Updates

I have been fighting a cold.  I am blaming Oli.  I have heard that the older you get, the less times you get sick because of being exposed to different strains of sickness . . . . I find that to be bogus.  So, in honor of being sick (and in honor of every day of my life), I stopped at McDonalds’ on my way to work.  A new voice greeted me at the drive thru lane.  I don’t like new voices. I like the old voice that knows exactly what I want before I even say it.

Me (speaking slowly, loudly and clearly since I could tell she was new): I would like a small, nonfat hot mocha.

New Girl: Did you want that iced or hot?

Me: Hot

New Girl: Whole or nonfat milk?

Me: Nonfat

New Girl: Was that a medium?

Me: Nope. A small.

I find that whenever I pray for patience, I get A LOT of these scenarios.  I find that when I pray for wisdom, I get extremely complicated real estate stuff thrown my way.  I’m aware that God is toying with me.  Lesson learned - - stop praying. ;) (*Mom - Don't worry, I’m exaggerating . . . . sort of*)

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I was at Sister1's house a few nights ago for a get together for my dad’s birthday.  Oli hasn’t been feeling well (I’m blaming him for my current illness) and so I picked him up because he was so tired.  He looks at me and with perfect timing and voice inflection he says: “Have you been working out?”  I found myself being flattered by a 3 year old.  Come to find out, he was concerned that if I HAVEN’T been working out, I would not be strong enough to continue to hold him.  Love that kid.

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Our October sale ROCKED.  It was fantastic.  Cindy Grantham and Pam & Bob Gaikowski AND the Morgan Sisters from Minnesota were the spotlight vendors and their stuff was amazing.  At the beginning of the sale, I had to stand outside because there wasn’t room for me to be in the Shoppe!  My friend Natalie from Minnesota is the November vendor.  I am very excited.  She said she is "overwhelmed" by how much stuff she has.  The girl rarely gets overwhelmed so I am giddy with anticipation.

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Sister1 surprised me with hiring out my house to be cleaned.  It was FABULOUS.   I now need to figure out how I can justify having that done weekly.  Maybe Boyd can get a 2nd job.

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I started a book club through the Shoppe.  We recently read:  Until They Bring the Streetcars Back by Stanley Gordon West.  It is one of my all time favorite books.  We discussed a litany of subjects - - our love for wizards and vampires,  the Scandinavian awkwardness of hugging, etc.  We also discussed the book.  For next month we are reading:  Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  It is a magician love story.  

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I am at the Shoppe today.  I have been trying to call Boyd to come fix the sticky doorknob at the Shoppe.  He is ignoring me.  I will punish him later with grocery shopping.  I love being married.  
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I had a shopper in today and she beefed.  Or at least I think she beefed. It could have been her perfume but for her sake I hope it was a fart.  I have a bad cold with little access to my nasal passages and it was STILL awful.  Good heavens.
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Our friend Darren is coming to visit this weekend.  It is our first overnight guest.  Boyd has been busy lining up paintball and Bronco parts so that he is ready for MAN TIME.  I have been busy thinking of any electrical work I need done. :)
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I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.  

Misc.

I hate thinking of titles for my posts -hence the "Misc".

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The other day Boyd and I were discussing where we would like to live next - - assuming we stay in SoDak.  I had responses of:  a big yard, a barn for a cool sale, an old farm house, a lovely gravel road with a bend in the road, etc . . . you know . . . normal stuff. :)

Boyd replies with: "I want a place that I can walk outside naked."

Honestly.  There are days I wonder WHY or HOW we still like each other.

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Boyd finally has the Bronco home.  Its in the garage sitting there basking in its glory.  The green is kind of a Christmas green and has a thin red stripe.  Sister1 and Sister2 came over yesterday and Boyd proudly opens the garage doors.  They ooh and ahhh and exclaimed with: "It's SO cute!" and "It looks festive for the holidays - you need to put a wreath on the front!".

Boyd quickly stopped them from saying anything more.  "There will be no wreaths!  What about the great tires?  Or the cool seats?!"  He was slightly disgusted and shut the garage door.

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The October Occasional sale begins today at 4pm.  I am always slightly anxious. What if no one shows up?  What if people think its stupid?  The list goes on . . . .  I should be working on stuff but I am not.  My friend Kim has offered to help me this afternoon so I thought I would be nice and make sure to leave some tasks.  I can be extremely thoughtful. :)

It is definitely a humdinger of a sale.  Very cool items.  Another reason why I want an old farm house with a big front porch is that I have been unable to buy stuff because it won't fit in my small house.

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I just received this text from Sister 1:  O just randomly proclaimed today from the back seat of car, "When I grow up, I want to be a dancer!"

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Poor Mel and his cone are not doing well.  He is bumping into everything and appears depressed.  I let him ride in the Jeep today while I ran some errands this morning.  He jumped into the Jeep and hit the cone on the side of the vehicle and fell back out.  I laughed a little bit but quietly so he couldn't hear me.  He's old.  Which means his hearing is bad, his eyesight is bad and he now has "old man farts".    Poor dog.

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Must get  back to work.  I am a very good procrastinator.

Boyd's Obsession

My husband is great.  He really is.

And one of the great things about him is that he only has 2 obsessions:  paintball and Broncos.  See?  I CAN be optimistic. :)

He searches the internet for anything involving paintball, makes us stop at strange hole-in-the-wall shops that carry equipment and are run by weirdos dressed in army fatigues.  Honestly.  It is nerd central.  And he loves it.  But enough about paintball.

This weekend, after months and months of searching, he is replacing his last Bronco with a "new" one.  We loved the last one but had to sell it with the house debacle of 2010.   He handled it like a champ -   probably knowing that there was no way I could say no later on.  Jerk.

Super cute, right?! 

He used to have a picture of it on his desk.  Not a picture of me.  A picture of his truck.  True love.

This weekend we traveled to Minnesota to work on the basement of the White Bear Lake house.  We THINK we have renters moving in November 1st (pending application approval).  Ahhh . . . . Breathing a big sigh of relief.  While I was obsessed with finding renters for the house . . . the only thing Boyd could think about was the stupid green Bronco.  I decided to hate it for awhile since my husband was not stressing, biting his nails, having weird anxiety dreams, etc.  Frankly, it just wasn't fair.

But, at long last, I can stop my obsession of finding renters and he can stop his obsessing of find the perfect Bronco.

Not a huge fan of the green but Boyd adores it.

At this moment, I am in Sartell, Minnesota waiting to leave for SoDak.  Boyd is chumming it up with Mr. Bronco Gearhead and I'm starting to mock them quietly in my head.   The tires are too big and the green isn't my favorite.  I would prefer a vintage dusty blue but no one asks for my opinion. :)

I'm not a big fan of road trips - 6 hours is is my "cap".  Yes.  I know that is pathetic.  Boyd is really stretching me today with the trip to Sartell from White Bear and now the trip to Watertown from Sartell.  I get bored easily and Boyd doesn't always feel like talking.  I have grown accustomed to his silence and no longer wonder if he is cranky.  Supposedly silence does not necessarily equal cranky for him.  It only does for me.  Once I asked him what he was thinking.  He said:  "Nothing".  I disagreed and said: "SOMETHING has to be going on in your head!"  He answered with:  "I am counting the mile markers and calculating the speed in my head to see if my speedometer is correct."

I no longer ask him what he is thinking.

You know who doesn't mind road trips?

This guy.

Happy as a clam and somehow found my pillow and made a perfect little bed for himself.

Mental note:  Must do laundry.

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OCD, Weight Loss and Glue Guns

Mel has been licking his tail.  And licking it and licking it.  He licked all the hair off of it down to gross skin stuff.  Boyd kept ignoring it.  I kept gagging every time I saw it.  I finally scheduled a vet visit.  I was informed Mel is OCD.  And to let his tail heal, he has to take medication for this disorder, wear a cone and take antibiotics.  Ugh.  

I’ve been a tad emotional lately.  I’m not sure if it is just hormonal or if things have just been tougher than usual.  Regardless, I started crying while at the vet.  I really like Mel.

I love our dogs.  Granted, we don’t have children so that may be part of my love for Mel and Lou but the joy they emit when you come out the door is overwhelming.  They don’t get bogged down with the daily grind.  They may be bored out of their minds for 8 hours a day but you would never know it when you are around them.  They don’t complain.  They eat whatever I give them and their self-confidence is amazing.  Oh to be a dog. 

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Sister1 and Sister2 have started a weight loss contest.  It made me start to think about the fact that I should start exercising again.  So, I went in on Monday and weighed myself at the gym.  I wasn’t pleased but wasn’t surprised either. . . . Ok. I can handle that.  But then I tried making dinner that night and I underestimated how long it would take to make the meal so we didn’t eat until 8pm.  By then I was starving and I also noticed leftover chocolate cake from Jim’s birthday. I had FORGOTTEN about the chocolate cake!  So I had a large helping of that WITH icecream.  I weighed myself on Tuesday.  I was up a pound which in the scheme of how much I ate . . . wasn't too bad.

History has proven time and time again, that whenever I TRY to lose weight, I lose all self-control because my mind can only think about how GREAT it would be to EAT this/that RIGHT NOW.  Today, I was still going to give it a shot.  But then I had to skip lunch to take my OCD dog to the vet and spend $140 that I don’t have which then made me STARVING at 5pm when I left the office.  I promptly went to McDonald’s and ordered a McDouble with fries and a Coke.  Lovely.  I think this officially ends my weight loss program.

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I’ve also been struggling in my creative life.  Good grief!  Pity party all around.  I haven’t created anything in a long time so I finally sat down and decided to dive in on a window project that I have been meaning to do.  But then I realized that my glue gun was missing. WHAT CRAFTY PERSON CAN’T FIND THEIR GLUE GUN?!  Forget that I only have ONE glue gun and should probably have 5 . . . but I can’t FIND IT ANYWHERE.  No glue sticks either.  The whole thing is confusing. So much for my organized work table that takes up half the living space in our house.