Friday, March 26, 2010

And now...

that my camera is all charged up, I can't find my wire to get the pics to the computer. There is some kind of conspiracy working to keep me from loading pictures to my blog...

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Peace

I have quit watching anything related to news and am ignoring anything having to do with healthcare or politics. And I sure do feel a lot better!

Monday, March 22, 2010

History made...I guess.

The house passed the Healthcare Reform Bill last night and of course the nation is consumed with the subject. The Republicans are running for the hills screaming that the sky is falling and the Democrats are all smug and self-worshipping. And I have yet to hear anyone tell me (without using smoke and mirrors and some kind of math I have never heard of) how the hell this is going to be PAID FOR! Did we not learn anything from TennCare? And before you tell me about the beautiful socialized health care system in Sweden, may I point out that our population is more than 30 TIMES larger than theirs?!?! Makes it a little more challenging to regulate the system, dontcha think?

I personally think the bill was a piece of crap in the form it was passed (as if I really know what that is since I don't think there is a soul on the planet who actually knows what is in it), but that is neither here nor there. What frustrates me the most is that people in this country actually believe (and they are probably right) that the government has the power to save us or break us. When did we hand over our rights as citizens to run our own country to these dumbasses on Capitol Hill? When did we begin relying on government to take care of us from cradle to grave? One thing I am pretty sure of is that most politicians are crooked, self-serving, power-hungry morons who are only interested in keeping their fat cat jobs. Cynical much? Yes, I am. And will remain so until someone can convince me to feel otherwise. I am pretty sure the Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves. God help us all.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

See what happens?

I finally was motivated to download (upload? - I never know which way is which) pictures to the computer and the damn camera battery is dead. Figures. By the time it is all charged up, I am sure the picture mood will have passed.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Looking good

I finally have gotten a little bit of decorating done and our house actually looks like someone lives here! At the end of last week I decided I couldn't take it any longer and called my friend Erin over for a decorating date! I pulled all of my "stuff" (candles, pictures, vases, etc) out of boxes and put it in a big pile and let her go to town! I still have some things to buy, some spaces to fill in and some rooms to finish, but progress has been made. Hooray!

Our St. Patrick's Day celebration around here consisted of green pancakes, green eggs, green applesauce and green milk for dinner. I didn't even drink a green beer.

The end of last week meant the Big 12 basketball tournament in KC. Aaron met his parents and brother for the games and they basketballed the nights away! KU playing KSU for the big 12 title wasn't too cool as someone was going to come back to the house unhappy. A Jayhawk victory left Bryan the happy one in the bunch, but Aaron and his parents seemed to recover quickly. After all, March Madness is far from over!

Bryn and I had a fun trip to Chicago with my friend Rhonda and her little girl. I came home with two new purses. There is something about that purse kiosk in that little mall on Michigan Avenue that sucks me in every time.

Grant is growing up far too fast and many of his cute little words are morphing into real words with correct pronunciation. "Beeps" have become sheep and "soursaurs" are now dinosaurs. He does still call Fruit Loops "shoo shoops" and his blanket is "minke" but he is definitely turning into a toddler. Ahhhhhhh, so bittersweet.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Too much to do...

as usual. Definitely a common theme in my posts - I have too much to do and too little time to do it! Actually, it is probably more of a time management issue than truly not having enough time, but why split hairs?

Bryn's party went well (i.e. she had lots of fun and Aaron and I survived!). I do think that it will be the last year for a big slumber party as we did have a little more attitude from one girl about the activities than we have had from anyone in the past. I am thinking by next year, they will all have a little more attitude and I am not sure I can handle a dozen girls with attitude at a time! That being said, Aaron and I were once again truly impressed with Bryn's group of friends. The girls are all polite and caring - there doesn't seem to be any of the clique-ishness that girls are famous for. I just hope that lasts for at least a couple more years. It is nice to have sweet girls around! They also filled 3 big boxes full of stuff for the Lawrence Humane Society (we asked them to bring things for the shelter instead of birthday gifts), so they have generous little hearts, too!

I got off to a productive start for the week. I cleaned out the playhouse, swept the back porch and picked up a yard full of petrified dog poop during the brief burst of dry, warmer weather. Grant loved going in and out of the playhouse and driving his trucks and cars around in it - I plan on spending a lot of time in the backyard with him this spring and summer so I hope that continues to be a good source of entertainment! I also got the basement picked up after the 15 girl tornado that blew through and I am hoping to work on the kids rooms today. Time to purge the closets of clothes and toys and create some space for the birthday presents that make there way into the house at this time of year!

Class has been surprisingly pleasant this semester. Unusual for any semester, but especially the spring when students seem to be less focused than in the fall. I also managed to finally get through the Quality Matters certification process for my General Biology course and I am sincerely hoping that the monetary bonus that I was told would come with that pans out. I suppose I should be happy to know I have a decent class to present to my students, but the extra cash was definitely a big motivator for me to get it done!

I am getting excited for our trip to Chicago this weekend - Bryn and I and my friend Rhonda and her daughter are heading up there for a couple of days for a girl's weekend. We are going to go to American Girl for brunch and hoping to see some of the Chicago sights - maybe the Sears (Willis) tower, the zoo, Millennium Park, a museum...whatever we do I think it will be fun!

On a sadder note, it is hard to believe it has been a year since Mema died. This is also the day that my friend Rhonda lost her first child only 6 days after he was born. So a sad day for us and other people I know and love.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Long time, no post

Wow! Time flies!

The most exciting and frightening event around here is that Bryn celebrated her 8th birthday! I just can't believe she is already 8...Where do the years go!?!? Tonight we are having her birthday party - another slumber party. It is almost 11 pm and there are currently 10 VERY wide awake girls making so much noise that the glass break alarms on the windows are being triggered. And this is after we lost one to illness (101 degree fever) and 3 others who couldn't spend the night. Should be an interesting rest of the night...