I'm SO sneaky!!

I got my hair done today!

It. was. wonderful.

I was the only customer in the place and I totally enjoyed it.

I figured if I didn't tell anyone that I was going, I would actually make it.
It worked!

I certainly needed it too. I worked my little fingers to the bone. It was really pushing it to get all the cakes done before I had to take off. It was either finish the last 3 cakes or do the dishes. I finished the cakes and apologized. I figured they would not really want to finish the cakes if it was easier to do the dishes.

I've been tagged by my sister.

Can you believe it?

What did I ever do to her?? OK, we probably shouldn't go there.

I am supposed to go to my picture file and go to the 4th folder and the 4th picture in the folder. I am supposed to explain the picture. Here we go.......drumroll please, dddddduuuuuummmmmmm,.......


This picture was taken on December 20th. We were opening all our Christmas presents before we left for vacation on the 21st. My DH was showing his excitement for his Walter Payton jersey. I had kept it hidden so he wouldn't know that he came in - he ordered it himself as my present to him - yah, yah, yah, I know, I take the easy way out!

Now, I'm tagging all my readers (yes, that means you over there with the chocolate in your hand and you hiding behind the chair) to see what they will come up with. I'm sure there are plenty of interesting pictures out there. So, go on, shoo, get going - you have some homework to do.

Hugs!

Jeanette

The stare down & no school AGAIN and a rant....

As I am sure many of you already know. We lucky folks in the midwest are FREEZING our tails off with below zero temps and bbbbrrrrrr freezing wind chills. So with all of that going on plus our bit of snow, our kids were out of school yesterday and today. Yesterday more because of all the blowing snow but today because of the frigid weather. We have found out that they have cancelled school for tomorrow as well. Our district already has Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr day so we will have our kids at home for a 6 day weekend. So by tomorrow I'll be going nuts!! It is just so cold they can't keep the schools warm plus half the buses won't start and the kids are standing and waiting for a bus that isn't coming because it won't start. This all adds up to be very dangerous for the kids. At this point 10 minutes outside with any skin uncovered results in frostbite.

I left the girls home by themselves yesterday and got into work for a few hours. They ended up closing at 4pm because we had zero customers all day. Really, no one came in! Shocking right?!

So, today the girls had orthodontist appointments at 9:15am - this was good because they weren't missing any school! Sure it is STINKIN' cold outside (-10 with -35 wind chills at 9am) but the roads are pretty much clear so we just run from car to building to keep from freezing. After ortho appointments we ran over to see my little sister for awhile before I needed to get into work. My girls were going to see Bride Wars at 1pm so we visited for awhile and then stopped to get Sonic for lunch before dropping them off at 12:30 for the movie. I was then going into work. The doors were still locked and the lights were off. A quick call to the owner to find out that the gal that opens in the mornings had not been able to get her car started and they had not been able to get anyone else to answer their phones. I decided that was fine and joined the girls for the movie. It was funny, cute and yes, I cried. We headed back to work and was able to get in. The kids that were working helped me get the few cakes done that was due for tomorrow and we headed to pick up a girl friend that is spending the night with Gab.

She lives out in the boonies (a fun term for the country). I always go slow down her road because there are always deer. Sure enough one crossed the road a bit in front of us. I stopped because there are always others following. Here was this deer not 20 feet from my car and he and I had a stare down. Me wondering if he is going to jump in front of my car and he wondering if I was going to running him down (cause you can just tell by looking at them what they are thinkin'). I quick yelled, get the camera and, of course, we were too late! There were other friends of his off the side of the road. They are always cool too see even when you see them all the time!! We had a good laugh about the stare down though.

OK, I must rant now. Anyone out there get their heat and electric bill for this month? We got ours yesterday. I screamed! Our bill was over $400!!!!! Folks that is $125 more than last month and we were gone for a week! How in the world do they jusitfy that??????? I have all but stopped using our dryer. I went from 18 hours a week of drying time to about 5 hours max. There is NO WAY that we doubled our gas use in the last month! To say I am shocked and mad is an understatement. I am trying to "go green" and be a good steward of what I have and then I get smacked with a huge bill from our energy company. I checked their website to see how "efficient" our house was compared to others in our area. Last month we were middle green and this month we had moved into the yellow. How does that happen if I am conserving energy? Our thermostat is programmable so that is a good thing. I simply don't know how to save any more money in energy. Do I start unplugging everything and plugging it back in when we need to use it? How annoying is that?! OK, done ranting (but I am still mad - just so you know).

Ya'll stay warm if at all possible and take care!

Hugs,

Jeanette

PS - I am getting into work tomorrow to finish up some cakes and then I have a hair appointment - I will get there even if I have to call on my deer friends to get me there!

This is just NOT funny!

You are never gonna guess what we got last night!

That's right!!

That freak snowstorm that I spoke about last night. This would be the ONLY thing that would keep me from getting my hair done. I can NOT even believe it! We got about 5 inches of snow. Most schools are closed, including my kids'. We are to get more today plus it is starting to blow so white out conditions will exist.

At this point my DH is laughing (he made it into work and is going to be in BIG trouble when he gets home for laughing!) Please keep in mind that he goes into work (or attempts to) during all conditions. A year or two ago we got 12 inches of snow and he thought he was going to make it to work. He couldn't even get out of the neighborhood.

My hair appointment has been re-scheduled AGAIN. Next Tuesday afternoon will be my special day and I am planning on having some fun with my sister and my mom to boot.

I may or may not be going into work. I haven't been since last Thursday so I should probably try to get in early and get out by 2pm. On the up side, the girls we be able to get all their homework done plus any extra credit. You know how projects are always going in one class or another. Seem like they are never ending!

I better throw myself in the shower and get going although it would be nice to stay in my jammies all day!

Hugs!

Jeanette

No one better get in my way!

I had to cancel my hair appointment last week.

As you recall, I wanted to spend 4 hours in a doctors office instead.

So, I rescheduled for 9am tomorrow morning. Sorry Julie, I'm not going to be able to make it over until next week. What does next week look like for you?

I am so excited!

I know it is just another hair appointment but if you saw my hair you would point and laugh.

Really! You would!!

I need my color done so badly I'm starting to look like a zebra. You know, white on top and dark on the bottom.

It will feel good to get put back together. I LOVE to get my hair done and nothing will stand in my way tomorrow - except maybe a freak snowstorm should one decide to pop up overnight.

I have not told my family that I have a hair appointment - this more than doubles my chances that I'll make it! Seriously, if I tell my family that I'm getting my hair done, something happens and I have to cancel. Poor Michelle was probably ready to pull her hair out when I called and cancelled. At least she allowed me to reschedule! OK, well not like she has never had to reschedule me before so I don't feel THAT bad :}

I need to get going on my book club book. I only have 200 pages left to read. It is far from a favorite and firmly believe this author could have shortened the book by 200 pages without affecting it in the least! Why do authors feel the need to describe in vivid detail every event in a characters life? OK, no more ranting, must. get. reading......

Hugs!
Jeanette

Happy Birthday Gabby girl!!

We celebrated Gabby's 15th birthday yesterday. It is hard to believe that she has been with us for 15 years. Seems like only yesterday we were blessed with her presence! Of course, you can tell by the pictures that she rarely saw a camera and is PAINFULLY shy :} We are proud to call her our daughter. We saw a tiny baby yesterday at church and she was just a few ounces smaller than Gab when she was born. I can't believe she was ever that tiny but she was. We used to call her our "little peanut". She was born on my Grandma's birthday. My grandma was a very special lady and even though she continued to shrink (she may have been a whole 5' when she went home to meet the Lord), she knew how to keep everyone in line. She would be very proud of Gabby!

Happy Birthday Gabrielle! We love you tons and you keep us young :}

Hugs!

Jeanette

All I know is.

I know that title does NOT sound right.

BUT....

It is a Monday morning and I don't care :}

Gabby is back to school today with a list of do's and don'ts.

Do make sure you get more Freeze On put on your back at lunch time.
Don't run (duh!)
Do try to make it to class on time.
Do try to get someone to carry your books.
Don't sit with your leg crossed.
Do go to the office if the pain becomes unbearable.

I don't know if she will make it through the day. I'm praying she will.

I slapped an Icy Hot patch on her this morning and gave her the meds she is to take. She also has a support belt that helps a little. She was not doing good last night and could hardly walk again. She pushed herself a bit more than she should have and she paid for it that is for sure!

She wanted to go to softball practice (but was allowed to do NOTHING). Apparently she picked up stay softballs. DUH! Bending and picking up will cause pain eventually! And it did.

While she and Abs were at softball, my DH and I went over to Walmart to get the grocery shopping done and then went over to Culver's so that he could have some supper (I ate before we left). I started laughing when we got out of the car. There sat a LARGE SUV running with no one in it. Apparently, the folks sat and ate while their vehicle stayed warm. 20 minutes later, they left. Now, it is cold here but it was still about 25 degrees outside. The wind was not really blowing so it was not that bad. Really? Do we have so much money to blow that we can just let our cars run while we go inside and eat? Now, for those of you who live in my area, can you guess what town we were in?? And, it was NOT Peoria! If you guessed, Morton, that would be correct. My statement was "You know your in Morton when you pull up to a restaurant and the vehicles are all running and the people are inside the restaurant."

We celebrated Gabby's 15th birthday yesterday. She already got her new boots last week so she only had one gift to open. She received a new sweater and some new jammies plus 2 chapsticks with her schools name on them. I thought they were fun and she liked them too. We had her ice cream cake after lunch and then spread out through the house to do homework, read and watch football.

I'll post some pictures later. I really need to get going on this house. It won't clean itself you know :{

Hugs!

Jeanette