Adventure!!! Part 1

hi party peeps!  well, i'm back from des moines & it was a really great trip, but i am EXHAUSTED!  i took 4 hours off in the a.m. to sleep in & get stephen's package out & stuff.  


was gonna write a whole big post, but am just too tired!  so i have saved that post, which will include photos, and am putting this here.  *laugh*  i can't resist, tho, and will leave you with one... there was a storm moving in on our way there, and leyton thought the clouds were both awesome and scary.  

leyton got a toy truck at a gas station & wanted to explain how to open & close... LOL  

what's he keeping an eye on there?  

i'm grateful it didn't turn into a tornado & come after our line of cars... 

update from DM!

Just a quick update from the hotel computer (i do so love public access computers at hotels!)... mom & leyton are going to bed, but i'm just not tired.  but i guess i should go to bed soon anyway, because having the light on in the room was keeping leyton up, and plus - i brought the wrong book!  d'oh!  i finished the one i was reading (Born of Fire, the 2nd in a series) and thought i'd packed book 3, but alas, it was dark when i packed it & it turned out to be book 1!  darn it! 

also, my camera charger, i broke it.  :(  so, we're going to kmart or wal mart or target or somewhere in the morning before adventureland to see if we can find a new charger.  idk anything about chargers, other than the fact that every one apparently is unique to the kind of thing it charges!  even mom's phone & mine, tho the same company & everything - even the same kind of style, but not the same phone - have different chargers.  crazy!! 

there were some pretty intense storms going on the way here, which thankfully have left the area.  they did seem to cause an accident on the interstate going east, tho!  :(  hopefully everyone was okay! 

everything has been pretty fun today!  can't wait to upload some pictures, tho!  : )  but for now, back to my home away from home.  : )  hope you're having a great weekend so far! 

ttfn! 

Haircut!

Not mine, Leyton's.  It's a little too short (but it'll grow) and it still looks marvelously cute!  


But don'tchya think?  

Tonight they picked me up & we went to WM.  Petrol first, which is why we're right by the We Sell Cigars! sign.  Haircut makes the BK crown fit well.  Heh.  In the store, we picked up snacks for our trip & looked for water shoes.  No luck, too late in the season, darn it!  Leyton did find a nifty shirt/shorts outfit that has a train on it, tho!  Also, we saw cousin Mike, which was cool!  He's a rock star, you know.  He plays percussion (bongos and drums, mostly...)  One of his sisters, Mandi, is an amazing singer.  Their other two sisters are not really musically inclined, other than being fans of music and having pretty good musical taste.  *laugh*  


Anywhoo!  After the awesome snackfest at WM, we went to Toys R Us so I could FINALLY get Stephen's bday present (Scrabble Jr).  Now, to just get to the PO tomorrow before we leave so I can mail it...*prays*  While there, I found this dress that I really wish they had in my size, because I would totally wear this to work on Monday!  ; )  

Okay, maybe not to work, but I WOULD wear it, I'd find a place to wear it!  It's pretty!  Oh yes, and it did come with a hat, thank you for asking.  


Also, whole rack of cute, cute, Cuuuuute ...costumes?...!  

Love the giraffe outfit!  : )  


Leyton, who I think was hungry, because it was about two hours past when we would normally have eaten, had a mini meltdown when it was time to leave.  Mom wasn't feeling well or we would have stayed to play at the store for a bit, and Leyton really didn't want to leave!  It was a tense 10 minutes, I tell ya.  Finally we distracted him enough & got him laughing & out to the car - where he had another 5 minutes of whining & being a brat until I distracted him again.  (Poor Mom, in this case especially w/ her not feeling well, she handled herself really well!)  


We went to Steak & Shake & you can read about that here.  LOL  Self Cross Promotion!  ; )  It's so funny - whenever Leyton has to go potty, he always wants Aunt Carrie to take him to the bathroom.  So I do.  And then he won't go!  He plays around in the stall for a bit & then says, "Nah, I don't have to go!"  Then makes Gramma take him to the loo 5 minutes later!  *laugh*  goofy kid.  Anyway, so I was in the bathroom about 3 times before he actually went.  We had fun playing after we were done eating, and all in all it was a good night!  


Tomorrow I need to get up by 9, get all packed & head to the Post Office & Bank.  Mom & Leyton are picking me up at like 11 or 11:30 & we'll head to DM.  I've heard Altoona got a ton of rain yesterday & parts were flooded, so praying that everything goes well for our travels!  And also for the family of the 16 year old girl who perished in the flooding.  : (   


Please pray for a safe journey for us & that it won't be too hot for us!!  


Got to talk to my dear friend Georgette tonight, which was awesome.  : ) She has an interesting story that hopefully you will all read in a book someday, but for now I will just say, I'm very grateful that she has found her way back to the Lord.  I don't love her more now than I did before, I'm just VERY VERY happy for her.  : )  


However, that phone call lasted awhile & now I really do need to get to bed!!  : )  I'll leave you with some fun photos from tonight.  TTFN!  Love ya!  : )  

The story here - I said, "Say cheese!" and he did.  Then I showed him this picture & he said, "Why am I crying?"  LOL

zzzzzz and a zzzzzz and maybe another...

wow i'm tired.  


april got her surprise in the mail today, and i was happy it came at just the right time!  : )  cuz it was about 4 months late for her bday...  d'oh!  so, since she got it, i can show you what it was!  

i didn't get the frame, tho, just the sculpture & a stand for it.  sent it in a bubble envelope, so i'm glad it arrived safely!  

isabel bloom was a local artist who sculpted in concrete/cement, and her work lives on today.  i love the sculptures and have 3 turtles (from jen, mom and april!).  i also have an angel by my shelves in the livingroom, and a hugs on my desk which work gave me after daddy passed.  i gave eggs to joy, debi & sarah for easter one (or two) year(s).  there's a pineapple that i want before they retire it in december... have you ever seen her work?  well, the artists working under her inspiration, now...?  what do you think?  do you like the art or do you just see cement?  *laugh*  it's okay if you do, not everyone enjoys the same artwork!  if they did, everything would always look the same, how boring. right?  : )  

my favorite baby turtle(s - they're twins!).  : )  

marz posted a nice picture of herself wearing the seahorse i sent her.  i love gifting!!!!  love love love!  

training went well today.  some claims stuff, some vacations, some outlook stuff & other random things to do!  heh.  oh!  we went to lunch at uncle pete's, and marcie brought me some tomatoes from her garden!!  oh my heck, do you know how much i enjoy garden tomatoes?!  (we'll just say a lot and leave it at that.*laugh*)  i'm so excited to make a peanut butter & tomato sandwich, i can't even tell you!  if i remember i'll take pictures & do a menu blog on my love of PB sandwiches w/ various other ingredients.  off the top of my head i can think of - pickles, tomatoes, cheese, cream cheese, bacon.  sometimes a combination of a couple of those.  PB, cream cheese & bacon is nummy.  

along w/ a tomato for snack around 4, someone had brought in a water melon, and did you know that tomatoes & watermelon together tastes really good??  i was unaware of that fact until today.  : )  

after work, i got some groceries at the wal mart.  i really wanted fish for dinner, so got some beer battered fillets.  got a couple other generalities (milk, TP, tortillas, oh, found a cool t-shir!, soda) and then... a treat.  i deserved a treat, right?  : )  oh, it is so so so so soooooo gooooooood!  

 i could have eaten the whole package, but then i would be sick, so i saved some for later.  : )  


once home, i expected to cool off quickly (have i mentioned how much i hate our recent weather?  because seriously, i HATE it) but that didn't really happen.  til now.  i feel great now!  *laugh*  thank GOD!  i got to chat w/ linda & april for awhile, and april reminded me that BB was on, so i watched the last 20 minutes of that (boooooo to rachel & brendan, spoiled brats!).  mom called me immediately at the end to tell me she didn't really like rachel & brendan anymore.  heeeheeehee.  i've been telling her for the last couple weeks - the brigade, the brigade!  : )  


anywhoo, it's after my midnight curfew, so i guess no Born of Fire for me tonight!  but that's okay, because sleep really is beckoning!  have a great night & a thankful thursday!  *hugs*  ttfn!!

tt-ttt-ttttuuuueeeessssday!

ugh.  it is hot.  hot.  hot.  last august wasn't this hot, was it?  i don't remember my A/C bill being that high last year anyway!  bah.  and i have a smoke alarm in the guest room beeping it's "i need a battery" song.  i don't have a battery for it right now!  have to remember to pick up a 9v tomorrow.  i think that's what it takes.  maybe i can get phil over here to mow the jungle & bring a battery w/ him.  hmmm.  


oh, also, i was trying to watch secret life & the computer kept freeeeezing up.  i don't have all night!  well, normally i would, but jen texted me to see if i'd come over so she could go play volleyball at 9:30.  WTH schedules VB for 9:30 on a work night??  and wth did i agree to this?  ugh.  *laugh*  really, it'll be fine, as long as she has her a/c going.  she is not as warm blooded as i am, and she's much more money conscious when it comes to the a/c.  ah well, i guess if it's too hot i'll just turn it down & tell her she can send me a bill for the difference if her bill is too high.  cuz to me, in this horrid weather, a/c is important!  plus, ya know, i don't want to pass out.  lol  anyway, leyton will be sleeping, so i can read.  maybe i'll finish born of fire!  : )  


anyway, today was pretty good, really, all around.  training.  i like the new girl, she's quirky & funny & seems like a hard worker.  


******  paragraph moved for political reasons.  LOL ******


*grumble*  


LOL  anyway, anyway, anyway!  : )  lunch was really fun.  and unexpected.  i really wanted tacos, but al & matt wanted haefner's.  so, that was the plan, but then matt didn't have his ID, and he is blessed w/ good genes & still looks 18 or 19 or so.  and the last time we were there w/ him, he WASN'T 21, and we didn't get to eat there.  so, if they remembered that he wasn't 21 last time & asked for his ID... so, that was out!  *laugh*  they decided to go to china wok.  i opted out.  i used to love china wok, but then i got some undercooked chicken & their crab ragoon no longer have crab or even any spices in them!  they're essentially cream cheese wontons, and ... yeah.  they are really friendly and a pepsi place, but that was just not enough to make me go back there.  so i ended up w/ my own veggie rice & ate w/ some of the peeps on trish's side of the office.  we talked about shopping & the fact that a couple of us have friday off, so today was our "wednesday!"  lol  and we watched Millionare & i was on a streak of right answers!!  : )  


okay, i guess i don't get to finish SL til tomorrow.  jen said she won't be home til 10:30 or 11, so i'll likely just go to bed when i get home, because tomorrow i HAVE to take chloe to the car peeps!  i didn't even get her cleaned out, it's just too muggy & awful out.  *sigh*  oh well!  but that means up at 6:30, so i really need to get to bed!  *laugh*  so happy that jen lives just down the road from me now!!  : )  


take care, and i hope your tuesday was terrific!  ; )  ttfn!!  

happy mail monday

so, today was alright.  training a new gal at work. or, pre-training.  of course, accesses need to be granted & all that jazz, so basically today was a get the desk organized & read some process documentation kinda day.  on the access train, the gal who was helping & who was planning to finish things up today, lost her accesses & was unable to do anything!  i just shake my head sometimes...

i ate what is usually a yummy soup for lunch.  and then had a HORRIBLE tummy ache the rest of the day!  it still hurts!  :(   idk what the what, but i hope i don't have food poisoning!  i don't want it to actually be doing any DAMAGE to my insides.  bother.  it'll be awhile before i can eat that kinda soup again, too.  *shudder*  (italian wedding, in case you're wondering.  normally very good, right??  oye.)

was happy to get home to pre-jammie & vegetate!  : )  and in my mailbox were two lovely surprises!

this adorable postcrossing card is from a seal sanctuary in great britain at blakeney on the north norfolk coast.  don't you just wanna kiss his lil nose??  i do!!

and this gem came from marianne, who recently vacationed here.  i was totally not expecting it, and it made me smile!  (thanks again, marz!)

i'd planned to watch army wives & drop dead diva - especially after april asked if i'd watched DDD yet!  lol  but i didn't even get to hulu, because i was researching hotels for this weekend's trip.  did you know that apparently EVERYONE picked this weekend to be in des moines?  is there something going on there this weekend that i am unaware of?  cuz hotels are BOOKED, man!  we did manage to find one, thank God.  but then i was reading the site -

well, let me tell you what happened.  i finally found a hotel that said they had vacancies, and it had a 4/5 positive rating and everything else we look for in a hotel (other than cookies.  oh, doubletree...!).  gave mom the number so she could call & reserve.  she called back a bit later & said that hotel was booked (internet, lied to me, waaahhhh!) but they found a room at a holiday inn.  i checked out the site & it looks pretty good, not as nice as the other one - the reviews aren't as good anyway - but it said, "air conditioned public areas."  now, idk how much traveling you do, or booking online, but when 99% of the sites mention air conditioned rooms, specifically, and this one mentions air conditioned "public areas," AND it's iowa in the middle of summer... well, i sorta got this panicky "what if they don't have A/C in the rooms?!" kinda feeling.  lol  so i called the phone number to check, and of course got a call center in india.  i just wanted to make sure the rooms had air conditioning & the lady had to take down my confirmation number and phone number and whatnot.  yeesh!  i'm glad i kept that # up on the screen & remembered to use mom's number!  lol

anyway, it's all good, at least according to janice in india - the rooms are air conditioned.

whew!  and now i am going to log off here (early!) and read for a couple hours.  LOVE sherri's books, love love love!  : )  take care & have a great tuesday!!  tantalize someone tomorrow!  ; )

ttfn!

chai cha cha

first of all, apparently chai can CAUSE tummy aches as well as calm them.  blaaaaahhhh.  i was tired of drinking mt dew & water, so i made a chai cooler & now my tummy is saying, "nooooo!"  poor tummy!  i'll feed it some more dew & see what it says about the bubbles.  *laugh*  


anyway!  this weekend has been so amazingly relaxing and nice!  yesterday i went over to mom's to play w/ her & leyton (more bubbles!  crashy alien toy!  pizza from casey's mmmmm...)  leyton was in his "i didn't get a nap today" kinda mood, which i did okay w/ except when he kicked me in the head.  :(  my head is very sensative in any case - to the point where i had to explain to ppl in school why they needed to tap my shoulder instead of my head in "heads up 7up" - but having my glasses kicked off has to be one of my least favorite experiences to date.  eeep!  thankfully his snits didn't last very long, and he was once again my sweet little nephew, but ... yeah.  moral of that story is that mom needs to make sure the kid gets at least an hour nap!  lol  (to be fair, and so you don't think she kept him up intentionally (not that you wold think that) she did TRY for nap time, but he was too wound up.)  


today i read Born of Fire for a good portion of the day.  watched Super Mario Bros. & two Incredible Hulk movies, The Incredible Hulk Returns and The Trial of the Incredible Hulk.  Erik Allen Kramer is one of my favorite yet least talked about actors.  Dude was Thor in Returns, Little John in Men In Tights (need to own that movie, btw...let me know if anyone sees it on sale on DVD!), and was THE reason i watched The Hughleys, even tho i like DL Hughley, too.  AND, as i was just imdb-ing him, he is going to be in the upcoming Thor movie starring chris hemsworth.  !!!!  : )  


there is just something ... awesome ... about thor, and since that's the first role i remember him in, that's who he always is to me!  heh.  (the fact that i am a nerd has been established way too many times for you to even be surprised by this.  LOL)  


anywhoo!  after my hulk marathon, i hopped online & watched rookie blue (best new show outta canada, peeps!) and what would you do? and of course big brother.  woooot!  i love chatting w/ the other ppl watching, too, it's great to see different perspectives.  some of them (and my mother) just adore rachel & brendan, thinking they are the underdogs & the whole house is needlessly ganging up on them.  from everything i've read in the transcripts, though, they brought it on themselves and while i'm sure they are lovely ppl... i'm not rooting for them at all!  i'm rooting for the brigade!  yep yep.  


my plan was to be done w/ the blogs by 11 so i could read for an hour before going to bed at 12.  since it is currently 11:40 as i type this, you can tell that plan went ary.  awry?  a-rye!  how do you even spell that?  anyway, not gonna worry about it (i know, i know, so unlike the human dictionary, i'm sorry if i've disappointed you! *laugh*).  just wanted to say that as i was reading all my updates i had a comment from marianne that she got my surprise when she arrived home from her vacation.  yay!  i do so love sending mail & surprising ppl (and getting surprises in the mail, thanks, APRIL, always!!).  i'm a horrible mailer when it comes to packages, tho, because it involves going to the PO, and - as discussed many times before i'm sure - they're only open when i'm at work.  there are other places i could go to mail the packages, but due to the panic of not knowing exactly where to go or the ppl there or whatnot... yeah.  so i always feel quite accomplished when i actually get packages out & they arrive at their intended destinations.  : )  


and on that note, i am going to read for probably 1/2 an hour & get to bed at 12:30.  have been away from my book for toooooo long!  also, there are storms a coming & i am praying that w/ all the hail & heavy rain & lightning they're predicting that the power stays strong.  it's quite sultry out there, and while my house is an icebox NOW, idk how long that would last w/o the constant stream of air from my AC & fans.  or the constant pulling for the AC.  i know how it works (thanks to holly!) but it's still blowing cold air at me.  *laugh*  


have a great night & i hope everyone's monday is blessed!  : )  


ttfn!