8 posts tagged “brian”

Brian's on his way to pick me up from work, so in lieu of doing actual work while I wait (as if), here's my lowdown.

• My main floor bathroom has now been officially gutted.  I moved out yesterday* so every morning for the next month or so I'll be getting ready for work in the upstairs bathroom.  I'm going to miss listening to my beloved Fox & Friends from the kitchen TV, but being as it's temporary, I think I'll live.  Construction was supposed to start tomorrow, but our contractor guy had to take an emergency call from some mutual friends who have some kind of hole in their basement wall with water gushing in.  I suppose that is more important at the moment than my bathroom.
• My little guy left for church camp this morning.  He comes home on Saturday.  I'm not worried at all about him getting homesick, especially given that he went last year so this isn't his first time.  He's going to have a blast.
• Speaking of Joey, we signed him up for 3rd grade football in the fall.  How funny is that?  How funny is spending $132 on second-hand equipment for an 8-year-old?  Ack!  Thank goodness for Play It Again Sports!  But he really wants to play.  He weighed in at 74 pounds.  I'm curious as to whether that'll qualify him as a lightweight or heavyweight.  He's neither fat nor skinny, but he's kind of tall, so I'd guess on a team of 2nd and 3rd graders, he might be among the bigger ones.  I hope he doesn't get pummelled.
• Speaking of camp, Bailey goes on Sunday - the day after Joey gets home.  Our church camp is about 4 hours away, and I get to be one of the vehicles in the caravan taking them up there.  So my Sunday will go something like this: Go to church.  Leave for camp from church, drive 4 hours.  Help get kids settled in and hopefully say hi to a couple of friends up there.  Drive back home 4 hours, hopefully with a stop at Trader Joe's while passing through the Twin Cities.  Get home around 8 or 9 and crash, all the while thinking I should do some homework before going to bed.  But I'm going to let myself not do any.
• Speaking of homework, I have so much this summer it's not even funny.  I'm wishing right now that I'd have taken a clue from Hannah and taken the summer off.  There are too many other things to do, like go to Joey's baseball games and try to get my house ready for some of my girlfriends to come in a few weeks (I apologize in advance if the house looks like crap when you get here!!).  One class has me reading government regulations, which I expect to have to do for work, but it's kind of depressing to have to do it for school.
• I'm having a party on Wednesday.  You know those parties where you send out about 7 million invitiations to everyone you've ever met, and about 3 people come because the goal of the party is to sell stuff?  Yeah, one of those.  This party is for Norwex cleaning products.  The best part is that she wants to demonstrate the products so I really don't have to clean my house!  Woo-hoo!  I need some ideas for quick, easy hors d'oeuvre that don't look like they were quick and easy.  Ideas?

OK, I got a call that Brian's on his way.  See ya!

*I mean I moved all my makeup & stuff out.  I personally didn't move out of the house.  :)

I haven't done this in a while.

Today, I really don't loathe anything!  For real!  Today was a great day.

Today, I love:

• Pistachios
• My Yahoo Music playlist with hard rock songs from my high school/college days.  Think Kiss, G'n'R, Def Leppard, 80's/90s Aerosmith, Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Poison, Loverboy, Mr. Big, & Journey, as well as some various one-or-two-hit wonders like Warrant, Great White, Nelson, Extreme, etc.  And a few oldies thrown in for good measure, like BTO, Boston, and 70s Aerosmith.  I'm not kidding when I say it rocks!
• I'm getting a sense of direction as to where I want my career to go.  I'm not ready to make a move yet, but at least I know - or at least I think I know - which way I'm facing.
• As of this morning's weigh-in, I've lost 18 pounds!  Most of my clothes are too big for me!  This is kind of a double-edged sword.  Anyone want to donate to Mello's Hot New Wardrobe Fund?  I take checks.  I even take credit cards if you use PayPal.  I promise I'll post pictures.  No?  Oh well, at least my shoes still fit.
• Oh yeah, new shoes make me happy too.  I found a couple pair while out shopping last week.
• That people are actually starting to notice that I'm losing weight.
• Coffee
• Watching my husband have a grand old time with his new logsplitter.  Not your traditional Father's Day gift, but it sure makes him happy.  (I have to admit, it is rather mesmerizing to watch it split those logs.  I don't know why; it just is.)
• Feeling happy.  Those days off work really did wonders for my disposition.  :)  I feel like myself again.  I think I need to do this every few months.

Every Memorial Day weekend in Rochester, the Med-City Marathon takes place.  Until this year, I did not know that there is also a Med-City Half Marathon and a Med-City Kids' Marathon.  ("Med-City" is a nickname for Rochester, due to the fact that the Mayo Clinic is the backbone of the city.)  Tomorrow Brian will run the half marathon with his buddy Erik, and today Bailey ran the kids' marathon - which is actually 1.2 miles.

Brian's parents live in town and they came to watch Bailey run, as did Erik and his kids.  I think Bailey liked knowing that people came to see her run.  Brian's dad is a former Marine and has been a long distance runner for many years - and in fact has run several marathons in his younger years.  I think he's just tickled pink that Brian and Bailey seem to have both taken an interest in running.

I know most of the people who read this blog have no reference point for this, but doesn't Brian look great?  He's lost 47 pounds so far!  He's still hoping for 20 more.

Bailey did really well in her run.  She wasn't the fastest in her group of 4th graders, but I was still really proud of her for being able to finish the run, and in pretty good time too!  I'd love to see her continue to run.  She's already said she wants to do this next year, as has Joey (who didn't want to do it this year).

In Rochester, there's a big complex near the center of town called Soldiers Field.  There is no football field there, but there's a track, a couple of playgrounds, a golf course, a river, and the Soldiers Field Memorial.  It was built a few years ago as a tribute to soldiers from southeastern Minnesota who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

The walls are made of black polished granite, with bits of history etched in, in both pictorial and text form:

 

There are many, many pavers both inside and outside the memorial that commemorate those lost:

As I mentioned earlier, this city is fairly medically-minded; thus it's not surprising that one of the statues shows a medic & nurse providing aid to a wounded soldier:

Before we left, we discovered a display of two wartime cannons.  The first is a Howitzer that was placed into service in 1957 and retired sometime later.

The second is an Iraqi cannon that was captured during the Persian Gulf conflict.  How cool is it that it would end up  in Rochester, MN? 

The rest of the day was filled with more mundane things like going to Home Depot and planting flowers.  Things that need to be done, for sure, but I for one was really glad to have gotten the chance to go to the memorial.  I've been there before, but it never ceases to amaze me how many, many people have lost their lives for our country - so that we can have the freedoms we too often take for granted.  So thank you, veterans!

What I’m annoyed by today:

·      Cranky coworkers

·      Anemia – the exhaustion, headache, and coldness.  I’m going to take iron for a few days; eventually I should feel better.

·      My messy desk

·      Computer trouble that keeps me from doing my job and drives me to blog instead.

·      That the only color printer on this floor is under my desk and everyone and their brother knows about it and uses it, then expects me to drop what I’m doing and get their crap off of it.

 

What I like today:

·      The arrival of Season 3 of The Muppet Show in the mail yesterday!

·      That my kids still want to watch the Muppets with their parents. J

·      The bathroom cabinets we ordered have arrived at Home Depot.  We’re going to go get them tomorrow after work.

·      Pepsi Points – we’ve already gotten Bailey her own mp3 player and we’re close to getting one for Joey.  My coworkers are helping me amass bottle caps.

·      Interesting lab experiences – I spent 3 hours in the coag lab today and diagnosed DIC, Hemophilia A, and the effects of anticoagulants.  I like coag.

·      A local grocery store that gives out gas coupons – the good kind that actually make a difference in your total.  We get 1 cent off per gallon for every $10 spent.  On a $100 grocery bill (or $250 grocery bill but who’s counting), that can add up!

·      Homemade beef jerky.  Mmmmmm………..and for all practical purposes, sugar free too.  Try to find that in the store.

·      Diet Pepsi.  Lots of it.

·      Last but not least, my husband of 13 years – as of today!  Happy anniversary to us!

Allow me to recap my afternoon.

I left work around 2:00 because Bailey was in a play that her class was putting on.  I have to say, she's got some potential as an actress.  She was very natural in her acting, voice inflections, facial expressions.  A skill I've never had.  I was proud.  :)

Brian and I met at her school and afterwards, he went home and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things.  While I was in the produce aisle, a woman started talking to me about something she'd seen in the deli and how good it looked.  I agreed, it did sound good, and I went on my way.  As I finished the next aisle, I decided that what the lady was talking about really did sound good, so I made my way back to the produce aisle to get some portobello mushrooms.

As I was in the checkout line, my phone rang ("I could while away the hours, conferring with the flowers, consulting with the rain....." that is my ringtone.)  Brian was talking to me on his cell while simultaneously talking to his buddy Nelson on the regular phone.  Nelson was coming over later but he needed a cake to bring to some friends of his and could I pick one up?  As luck would have it, Hy-Vee had $5 cakes right inside the door and they let me pay for one and pick it up on the way out.  (Boston Cream cake...yum!) 

I got home and a bit later, Nelson came over.  He took his stocking hat off....displaying a completely shaven head!  It shocked me, but he wears it well.  Brian, for some unknown reason, wondered if maybe he should shave his head too.  They were concerned about getting my permission, which I found a little bit funny since while I'd ask Brian's opinion before changing my hair, I wouldn't ask his permission.  I didn't care...he can do what he wants with his hair.  And I'm all for spontanaeity.  It makes life fun!  Not like it won't grow back anyway, if he decides he doesn't like it.

So while I made my mushrooms*, Nelson took to my husband's head.  Brian wanted to chronicle the process from hairball to hairless.  Erego:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think?

I have to say, I don't mind it.  I might even like it - I'm not sure yet.  He kinda looks like he could beat the crap outta ya, doesn't he?  :)  He and Nelson are out now, doing who-knows-what....he had to make sure to wear a stocking cap too.  

Now, the kids are getting ready for bed, after which we will have some cuddle time while we watch an episode of The Muppet Show.  This is the good stuff.

*The mushrooms were portobello caps stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese, crab meat, and tiny shrimp with a dash of creole seasoning, sprinkled with parmesan cheese and baked.

Today is Laundry Day, and since I'm perpetually trying to catch up on homework this semester (ya snooze ya lose, and apparently even when you don't snooze, you lose....) so I asked Brian if he'd take care of the laundry today.  He agreed that he could do that.  But then he got a call from his mom that she has some firewood that he can come and take - and since we NEVER turn down free firewood, he's gone now for several hours.  As he left, he told me that there are actually only a few loads of laundry today since he'd done a load earlier in the week.  (Joey'd come home in a pair of lost-and-found sweatpants on Thursday [I think] so Brian washed them up.  Whenever we have something borrowed in our house, it's absolutely imperative that we return it ASAP, otherwise it disappears into thin air.)  So anyway, he told me that I'd have to take a study break here and there to keep the laundry going.  No problem - I actually don't mind laundry, especially when it's for a good cause like free firewood.

I forgot about the laundry for a bit (I was actually into my reading about food poisoning) but when I did go to change it, I made an interesting observation.  Brian had absolutely stuffed the washing machine.  See, his goal when doing laundry has always been to cram as much stuff into the machine as possible.  That philosophy has only been exacerbated by the purchase of our large-capacity washing machine.  I think it must go back to his college/pre-home-ownership days when it was advantageous to make as few trips as possible to the laundry facilities, because doing so usually involved twenty-mile treks in knee-deep snow, uphill both ways, carrying a full basket of clothes.

I, on the other hand, have a different objective when doing laundry, and that's to get the clothes as clean as possible.  And to not mix stuff that shouldn't be mixed.  Brian is pretty good about separating whites from darks, and taking delicates out of the mix (even though he won't wash them and that's fine as I'm somewhat specific about how my gentle cycle stuff gets washed).  I had to laugh as I put his load of darks into the dryer, and I also had to wonder if he'd been planning on putting that entire overflowing next basket of lights into one washerload.  I separated them into two loads. 

In the end, it probably doesn't matter how exactly the clothes get washed as long as they don't get ruined.  It's certainly not something that's worth bringing up to him, as I'm not about to risk him deciding not to do laundry anymore.  (Funny thing about men, when they decide that they're not going to do something, no amount of begging, nagging, cajoling, or explaining will do any good.)  It was just an amusing observation.  Besides, we've had that discussion before.

The last couple of days have been pretty slow in my life.  We did have the first day of school, which was probably the most traumatic for my school-district-employee husband.  The pictures didn't turn out that great, but trust me, my kids are adorable.

Some friends of ours are soon moving to DeKalb, IL and we're having a farewell party in their honor.  It's going to have a luau theme, so I thought that non-alcoholic pina coladas would be a fun appetizer.  Except I didn't have a good blender with which to make them.  But I'm such a good friend that I wielded my Bed, Bath & Beyond coupon and bought a new blender for the party.  It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I've wanted a good one for, oh, five years.

After BBB we went to Wal-Mart, mostly to get a few groceries for the pina coladas, and also so that I can make a tropical cheesecake for the above-mentioned party.  While we were in the cream-of-coconut aisle, Brian decided that we needed to get stuff to make ourselves some margaritas.  OK, who am I to argue with my husband?

 

So after the kids were in bed, we put it all together:

We're having these with Tyson Buffalo Chicken Strips.  Oh, yeah.

(The diet has gone a bit off track.  I'm trying.  Tomorrow is a new day.)

My birthday isn't for another couple of weeks, but I did get a present today.  Brian went out to return some movies we'd rented, and I was studying but noticed that he was taking a long time to get back.  He got a phone call just as he was getting home, so I didn't really get a chance to ask him, and wasn't really all that concerned about it.  Later on, he said to me, "You know how we are...."  I immediately knew (because we're in sync like this) that he was referring to our predispensation toward making impulse purchases.  Then he kissed me and was laughing - and of course, my next question was, "What did you buy?" 

"I bought something for you."

"What?"  (I'm thinking some candy, a bottle of pop, the little things he sometimes picks up for me.  Either that or he got himself something expensive and is going to try to play it off like it's something I wanted.)

"A birthday present for you."

"You mean something for you."

"No, something that's all for you."

"Hmm."

"Should I give it to you now?"

"Well, you can't tell me you bought me a present and then make me wait to open it!"

"OK, but it's not wrapped.  You'll have to close your eyes."

"OK."  (I'm thinking this sounds an awful lot like something Joey would do.)

"Are your eyes closed?"

"Yes...."  Into my hands goes an object.  I can feel that it's hard and rectangular, and feels like it might be a plastic box of some kind.

"What do you think it is?"

"A box."  (I'm terrible at guessing games.)

"Come on."

"I don't know.  Jewelry?"  (I knew it wasn't jewelry.  He never buys me jewelry.  If we'd known each other any longer than 3 months when we got engaged, he probably would've tried to talk me out of a diamond ring.  Or at least into one much smaller that what I got.  My advice: get your diamond during the 'I'm still trying to impress you' stage.  Mine isn't big, but it's bigger than the likely alternative.  Of course, if we'd known each other for longer than 3 months when we got engaged, I'd have asked for something bigger because I knew he had the money.  But I digress.....)

It wasn't jewelry.  It was an iPod nano!!  My very first mp3 player!  I'm very excited.  I've been saying for probably 3 years that I'd really like to get one someday, but didn't think it was something practical.  And that's part of what makes it so fun - to me, it's totally impractical.  To Brian, it is a practical gift, because he thinks it'll help me study better because I'll be able to tune (lol, no pun intended) stuff out.  Like noisy kids.

So I downloaded iTunes and put my Elton John CD on it, but that's as far as I've gotten so far.  I haven't downloaded any music yet - I'm not even sure where to start.  So cool - I've officially joined the 21st century!

In other news, Brian ran down the street to our friend's house because the top of his apple tree is on fire!  Apparently it's been struck by lightning.  At the time they called, the fire department was on its way to put out the fire.  We feel so sorry for them, ever since they bought their house it's just been one problem after another.  The roof leaks, the back tree got struck by lightning, and on and on.  We think maybe the previous owner torked off a witch doctor, who cursed the property.  Maybe their house was built over an ancient Indian burial ground.  I don't know, but I sure do feel sorry for them.

Well, it's getting late for this early bird, so I'm going to catch up on some other Voxes and  head off to nighty-night land.