Todnem.com (beta)





Forget password?
 
  • POST LIST
    All 50 items selected.   Select All ItemsAll 15 items selected.   Clear selection

    Week 2

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Saturday, July 26, 2008 @ 04:23 PM  

    I'm finishing up with week 2 of my class - still lovin' it. I had gotten full credit for everything so far, but I did miss a question on the quiz I just took tonight (each question is worth a half a point), so the pressure has been relieved. As I explained to Jeff, it's one of the reasons I didn't really enjoy school. While this may sound cocky, I don't mean it to be, so don't take it that way...you see, I did so well in school, I was always just waiting for the plane to crash. Since I know I'm no longer able to get a 100 percent out of this class, I no longer feel the pressure to obtain it. I certainly won't slack off, but that underlying fear of "when will it happen?"is gone. I know, I'm weird.

    Anyways, life is still going on as normal. Kadie and I went to another bouncing party today. I got another lesson in why one shouldn't solely rely on technology: even though I knew, generally, where the place was, I entered the address into my GPS system and followed its instructions for the "fastest" route. Instead of keeping me on the freeways and highways (where we can easily go 65 to 70 mph), it took me directly through the middle of downtown Baltimore. 35 to 40 mph zones most of the way, stop lights at every block corner, two lanes that suddenly become one because the right hand lane is being used for parking every so often, and neighborhoods where I'm glad my doors automatically lock and I have an alarm and panic button. Ugh! Good news is that we got there safely, albeit 15 minutes late. Fastest route, my butt.

    Jeff has taken another week off from school and he got some of his classes switched around so that he's taking some computer courses for the next few sessions. He's feeling a little more optimistic about it and is going in with the hope of learning something "worthwhile." Meanwhile, during his time off, he has been coding up a storm on our beloved website. You may not notice much, but I'm told it's mostly behind the scenes type stuff. Kind of like when you spend the day cleaning out the kitchen drawers and cabinets, dusting the floor molding, and wiping out the refridgerator. It's all a lot of work that needs to get done, but most people don't have any idea you've done it.

    Hey, Mom - didn't you already serve jury duty once? Hope you're home now and able to enjoy the weekend.

    Great news and congratulations to Lisa!!!

    Hope everyone else is having a great day. I have four chapters to read for next week's discussion forums and quiz so I gotta get to work. Love to all!

    Busy Lives --- Heatherdawn

    Busy Lives

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Tuesday, July 08, 2008 @ 03:27 AM  

    I'm assuming that everyone is as busy as we are, either working or enjoying the summer sun and warmth...either that or the west coast has finally broken off and fallen into the ocean. If that were the case, however, I'm sure we would have heard about that - even if we never watch the news. We haven't been especially busy with anyting out of the norm, just the regular flow of every day life, but that keeps us hopping in and of itself.

    We went down to Dean and Kathy's on the 4th and spent a nice afternoon and evening, visiting with them and their friends and family. Dean's cousin had just recently been transferred (he's Air Force) from Idaho to Andrews AFB, so he was there with his family, to include a couple of young boys that Kadie was able to spend time playing with. There was some concern that the fireworks would not occur. There were several periods of downpour and, even when it wasn't raining, the humidity was so high (90 percent), we weren't sure we'd be able to see the fireworks after the first few (the smoke tends to just hang in the air over here and obscure things - we mostly see brightly colored clouds). Thankfully, it was not raining and a slight breeze picked up by 9 that night, so we had a pretty clear view. Kadie enjoyed them for the most part, but she did keep asking if they were going to fall on us or burn us. We drove home afterwards with Kadie falling asleep not long after we got in the car. Both Saturday and Sunday, she slept in until after 9, trying to get back on schedule.

    A few weeks ago, we picked up the Wii Fit. It's a small board attachment for the Wii that you can stand on and do things such as yoga, strength moves, dancing, balance games, skiing, the ski jump, etc. We didn't have the time to set it up until a few days ago (playing it down at Dean and Kathy's prompted us to get our butts in gear) but, since then, it's been regularly used by all of us. It's really quite fun and it keeps track of how long you exercise, your balance, your weight and your BMI. Kadie is enjoying it, but she does get a little discouraged because the balance games can be quite challenging. I'm using it to add some variety and fun to my workouts.

    btw...Kadie is now 3 feet 8 inches tall and 38 pounds.

    I'm all set up and ready to go to school, starting next week (Tuesday). Jeff and I have been discussing how we're going to handle both of us going to school - who does what on what days, when we're going to designate homework time, etc. It's going to be an exercise in time management and sharing the load, but I think we can do it. I'm looking forward to my classes as they all sound very interesting. Jeff is still mired in classes that he's not really enjoying, and it looks like he won't be taking any "good" ones until around the first of the year, but he's still keeping with it.

    Kadie is just whizzing along with her reading skills. Everywhere we go, she's reading signs and words that we pass - it takes quite a bit longer to get through a store now than it used to. She's also reading, partially and fully, books to us at night. Her math skills are also improving dramatically. She's able to add up to 4 (that I know of) different numbers - i.e. 3+3+3+1. She's also getting lots of practice measuring, stirring and baking with her new Easy Bake oven. She has made five or six different items to include a "batch" (about 12) of cookies that she decorated and brought down to Dean and Kathy on the 4th (they're the ones that gave us the oven).

    We've also gotten a pretty good schedule down for dinners. We used to order out/pick up food 3 or 4 days out of the 5 and we're now down to 1 day (Wednesdays, when we have to work late and don't get home until, literally, bed time). I've found that the best and easiest way for us to do this is to gather a bunch of recipes for marinades then, using a gallon ziplock baggie, throw some chicken in with a mix at night, let it marinate all the next day and throw it in the oven when we get home. After 45 minutes (enough time for Jeff to get a workout in), dinner's ready. I'll post a few of our favorites in another blog if anyone's interested.

    Well, we're almost to work so I'll wish everyone a happy and healthy day. Love to all!

    4 Babies, Boogers and Parties...

    Babies, Boogers and Parties

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Monday, June 23, 2008 @ 05:23 AM  

    Kadie has a baby brother on her mind lately Confused(we have clarified this a few times and her preference is definitely for a boy). A few days ago, Kadie asked us, out of the blue, when we were going to bring a baby home. Yesterday, at church, she told someone that she was going to have a baby soon - which, of course, prompted a questioning look my way. When I smiled and shook my head, the lady chuckled and told Kadie, "Good luck with that." I don't know what has prompted this most recent bout of baby wishes. Maybe she's a lot like Jeff and I - we go through periods where having kid #2 sounds like a good idea and then we get some reality knocked into us.

    Kadie's temperature from last week was the starting indication of a sinus infection. I guess I should say it was the second symptom as she had a productive cough for a few days before that. After two days of low grade fever and cloudy nasal ooze, it turned green and viscous. We've gone through three boxes of Kleenex so far and her little nose is bright red. I convinced her to let me try one of those baby nasal aspirators on her on Friday, but she won't let me do it again. We tried lotion and aloe to soothe the skin, but that just makes her cry and refuse any more treatment. She's back at school and in much better spirits, but her nose is still crusty and she blows copious amounts of snot from it every five minutes or so. SickHopefully, it will be completely cleared up by Saturday.

    Saturday being, of course, her birthday party. PartyWe now have 16 kids (plus Kadie) and approximately 14 adults (plus Jeff and myself) going. I am ever so grateful that we're doing this at a party place and not at home this year! RelievedWe put the party bags together this weekend, though I need to go buy some more as we didn't have enough and I want at least a couple of spares, just in case. We also ordered the cake, though Kadie changed her mind at the last second as to the decoration. She has been wanting a Hot Wheels party for months now, and we got Hot Wheels napkins and plates and even got a little matchbox car to put in each gift baggie, but she didn't want anything to do with Hot Wheels on her cake. I tried to convince her to just get white frosting with some colored sprinkles and then I could at least put a car on the top of it, but that didn't fly. So we now have a Hot Wheels decorated room and a chocolate frosting with roses cake. Sigh

    A week after that melee, we will be going down to Dean and Kathy's new place to celebrate the 4th. Since Kadie got too big for the pack-n-play, she hasn't cooperated with going to sleep when we go down there, so this will more than likely be her first year to see a fireworks display. She's seen them in movies and, once, at our house, in the distance, they were going off and she saw them out her window, but this will be her first time actually staying up and catching an entire show. I'm hoping for decent (read: not hot, sticky and horribly humid) weather. Isn't it great that the 4th falls on a Friday this year! Applause Now we can stay out late, get drunk and pass out until Saturday night...I can't even keep a straight face while typing that, much less if I were to try to pass it off in a conversation, face to face. I'd say I was old, but, aside from a year or so while first in the military, that was never my idea of a fun time.

    I decided to take off my wrist brace Wednesday night and, though it hurt like a you-know-what when I went to bed that night, it felt perfectly normal the next morning. Of course, I didn't go to work Thursday and Friday (meaning I didn't spend a lot of time in front of the computer) so it's feeling A-OK now. No pain whatsoever. It was a little stiff Thursday morning, but nothing since. Now that I'm back at work, I'm going to see if the pain flares up again (and how soon). I may have to go back to the doctor to get a note saying that I need an ergonomic keyboard, tray and/or chair as I'm fairly certain this job is creating the problem.

    Speaking of which, gotta get to work. Love to all!

    5 Snow Storms and Fevers --- Heather...

    Snow Storms and Fevers

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Friday, January 18, 2008 @ 12:26 PM  
    We actually got a good helping of snow yesterday. Unfortunately, it was pretty much a 1 for 1 mix of snow and rain, so it was pretty wet and heavy and made the commute home a bear. They're calling for more to come some time on Saturday.

    I decided, on Wednesday, to stay home today to relax a little (make use of Monday being a holiday - four day weekend and all) and clean the house for the jewelry party I'm supposed to host tomorrow but, when Jeff got Kadie up this morning for me to get her ready for school, her face was beet red and her eyes were way too bright. When I touched her forehead, it was burning up, so I pulled out the thermometer and, sure enough, 102 degrees.   She started coughing a rather wet cough yesterday, but there haven't been any other symptoms, so I'm not sure what it is. I listened to her lungs but they sounded clear and she said her ears didn't hurt. I think this is the first time her temp's been over 100 point something.

    I gave her some Tylenol and brought her down to the couch to watch cartoons and suck on ice chips. When the medicine kicked in, she was back to her normal, "Mommy, will you play with me" self, but that didn't last longer than a couple of hours before her temp started rising again. I just gave her another dose and put her down for a nap. I'm hoping it clears up soon. As much as I complain about her excess energy, I'd rather have that than the limp and listless little girl that she is now.

    I've been able to get a little cleaning done, but it's mostly been the relaxing part of my day off that's happening because Kadie prefers to curl up next to me while watching movies when she feels like this. I don't mind - I just wish I could watch something other than Strawberry Shortcake, over and over and over and over...

    The way it's looking, between the weather forecasts and Kadie's illness, I'm not going to be doing my jewelry party after all. Due to timing, weather and other issues, I wasn't really expecting many people, so maybe putting it off a few months will garner a larger crowd.

    Anyways, I hope everyone else is doing better than us at the moment. I'm praying the germs don't spread because Kadie looks miserable and I certainly don't want it. I certainly don't mind taking a day off to care for Kadie, but having to use sick leave because I'm sick is just a waste.
    5 East Coast Recap --- Heatherdawn

    East Coast Recap

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Thursday, January 03, 2008 @ 12:43 PM  
    Christmas was good. Kadie woke up entirely too early, but she didn't start tearing into packages until we were all downstairs (which still happened faster than I had planned). After ripping into a package, she would inspect the goods and then hand them to me to open while she very tidily picked up all the paper scraps and put them in the garbage … don't know where that came from, but it was nice to not have to declare my living room a disaster zone. After everything was opened, we sat down for some family play time. There were My Little Ponies, Leggos, Lincoln Logs, Hot Wheels race tracks, etc. so it was fun for all three. I believe I baked a ham for dinner, but we pretty much lazed around the house, playing all day.

    Kadie got sick the next day. She threw up before we left and then, again, shortly after we started to drive into work, so we decided to just head back home. Of course, that was the end of the sickness and we spent another day jumping cars, watching DVDs, reading books and building stuff. Jeff said that, if Kadie had been older, he might have suspected foul play.   I'm just thankful that Kadie's system is so strong that she normally kicks these things within hours.

    We "celebrated" New Years this year…for the first time in memory (though neither of us actually drank anything). Dean and Kathy had invited several friends down and we decided to brave it. There was a 2-year-old little boy and an 11-month old baby girl that Kadie got to pal around with and we had her take a nice nap before we left, so she actually did a really good job. She was asleep within minutes of leaving though, which we did around 12:30 am. While there, Kadie was able to try out a Wii (sp?). She kicked Daddy's butt in a tennis game and got several spares and even a couple of strikes with a total score of 116 in bowling. Not too shabby! I'm thinking that will be on the gift list for her birthday. Maybe by then the stores might actually have some in stock.

    I have another interview tomorrow for a job with Jeff's company. I don't know much about the position (might have a better idea of what it entails after tomorrow), but I'm thinking I'll accept whatever it is just to move on. Wish me luck.

    Jeff is happily engaged in his work - so much so that I've had to listen to repeated comments (aka whining) about how all this vacation time is keeping him from his project. He did take New Years Eve off to have a date day with me though. Kadie had daycare that day, so we dropped her off and went to lunch and a movie (I Am Legend). The movie, btw, was fairly good, up until the end where it just kind of dropped off.

    The weather has certainly turned chilly. I think we might make it into the mid-20s today. I stopped to get gas last night and was complaining about the coldness when Jeff quipped that I was from Alaska. The temp was in the teens with a wind chill closer to single digits and I was wearing a sweater. I think I can maintain my "Alaskan dignity" with that…

    The great state of Maryland just landed another perk on its citizens: starting midnight last night, they're imposing a 20 percent "tax" on the use of all gift cards. In other words, if you have a gift card for 10 bucks, it's now really only worth 8. A completely insane law that irks the crap out of both Jeff and I, especially since I didn't hear about it until yesterday afternoon and I have several gift cards to use. From now on, any people in Maryland that I would normally give gift cards to will now receive an old-fashioned check. Stupid politicians.

    Anyways…Kadie's back to school and still enjoying it. She impressed me the other day while playing a computer game w/ Daddy - she knew what a parallelogram, trapezoid, pentagon, etc. were. That kid's gonna be smarter than me by August.

    I gotta go as my wrist is starting to act up again and it's a pain in the butt to type with the brace on. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying 2008.
    Quick Update from the East...

    Quick Update from the East

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Tuesday, December 18, 2007 @ 08:06 PM  
    We've been busy, busy, busy here. I'm getting over a very nasty cold that, thankfully, did not turn into much else. Also, very thankfully, it hasn't spread to Jeff or Kadie. Both Jeff and I are racing against deadlines at work but I got good news yesterday...my company is allowing us to have the 24th off as a paid holiday! Yea! I'm looking forward to a couple of days off (besides the 24th, 25th and 1st, I'm taking the 31st off as well) and a week or so of quieter days in the office (with most people gone, especially the "customers").

    We had to cancel our b-day party for Jesus last Saturday due to some incredibly horrible false predictions of impending sleet, ice, snow and doom (NOTHING happened - the day was as dry as they come). We're going to try again for this Saturday but four of the kids that were going to come can't make it that day. Extremely disappointing! I took a day off from work to clean the house and prepare for the festivities...at least I got a spring-cleaned house out of the deal.

    I have finished all of my shopping and decorating (just have the party to get through) and have sent out the Christmas cards and letters. Both Jeff and I are looking forward to Christmas morning...Kadie enjoys both "boy" and "girl" toys equally so I got her some of each and Jeff's itching to play with the Hot Wheels stunt tracks, the Leggos and the Lincoln Logs.

    I finally finished the Christmas stocking that I started for Kadie about 2 years ago. It was one of those craft kits where there's about 10 pounds of embroidered, stuffed and sequined extras that you sew onto it. I'm hoping it holds together for Santa's visit. If not, I guess it'll become part of the "it's just a decoration" side of Christmas.

    Kadie will be having her first on-stage performance this coming Sunday when she gets up in front of the church congregation with the rest of her class and sings Happy Birthday to Jesus. They had them practice after church last Sunday and I could hear Kadie well above the rest of them. No fear or stage-fright in that girl! She was herding the rest of the kids up on stage and making sure none of them strayed back towards the instruments. I heard one of the other parents make a comment that, "That one is a born leader." ...though I guess I'm not really embarrassed. I'm proud that she's so unafraid and outgoing. It causes her wallflower mommy a bit of discomfort at times, but I deal with it.

    We lost power for about 6 hours on Sunday night. There were some pretty nasty winds with very powerful gusts, so we weren't really surprised. I had, unfortunately, just given Kadie her bath so our water tank was only half full and we have no other source of heat or power (except flashlights), so I was a bit concerned. We layered Kadie up in clothing and blankets and we all went to bed. About a quarter after midnight, the power came back on and I got up to turn off the lights that we had forgotten about (one of them being the hall light that shines, oh so nicely, into our bedroom). It was 63 degrees in the house, but since we normally have it at 69, it wasn't too bad of a drop. It got us thinking that we need to see about getting our propane fireplace set up though.

    Well, I'm off to bed...and, hopefully, good dreams. I don't remember the ones I was having last night but I do know that they were irritating enough that I woke up really mad. Ever have those? The power of the mind is amazing. I've been so sad in my dreams before that I've woken up crying and, of course, we've all had our fair share of nightmares that are vividly real. Well...here's to rainbows and unicorns. Good night to all!
    1 Our Weekly Update --- Heatherdawn

    Our Weekly Update

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Friday, November 16, 2007 @ 06:33 PM  
    Busy time of the year, huh, guys?  

    I hope your production goes well this weekend, Lisa. Even with some longer nights coming up, I guess it's good that the job allows for making up sick time.

    I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving as I don't have to do any work. We just drive down to Dean's and enjoy a full spread. He doesn't even really allow for donated dishes, so it's completely work-free (unless you count the endless running around I do, keeping track of Kadie and what she's terrorizing within their massive house - although, admittedly, she's gotten better with that now that she's older, but they have 4 cats that aren't completely kid-friendly). I usually do a dinner for our family sometime during that extended weekend so that we have the leftovers, but there's no time pressure. In fact, it dawned on me yesterday that I had yet to pick up a turkey. Oops!

    Jeff was offered (and he has accepted) the position of team lead in his office. He says that it doesn't come with a lot of new responsibilities - he wants nothing to do w/ the personnel side of things - but he now has "final say" on the technical things and he has been asked to help in the hiring process (reviewing resumes and interviewing) of a new person for the team.

    My job search continues. Apparently, I'm harder to place than I thought. There is one position (possibly two) that looks like it might work out, but I haven't yet talked w/ the primary guy in charge of filling the slot. Wish me luck! My original goal was to be out of this office by Christmas. Depending on how this most recent thing works out, I just might make it.

    Kadie is doing well. She's still very much enjoying her school. Parent-teacher conferences are coming up and Jeff and I are both looking forward to hearing an in-depth report on her activities.

    We have a new pet - a female beta fish. Kadie's favorite spot in Wal-Mart is the aisle with the fish tanks and she's been bugging me to get one. Last weekend, I gave in. I told her we could get one of the beta fish (they're always in a separate section in their own little bowls) because, if you set them up in the fish bowls/water plant vases, they and the plant pretty much take care of themselves. You have to feed the fish and add about a ¼ cup of water to the vase every week, but the plant gives the fish oxygen and the water remains fairly clean w/o outside help. She picked a female beta though. If you don't know, it's the male betas that 1. are that beautiful blue/purple color with the long, flowing fins and 2. are extremely aggressive. The female betas are a rather plain little white fish. The one Kadie picked out is about half the size of my pinkie. Her name, of course, is Jessica (as is about ½ of Kadie's stuffed animals). Kadie has done a wonderful job all week of feeding her. It's usually the first thing she runs to do in the mornings and when we get home. She doesn't spend much time with the fish, but she still seems to enjoy having her.

    This coming weekend we have an appointment to get Kadie's Christmas pictures done. I have all her birthday pictures cut out and separated into individual envelopes (all addressed, of course) - I have just never gotten around to getting the envelopes to the post office for the postage. Thankfully, I didn't close any of them so you will be getting birthday and Christmas pictures all at once.

    I'm gearing up to hold our 3rd annual birthday party for Jesus (15 Dec). We have a few things we'd like to spruce up in and around the house before that time, so we're planning on a couple of work weekends coming up. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. We need to do some outside work and it's been raining a lot lately.

    Mom - we got our package. Yum! Thankfully, Jeff doesn't really care for the applets and cotlets - so more for me. I hope you hadn't meant the dresses as gifts because Kadie got one glimpse of them from the box and was all over me. She has already told me that she's wearing the black one to church this weekend.

    Speaking of which, I'm suffering from a bit of a dilemma in that area. I got a recommendation from my old church's pastor for an "equivalent" church up where I live (there was only one - apparently, the Westminster area doesn't have a lot of non-denominational followers). Unfortunately, it's not a good fit. The doctrine is fine - perfect, in fact - but they're non-instrumental and have a very small congregation (which makes for very awkward and not-so-harmonious singing) and they keep the children in the main hall until after communion (a good 30/35 minutes). The room is pretty small and sparsely populated so every small noise and movement that Kadie makes as she squirms next to me feels/seems highly amplified and it makes me extremely self-conscious and uncomfortable. They also appear to only have one class for kids. All the kids, from preschool-age to middle school, go into one room for the kid's class during the sermon. The other church I've been attending has several glaring doctrine flaws but their children's church (several different classes for the various ages and age-appropriate materials, etc) and musical program are 200 times better than the other. I'm really torn about this. I don't know how much Kadie will pick up in Sunday school at this age, but it's not like she's going to remain 4 forever and she will, eventually, be old enough to understand such concepts as baptism and the revelations, etc.

    Hope the southern-family travels are going well.

    Our love and hugs to everyone.
    3 Baptisms for All --- Heatherdawn

    Baptisms for All

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Friday, August 17, 2007 @ 08:39 AM  
    Last Sunday, my current church held a baptism service. I have now learned their stance on baptism - they don't view it as a requirement for salvation but see it as something that God has asked them to do and, in doing it, they are obeying Him. I'm not sure if that's a "step beyond" the Baptist view of doing it for a show of faith or if that's just another way of saying the same thing. Either way, it was still nice to see so many step forward. They had about 25 or 30 people who had planned on participating and, when they were done, the pastor gave an open invitation to the congregation and about 15 more came up (to include one of his daughters). I guess that meant about 15 cars had wet seats that afternoon.  

    They also started a new "tradition" of adding Dunkin Donuts to the coffee and tea they have in the foyer after service.    Not a great step in my eyes. They're horribly bad for you and there's no way for me to get Kadie out of Sunday school and through the entrance without her seeing them - no further explanation needed here, I'd think.

    She is having fun in Sunday school though. The only down side to taking her is that we can't seem to convince her that it only occurs on Sundays. For 6 days of the week, we have to field questions about what day of the week it is, when they're having school next, and why can't we go today?

    Unfortunately, she appears to have caught a summer cold this week. While sad, it opens up a window for some laughter. A few weeks ago, I bought a saline nose spray for Kadie as she has a tendency to get bloody noses and I figured keeping it moist would alleviate that condition somewhat. Every other night or so, I give her two squirts before bed and she does really well with it. In fact, she insists that she needs it more often. Two nights ago, I was in the shower when Kadie got out of bed and insisted that she needed her medicine (it was an "off" night). I told her to get Daddy to help her with it. Keep in mind, Daddy had never given it to her before and, apparently, he was prepared to administer a shot of "misting" nose spray (the kind we have is the "old-fashioned" liquid stuff). As he put it, he watered her brain.   She was a little hesitant, so I was told, to allow him to do the other side but there were no permanent side effects.

    This weekend, we are planning on finally getting Kadie's birthday pictures taken and, after church on Sunday, we're attending the neighbor's Bar-b-que/block party. I know of at least one 5-year-old and one 3-year-old that will be there, so Kadie should have a lot of fun.

    Hope everyone has a great weekend. Love and hugs!

    1 Enjoying the Days --- Jeff

    Enjoying the Days

    Posted by Jeff on Saturday, June 23, 2007 @ 12:38 PM  
    Just wanted to drop in a say hello to everyone.  Kadie's birthday party is today at 2pm.  Heatherdawn and I both took yesterday off just to catch up on all the tasks we had ahead of us, to prepare for the party.  Luckily we did too, because by the time we were mostly done, it was almost 9pm last night.  Plus, we've been working for most of this morning too to get the food and last minute stuff prepared. 

    The weather is really helping us out today with temps in the low 80s and beautiful blue skies.  Kadie is excited and people should start arriving soon so I better run.

    Hope everyone else out there is having a great weekend!

    3 Happy Belated Father's Day...

    Happy Belated Father's Day

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Monday, June 18, 2007 @ 08:46 AM  
    To all the fathers out there...we hope you had a nice day "off" yesterday. Jeff didn't get one as we were finishing up Kadie's play area, but we're taking Wednesday off to wander around town and/or the mall, get some breakfast and lunch and a movie. It'll be like an extended day date as we are unable to have dates during the evening or weekend hours.

    As I just mentioned, Kadie now has a beautiful play area out back. We put timber down around the swing set that Jeff and his dad put up last summer and dug the area out about an inch or two down to get rid of the weeds and grass and level the area. We need to get the wood chips (or possibly the recycled rubber bits) to cover the area, but it's cleaned out and ready to go. There's even enough room in a corner by the slide to put her Step 2 sandbox/picnic table, so she's all set for the summer.

    Unfortunately, it wasn't the nicest of weekends to spend outdoors. Saturday wasn't too bad, but it was still upper 80s. Sunday was a nice, humid day in the 90s. Today is supposed to be 93 and they're calling for 97 tomorrow with a "feels like" temp of 101. So far, the forecast is for partly sunny and 83 for party day (Saturday), and I'm hoping it remains that way - with a nice breeze. We plan to put out a sprinkler for the kids, so I don't want it to be too cool, but I don't want it miserable either.

    Kadie turns 4 this Wednesday - can you believe it?! She's already prepping for her future career as a supervisor...While Jeff and I were working on her play area, she sat at the top of her slide, watching us. Jeff asked her what she was going to do and she replied with, "I'm going to sit here and point to where you need to work." As sore and hot as we were, we couldn't help but laugh.

    Glad to hear the parents are back and safe, and enjoying their new home away from home. Good luck with the car shopping, Lisa. Just remember to keep in mind what you'll be saving in gas when looking at the monthly payments. And the peace of mind of having a car that will likely last longer and not break down.

    Kadie gets to celebrate her birthday by going for her 4-year shots the day after. I'm going to mention the headaches and request an allergist consultation. Unfortunately, we found out the hard way that, without her nightly Sudafed, she stills throws up on the morning ride into daycare.

    We're also starting back into swimming lessons today. Monday through Thursday, in 2-week sessions, from 5 to 5:30. This is gonna be fun. Hopefully, we don't hit any traffic on the way home, or we might miss class.

    Love to all. And if Lisa's too cold, she more than welcome to take a couple of our degrees.

    1 A Quick Hello --- Heatherdawn

    A Quick Hello

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Thursday, June 14, 2007 @ 07:05 AM  
    Nothing much going on over here. Just more of the same. I'm halfway finished with painting Kadie's bookshelves. They take so long because you have to wait for each section to dry before you try painting the next and these are stackable cube-type shelves, so there's a lot of little sections. I also have to constantly dig cat hair out of the paint. I should just give in and plaster the cat onto a shelf and paint her down. It'd make for one bumpy shelf, but the cat hair issue would be gone.

    Kadie's b-day party is coming up next Saturday and we still have a few things to do before the guests arrive. All I "need" to do is finish her bookshelves so that I can put her room back in order (books and toys are everywhere at the moment), clean the house and order a chicken nugget platter from Chik-fil-A. I've asked Jeff to pick that and her cake up around 1:30 that Saturday so that I can be there to put on the finishing touches and welcome any early guests. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. It's been hot and muggy during the days with severe thunderstorms every afternoon/early evening. I wouldn't mind a cooler day for her party, but the least I'm praying for is that we don't have any kids struck by lightening.

    Jeff is busy at home (among other things) trying to rebuild a server that died. Our media PC also kicked the bucket but, since all the TV series have ended for the season, we're not overly worried about a timeline for getting that back up and running. We can get to the regular cable if need be and we have more than a few DVDs we can watch if we want tube-style entertainment.

    The tooth they've been yanking down since September/October, is finally starting to show itself. I go in tomorrow to get 4 more braces put on. They put the braces on all but the very last/back molars and are now going to rectify that. I don't know the reasoning behind leaving them off until now, but I'm sure they had a good one.

    All is well with the new car. We've only filled it up once since we got it and we've been driving it every day. Ahhh! The freedom.

    Hope everyone is having a wonderful week and enjoys their weekend. Love to all...

    A Pink Room and Sore Muscles...

    A Pink Room and Sore Muscles

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 @ 08:06 AM  
    I took a sick day yesterday (though I really needed it today) to paint Kadie's room. We got her Disney pink and it's not as bad as it sounds. It's actually a very light pink and looks very nice against the white baseboards and soon-to-be painted white bookshelves. I had taped off the ceiling so that I wouldn't have to worry about that but, as I was pulling off the painter's tape, chunks of ceiling paint came with it (I hate contractor-grade flat paint) so I spent another 2 or 3 hours painting that. I didn't have any ceiling paint or any kind of white paint other than the semi-gloss I got for her bookshelves (which I certainly didn't want to put on the ceiling), so Kadie now lives in a pink box with carpet. If I get the energy at a later date, I might go back in with actual white ceiling paint and redo that part but, for now, Kadie has her princess room.

    Meanwhile, I'm downing Advil like candy and trying not to move. The wall painting is usually enough to make me achy, but the overhead work puts me on my butt.

    To go back a few days...

    The sister of one of Kadie's daycare friends had a birthday party this Saturday so Jeff and I took Kadie down for some sugar and play time. They had one of those moon bounce things that's just a recipe for disaster and it didn't take Kadie too long to figure out that it wasn't that much fun when the bigger kids started arriving, so she stuck to running around with her two little daycare pals and taking full advantage of the kid's play room in the house. I think I got her to eat 1/3 of a hot dog bun, but she was constantly getting her hands on sugar. She got her first taste of cotton candy. I had to show her what to do with it and she wasn't sure about it when I put a little on her lips. I think she liked the taste but she wasn't too keen on the texture. I wasn't upset when she decided to go on to other things and leave the cotton candy behind. After about 3 hours she was starting to melt, so we said our good-byes and headed home. It was a Cinco de Mayo celebration and, while they had hotdogs for the kids, they were grilled and Kadie eats her fresh out of the package, so we stopped at Chick-fil-A and got her some chicken for dinner. We all crashed pretty early that night as I recall.

    We had planned on doing some front yard landscaping this weekend (I have 12 lilac bushes and a flowering almond to plant), but when we went to Home Depot to look at tillers, we were unhappy with the results. The dinkiest one there (one so small it would probably have been worthless in our clay soil) was about $250. The one Jeff was looking at was huge and cost more than $400. I didn't want to pay that much just to have something that big take up more garage space all in exchange for a couple of days' work. I think we've decided to build up rather than dig down. Jeff wants to get some of those blocks that he used with his dad to build that retaining wall at the old house and create some raised beds. It'll probably be just as expensive, or even more so, than buying the tiller, but at least the blocks will add a nice landscaping effect and we won't have to store them in the garage, never to be used again, after we're done. So far, the bushes are holding up really well in the bathtub as they wait for their planting.

    We did run into a bit of a snag with the lilac bushes...I bought 6 bushes each of 2 kinds of lilacs. One lilac is purple and grows to 10-15 feet high with a similar spread. The other is pink and only grows to 6-8 feet high with a similar spread. When they were shipped to us, they each came in a little box type thing to keep them from getting crushed and they were labeled on the outside of the boxes. Only thinking that I needed to water them (and couldn't do so with the boxes surrounding them, I took them out of the boxes...do you see where this is heading? Now we have 12 lilac plants that are impossible to tell apart (I even called the company to see if there was some distinguishing feature I wasn't seeing) and they have quite distinctive differences once fully grown. I guess we're just going to plant them where we want a lilac bush and then transplant them (if needed) once they've grown to the point where we can tell which one they're going to be.

    I did get my blueberry bush planted (it's a potted plant) and we picked up some really nice pots for my strawberry plants that we're going to place on the far edges of the step leading up to the front porch.

    Jeff put up the ceiling fan/lights in Kadie's room and the spare room on Sunday night so we now have official lighting in those areas. We were using the hallway light, natural daylight and a small table lamp up 'til now and I wanted a little more in time for the party. Besides, there have been a few days where I wanted to turn on a fan in her room and had to tote in the big floor tower. Now, with a flick of a switch (or two if you want both light and fan), you get the desired effect.

    Other than that...

    My plan is to get Kadie's bookshelves painted and her room put together (I need to go through her toys and do some "weeding") and, hopefully, get her a new bed. She's still in her toddler bed and I think it's time to move her up. I'm thinking a pretty white daybed will go well in her room and not take up too much space.

    Kadie's at another birthday party today. It's the daycare provider's daughter's birthday this time and Ms. Tracy is just planning on a small party at lunch - no parents, extra kids, etc. She got a Princess party pack (all the plates, napkins, etc.) at Costco and everyone brought a Princess outfit for their own kid to dress up in. My kind of party!

    Well, time for some work. I'm going to hobble my butt across my cubicle and see what I can accomplish for the day. Good luck to Lisa, btw, now that she's on her own and if Michael needs a kick in the pants, I'm sure that type of energy can be sent as well.

    There's a birthday coming up tomorrow. I won't name any names, but she lives in Powers and she's not the one in elementary school.

    1 Vehicle Mods and Other Obsessi...

    Vehicle Mods and Other Obsessions

    Posted by Jeff on Friday, February 23, 2007 @ 08:32 AM  
    Okay first off, in case you guys don't get all the way through this I just want to say a few things.  While I'm greatly appreciative of all the family influences I've had throughout my life, I wanted to express a special "Thank You" to both Dad and Grandpa P. for your influences while I was growing up.  You both taught me a great deal during my younger years, and those deep-rooted lessons are still part of the foundation of knowledge that I utilize on a daily basis.  In addition to the general principles in life, you both repeatedly impressed me with your ingenuity, attention to detail, and quality of craftsmanship.  I always thoroughly enjoyed working with you both as it was not only fun, but an eye-opening experience to witness first hand the work of those born with the natural skills to build and create.  I wish I had a quarter of your skills and will always be thankful for those lessons.  This is just one of those things that I think about a lot as my daily life progresses, but never take the time to pass on to those who deserve the credit.  So again, a big thank you for all your influences! 

    That being said, my "creative" side obviously took a completely different direction than that of wood working or mechanical creations.  Computers are my primary area for thrills and probably always will be.  I know, I'm weird that way.    But that's not to say that my interest in wood/metal working is any less fueled; quite the opposite actually.  I have been seriously considering taking a metal-working class recently because a lot of projects could be completed if I just knew how to weld, use a cutting torch, etc, etc.  The same could be said for wood projects around the house.  But although I have a basic idea how to create a lot the required items, the end result will be less than spectacular because it's the finishing details that seem to matter most and my hand lacks the magic required to truly polish these projects.  But the point here, is that I'm at a stage where I still very much want to learn.  Not only could it save us money, but it would allow me to build exactly what is needed and customize it to fit my particular application, because often times what I need is not available commercially.

    In so keeping with the above theme, my current project/post is based on customizing automobiles to fit your particular needs.  For myself and a whole lot of others, modifying your vehicle to your own specs is a whole lot of fun.  The end result is a vehicle that you can truly call your own and is unique to your tastes.  There's a true sense of satisfaction out of the process, especially if you're doing the work yourself.  If I had the time and money, I'd probably be under my vehicles 24/7.  There's so much to learn and so many possibilities depending on what vehicle you choose.  Jeeps have got to be in the top 10, if not the number one vehicle out there when it comes to modding (modifying).  The number of aftermarket parts available for Jeeps is astounding which makes the modding possibilities almost limitless.  Add to that someone like Michael, who has the technical skills to fabricate/machine his own parts, and you will end up with a truly unique vehicle.  If we were closer, I'd probably be out there in the shop every time I had a spare moment, helping Michael build it. 

    With the recent purchase of the FJ Cruiser, I am becoming more and more involved with the off-roading hobbyists, and am beginning to really appreciate everything that goes into making a great off-road vehicle.  While I realize that truly dedicated Jeep enthusiasts will consider the FJ Cruiser a Jeep "wanna-be", its performance off road is actually quite close to that of the Rubicon.  The main difference is in its on-road performance.  The Rubi is slightly better at the off-roading because it was designed specifically for it.  The FJ was designed to have great off-road performance without sacrificing the ride quality on the street.  And in my opinion, Toyota was successful in that goal.  But whether it's a Jeep, Toyota or some other brand, the mod process can be just as much fun. 

    I don't know if Michael is very active online, but if not, tell him to search online for Jeep and off-roading enthusiast type forums.  I have spent the better part of 2 months on www.fjcruiserforums.com which has not only helped answer a lot of my questions, but also allowed me to find others in my local area who are interested in off-roading.

    There is already a MD/PA/VA group forming up to organize outings and "mod parties".  It's a great way to meet people that have a common interest.  And for me, it should allow me to learn a lot more about the mechanics of the FJ and how to perform some of the routine mods like suspension lifts, bumper and brake upgrades, etc.  I'm having a great time learning everything I can.  My only problem is that like my other hobbies, this tends to be time consuming and somewhat expensive.  I'm sure Michael can relate to this.

    Aside from the FJ, which is currently my favorite vehicle, my '02 Super Duty was probably the next best.  I think the main reason for this was because of all the work  that I personally put into it.  It was the first time I'd really gotten into modding any vehicle and the end result was a truck that performed exactly the way I wanted.  Among other modifications, I still have vivid recollections of installing a custom exaust in sub-freezing temperatures outside the garage.  But it was worth every minute spent in my opinion.  In hindsight (I know, I know, Dad), I really wish I had held onto that truck.  It was set up just the way I wanted it and probably would have lasted a long, long time with all the mods and bulletproofing.  But alas, I sold it.  The point is that I believe it was my favorite because of all the personalized custom work that I did to it to make it unique to me.  So I can completely relate to what Michael is trying to do. 

    Anyway, this post has managed to drag on for much too long now.  Suffice it to say that although you may not be able to relate to Michael, Lisa, know that a whole of other folks can, and that he's not crazy.    Assuming that I'd actually be allowed anywhere near his baby, I would definitely be out there helping if we were closer.  And yes, I'm interested in any pics you want to upload.  If it takes too long, you can try zipping up a bunch of photos and emailing them to me and I'll post them for you.  That might save you some time I suppose.

    Gotta run.  It seems the computers are calling again.  But hey, they pay the bills so...

    Love and hugs to all!


    Jeff

    2 The Day After... --- Heatherdawn

    The Day After...

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 @ 08:11 PM  
    Bah, humbug alert! I'm thinking "out loud" and it's late, and I'm tired and it's gonna show...

    Though we had a nice Christmas (interspersed with cat vomiting episodes), it still just didn't seem "right" - you know? Something was off, but I can't really put my finger on it. I'd hate to think that the holiday that I once loved and treasured above all others has lost it's shine due to the pessimism of age and "wisdom." I just remember it being so much more....well, more. It was fun to watch Kadie open her gifts and enjoy her new toys and her excitement certainly helped alleviate the nagging feeling I've been experiencing as of late, but when she went to bed, so did her optimistic glow.

    Maybe it's just the burden of being the adult - the one who does the decorating, the baking, the Christmas cards, the shopping, the everything - instead of being able to just sit back and enjoy and relax. I tried keeping things very simple this year. The most stenuous part of the season was the Jesus birthday party I hosted. You know, maybe that's part of it. Those 4 or 5 hours where our house was filled with chaos and laughter were well worth the time and effort I put into the creation of that party.

    So, maybe for next year I'll plan on having more people over. As a person who normally craves solitude and quiet, perhaps a crazy Christmas was ingrained in me for so many years of my childhood that anything less just doesn't seem adequate. Things that make you go, "hmmmm."

    4 You Guys Always Make Me Laugh....

    You Guys Always Make Me Laugh.

    Posted by Heatherdawn on Friday, December 15, 2006 @ 07:25 AM  
    I haven't been able to read the posts for a couple of days so I had some catching up to do. As it's 0630 on Friday morning and I have a looooooong day ahead of me, it's good to start it off with a smile.

    Tonight is deployment night. Hopefully, if all goes well, we'll be out of here by 12 or 1 am. We've been known to stay until 5 or 6 before, but we're trying out something new that will, hopefully, save us some time. I elected to come in early (versus starting my day at 4 pm) so that I could make up some time. Kadie caught a stomach virus on Wednesday so I was home for 2 days. With winter weather around the corner (or so the calendar says - ahem, it'll be a balmy 65 and sunny today) and no day care for the week of Christmas or the first week of March, I need to save up my vacation days.

    Anyway, here's the scoop:
    Driving in on Wednesday, Kadie got sick in the truck. She hadn't had anything to eat yet, so it was pretty much just water and bile and didn't make a big mess. We didn't think too much of it; she still gets carsick on occasion and wasn't acting "sick" sick. So we dropped her off at daycare, mentioned the puking incident and left for work. A few hours later, Ms. Tracy called to say Kadie'd thrown up a couple of more times. So we were off to daycare to pick her up. Mind you, she still hadn't had anything to eat. I sat with her in the back on the way home, holding a plastic bag that got used 3 or 4 more times before we pulled into our driveway (where was all this coming from?). We took her in, laid her down on a towel-covered couch and popped in a Christmas DVD. For the next six hours, I couldn't even get her to keep down water. The poor thing probably had cramped tummy muscles after all the throwing up she was doing. I kept feeding her an ice chip every 5 or 10 minutes (that's all she could handle - even a sip of water would come right back up) and by around 5 that night, she started to keep down the ice chips so we tried some water. When that stayed down, we moved onto plain bread, then soup. This kid's metabolism is awesome! It took her about 12 hours to kick whatever bug had invaded her system and, as soon as it was gone, she wanted to eat everything that wasn't tied down. Well, the rule is: 24 hours of non-puking before you can return to daycare, so I stayed home with her on Thursday. We went out and did some shopping and stopped by Chik-Fil-A to run off some energy (I think she stored up what she couldn't use on Wednesday - I was about to turn myself in to the local nut house by that afternoon).

    Note to self: help Kadie kick her recent habit of licking things. I have a suspicion that the bug came from the checkout counter at the grocery store we went to on Tuesday evening. Yuck! The things kids put in their mouths!

    I also spent quite a bit of time these last 2 days scrubbing and organizing the house, getting ready for our party tomorrow. I still have to clean the bathrooms (I'm leaving that for the morning of since they'll be the most used rooms of the house) and vacuum the living room floor. I'm going to try to spread out the Christmas decor again, but Kadie keeps gathering it all back up in the living room (all the stuffed animals, etc.).

    I spent a couple of hours last night putting together the shells for the "gingerbread" houses. I use graham crackers instead of real gingerbread and had three boxes of them and still didn't end up with enough full, non-broken crackers to make all the houses I needed. I had to make a couple of "patchwork" ones that I hope will hold together during the decorating process.

    btw...I've been meaning to post this recipe for several weeks now. Most of you have probably finished off your leftover turkey, but if you're having it for Christmas, too...

    shredded leftover turkey
    leftover cranberry sauce (I used the whole-berry kind)
    OJ
    Mix all together in a crock pot. Cook on low for 4-5 hours and serve over cooked rice.

    Jeff liked it (a welcome change from the usual turkey soup) and Kadie ate the turkey (she still won't touch rice).


contact | terms | privacy