Cat Naps

As a mom of a ten month old, I find myself sneaking in a little nap whenever I can. There's so much more to do in a day, but unfortunately, the same amount of hours in which to get it done. Up until the end of spring, I was getting a wonderful, and standard, eight hours of sleep per night. Then the days started getting longer...and longer. So, I stayed up longer and longer, until I now only get six hours of sleep at night. It's not that Azra is keeping me awake at night - no, she's out like a log until 6AM rolls around. It's just that my garden needs tended to, and the book I'm reading is really good, and the bottles washed, and - did I remember to put the clothes in the dryer??

I've never been one for naps, but it's amazing how a 5-minute nap can re-invigorate you for the whole day when you're short on sleep. So, I've found myself squeezing one in at any opportune time: while nursing Azra, commercial breaks, car rides to the store while Chris is driving, and apparently, working. Since I forgot to bring my book to work today for reading material while pumping in the lactation room, I was especially bored...and sleepy. I thought to myself, I might as well multi-task and just rest my eyes for a second...

I feel so refreshed!

Note to self: Avoid leaning your head against the palm of your hand for extended periods of time. It makes hiding the fact that you just took a nap at work a little more difficult.

Shopaholic

My 9th grade year I went 180 days (yes, I counted) of never wearing the same thing twice. One-hundred eighty days!! I was proud of myself for the impeccable organization of my closet to insure the perfect rotation. It was the one thing I had going for me in an otherwise uneventful and scary first year at a new school. My wardrobe got me noticed. I'm hoping it was for all of the right reasons, but looking back, there was nothing "right" about the hot pink pleather pants. The cute boy in school called them my "hot pants," so, for the sake of my ego, I'll just pretend that he was indeed interested.

I loved to shop. I'm sure that I went at least once a week, and I never came home empty handed. My obsession was funded by the extra hours I put in at work, and I felt like it was a fair trade. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have worked so hard merely for adding unnecessary clothes to my closet. Live and learn, they say. Learn, I did.

Fast forward ten years later. I still love to shop, but I rarely allow myself the opportunity. In fact, I have acquired some very strange habits to help feed my hunger for shopping. It was just this morning, as I was filling up an online shopping cart at The Gap to later delete everything from said cart (more on that later), that I actually realized I had an entirely different type of problem.

Habit #1: Window Shopping

Okay, so perhaps this habit isn't an abnormal one. Just last night, I walked up to the doors of Coach, but didn't dare go in. I was like Charlie Bucket (from Willy Wonka) staring into a candy store, knowing full well that I couldn't afford what was inside. I don't need a Coach purse, nor do I have a strong desire for one. However, they are pretty and I could just picture myself walking around with one on my shoulder. I felt better for looking.

Habit #2: Try on everything in sight

I often go into a store and become overwhelmed by all of the pretty colors and soft fabrics so meticulously displayed before me. I fall in love with the whole collection, and I must have it! I begin grabbing everything that jumps out at me and walk back to the fitting rooms with more than is allowed in the room at once. I try them all on and keep anything that fits well. As I head back out into the store, something happens: one by one, I begin putting back my pile of must-haves until I'm left empty-handed. The employees, who were excited for all of the commission, are dumbfounded as I leave the store with no bag in hand.

It's like a shopping spree without spending the money. Somehow, it's refreshing.

Habit #3: Buy it all, return later.

Depending on my mood at the time, the above scenario could go very differently. Instead of returning everything to its proper place, I pile it all on the cashier table and whip out my money. At this point, both the employee and I are feeling pretty good about ourselves. She, about all the money I just spent, and I, about my beautiful new things. That is, until I get home and look through it again. Within a week, I return every single thing. Do you think they keep their commission? I sure hope so. If not, they'll probably ban me from their store in the future.

Now, this isn't a weekly occurrence, but it does happen the rare times I do go out to shop. My priorities have shifted to saving, paying off my debt, and Azra; not how good I look. With goals in sight, I can hold off on a new wardrobe. It's not to say that I don't get jealous when Chris comes home with a bag of new clothes for himself, but for now, window shopping will do.

Month One: Joys of Parenting

It's hard to believe that our little girl is one month old today! Here she is doing her one-month birthday dance:

It seems like it was only yesterday that she entered into our lives (very painfully, I might add! :) ). I've truly enjoyed the last four weeks home that I've had with her, and I'm so glad that I have another eight left before I have to leave her for work.

After making it through month one, here are a few of the lessons I have learned about parenting:

1. Moms don't wear sweats and a ponytail sans makeup because they're lazy, it's due to being interrupted by the baby every time you're about to step foot in the shower.

2. You either quickly learn how to feed both you and the babe concurrently, or you don't eat.

3. The three changes per day due to spit up, pee, and other baby excrement are not only the baby's clothes being changed. Note to self: Triple check the fit of the diaper before sitting your baby on your lap. Assume all wet spots on your leg are baby pee and not spilled water.

4. Purchase a large computer hard drive before the baby's arrival. We hit the 300 photo mark by only the third day of her life. It'll take me weeks to pare down and organize all of the photos!

5. Looking into her big blue eyes makes you forget about your lack of sleep, cute clothes and good looks that went out the window when she came into this world.

Coupon Crazy

I think I'm coming down with whatever illness my grandma has that causes her to shop for things simply because they're good deals. It's not that I'm buying things that I don't need, perhaps just things that I don't need now. But I'll need them someday, and I'll be able to find them in my neatly organized "grocery store" the day I do (now if that doesn't sound like a spitting image of Grandma, then I don't know what does!). I stumbled across a great site for coupon cutters called Fabulessly Frugal and now I am absolutely addicted. It gives a breakdown of somes uses for current coupons and sales that can often get you items for a huge discount, or even FREE! My lovely husband was nice enough to go along for the ride tonight (and even dig through the gross recycle can for some coupons I accidentally tossed) to humor me. He was a good sport, so I bought him a Twix bar...I had a coupon for it!

So here's tonight's breakdown:

OfficeMax -

HP 2 pack Black Ink: $26.99

Used 20% paper bag & $10 coupon from OfficeMax mailer

Saved: $15.40

Final Price: $11.59

Target -

Venus Embrace Razor: $7.94

Gillette Fusion Razor: $7.94

Gillette Shampoo: $3.59

Poptarts: $1.92 (on sale for $1.46)

Apples: $1.10/lb

(2) 10ct Bic Pens: $2.00

Used (2) $2.00 off razor coupons plus a coupon for FREE shampoo with the purchase of the Fusion, a $1.00 off coupon for 1 lb of apples (i.e. FREE apples), $0.75 off Poptarts, and (2) $1.00 off the purchase of two Bic products.

Received a $5 Target gift card for purchasing the two razors.

Saved: $11.80

Final Price: $12.64

Walgreens -

Softsoap Body Wash: $3.99

Conair Brush: $2.99

Huggies Wipes 216ct: $7.99

Flintstones Vitamins (my favs!): $7.99

Used a $2.00 and $1.00 off coupon for the vitamins and a $2.00 and $1.50 off coupon for the wipes.

Received $6 gift certificate for purchasing the body wash and brush (i.e body wash FREE and brush only $1!).

Saved: $12.50

Final Price: $10.47

Original Cost for Everything: $74.31

I paid: $34.70

I never would've thought that I could get things for free! Being the huge nerd that I am, I find that super exciting and the shopping experience was pretty fun f or me. I can't say the same for Chris, though. Especially since I had to split the Target and Walgreen purchases so he could first buy the items which got the gift certificates so I could then use the certificates on the rest of the purchases. Grandma would be proud, I'm sure!

And what makes me an even bigger nerd? My handy dandy receipt/coupon organizer. It's original intention was to provide me one spot to keep all of my receipts. I'm notorious for returning things without them, and it drives Chris bonkers. Now I know exactly where to find them, and there was even room left for all of my fun coupons!

Is it super lame that I'm looking forward to the ads and coupons that will be arriving with my newspaper this Sunday??

**Update**

I just returned from HyVee for my Sunday grocery shopping and ran across another awesome deal! Glade Fabric & Air Freshener on clearance from $5.39 to $0.50! I did a double-take too! I stocked up and came away with 12 bottles (although I don't know if I'll ever need that many!).

Original Cost for all 12: $64.68

I paid: $6.00

Restaurant.Com

I recently ran across this great deal at Restaurant.com:

I've never previously used the site myself, but I've heard everyone else talking about it. At $2 per $25 gift certificate, who could pass it up?! All you need to do is set up an account on their website and purchase away. I left their shop with four $25 gift certificates for a grand total of only $8 - I couldn't believe it! With my parents relocating soon to Omaha, I thought I'd buy a few for restaurants there so we could try out some new places. These are the gift certificates that I went with: Billy's in Lincoln, and Bistro 121, Lit, and The Melting Pot in Omaha. Unfortunately, there weren't too many restaurant options that I was interested in here in Des Moines, but luckily I found some for great restaurants when we travel. The gift certificates are good for one year so be sure to stock up if you have plans to hit KC, Minneapolis, etc!

This great deal ends tonight! Be sure to head here and get some for yourself!

SuperFreakonomics!

I love to read - particularly non-fiction. I've usually got three books going at once, and although it may take me awhile to get through them when I'm busy, they are conveniently located throughout the house so I can pick one up when I have the time. I always get the question of how I can read multiple books at once. To which I say, "How do you keep track of the 10 TV shows that you watch per week?" Your response: "Touché."

Current Reads

In my purse (for the bus ride to/from work): Eat, Pray, Love

--An interesting telling of a divorcee's year in pursuit of travel and happiness. The whole part in India bored me, but overall it's a good read so far.

On my nightstand: Lies Across America

--I'm only about 20 pages in, but thus far it's an astonishing account of the multiple historic sites, statues, plaques, etc that speckle our country and how they often misrepresent what actually happened. One fun fact from it: The "birthplace of Abraham Lincoln" which tourists so often visit was actually built 30 years after his death!

And, I'll admit it - in the bathroom :) : Lies My Teacher Told Me

--Again, I just started this one. It's by the same author, but it's far less intreguing so far. Same premise as Lies Across America, except this one talks about history textbooks. Perhaps it gets better as you go along, but I usually don't spend more than a page worth of time in there (because you were just dying to know!).

The best part is that I got these, and many of my books at garage sales for a whole 50 cents each! They're in like new condition and I can take my time on them if needed rather than be restricted by the library due dates. Although I do still frequent the library when a book comes out that I just have to read. I'm getting on the list for this one as soon as I can:

The first book was awesome and I can only imagine that this one will be even better. The authors even have a blog on the New York Times website to keep me happy during the interim between their books. Make sure to check out Freakonomics - I'm sure you'll be waiting in line for SuperFreakonomics if you do!

Freebie Bouquets

Check out the assortment of bouquets beautifying my humble abode:

A few orange-tipped roses on the dinner table-

Some tiny purple orchids in the entryway-

And these beautiful purple and green orchids gracing the stand in our front room-

No, it's not my birthday, or anniversary. Would it surprise you to learn that these weren't even from Chris? (Well, not me, considering he gave me a bag of flour for our first Valentine's Day.) They're actually from my friend's wedding two weeks ago, and the last two bouquets are still holding on! They gave away all of the ceremony and reception flowers to me and some other friends who stuck around until the end. I felt a little bad for taking them, but when else would I have such expensive flowers filling my house? If only I had visitors so they could be admired by my guests. :) She had a stunning Indian wedding - I sat mesmerized the entire time by everything happening in the ceremony. Even though it was all in Sanskrit and I had no idea why she was throwing rice over her head or holy water on her forehead, it was beautiful nonetheless. Hopefully I'll get some pictures up soon for some proof!

Real Simple for $5?!

My favorite magazine is about $4 at the store for one issue. My usual course of action while waiting in a checkout line is to glance through all of the magazines while Chris unloads and pays for everything. Now I can count one less magazine off my must-read list while in line because I just got a year subscription for Real Simple for only $5!!! What a deal! And I know that the yummy recipes and organization tips will come in extra handy with Curtis keeping me busy!

Check out this deal for yourself here.

Auf Wiedersehen

After much deliberation, I have come to the following decision: Kylee Wagner is no more.

Introducing: Kylee Brock.

I have officially began the tedious process of changing my name. There was a slight hold up due to me having no clue where my marriage license is and therefore having to send for a new one. I then have to bring the certificate to the DMV for a new driver's license which I can then take to the Social Security office for a new card. After the new card arrives, I can then begin the horrendous work of changing everything in my past 25 years to my new name.

And here arrives my beef with Google: make it easier to change your name! While I should be counting my lucky stars that I don't have to resort to kyleebrock22682698326 for an email, I am still annoyed to no end that I can not have kylee.brock. Yes, I am that anal that brock.kylee is going to drive me nuts for quite sometime, but I'll get over it eventually. Issue #2 - Google makes it extremely difficult to transfer my Google Reader, Blogger, etc to my new email. It would be super helpful if I could just change my Gmail account and everything else Google related would transfer right over. Instead I'll have to keep my old account open for eternity as it is the original admin of my pages.

But back to the names. I was said to say "Auf Wiedersehen" to my nice, simple, German name until I did a little research this morning. Chris can still be proud of his fancy Irish heritage, but I'm happy to report that Brock is indeed a German name! You see, way back in the day, the Saxons from Germany migrated to modern-day Ireland and England. With them, they brought the Brock surname. Although, I must add that it's not going to be so glamorous having the last name Brock as it's the Saxon word for badger.

And just in case Chris decides to throw his McDonald name in my face (the last name he should have, if his ancestor hadn't been adopted by the Brocks), then I'm ready with another curve ball: McDonald is actually Scottish, so you can kiss your luck of the Irish goodbye!

TMI?

So this might be a bit of an overshare, but I have no shame. I ran out of clean undies so I used some leggings as a substitute. Is this more acceptable than going commando? Would you throw the leggings away afterwards, or is it no different than undies if I were to wash them? Either way, I'm sure every time you see me in leggings now you won't be able to stop yourself from being grossed out. :)

Prenatal Exercise

I recently scored a handful of prenatal workout DVDs on Craigslist for $10. I still go to yoga once a week, but I wanted to do something more. I figured that I could shoot for one DVD workout (except for yoga nights) per night, knowing that every other night would probably be more realistic. So far I have tried two of the videos.

The first is Shiva Rea's Prenatal Yoga. It is rather long at 90 minutes (including the 30 minutes of relaxation at the end). I have a short attention span and a general distaste for non-sport oriented workouts, so this was definitely a little long for me. I found the balancing poses to be challenging and fun, it was the only thing that kept me going.



The second is Prenatal Pilates on the Ball. This one was definitely more up my alley. I can appreciate the focus, breathing and balancing learned in yoga, but pilates just seems like more of a workout. I own a set of non-prenatal pilates DVDs that I loved, but they were too ab-centric to be of much use to me at a time when it hurts to utilize my abs much. This DVD was a really great workout, and Chris even gave a go at one of the exercises and thought it was difficult. It says that you need a balance ball and exercise bands, so I picked up a cheap ball at Target and substituted dumbbells for the bands. I must say that it was rather tough with the dumbbells, but at least I could feel a burn which is much more motivating. I might even continue this DVD after the birth as it worked a lot of areas which often get overlooked in other workouts.

Now that I have the exercise ball, I actually find myself using it everyday. I had previously read some things about substituting the ball for a chair as it provides a small workout on your abs and improves posture. I'll take any chance of an ab workout at this point, so I've happily traded in my comfy spot on the sofa for a seat on this:

Maybe after the baby arrives then all I'll be left with is a hot six pack? A woman can dream...

P.S. - I've made the Baby Journal public for any family/friends that have even a slight interest, although I understand if you don't. :) It's http://bisforbrock.blogspot.com or you can just click the link on the right side of the posts on this page to take you there!

Chuck Norris

I recently stumbled upon the "Chuck Norris Fact Generator" for iGoogle. I was so excited to add this to my homepage, and even more so when I found that today's Fact of the Day was something nerdy that I could appreciate:




I know that some people aren't math nerds like myself, so to explain: division by zero is not possible....unless you're Chuck Norris, of course.

Confessions

Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It has been three days since my last shower. I secretly believed that it would be no big deal for me to continue this streak until after my last exam on Friday, but I do have to go into work today, so I thought it would be best to make time for a quick one this morning. Just in case the perfume is no longer covering my odors. I can barely find the time to eat during the day, let alone take the time for pampering such as cleanliness. I've been sans makeup and sporting a pony tail the whole week, which I'm sure gets some attention at the office, but they're all actuaries too, so they understand.

Yesterday I put in an impressive 12 hours of studying. I went to bed and started dreaming in math:

I guess that means I shouldn't have been sleeping after all. So, I got out of bed to study some more and topped out at a record-breaking 14 hours of studying for the day. If only that were enough. As it is, I've got less than 24 hours until the big hurrah, and I'm typing in between bites of oatmeal - then back to the books! I've realized that given my extended leave from the blogging world, that I have a lot to catch up on. Therefore, I declare next week to be Days of the Week Posts Week. You know, like the days of the week underwear. Sadly, my posts aren't reusable -- they're not that entertaining! But like the underwear, they can be used any day of the week, which therein defeats the purpose of the days being written on them. Who came up with that idea anyway? Ok, enough about underwear and back to studying!!

My Life Lately...

I have been killing myself studying like a mad woman as my actuarial exams are only one week away. EESH! Nine hours of studying per day is just not good for the body, or soul! I'm self-diagnosing myself as having carpal tunnel syndrome as well as a strong aversion to sunlight as I haven't seen any in quite some time.

There's so much that I want to post, so hopefully the weeks after my exams will be full of updates. Until then, enjoy the sunlight and beautiful weather without me!

Hunger-Induced Insomnia

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night dying for a snack? Please say it's not just me. Last night was one of those nights. I awoke at 3.00AM, in desperate need of something delicious, and without the ability to fall back asleep. Besides being hungry, I've been cursed with a horrible cold and every time I wake up to blow my nose, it seems I nearly scare Chris right out of the bed. Wanting him to have a good night's sleep, I headed downstairs to the couch and the trusty TV.

It seems that I've been out of college far too long to realize that there is absolutely nothing on TV at 3 in the morning. My choices were as follows: Bobby Flay talking about vegetarian BBQ on Food Network (barbecued tofu? no thank you!), ab infomercial on 49, ab infomercial on 50, ab infomercial on 67...you get the picture. I thought that I could at least count on E! for some horrendous reality show at any time of the night, but even they had succumbed to some Ron Popeil or Chuck Norris new-fangled-crap-that-you-must-own sales pitch. Here's an idea: try selling something which will most appeal to the viewing public at 3 in the morning - how about a cure for insomnia? Maybe it's just me, but trying to get me excited about a fancy new machine to give me a six pack in just 2 minutes a day is just not what I'm interested in at that hour. Try me again at 3 in the afternoon while I'm sitting on the couch eating a bowl of ice cream - then I'm sold!

Speaking of infomercials, I never thought they could be so interesting. I caught an episode of a new reality show called Pitchmen. It follows Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan through their attempts at finding the best new infomercial product. It's actually quite a bit more intriguing than I imagined it could be. Besides, I'll take Billy Mays over the lame ShamWow guy any day. Especially when he looks like this:

Looking good Mr. ShamWow, looking real good.

Yoga For The Unbalanced

My trainer on Wii Fit says my balance needs work. I disagreed, and I believe that’s part of the reason that I shoved the balance board under the couch never to be seen again. I’m fully aware that I look more like a 5-year-old ballerina than a limber yogi (that’s one who practices yoga, not the bear) when I’m attempting the Tree Pose. Here's me:

And yes, the ballet barre would certainly help, but I’m still not so sure I could rest my foot against my thigh instead of my ankle. What? You want me to raise my arms above my head as I’m attempting to balance on one foot? That’s not gonna happen.

I know what you’re thinking: why in the world would I begin yoga classes if I can’t even take the criticism from my Wii Fit trainer? I started prenatal yoga last night as an attempt to be more "in tune" with the baby, and what a better time to dare such an attempt than one when I’m supposed to lose balance throughout the nine months my stomach is expanding?! At only 17 weeks, one would probably just make the mistake of thinking I eat too much ice cream (which may be so), so I can hardly blame the balance issue on the babe. And here there are very very pregnant women showing me up! I always hear that you’re supposed to lose balance when you’re so far along, and yet they were doing a perfect tree pose, arms raised and all, and I could barely balance without my arms raised and my foot on my ankle rather than my thigh. Imagine the fun had by all in attendance (but me, of course) as they got to see my beautiful attempt at a tree pose. I’d like to think they were too focused on their pose and breathing technique that they didn’t notice, but a stomp to the ground each time my raised foot hit the floor to catch myself from falling surely would’ve awoken them from their deep meditation.

It’s a bit of a stretch for me to join a yoga class given I have a strong distaste for exercising unless it serves a purpose (i.e. sports). The last five minutes were spent doing the Matsya Kridasana relaxation pose (Matsya Kridasana translates to “flapping fish,” which may make it more enjoyable now that I found that out). Basically the time is just spent laying on your side, focusing on your breathing. However, instead of relaxing, I spent my time looking around the room, wondering if the pose would be finished after the song ended (sure enough, it didn’t).

Overall, the class was a great experience, even though I definitely need some work. Perhaps this will inspire me to become a yoga expert and gain muscle tone that even Madonna would envy.

Life as an Actuarial Student

There is a room at work just for actuarial students designated for studying. I refer to it as the dungeon – a term that I think is even going easy on the wretched place. The outside of the room is so unassuming that no one even knows it’s there. It’s hidden behind two heavy metal doors, which, once opened, you’d turn around and run if you could.

Upon entrance you’ll notice a sea of grey – cubicles, walls, even the carpeting. It’s enough to depress even the happiest person should they spend some time in there. The room has around 30 cubicles squished into a space no bigger than my bedroom. There’s a handmade motivational poster on the front wall which encourages you to “Study Like a Champion Today.” Some poor soul who knows the torture of spending hundreds of hours in there wrote beneath it: “…and tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.” It’s clearly not the best place to spend your mornings and evenings.

The only thing that gets me through is the snack shelf towards the back. Newly designated FSAs (aka actuaries with all of their exams passed), who are so ecstatic that they never have to spend another minute in the room, gladly pile up goodies every exam sitting to help ease our pain. I’d like to blame the fact that I make many a stop to the snack shelf due to my being pregnant. However, I’m pretty sure that I’d make just as many stops had I not been. It’s full of goodies like popcorn, pudding, candy bars, etc (the kind of stuff I would never buy for myself) that just calls out my name. All too frequently I listen. I try to choose a time when no one’s looking, but someone always catches me. So, I make my way back to my desk to enjoy my treat, but there’s just one problem:

The room is deathly quiet. So quiet that you can hear someone chewing a banana (or at least I feel like it when I eat mine every morning). So quiet that dare you choose to bring an apple as a snack, the guilt alone from the crunchy noise of you eating makes you exit the room and eat it outside the doors. It is so quiet that they pump in white noise just to give us something to listen to so we don’t go crazy. But I do go crazy! I watch the clock, counting down the minutes until I can leave, only to return in the afternoon. So, while you all enjoy the weather, crafts, TV shows, or cooking this afternoon, just remember poor old me sitting in the dungeon at my desk. I'll have my slippers on (hey, I’ve gotta be comfy if I’m spending that much time in there!) and a tear rolling down my face as I know I'll have to do it all over again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that...

The Life of a Bus Rider

Have you ever sat next to someone on the bus who you just want to punch in the face, but refrain either because a) you don't want your mug shot showing up on the 6 o'clock news, or b) it's just not nice? Today the thought crossed my mind. The lady sitting next to me decided the bus ride home was the best time to go through her ring tones and find a new tune to hear when her daughter calls (which is probably never because she looks mega boring and talks to herself). I get that on the bus you have all the time in the world to accomplish the things you keep putting off, but now is just not the time to subject everyone to hearing beep beeps to the tune of Ten Little Indians. Why don't you join in with your fellow elders and bust open a cheesy romance novel with a Fabioesque man on the cover.


Or better yet, take a nap like Mrs. Wrinkles there in the back. Sure she smells, but if you sit towards the front then you hardly notice. Which, while I'm on the subject, is more than I can say for the others.

I ride with nice enough folk in the morning: men in business suits, ladies talking about the weather. How is it that these people are never on my bus ride home?! It seems no matter which time I leave, I never catch the morning-folk on the ride back. How in the world can the evening-folk smell like corned beef and rotten eggs? And don't get me started on the g-pa (I use this word in the exact way it should be used) who looks eerily similar to Charlie Bucket's grandpa except chooses to wear sagging yellow wind pants, Timberland shoes, and an oversized puffer coat. Seriously, what seventy year man even knows these clothes exist?

Who would have thought that I could have rambled on and on about the bus? Don't get me wrong, this is a far better class of people than those you'll find on the Lincoln buses, but it doesn't take much to beat those Lincolnites. I just never thought I'd see a 70-year-old thug. At least the bus leaves me with stories to tell instead of ranting about the traffic if I chose to drive to work instead.

A Day in Pictures

What a day - and it's only 4:00. Up 'n' at 'em as usual, Chris and I tackled some morning chores and then got down to some deep cleaning. It's a gorgeous day out and we were ready to take advantage of it. I made us a hearty breakfast of strawberry crepes and then we were off! While Chris handled the manly chores like cleaning the yard and garage, I got down and dirty in the house. Put a little music on for me, and I can clean like nobody's business.

First things first, I deep cleaned the french doors and then left them open for Lola and Trio to roam around outside. Even Lola must have been in the cleaning mood because she took advantage of the towel I laid down and wiped her paws upon entrance.


Of course I had to stop the cleaning a few times to keep an eye on the kids. Trio's exceptionally reserved about the outdoors, so I was surprised to see him investingating the backyard with Lola.
I know what you're thinking, but yes, our cat is the size of a small dog. In fact, Lola and Trio are the exact same weight - a healthy 17 lbs. :)

After finishing the doors, I moved on to cleaning the inside of the fireplace and then I was off for more misadventures in the kitchen. The oven had been running on self-clean all morning, and just as I was getting ready to bake, I noticed that the latch wouldn't budge from the lock position. I was in the middle of making Runzas. How do these babies look?!


If you answered beautiful, then you would be correct. Once Chris got home from some errands, he was able to unjar the door (I guess it just needed a man's touch) so I could proceed with cooking my masterpieces. They turned out golden brown and delectable, as expected.


After chowing down I was up to the master bath to lay down a few more tiles. Those suckers are are much more difficult than HGTV makes it seem! We started last night by laying down all of the ones that didn't need cut. We got those done in an hour and were having the time of our lives. Then came the tricky part: cutting the tiles to perfection. It seems like each one takes an hour. I was working with a particularly tough cut for around the vanity and got a nice straight cut along with numerous blisters. The only thing keeping me going was the lady across the street.

I haven't met many of my neighbors yet, so I don't really know her story. From my second story window it seemed that she was 60ish and kooky. My ears first perked up after hearing someone repeating "tweety" in a sing-song voice. I got up to spy out of the window just to see her return inside. A couple of minutes later, she returns singing "tweety bird" over and over. I look out again and she's just sitting on her front porch looking up at a chirping bird. I hope that she soon moves on to a nursing home (*cough* psych ward *cough*) so we have a shot at getting a neighbor our own age and sanity level.

Riddle of the Day:

What does it take to be able to walk across the street in 27 degree weather with nothing but a long sleeved shirt and simply feel refreshed by the cool breeze?

Answer: Living in below zero temperatures for a month straight. Seriously, I'm ready for spring, so let's hurry it up!

Okay, so that wasn't a great riddle, so I'll give you one for the road:

Why do people who work in customer service find it too much to ask to shower and deodorize themselves before coming to my house to look at my pipes? Mr Plumber finally made his appearance yesterday after standing us up two nights in a row, and now we're wishing he wouldn't have. The shower in our master bathroom not only has a leak, but also the lowest water pressure I've ever experienced. Is being able to wash more than just my left foot in any given position in the shower too much to ask?!

So, back to Mr Plumber. He smelled as if he left his ham sandwich sitting in one of his fat rolls too long, and he was so big that we had 911 on speed dial in case he went into cardiac arrest after making it up the stairs. Not only did he have to walk upstairs to our bathroom, but also down two flights to check out the pipes in the basement. To top it off, I'm convinced that he had no clue what he was doing and only took Chris' word for it. I wanted a professional opinion and estimate, not an agreement with someone who doesn't know what he's doing. I guess we should have known when he went to the wrong house to begin with. We have big house numbers sir, how hard can it be?! Needless to say, we won't be going with Mr Plumber for his services. However, I don't think he'll be disappointed because frankly, those stairs were just too much for him.

Oh crap. That wasn't a riddle either...