coming soon...

I’ve been making… and un-making… some pretty big decisions lately. It’s a long, complicated story. There are a few more details to wrap up but you can expect some pretty big changes in the next few days. Maybe even as soon as tomorrow.

Again, I reiterate… it has nothing to do with babies.

weekend plans

We headed east this weekend, to Cedar Rapids. The drive is only about two hours and we stopped at a Perkins along the way for dinner. I’m hoping our waitress was having an off day. She never once asked to refill our drinks. She disappeared and never brought us our check. Finally another waitress saw us looking around for her and offered to get the check for us. At the register she had everything messed up and it took ten minutes to straighten out. I should have asked for a free mammoth muffin for our pain and suffering.

We hung out with Brian and his fiancée Kelly Saturday night. Brian was helping Ryan put together a website for the fire business. Saturday morning we took a quick tour of downtown. Ryan hadn’t been to town since the flood. The amount of damage and debris still around surprised him. I was in town over the 4^th of July and thought it looked pretty good in comparison.

Our original plan for Saturday was to watch our cousin Jared play college football. But since the dork rolled his ankle and ended up on the injured list, we decided to road trip to mom and dad’s. Laura and Adam came up from CR too. Mike, Maggie and the girls came out as well. It was all very spur of the moment but worked out surprisingly well. The boys helped Dad build fence and the girls hung out.

Brian and Kelly are hoping to buy a few acres in town so we took a quick tour of it when we got back into town. It’s about nine acres of timber. They want to build a house there eventually. And Brian has big plans for a pond. It’s in a quiet area. I’m picturing a hammock… no Adirondack chairs.

Plans for Saturday night got a little convoluted, but we ended up at Jason’s house (a friend of Brian’s from his Navy days). The girls retired early for the night while the boys stayed up playing Halo.

The whole CR crew got together for breakfast on Sunday, including cousin Allison and her bf Terry. After our experience at Perkins just two days earlier, our waitress in Cedar Rapids deserved a free mammoth muffin for great service. The girls did a little shopping before we headed home.

Ryan and I pulled into our driveway just after 5 p.m. I was glad to be home early. We got a few things done around the house and still had time to recuperate from sleeping (or not sleeping) on an air mattress for two nights.

And now… back to these messages. Uh, I mean back to work.

P.S. if you’re still wondering about the big news I mentioned last week… I’m still waiting for things to shake out. Stay tuned.

What's missing?

Over the weekend I decided it was time to mow the lawn. We tried to wait it out hoping to only mow one more time before frost. I finished the backyard and made it around the front yard once before the wheel fell off.

I took the photo while Ryan finished mowing the front yard because we couldn’t leave it half done. We laughed so hard. You’ll notice the wheel not only fell off the little axle but a piece of the metal is missing too. When I turned and ran into the house Ryan shouted behind me, “you’d better not be going to get your camera!” At least I was nice enough not to get him in the photo.

Today I am thankful for a handy husband who was able to fix it. I’ve no idea how he did it… but we have a fully functioning mower now.

Productive weekend

Every morning I walk into the kitchen to make some coffee and have breakfast before hustling out the door. Usually I’m greeted by warm sunshine pouring in the east facing windows. It’s always a nice way to start the morning. That is… until I notice my windows are horribly dirty. And I’m not talking about a little dust here and there. I’m talking about haven’t been washed since we moved in two years ago dirty. And then my great morning morphs into a list of things I need to do – starting with the windows.

Well, this weekend I finally did it. Ryan helped me figure out how to pull the screens off the windows. I spent two hours bouncing from inside to outside and climbing up and down a ladder. But I’m happy to announce I have the cleanest windows in the world. Or, at least I do if I disregard the streaks I left behind. Lesson learned – spend the extra 89 cents for Windex.

And that was just the start to our productive weekend. Ryan mowed the lawn… there might be a “guess what’s different in these pictures” post about that tomorrow. You know it’s a good story if I followed him around the yard laughing hysterically while photographing his mad mowing skills. Admit it – you’re curious.

I cleaned the house, but by the end of the day it had some how managed to get cluttered again. Ryan cleaned out the garage. Anything that needed a home ended up in the kitchen and living room. By Monday night we had most of it put away.

We now have an official guest room. With a bed. Or at least a bed for anyone over 4 feet tall. We put a full sized bed in the spare room and the twin bed was shunned to the office. Needless to say I spent all day Sunday moving furniture and rearranging.

Monday I put the final coat of mud on the drywall in the basement. Yeah, I know. Only like six weeks after we thought the whole project would be finished. A quick sanding and we’ll be ready for texture. Then paint. Then relaying the floor. Then… finished!

We did manage to relax a little over our extended weekend. Monday afternoon we visited Jason, Stef and little Canon. He’s so adorable. He fell asleep on my shoulder, and I pretended to ignore the ticking echoing in my head.

There may be big news coming later this week. Calm down - it has nothing to do with babies.

all things me

I AM … procrastinating

I WANT… to go home and start enjoying my three day holiday weekend

I HAVE … a great life

I KEEP … a constant supply of Dr. Pepper chapstick with me at all times

I WISH I COULD … live without any responsibilities just for one day… or, maybe a week.

I HATE … close-mindedness

I FEAR … failing – at work, starting my photography business, getting published, as a wife, someday as a mom

I HEAR … incredibly well - I’m constantly telling Ryan his phone is ringing. Or telling Holly a vehicle with sirens is coming

I DON’T THINK … it’s bad for you

I REGRET … nothing. Period.

I LOVE … my husband

I AM NOT … an alien

I DANCE … remarkably well given my clumsiness

I SING … all the time and if you turn up the radio I just sing louder. J Right Ryan?

I NEVER … say never

I RARELY … write for fun anymore (but I can give you the top ten reasons to save for retirement in seven sentences or less)

I CRY WHEN I WATCH … Extreme Make Over Home Edition – some of the people on that show have the most amazing life stories!

I AM NOT ALWAYS … logical. Sometimes I think with my heart too much.

I HATE THAT … I have so much work to do and no motivation to do it

I’M CONFUSED ABOUT … what to do when I grow up

I NEED … something to eat; my tummy is verrrry rumbly.

I SHOULD … go for a run tonight

I MISS … riding horses

I HOPE... many things. The day I stop hoping is the day I stop living.

Little C

Canon James was born Thursday, August 21^st. Ryan and I went to meet the little guy and congratulate the new parents after work. He is absolutely perfect. He weighed in at just over 8lbs and was 21 inches long. The last newborn I held was little Kaitlyn – a three pound difference. Canon seemed more like a two month old to me. He was so adorable as drifted between sleepiness and being wide awake.

Stefany looked amazing for being in labor just five hours before and running on no sleep. She was so happy it was practically seeping from her pores. Jason is a very proud dad and very attentive. Everyone went home this weekend. It sounds like they’re adjusting pretty well. I’m anxious to call but wanted to make sure they had time to get settled first. Even more anxious to visit again soon. :-)

forever the optimist

This made me giggle today....

Twix optimist and pessimist
The difference is droll:
The optimist sees the doughnut,
The pessimist, the hole.

-McLandburgh Wilson