The Big Day!

Well, kiddos, today was it. The first day back at school.

Baby A must have known something was up, because she was up super early. like 4:50 am early. My alarm didn't go off until 5!!! She was just so excited to go back to school! :)

But she had a great day. She loved all the new toys (and tastes of the new toys....loves to put everything in her mouth) and had fun trying to crawl on soft surfaces. She didn't even realize that I left! But she didn't nap much, and when I put her in her high chair while I made supper, she promptly fell asleep! Soooo tired.

My first day was fine too. The normal "Hooray! WE ARE A GREAT DISTRICT!!!" brouhaha, and then some time in our rooms to work. AND, a 1.5 hour school staff meeting, which was brutal. Tomorrow will be better....more time to get stuff dine. But I have so much to do that I got overwhelmed and just started wandering around my room doing stupid stuff. Tomorrow I"ll get back to business.

Otherwise, not much else going on....Baby A is having a royal fit in her chair, so it's time to get out.

NavyGirl~if you get a chance, because I know you are up to your eyeballs in Clorox and Magic Erasers, give me a call. I have to fill you in on our new department member....let's just say that alot of the guys really REALLY missed you by the end of the day :)

A Letter of Sadness

Dear Target~

What happened? For the first time in our fruitful relationship, you disappointed me. During a day of boredom and laziness, I turn to you to provide entertainment, and a pair of knee high brown boots.

I am drawn to the shoe section....up and down the aisle I stroll, becoming more anxious the farther I go....Merona brown boots, where are you? Alas, they are nowhere to be found. I sigh and tell Baby A...maybe next week.

Because you already had me enthralled, I then turn to the women's clothing section, to see the new fall line. Nothing, yes nothing, caught my eye. Nothing to buy for school or weekend wear. As a tear comes to my eye and nothing goes into my cart, I turn to the infant and child selection department.

Because this area has never disappointed before, my excitement to be in Target returns. But Alak! Nothing for Baby A! Nothing cute, fall appropriate, or something on sale is attractive enough to me to consider buying.

In desperation, I turn to the entertainment section. Farmer would like another season of Smallville, and if it's there, I will be sure to purchase the next season we need. I scan the rack, my eyes jumping from box set to box set. My eye lands on Smallville. Season one.....Season 5.....Season 6.........but no Season 3!!!!! And the kicker: it is on sale for $18.99!!!! And there's nothing for me to buy!

Near tears, I turn my cart to the exit, astonished that I am not spending a dime in the hallowed halls of shopping.

How could you do this to me, Target?

But even with this massive Sunday disappointment, I can't seem to quit you. I know I"ll be back in a few weeks, my eyes open once again for something, be it little or big, to buy.

Fondly~

HistoryGirlie

Hoop it Up!

So, Grammy called me the other day (from work....she and her friends dont' get much work done somedays) and told me that her good friend told her that the latest fitness and weight loss craze is hula hooping. It's supposed to be a great core workout. I was, in my prime, an amazing hula hooper. Mouser and I used to time ourselves hulaing in the driveway and I logged in at 75 minutes at my best, not to mention winning the hula contest three church picnics in a row....Go HistoryGirlie!

Anyway, Grammy thought I'd be interested in knowing this fitness tidbit, because I'm a chronic failure at losing weight. I just agreed with her that it sounded interesting, and assured her (while blankly staring at the TV and not really paying attention to her....Baby A was napping and I had a migraine) that I would look into hula hooping as workout.

Fast Forward to this morning.

I, with Baby A, drove up to GBC to go to the weekly Farmer's Market with Grammy, Poppy, and Brother. Lo and Behold, a lady was there selling weighted hula hoops for fitness purposes! Grammy and I were amazed. I tried one out, and I could tell by the 30 seconds I did it that it truly would be a great workout.

While we were climbing in the car to head home, the trunk full of cabbages, onions, and Green peppers (Poppy was making homemade coleslaw today) Mom ran back into the wilds of the market. We thought she was grabbing a last refill of the coffee (she has a crush on the guy that sells her her coffee each Saturday morning), but instead, she came back with a hula hoop for me! Oh boy. Now I have to hula hoop, I thought.

So, just now, Baby A was playing in her jumparoo, and so I thought I'd try out my new exersize equipment. I hooped for 30 minutes, and I feel as if I had been whipped with steel around my midsection. It sure is a great workout! I was amazed. and it was easy! and I coudl watch TV without having to turn up the volume to make it over the noise of the equipment! I didn't have to watch a stupid video of alreadly thin people wearing leotards and high tops doing the exersizes! Awesome.

Lookout.....next summer, I'll have abs of steel, all thanks to the hula hoop! :)

Break out the Banners, Beat the Drums!

....and don't forget the 76 trombones, and the monkey on a unicycle!

Baby A started to crawl this week, and she popped her first tooth!

Needless to say, we've been busy here on the ranch. The garden is also giving us tons of crops, and Farmer is in the middle of the haying season #3. AND....I go back to work on Tuesday! But most importantly....Baby A.

It happened seriously in the blink of an eye. We were playing in the family room, tossing toys out of her basket (favorite activity EVAH) and suddenly I turn around to see her rocking back and forth on all fours! THEN....she took two "steps", reached the toy she wanted, and sat back down, looking extremely proud of herself. That's about all she can move at the moment...she tends to get stuck on all fours and then slides down onto her belly, but sometimes she gets some forward movement. It's a start, especially I thought she'd never move and be the girl going to prom on her boyfriend's hip, because that's how she likes to move. This activity prompted a boatload of phone calls and pictures taken.

Then, on Tuesday, Farmer was eating lunch, and Baby A was sitting next to him in the high chair. He was chatting with her, and suddenly he told me to come check something out....he stuck his finger in her mouth and felt the little jagged edges of a toothie! Again, phone calls and e-mails galore. Grammy and Poppy were very excited. It's not fully out yet, but you can see it when she laughs. This also causes a copius amount of drooling....Farmer and I are fully soaked through after a cuddle and wrestling session.

But all this movement has promped Grammy to break into action. She's now all about babyproofing her house, and ours. Yesterday consisted of Grammy, Poppy, and I hiding cords and plugging up empty sockets with protectors. Poppy's doing the same thing today at their house. Everyone in the family has been strongly prompted to buy baby gates, including my sister and brother. She's been to each of their homes exactly twice, so i'm not sure they are directly necessary, but Grammy doesn't seem to get that. However, we are all determined that Baby A will be winning the gold medal in 50 meter dash at 2024 olympics...look out world, she's on the move!

Will this be Baby A someday, winning it all???

Back To School Jitters

Last night we attended a Social Studies Department grill out at a coworkers home. My department is made up of 6 men and 3 women, and everyone besides me is a coach of some kind. While they are great teachers, they are COACHES in every sense of the word. Meetings have been spent replaying games, group outings revolve around sporting events, etc. They all love their sports.



Last night was fun. We chatted, had a drink, ate....and then we moved out back to play swing ball and beanbags. And then they started talking about the fall sports. And I realized....I don't fit in here anymore. My one non-coaching comrade moved away, so I have nothing to contribute. True, I did coach cheerleading (and turned the squad around in very short time) but they saw that as a joke....not a TRUE sport. Some still tease me about that, and i haven't coached in 3 years. And so I realized that I'm all by myself. I have aquaintances at work, but no real FRIENDS. That made me feel very lonely, and also made me realize that I am going to have to work to be seen as an equal. My teaching credentials aren't going to cut it anymore within my department. I may eat by myself. I might be lonely at work. I could be the old Sesame Street snippet, "One of these things are not like the other". It's kind of a scary feeling to have to go out and make friends at 29 years old.



So, I feel like 1st graders do....Will I make friends back at school? Will the other kids like me? Will I fit in with the in-crowd? It's an unsettling feeling, but one I'll have to get over.



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But I'm not all doom and gloom. I received the Brillante Weblog Primo 2008 award from my real life and bloggy friend Green Girl, which I was quite pleased to see, especially since I'm new to the bloggy community and I know she reads many other blogs each day taht are better and funnier and more thought provoking than mine. :) Thanks for the honor Green Girl!

Also, tomorrow night is Dinner and a Movie night with my cousins. On tap: the Ground Round restaurant, and then the early show of Mamma Mia! I'm looking forward to the evening, because my cousins are great fun to be around....lots of belly laughs in my future!

AND......tonight is the Women's Gymnastics All Around competition in the olympics! I've been sucked in big time to the Olympics this time around. It's just so exciting to watch!!!! I wanted to be a gymnast when I was a kid (no chance, since my thighs and hips have been big since 3rd grade) so watching these young girls flip around amazes me.

So, tonight will be spent cuddling my Baby A, drinking a Diet Mt. Dew, and enjoying some quality TV! I don't have too many cuddle nights left with Baby A since work begins in 1.5 weeks. Better enjoy them while I can!!!!

Sleepover Time!

My bro-in-law and wife won chachi Box Seats to tonight's Packer game at the church picnic, and so I volunteered to babysit their three kids. THe kids are always awesome, and they have been wanting to do this for a long time, so it was a date.

THey make me hope that Baby A and any other kids we have are that great. They are just so much fun! We went out for ice cream, played games in the front yard, watered the flowers and the new grass, and checked out the garden. R, the boy who's 5 and loves the farm, kept commenting on how my "crops" were doing. He loves my garden. The girls do awesome with Baby A, and she just loves them. They helped with dishes, helped with Baby A's bath, and were just all around great. Now, I know they were on best behavior, but still! awesome.

I also introduced them to the olympics tonight. Their reactions were awesome. While watching the swimming events, the girls (8 and 9) were commenting that the female swimmers, with their bodysuits, goggles, and amazing muscles, looked alot like the male swimmers. I had to giggle. R, the boy, loved the gymnastics. He had to show me his summersault because the Chinese gymnasts were ending their tumbling passes with summersaults. He believes he's ready for 2016. Watch for him.....he'll be the kid with the Wisconsin Farmer's Tan. :)

But even though the kids were great and helpful and only here since 4:30 pm, I'm beat. I thought that just Baby A was difficult....props to all multi-children moms!!!!!

Five Years of Bliss!

So, yesterday was our Anniversary. I had a wonderful day telling Farmer what we were doing exactly 5 years ago that moment. By 10:00 pm (Grand March Started!) he said he was going to bed. We spent our day at a local zoo, because Baby A likes animals. She loved the badger and the prairie dogs. Lots of laughing.


But our wedding day was marvelous. Because of the cows, we had the longest wedding imaginable. Our nuptial mass was at 12 Noon, and dinner wasn't until 6:30 pm. That's a LONG time during the day.

Grammy and I had been planning my wedding day forever...we joked that all we needed to fill the picture was a Groom. :) When our day finally showed up, it was amazing.

The weather was beautiful. 85 degrees and not a cloud to be seen. The church was filled with people and everything in the mass was perfect. My brother played the piano at communion, and he played Somewhere in Time, the theme music from an 80's Christopher Reeve movie set at Mackinac Island. This was important, because we were going to Mackinac Island for our honeymoon. This is just an example of the minute details I incorporated into our wedding. I was THE BRIDE, and it would only be that way. However, everyone involved said I DID NOT become a Bridezilla, and are still assuring me of this today.

But the best part of the day was the middle reception. My maternal family side always has a little informal party between mass and reception to fill the dead time. It always involves Sweedish Meatballs, ham roll ups, and a polka band. But our party was the best. Grammy and Poppy spent the entire summer relandscaping their flower beds to match the wedding flowers. (details!!!!!!) This was of their own accord, I didn't care about the landscaping. We had 3 huge tents in the front yard (Think Kennedy/Kennebunkport wedding) and the polka band was under one, with a dance floor, the beer was under another, and one just for relaxing under. the Garage was full of food. People danced the afternoon away. My mom sang Tiny Bubbles with the band (another wedding tradition), and the neighbors from teh back showed up, because they were having a party and could hear our party....so why not join up!

We then went to our reception hall and socialized and ate chicken. My cake was custom made by my aunt, a baker, and our card box was a country western themed wedding cake that Mom and I made....Farmer and I met at a huge Country music festival, so we incorporated that stuff in there as well. The dance was awesome....the floor was filled all night long. My dress was perfect....a strapless number with at least 20 layers of floof for a skirt. It was so big I had to wiggle through normal sized doorways. I looked like I was floating all night. Awesome.

It was the best day. People still talk about my wedding. I'm not joking. :) I loved being The Bride so much that when it was time for Farmer and I to be whisked away to the hotel for the wedding night, I started to SOB. I did not want to leave, and kept wailing that I still wanted to be the bride. I obviously didn't realize that someday I would no longer be the most important person ever. :) I cried all the way to the hotel, and for at least a 1/2 hour after we arrived. Farmer thought he might have just made the biggest mistake ever. :) My two best friends (bridesmaids) finally just gave Farmer my shoes and purse, gave me a hug, and pushed us out the door.

But Five Years have passed, and I still would not change a THING about my day. (notice, MY. Farmer was just along for the ride). But it's been a great five years. New Farm, New Baby, New Job.....we have an awesome thing going! :)

A few pictures...

The Men (yes, a huge wedding party) The three kneeling are Farmer's brothers, and my brother is standing with the curly hair. Farmer's in white tie.

THE DRESS!!! (and Poppy)

My Favorite Picture. Note the white sunglasses on bride.....Another super important detail!!! :) This is Farmer's car...1966 Impala. He bought it the weekend we started dating and finished fixing it up the month before we married. It's his other wife. He got it as a junk heap, and made it very pretty!!! :) We had to have red bridesmaids dresses so they wouldn't clash with the car. :)

Busy Days and Random Thoughts

Whew, it's been busy around here! This weekend was the extended family reunion...Sports theme. My immediate family wore Badger clothes, and looked like we were waiting for the 5th quarter to start any minute. My brother and fiancee are both Badger Graduates, so they were decked out from sunglasses to flipflops. I didn't know U of Wisconsin made that much stuff. Who knew? But it was a great party. We played alot of fun games and had TONS of food. Baby A and I also slept over at Grammy's on Saturday night so that we didn't have to drive 45 minutes at the butt crack of dawn to church.

Farmer wins the Best Gift Ever award. For my big birthday, he got me a new laptop for grad school. I've been wanting a laptop for a long time, and they were on sale, so he went for it. I'm in love with it, and adore the fact that Farmer can be watching TV and I can be sitting next to him on the couch doing my homework. Whoever invented these things should get a reward. I don't know if I'll ever use our desktop again. :)

Last week, we had an ant infestation in my kitchen cupboards. Farmer and I scrubbed out cupboards and threw out all open food, and then bug bombed the attic where they were coming from. They still kept coming. This made everyone slightly grossed out, but none more so than Grammy, the lady who's perfume is Lemon Pledge. Grammy decided that we needed to CLEAN my house. She came down yesterday and Monday and CLEANED. I hate to clean. But I went along with it and so my kitchen has been debugged and disinfected, and Grammy Approved. I seriously need a non-Pledge day.

Today, my cousin is bringing her two boys down to visit the farm. We are going to hang out with the calves and kitties, and hopefully get a ride on the tractors. This weekend we are going to be going to the NEW Zoo for our anniversary. Baby A loves animals, so we thought that could be a fun day. We are also going up north on Friday. Great days coming up!

Birthday Princess

Yes, today is my big day. It's my birthday. So, in honor of my birthday, I thought I"d throw out 10 random things about me (thanks for the idea, Green Girl!)

*If given the choice, I'd rather watch a NASCAR race instead of any other sport. I could honestly care less about the Packers, unless we are at a party where there's munchies to eat. This could be considered a sin, since I grew up in Green Bay and could see Lambeau field (aka: Heaven) at a distance from my parent's back window.

*I'm terribly afraid of the dark. I imagine all kinds of scary creatures in the dark, even if I'm just running up the stairs to our room after turning out the living room lights before bed. I seriously RUN.

*I knew I had to marry Farmer when I noticed that he always carries a cloth handkerchief. My dad always has one too, so when I saw that, my heart belonged to Farmer.

*If I could do any profession in the world, I'd be a caterer or chef. Someone who people book years in advance to make their fancy foods for parties, and I'd have a show on the Food Network. Look out Rachel Ray!

*A goal in life: Dance with John Travolta. Yes, he has weird hair, but I have a massive crush on him.

*I'm in LOVE with Will Smith. I mean LUV. He ranks right up there with Bon Jovi.

*I hate eating nuts. HATE THEM. the only thing I like is peanut butter. I even opt out of them on top of a sundae. I'll even stop eating Chex Mix if there are nuts in them. That's big.

*My favorite animal is a Pig. I want one and I'll name it Wilbur and we won't butcher him ever. We'll just let him get old and die naturally. I also want a pug dog named Gomez and a goat. I don't have a name for the goat yet. Farmer says that I can get a pig when we move to the farm. But he'll have to be butchered in the Fall. The discussion is still going on about that.

*I named my daughter after the persona I took on while working at Heritage Hill State Park during college. Farmer doesn't know this....I think he'd be creeped out. My character, who lived at Ft. Howard in the 1830's for real and was married to a Lt. there, was also named A. She's buried in Ft. Howard cemetary in Green Bay. I visited her grave when I was working there. I find it neat that I took on the persona of a real person who walked in the buildings that I worked in. Super cool. If anyone knows Farmer, don't tell him this. It's too late to change it anyway! :)

*When I was little, I wanted to be a doctor in the Army. I got the idea from watching M*A*S*H* when I was a kid. I thought their job looked cool. Go figure......

So, that's that. I know there are a few people out there lurking around my blog (Welcome, NavyGirl's family! :) ) so I thought I'd throw a few oddball facts about me. Who doesn't like to know random stuff????

*****

In other birthday news, the DQ cake was AWESOME. super tasty. I'd recommend it to anyone. NavyGirl slept over last night and we stayed up until 1:30 am. That's super late for us...we fell just short of doing each other's hair and playing Truth or Dare. My family also came over last night for cake and presents. I got some wonderful gifts from everyone. It was a nice party. Today my nieces and nephew are coming over this afternoon for more cake. AND.....perch plate tonight for supper! it will be a great day all around.