Tomorrow I go into the dentist to start the process of getting caught up on all the work I've needed to have done for years. The last couple of years the kids have come first with dental work. This year is my turn. Two years ago we spend over 8 grand on the kids teeth. I expect my bill will be close to that. I have years of work that needs doing, from getting rid of old silver fillings and having some roots surgically removed, they won't hold a crown anymore, and possibly two bridges along with the cleaning and such. I had a time in my early 20s where I was drinking soda and chewing gum and smoking all the time and had rapid deterioration and we've never had the money or insurance to get it fixed. Or there have been times where it's been so difficult to live with, and I've said "I'm going to go", and my husband would threaten me that I would lose the van/house if I got us into that much debt. But this year is the last year where we will get a large tax refund that can cover it. This is the last year he will be in college for the whole year and next year our belts will be tight again. This is my last chance and I'm taking it!
It's been a source of embarassment/resentment/pain for me, so I am so excited/nervous/anxious to finally be getting it taken care of. I hold back in my life because of it. It will feel so good to be able to laugh and smile again without having to worry about what someone is seeing. It's been over 10 years since I've been able to. I'm going to feel so set free. I can't wait. I'm going to smile ALL OF THE TIME :)

Monique sent this onto me in an email and I couldn't help but choke up.
Often times I've thought to myself that I resolve that if I ever run into anyone in the military making a purchase that I would pick up the tab for them. I see them often as I drive by the gas station, we have a military site by our home. Someday I'll be in that gas station and be able to thank a man or woman in uniform by picking up the tab.

You'll have to scroll down to the bottom of my blog to turn off my 70's playlist so you can hear the music to the video.

Awwww!

Today we drove about an hour north to Sandstone Minnesota to the Audobon Center where they had a pancake breakfast and maple syruping. The breakfast was great! The lessons were great! We had a lot of fun and so glad we invited Grandma and Grandpa along with. If you live in Minnesota I whole heartedly encourage you to add Maple Syruping to your list of yearly must do activities, right up there with visiting an apple orchard/pumpkin patch in the fall!
This is the first picture I've worked on from the day's images. This is my oldest daughter with Grandpa. Usually she is just so shy. I'm thrilled to get this image of her smiling and interacting... I LOVE IT!

Mad Girl?

Which poem are you? The Mad Girl's Love Song by Sylvia Plath To you, love is desperate and hateful. You're wildly passionate and wildly inventive. You`re also likely to start stalking people.

Click Here to Take This Quiz but be warned it's a bit crass Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

So my question is to you.... did they ever think that Silvia Plath wasn't crazy, she was just cold?

Spring Fever?

Every spring since I was a teenager I start getting insomnia and can't sleep. I stay up late, and don't feel tired at night, although I go through the day yawning. Suddenly I'm a night owl.
I'm not sure what the cure is. Any suggestions?

Ta-da!

Ok, so there are a few finishing touches left as I mentioned before. After these were taken before we finished putting on all the door handles, and my husband has reinstalled my appliances (Microwave, can opener and radio/cd player) to the bottoms of the cupboards.
We now just have the kick plate for the island, and the corners to the kick plates, the corners to the walls and floorboards left to stain and install. We also still have to finish the hallway to the bathroom and kids rooms and the entry way at the front door, but are waiting on some transitions that we special ordered that will divide the carpet areas from the floor... even though it sounds like a lot, it's not.

Also we are waiting for the new "right sized" counter top for in between the pantry closets (where the phone and that blue exercise ball are) to come in. The microwave is hung in that area.



The Island my husband created by using two floor cupboards and we had a custom counter top made for it.



I have SO MUCH more space now with these new pantry closets! The missing counter top piece goes in this spot. It should be in by the end of the week. The microwave is hung from the bottom of those top cupboards.

My little flasher. Excuse the modesty block ;) this is taken from the laundry room door looking towards the family room (which is on the other side of that half wall). I hang my kids artwork and stuff from our Family Home Evening lessons from that wall.

This is looking into the kitchen from the living room, entryway end.

Looking at the East wall. The door leads to my laundry room/ furnace room.

This is looking from the hallway in between the kitchen and family room. Not all that furniture goes in this room and some of it's furniture is in the living room... go figure. The kids bedrooms and bathroom are at that end of the house.

This summer I'm painting the kitchen in a very light color. I tried to scan the paint sample, but it didn't look right. It's very close to this color..

And getting all new drapes for the kitchen, family room and living room. Those came with the house and I've been super lazy in getting stuff to fit my style.

I can cook!

Oh you don't know how happy that makes me that I can cook in my kitchen again! I never thought I could say this but I am so sick of eating out!
However, I do have plans for eating out on Saturday. My husband's favorite restaurant Totino's has moved to our neighborhood and just opened... so exciting! So I'm planning on taking us to Totino's to celebrate my kitchen being opened again, hahaha... ironic eh?
Just a few more finishing touches and the place is going to look fabulous! I have some pictures but will have to post them tomorrow because right now I'm trying to get my laptop back into service again.
Who would have known that non-working USB ports would cause the Geek Squad to totally replace the motherboard and the hard drive??? Adeau.

April Fools

Thanks Shelley for passing these along to me... I love a good sense of humor.

Top April Fools Jokes of All Time‏
#1: The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
spaghetti harvestIn 1957 the respected BBC news show /Panorama/ announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
• Read the full article about the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest here.

#2: Sidd Finch
Sidd FinchIn its April 1985 edition, /Sports Illustrated/ published a story about a new rookie pitcher who planned to play for the Mets. His name was Sidd Finch, and he could reportedly throw a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. This was 65 mph faster than the previous record. Surprisingly, Sidd Finch had never even played the game before. Instead, he had mastered the "art of the pitch" in a Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the "great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa." Mets fans celebrated their teams' amazing luck at having found such a gifted player, and /Sports Illustrated/ was flooded with requests for more information. But in reality this legendary player only existed in the imagination of the author of the article, George Plimpton.
• Read the full article about Sidd Finch here.

#3: Instant Color TV
In 1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.
• Read the full article about Instant Color TV here.

#4: The Taco Liberty Bell
In 1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It >> would now be known as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
• Read the full article about the Taco Liberty Bell here.

#5: San Serriffe
In 1977 the British newspaper /The Guardian/ published a special seven-page supplement devoted to San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semi-colon-shaped islands. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. The /Guardian/'s phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. Few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer's terminology. The success of this hoax is widely credited with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that gripped the British tabloids in subsequent decades.
• Read the full article about San Serriffe here.

#6: Nixon for President
In 1992 National Public Radio's /Talk of the Nation/ program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners responded viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon's voice was impersonated by comedian Rich Little.

#7: Alabama Changes the Value of Pi
The April 1998 issue of the /New Mexicans for Science and Reason/ newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Before long the article had made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly made its way around the world, forwarded by people in their email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by a physicist named Mark Boslough.

#8: The Left-Handed Whopper
In 1998 Burger King published a full page advertisement in /USA Today/announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."

#9: Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers
Hotheaded Naked Ice BorerIn its April 1995 issue /Discover/ Magazine announced that the highly respected wildlife biologist Dr. Aprile Pazzo had discovered a new species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. These fascinating creatures had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. They used this ability to hunt penguins, melting the ice beneath the penguins and causing them to sink downwards into the resulting slush where the hotheads consumed them. After much research, Dr. Pazzo theorized that the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious disappearance of noted Antarctic explorer Philippe Poisson in 1837. "To the ice borers, he would have looked like a penguin," the article quoted her as saying. /Discover/ received more mail in response to this article than they had received for any other article in their history.
• Read the full article about the Hotheaded Naked Ice Borer here.

#10: Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity
In 1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.

And for a cute April Fool song visit here.

It's hard to avoid poop brownies

Many of you might know this story. I think of it every time I'm out in the Internet universe and run into posts of peoples saying things like... "warning they swear in this so if you get offended then do not watch" Or picture posts that say, "a little risky" or something similar.

Dad's Brownies

A father of some teenage children had the family rule that they could not attend PG-13 or R rated movies. His three teens wanted to see a particular popular movie that was playing at local theaters. It was rated PG-13. The teens interviewed friends and even some members of their family's church to find out what was offensive in the movie. The teens made a list of pros and cons about the movie to use to convince their dad that they should be allowed to see it.

The con's were that it contained ONLY 3 swear words, the ONLY violence was a building exploding (and you see that on TV all the time they said), and you actually did not "see" the couple in the movie having sex - it was just implied sex, off camera. The pros were that it was a popular movie - a block buster. Everyone was seeing it. If the teens saw the movie then they would not feel left out when their friends discussed it.

The movie contained a good story and plot. It had some great adventure and suspense in it. There were some fantastic special effects in this movie. The movie's stars were some of the most talented actors in Hollywood. It probably would be nominated for several awards. Many of the members of their Christian church had even seen the movie and said it wasn't "very bad".

Therefore, since there were more pros than cons the teens said they were asking their father to reconsider his position on just this ONE movie and let them have permission to go see it. The father looked at the list and thought for a few minutes. He said he could tell his children had spent some time and thought on this request. He asked if he could have a day to think about it before making his decision. The teens were thrilled thinking; "Now we've got him! Our argument is too good! Dad can't turn us down!" So, they happily agreed to let him have a day to think about their request.

The next evening the father called in his three teenagers, who were smiling smugly, into the living room. There on the coffee table he had a plate of brownies. The teens were puzzled. The father told his children he had thought about their request and had decided that if they would eat a brownie then he would let them go to the movie. But just like the movie, the brownies had pros and cons.

The pros were that they were made with the finest chocolate and other good ingredients. They had the added special effect of yummy walnuts in them. The brownies were moist and fresh with wonderful chocolate frosting on top. He had made these fantastic brownies using an award-winning recipe. And best of all, the brownies had been made lovingly by the hand of their own father.

The brownies only had one con. The father had included a little bit of a special ingredient. The brownies also contained just a little bit of dog poop. But he had mixed the dough well - they probably would not even be able to taste the dog poop and he had baked it at 350 degrees so any bacteria or germs from the dog poop had probably been destroyed.

Therefore, if any of his children could stand to eat the brownies which included just a "little bit of crap" and not be effected by it, then he knew they would also be able to see the movie with "just a little bit of smut" and not be effected.

Of course, none of the teens would eat the brownies and the smug smiles had left their faces. Only Dad was smiling smugly as they left the room.

Now when his teenagers ask permission to do something he is opposed to the father just asks, "Would you like me to whip up a batch of my special brownies?"

Sooooo close!

And yet so far.

We almost have the remodeling done! It is looking sooooooo nice!
All the cabinets are in. One counter top was the wrong size so I had to go back and get them to exchange it for a new one. That should be in within a week.

What we have left:
1. Kick plate on the island
2. Trim bought and stained and applied.
3. Hallway floor installed.
4. Entryway floor installed.
5. Throw all junk into dumpster.
6. Clean up the sawdust.

I've got all the food and pots and pans and such all put away.

Next weekend we are maple syruping at the Audobon Center in Sandstone MN.
I am so looking forward to that and bringing the camera along for some sweet shots.

I'm also looking forward to having some time later in the week to check out everyone's blogs that I am so super far behind on. I'm so sorry people I've been a bad blogging buddy to you guys!

I also wanted to put up my blogging awards again. When I changed the template it took them all down. I finally figured out how to change the blog look and not lose my extras.

Can I also mention how terribly sick of the snow I am!?

LDS Journal

Today I started an online journal at a really cool site. At the end of the year I can chose to pay and have my journal for the year archived on a disk for me, for posterity sake, but yet allowing to leave the last year still intact online so that I can continue to read and add from it. They also send reminders to your email to keep up the journal, kind of like the scripture reading site does.
Maybe this is what I need to keep up a journal this year.

Oh I am a bad momma

I totally spaced out last night's reception for the honor roll students, of which my oldest son was one of! UGH, I feel so terrible! I have been so proud of him for doing so well. I especially was worried he might not get back into the swing of public schools when he went back, it has thrilled me that he's adjusted so well.

I hope I still get my bumper sticker.

Thursday's Thumbs

Thumbs Up!

Hair Product-FX Flat Iron (sheer silky smooth heat memory flat iron spray)- I've been looking for a product that will help me tame my wild shorter hairs that are really my wiry grays, but died, when I decided to try this product. When I first sprayed it on my hair I was a little worried because the odor made it smell similar to hair spray, and I became worried that my hair would fry in the iron when I did get around to ironing it after it dried. However, after reading the ingredients I see there is no alcohol in it. So maybe it is ok. (I'll be watching for split ends in the next coming weeks.)

The directions say to spray it on your hair when it's dry, before ironing. I always spray mine when it's wet along with Infusium 23, let it air dry and then iron because my hair dries out so much if it's wet when I iron it. This made my hair super soft and helped only a little to tame my wild grays. However I did like it enough to give it a thumbs up because of how it made my hair feel and my hair held it's flatness overnight longer than it does with just the Infusium 23.



Workout Bra- Danskin Now. Ok, so I've rated their socks two thumbs up, and I am still loving them! This time it's the bra. I totally love this workout bra. I bought it at WalMart for something like 10 bucks. It has the racer-back. I loved it so much I went back for two more. It gives great support, doesn't pinch or hurt anywhere, the cups are firm with no wire in the under wire department. I think I'll go back for more, just to have for the future.



Thumbs Down!

Edible Easter Grass- This kind I bought in a 4 pack from Sam's Club. I thought, "How brilliant!" now instead of throwing it on my floor as they do every year, they'll eat it instead!"



WRONG!



It ended up on my floor still, and it tasted like "sweetened styrofoam" according to my husband and eldest son. I thought it tasted like shredded ice cream cones. Probably not a lot of difference between those two descriptions. Next year we'll be back to the obligatory plastic grass.

Good grief!

Ok, so not only is the gray sweat shirted guy scum, but he's also an idiot.

He had my husband putting in the floor the wrong way. UGH! Now we have to take apart much of it and now try to do it right. No wonder several pieces were breaking! I was getting a little worried when I saw how many were breaking from trying to tap these pieces together. Turns out we are supposed to do a whole row at a time. Hook them up end by end and then tap the sides into the last row... duh! Instead "bone head" had dh tapping them in one piece at a time both sides.

Since the fridge is already on some of it, we will keep those rows as is and put a transition piece in the doorway on that wall, but the rest of the rows we can do right. So glad I got involved and read the details on the back of the box! Dh did too, but he listened to the idiot and decided to do it that way.

This is the last time I have remodeling done in my home without my complete supervision, lol!

Now I have to run over to the hardware store and get a transition (or two just in case). I'm hoping the floors might be mostly done by Saturday afternoon.

Day 3

Day 2 didn't look much more different than day 3 of construction so I'll just show you that instead, since it includes the reinstalation of my dishwasher. There are a few detail things that need to be finished off on this side of the kitchen. The kickplates for the cabinets, the heat vent needs to be put back, the bottom of the dishwasher as well. Then I do have to paint the kitchen next summer because when we took off the old backsplashes (which were glued on) some of the glue was too high and the paper tore from the wall, and it is higher than the new backsplashes, so I will have to fix that by painting. I'm not too happy about that. I hate the look of painted panel walls. I kind of like my leaves.

Someone asked me what a manufactured home is. It's a house that is built in a factory instead of on a foundation. Sometimes it gets set up like a mobile home (like in our case) and sometimes it is put on a foundation later (like we plan to do in the next couple of years).

Here's how you have to "step" the floor when you install it... the blue stuff is padding with a vapor barrior.

Here's the north wall almost finished.

And a closer look at the wood.

Here's a closer look at the counter top we put in, and you can see where some of the wallpaper had been torn off.

Now for the rest of the week we will be working on mostly the floors and perhaps one of the walls might have to be replaced, depending on how easily we can tear off the entertainment center on the other side of it. DH unscrewed all of it, and it's still not budging. We're a little worried there might be glue involved, in which case, the wall will be ruined and we will have to rebuild it. Fun.