Adieu

So yes, I took the job. My first day of work is July 14th. I have to work 3 weeks of full time days for training, and then I'll switch over to the evenings. The kids will stay at a daycare, which Maya is excited about. We'll see how Bren does. He's most likely not to find it too fun. I did all my pre-employment stuff the other day. My friends in Bloomington watched the kids for me. They also have graciously took on watching Stella while we are on vacation. From the looks of it, Stella was loving having other dogmates. The kids miss her already.
We spent tuesday and wednesday at my parents garage sale. We got rid of some more stuff! Yeah! I was all birthdayed out by the time mine came around on wednesday. We went out to dinner and I made myself a Jell-o cheesecake. Yep, no bakery cake for me. I was caked out.
My aunt and uncle from Kansas City are stopping over tonight to check out our pad. I think we are gonna grill some chicken. Then we'll have to get to bed to awake for our 6am flight. I guess the less the kids sleep tonight, the more likely they will sleep on the plane. At least we are only 4 hours. Adam's brother flies from Taiwan and it is 12 hours. That would not be so fun to be confined to your chair. Well gotta finish up the last of my errands, but for the most part we are good to go.

Working Woman

So, I got a job. I haven't taken it yet, but I probably will. I've always said living here, I'd never work at the Peoria hospitals because they are huge and the job is nonflexible. You are at work to save lives and therefore that ends up being the most important thing. It's not like I need a job, but it would be nice to have a little of "my" money and, frankly, get out of the house. So when I saw the part-time second shift position open at Eureka hosptial, I said "hey, that would be good". I put my application in, 3 days later they called me, I interviewed on a friday and they offered me the job on monday. For those of you that remember, Eureka hospital is kinda like my first job in Monticello. It's a 25 bed hospital, with a clinic connected and a small ER. And so, if I choose to accept this job, I will work 3 days a week, 1 weekend a month and take call 1 day a week and 1 weekend a month. The kids will need to be in 4 hours of daycare 2-3 days a week, but I'd be with them all mornings. We're going to check out a daycare this morning. To be continued....

Father's Day, Birthdays, Visitors and Bar Mitvah's Oh My

It's been awhile since I posted. We have been going nonstop. Adam's birthday came and went. We went out to a steakhouse and celebrated father's day, my mom's birthday and adam's birthday. Adam's dad and stepmom were here at that time as well, so it was nice for the family to get together. We took grandma and grandpa to Wildlife Prairie Park. The temperature was just about perfect. We left for Iowa City on friday for a Bar Mitzvah, which I forgot my camera. It was nice. Iowa City is a great place. We told Maya this is where she may go to college one day. We saw some of the flooding. Most everything looked okay now, but you definately could see lines on building showing the height the water crept to. I would say a good 4 feet. We headed back home this morning for Maya's last Tball game and headed to my parents house to celebrate my sister's bday afterwards. My sister and I are now the same age. Happy Birthday Becky.
There is no time for rest this week either. Saturday we say hello to the California heat!

Thank You Grandma

We arrived home from our McDonald's playdate today with a fun box at the door. Thank you Grandma!! The kids had to try on their 4th of July gear and dress their bears. Everyone loved it. I'm gonna look like a serious body pumper in my new gym outfit (no picture). Daddy hasn't come home yet and we can never wait. Yeah. We can't wait to see you. 2 more weeks.

Any other Day??

I was sitting here starring at the calendar and can't figure out how June is half over. I'm also noticing how everyday, but 2 days have something written on them. We are getting closer to the 4 bdays in 9 days. Starts with my mom, then Adam, then my sister and finally me. Will there be ridiculous amounts of cake eaten? Not sure. I feel like I have been eating tons of crap. I've been hitting the gym 3 times a week since february and I've gained 5 pounds. Sure, I know it is fat turning to muscle, but extra pounds make me feel it's not working. I know I am not doing anything aerobic, so nothing is melting away. Maybe I should. No I can't. I hate that out of breath, I'm gonna die feeling. I am not a cardio girl, not at this point anyway. Now body pump, to me, has worked wonders. I do feel like I'm in pretty good shape. And I'm freaking addicted to the class.
Yesterday I spent the morning making a Diego cake for someone. I love doing them, but always forget what a pain in the ass they are. Plus clean-up is a bitch. Brings me back to the Thompson's Food Basket Bakery where I'd rush from work at the Golden Corral to work and clean up all the pastry bags in boiling water. I loved that job though. I pretty much liked all my jobs. I'm a worker bee.
So this weekend we are having dinner with a friend Saturday and Sunday we are going to brunch for father's day. Next week Adam's dad and stepmom are flying in for a few days before we trek them to Iowa City. We'll see if we can make it there. Iowa is getting hit with bad storms and flooding is shutting down roads.
So today is friday the 13th.... dum da da da. To me just another day, but I guess it will take one bad thing to make me think it must be due to the date. When we went to Europe last fall I read this little tidbit that suggests how friday the 13th came about...
"Some believe that the arrest of Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and 60 of his senior knights on Friday, October 13, 1307 by King Philip IV of France is the origin of this superstition. That day thousands of Templars were arrested and subsequently tortured. They then 'confessed' and were executed. From that day on, Friday the 13th was considered by followers of the Templars as an evil and unlucky day."
At some point in time something must have begun the craze, so this is as good of theory as any for me.
One final note, I finally saw Sex and the City this week. It was pretty good. There were a couple laugh-out-loud moments. Great girl movie.

Copied From a Friend's Blog

FINISH THE SENTENCE.......

1. Maybe I should stop cleaning up and play with my kids.
2. I love the smell of fresh washed laundry.
3. People would say that I’m shy, boring, and HOT (jk :))
4. I don’t understand how anyone can think Bush is a good president.
5. When I wake up in the morning I wonder how long it will last til the kids get up.
6. I lost my brain when I got pregnant.
7. Life is full of adventure.
8. My past is worth re-living.
9. I get annoyed when I do something special, but don't get thanked.
10. Parties are fun, but spending time with family is better.
11. I wish my sister had a baby.
12. Dogs are better than cats.
13. Cats are very independent.
14. Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully it won't be so windy.
15. I have low tolerance for rude people.
16. I’m totally terrified of something happening to my kids.
17. I wonder why I get so wound up over a messy house.
18. Never in my life have I eaten a pepper.
19. High school was fun. I had a great group of friends and I would say I was pretty happy.
20. When I’m nervous, I usually get butterflies in my stomach.
21. One time at a family gathering I had my strapless dress fall down. (my wedding!)
22. Take my advice: Travel. It's the best way to learn about yourself and other cultures.
23. Making my bed is a piece of cake.
24. I’m almost always wishing I was a kid again.
25. I’m addicted to reading blogs and reading people.com
26. I want someone to copy and paste these sentences so we can all read your answers.

Visit with Friends

Last week flew by. It was a week geared around the neighborhood garage sale. We got rid of a bunch of stuff, but still have a bunch of stuff left. I'm not sure why, but I love having garage sales. I love going through old stuff and getting rid of it if it isn't needed. I try to price pretty fair. For me, it's not about making money, but getting rid of the stuff. (Although the point is to make a little money too). I hate going to sales where people overprice and I really don't like people who go to auctions to buy things cheap to resell them for profit. I am so not a business person. I try not to lie and cheat, however, I suppose I did today. We took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda. We don't go to movies often, especially with the kids, but I could not pay $7.00 for Brennan to see the movie, so I told them he was 2. Am I cheating the theatre? Not really... the movie plays if there is one paying customer and honestly, he's not gonna sit and watch it. He just goes for the snacks. He was good, but he didn't have a clue about the plot. The movie was good. I enjoyed it.
The kids had a lemonade stand at the sale. They were so cute. I wish I had taken some pictures. They sat at their table and kept to themselves almost the entire time. They made $11.00. So, today we went and bought a hard plastic swimming pool (so Stella could swim to without popping it).
Yesterday, my college roomie came down for a wedding. We had the pleasure of watching their 2 children for them. We had a lot of fun and so did the kids. I added a few pictures of our evening together.
We have our first day of summer gymnastics tomorrow. My fingers are crossed for Brennan. He's just got to do it once... he'll love it!

A lot of Random and the Cherry Festival

Finally. These pictures have been awaiting exposure. There are a couple of Maya's last day of class, B and M thinking they need to protect themselves from the raining sprinkler, my high school girlfriends and a bunch of the cherry festival. Saturday morning Adam took part in the 5K (3+mile) race ending with a 25:33 time. Pretty good for an almost 36 year old man. The kids and I walked the 1mile. The pancake breakfast then followed. Yummy.
Later in the afternoon we hit the festival. Maya had a blast, taking in as many rides as she could. My parents and brother came over, so they were subjected to some rides. Brennan was tired. He only requested the slide ride, a balloon and a snowcone.
This week starts the big garage sale. I was probably 80% ready, however I moved everything around to get the car in the garage today, since we are supposed to get some bad storms. Hopefully garage sale hours have decent weather. I know I asked for it, but damn it's hot outside. I'll have my California tan before I hit California.