Does anyone need a fat Corgi??

Well, Buster had full rights to the house for a few months, then Mommy and Daddy got careless. Apparently it is not a good idea to leave a full pound of Stam chocolate on the floor under the Christmas tree. (DUH!)
I came home from the airport on Friday all excited that our Christmas shopping was done and we could just enjoy the holiday. Wrong! Buster had opened, shredded and eaten every bit of candy in the boxes. He just smiled at me when I opened the back door. He even managed to get the foil off of the cherry bonbons and spit it back on the floor.
I called Rob so mad that I could hardly speak and he told me to call the vet because apparently Buster could implode at any minute.
I callled the vet and said "Hi, my dog just ate a pound of chocolate, im not sure if i am going to murder him or not but I thought I would see if he is going to die" They giggled (i wonder how many calls like this they get around the holidays) and said to feed him some hydrogen peroxide. They said it would "only take a little bit"
So, I called Larry next door and asked him to help me make the fat little bugger vomit. (I have been having my own issues and didnt know if i could handle it) I forgot that he is super squeamish too. Whoops! Well, 2 syringes full of peroxide later and... nothing. I called the vet back and they said that he must have digested it already and it would "come out the other end" Well- Merry Christmas to me!
So, we ended up loading both dogs up and taking them back to Moms house with us. They stayed in the basement in Busters crate. Buster did ok, no messes or anything. Piper was scared to death, but he survived. They hate that basement!
That is all I have time for now, im "working" More to come later!

Its almost Christmas...

Well, we finished our Christmas shopping last night. A little late, but at least it is done. Now we just have to clean the house and get all the presents wrapped. Tomorrow we go to Moms house and then to the farm Saturday night. Sunday morning we will open presents at Moms then drive back around noon. We have Christmas with the Youngs Sunday afternoon.
The poor dogs are exiled to our house while we are out of town. I was a bad mommy again this year and forgot to make boarding reservations. Next year I HAVE to remember at Thanksgivng time to get that done. Luckily Larry is in town and said he would let them out a couple times while we are gone. Poor puppies.
Well, I am just waiting on Larry and Shirley to come pick me up from work. Im not feeling well again and cant stand all the "food day" smells. Ugh. I dont understand why my morning sickness is getting worse! Note to baby: I am in the second trimester, please stop making me vomit all the time.
So, if i dont blog again for a couple days, Happy Holidays to everyone!

I know. Im bad.

I havent updated in a while. I havent had anything going on! Just trying to get thru each day of morning sickness and put up with work. Last night we went to see Veronica, John and baby Drake. I am now completely convinced that she is superwoman. Not only is her baby absolutely adorable, but her house is spotless! I am beyond impressed. Although, that did show Rob that it can be done, and I am not even keeping a spotless house with no kids. Oops.
Melissa and Gus came over after we got home and we hung out for a bit. Vincent was super cute in his "1st Christmas" sleeper. I cant believe I am going to have a baby to dress up next year!
We have bought the baby a couple cute things for Xmas already. (already spoiled and not even born yet...) We got a chair that is a horse, I will post a picture it is kind of hard to explain. I also bought some pacis that I have been wanting. One says "I love Daddy" Awwww.
Im getting really antsy wanting to know if it is a boy or girl. I have just started referring to it as him. I cant help it! We have an ultrasound scheduled for Feb 24th (Robs birthday) at the 3D place (but we arent getting the 3D, too expensive) in case we dont get one from our regular Dr. I am hoping to squeeze a "medically necessary" one out of our drs before that. I wanna know what I am having and start decorating the nursery.
Well, that is all for now. Just waiting the next 30 minutes until I can go home.

More Dog Torture

Poor Poor Piper. Look what he has to put up with. We were walking thru Target the other day and saw the most humiliating Christmas outfit for a dog. So, we had to buy it. (Hey, its better than the Satin and Taffeta Christmas dress I wanted to buy him) The best part is that he prances around like a litte reindeer in it. I think he likes the bells ;)

Look who finally bought batteries!

Yeah, um. These pics are a little late. But look at that yummy cake! Much better than the one we unthawed after a year. It was actually good, but creeped me out. I could only eat one bite!

Im addicted...

to the Doppler. I ordered a Doppler (the thingy that the Dr listens to the babies heartbeat on) just so I could hear it once in a while. I listen every night now. It is so addicting! Even Rob now knows the difference between my heartbeat, the placenta and the babies heartbeat. I have a little recording thingy that came with it so I can record it for everyone to hear, but I havent gotten a really strong recording yet. (too much belly fat!) Hopefully in the next few weeks I will have a good one and I can record it and put it on my blog. Then you can all be addicted to the sound of the heartbeat! Well, I have been neurotic enough for one night, time to get ready for bed.

The months are just sneaking by...

How exactly did it get to be December already?? I havent bought even one Christmas present (well I dont have lists yet) but I havent sent one out either so I cant complain. I will try to send it out this weekend. I have mine all made up, but Rob hasnt decided on anything for his. Grr. Men.
I am still sick, and getting rather tired of it. After a week and a half I dont think I can take it anymore! Well, I better get back to work. Have a good Thursday.

New Baby Picture!

So, the baby is upside down. You can see the jaw bones and the little left arm. Much better picture than last time! We saw the baby bouncing around in the fluid and waving arms and legs. So cool. My due date is back to 06/18/06. Im keeping it!

Im sick. Again. I give up.

Well, Rob and I are both sick. He is lucky and can take dayquil and nyquil. I am stuck taking boring old Sudafed. Let me tell you, I have never realized how wonderful cold medicine is. I am hoping to be back in good shape tomorrow to clean up the house (since we have both been on the couch for a few days) and hopefully get the last minute things taken care of for Thanksgiving. I am in charge of the Cranberries, Green Bean Casserole and a pie. I invented a Snickers pie. It is going to be YUMMY!
Well, that is all for now. Just going to plop down on the couch and whine some more.

Finally Friday!

Today I am just glad it is Friday. This week has been pretty hardcore. I feel like my morning sickness is getting worse every day, but I think it is just wearing on me. I am not able to sleep as much as I would like (since I cant stay asleep, it is annoying) Rob and I have decided to get a new bed this weekend. Im so excited! We have needed one for a while, but now that I am pregnant and going to be getting increasingly uncomfortable we have decided that now is the time. Yeah! Extra squishy pillowtop here I come!
Rob is going to a Mudvayne concert tonight with Gustavo, so Melissa and I are going to hang out at her place with the baby. I think we are gettting the raw end of the deal! Normally, I would go to the concert, but I dont want to be around all the smoke and stupid people pushing each other around.
Well, that is all for now. Just waiting for 5.

Snow Day! (i wish)

Well, we did get some snow. I should take some pictures after work. The puppies love it and Piper runs like a madman all over the yard. I cant wait til the snow gets deep and Buster has to tunnel through just to get around. Poor little guy- its hard to live with short legs! (I can sympathize)
Well, we didnt do much last night but try to stay warm and cuss at the Tivo. It is getting worse every day. Mediacom better bring us a nice "new" one. (this one was "new" uh huh) I think I will also use my moms skills to call and get at least a month of credit. We have been putting up with this since we installed on Oct 10. Grr. I think we are going elsewhere to watch Survivor, because if it breaks during that I will scream! It is shocking how we have gotten used to pausing, rewinding etc. It really stinks to have to watch a show when it is actually on. (and try to run around during commercials to get stuff done)
Just 2 more days til the weekend!

sicky sick girl

I am sick. Its no fun. I missed work yesterday and spent the day laying on the couch watching boring daytime TV. Yuck. Our Tivo has decided to revolt too, and we cant record anything or rewind etc. I cant handle it! We are getting a new one on Saturday, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It just stinks having to actually be home to watch our favorite shows.
It is snowing outside right now, but not sticking. The weather people are predicting up to 6 inches. I bet we get wet ground and no accumulation. They always get so worked up about nothing. I do like to watch them on the news looking up in the sky hoping for one little flake to fall. Rob is excited b/c he might get to test the Equinox's all wheel drive traction control doohickey. I think he is going to be disappointed. Poor Guy.
Well, I am just looking forward to Thanksgiving and getting out of work for a few days. This baby is hungry for some turkey and dressing!

My blog is boring today.

But Dooce is hilarious. Check this out instead.
www.Dooce.com
Enjoy.

Chiropractic Heaven

So, I spent 24 years of my life without going to a chiropractor. I finally went a couple months ago when my headaches were unbearable. He did an adjustment and they went away...until Monday. I had a headache from Monday morning clear thru last night. Tylenol (the only thing I can take right now) is worthless. So, I made another appointment to get an adjustment. Voila! No more headache. Thank you Dr!
I dont have much news at this point. Just trying to get to work and stay there every day. Its hard when you dont feel good. We have been so unbearably busy it makes it very very difficult. I have to figure out a way to get out of Provider Service. It is hell on earth. (just ask Veronica) Oh well, at least I dont have to talk to the members all day. That would make me suicidal!
On the baby front, nothing is happening. There is a hard little lump I can feel but that is the only evidence I have that there is a baby in there. (aside from the ultrasound and the nausea) It seems wierd to me that eventually I will feel it kicking and all that.
Well, back to work. Its only 9 am and I feel like I have been here for 10 hours!

Weekend Recap

Friday night- sat on our heineys and watched movies on the On Demand. Not much else!
Sat- woke up bright and early (for us that is 9) and went to Veronicas house. Got the grand tour, and man her house is nice! (and clean, I had to hear about that from Rob) We all went out to Robins and had an early lunch. It was really good, I had never been there before. Rob and John got to meet each other and they seemed to get along well.
We set off for Exira after lunch and made good time. We got to the shower in time to chat with Ronis mom and sisters for a bit before everyone else got there. So strange to meet people who you know so much about (from Roni and all the blogs) They were all super nice and made me feel comfortable right away.
Veronica got some awesome gifts at her shower. I dont think she will have much left to get, which is great. Now, we are all just waiting on that baby! For the record my guess is Girl 7lbs 12 oz and born on 1-1-06.
After the shower we all went out to her parents farm and I got to meet the horses, dogs, cats, ducks, geese and goat. They have some gorgeous paints. The website really doesnt do them justice. I was in awe over Batman! He is so huge yet sweet. I finally got to meet London and she has the sweetest little face. I just wanted to smooch on her all day!
Once all the introductions were over everyone was very hungry. We all went to a little place called Darrells to eat. (not the most glamorous place but they had great food!) I got a breaded chicken sandwich and cheese balls. Yum.
All in all it was a great day! Thanks to Veronicas family for welcoming me into their home and letting me hang out with them. I had a great time.
Sunday- cleaned up the house a bit (Rob cleaned ALL day on Saturday! He did a great job.) I baked up a pork roast and made pulled pork sandwiches out of it. Also baked up some potatoes and carrots. Yum.
Well, its Monday morning and that means a whole week ahead of me. Only 2.5 weeks until Thanksgiving break though. I get 5 days off. Yeah!
It is definitely fall. Rob and I went to Target and bought some new candles for the house. We got an evergreen one and spiced cider. The whole house smelled great yesterday. I am enjoying a Starbucks caramel apple cider right now. It is super tasty!
Well, I guess I should be working or something...

Friday again!

Happy Friday! Im just counting the minutes until another lousy work week is over. How am I going to get through another 40ish years of this? Oh well.
Tomorrow is Veronicas shower! Im so excited to meet her mom and sisters and see the farm. We are meeting at her house and going to an early lunch with the hubbies, then heading out to Exira. I am sure there will be lots of silence in the car since we can never seem to find anything to talk about. Haha! Im really looking forward to it, except the horsesick part at the end. I know Im going to want to take home a nice paint filly! Hmm, I wonder if I could fit one in a sedan?
Well, that is about all for now. Back to the grindstone.

Introducing Baby YOUNG!

Well, I can't believe it but I have kept a secret. I can't even begin to describe how hard it has been to not talk about this baby! Today we had our first appointment and we had our first ultrasound. The baby looks great and the heart is beating. We were so excited! I had bubbles in my tummy and was on the verge of tears the whole time. The Dr said our due date is 06/24/06. I am feeling fine, and haven't had any terrible sickness or anything.
Here is Baby Young's first picture...

Hmmm, Halloween or Drag Queens?

Well, it is officially Halloween. I have made a decision. Halloween is just an excuse for girls to dress like streetwalkers. Im at work today and our CEO decided that we are allowed to dress in "tasteful" costumes. Well, so far I have seen head to toe black leather and a raggedy ann with her boobs hanging out. I wouldnt be so bad if they werent scary to begin with! AHH! Oh well, to each their own, I will avert my eyes.
We had a great weekend this time around. Friday night we just relaxed at home and watched movies. Saturday we had a big bonfire (or "bombfire" as Heather calls it) for Tammys birthday. She just got her new house in and it is almost finished. I have never seen a modular home and hers is actually quite nice. She put it on a foundation and it will have a full basement. She got alot of upgrades and I think she is pretty happy with it overall. We had a nice time at the party. (except for Chad throwing gas on the fire about 20 times and making mushroom clouds)
Sunday we just relaxed and then went to Melissa and Gustavos house to hide out from the trick or treaters. Vincent was being so fussy! I guess he is just at that age, but he is still a good baby. He weighs 13 lbs now and is 4 months old on the 3rd.
Well, that is all for today. Just plugging away and working towards another weekend.

It must be getting cold out!

Well we went to the grocery store last night and I feel like a couple squirrels hoarding nuts for the winter. We bought so much stuff! Our fridge is busting at the seams, but at least we wont have to go shopping again soon. I made a big pot of goulash last night to have on hand for lunches. It is gooooood! I also whipped up some taco dip since I have been craving it for a few days. Made it a little different this time, I used green chiles instead of the can of rotel. Yum.
We stopped at Starbucks and I had my favorite drink. Caramel Macchiato. mmmm. Just right on a cold evening. They had samples out of the chocolate walnut brownie. Dangerous!
We ran into Susan as we were leaving the store, had a nice chat with her then we headed home. It seems everytime we go to Ankeny Target we run into someone, and we dont even know anyone who lives in Ankeny! I guess that just shows how terrible HyVee has become.
We are one day closer to the weekend, and tonight is Survivor night!

What ever happened to the lovely 4 seasons of Iowa??

It seems that there is something wrong with our seasons. Maybe its the global warming or maybe it is just the fact that Iowa sucks. It seems like winter turned into summer and then summer turned into winter again. Im freezing, and there was frost on the ground this morning!
We have plans to go to a bonfire this weekend and im thinking we may skip it, or at least not stay long. Its only going to be 40 degrees out. Brrrrr!
Crazy Veronica is going camping though, I can say she is alot tougher than I am. I will be hiding under a blanket at home. At least their camper has a furnace!
Maybe part of the reason I am hating the cold so much is that we are keeping our heat at 68 this winter. Apparently heating costs have gone through the roof. Grrreat. Just one more thing to budget. I swear between the gas prices, higher prices on groceries, property tax going up, interest rates going up, and everything else we are paying for we are BROKE!
The good news is that the week is halfway over. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and I will have 5 days off, then Christmas and 5 more days off. Aaaah. Glorious vacation time.
Until next time, try to stay warm!

Happy Birthday to you....

Happy Birthday Mommy!!! I know its the big scary one, but it will all be ok. I hope you have a great day today and know how special you are to all of us. I love you!

Bloggity Blog Blog

Otay- Weekend recap.
Friday night- didnt do a darn thing.
Saturday- Larry came into town and we hung out with him, Dropped off the invites to e printed at kinkos, went to Ginos for dinner. (YUM!)
Sunday- went to see Robs grandparents before they leave for Texas this weekend, they are doing well and we had a nice time chatting with them. Went home and watched Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory. I was right! The new version is sooooo much better than the old one. I heart Johnny Depp.
Well, its Monday again and not much to report. I promise we will try to do something interesting so I have something to talk about!

Ummm. Its Thursday.

I feel bad for not blogging as much as I should. Im sure I am boring all of you! Not much is going on, we are just staying home and cooking dinner so we can save some money. Larry is coming home this weekend, so we are going to spend time with him and go see Marilyn and Ole before they leave for Texas for the winter. I painted the puppies nails pink the other night. They were not pleased. It looks sooo cute though! I have to post pictures but I robbed the camera batteries for the new Tivo and havent bought new ones yet. So you have to wait.
Im deep in planning for the Anniversary party and plan to get the invites out this weekend. I have already started planning the menu, and just need to run it by Shirley and Larry to see what they think. Shouldnt be too hard to get everything set up. It certainly seems simple after planning our wedding last year!
Just trying to get through the week and get to the weekend. One more day to go!

Why does the weekend go so fast??

Well, it is Monday again already. We didnt do much of anything this weekend. I did take the fridge all apart and clean the insides, toss anything that was past it s date. Exciting. Rob cleaned out the Equinox and is planning on winterizing it this weekend. Winter! I hope its not around the corner. Oh well, Global warming is good for some things I guess.
Sunday we took the dogs to the dog park again. Piper has been acting out lately, so we thought some good exercise would help him. We had fun and saw a bunch of cool dogs. As we were leavint there was a dog (looked like a young German Shepherd) that the owners couldnt even hold onto! He was freaking out and choking himself to death. Im glad we werent in there while he was! It makes you wonder why people come out there with badly behaved dogs. It doesnt make it fun for anyone.
Thats all for now. Just trying to get through the week, so I can get to another weekend.

Happy Anniversary!

Well, this weekend was our 1st Anniversary. We had a great time. We went out to dinner together on Saturday at Monterrey and Rob got me a couple really nice pieces of Blenko for a present! I will have to put up some pictures soon.
Sunday we had some visitors. Mom and Kurt and Jen and Tom all came over and we spent the day together. We went to On the Border for lunch and went shopping at Jordan Creek. I got a really cute sweater to wear to a wedding this weekend. We went back to my house and had cake and ice cream. I have a picture of the cake that I will put in tonight. It was so pretty!
I had Monday off, so i just lounged around the house and watched TLC. It was a nice relazing day off. Larry and Shirley took us out to dinner at Legends last night to celebrate our anniversary. All in all it was a great weekend!

Happy Happy Day!!!

Well, 2 great things that happened today.
1) I kept a secret for a WHOLE week! I surprised Rob by ordering him a book from Amazon. It is 3 nights in August, its a Cardinals book. Anyway, I ordered it and had it delivered to him at work. Surprise! This is great for me considering that we have never surprised each other with anything in our entire relationship. I hate surprises, but im learning to like them!
2) I received an email from the CEO of Wellmark today saying that every Wellmark employee is getting an extra $1,000 on their Nov. 4 paycheck! WHOOHOO! I love my job today. The reasoning behind it is "We recognize that each of you is feeling the economic challenge at the gas pump. And as winter sets in, the cost to heat our homes is predicted to rise significantly. I know that this can cause a strain for you and your family. " I am so grateful!

Feeling bad on a Monday...

I was 2 hours late for work today. Pity me. I dont feel good, but I drug my heiney in here anyway. The world is spinning just a little too much for me today. Im just hoping it gets better!

South Beach Maguyver

You know, it is amazing how creative a person can become when forced to eat veggies. I was just making a little list of different recipes I can make with the ingredients in my fridge. Just need to keep in mind no added sugar, and no refined flours etc. I know my husband would be grossed out by each and every one of them. It is difficult to cook 2 different dinners each night!

Here is my list:
Buffalo Provolone chicken breasts
Eggplant Parmesan
Provolone Meatloaf
Spaghetti Squash with homeade meatballs
(we already ate the steak this week. Boohoo)

Sounds great to me! If you want a recipe, just ask ;) (HAHA) Im gonna start posting pictures of my dinner. Mmm Mmm Good.

What a pooey weekend!

Well, we didnt do much this weekend. We went out to eat a lot since we were too lazy to buy groceries! Whoops! We did break down and go to Super Target last night, so Im back on the South Beach. I bought spaghetti squash, zucchini squash, yellow squash, eggplant, romaine etc. Rob wont eat a bit of it either! Oh well, he doesnt know what he is missing out on.
Friday night we were going to have a nice relaxing night at home. Wrong! We got home from work and there was a nasty smell in the house. Buster was sick (again) It wasnt as bad this time as it was 2 years ago when he had hemorraghic gastroenteritis. He was acting fine, eating and drinking but he was "having intestinal issues". I wont go into detail. Last time he cost us almost 1,000.00 at the Emergency Vet. (They are EVIL! They charge at least 5 times what a normal vet charges. None of the vets in DSM do on call, so you have no choice after hours.) I called my backup vet( Mom and Kurtis) and they told me to go get some penicillin and pepto and that should hold him off until I could get to my regular vet. Well, then the race to find a "farm store" in Des Moines ensued. I found a Tractor Supply in Newton (30 min drive) and set off to get some Penicillin. Rob luckily remembered that there might be a farm store over on 14th street (5 min drive) Well, with gas prices the way they are I was so happy to find a farm store closer! Yeah! Got some penicillin, syringes and Ozium and I was off. Im so glad Mom taught me how to give an injection so many years ago. It has really come in handy with this sickly dog.
Saturday morning I woke up early to make a vet appt. Buster was feeling a little better, and his tummy seemed to be less swollen. We took him to the vet and she said we did exactly the right thing! Yeah! She gave him a shot for nausea/diarrhea and gave us some antibiotics. $50.00 is much much better than $1,000.00. We stopped off at our favorite pet food store and then went home. Didnt do anything Saturday night. I was supposed to go to a bachelorette party, but didnt want to leave Buster alone in his kennel if he had to go potty.
Sunday just hung around the house, got groceries and watched the Longest Yard. That movie is pretty funny! See it if you have the chance. Now its Monday, and im back to the daily grind. Hopefully it will be Friday before I know it!

Cool new blog feature

Well, I finally figured out how to allow anyone to add comments to my blog. Now you dont have to be a blogger to let me know what you think. So voice your opinion!

Buster, you wanna go to the DOG PARK?? Arf, Arf!!

Well, we went to the dog park yesterday and of course I didnt think to bring the camera until we were halfway there. Darn it! I will remember sometime! We walked thru the whole park and saw the Corgi guy again. Umm. He is a little wierd, but very nice. I think he may have an alcohol problem, but his advice on green beans is stellar! Poor Buster, we are going to start starving him even more. (But that cup of DQ vanilla ice cream we gave him may not have been a good start)
We took the dogs down to the lake and let them swim. Rob was afraid he was going to have to jump in and save Buster. He swam way out to get a ball with Piper 3 times! The little guy doesnt have any legs!
After the swimming, we took a walk down the trail so the dogs could dry off. We let them both off the leash and Piper started looking for birds. He even pointed in the dog park! He did scare some doves up, and scared some joggers. He had alot of fun running through the brush. I think he likes the trail better than the dog park area. I do too!
After the dog park we went to DQ. (I know, I know, but I wanted a blizzard!) It actually kind of stank, and I ended up giving most of it to Buster and Piper. They were pretty happy, except Buster gets way too possesive. Piper was hiding his head in the corner so Buster wouldnt bite him. Poor Peeps.
I think thats about it for now. Back to the grind...Ugh. Is it Friday yet?

Babysitting part 2

How sad is it that I would rather stay home and watch a baby than go out with our friends?? Well, that is what we did Friday night. Such a cute kid. Here is what he did...

Yep, thats it. He slept in his bouncy seat. Never woke up, never cried. Parenting is hard? Im beginning to wonder...

A couple more Springfield Pictures...

Lincolns Tomb
Inside the tomb, his actual tomb
One of the statues in the tomb
Outside of the Dana-Thomas House (Frank Lloyd Wright) Such a cool house!

I just cant help it.

Normally, I try not to bring too much politics into my blog. I know many of the readers dont share my incredibly left-wing opinions. BUT- I think this is one we all might enjoy. I have always joked that GW cant even take a shit without someone holding his hand. Now I have proof! This is just too funny for words.

It says "I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible?" Written by GW during a UN Security Council meeting to good old Condi.

10 lbs...GONE!

Thats right! This morning I weighed myself and I am 10 pounds lighter than I was a week and a half ago. I can already feel it, my pants are fitting alot better! I still have a long way to go, but things are looking up. Whoohoo!

Look! The Lincolns!

Well, Rob and I found out that we are the exact same height as Abe and Mary Todd. Interesting.
This is in the main rotunda of the Lincoln Museum. The White House is behind us, the website is http://www.alplm.org/home.html.

Puppy Hell: Part 2

We are watching Susans puppy again. He is fun to have around. (well, except Piper hates him) He just wont let Piper be, he wants to play with him all the time! We are working on not jumping, biting or licking. He got a nail trim, and tonight he is getting a bath. Sue hurt her back pretty bad, so we are doing our part to help out. (Plus we like that little guy!)
I am back on South Beach, have lost 7.5 lbs so far. I know I cant expect it to stay that way, but its nice! I am actually enjoying the food, and stay on it 100% all week long. I made Sunday a free day, but didnt go overboard. Amazing!
We had a nice weekend, just spent time with friends and cleaned up the house. Friday night we had everyone over and played cards and had some drinks on the back deck. It was a good time!
Saturday night Melissa, Heather and I went to a Pure Romance party. It was so fun! If you dont know what Im talking about go to PureRomance.com. Interesting. Im not telling what I bought! After that we met Rob and Zingg at some of their old friends house to hang out. I now remember why we dont hang out with that group very often! BORING!
Today is Larry Sr's Birthday- So HAPPY 59th LARRY!
I think that does it for today, why am I the only one updating my blog???

Who else thinks this is hilarious??

Rob received a t-shirt from his brother in the mail the other day with this picture on it. (Larry just got back from Australia) Rob thought it was pretty funny once he found out who Dick and Jane were! I couldnt stop lauging for about 20 minutes. Thanks Larry!

That was too easy!

Well, babysitting went great. We played all day, he jumped in his jumperoo and we even watched a Baby Einstein DVD. I even got brave and packed up the diaper bag and drove up to Karl Chevrolet to get the oil changed in the Equinox. It could have been bad, but little Vincent just slept the whole time! (I guess a dry diaper and a full belly is a great thing in baby world) The dogs were a little apprehensive at first. Buster was jealous and spent the entire day trying to wedge himself between me and the baby, with alternating periods of glaring at me from the corner of the room. Piper just wanted to sniff him and lick the top of his head. Pretty freaking adorable. I think they will do just fine when our own baby gets here!
I do worry that I have a skewed view of motherhood now though, that baby is just too easy to take care of! Im sure I will get a screaming, puking monster instead. Oh well, at least it will be our screaming, puking monster! Well, back to work...

Sitting on a baby

Well, back from the long weekend, we had a good time. We got to see the Lincoln Museum and had time to see a Frank Lloyd Wright house too! It was great. We had a few bumps along the road, but came out of it and had a good time.
Today I am babysitting Vincent, Melissas mom isnt feeling well so she needed someone to watch him today while she is at work. I happened to have the day off so I was happy to volunteer. We have the bouncy seat, jumperoo and the car seat over here. I am beginning to realize that babies need alot of stuff! He is such a good baby though, no crying or spitting up so far. Will update later, im off to change my first diaper ever!

Commentary on gas prices...

Well, It is Wednesday

Still feeling bad for the hurricane victims, I cant imagine what it would be like to have everything destroyed. Most of all, I cant imagine my city being reclaimed by a lake. Wow. I certainly cant imagine wanting to move back if they even get the water out. I think that I would be moving somewhere far, far away. Rob was watching the coverage last night, after awhile we had to turn it. Its just one continuous loop of destruction and this poor man whose wife was taken from him. So sad, but I cant watch that stuff anymore.
On the homefront, just waiting for this weekend and hoping that gas prices dont go up to 4.00/gal like I have heard. Im not even going to get into gas prices, but I can tell you it is hurting us financially. We are at the point where we may have to park the Equinox and drive the Cougar full time again. I cant imagine what people with low incomes are doing. Its unreal. I just wish there was another option, but we have terrible public transportation in the US and most people have a pretty sizeable commute. I wish I could find a job working at home, but that is next to impossible. Oh well. 2008 cant come soon enough.
Until next time...

What a strange day...

I cant stop reading all the news reports about New Orleans. Its like some sick obsession with me. I feel so bad for the people who are trying to ride out the storm in the Superdome. I heard parts of the roof are ripping off and they arent sure that it is going to hold. There are many people who want to ride out the storm in their houses, im afraid many people will perish in this horrible storm. Wow, i thought tornadoes were bad, but I could never live in Hurricane country. It just seems surreal that we are all at work, living our daily lives while people in our own country are fighting for their lives and trying to escape something so horrible. (Well, I guess the same could be said for the people fighting in Iraq) I feel guilty for worrying about stupid stuff today.

Trying again...

Pictures of the new construction on the stadium. This is actually from the inside of the old stadium, they are building it right next to the old one.



Here is a good picture of the 2 stadiums together, see how they blew the side of the old stadium clean off? Crazy!Another pic, same thing.


Here is Robby standing next to the Stan Musial statue. The other 9 are for the World Championships the Cardinals have won over the years.


Thats right! This is a picture of Mike Matheny looking RIGHT AT ME! Oh my! I didnt even realize until Rob told me and I reviewed the picture. I was so caught up in getting his picture, I wasnt paying attention. We sat right next to the visitors bullpen on Sunday, and I got tons of great pictures. Whoohoo!

Robby in the Cardinals dugout, doesnt he look just like a player? Those benches are so high in the air!

This is the Ozzie Smith statue, pretty cool. It actually looks like him!

Outside view of the new stadium. As sad as we are to see the old Busch go, this really is going to be a neat stadium. It is slated to open April 06. We will have to go to a few games next year!

Thats all for now. Not much going on this weekend, just going out Friday night for one of Robs work buddies going away party. Im trying to talk Rob into going to the drive-in again, but he's not having it. Next weekend is the big trip to Springfield Il to see the new Lincoln Museum with the in-laws. We are looking forward to it!

F-ing blog.

Ok, well this stupid blog wont let me post any more pictures. It uploads them, but they never show up. So, more pictures to follow tomorrow.

As promised...

We had such a great time on our vacation! We left a little late, I got heatstroke on Saturday and felt like pooey all night, and it stormed while driving down and back, but you take the good with the bad!
We had great seats to the games, an amazing view from our hotel room, we took a really cool tour inside the stadium, went to Union Station (to our favorite store "Beatles for Sale" and the Cardinals clubhouse), saw the City Museum, and just had a nice relaxing time. Aaaah. Vacation. I needed that.


This was the storm we drove through in Missouri. Somehow I managed to get a great shot of the lightning. After the storm, I caught this shot of the clouds parting. Makes you want to sing some hymns or something, doesnt it?
This is Friday night in the hotel room. The Marriott is directly across the street from Busch Stadium. It was AMAZING! (Rob is cheering for the game winning home run)A shot from our seats on Saturday. I wont even tell you how much these bastards cost. Yeowch!


11x Zoom on our little Canon. It does a pretty good job. This is Pujols up to bat.

We are BACK!

Well, we had a great time this weekend. It was a much needed mini-vacation. We had a great hotel room overlooking the stadium, we got some amazing pictures of Busch. I will add pictures later when i get home. (im at work, ugh.) We got home last night at 10:30. Im SO tired!
I am getting a new computer (they are finally replacing my POS Gateway with a brand new model!!) That means at least an hour off the phones! I need it today!
More to come later...

We are on VACATION!

Thats right, in typical Rob and Jessica style it is after 10, we leave first thing in the morning. We still need to pack our stuff, pack the puppies stuff, do dishes, take out the trash and do laundry. Uh Huh. But i dont care because im on VACATION!
See you all on Tuesday...

Seriously, this is what we do at night...

Well, we dressed up Piper some more. He freaking LOVES it. Next, he is getting a pink feather boa. I am convinced that there is nothing more amusing than humiliating a dog with clothes.

I just cant stop...

Well, the camera is full of pictures of the dogs being cute again. I just put a bunch on the computer, so I figured I would upload a few. Enjoy.

Buster is adorable, yet afraid of the camera.




Piper got lei'd.


Doesnt this look like those "The Dog" pictures where they shoot with a fisheye lens? Nope, Buster just has an abnormally large noggin.



Get out of my seat , Daddy!



So innocent.

What could you possibly want now?
Stop taking pictures of me! Im hiding!

So much FUN!

Well, I had a great weekend. We had a lot of fun, but didnt get much rest. (as i sip my coffee with 3 equals in it) Friday we went to the fair, Saturday we went out to lunch with Derek and Heather to Azteca. Yum. I tried the Mazatlan. Tom was right, it was great. We also tried the red corn chicken taquitos for an appetizer. They are soooo tasty!
Saturday night we went to the drive-in movie. It was so fun! It was my very first drive in movie and Heather and I sat in the back of the Equinox. We had the back hatch open and folded the back seat down. We had blankies and everything! It was cool because we got to see 2 movies for only 7.00 each and we brought all our own snacks. I love the drive in! We are planning on going back soon. We saw Dukes of Hazzard (dumb) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (again, i LOVE it).
Sunday we went to the fair with Mom and Kurtis. It was packed and just waaaaay too busy, but it was a nice day. Not too hot, and I won some free Cookies seasoning at lunch for knowing that Cookies is made at Wall Lake Ia. I guess all those little smokies over the years paid off! Rob and I rode the Double Ferris wheel. I thought I was going to die. Seriously. Never again.
Last night we went over to Tammys for a while to see her barn burn down. Not as exciting as I thought it would be. I did get to see the Delaware Township firefighters. Wow. Just wow. Piper went with us and he wore the lei I got at the fair. He must have looked irresistible because Wrigley spent half the night humping him. We left there at about 10 so I could get home, toss in a load of laundry and then go to bed.
Thats all for now, just back to work (Booooo!) I am looking forward to this weekend, we are going to St Louis to catch a couple Cardinals games. Only a 4 day work week! Whoohoo!

Oh. My. God.

We went to the fair last night. Good times were had by all (well most). There was Beer, Purple Passion, Corndogs, Fried Twinkies Oreos and Snickers, lost shoes, paddywagons, peeing in the bushes, obscenities, vomiting, and more. Sounds like a bad night, nope just another Friday night at the Fair!

Its FRIDAY!!!!

Well, this crappy week is coming to a close, thank heavens! Tonight we are going to the fair to get drunk and disorderly. Should be a good time, all our friends will be there and we always have a blast. Im sure we will get the honor of having an afterhours at our house, so I will spend all day Saturday trying to get the smell of cigarettes and alcohol out of the house. Ick. I will try to take the camera to get some good pictures of our friends! (and the corndog and funnel cake that I will inevitably eat. I think this year I may even try the dreaded Fried Oreo!!!)
Have a good weekend, I probably wont update until Monday.

School days, School days....

Isnt there a little song that Kurtis likes to sing about school? Something like reading, writing rule days?? I remember the Romper Stomper song (sung while he stomps around the house) and the Too Fat polka, but I cant remember the words to this one. Hmmmm.
Anyway, I registered for school today, Im going back to Dmacc. The classes are easier there! (Rob doesnt think I should take the easier school, since I will "learn" more at Grand View.) I figure as long as I get the end result from Grand View, I dont care where the gen ed credits came from! I registered for Comp 2 and a American Government class. Should be interesting! I decided to only go part time though, full time work and full time school makes for a very stressed Jessica. Not going to do that again. Well, that is all for now! Tomorrow is FRIDAY!!

What a great morning!

I woke up bright and early this morning to go into work a half hour early. Got up, felt great, ran out to the Equinox to leave for work. (i got up before Rob, so i took his car. HA!) Then I realized that my Cougars driver door was open. It was raining so I was upset that Rob would probably have to drive on a wet seat. Well, the wet seat wasnt the worst part. I walked up to my car and there was a big black hole where my nice Alpine Cd player *used* to be. Im so f-ing mad I cant even see straight. My car was blocked in by the Equinox and no more than 3 feet from our house. This is one of the very few nights that our cars werent in the garage.
What motivates someone to rip someone else off? I work hard for my money and it makes me so goddamn mad that some little punk kid thinks its ok to walk right up to our house and steal from us. (I know it was a kid b/c they were too stupid to steal the 100ish Cds we had in the car.) They did get my favorite Cd of all time, our wedding cd. I dont really even care about the stereo. We will get another one. I just feel violated. Oh, and Rob is going to be riding in silence with a wet butt today.

OOOOh BABY!

In just over a week I will be able to see the hottest (well 2nd hottest) man alive! I have been sooooo sad since Matheny is no longer a cardinal, but we are going to the Cards v. Giants games from Aug 19-22. Im so excited! I really really really need a vacation.
This Friday is the fair (eastside night), next weekend we are going to STl, then Labor Day weekend we are going to see the Lincoln Museum in Springfield Il. Should be a good time, but then the summer is over. Boo hoo.
Here is a picture of the very sexy Mike Matheny. Yum.

Well, its official...

Im crazy.
I am now officially in therapy. I dont know how many "How do you feel about that? and Tell me about your father" I can endure, but I am trying. We will see. I now get to go every Tuesday after work. Basically, my therapist is telling me the exact same things that my mother tells me every day. I guess it is just easier coming from a 3rd party?? Oh well. I knew some day I would have to spend thousands of $$ on therapy, I just didnt realize how much I needed it!
I spent the entire appointment crying, I could hardly talk. Looks like I have some pent up aggression. Sheesh. Maybe I should just call Dr Phil. Rob would be probably disown me.

Today is the day...

Well, in just over an hour I will be making a really hard drive to a psychologist. This is my second appointment, I chickened out the first time. I will not let myself chicken out this time. I actually feel better right now, but I know it is just a matter of time before I get in a hole again. So, at 4:00 I am probably going to be a complete mess and cry like a baby. I know I have needed to do this for a long time, since at least High School. I made a list of all the things I want to talk about, and tell the Dr since I am so good a putting on a "happy face". I really want to be honest with her and spill it all. Wish me luck.

Its Monday.

Its Monday, its busy and im not happy about it! Oh well, I still need the paycheck. Here are some more pictures, maybe this will help me drift away...

Aaahhhhh. What I wouldnt give to be laying in the lounge chair looking back at the waterfall...



Sad thing is, the resort is closed since the hurricane hit. I heard they arent going to open until at least October this year.

Feeling better!

Im back. Not pregnant, but thats okay. Life moves on...
Friday night we went out with Heather, Derek, Amanda and Zingg. We saw Wedding Crashers. It sucked, but we had a good time giggling in the theatre. We went to a bar afterwards and had a few drinks, then tp'd someone. Shhhh.
Saturday we took Buster to the vet. Again. Another $110.00. That dog is killing me! Oh, well I love him. We went to the dog park out at Raccon River that afternoon. We had a blast. Piper had a nice time running through the tall brush and swimming in the lake. He even brought the ball back and dropped it! Buster stuck to the trail. He couldnt swim because of his skin, he was so mad! Forgot to take the camera though. I will next time!
Sunday I cleaned the house and did the laundry (blah) while Rob finished up on the drywall in the basement with his Dad. Then, we went over and hung out while Shelby swam. Piper had a good time swimming too. (See below)
Thats it for now, we had a good weekend!

Here are some new pictures.

I never did put in pictures of my awesome birthday cake. Rob did a great job picking it out! Mmmm. Lovejoys...

Chocolate fudgey goodness...

This is from today, Shelby looking cute.

I cant stop taking pictures of Piper jump in the pool. Its just hilarious.

Just chillin...Peeps has taught himself to jump in the boat. Shelby was taking him for a ride.

Blog change

No more black blog. Let me know how this color scheme works out.

Its FRIDAY!

I never realized as a kid how much it sucks to work. I was just so darn excited about graduating high school and living "on my own". Oh, what I wouldnt give to have no responsibility or bills. (Rob and I have been making the "baby budget") It is amazing just what it costs to have a house and a nice car and food!
This weekend is Marilyns birthday party (Robs grandma on Larrys side) She is turning 80 years old, should be a nice party.
Not much going on, just wishing it was 5...

First day back after the birthday bash...

Well, i went back to work today. Yeowch! It stunk. We were so busy i think i forgot to breathe a few times. (Veronica will agree) Enough about that...
So, Saturday was the big bash, you all know b/c you were there! So, i dont have to elaborate. Can you tell im tired? Terrible grammar and no correct capitalization. oh well.
Sunday, we went to Robs Grandma's house. We had a nice time talking to her, and the inlaws had a good time too! Rob and Larry are off picking up Marilyns b-day present. This weekend is her 80th birthday. Lots of July Birthdays, Sue is July 31, im July 25, Larry is July 24 and Marilyn is August 3rd. Makes for a busy few weeks.
That should be all for now... wish i had some "news" but not yet...



PS Hi Marsha! (just a shoutout to our newest reader)

Its my b-day!

Just thought i would update quickly this morning. Had a great time at the party son Saturday. It was great! Mom has some cute pictures in her blog.
Today we are going to eat at PF Changs (has to be a special occasion to get Rob to eat Chinese) and then we are going to the new Science Center to see the exhibits and possibly check out an IMAX movie. Im thinking about "The Living Sea". Im so excited!
Thanks for all the birthday wishes and the great presents! Love you all!

IT'S FRIDAY!!!

YEAH! It's Friday, It's Friday (doing a little dance) Its my b-day weekend. Im so excited. !) b/ci have a party tomorrow 2) b/c i get to eat cake at aforementioned party 3) b/c i get a day off work 4) b/c Robby took the day off too!
Veronica has a cute little baby belly now, its freaking adorable. I have one too, but no baby inside. Not so adorable! Enjoy that in a swimsuit this weekend! HA! Im think im actually in a good mood despite the fact that i had to get up early to attend training that didnt even pertain to my dept. Whatever. At least i get 1/2 hr of overtime. Crap- that reminds me I forgot to put it on my timecard!
Thats all for now, hopefully i will have some news to share on Monday!

24 YEARS! Thats like 1/4 of a century!

Holy crap. How did this happen? Im beginning to panic. Im almost 24, which is almost 25, which is pretty much 30, and then 40 and 50 will be here before it realize it. Im not sure what to do about it. I guess i just have to suck it up and get old. Dammit.
(I had a big rant here about how pissed off I am that I havent gotten knocked up yet, im sparing you of that)
Hopefully I will be in a better mood for the next post. I am hating my job right now. But, its my b-day weekend, and I took Monday off to spend the day with my Robby.

My puppy hell is almost over.

I think i like puppies, they are cute and soft and have that great puppy breath. But they also shit and piss all over your house. We have been working very hard to get the puppy pottytrained. He is doing great actually, but sometimes i want to strangle the life out of him. Its not his fault, he is just a puppy. Im glad he is going home today. Someone else can scrub his piss out of the carpet.
Saturday we had a party at the pool. Didnt really mean to, but we had a couple friends over and we just kept inviting anyone who called. We had fun, we swam and lit the fire. We had smores, and i nearly drowned a couple times. Cherry Uv Vodka and Lemonade is the best!
I went to a baby shower yesterday for Emilie. It was actually fun, as far as baby showers go. There werent very many people there, which was nice. Good munchies and had a nice time talking to Sarah and met a few new people. Pretty uneventful weekend. It was about 105 out, so just tried to keep cool.
Oh! We found a new mexican place this weekend. Actually, Robs uncle Gary told him about it. Its in Altoona and i had some really good Shrimp and Steak Fajitas. Yum. We will have to take Mom and Kurtis there next time they come up. They share our love of fine mexican dining. Thats all for now.

Update! Puppy love...

Looks like all is well in the world of puppies. Buster is still in hiding though...

Glad I dont have a puppy anymore...

Tonight we begin our week of dog-sitting. Actually, puppy-sitting. Susan and Shelby brought over their puppy Precious tonight. They are going to see Larry in DC, so we are watching the puppy until next Monday. It should be fun! We are working on housetraining and biting so far. Piper is working on patience, now he knows what it is like to be annoyed nonstop! I think he finally understands what Buster went through.

He looks so innocent, doesnt he?

Grr! Vicious puppy! (actually they were not even biting, just looks good in pictures!)
Surrender to me, Piper!

You better keep that little shit away from me, Mom. (Buster doesnt like the puppy, He thinks that we have gotten a 3rd dog again)