Thursday, September 29, 2011

I know. I know. 2 Posts in a Row!

Wow.  I am such an overachiever.  2 days in a row of posting!

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I went to my very first City Council meeting this past week.  I am not entirely sure why I did but decided that if I'm going to live and own a business here . . . maybe I should put my 2 cents out there.  So I did.  It was kind of scary for me to throw out my opinions in public . . the whole "being an introvert" issue.  But I wore my lucky Beetles t-shirt and persevered.  Personally, I think I have some great ideas but I'm not sure they agreed.  It's possible I may be deported back over the border into Minnesota.

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Little Oli got to be a homework assignment for a friend getting her education degree.  She was to ask 3 year olds some different questions to see where they were in terms of development, etc.  Oli is, OF COURSE, especially gifted but Sister1 was disappointed that he was having a hard time with part of the study. The girl would ask:  What do you do if you are tired?  What do you do if you are sad?  Oli was silent.  Afterwards, Sister1 asked him the same questions.  He answered thoughtfully:  "I go to Starbucks."  See?  Gifted.

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The weather has been fantastic lately which means I spray paint like a maniac.  I ran out of stuff in my garage to paint which then led me into the house.  Boyd came home and our boring blonde/pine chairs are now a sassy red.  He said something like . . . "What the H . . .?"  But then quickly came around and agreed they are WAY BETTER now.

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Our September sale was fantastic.  We had live music and a mini-crowd waiting to be let in!  We are such a big deal. *Bragging about myself is a new habit I am trying out.  Yes, I do it with sarcasm but it is a lot of fun.  Try it sometime.   For example: If your husband says, "I love you" You can reply with: "Of course you do . . I'm totally awesome."*  If he laughs, he is just agreeing with your statement.  Promise.

Our "crowd".   I use the term loosely.
One of the Kinney girls creations.  Donna snatched it up.
The October Sale should be a humdinger.  I will explain more in a few weeks.  Hang in there.

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I have been going to some of Brother2's football games.  He is in 7th grade.  It's weird to have him getting so old and "adolescenty".

Brother2 is #22.  
I grew up as a Hamlin Charger.  I have a soft spot for the Chargers even though they are now less than stellar since the "golden years" of the Chargers' athletic reign.  My mom would always chant:  YOU CAN DO IT, YOU'RE A CHARGER! whenever we were complaining about being overworked.  I found this annoying and yet, I say it to Boyd to be mean:  "You can do it . . you're an . . . . Owl."  Ha Ha snicker snicker.  Henry just didn't quite get the glamour that Hamlin had.

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We still do not have renters signed up for our White Bear Lake house.  Breathe.  Don't panic.  Breathe.  I may have just thrown up a little.  BUT.  The good news is that I have a plan to get money to pay the extra mortgage.  McDonald's Monopoly.

Problem solved.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Little Man Turns 3.

Oli turned 3 this past week and since my family loves a good party we threw a "poop party".  Oli cried when Sister1 told him the theme of the party:  "But I don't WANT poop!!"  What a turd (I made a pun!).

A lot of friends and family showed up and gorgeous weather was enjoyed by all.  Dad lined up a tractor and gave hayrides.  I may be allergic to hay.  It is appearing to be the case.


Boyd does a great gorilla imitation.  Honestly.  It is uncanny.  There were times while dating that he would go into "gorilla mode" in public places.  Humiliating.  He would sometimes break into his ape-walk while we were going to our car in the parking lot.  I would yell at him to knock it off . . . . consequently, there were a lot of stares.  And most of them were directed at me with disgust:  "Be nice to that special needs man!"  So unfair.

Anyway.

During the hayride, Boyd was gorilla running in the corn field and scaring the beejeebers out of the children.  Its what he does best.  They were supposed to throw bananas at him to tame him.  He was supposed to throw dirt chunks (as in "poo") at us.


We served the ever popular poop tacos.  Sister1 made guacomole coming out of a jack-o-lantern and labeled it "upchuck".   There was popcorn with little plastic mice in it, maggots and beetles (rice and beans), etc.  Clever and disturbing, right?!


Kickball and football were played; children laughed and cried; dogs caused mayhem and stole food and the adults ignored the children and the dogs.  It was a lovely day.

Brother2, Cooper, Oli, O, G and Baby Cate

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Ugly Couch.

I had a beautiful couch.  It was groovy and special.  But alas, there was no room for it in the house and Boyd said there was definitely no room in the garage.  Boo.  So, we took some pictures with it and then transported it to Salvation Army.

Last weekend Donna had lined up a surprise party for Damian at the Zoom Zoom Room.  And what should pop out at me . . . but my old couch.  HOWEVER.  It is the couch they are using for their "Ugly Couch Potato" promo.  Surely they must be looking for an ugly couch potato NOT an ugly couch.

See?  Groovy Couch.  End of Story.


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I am gearing up for the Sept sale.  Which means, yes, after 2 weeks of silence NOW I find the time to post on the blog.  I am a procrastinator.  Never do something today that you can put off til tomorrow . . or later.  In my case - - until 4pm this afternoon when the Kinney girls show up with their stuff.  Then I run around like a crazy person arranging furniture and cursing at myself for not being more diligent.

I believe one would call this a character flaw.

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I saw a bumper sticker today that said: "God, Guns and Guts Made America Great".  I typically don't give opinions on this blog . . mostly because they are my own personal opinions and if someone really wants to know what I think . . they can ask (and I will inform).  But I would like to state for the record that it makes me very uncomfortable putting God and Guns in the same small sentence.  I don't care for it.  (and for clarification, this does not mean that I am anti-military).

I am opinionated.  That may also be another character flaw. :)

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Is anyone missing my Nerd Sections?  I didn't think so.  Plus, it has become a little embarrassing to report what I read since I am now on Book 6 of Harry Potter.  Yes.  I am reading the young adult series and am loving them.  HOWEVER.  We have started a book club at the Shoppe so I will do an update on the book every time we meet.  This last meeting we discussed The Help.  I will spare the details of the strange cell phone going off every 5 minutes and my mother so smugly stating: "It is not MY phone!" just to find out at the end of the hour that indeed . . . it was her phone.  Ahem.

Next month we will be meeting to discuss: Until They Bring the Streetcars Back by Stanley Gordon West.  Feel free to read along and if you are in the area . . join us!  We will be meeting on October 25th at 7pm at the Shoppe.

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It is windy today.  AND last night I came across a chair that I THOUGHT was ready for the sale but then noticed dried glue.  I need to sand it down and it looks like I need to spray paint after all.  BUT . . it looks to be windy and chilly until Thursday.  Blasted!  I view months in terms of spray paint weather.  Is that strange?

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I thought I would end this with a favorite little video from the Flight of the Conchords.  Warning:  Not child appropriate.  My apologies if I have posted this in an earlier post.  It is one of my faves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

I Maybe Don't Have the Best Tactics.

Remember a post WAY BACK about being in Brainerd?  There was a small segment about "poop tacos"???  Well, I feel I may need to apologize.  See . . . at the TIME it made sense.  The boys were being very dramatic about NOT WANTING to eat tacos and I replied with the fact that they were not any plain old tacos . . . they were POOP tacos.  And wala!  It worked.  I thought I was maybe a genius.  Unfortunately, O has a crazy good memory.  Go figure.  I thought all males had the memory of gold fish.  Alas, come to find out, its just my husband.  Ehem.

Side tracked there.  Sorry.  So now O cannot stop using the phrase poop tacos in just about EVERY SENTENCE he utters or sings or yodels.  (If you know O, you completely understand the yodeling issue).  Sister1 has now made the rule that he can only use that term in the bathroom and that is it.   But before that rule had been implemented, he had been spreading the good cheer for quite some time . . and at times, would tell people that Aunt Sabrina taught him about poop tacos.  Good Lord.

Fast forward.

O came home with me for a little bit today after lunch with Sister1 and Grandma.   He watered my lawn, picked some tomatoes (might as well put him to work), begged to paint my furniture (I said no) and tried to get me to hook up the Wii (no luck - - I don't do electronics).  *Obviously, its a blast at my house.* While we were in the living room trying to figure out the Wii, he went into the bathroom, left the door open and yelled and sang about poop tacos for a good 5 minutes.  I tried not to laugh . . but honestly . . . "poop tacos" get me every time.

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Shoppe update: I traveled to Britton, South Dakota because some family friends were cleaning out a farmstead.  It was fabulous.  Old doors, windows, trunks, galore!  It was a delight.  I have finally changed out the window display and have tried to get rid of my "summery" items; painted several furniture items and spray painted quite a few too! I've been so productive lately, I am worried that I might become an "overachiever".

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But then again, my house is a mess and I have yet to make more than 5 meals since moving.  Ugh.  If cooking wasn't so inconvenient, I might enjoy it.  I tried making omelets the other day.  I failed.  I ended up terming it:  "Egg Mash".  Boyd didn't seem to mind.  I will suffer through his "goldfish memory" if he keeps his nonjudgmental taste buds.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Skate Park.

We went to the skate park with the boys today.  A little girl was telling Boyd he was breaking the rules.  I'm not certain, but he may have stuck his tongue out at her.

He is such a rebel.