Box of Chocolates

I can't believe that I dared to go to my mom's and back with my two younger kids.  Four and half hours one way.   The kids were great and I am so thankful for the van DVD player.  We had a nice visit.   It rained which ruined our zoo plans, but we went to the Budweiser Beer factory which was free, inside and took about and hour.  Nathan loved the end of the tour where they put all the bottles into the cases.  They make over 8 million barrels of beer a year.  1 barrel = 31 gallons, that is a lot of beer!  That is just one plant.  They make beer 24/7.   There is a definite smell to the air.  Hard to explain but I remembered the smell from the factory that used to be a Bush Gardens.  AHHH childhood memories.  The smell of beer brewing. Nathan didn't care for the smell and plugged his nose. I tried to get a picture but he ran from me.  Silly boy.   Beside the amount of beer they make I was amazed at the fact that Anheuser Bush survived the prohibition period.  How in the world ...

I talked Mark into getting voice mail about two months ago.  I like to talk and we don't have call waiting.  Now let me just say voice mail would be great if I checked and listened to all the messages.  At nine last night Mark listened and found out that someone wanted to come between 11 and 11:30 the next morning to look at the house. Messages I would have gotten in the 2 o'clock hour had I listen to them all.  That was fine the house is freakishly clean since the sign went up in the yard.  My kids will need therapy when this is all said and done.  I got an email after midnight from the realtor (does she sleep?) saying that two different people want to get in to the house today to look.  I want buyers not lookers.   We left from 10 to 12.  I loving call these people Looky Lou's.  Not the true definition of a Looky Lou. There is a definition for the Looky Lou it isn't a positive thing. Looky Lou just works for me.  Although, I wish I could call one a buyer.     We went ...

Yesterday morning Mark was gone and I had to do morning routine by myself.  I know some of you are saying "I do morning routine everyday by myself, what is the big deal?"  Well, I don't and when you are in a pattern it is hard to adjust and remember everything.  Especially when you aren't prepared, let me explain... First Mark called at 7 am to make sure we got up in time.  Good thing, we were all still asleep. So, I get my sleepy eyed self out of bed and stumble to the girls room to wake up Madison.   She wasn't in her bed!  So of course I start yelling her name.  No answer.  I yell louder and I hear her voice (thank god) coming from the family room. She got on the couch at some point in the night and fell asleep.  Not a great way to start your day.  Your oldest not in bed where she is supposed to be.  Can you say heart failure?   Madison has a field trip this Thursday. I was supposed to turn in this past Thursday with payment. Since we are in constant keep the h...

Mark is attending the Pastor's conference this week.  Let me first say he doesn't feel lead to be a pastor.  His band is playing late tomorrow afternoon at the conference and because he has the time right now he decided he would go for the whole conference.  I am glad that he has the opportunity to go.  It gave him something to do for a couple days.   I emailed a friend this morning and told her I hope he comes home renewed.  When I talked to him tonight it sounded like he is being renewed and that is refreshing. We are at a cross road in our life, but things are moving SLOW.  We know that God has a plan for us it just isn't crystal clear to us at the moment.  Our faith is being tested daily.   We are living in perpetual limbo.  It is hard because you are constantly questioning your purpose and you tend to want to do something to "fix" what seems wrong in your life. Even when it is totally out of your control.  We can't fix the economy single handedly. I wish ...

The amount of money the kindergarten classes from Madison's school collected in for Pennies for Puppies for the SPCA!  We went to the SPCA today for a field trip.  It really was a great time for the kids.  They have a cow, donkey, horse and about 40 goats.  In addition to all the dogs and cats. We got to feed the farm animals carrots and apples.    Madison's teacher has a passion for animals and thought it was a good idea (and it was) to collect pennies for the SPCA from the beginning of December to help get the kids in a giving mood and not a getting mood for Christmas.  They collected over $300 in change for the SPCA!  Five and six year old kids rock!    Did you know you can adopt a rodent? YEP! You can adopt a hamster, gerbil and other loverly rodents.   My personal favorite was Angie, she is a black cow.  She was so super sweet.  She was like a big dog.  She just wanted to be pet and loved.  How a cow ends up at the SPCA is a mystery to me when you live in a huge city.  I h...

Yes, my topic again is about time.  This one is not about the waste of time, but the passing of time.  As in how long it has been over a period of many days, years, etc.   Saturday night I went scrapbooking at a friends house.  Something we have done for about two years!  WHAT?  Two years, at least once a month.  Where did that time go?  I feel like it was just yesterday that Meagen and I where going to Anita's.  At the time if you would have told me my scrap buddy was moving in the matter of months to Fuquay-Varina I would have said two things,  "Where in the world it that?" and then I would have said "yeah, right!". She probably would have said the same things at the time.  I now see it all as a God wink.  Most of you have been to a Women of Faith conference and have heard the term God wink.  I appreciate all the God winks in my life.  See, at the time I didn't know Anita except from an occasional candle party or birthday party.  We were aquanitices at the...

For all my readers I want to take the time to list all the things I do in a day to waste time, take notes.   1. Webkinz, yes I do my garden and daily activities every morning with my breakfast and tea.  On my account, not the kids.   2. Bloggin' 3. Realtor.com   4. Facebook (as of today, thanks Nicole!)  I just have to say I got lots of friends that emailed me within minutes of signing up on Facebook. Do you all just keep it on your browser?  I did see someone I went to school with and he has not aged well.  I'm keeping my picture and maiden name top secret!    5.  Photoshop elements designing a background for #2. 6. Online news, I can't watch my news because of the kiddo's.  I read more than I should like entertainment "news".  I can tell you what kind of car Paris bought last month, great things to know! A Pink Bentley in case you too need to be in the "KNOW".  Yes, pink.  Do you want to guess the cost?   7. WIKI ~ never ask me a question I can...

I don't do the grocery shopping, shocker I know.  Mark actually likes doing it.  He started to go when Nathan was a newborn.  He had just started to work from home.  He saw it as an opportunity to get out of the house at least once a week. He usually goes when we ran out of a necessity.  Milk, eggs, etc.   So, why I'm I telling you this?  It is a new year and Mark and I have always "lived" by a budget.   At least we track what we spend and try (not hard) to stick to what we have said we would spend.  We are doing the 2009 budget (laugh because we have no income) Anyway, The food budget for the year was staggering.  We were over budget as usual, but last year we upped food $100 a month.  Are you ready.... $7000 last year on food and other things like cleaner, mops, laundry detergent, etc. Everything you get at the grocery or Walmart/Target for the house.  Something has to be done!    Mark went to three grocery stores today with a list of the items we buy the most.  We ...

Tomorrow a professional photographer comes to the house to take pictures and video for the virtual tour.  I should be cleaning the house for this event, but I am blogging instead.  I think I finally got the ribbon just right.  I noticed that they were not even therefore the writing was off centered.  Mark's attitude was leave it alone.  I added a flower too.  I'm not sure if I like it, but I am moving on to Valentines Day background.  I might need another hard drive for all the free downloads.   I am going to back track a bit... Saturday night the girls stayed with Mark's mom overnight and Mark had band for most of the evening.  I decided this was a great time to get a little one on one with Nathan.  He is fun to be around right now.  It is hard to get alone time with him when there are five of us. Since it was just the two of us I let him pick where we were going to eat out for dinner. He picked McDonalds, what two and a half year old wouldn't?     He got a cheeseburge...

I am proud of my very own blog background design.  I have been at it all afternoon and I still don't like it but it is better than the first one I did.  I wanted my very own design.  I have learned a lot today ~ html and all.  I'm on test 4.  The first one made me laugh out loud, but I just couldn't keep it on my blog.   Photoshop elements is a force to be reckoned with.  You could do a ton of stuff with it if you knew what you where doing.  I am going back to the digital drawing board when the kids go to bed.   I can see where digital scrapbooking could be fun.  All you would ever need is your computer. No back breaking bags, tons of paper all over the place, no paper photos to crop, no scraps to pick up off the floor, no stickers to line up just right. You would never run out of letters or zero's.  I think Mark was on to something when he said 5 years ago I should try digital scrapbooking.  So it takes me a little while to come around.  I still like cutting paper.  My...

Happy Anniversary to my parents that got married today many moons ago. Congratulations for over 30 years of marital bliss.   Updates... I know why you should have a realtor.  Too many emotions.  The people that looked out our house put it in their top 3 choices and today they go back to their other 2 choices.  We will see what happens.  I feel a low offer coming our way, if we get an offer at all.     Do you know how much work it is to keep a house walk thru ready?  I feel like we worked all day to get out for an hour and then we came home and trashed the place.     Tomungus, Nathan's new word.  What it means I'm not quite sure, but he thinks it is funny.  He says humongous and ginormous a lot so I think he just said one wrong.   The veggie garden is growing wild. We have tiny tomatoes, squash, zucchini and broccoli. I kinda hope we can get some veggie before we move.  If not I will have to start another garden the kids love it and it keeps them busy watering it.  Playing in  w...