Blah

So, I've got that just feeling blah thing going on again. I got assigned a crappy job for tomorrow, my Friday, so I just said blah, I'm taking a vacation day and it's a five day weekend. We're leaving on Friday for my first night away from Peanut Butter and it has me feeling anxious. Will she have everything, will she throw her tantrums for my friend, will she go to sleep for them. I know it's only one night, and she'll be okay, but it just has me all blah. J wants to eat at this fancy place on Friday night. It says casual dress, but any place that charges 30 dollars for a steak is more than t-shirt and jeans. So I have to find something to wear. There's all this pressure of having this great night to ourselves that also has me feeling blah. There's a chance of rain on Saturday, I don't want to sit at a football game in the rain. It's only a 30% chance but blah. Driving through Chicago is going to suck, blah. Seeing as I just read an article on the ton of road construction their doing.
PB has been throwing tantrums lately yesterday I think she cried for 3 hrs kicking her feet on the floor. She's like that video if you walk away she finds you and throws herself down again. Nothing seems to make her happy. Tonight she did it for 45 min while I was making dinner because I wouldn't carry her the whole time. J walked in from work and said what's going on here as PB is laying in the middle of the kitchen bawling kicking the floor. But he picked her up and gave her her nuk and it was all good. I think she was getting hungry, she ate a ton tonight.

Playing Tag

So a new round of tag has started. Think of a subject, or make up questions, or whatever you want and tag 3 people. So lets see what I can come up with.

Where would you like to vacation someday before you kick it? Why?

I need to go to Austria and Germany. I would love to see the Bavarian cottages in the alps. I would like to see Auschwitz. I can't image what I would feel there or if I could begin to comprehend what happened there. I would like to see where the wall was. I would like to drive really fast on the autobahn. I would like to see some of the beautiful castles. I'm sure there's more I'm not thinking of this moment.

Ireland is another stop on my list. I dream of green. I'd like to stay at and inn, do a jig in a pub and I'd go off the wagon to try some whiskey and have Guinness, and kiss the blarney stone. I'm also curious about the whole northern Ireland and the "troubles" . I want to see for my self the rocky coast and take my own photos of it instead of looking at the guide book. I'm not real hot on corn beef and cabbage, but I can probably skip that.

I now tag Cassandra Georgina and Denise

Trick or Treat.

I got Peanut Butter all dressed up for Trick or Treating in her monkey costume that my mom bought. It was so cute. She walked over to the neighbors and she had a special bag set up for her. She walked down the sidewalk a bit and made it to a few more houses. We mostly hung out in front of the house giving out candy. She ate a Hersey bar, half a kit kat, a tootsie roll and had a lollipop. I can't believe I let her have so much sugar, but hey it was trick or treating. At one point she dropped her bag and bent down to pick it up and ended up doing a complete somersault it was so funny. J had her dancing tonight, she is such a hoot.

The Dentist

The dentist went ok today. Peanut Butter got a little needy while I was in getting my cleaning. I was holding her as the dentist geared up and I think it freaked her out and she just screamed. But she was ok after that. The boy doesn't have any cavities, but he was told he need to brush better, big shocker. He was pretty helpful with PB today so I gave him his zombie box back. We went to Whole Foods and they were still out of dark chocolate chips in bulk. They'd better have them the next time; I'm going through withdrawals no other ones taste the same. We had lunch the the Olive Garden and shopped a bit at Target. I was proud of myself I didn't buy PB any clothes, and it was hard. I can't seem to find one of those white sharpie poster paint pens anywhere. I don't want to order one pen online, so I guess I'll keep looking. PB's got a pretty nasty cold. She didn't get to nap very well today so once we got home she slept quite a bit, I was worried she wouldn't go down very easy tonight but she did. She's like her Momma likes to sleep a lot when she's sick. J still asked about the cold medicine tonight and I explained again what the FDA said and he said well if people wouldn't keep their kids doped up all day. My reply was, like some one who says can't you give her something.

I've been Tagged.

Lesle got me

These are the rules I’m supposed to follow:

1. Link to your tagger, and also post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of you post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

My Random Facts
1. I have lost around 50 pounds in the past year. My goal is 20 more.
2. I am a Dark Chocolate junkie.
3. I have a love/hate relationship with cooking. I love to put a good meal on the table but hate the work, cleanup and dishes.
4. I have this weird super smell, the littlest thing I smell it.
5. I absolutely hate spiders.
6. I sometimes walk down the hallways at work pretending I'm on the runway ala antm.
7. I will never bungee jump or anything like it. And it's not because I'm afraid of heights.

I don't know enough bloggers to tag and I'm a big scaredy cat to ask so...

Ham it up

Can I just say I couldn’t be happier it’s Friday, well my Friday. I actually put in a whole seven day stretch without using any leave time. I had a crummy job today too, but it went ok. I’m a little tired though, Peanut Butter got up at 2 am last night just screaming. I pulled her out of the crib and she was bucking and kicking. She didn’t even take her nuk. I almost thought she might be possessed, since she was like that for almost 10 min. I was just about to let her work it out in her crib and Daddy worked his magic and brought her to bed. She crawled over and curled up with me and fell asleep. I put her back in her crib since she has a cough, and it annoys J to all end when someone is coughing when he’s trying to sleep. He apparently hasn’t been keeping up with the news, because he kept begging me to “just give her something.” He apparently understood when I said that something could kill her. I don’t remember saying that to him, but I was half asleep. But I guess she was doing fine this morning when I called home. She is so into bee-bopping around, shaking her hair like the Beatles. Last night she just danced and danced in her high chair. She cracked us all up.

We’re off to the dentist tomorrow. I hope the boy doesn’t have any cavities. I find it strange that something so automatic for my like brushing my teeth when I get up and when I go to bed and sometimes in between, is so hard for him to do. I think he needs things to hurt to understand the ramifications. He doesn’t understand that some of these actions, or non actions, can hurt our pocketbooks. It’s frustrating, and I’ve become the evil stepmother. I discussed this with J last night since I had to take that zombie box, the play station, and his TV away. I asked him to fold and put away his clothes and he just crammed them all on one shelf. I told him that wasn’t acceptable. So he put some shirts on hangers the wrong way, and threw a bunch of stuff behind a cart and said he cleaned it up. I know what your thinking, how can you put clothes on hangers the wrong way? Well, he doesn’t but them on so they hang on the shoulders; he puts them on so the hanger is poking out the front and back. So I took the ps and thought I disabled the TV, but he got that to work, until I unscrewed the satellite. Then he got down to business and actually cleaned it up. I was shocked it was neat and everything. I’ll give the TV back this afternoon, since he cleaned the rest of his room too. J thought I should give it back last night, but didn’t want to step on my toes. I don't know maybe I'm too hard.

So here's a new layout and a new photo of PB little ham.

Your Monster Profile

War Professor You Feast On: Beer You Lurk Around In: The Hearts of Men You Especially Like to Torment: Cops

What's Your Monster Name?

Couldn't help myself had to copy Georgina and Lesle.

Hello bloggers, PB’s mom here. Hee hee, a little intro courtesy of Gossip Girl, my new must see teen show. I have one that I get wrapped up in every year. First, there was Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, loved it. I have most of the seasons on DVD and I never get tired of watching it. Then there was Veronica Mars, I can’t believe they cancelled my saucy, little sleuth. I’m in the process of getting those on DVD. J wonders why I watch these shows, he seems to him that a woman in her thirties shouldn’t be hooked on shows about high schoolers. He even rolls his eyes at America ’s Next Top Model. I love to sit and eat ice cream while watching size 0s getting all catty. Maybe it’s because my high school life was so mundane or because I went to school in a super small town and didn’t have much variety or cliques. They just seem have so much more “drama”. Whatever, I love ‘em.

It’s been pretty boring on the home front. We’re in between sports seasons with the boy. Which is kind of nice, I don’t have to use vacation time on the weekends for a while, since I don’t have a whole lot left. Peanut Butter has been exploring, her new thing is to grab my finger and drag me to the back door to go outside. I let her out on the deck and she puts her head through the rails and looks around and waves at the neighbors if they are outside. Sometimes we walk down the driveway to the front of the house. She then climbs up the front stairs and thinks she’s all cool walking on the pedestals. I’ve been letting her give the dog treats; she gets a big kick out of it. She was in the cupboards again yesterday. She climbs way in there to pull out every last thing. She has pictures tomorrow at daycare. I don’t know what I’m going to put her in. I bought all these cute clothes last month, but I bought them in bigger sizes so I had stuff she could grow into. The 18 months are a wee bit big, so I might have to seek out an outfit after work today. I’m sure J will love that.

I actually got a page done last night. J has gone up north for the weekend to their deer camp. They have to get everything ready. He called me this afternoon and said they put up a buck pole today, and I say sarcastically, why? He says "oh so you have jokes today." If you don't know a buck pole is where you hand the dead deer from to show off. I don't think he's ever shot one he'd want to hang on the buck pole. The one year he came home and I think our dog was bigger. I do like venison sausage and hot sticks, but I hate cooking the steaks and especially the hamburger. The smell overwhelms me; I can't stand it.
I got a new med for my allergies and this one isn't much better, I know have pounding in my forehead in the morning. I'm not sure what to do about it anymore. I think I'm going to have to try the nette pot.
Well I'm off to hopefully finish another page tonight. Oh they finally passed the budget last night. Whoo Hoo.

We went to Madison today. Our legislature hasn't passed a budget yet, it was due this past June. People rallying against no new taxes were there, so state and local employees came out to rally for passing a budget. I will say, I am a state employee and it was my regular day off, because as I was leaving,I hear some random guy saying, " They sure aren't helping themselves, and they wonder why people are against state employees." I don't know if he thought we all took off of work, which no one was supposed to, or thought we were wanting bigger raises, which this was totally not about. I don't think people realize that if they don't pass a budget money runs out. Schools aren't getting their money, local municipalities aren't getting their money. They are going to have to raise property taxes to fund these things. So while the Legislature may not raise taxes the counties and cities will. I work for the Dept of Corrections and if a budget doesn't get passed we will have to find a place for 600 inmates that are being housed through contracts at county jails. We will lose gps tracking on sex offenders. Probation and Parole agents will be laid off along with so called "non-essential" personnel. If they have a job to do now, aren't they essential? I don't think people understand what being "tough on crime" means. We take in more inmates than ever, but have the same amount of bed space. Where do they go? We put them on the floor tripled up, we set up bunks in common areas, and we contract out space. We are dealing with a lot of offenders that just don't care about anything; they are more violent and more difficult to control. We are placing more inmates in lower security levels, because that is where beds open up. We have been living in this denial that everything is ok until something happens. Why does someone have to get hurt or worse to make a change? What gets me is there is this big push to cut non management jobs. Where I work we cut at least 9 non management jobs, while we cut 1 administrative position, yet created 3 more to take it's place. Instead of paying one person $60,000 we now pay 3 of them at least $50,000 a piece. Where does that make sense? There is so many places to cut money, I see waste on a day to day basis, but no one seems to ask the right people where cuts should come from. I used to love politics, it was what I was majoring in before I quit college. But there is so much outside money involved that unless one is a big donor, your voice isn't heard. We no longer live in a democracy, we live in who had the most special interest money wins. Ok I'll stop boring you with my rants.

It’s my Friday, even thought I took the last 2 days off. I ran to Madison yesterday since I could go without PB and take my time. I went to old navy and got a couple things. I was hoping to find something for PB’s pictures, but they didn’t have much that I liked. I think they were getting ready to turn over their lines. A lot of stuff was 50% off. I got a pair of wide leg pants. I loved the way they looked, but I’m not exactly sure where I will wear them. I also went to Whole Foods. I will never go there on a Sunday again. It was packed and the store is tiny to begin with. I feel rushed when it is busy and forget to get things. Maybe a list would come in handy, but I like to look for new things while I’m there. I wish I could afford to buy more things there. They were out of bulk dark chocolate chips; I was so bummed. When I go with PB the aisles are so narrow she can reach stuff on the shelves if I don’t have the cart just right. She doesn’t enjoy sitting real long either she wants out of the seat and usually can wiggle herself out. I’ve become a bad mom and put her in the big basket sometimes just so I can get the shopping done. She was so funny yesterday, dancing to the music on some commercial. I’ll have to see if I can upload it. I have to clear my camera out. I have run out of room. I hate to delete everything, with out backing everything on the computer up. The task of putting everything on cd is daunting. I wonder if I can put it all on an external hard drive and that would work. Oh the boy read his 100 pages finally. He sat and read for 2 hours on Sunday.

Since it's blog for a cause day on the environment, here's a few things I have done. I have replaced almost all of out light bulbs with the good bulbs. I have switched to method cleaning products, and ecos laundry detergent, which works really good and their scents are nice. Shutting off the water when brushing my teeth. I gave up paper plates. I'm trying to be a better recycler. I'm trying but I still drive an suv, use disposable diapers, and a bunch of other stuff.

A Day at the Farm

It was a very nice day. A vacation day opened up and I was able to take the day off.The boy had football in the morning; it was his last game. They did pretty good. We went to Walvogels', the local pumpkin farm. Peanut Butter had a blast. She fed the goats, went in the corn maze, did the slide with Daddy, rode the train, played in the hay and went in the spooky mine. The weather was decent it was cool, but it didn't rain and the sun came out off and on making it bearable. PB was on the move at the farm, never seeming to want to go the way we wanted to go. I'm sure that's a sign of times to come.
On the negative side. The Badgers stunk it up today. My sinuses have been going crazy lately. I have so much sinus pressure right now it's unbelievable. And my secret Halloween swap package is being returned undeliverable according to the USPS tracker.

Who'd of Thunk it

I never thought a garbage can would be so much fun. I brought down my can from my scrap room for garbage day and left if in the kitchen to take back up stair s later. Peanut Butter thought it was the coolest thing ever. She crawled in it, run around with it on her head, pushed it back and forth across the floor, tried to pull some tape off of it, and smashed her face in to the wire to make funny faces. She must get it from her father.

Other than that it was a typical boring day around here. I'll have to wait to watch Grey's until tomorrow. What did people do before tivo. I love it.

I told the boy he could have his play station controllers back after he read 100 pages of a book. I ran to the grocery store and when I returned 40 min later, he sighs and said I read 30 pages. I said, "hey you might get those controllers back by the end of the night." 30 minutes later he's miraculously read the next 70 pages. I start to quiz him on the book and keep getting these lame answers and finally I said," I think theres more to this one character than what you are telling me. This paragraph seem to say something else." He says, "Well I read that one set of dialog and it didn't really say anything." Me,"So you didn't read any more of the 'dialog.'" Him,"No." Me, "maybe you should have, find a new book and start over." Am I wrong?

Indian in the Cupboard

Peanut Butter decided to go exploring today. I standing at the counter top making some dinner. She's playing with the stuff in the one lower cabinet that she has access to and then she's gone. I'm wondering how she could disappear right below my feet and then I hear her in the cabinet. Of course I have to get photos first before I pull her out. I have to have proof for Daddy, so he knows what she's been up to, or should I say into. Yes, she is an sixteenth Cherokee, hence the title.

Had a health fair at work today. I don't know why I took the fat/bmi test. I know I need to lose more weight, I'm working on it. I can't imagine what it would have said a year ago, when I weighed 50 pounds more. I figure 20 more and I'll be happy. I'm just excited to be 3 sizes smaller. By the way the recipe was very good, I added some flax meal to the bread crumbs and some garlic and portobella mushrooms to the sauce. Delish. Peanut Butter couldn't get enough.

Oh I got my stash today and I don't know if they screwed up or just added to extras, but I got an extra pack of white Bazzill, a stamp set, and 2 hambly overlays, which I really wanted, but didn't order. I was ecstatic now I just need to find some time to scrap.

Columbus Day?

Argh, Why does it have to be Columbus Day. I was so excited that my scrap order would be here today until they were talking on the View about Columbus Day. I had to check the USPS site to totally crush my hopes of getting my stash today. Sorry to my Secret Halloween Person, you'll have to wait another day too.

The game last night stunk literally and figuratively. It was hot and humid, so it stunk like sweat and beer. And the Pack stunk it up on the field the whole second half. Just so disappointing. Other than that it was fun. We didn't pick up Peanut Butter until 1:30am and she stayed awake the whole was home and decided she should play a bit before going back to sleep. So, being the softy I am, she came to bed with us and patted my head until she fell asleep on my arm and didn't move from that spot until she woke up. My arm was a little numb in the morning. I'm glad she was a good girl for our friends, her first real night away from mommy and daddy.

Weekend Off

Well it's one of my few weekends off; I have rotating days off. Friday night we watched a high school football game. Today we watched the boy play football and hung out at a friends house. Tomorrow we are going to the Packers/Bears game. It should be a good time. I'm a little worried about leaving Peanut Butter it will be her first day away other than daycare. I hope she does okay. J's all worried I won't have a good time since I have decided to jump on the wagon. I just cannot deal with hangovers anymore, and I cannot imagine trying to take care of a year old with a hangover. I could care less if him and his friends want to get crazy, but I think that part of my life is done. I'm looking forward to the game anyways. I can't wait to see Favre. Hopefully it will be a good game.
PB has been having sleeping issues, the last couple nights she's woken up in the middle of the night and had to come into bed with us. Last night she wouldn't go to sleep. She fell asleep on the ride home, about 10 min, and then when I got up to the door the dog barked and scared her. I figured she's just lay down and go to sleep, but no she screamed and kicked the wall for 30 min, so I brought her to bed and when I thought she was asleep I put her back in her crib, but she got up right away and kicked and screamed for another 30 min. I finally gave up and laid down with her and she and I fell asleep. When J got home he put her in her crib, but she woke up again a little while later and she slept the rest of the night in our bed. She's usually pretty good sleeping through the night I don't know what the deal is.

My dare devil

My little dare devil, leave her alone for a second any away she goes. The other day she was playing on the couch and figured out if she climbed on her chair she could get on the couch. Then she figured if she reached far enough she could climb on to the end table next to the couch so I moved that and moved her chair. I should know by now she is a lot smarter than I give her credit. She has a small plastic wagon full of toys and she pushed that up to the couch and climbed up on the sofa table behind it and started to try and get the pictures off of the wall. OY!

So I started one of the books from Book Lust, called Little Friend by Donna Tartt. I couldn't get through the epilogue. According to the author of Book Lust, you're supposed to read fifty pages before giving up. I couldn't do it, so I started Firewall by Mankell Henning. It's a fairly good read so far. Murder mystery in Iceland. I guess he has a series with his main character. I just picked up two more books from the list that I had placed on hold. I'd better get reading.

I bought a bunch of scrap stuff from frugalities.com today. Everything was 49% off, I couldn't resist and I'm doing a secret swap for Halloween,so I got that person a few treats. I must have navigated away from the page a hundred times before taking the plunge. I was a little leery at the time because shipping was so much, but I cut back some in my cart and figured I'd spend $9 just driving to the scrapbook store so with the sale and that I came out with a fairly good deal. I mean, a pack of 25 sheets of 8.5x11 white Bazzill for $3.46, they can't temp me like that.