill that empty spot in the planner. Sometimes one of us will insist that we must keep that day open for just us, but in the meantime something will usually come up.
What keeps us so busy you ask?

• Work - it is part of the reason. I leave the house at 6:45 am and return at 6:15 pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursdays. Jeremy is gone before me and usually home after me. The nights we don't have anything planned, we have just enough time to cook dinner, the boys take showers while I clean up after our cooking, and then we go to bed around 9:30 pm if we are lucky.
• Church - besides every Sunday morning service and the once a month preschool rotation we are on, we have some regular weekly activities that keep us somewhat busy. We have Home Groups (Bible Studies) on Tuesday nights from 6:30 pm-at least 9:30 pm. By the time we get home and ready for bed it is easily 10:30 pm. Jeremy and I both teach kids on Wednesday nights at the church. We leave the church at about 8:30 pm and we are usually ready for bed by 9:30 pm. Then there's softball on Saturday evenings. We used to play co-ed and Jeremy would play men's, but that was resulting in our entire afternoons and evenings being spent at the ball field each week. I learned to say no to playing co-ed (not to mention I was a terrible softball player and it made me mad at myself). Jeremy and I also have a monthly gathering called a Connection Group for our church. These are usually held on one Friday evening each month from about 6:30 pm-9:00 pm. There are also random activities each month which we are happy to help with, but they add up quickly. This month we had the Easter Egg Hunt for the Community, we have the Church Picnic this Sunday afternoon, I have a Leadership Conference to attend from 9am-4pm on Sat. Apr. 5th, we have a Nascar event out at PIR on Apr. 11-13, Jeremy has a Golf Tournament on Apr. 26 and I am organizing a Bake Sale Fundraiser for Apr. 27. We are a small church and we are always willing and happy to help or participate in these events. I am not complaining about this stuff and I realize there is plenty in here that we can "cut out" of our schedule, but we feel that one of our callings from God is interaction with others and it's stuff that we really enjoy doing. Sometimes there are more activities than others during a month and March/April is one of them!
• House - In the midst of all of this, I have two days off during the week that I desperately try to use for keeping my home in decent condition. Cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, bill paying, etc. easily whisks those days off in a hurry as if they didn't happen. I am thankful I have these 2 days or I would be scrambling amongst my jam-packed weekend to get this stuff done. How do you full-time workers do this???
• ETC - I love scrapbooking and seeing "Chick Flix" so when I have a free day or night I chose to do those things. Jeremy and I love going out to dinner with friends and family or especially having them over for dinner. And Jeremy enjoys riding his bike and playing basketball, softball, or golf so when he has a free night or day he usually occupies it with those activities.

Most of these activities are not very time consuming, but they certainly add up along with all the other shorter time frame items.

Does anyone else have this problem? If so, how do you keep your sanity? If you don't have this problem, how do you maintain a non-packed schedule? Can anyone else put my schedule to shame? Let me hear about a day or even month in your life! This will be fun!

I'm Going Back To Work!

Well, it's official; I went and spoke with my old boss at Caretaker and I will be working there again! I am only doing part-time (Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday), but they will be full days (8am-5pm).

I'm a little worried about waking up so early again. I will have to wake up at 5am to leave the house by 6:30. Yes, it takes me 1 1/2 hours to drive from here to the babysitter's house then to work. Ugh! That will be tough, too.

I am doing it mostly for money (he let me name my price!) and for Andrew to be able to get out of the house for awhile. Andrew loves to go to Randi's house (Jeremy's cousin) so he's really excited.

Also, the jobs I will be doing are great! I was worried they would want me to be the back-up person which means, cover the receptionist desk, file, mailings, all the crap work. But, I will actually be an assistant to my old assistant (who is now the Accounting Director, she took over after I left). I will be in her old office with her current assistant Christina. I will be producing financials, doing collection letters, doing deposits. Really easy stuff that doesn't involve much speaking with customers! Yay!

It'll be tough for us to wake up so early, but hopefully we will adjust quickly. I will have 3-day weekends and a break on Tuesday, so it shouldn't be too bad!

I originally quit that job because the drive was too far and I didn't really need to work for money. Jeremy had a lot of overtime, at the time, that covered our bills and our spending habits. Now that he doesn't get much overtime we are occasionally hurting for extra cash. I also quit to have more kids, but since that hasn't happened, I figured I'll go back until I do end up having another baby (whenever the heck that'll be).

I'm a little worried that my house will fall apart, though. I have such a routine each week of cleaning, laundry, etc. The dishes are ALWAYS clean and the house is tidy every single night before bed. I've become quite anal about this as I considered this "my job." I hope I'll be able to handle the untidyness and the dishes in the sink for a day or two... I will also have to go back to cleaning the house and doing laundry in one day rather than spacing it out over two days (unless I want to spend my weekends cleaning and doing laundry both days; NO THANKS!).

I'll keep you posted on how things go!

Spring's Here!

I'm sitting here importing all of my cds into iTunes and I'm having major nostalgia. You know how a certain song or songs will take you back to a certain time in your life? Well, that is happening to me, over and over, cd after cd...

On a separate, but similar note, the weather is beautiful right now! It is due to be 83 degrees today and 84 degrees tomorrow (Sunday is due to be 90 degrees!).

This is the first time in a while that I haven't been at school during this time of the year, but I am still feeling the itchin' for Spring Break time. I haven't gone anywhere for Spring Break in about 3 years, but for some reason this time of the year reminds me of the times I have gone places for Spring Break.

I have only gone on a "Spring Break trip" 3 times. Twice to Rocky Point and once to Lake Havasu. I guess those 3 times had a powerful effect in my mind as every year I am reminded of it.

The weather starts feeling like this and I think of dropping everything to throw on my bikini, some sun tan lotion, and my sunglasses and set up my lounge chair in the backyard, crank up the radio, and get rid of my pasty white skin color!

I'm glad that I have gotten a head start on working out this year, too. Usually, when the weather suddenly gets beautiful, I am fretting about my body shape in said bikini after a winter's worth of over-eating and hiding behind sweaters and jeans. I got the notion to begin working out again about a month ago when I noticed Target already had bathing suits displayed in their stores. Thank you, Target! Although, I havent' gotten back into the full swing of my normal summer work outs, I am on my way. I am jogging twice a week (I'm hoping to up it to 3-4 times a week real soon), and doing my Windsor Pilates DVD 3-4 times a week (which is about how many times I want to be doing it). But, all-in-all, I have already noticed a difference in the toning of my legs and stomach and I am definitely not pigging out on junk food anymore (like I did all winter).

I bought a new swimming pool for Andrew at Walmart the other day and I look forward to filling that up with water for him to splash around in (and splash me if I get too warm on my lounge chair), blending some Piña Coladas (alcohol free, I'm not that kind of mother!), feeling the breeze, smelling the sand from Andrew's sandbox, and getting a tan. It will be just like Rocky Point except I won't be bugged every 5 minutes by locals who want me to buy sunglasses, necklaces, or get my hair braided!

Yay! I love it!

I'm Not Ready For Swim Suits Yet!

I was at Target on Sunday with Selene and they have all their swim suits up already! Ah! It's still January and in most states it's still snowing! Even here it is cold and rainy this week...

It made me realize that I need to get off of my behind and starting jogging again. I need to wake up earlier than 8am and pop in the Windsor Pilates DVD every other day.

Goodbye to the winter eating habits (sweets, sodas, and more sweets) and hello to salads, fruit, and water.

I know what you're thinking... "You're so skinny, you need to be quiet!" But, even thin people get flab and cellulite when laziness and bad eating habits come into play. So, you be quiet, huh?!

By the way, Target had some SUPER CUTE swimsuits! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

Wow, what a LONG weekend!

This year Jeremy and I decided to forget about running around trying to spend Thanksgiving with both our families. So, we decided to do Thanksgiving at my mom's house with my family, Christmas Eve with my family, and Christmas with Jeremy's family. Next year we will do the opposite. It was such a good idea and I'm so glad we have finally decided to do that after 5 years of running around.

We decided on my mom's house for a couple reasons. One, last year my mom was in the hospital for Thanksgiving, and two, my grandma and her husband from Iowa were in town. We had a great time being able to relax and hang out without eating and running to the next house to eat again. One of my aunts and 6 of my cousins were not there, but it was still good to see the family that was there.

Everyone left my mom's house around 7:00 so we decided to swing by Jeremy's cousin's house to see if anyone was still there from their Thanksgiving feast. Jeremy's grandparent's were gone already and a couple of his cousins didn't come, but otherwise, everyone else was there. It was fun hanging out for awhile. No pressure to eat again since it was all packed up and put away (except some sweets that I managed to find room for, of course). We weren't there long since Andrew was real tired and I was needing my inhaler pretty bad (allergies this time of year...).

We were able to take our niece, Tessie, home with us since Kristi was going to go shopping at 5am for Black Friday. Plus, we had plans for Thanksgiving at Jeremy's grandma's house on Friday morning at 10am. So, we basically went home and straight to sleep and then got up early, got ready, and left for Grandma Rose's house. Tessie and Andrew got to play a little bit at home before we left, but not long. 10am is early when we have to leave from Coolidge at 9:15am which means I have to wake up at 6:30am to get myself and the kids ready and fed.

Thanksgiving at Grandma Rose's house was pretty cool. It was mostly Filipino food so it wasn't like another Thanksgiving meal (although that would have been fine with me, of course). Jeremy's Aunt Marcel was in town from California with her two boys. It was good seeing them again since it is usually a once a year thing. We also go to see his Uncle Fernando and his two kids that we don't see very often either. We met his girlfriend, as well, who made a lot of the yummy food. We spent most of the day outside at the park next door to her house. It was super hot outside, but fun!

Since Jeremy's grandma's house is right across Elliot Road from my parent's house, we took Andrew there to lay him down for a nap before my cousin Josh's engagement party at 6pm. In the meantime, Jeremy and I went to Target and spent way too much money (as I usually do at Target).

We went to my Aunt Jane and Uncle Brady's house for the engagement party, but were only able to stay about 1 1/2 hours. Jeremy had to meet up with Donny from our church to get the Suns tickets and his son for the game. Steve went with them. Donny has season tickets for himself, his wife and son, but his wife and him wanted to go out so they had 2 extra tickets. Jeremy was really glad to have been asked and Steve was really happy to be able to go along. Donny's son Matthew is about 13 and fun to hang out with. He really looks up to and likes being around Jeremy, too.

I, on the other hand, went to Selene's house and we met up with Antwon at Kona Grill. It was a lot of fun catching up with them. 'Twon invited 4 of his friends, 1 of which Selene knew from when she worked at Wells Fargo with them. We didn't stay long; we were back at Selene's by midnight. Jeremy picked me up and we took Steve to my parent's house (where his car was) and we picked up Andrew (who was sleeping there). Then we took Matthew home to Queen Creek and then headed home to Coolidge. By the time we got there and in bed it was 2am. What a long day!

Yesterday we were LAZY! Jeremy let me sleep in 'til about 10am and then he took a nap for awhile. I ran to Walmart to get some chips and sodas for Andrew's birthday party. Josh came over for Chicken Tacos and we watched Cars. It was Andrews millionth time seeing it and Josh's first. Both enjoyed it as did Jeremy and I.

Today was Andrew's Dedication at church and his birthday party at the park across the street from the church. Church was at 11:30am and we were at the park 'til 4pm. It was fun and crazy. We ordered a sub from Walmart (which turned out pretty good) and had chips, then cake, then did presents. Presents was the craziest part - the kids go nuts over helping him open stuff and wanting toys open (which I didn't allow since I foresaw missing/broken pieces of his toys). A lot of people were there and Andrew got a lot of nice clothes and cool toys! I was glad when it was over because we could finally go home and relax.

What a long, eventful, fun weekend, but I am tired! I'm going to bed! Good night!

My Husband - Chef of Yummy Food!

Well, another weekend has come and gone in a flash!
Friday night was nice; Jeremy and I made some steaks and watched the movie Ray. I liked the movie; I'm a big fan of movies about people's lives (La Bamba, Walk the Line, etc.).
Saturday was a scrapbooking day. This time my mom offered up her house so we had a nice turnout being that she is centrally located in Gilbert. The majority of my customers have a ways to drive out to Coolidge so I find the turnouts are better when I hold the event in Gilbert, Mesa, or even Queen Creek. Victoria, my mom and I scrapped from noon to 7:30 pm and everyone else came and went in between. My newest customer, Kimmy, was able to come for a while and get some organizing done, Selene was able to get a couple pages done in her Party Album, and Margarethe accomplished quite a few pages in her album. We all had a good time chit-chatting and getting some pages done!
Jeremy and Andrew went to the Diamondback game while I was scrapbooking. They had a really good time even though the Diamondbacks lost. It was the game before Gonzo's last so it was a little bittersweet for Jeremy who has been a HUGE D-back and Gonzo fan since the beginning of the franchise. Andrew's favorite part of the game was when Baxter (the Bobcat mascot) was holding some cheese out and fell on the stairs (?). That crazy Bobcat! His second favorite event at the game was when the Taco Bell Burrito, Taco, and Pepsi race across the field.
Andrew stayed the night at my mom and dad's house while Jeremy, Victoria, and I went out to Queen Creek for Jeremy's 8:30 softball game against our church's big rival; Rock Point Team A. Our guys kicked some butt and won the game easily. It was great! Usually Rock Point's women fans are pretty loud in their cheering, but it was pretty quiet over their that night! Jeremy said their guys were pretty quiet the whole game, as well.
After the softball game, we headed to Coolidge to hang out with Jeremy (JH) and Jenny Hansen for Jenny's birthday. We didn't get their 'til about 10:30 and Josh, Katie, her friend, Kyle, Victoria, Israel, and Ivy arrived even later. We played a round of 10,000 (dice game) and then headed home at about 12:30 am. It was hard waking up for church!
After church Jeremy and I had my parents, his dad, grandma, Kyle, and Victoria over for Jeremy's specialty: orange chicken, brown rice, and egg rolls. It was delicious! Jeremy is a fantastic cook and loves to occasionally go all out! We watched the Diamondbacks game (Gonzo's last game-sad, tear...). After my parents and Jeremy's dad and grandma left, we watched The Chronicles of Narnia with Kyle and Victoria. Kyle slept through almost the entire movie, but the other 3 of us enjoyed it! It was mine and Jeremy's first time watching it; I thought it was very cute and the effects were great!
This coming week is full of events! Hopefully some funny things will come about so I can write more enjoyable stuff to read! Otherwise, I may some fun stories this weekend (We are having Andrew's cousins, Dustin and Tess, stay the night for a parade/carnival here in Coolidge on Saturday); some funny stories occur with a 7 year old, 2 1/2 year old, and a 1 1/2 year old!
Stay tuned!

What Did I Do To My Foot?

Ow! My heel on my left foot has been hurting since Friday night. I hope I maybe bruised the bone or something temporary like that. Gail has me scared that I have bone spurs (?) like she does. I really hope that's not it! I don't want Cortizone shots in my foot and/or surgery! How am I suppose to run with my heel hurting like this? Agh, this stinks!

This weekend was a fun one (dispite my foot)! We went to a Luau at Brandi and McKay's house on Saturday. Jeremy played in the Ping Pong Tournament with the guys and had a blast! He did pretty good; I think he lost to McKay in the semi-finals. These guys have tournament brackets and everything; they take it very serious! Talmage beat McKay for the grand prize; a $40 gift card to The Sharper Image. However, he was bummed that he did not receive the Red Lobster gift card to take his girlfriend to dinner. I am happy to announce that my son won the said Red Lobster gift card for having the best Hawaiian outfit! We may have to take Manuel and April out to eat since it was them that bought him the outfit in Hawaii. Plus, Brysen had almost the same outfit on, but wasn't there long enough to be entered in the contest. I got to chit chat with the girls which is always fun! I ran into a gal I haven't seen in a few years; Rose, who is sisters with a girl that works with Brandi at Wells Fargo. It's a small world after all, huh?! I got to catch up with Melanie and realized that I missed our chats that we used to have when we lived together way back when! :-) I got to talk with Kimmy, Dusty's girlfriend, and she always has something funny to say! And, of course, Brandi threw a great party with yummy food and some really creative decorations! Andrew had fun playing with her 2 boys all night. The only downfall was my early outage in the Limbo competition... I got much further in the practice run. Can I blame my foot? All-in-all it was a great night!

Yesterday, we went to church and were happy to see that Gail and Mindi were able to come check it out. Our usual Pastor was not there, which was a little bummer; Gail and Mindi would've really liked him, but the message was still great. Afterward, we headed to Kristi and Steve's house for a BBQ. We ate a ton of food, of course, and watched the Cardinals lose to the Rams. Leave it up to the Cards to make it look like they are going to lose, then come back and make it look like they will win, then, while in field goal range for the winning field goal, fumble, and then ultimately lose it. Same Cards, new stadium. Argh!

Now, it's another week! Thank goodness the weather is cooling off. Andrew and I have been able to take walks and go to the park! He loves to play outside in the backyard almost all day! I love it since it gets him away from the TV!

Jeremy and I are still trying to run and get ready for the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot. Last Monday I had a mini break down while trying to run 3 miles for the first time. We made the mistake of going at night (not many street lights), on a dirt road (bad for my breathing problems), and near farm fields (a.k.a. mosquitos everywhere)! Tuesday, we tried a different route and earlier in the day (to avoid mosquitos) and I still couldn't do it. I just couldn't get my legs to keep running. I swore off running, but have since decided not to give up that easy. However, I have not run since, mostly due to MY FOOT. I think I am going to stick to 2 1/5 miles for awhile, and try for 3 miles again when my foot feels better and the mosquitos die. Well, when you run your hand down your leg and feel a ton of little things latched on to your leg and it's dark so you don't know exactly how many there are and you can't open your mouth for fear of having them go in your throat but you are having a hard time breathing from being tired and breathing through your nose is just not cutting it; it just makes you freak out! Can you blame me?

I haven't posted in awhile...

Sorry to all my beloved readers (if any...) for not posting a blog in awhile. I've actually been busy!
First off, our vacation was fabulous! The weather was perfect, the lake was perfect and seeing the whole family is always a blast! We got back Saturday the 19th and I've been busy ever since.
I decided to get off my butt more during the week. It's high time Andrew and I get out of the house; even if it is 100 + degrees outside most days. I took Brittneys advice on joining the women's bible study at our church and I'm glad I did. It is on Tuesdays from 10-noon and we are discussing a book right now. It seems very interesting and the women are really nice. There is a girl that comes to watch the kids so Andrew enjoys the kid interaction that is lacking at our house. Then Andrew and I try to meet Jeremy for lunch if he is working in the area. I've gone twice so far and both times we were able to meet up with Jeremy.
This past Saturday I held a scrapbooking day at my house and was able to scrap every single picture that I took in Wisconsin! Granted I was working on it from noon to 2:30 am with a periodic break for food and chit chat. Erin came for quite awhile with Jill and Barrett. Jill and Andrew played so great together; Andrew still talks about her and that day. I guess he had a lot of fun with her! Victoria came a little later and stayed 'til 2:30 am! The guys (Jeremy, Josh and Kyle) got home about 1:30 am from the D-backs game and going out for some drinks. It was a lot of fun for us girls as well as the guys!
In the meantime I've been playing with my new iPod nano that my husband got me and trying to catch up on the 3 issues of People magazine that I had received in the mail during my vacation. This is, of course, on top of cleaning, laundry and cooking. I feel very accomplished and not so lazy.
On the lazy note; I've slacked in my jogging this week. I missed Sunday morning (thanks to the 2:30 am scrapfest) and I missed Tuesday evening (due to Jeremy and Josh being at work - a.k.a. no babysitter for Andrew). But, I plan to jump right back into it tonight. Jeremy and I decided we will run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. It is a 10K (just over 6 miles) and we are currently running 1.5 miles. I made a schedule and it looks like we will have to up our distance .5 miles almost every week up until Thanksgiving Day. This means starting next week we will begin 2 miles and so on. I'll keep everyone updated on our progress with that...
Jeremy's been working a ton this week, but he has a 4 day weekend for Labor Day. He will be off Sat., Sun., Mon., and Tues. Yay! He says it's worth the crazy work hours this week for a 4 day work week. I always get so nervous for his driving when he hasn't gotten much sleep.
And that's an update on the past couple weeks! I'm still wishing I was back on the shore of Rock Lake in the 80 degree heat getting nice and tanned...

Me - The Procrastinator

I am leaving for a 2 week vacation tomorrow and I have not began to pack. I was asked last night by friends if we were finished packing and I found it absurd that people would be finished packing 2 days before their vacation. But then another person asked if I was finished packing yesterday, too. Wow, some people are really on the ball!
For one, I am doing laundry right now since I don't have enough clothes to last me a full week, let alone 2 weeks. I know I have to do laundry up in Wisconsin, but I don't want to pack dirty stuff and deal with it there. In fact, the outfit I wore yesterday needed to be cleaned today so I couldn't have even done the laundry yesterday. It's going to be hard enough to find something to wear for today that I won't be needing to pack.
For another, I can't pack any of our toothpaste or other toiletry items since I will have to use them once (if not twice) before packing them.
So, what's left for me to pack ahead of time is some towels and sunscreen. Even toys for Andrew on the plane will have to wait to get packed since he has his favorites that he plays with everyday. If I tried to pack his crayons, markers and coloring books, there's no doubt that in a couple hours he'd be asking to play with those.
There is one thing that I'm kicking myself about not doing ahead of time. Taking my cat to my mom and dad's house. Now, I will be taking 45 minutes to drive there, hang out a bit, say good-bye and drive another 45 minutes back here. Hmm, I'm admitting that I should've done that yesterday...
Oh well, I figure that I'll be so busy that, before I know it, I'll be waking up tomorrow a.m. on my way to V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N.! Yippee!

Weekend Events

What an accomplished last couple of days I've had! On Thursday, I cleaned the house, top to bottom, Jeremy and I went jogging and then decided to clean the front yard. We mowed the lawn (finally) and trimmed all the bushes that were growing wildly all over the place. I've discovered that I should never be a hairdresser since I basically trimmed the bushes to even smaller than they were when we moved in. They just grow so fast and since we will be gone on vacation for a couple weeks we won't come back to an overgrown mess (except the lawn, of course).
Saturday, we cleaned out our garage. It sounds simple and easy, but our garage was a complete disaster! I could barely squeeze my car into it. In fact, the other day while backing out, I was trying to make sure I wasn't going to hit one of Andrew's toys or Jeremy's yard equipment and I wasn't paying attention to the other side of my car and my passenger side mirror hit the garage and it broke a piece of the plastic off. At least the glass didn't break...
So, on Saturday we dragged all our crap out of the garage into 3 piles, keep, donate and trash (yeah, I watch a lot of Clean Sweep on TLC). The donate pile was the biggest. I donated all of Andrew's baby stuff: car seat, stroller, bassinet, toys, swing, clothes. All of it! Gone! We've been trying to have a baby for a year and a half now with no luck so I figured if we ever get pregnant, I'll just buy new stuff. This stuff has been in the garage for a year and it is so dusty and dirty that I wouldn't have wanted to deal with cleaning it up if I ever need it again anyway. We donated 4 bins of clothes to Kristi since she just found out she is having a boy and she only has girl stuff from her first child.
So, we sweeped the dirt, leaves and spider webs out of the garage, took 2 trips to the donation center in Coolidge and went to Walmart for some shelves, a tool box and a stand with holes in it for the broom, mop, rake, etc. We took 2 trips to a dumpster down the street (luckily houses are still being built in our community so we didn't have to go far) and we were done! I now have more than half the garage for my car and Andrew has plenty of room to park his scooter, fire truck, Power Wheels and bike and Jeremy has his own section for yard stuff and his lawn mower. It was an all day adventure, but aaahhh, it's wonderfully worth it!

I.Am.The.Scrap.Master!

Wow! I am a scrappin' machine! On Saturday I went over to Kristi's house for our July scrapbooking day. From 10 am - 10 pm we scrapped! Oh yeah, and ate... It was so fun! I completed many pages in my Family album. This album is our family pictures (not including vacations - that's a separate album) from when Jeremy and I started dating (June 2001) to current. I am to Andrew's 2nd birthday, so I have less than a year to be caught up! Not caught up as in I have no more pictures to scrap, but caught up in the Family album. I still have pictures from Andrew's 2nd birthday to current to get caught up in his own album, I will soon be having to catch up our Vacation album (since we are going to Wisconsin in less than 2 weeks) and I still have to start our Wedding album (and in order to start that I have to get pictures developed still).
I got so much done on Saturday since Jeremy took Andrew to the Diamondbacks baseball game. Not that Andrew wouldn't have just played with the kids all day and night, but I didn't have to fix him stuff to eat, get him drinks, or assist him in the bathroom for the whole day! Jeremy is so awesome, isn't he?!
Kristi and Randi got quite a bit done and even my mom came for a little bit and got some stuff done. I think I could've gone all night, but I need to get some more pictures of Andrew's 2nd birthday. I think I used all the pics in his album and didn't save many for the Family album; I only have a picture of his cake and Tessie on Kristi's lap. Hmmm...
I guess I have found the one thing that I can do over and over and never get bored with. Gail couldn't believe how we could sit there and just keep going (with the occassional food and bathroom break, of course). I think it's like how some guys can just play video games for hours. I never understood it until now. I could've done the same thing the very next day and not have dreaded it at all! Wow, a.d.d.i.c.t.e.d., I guess!
If only I could have an endless supply of cash-flow for scrap products and picture development, I'd be set! But, I'd never get anything else done, I guess.

Paris Hilton is CRAZY!

Hello! I had a very boring day today. I did laundry and waited for a guy from my house's builder to come make repairs (since my year warranty is up next month I had to scramble to get ahold of these people). I've been online quite a bit today. I came across an article about Paris Hilton claiming she is an icon of our time. Here's her quote, "I think every decade has an iconic blonde -- like Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana -- and right now, I'm that icon." Yikes! And here I was thinking it was Anna Nicole Smith or Britney Spears...
Anyway, I found it amusing since she goes on to explain that she is unlike any other heiress in that, "I have so many projects -- bags, fragrances, makeup. I go round the world every three days, designing and personally approving it all. I've got movies to make, a tour, TV shows. Every day of my life is scheduled until the end of 2007." Wow, she is making such a difference in the world! I didn't have any idea!
And if fate shall deal her the death at age 36 that it did Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana, she says, "At least I'll always be remembered." Hmmm, really?
Congratulations, Paris. I've just removed your song from my myspace page!! Why did I even have it in the first place?

Weekend is winding down - time to share!

So, I had a great and eventful weekend! Yay!
Friday during the day was a pain in my be-hind, though. I had to run a million errands. Just like the house cleaning, I always pile in all my errands in one day. Why waste gas, right? So, I got an oil change, picked up dry cleaning, took Andrew for a haircut, ate with Andrew at Taco Bell, went to Costco to develope 130 pictures off of my digital camera, picked up $120 worth of "necessities" at Costco (while I was already there, right?), took Andrew's old babysitter (Randi) some Creative Memories stuff she ordered and let Andrew play with his old friends for awhile, then had to go back to Costco to pick up the picks I got developed. All of this crap was done between 11 am and 4:30 pm (like the hottest part of the friggin' day)! I was the retard that wore a tank top under my t-shirt that isn't quite long enough AND a padded bra that soaked up all the sweat dripping from my neck down. It was AWFUL! Driving by a golf course I actually had a fantasy of just jumping into the lake in the middle of the fairway... By the end of the errand-running I was a gross, stinky wreck! Plus, Jeremy and I were suppose to go see one of his old friends that night which meant I had to haul @ss back to Coolidge and take another shower and get ready.
Well, I took the shower and got fresh and I was fine after that. We took a 45 minute trip to Maricopa to see his old buddy Santana and his wife and 3 kids. It was a lot of fun! They invited a couple that is close friends of theirs and we played Cranium (boys vs. girls; boys won). We didn't get home 'til 2:00 am though...
Saturday we all slept in real late (like 10:00 am, I think) and then headed over to another one of our friends' house that we haven't been to in a while. Jeremy hung out with his best friend of WAY back, McKay and I did some major scrapping with his wife, Brandi. Andrew played with their youngest son, Brady. Her older two were away at the grandparent's house. Brandi and I got soooo much done, plus it was a blast! We left there at about 1:00 am and got home at about 1:30 am. (And I'm wondering why Andrew is not going to sleep right now; it's only 10:45 pm).
Today, I set my alarm for 7:00 am (yucky after going to bed so late) to go jogging while the weather is somewhat cooler (I think it was 89 degrees or so). I fell back to sleep for 20 minutes until I forced myself up and out the door. I was right, it WAS easy to jog in the cooler weather! It was humid which made it hard to breathe, but I wasn't getting sweat beads dripping into my eyes and I didn't feel like I was going to fall over and sizzle up like a piece of bacon in a very hot frying pan). Then, I got ready and we headed off to church. Afterward, we went to Jeremy's mom's house so Jeremy could help load some branches into Kristi and Steve's truck. Then we headed off to Manuel and April's house for some hamburgers and some baseball (D-backs got murdered by Milwaukee). We made it home at a very decent hour, I watched a couple episodes of The Hills (MTV reality show that totally sucks, but I got suckered in for some reason). Now, I'm just waiting for Andrew to fall asleep so I can tuck him in and go to sleep myself.

My Tedious Chores

Today was a busy day! I did all of my house cleaning in one day and went jogging! I usually do the house cleaning in one day, but wonder afterwards, why I do it all at once.

I guess I am in the habit of doing that from my working days. I would work all week and about once a month I would make Jeremy and Andrew leave so I could clean the house completely. (My house will not get cleaned with the two of them there, nuff said).

Another reason is that when it's done, it's done. I don't have to worry about "finishing up" any other time. I could do half one day and half another. However, when I am in the mood to do it, chances are, I won't be in the mood to do it the next day, as well. I just assume get it done and not have to worry about it for another 2 weeks. Yes, I've changed my once a month house cleaning excursion to twice a month; for stress reasons. I used to let the house get too dirty and when it would come time to clean, I would be overwhelmed and wouldn't know where to begin. Now that I don't work, I tidy up the house before going to bed so that all I have piled up on me in 2 weeks is dusting, bathrooms, vacuuming and mopping.

After the eventful day of house cleaning today, I took a jog around the neighborhood. We live off of a grass retention and, in my observation, the sidewalk around the retention is not smaller than a high school track. So, I've taken up the habit of jogging 4 times around the retention (hoping it is more than a mile). This can be quite the chore as it is still 102 degrees at 6:00 or 7:00 pm. I happened to weigh myself before I ran and when I came back I had lost 2 pounds! Not that I am trying to lose weight, but trying to lose flab on my upper thighs, hips and butt. I used to be an avid runner when I had a gym membership some 5 years ago. Running has always come easy to me; I thought I'd have no problem picking up this habit again. Boy was I wrong! It's probably since I've always run indoors on a treadmill with A/C blowing at me and I was never out of the habit of running for 5 years straight (in which time I have poped out a child). Will I ever be able to do it with the ease and agility I once had? Luckily I have my vacation to Wisconsin coming up for motivation (we vacation off of a Lake, aka, swim suit time). And when I come back, the weather will be getting to the point of cool down. I just have to get through the end of August which will be the worst sine there will be no more vacation motivation and the weather will be even hotter (and possibly humid). We'll see! **I swear an iPod would help.** I think music motivation will mentally shade the scorching sun. Husband, are you reading this?