MIA means Meditating in Aqua.

Wanna know why I haven't posted a blog in a few days? Yeah? This is why...

It is fricking amazing here! See all that blue sky? 10 am and over 70 degrees outside...Spring has finally found the state of South Dakota (my letter to Mother Nature must have garnered some attention) and I am in full Spring Fever mode. Take me to the doctor...in fact, make me walk on my own because it is just too nice to be crammed inside today (and yesterday, too!).

And, as if you couldn't tell, I am adoring this blue sky beautifulness...

I just wish my skylight were clean!

A letter...

Dear Mother Nature,

I have been patient with you even as I rubbed the sore muscles in my neck and back, chased after the dogs that wandered over, yes OVER, the fence, and attempted to make an edible meal out of the few ingredients we had left in our pantry.

I have tolerated your antics even when they have caused harm to the properties of my loved ones, shut down the schools causing the children to have to attend until June, and had me held prisoner in my own home.

I have defended you against those threatening to string you up on the nearest tree because not unlike a telemarketer, it is just your job.

I have allowed you to sow your wrath upon my town, my home, without so much as a slap on the wrist but this? This is intolerable and beyond what I can deal with. It. Must. Stop. Now.

They are telling me that you are dropping another blizzard on us in a few days. But not only that, you are going to shoot the sun right in our direction first so that we warm up to the 50-60 degree weather before dropping feet of snow on our doorsteps. Really? Must you be so much of a bitch? Is it really that necessary?

You have had all winter to lay the snow on our landscape. A constant few feet would have been appreciated. But did you take that opportunity? Nooooooo. You did not. Instead, you decided to laze around for a few days and allow the sun to do your work for you and then BOOM! slam us with 3, 4, 5 and sometimes in excess of 6 feet of snow at once. Why? Why do you hate us so?

We have always been on decent terms. Even when you are killing our crops with your droughts, we have stuck by you and defended your honor until we were allowed a few drops of moisture. But this? This is un.ac.ceptable. Seriously. You have laid over 20 inches of moisture on these already water soaked landscapes and now you want to add more?

We have not yet been completely plowed out from the FIRST blizzard. The SECOND blizzard piled more snow on top of the mountains we already had. Our plow crews are working as hard and as fast as a city crew can work and yet we are still barely able to make it to school and to work.

If you drop more snow on us this weekend, thusly making this a weekly occurence, we will not be able to dig ourselves out before fall.

I don't know if it is just your time of the month (they now make pills to deal with that, ya know) or if someone here just pissed you the hell off, but what I do know is that I am done dealing with your shit. Drop one more snowflake on this area of mine and I swear to you we will go on strike. You will not see a single face, a bared arm, a living body out in your "beautiful horizons" for a long, long time. I swear to you. We will stay indoors and death be to you, Mother Nature. Death be to you.

Sincerely,
Pissed off in Snowville...

Are you there, J... *enter sound of crickets here*

Where the hell have you been, young lady?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Absent. For over a week. Gone. Disappeared. Not a single word written to let you know where I was or how I was doing. Nothingness. *sigh*

My excuse?

Oh. Um, I was busy. Am busy. Still. Not a moment of rest for this beyond tired soul. *sigh*

But, its Friday! Holy shit, I have never been more happy to see a Friday come in my entire life. :) I am ready for the weekend baby. Bring. It. On.

Ready for the run-down? Take a deep breath. You may need it. Cuz I have pictures. Yep. Pictures. Yippee for you.

THURSDAY, MARCH 19TH...Shopping for Materials.

Wood, insulation, $350 on the Menards Credit Card, super late when we got home, ruts in the soft grass from driving on it. Ugh!

FRIDAY, MARCH 20TH...Night out with My Girls.

Several text/pix messages about what I should wear (because I guess I am a girl and can't make that decision on my own), two Strawberry Daquiris and a Sex on the Beach down the gullet, two games of darts and $5.00 lost, ice in places it shouldn't be. Fun!

SATURDAY, MARCH 21ST...Remodeling Galore!

Lady K. came over, we emptied out the rooms completely and then framed out two outside walls, one inside wall and a closet. Hard Work!

SUNDAY, MARCH 22ND...Yell Until You Are Hoarse!

More small remodeling touch-ups, Birthday BBQ with the neighbors, rush to pick up Miss Insanity's daughter, rush to Girl Scout Cookie Booth location, stand in sun and yell until hoarse, send sick child home, finish up sales and pack up booth. 201 boxes of cookies sold in three hours. Whew!

MONDAY, MARCH 23RD...Thanks for Spreading It!

Miss Insanity informs me that all three of her children have Strep throat, school canceled due to impending bad weather, daycare closed due to infection, called in "can't come" to work, stay home with sore throat and laziness. Yuck!

TUESDAY, MARCH 24TH...Impending Doom Hits Hard!

Blizzard shuts down the entire area, interstate closed, stores closed, high winds and no visibility, people unable to open their doors, let dogs out to pee and they walk right over fence via the 6 foot drifts and run away, vehicles under massive amounts of wet snow. Stuck!

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25TH...Escaped! But to what end?

We get out of the house, Hubby goes back to work, my office still snowed in, school still canceled, Teensy has bad sore throat again-take her to doctor, get prescriptions for her and me for Strep Throat, run Hubby back and forth to work because his car is still in 5 foot of snow, take Bubba to dentist appointment for a filling. Expensive Day!

THURSDAY, MARCH 26TH...Back in the Saddle!

Work until 2:30, rush to Cookie Cupboard to stock up on GS cookies for next cookie booth--they don't have them all, rush to grocery store to buy potluck item (Hummus and Pita Chips), go shopping at Kohl's...spend $200 and enjoy the retail therapy, rush to GS Leader meeting and Training Essentials Course (no one eats my Hummus), choke down Diet Coke since there wasn't anything else, head back home in snow and ice, call mom to check on kids--Hubby still at Town Hall meeting, pick up kids, unload 30+ cases of cookies, tuck kids in, wait for Hubby, rejoice over FREE membership to Community Center, wash new clothes, go to bed. Exhausting!

And that, people, leads me to today. Today, I am still trying to get caught up from three days out of the office, the car was dug out (causing some nasty back aches) just to find out that it was hydro-locked and thusly broken and needing to be towed and fixed, my living room is full of cases of GS cookies that need to be sorted into each girl and readied for tonight's Cookie Booth (which happens to conflict directly with a family Birthday Party), and the town is still covered in snowdrifts so high you can't see over them and narrow passageways that make driving difficult. *sigh*

Thank goodness it's Friday! I need a bit of a break, I think. And not one filled with bored, sick children and snow packed porches. A break that includes a few minutes to sit down and breathe in something other than the smell of cardboard and GS cookies.

Dear (insert things that make me mad)...

Dear Paycheck,

I would appreciate it if  you would pad yourself a bit to help out our financial situation (or at least to help pay for the $1400 dentist bill that will be arriving in my mailbox shortly).  Just add on an extra zero, or hell, just a few hundred bucks this time around.  I promise to work harder to deserve it.

Signed,

Slipping Further Behind.

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Dear Mother Nature,

I am not at all happy with the way you have been treating us.  Kindly pick up that white skirt you threw onto the ground during you most recent hissy fit and put it in the hamper it belongs in (namely, Alaska)! 

And stop huffing out wind at us, too!

Signed,

Freezing and Wind-blown.

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Dear dogs,

Please, kindly stay put in the backyard from the time I put you out there until the time I let you back into the house.  I am not interested in running all over the neighborhood in below freezing weather to chase your happy little ass down.  I do not have four legs and I suck at running.

SO STAY PUT!

I might even give you a treat...if you would stop pissing on the freshly cleaned carpets!

Signed,

Paper Towel Lady with a Cramp in her side.

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Dear e-mail,

I would prefer it if every time I clicked on the refresh button you gave me a new message to read.  Something.  Anything.  As long as it's not a horrible Viagra advertisement, I would be happy to see it.

Please work on that.

Signed,

Bored and clicking.

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Dear Dentist that performed my first root canal,

Go to hell and take my rotting teeth with you.  Take the $800 of hard earned teenage money I paid you to do your fricking job and shove it right up you fricking ass.  Because of you, I now have to pay another $600 to re-do what you have already supposedly done.  You should never have been able to practice dentistry.

So, eff the frick off.  I hope you suffer from a tooth infection!

Signed,

Pissed and Penniless because of you!

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And just so all's you internet folks know.  I totally stole this idea from another blogger who stole it from another blogger.  Hope they don't mind.  It was very helpful in lightening my mood.  :)

Snowy Day Activities!

The chica over at One More Fairy Tale decided that I should post a list of some Snowy Day activities and since I just found out that I will be staying home for at least one more day due to my office being inaccessible, I figured I would do just that.



The next time you are stuck indoors on a snowy day, here are a few things that you can do! The best part is that these things can be done even if you are all alone. :)

*Cuddle up in your biggest and softest comforter and pop in your favorite movie. Don't be afraid to sing along or speak all the well known lines. Let it take you back to first time you watched it.

*Pull a comfy chair over in front of the window, wrap your hands around a warm mug of cocoa and watch the world change as the snow cleanses it in whiteness. Revel in the beauty that surrounds us daily.

*Plant you butt on a heat register and start a new book. Take yourself out of the snowy world and into the life of someone else. If you are really daring...finish the book!

*Tackle that room that you have been cluttering up with everything that doesn't otherwise have a place. Organize and renew it and you will renew yourself in the process adding a sense of accomplishment.

*Pull out a notebook or a stack of paper and a black fine-tip sharpie marker. Doodle. Don't allow yourself to throw away the ones that you think are bad, even if you can't draw well, because they are an extension of you.

*Sit down with your computer and write a short story. Fictional or non-fictional, it matters not. Just let your creativity run out of your fingertips. Set it in a warm place to chase away the wintertime chills.

*Write a letter or note to someone you care about. Seal it in an envelope and lay it by the door so that you don't forget to give it to the recipient.



Hope that is what you were looking for, Princess! Cheers to the snowy winter ahead!

Blizzard update...

Well, it is now day three of the big Blizzard of 2008. The good news? We can get out! A loader came through our street last night at about midnight and cleared out a single pathway through the 10-12 foot drifts and dear hubby was able to get the van out this morning. The bad news, hubby took said van to work with him so the kids and I are essentially still stuck here because there is a drift that runs the length of the alley at a sold 8-9 feet high. Ugh!
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Our original plans for today included waking up late with overnight guests and taking the kids to see Madagascar 2 in the theaters. Tony had to go in to work early this morning to make up for the past two days off, our guests couldn't make it through the storm last night, the kids went to the neighbors yesterday leaving the dogs outside and both the doors wide open and therefore got grounded from the movie and we were nominated to pick up Dad from the airport. So...our day will not go as planned. :(

What is on the plans now? Finishing the cleaning of the back clutter room, picking up dad and maybe dinner out. Nothing fun. Maybe the fun will come tomorrow!
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I know, totally lame post today. I am just not really in a blogging mood but I am determined not to miss a blog day in November! Massive amounts of snow usually put me into a coma so I guess I am lucky to have gotten this much written! I will try to be back to my witty self tomorrow!

OMG...I had fun in the snow! What is wrong with me?

WHAT WE DID TODAY!!!

Coming through the tunnel daddy made.

Redneck Sledding...in a box! (we haven't purchased new sleds since they broke last winter)

Me and the Hubby out in the snow. Sun is shining but the snow is still here.

Playing in the snow after dark...Dear Hubby going down the "hill".

Me going down the "hill".

Bubba...it wasn't cold out, just got wet from the snow.

Teensy going down the "hill".

LOTS OF FUN!

A flurry of white...

Remember how yesterday I said it was snowing? Yeah. Well...that was a bit of an understatement! Check out the weather around my house today!

This is the scene at my front door at 6:45 this morning.

This is Teensy and Bubba playing in our backyard. We have a five foot chain link fence surrounding the back yard and the snow bank was taller than the fence!!!

My hubby, kids and I are sitting at home today just chillin. I have made homemade chicken noodle soup (totally from scratch!), hot cocoa, brownies and a strawberry smoothie. We have put in a new shelving unit and organized our board games and checked on an elderly neighbor. I took a very short nap after eating some lunch and watching Karate Kid II on tv. Amazingly the house is still clean and I even ventured outside into the blizzard conditions to play with the hubby and kids for a few minutes. I was sure I was missing out on the fun...but really I found I wasn't missing anything except frostbite on my face and snow in my boots! It's absolutely nuts here.

The kids just had brownies for their dinner and we ar about to play a game so I am going to get back at it. I just wanted to check in and make sure that I didn't miss a day of NaBloPoMo! I was worried this morning because I had no internet access!!!

Hope all of you in the blogosphere are keeping warm and toasty!

Hump day is here again...

It is totally Hump Day. Except it doesn't feel like the middle of the week or like we are heading into the down slide. It feels like the week is just starting! Argh!

The past week has been completely full of highs and lows and since I completely missed List Making Tuesday (what was I thinking!?!), I figured I'd make a list of the good the bad and the ugly for today's post.

THE GOOD
--I voted in the 2008 presidential election because I CAN vote! Go me!
--My hubby voted for the first time ever in his life! (Yeah, I know he's 28 and he voted the opposite of me but hey, I am still super proud of him for exercising his right and taking the privelege seriously.)
--OBAMA is president!!! Oh yeah! Ooh rah! Yay!
--I am, as we speak, simmering a pot of chili for dinner and it smells so yummy that my mouth is watering. (I may only be able to cook a few things but I do those few things really well and chili is definitely one of my strong suits!)
--I got an e-mail from my best friend in Iraq and she is alive and well and only has 4 1/2 more months of deployment.
--I got to pull out my old belly dance costuming and put it to use in a pirate costume for a Halloween party.

THE BAD
--My momma is going to be out of town until next Tuesday. :(
--I have a dentist appointment in the morning to get some cavities filled. (What can I say? Bad teeth runs in my family.)
--I had to leave work early on Monday because Miss Insanity's kid was sick and she couldn't take the daycare kids and my momma had a doctor's appointment herself.
--No new episode of HOUSE last night because of the election coverage on every fricking channel!

THE UGLY
--The WTF weather!!! It is fricking snowing! After a weekend of great weather and a picnic in the park, it is now blizzarding outside! Yuck!
--California, Arizona and Florida. They are ugly. Do you know what they all have in common? Yeah. A bunch of anti-rights mother f'ers that are causing this country to take 10 steps back in the civil rights department. Double argh!

So, yeah. That is about it. Now, I am going to go back to my chili making and getting the house ready for a slumber party on Friday! Lady K and her daughter, Missy K are coming to spend the night and watch movies and eat junk food with us. I am sooooo excited! Talk to all you in the blogoshpere tomorrow!!!

Needed a change...

I didn't get to watch the American Idol finale yet but becuase of another blog and what someone put on their MySpace mood, I know who won. David Cook. Yay!!! I am excited about that but I will still go home and watch the finale on my DVR so that I get the full effect of the wonderment that is him.

I didn't watch it live because I wasn't home. I was off getting my hair cut and doing the grocery shopping. I was looking for a drastic change and I sure as hell got one. But I think that I like it. Alot. Dear hubby is not quite so sure but it will grow on him and it will grow back. So here it is. Let me know what you think.

Here is me before...

And here is me after...

I think that it makes me look older and more mature but I have had varying opinions on that statement. One way or another, I like it. I was looking for a change (I do that every so often, color, cut, etc.) This is the shortest that I have ever had my hair and it has grown on me already. The only complaint that I have....I am freezing cold with the rainy weather outside today and no hair to keep my neck warm!!! I guess I'll have to take to wearing scarves! Oh yeah, a new reason to go shopping!!!

The reports are in...Dear hubby isn't quite sure what to think, Teensy says that it is pretty when it's short but does not want to cut hers short, Bubba gave me a big smile and liked it, co-worker laughed loudly but ultimately said it was different, older co-worker that wasn't expected to notice at all did notice tight away and said it looked good, boss's husband was caught saying I look like a movie star while on his cell phone headed out of the office.

Anyway, I have been watching my counter go up every day so I know you people are out there reading. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Until the next post...look for the little things (and the drastic changes)!

Where the hell did Spring go???

Am I wrong? It is May 2nd. Doesn't that mean that it's spring? WTF!!! This is what it looks like outside of my house this morning and let me tell you, it ain't pretty!! Yep. It's a blizzard! The power went off about a million times since yesterday morning and there is about 18 inches of snow on the ground at this moment. The Interstate is closed, schools are closed, every business in town is probably closed...so here we sit at home having a SNOW DAY AT THE BEGINNING OF MAY!!! What in the hell is wrong with this picture!?!?!

When I woke up this morning (to the sound of the phone ringing---it was my mom telling us that schools were closed! Yeah, duh! I mean, thanks, Mom. We appreciate the heads up!) the dogs needed to get out to go pee. I opened the back door just to find that the screen door WOULDN'T OPEN!!! I couldn't get them to jump out through the window (although I really did try!!!) so we all got bundled up (at 7:30 in the freaking morning!) to go out and shovel a path for the dogs to get to their peeing area. Believe it or not, we actually had a lot of fun out there in the snow even though it was so deep that Teensy couldn't really walk, Bubba lost a glove and we not only had to clean a path for the dogs but we also had to shovel off the trampoline because the snow was so heavy and wet that the springs were stretched to capacity!!! Sucky!The kids playing in the snow (above). Dear hubby getting out the shovel (below).

Here's my puppies...

Akira is so small that the snow covered her right up. She was so cold she was shivering!

Lasey hopped around in it like she was a rabbit! By the time we all went in, you would have thought she was a white dog instead of a black one!!!

So yeah, I guess that snowflakes are little things, right??? Just wait until you hear how I ruined dinner last night!!! For now I will be getting off this computer in case the power goes off again!!!

Keep looking for the little things!!! And send some Springtime sunshiny thoughts our way so that we can melt all of this white shit!