autumn splendor

It was a perfect day on Saturday & we decided to head to Taylors Falls for some hiking, climbing & beautiful fall colors. We thought lunch out sounded fun, but we quickly learned that while we love Taylors Falls, it is sorely lacking in decent restaurants. Our choices were a musty smelling cafe, or this little outdoor burger joint. After waiting an HOUR for our burgers, they tasted eerily similiar to school cafeteria mystery meat on a bun. Actually, Kendall assured us that her school's burgers were much better than these. We choked down what we needed for survival & went on to have a great day in the bluffs. Here are a few pictures. The sky was clear & blue, so I'm not sure why it looks so white? Any photographers out there?

We had to stop at the ice cream shop of course! Kendall had a chocolate/peanut butter concoction & Jenna went for the coconut/chocolate almond something-or-other. YUMMY!

Being a Good Sport

My cousin-in-law "tagged" me so to speak & while I'm usually a scrooge & delete these types of things, this one is kinda fun. Rather than answer the same old quiz questions, you just type 6 random things about yourself. So, here we go.

Here are the ever-so-simple rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write 6 random things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know he/she has been tagged.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six rules. Six things about myself.

1. I am addicted to talk radio. It started when I was a full-time stay-at-home-mom and I think just needed to hear adult voices around me. The stations have changed over the years as I become bored with one & move on to another, but it's still a geeky addiction that I love.

2. I was an L.A. Gear shoe model for one whole weekend. Of course this was when I was a freshman in college, 103 pounds and had size 5 1/2 feet (before pregnancies grew them to size 7). My friend & I wore little black leotards, cut off t-shirts, huge hair & had to perform an aerobic dance type thing every hour at a shoe convention. It's ok to laugh. I thought I was oh so cool at the time & earned $200 and 5 free pairs of shoes! Of course only 3 of the pairs were ever delivered & I'm still a bit bitter about that.

3. I like the smell of "distant skunk" as I call it. Not fresh road-kill skunk or skunk spray in your back yard, but the hint of skunk in the air as you drive down the road is enjoyable to me. My family is totally baffled by this oddity & enjoy making fun of me whenever "distant skunk" lingers in the air. I can hardly believe I just admitted to it actually.

4. I love High School Musical movies & can't wait for the new one. I know mom's are supposed to hate them, but I love them. The sad part is, Kendall & Jenna have both made plans to see it with friends so I may be going alone. What a pitiful sight that will be.

5. I tear up at some point during almost every movie. I hate it. It's embarrassing. It's not normal to cry during cartoons. Although there are times that I think something's wrong with my kids when they don't cry, like during "Eight Below". You can't be human & not practically sob during that one.

6. The smell of wool clothing makes me nauseous. I can often be seen smelling sweaters at the mall to see if they contain wool because I absolutely cannot wear them if I can detect it. Ick. My stomach churns just thinking about it.

Now I'm supposed to "tag" 6 people, but I don't know that many bloggers so I'm tagging just a few. I spent a ton of time doing this, so you guys better do it too. :)

• Kerri at http://www.kerriandkids.blogspot.com/
• Jessica at http://www.jessicarosescott.blogspot.com/
• Kendall at http://www.soccerbaby94.blogspot.com/
• Chloe at http://www.cutaloo.blogspot.com/

like eating cardboard...literally

This morning Jenna & I stayed home from church because she has an icky cough, so I've been enjoying a lazy Sunday morning & even put a pan of brownies in the oven for after lunch. After patting myself on the back for making brownies, I grabbed a bowl of Special K Chocolatey Delight and settled in to see what's new in blogland. As I was munching along enjoying the bits of chocolate that occasionally appear on my spoon, I suddenly encountered a foreign object the bobbed it's way to the top of the bowl. It appeared to be a mushy piece of CARDBOARD! Yep, as I look at it now fully dried on my desk...cardboard.

No, it's not as disgusting as a bug, mouse tail, or human finger, but I don't know where that cardboard came from or what kind of nastiness it has been associated with! It ruined my breakfast & possibly ruined my love of my favorite cereal forever. Not to mention the $3.00 I'm out since it's a brand new box!

So I ask for your advice. Should I take action on this travesty? Should I return the box to Target & demand a new one? Should I contact Kelloggs, produce the evidence & hope that they offer me a million dollar settlement? Should I just toss the brand new box of cereal & let it go? Is it possible to get over the emotional trauma & actually enjoy Special K again?

What am I supposed to eat now? :(

new buddy on my mantle

The air is cooler, the leaves are starting to change, but in our home we know fall has officially arrived when Jenna begins her decorating. Jenna had a bit of a headache when I picked her up from school today, but despite not feeling 100%, she knew this was the day she must begin her fall creations. She grabbed a box of crafty tidbits and a short time later introduced me to this wonderful scarecrow which she hung from our mantle. I especially love the crow on his arm and the cornstalks in his hay-hands!

It's hard to tell from the picture, but he's a 3-dimensional fellow with some type of cylinder beneath his fabric shirt & pants. I think he's pretty great & I can't wait to see how Jenna decks out the place for Halloween!

With that, I'm off to watch the VP debate which I've been looking forward to all day! Yep, I'm a geek. Whoo-hoo!

Yes, I know...

This blog has been neglected ~ partly because of busy, crazy days and partly because of a lack of creativity on my part. So, here's a little filler post with a promise of something more entertaining to come in the near future.

Last week I got my hair foiled. There was a pile of brochures at work for a newly opened salon, along with some coupons for 50% off any service for new clients. Since 50% off of a full foil is a big chunk of change, I decided to be fiscally responsible and try the new salon.

I usually get blonde & light brownish foils. This time my 20 year old new stylist (yikes!) and I decided to try some dark reddish ones & not as much blonde. I like the red color, it's fun for fall, but apparently 20 year olds prefer the "chunky" foil look and thus I ended up with 2 big red blobs of hair right in the front. It drove me nuts for a week before I finally went back today to get it fixed (sort of) by another 20 year old stylist with 2 piercings in her lips and platinum blonde extensions. A very nice, friendly girl, but I am old and our hairstyle ideas are not, um, compatible. She suggested I try a short choppy cut, or get extensions myself at a cost of only $400 every 3-4 months. :)

So, all's well that ends well, but I'm looking forward to my next haircut at my old place with my favorite stylist who's in her mid-to-upper twenties. Hopefully she'll forgive my disloyalty and welcome me back into the fold.

are we in the twilight zone?

Hmmm....something weird is going on. I wrote the post about Talk Like a Pirate Day today (Friday, Sept. 19) but blogger seems to think I wrote it yesterday & backdated it to Thursday.

So, please don't be confused. If you'd like to celebrate this glorious day next year, mark your calendars for September 19th. Which is today. Unless we've traveled through a time warp or something.

AAAAAARRR!

Avast! It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! I wish I had known this earlier so we could plan to commemorate it properly, buy maybe we can squeeze in a celebratory game of "pirates dice" sometime tonight. The girls & I will miss their aunties as we all love so much to talk like pirates 'till our throats are raw.

So, in honor of this special day, I give ye a blast from the past. The cutest little pirate I ever did see along with her buddy the lovely "gothic princess" when they were 11 and almost 8 years old.

Take time for a little swashbuckling with ye mateys and lemme here ye say AAAAARRR! (yes, my pirate speak is something to be admired).

good to see ya again

Remember these totally triumphant dudes? I was browsing Netflix this week trying to find movies that were fun & age appropriate for the whole family, when I remembered Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. I'm lucky that my kids love the Cosbys, Full House, & pretty much all things 80's, so I figured I couldn't go wrong.

Tonight after Kendall's soccer team won their game (yay!) and the team went to Culvers (double yay!) we settled in for a night with Bill & Ted and a trip down memory lane for mom. I have to admit I probably laughed more than anyone else in the room (I think Jer actually dozed off toward the end-not unusual), but the girls were laughing too & fun was had by all. Hopefully this weekend we'll have a chance to watch my other Netflix pick this week, "Groundhog Day". I hope it's as clean as I think I remember it was. :)

Be excellent to each other......and PARTY ON DUDES!

Quirky Customers

The job I have does not reflect the hard work I put into earning a college degree, or the student loan that took 10 years to pay off. I don't earn much money and it won't really improve my resume, but I get to work around my kids' school schedule and that's why I work there. I also get to meet some very interesting people that keep me entertained every day.

Yesterday a lady came into the shop looking for "travel salt shakers". She asked me if we had some or if we've ever seen any in the catalogs we order from. I must have looked at her kinda funny, so she began to explain the reason for her request. She likes to take her own sea salt with her to restaurants because it's "so much better for you, especially if you suffer from high blood pressure". She told me she had tried using those little mini salt shakers and putting tape over the holes, but the salt would still leak into her purse. She had been to several stores and was sure there must be SOMEWHERE she can find travel salt shakers that have a little lid to keep the salt secure. She asked me to be sure to tell the store buyer of her request and that she knows of at least 3 girlfriends that would rush in to buy them too. She then asked me to take her name & number so I could call her if we ever get them in.

I'm not a big salt user. In fact, the only food I shake it on is corn on the cob so maybe the importance of this issue escapes me. But, if you don't like regular table salt, or you have high blood pressure, couldn't you just skip the salt for that one meal in a restaurant? Or if you're really that salt obsessed, wouldn't a ziplock baggie work just fine? It just doesn't seem like something you should spend your time running all over town looking for.

I just realized that this post reminds me of Seinfeld. The show about nothing...the post about nothing. Ha! But the quirky customers make my little gift shop job entertaining, so there ya go. And if anyone's looking for that million-dollar idea.....travel salt shakers!

first day of school!

Here are my little babies on their first day of school. Aaaaaah - they look so old! I think it would be fun to find all of their first day of school pictures and put them together in one of those collage type frames. I might have to do that someday. Wish my hair would get that blonde from the sun!

Anyway, Jenna had been looking forward to this day for a long time. She even made one of her great signs counting down the days until school (with tear off sheets) and hung it in the living room. Happily, she had a great day and can't wait until tomorrow. Who can blame her? She ended up in the same class with all 4 of her best friends and a teacher who loves parties and doesn't like homework. :) Yep, gonna be a good year for Jenna. Her only disappointment today was when I picked her up & told her that her piano teacher (who is her music teacher at school) wanted to start lessons right away today. Piano lessons just aren't as fun as they used to be. A chocolate shake from McD's helped to ease the pain though.

Kendall's first day of high school went well, but she was not happy to come home with HOMEWORK on the first day. It probably only took her 45 minutes to do, but still...come on teachers! She has two honors classes this year & there is definitely a higher standard. She got to go to her first drama class & found out that she got the part of Belinda Cratchit in the fall production of A Christmas Carol! (auditions were a couple weeks ago). So next week she begins drama rehearsals after soccer practice/games. I should get to see her around 9:00 each night. Ha! She'll have a blast though! Soccer is over the end of September, so the craziness is temporary.

Kendall actually has the same English teacher that I had for high school. Now that's just weird. I thought for sure she would retire before Kendall got to high school, but...guess not. It should be interesting.

I get to enjoy one more blissful day home alone before I go back to work on Thursday. Hmmmm, what flavor bon-bons shall I enjoy tomorrow? What mindless talk show should I watch? Lucky me!