Kids Are Sneaky Little Devils

Jun 222011
 

When Nichole and Corey come for a visit, they usually bring two cars since they don’t have enough room to fit 5 kids and 2 adults plus the necessary extras like clothes, toys, etc., into one car.

Also, I always get a text from Nichole letting me know when they are on their way, and generally one or two more if they stop for potty breaks/food or when they are getting close, so we know when to expect them.

Along with the texting is always my standard chiding about texting while driving.  I can’t help it, I know how distracting cell phones are (I own one too), and I couldn’t even imagine trying to text while I was driving.

I’m just not that talented.

So the following is the texting conversation that occurred last Friday evening.

Nichole:  (5:41 pm)  en route 🙂

Nichole:  (5:42)  🙂

Me: (5:43) 🙂

Me:  (5:44) Quit texting and driving 🙂

Nichole:  (5:44) lol

Nichole:  (6:32)  leaving men (this is the town of Menomonie, which is 30 miles from their house)

Me:  (6:24)  Kk

Nichole:  (7:26)  rice lake (about 45 minutes from our house)

Me:  (7:27)  Woot!

Nichole:  (7:27)  looks like rains comin

*Here’s where the texts start to fly*

Nichole:  (7:55) 70 (the highway they get to that is 30 miles from our house)

Nichole:  (7:56)  Had potty break on wayside

Me:  (7:56)  Love the updates lol

Nichole:  (7:57)  Thought u would 🙂

Me:  (7:58)  Lol!!

Me:  (7:59) Quit texting while driving!

Nichole:  (8:00)  Lol

Nichole:  (8:00) ponds r green

Nichole:  (8:02)  well that was a biggun! ooooo horsies!

*About this time I’m starting to become a little suspicious… there are LOTS more texts than normal, and they are a lot longer than they should be, if Nichole was driving.  So I up it a notch.*

Me:  (8:02)  You know this could quite possibly end up as a blog post

Nichole:  (8:04)  lol blog if u dare

Me:  (8:04)  Quit texting while driving!!

Nichole:  (8:05)  Bring it 🙂

Me:  (8:05)  Game on!

Me:  (8:06)  Bwahahahaha!!

Corey:  (8:06)  Hi be there in fifteen

Me:  (8:08)  Kk  quit texting while driving

Corey:  (8:08)  Lol :-p

Me:  (8:10)  Let me guess, nichole brought you into this little game 🙂

Nichole:  (8:09) Evil mama

Me:  (8:11) 🙂

Corey:  (8:10)  Who dat?

Me:  (8:12)  Lol

Nichole:  (8:11)  Hehehe

Nichole:  (8:11)  Hehehe

Me:  (8:15)  Evil child 🙂

Nichole:  (8:14)  wonder where I get it?

Me:  (8:16)  You’re dad.  now quit texting while driving

Nichole:  (8:17)  Lol sure blame it on him

Me:  (8:18)  🙂

Nichole:  (8:18)  be there in 3

Sure enough, they pull into the driveway 3 minutes later and confirm what I had been thinking.

They got themselves a vehicle that could fit the whole family, and they wanted to surprise us, which they certainly did!

It’s used, but they got a good deal on it and with all those kids, they needed something that would fit everybody.

And the texts from Corey?  That was Nichole on his phone.

Sneaky little #&@*!

Bring On The Vittles!

Jun 202011
 

When Nichole and Corey came up a couple weekends ago, they wanted to take Rick & I out for an Anniversary supper.  It was imperative to Nichole that we choose the joint, but since our favorite restaurant had closed, we just couldn’t wrap our head around some place that we really wanted to go.

So we let Nichole give us her idea, and we ran with it.

Famous Dave’s has their first BBQ restaurant located in our area. (Fun fact:  “Famous” Dave Anderson is an LCO tribal member.  Who knows, it could be useful in Trival Pursuit or Jeopardy.)

Before you even get in the restaurant, you are surrounded by beautiful flowers that just begged to have their picture taken.

They had more varieties of Columbines than I had seen in my life.

And don’t get me started on the Bleeding Hearts.  Not only was there pink…

…they had to throw in white just to make my heart flutter.

And this Blue Heaven?  I think I drooled a little when I saw it.

Maybe I was just hungry from the smell permeating from the restaurant.

What, you think that I’m the only camera crazy person in the family?

We had 20 minutes to wait before being seated, so the guys left us alone to snap away.

And since we are in the Northwoods, no place is complete without wood carvings with Eagles nestled amongst the flowerbeds…

…or just strategically situated around the grounds.

How’s that for greeting your customers?

Don’t worry, she got me back.

Did I happen to mention that it was located on the water?

They have a wonderful set-up outside for dining or just enjoying an evening of drinks with friends.

But we decided that indoors was the place for us.  Bad part is, the lighting was pretty crappy in the restaurant for photos, so please excuse the quality of what’s next.

Now, if you’ve ever been to (or heard of) Famous Dave’s, you know that they are known for their BBQ.  And what goes better with that than sauce, specifically ones that have been created by the restaurant sporting interesting names like…

…Devil’s Spit.  This stuff begged to be tried.  There was a challenge being implied simply by the name.

So we did.

Nichole is always up for a dare.

Truth be told, we only took samples on our fingers to play it safe.

And it was good, with a nice little after-burn.

And when we saw this one, we had to get a picture just for Rick’s Mom.

Nichole & Corey decided to split “The Garbage Can”, which was an assortment of BBQ chicken, ribs, pork, beans, coleslaw and wedge fries, all served on a garbage can lid.  It is gooooood.

Rick & I tried their prime rib.  D E L I C I O U S!!

And since Nichole let it slip on purpose told the waiter that it was our anniversary, we received a complimentary ice cream sundae for dessert.

Uffda!

It was a wonderful night of great food and family, and I’m so glad that they made the special trip up just to help us celebrate our 20th.

So what did we do after we were done eating?  Well, we went to the casino, of course.

After all, they didn’t have the kids along with them, so they needed to have some fun too.

Sold!

Jun 192011
 

To start off, Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there.

There, I got that out of the way.

Moving on, Rick & I spent the day at an auction that was behind the house and down the street.  If we hadn’t gone, I think that the sound of the auctioneer from the loudspeaker would have drove me crazy all day long.

Rick likes auctions, and since this one was so close it would have been a crime not to go.  We could walk there and come home whenever we needed to.

Here are my general observances from today’s experience:

  • It is amazing how many people I knew there.  It’s almost like a family reunion without the hugs.
  • People. Will. Buy. Anything. For. A. Dollar.
  • The people that show up for these things are dressed slightly better than when they go to Walmart.
  • The auctioneer must have had a bladder made of steel.  He went for 5 hours straight without needing to go to the bathroom, yet drank about 2 gallons of water.
  • It is totally acceptable for children and/or dogs to run around wild.
  • It must be a rule that hot dogs/brats/pop be sold by the auction company (I think this is where they make the real money).  Now if they would have sold beer, they really would have seen those bids go higher.

All in all it was a very pleasant day, and the weather cooperated nicely.  Rick walked away with some great deals, including a radial arm saw and an air compressor that sold so cheaply he was sweating it a little wondering what was wrong with them.  There are never guarantees at things like this, so you take your chance and hope for the best.

Bonus:  They both work!  He’s in heaven.

He now says that if he ever gets laid off from work, he’ll have something to do.

I reminded him that he owns his own company, so he couldn’t use that as an excuse.

He ignored my comment and walked away with a great big grin on his face.

************************************************************************

You might be wondering if I gave him a Father’s Day present.

Yes I did, only it was combined with his anniversary present last month.  It’s not easy buying gifts for Rick, because it has to be something that he’ll really use.  And those fall into 3 major categories:  Tools, espresso and anything related to computers.

A pressure washer is something that he’s been talking about for a while, and when he mentioned it again a couple months back, I knew he still had interest and set about finding one that would meet his standards.

He loves it and he’s already cleaned the outside of the house with it.  When he has fun with his tools, it doesn’t seem so much like work when he uses them.

At least that’s my observation.

He may tell you differently.

 

Cartoon courtesy of Google Images

This and That

Jun 172011
 

I’m tired.

Check that… I’m EXHAUSTED!

Not only that, I am done… had it… kaput… the lights are on but nobody’s home.

I think you get the picture.

These last 3 weeks have be tough on this old broad.  At precisely 9 am on Thursday morning I hit the proverbial brick wall.

I was dead.  I wanted to lock the door and crawl under my desk and take a nap.  This was a totally plausible option, except for the fact that my supervisor has a key to the office and probably would have found it quite curious that I was curled up in the fetal position sawing logs.

Or not.

Last night after I got home my body decided to totally crash, and every time I got up from my chair, it screamed “NO!”.  I didn’t even have the energy to talk on the phone.  I haven’t been this bad in a long time.

They’d better find a qualified applicant for the vacancy in our office pretty soon, or I may just go a little loony on them.

******************************************************************

We finally got some rain this week.

It was beautiful.  The plants gave a collective sigh and sang “hallelujah”.  It was a glorious site.

But it is halfway through June and we have reverted back to May temperatures.  Hell, I still have my winter blankets on the bed.

I sure hope that Mother Nature makes up her mind soon, because I need me some sun, heat and humidity, dammit!

******************************************************************

It seems that my commod cheese post gave Nichole inspiration for Thursday’s supper menu.

She broke out some of her stash that I gave her a few months ago and made the family a big ‘ol batch of homemade mac & cheese.  This was “from scratch” cooking at it’s best starting with the roux and turning out ooey gooey cheesy perfection!

How do I know?  She sent me a text of the picture, of course!

Unfortunately, I don’t have the “tools” to transfer it properly to my computer to share with everyone, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one.  It looked nummers!!

Your great grandma Larson would be proud.

******************************************************************

If I wasn’t already at work, I think I would be crying great big crocodile tears!

Actually, I know I would be, because I am doing my best to hold them back.

The outpouring of support and encouragement and love that came from yesterday’s post touched me so deeply.

I wish I could give each and every one of you a great big squeeze, but our virtual environment has not evolved to that point yet, so a ginormous THANK YOU will have to suffice for now.

I love you all!

******************************************************************

It is Friday.

Glorious Friday.

I was ready for this day on Wednesday.

Not only does it mark the end of the workweek, but it also ushers in the arrival of munchkins tonight.

Look at those smiley faces!

I will gladly yell at summon my body to wake up and enjoy every minute with these youngins!

Grandma and Grandpa are waiting for your hugs, kisses and unending energy, so bring it on!

Well, not full-blast “on”, but you know the level, right?  Save the good stuff for your folks, Okay?

 

Photo courtesy of Nichole.

Comfort Zones

May 122011
 

It seems that cats can be pretty comfy no matter what the conditions that they have when they want to take a little snooze.

Believe me, I’ve had cats most of my life, and it still totally amazes me the positions that they come up with.

When I was growing up, we had this big old tabby that would lay on it’s back in between the slots of wood on a pallet that my Dad had in the garage.  Belly up, legs flopped to the sides, in peaceful slumber.

This was also the cat that would not eat mice.  He would take them out on the back stoop and play with them, smacking the poor critters back and forth between paws until they finally had a moment of clarity (or he got bored) and ran off.

I miss that cat.

I think his name was Tigger.

Anywho, when Nichole was up last month for Easter, we were camped out in the bedroom having our usual bull session when I looked over to my rocking chair and saw this:

Calie had her head buried into my coyote pelt that I have draped over the rocker.

She’s not fully laying on the thing, rather she is in a sitting position on top of the vanity zonked out!

I think that she was a little peeved with me when I turned the light on to snap the picture.

Actually, she snuggles up to this thing quite a bit, and I have even caught her licking it before like she is grooming it.

I guess it’s better than shredding it to bits.

Of course, Thor has his own idea of what the most comfy place to sleep in is.  Instead of just the normal couple pairs of shoes that he gets to snuggle up in, he takes full advantage of an additional 7 pairs.

Told you he had a shoe fetish.

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