Something New

It is something I have litterally wanted for YEARS....new bedroom furniture. I know for some of you that sounds so silly. When I graduated college, my mom gave me the spare bedroom furniture that I will always think of as my 'dads'. So of course, it has been very special to me. But the other day when I walked into this cute store in the downtown area where I live and saw this set.....on clearance...I knew it was going to be mine. No buyers remorse. I did my usual big purchase..."sleep on it" and think it over routine. I seriously look forward to enjoying here and wherever my next house might be :-) After moving the old furniture to the storage in the basement and one dresser to the office...my new bedroom is complete....well except for some decorating!

Any ideas???

UPDATE

The Land of the SICK

UPDATE!!:

So, we go to the doctor this afternoon. We wait at least an hour for him and all the time I'm wondering why I rushed like a mad woman to get there on time. So, while waiting, Matthew and I both dozed off and on. Finally we see the same doctor we usually see for these cases but not our usual pediatrician...of course, she isn't there on Thursdays. He gives Matthew a really through exam and decides....drum roll please......Yep...it's a )(*#$ VIRUS. Big shock. Dr. Lisa was right. No drainage from the eyes so no sure diagnosis of pink eye so we got eye drops just to make sure. Well that was a waste of the $2.00. Matthew has fought me like a caged lion to get those in. I've tried reasoning with him...yeah like that was going to happen. I've tried grounding him and finally I got on top of him but he clamped those beaty little eyes closed and no way was I getting a drop in! So for now, I'm letting him sleep off his horribly grumpy attitude. I figure if he really has pink eye, with all of that nonsense I will end up getting it as well. Trust me, hell has no furry as me with pink eye yet again!!!! Ok...where is my diet coke?

The Land of the SICK

Matthew came home from school Monday with a crappy cough and immediately grabbed his pillow and blanket in front of the tv and has just about been camped out there for days. Yesterday I knew he took a turn for the worse when he wanted to watch old VHS videos in his room. I haven't let him have a tv in his room (no cable hook up yet...so that is easy) so this is a treat only when he is sick. Well, last night I noticed his eyes were a little red. Oh great...all I can think of is the dreaded PINK EYE. Crap...If he gets it, I'm surely gonna get it and I HAVE to work this weekend.

So we haven't fallen off the face of the earth....we have just been couped up inside this house for what seems like an eternity. It did snow the other day but thankfully we only got about an inch at most....not even enough for me to shovel off the driveway. So, now we wait for the doctors office to call as I plan our lunch escape. Matthew thinks it's so fun to get in the car and go through a drive thru in his pj's. I should have really taken a pic yesterday. He brought his pillow, blanket, had his pj's on and was watching CARS in the back of the suv. Now, why didn't they have that when I was a sick kid?

Happy 8th Birthday Matthew

Matthew turned 8 Sunday the 20th and I believe he has celebrated the whole 4 day weekend. Today we officially celebrated it with a pizza lunch, bowling and then back home for some cake.

We had a CARS theme party!!

I think Matthew had a blast! My first game I bowled a losey 93 and tied with Matthew but tried to concentrate better the second game and did 117....one pin behind my mom! GRRRRR!!!!

A new game cube game!

The mystery reader book I read (above)

New shoes....you can tell he's thrilled...lol.

Grandma got him a gumball machine bank....she SO did NOT okay that gift with me!!

What kid doesn't want clothes on his birthday? He seriously likes it!!

A new carrier for his ever growing Hot Wheels collection!

Grandma after making a spare I believe!

Matthew getting ready to bowl.

Grandma just HAD to wear that Mizzou shirt today!

Yes....I think I should join a league...look at that form! LOL

Finally some cake!!! Happy Birthday MATTHEW!!

And the Mystery Reader is.....ME!

Today I went to Matthew's class and I was the Mystery Reader. I read the book "On Top of Spagetti". Oh yes, there was some singing involved too and by the end of the book I had the whole class singing too. After reading to the class it was a mini question and answer session. Basically they wanted to know what kind of books I read. Hmmmm....I don't know if I've read a book since Matthew was born and I really just like to read magazines and articles on the internet. But I stretched the truth a smidge and told them I liked mystery novels. Heck, with my headaches lately reading a book would about kill me. I had to send in clues as to my identity and keep it all a secret from Matthew. My clues were, I love pizza and chocolate chip cookies, I grew up in a city with an Arch and my profession often wears all white uniforms and sometimes a hat. Matthew's birthday is on Sunday so I also brought in treats for him to share with his class. He was pretty excited that his mom was finally the mystery reader....he's been bugging me to do it for months!!!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Happy birthday Sunday to Matthew...where did the last 8 years go????

Off to the Dentist

I took Matthew to the dentist today. I've been watching a spot in one of his molars that has gotten bigger and I just couldn't let it go any longer. So, they take a picture of it and I look at the pic and say...it looks like it's chipped! Well, after an xray and his dentist looking at both...yep, it's a chipped tooth and not a cavity. Phew...no needles and NO drilling. So, they did some kind of magic and fixed it. Matthew was a little nervous as you can tell by the picture. Since I wasn't sure what was really going to happen today I just told him he had to follow the directions of the dentist carefully....who he of course adores . I was very pleased with his behavior and eventually, my hands stopped sweating from being so nervous. LOL...and no, I'm not kidding. The last picture is from the last visit to the dentist. Perhaps Matthew doesn't look that thrilled there either. LOL

Check out my Slide Show!

Decorating Fun

It is my favorite time of year. I don't like dragging out all of the Christmas stuff out of storage but I do love the house decorated. I like to turn off all of the lights and just sit on the couch and watch tv in my chair with just the lights from the tree and the greenery. It's always a pain getting everything up and sometimes it's a bit "much" but isn't that what makes this time of year a little more fun? I admit with the radio stations starting Christmas music on Halloween ....that was a little too early but with the colder weather I'm finally in the mood. Last night I did my favorite thing too. I LOVE LOVE driving around and looking at the lights on the plaza. It was cold but we still walked around and looked at some of the display windows. It is just a special place that isn't just about the shopping. I had to laugh when Matthew and I were decorating.

Matthew: Mom, Something isn't right with the tree. It looks funny.

Me: Well Matthew, it doesn't have any ornaments on it yet.

Matthew: No mom. I know THAT (add sarcasm...don't know where he gets that from). It's missing the blanket thing.

Me: The what??

Matthew: You know, mom. The thing that keeps MY presents warm!

Me: Oh, you mean the tree skirt. (Trying SOOO hard not to laugh at him)

Matthew: Yeah...so our tree is a girl?

That was it...I lost it. Couldn't stop laughing!! LOL

Thanksgiving Blessings

Last Thanksgiving it was nearly 80 and I thought it was a good idea to grill out steaks. Well, for 364 days I've heard about that from my mom that she didn't get her Thanksgiving. Oh she thought the steak was GREAT but she missed the turkey. So this year, it was in the 30's and I cooked a turkey, stuffing....yes, if you look close in the picture it is from a box, green bean caserole, dinner rolls, frozen cranberry salad, mashed potatoes and tippins pies! Not bad for someone who says she can't cook!! Okay....I didn't make the tippins pies but trust me.....they are soooo good. I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I enjoyed spending time with my family....we watched movies, relaxed and played Monopoly (Matthew's new favorite game and secretly...mine too). I won last night's game :-) Tonight on the GAC country channel is the Garth Brooks Special from the concert I went to on November 14th. Check your local times. I am so excited..look for me!!

Big Box Stores -- More Rants

Big Box Mart Funny Jokes at JibJab

It all started with a trip to Home Depot yesterday for exterior paint. I'm having some house repairs done and after a lot of thought, I've decided to have the outside repainted a more neutral brown....there will be pics in another blog of the house. I've fretted like a mad woman trying to pick just the right color that will go with the grey stonework over the garage. Anyway...I finally decided on a brown that is in the master bath...I painted some on the front and chose that rather than a grey. So, I take the can to Home Depot to get the brand of paint the painter likes to use. Ok...no problem. He tells me exactly what to get and how can I mess this up, right? Technically I've been no stranger to hardware stores the last year so I feel I've got this task under control.....until the guy behind the paint counter made a loud "sigh" when I handed him my Sherwin Williams paint can. My 'gut' told me to just take my can back and take my business elsewhere....which is exactly what my dad would have done!!! So he goes to the isle to get my paint and comes back with a gallon can....to which I reply....I need the 5 gallon paint. I had already told him that....again...another "sigh"...Finally get what I want in my cart and go to check out and finally a guy comes to help me put it in my truck. I'm so not going back there. I did go to Lowes and bought black shutters, matching paint for the door.....the guy in the Lowe's paint department does know me by name now...LOL! So what on earth is the difference between the two similar stores? Customer service. The guy in the paint counter at Lowe's made sure I knew where I was going for everything on my list....and the nice guy in the lock department made my existing house key fit in the new lock I bought for the broken one in the back door. At Home Depot...I couldn't even find anyone to ask for help.

Today my shopping saga led me to the other place I hate...Walmart! It's the only place that sells the Eagles new CD. I ended up bying a few more items there just to avoid a trip to Target today. Turns out they were having some kind of Secret Friday Sale and people were going nuts over $400 laptops and some deals on big screen tv's. I looked at video game systems for Matthew for Christmas but I just couldn't bring myself to buy him one yet. I want him to have one someday so his friends can come over and have something to do besides run in my lawn I'm STILL trying to let grow!! Anyone with any advice on which sytstem is best??

Halloween

I've never really been a huge fan of Halloween and this year was no different. It all started when I got in the car to run errands yesterday morning and Star 102 was playing Christmas music. Are they kidding?? It was flipping Halloween!! So after running a ton of errands (that's another blog), a suprise visit by my mom, a trip to school to help out with Matthew's classroom....we headed to church for the their Fall Costume Party. They hand out a ton of candy for the kids, have carnival type games that Matthew enjoys playing and overall it is a safe event and overall pretty fun. Some of the parents even dress up......my friends and I however, do not :-)

Rascal Flatts

I took my college friend Stacy..aka my concert husband to the RF concert last night. Stacy and I have known each other for 18 years after being suite mates our freshman year at William Jewell College. I met her last night in Liberty for a quick dinner at the Dish (pizza) then we drove to downtown Kansas City to the new Sprint Center for the concert. After parking in Stacy's husbands work building, we walked a couple of blocks to the giant building. We found the will call windows where my fan club VIP tickets were being held. (yes, I'm insane I know) It was 56 degrees outside waiting to get in the building but the crow and the excitement of finding out we had Floor 1, row 8 seats....the weather didn't really bother us. The hold up for getting in the building was the metal detectors. After a long hike to our floor seats, we were ready for the fun to start.

Jason Aldean was the opening act. After listening to a few of his songs, it was time to go to the bathroom, grab some water and look at t-shirts. Finally the opening act was done and we headed back down a slew of steps to our seats to watch them set up for RF. It was cool to see them get the stage ready, watch the lighting crew climb up these dangling ladders to their spots in the air to run the spot lights. Now their is a job I couldn't handle! Finally it was time for RF to hit the stage. There were two stages...the main stage in front of us and a small revolving stage behind us. To get to the revolving stage, a bridge connecting the two came down from the ceiling. When they were on that bridge, we were REALLY close to them! So cool! We had a total blast for sure.

Two hours later, it was time to leave and find the parking garage again. There was some road construction on the way back and there is a huge hole in the ground. As soon as I said something like....wouldn't it be bad if we fell in that...I missed my footing and twisted my ankle! That's what I get for wearing my b*tch boots!! Thankfully I didn't roll into the giant hole!! We make it to the building....which is totally deserted but the cleaning crew....so we made a mad dash to the garage to my truck.....that was thankfully still there! It all worked out super well and I'm sure we do the same thing for Garth Brooks....we just won't have floor seats! :-)

Enjoy the pics!

Cause I Am The Mom Song

Being a mom is truely the hardest job I've ever tackled. Am I good at it? Well I think some days I'm better at it than other days. My goal is for Matthew to get a good education, feel loved and secure in his envirionment and just not hate me when he gets older if I screw things up for us along the way. I want him to grow up and treat that special woman in his life with love and respect and believe that true love conquers all. When I say "I love you"...I mean it! I digress a bit....I hope you all enjoy the video!

Friends - ...Joey Loses His Insurance (Ross's Accent Scenes)

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

Out for Breakfast

Today we went to lunch with my friend Shannon who now lives in Atlanta. She is 5 months pregnant with a girl and due in December. I have to work this weekend of course so I'm going to miss her baby shower. It's always fun to get together and catch up. We had breakfast at IHOP and I have to admit I love their pancakes and hot maple syrup. What a great way to start the day. No wonder I feel like I need a nap now! It's going to be around 100 today and the humidity is horrible! I plan to stay in the a/c whenever possible the next week and a half.....triple digits expected for the next 7-10 days. YUCK!!

Hospital Open House

Last week I worked a couple days extra at the new replacement facility for the hospital I now work. Eighteen months ago the hospital I had worked at for nearly 14 years closed their inpatent portion of the hospital. I then moved to one closer to home. It's a small hometown feel hospital but with a nursing home smell and style. I knew going into it that this summer we would be moving to a new 88 million dollar facility. To say I'm excited about working in a pretty, clean and high tech building is putting it lightly. So last week I went to the required orientation only to find out that in this brand new, 88 million dollar building, I couldn't use the toliets. WHAT?? Are they kidding me? Oh no. They weren't. They brought in this enclosed trailer of porta potties. My first thought. I am so not going in there. My second thought.......I've gotta go in there...and soon! Darn my diet coke addiction! So, I climbed the stairs, opened the doors and to my surprise....it had a/c, 5 stalls, running water to wash my hands and everything. However, it still had that SMELL!! EWWWWWW. For 3 more days I had to use it. I gave up on trying not to drink because we were cleaning the patient rooms, mopping (yes, they paid me my hourly wages to freaking mop), putting supplies away and with all of that work.....I was drinking. Finally by Friday we had the ok to use the toliets, we found some toliet paper and we were in business.
Last night was the open house. They have beautiful artwork on the walls, the construction equipment was hidden and final touches are still being done. Overall, it's a huge improvement from last Friday. The plan was to move all of the patients this morning at 6 am. I am so glad they didn't ask me to work extra today....I would have had to be at work at 5 am. That is just too early for me!! LOL

The Great Bug Caper

I admit it. I have a mega bug phobia. I HATE them. I am very allergic to mosquitos and will get quarter to dollar size welts after getting bit. My cure for the horrible itching? I paint the bite with clear nail polish and that usally takes out the itching! So lately we have had a few little spiders for me to kill but the other night two (I'm guessing) yellow jackets made it into the house. Matthew saw the first one on the floor in the family and so that was an easy kill. I had no clue there was another one in the house until I heard it in the window. It was stuck in between the window and the blinds. I had it trapped there for a little bit as I was desperately trying to kill it. Instead, I made it really mad. So then it would dive bomb me, go to the recessed lights in the ceiling....which I hope were really hot. The cycle of dive bombs and then it hiding from me went on for 4 hours. It finally landed on the hard wood floors and I killed it with my shoe. Ah, it was 9:30 pm and I was going to be able to sleep.....knowing it wasn't going to crawl in bed with me!

A Young Mom in Need of Prayers

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMMIDT_Ssm8

Today I'm writing with a heavy heart and a prayer request. First, her name is Shawnda Turner and she lives in the Kansas City area. I've never met her but she is a nurse here in town and is a new mom to a cute little girl. She has been diagnosed with a rare form of colon cancer and has had surgery and is going through chemo. Since it is so rare, the often have to do lab and xray's to see how she is progressing etc. Unfortunately, the other day she recieved some disheartening news that there are some new 'hot spots' in her rectal area that are suspicious for malignancy. Tomorrow (Tues) she goes to her surgeon and then they are going to Omaha to see another doctor......If you want to read and keep up with her, her blog is http://www.shawndraturner.blogspot.com/ . It is set up where you can post her words of encouragement etc. From her blog and the story the local news did on her, she seems like such a genuine person and I'd really appreciate if you all would say a little prayer or whatever you feel like doing. I check her blog everyday and I think I've just been drawn to her as a fellow mother. I can't imagine going through this at my age. Both of my parents have had cancer and that is the one thing in life that really scares me. So, I'm hoping to do my part and send some more prayers her way. Thanks!! I did 'okay' it with Shawndra to post this :-)