It's a cheerfest!

You have to sing the title of this blog entry to the tune of "Do the Hustle"!

Did you? I certainly hope so!

The dog is staring at me, like he has some sort of plan, so I'll make this quick.

Maddie's "Cheerfest" is on Saturday, at 1:00pm. It is all happening at Kennedy Senior High School in Bloomington. She is really excited about it. I hope to get some decent pictures so I can post at least one on here. The uniform was insanely expensive, so I need to at least have pictures of her in it before she outgrows the thing. Besides, I will probably have to buy one in a different color next year. I will try to remember to take the video camera too. You just can't appreciate the train wreck that is a huge gaggle of little girls with no rhythm, with still photos. It's going to be very cute.

John: I will definitely email you some pictures, and maybe try to get some short video on my digital camera too.

Colt is disgusted with me, I better go now...if I know what's good for me.

Pupcicle

Colt curls up as tight as he possibly can when he naps on the couch. I don't know why, but I find it really amusing. He's such a tangle of elbows and feet.

He went "hunting" with Ben last week - off leash even! Ben said he was a good dog, but didn't actually do much hunting. He's still a baby, it will come to him.

Here we are!

It's been a while since I posted here, I know. We have been keeping very busy lately.
Thanksgiving went off without a hitch (Ben's dad asked me if I dropped the turkey on the floor - which I thought was pretty funny). The only slight mishap was with the sweet potatoes. I don't eat the things, so I don't know how many marshmallows to put on them. So, of course, I put too many. Not a huge deal, they just puffed up about 4 inches over the side of the dish is all. Before I could take a picture they deflated. It's too bad too, because we all got a good laugh out of it.

I have included a picture of the spread for your amusement. I don't know where Maddie and Ben were, but I got my Mom and my brother (Steve) in the picture at least.

I went shopping the next morning with Jennifer. We got the most amazing deals at Kohl's, but did pretty well at Herberger's, Gordman's and Gander Mountain too. We didn't head out until five that morning, and the crowds were actually not bad at all. Overall, it was lots of fun and I am finally getting in the holiday spirit. I think the fact that we got snow that morning helped. It just doesn't seem like Christmas without the snow.

My obsession and life focus right now is to get this house ready to put on the market. It haunts my dreams, people. If we don't do it now, when I have the time off work, then we will never do it. So I am trying to get everything in order to do that, and still get ready for the holidays. So far, so good. I am saving Maddie's room for last. Mostly because I fear that room. I am going to need a dump truck to clean that thing out! Kids, I tell ya!

Speaking of the house, I better run along. I have to get this place back in shape from the damage we do over the weekends.

Keep warm everyone!

Quiet before the storm

Good morning everyone! It's the day before my very favorite holiday and I can hardly wait! I'm hosting my very first Thanksgiving dinner at my own house. So far, the guest list includes my mother and brother, Steve - but that's not going to stop me from making way too much food. Who doesn't love turkey-day leftovers, I say?

Thankfully (get it?), I have a dining room table that has three leaves. So everyone can fit nicely around the table packed with food. Whether or not there will be room for their plates is another matter. :-P

The turkey is thawing in the fridge, and I have all the makings for a HUGE feast! My mom is making both pumpkin AND pecan pies - yum! Yeah, it's crazy how much food we are having. I am making sage stuffing for the first time tomorrow. I'll be making plenty of gravy to cover it up should it fall below the "delicious" bar. ha ha!

Ok, well the dog needs some time to reflect on the impending holiday so I better let him outside. Take care everyone, and have a REALLY GREAT Thanksgiving!

Good morning?

Hello everyone.

I worked my first night shift last night at Target. So far I like it a lot better than working days. We have a Playstation in the breakroom so a few of us played SSX Tricky on our breaks. It also helps that there are no customers and I can wear jeans!

I heard on the radio this morning that we are supposed to have a winter storm watch tomorrow morning. There was a lot of thick frost of everything when I was coming home from work this morning. I'm glad I have a garage to park in!

Ben, Maddie, and I drove around looking at trucks/cars yesterday. Ben is trying to get an idea of what he might like for winter. Not even close to deciding yet, but it was enough to give him some idea of what he might want. In the mean time, the Topaz is STILL running! That car is like the Energizer bunny. So far, so good!

I found out I get the 23rd and 24th off work, so I'm happy that I won't have to sleep through my favorite holiday. I can hardly wait! I just love Thanksgiving!

My boss is saying we won't have trucks to unload the 24th or 25th of December. Good news as well. I have started doing a little Christmas shopping here and there as well (as I type, Maddie is in the other room playing Legos and I can hear her humming "Deck the Halls"). Ha ha ha!

I better go get dinner started. Take care everyone, and if I don't talk to you before next week: Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

Our Blog has hatched

Ok, I just created this thing so we can blab about what is going on (or go into tirades, etc.) in our lives.
First, I want to thank Angie for showing me this site. THANKS ANGIE!

I'm sure everyone already knows, but Ben didn't take the job in Minnetonka and we are staying in Mankato. Which is good news, you know.
The holidays are coming and I'm starting to get pretty excited. I have to admit, a lot of my excitement is geared towards the shopping and eating aspects of the holidays. I realize I'm pretty gluttonous, but...well...I'll have to get back to you with an excuse.
The wedding date is set for October 14th, 2006 and we have not done anything in the way of planning yet. I have no really good excuse for that either, except that it's a little intimidating and I'm not certain where to start. I would like to focus on the holidays right now, once all the Christmas shopping is out of the way I will start making plans and forking out deposit money.
Speaking of money, I am switching to nights on the 13th and will most likely be working overtime through the rest of the season. The extra money will be really nice during the holidays. I just hope I get to spend enough time with family too.
I'll try to get Ben to post on here once in a while too, because he has news you can use as well ;- P