The bags are thrown out, same goes for the boxes. I have my closet back again (I was hiding the gifts in there). Oh, and 15-some inches of snow have been plowed and hauled. What a mess!
DH wasn't around much for Christmas this year and that was disappointing. He was home for Christmas morning, but they went out to do some clean-up around 11am and he was gone the entire day. So, guess who played elf? Assembling baby doll strollers, high chairs, and Lexi's play kitchen. Oy. By 3pm I was e.x.h.a.u.s.t.e.d. Due to the weather, we were stuck at home. My grandparents postponed their Christmas celebration and had it this past Sunday, so that was nice. I was bummed about possibly missing it. The decorations are still up, but I don't plan on taking them down for a while. It takes too long to decorate to take them done already, lol. They'll be down by Lexi's birthday party (Jan. 16th) though, we'll need the room.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Change.
I can deal with it most times. A new cell phone. A new way of organizing. Even working on a laptop vs. a desktop. Except that printing thing...more on that later.
Today we exchanged one family "member" for another:
Today we exchanged one family "member" for another:
We recently had the opportunity to upgrade to a dining set that seated more than 4, however when you have the highchair in there it gets a little crowded. The highchair has officially been packed away and has been replaced with a booster seat. While I am loving the new room, it's a little sad knowing that we are packing away just one more sign of a baby being here.
I am loving the laptop. The portability. Windows 7 (suck it Vista!). The nice keyboard. Now, if only I could print. After much trial and error, our no-longer-with-us printer was not going to do the job. We need wireless. Sooooo....we passed our printer onto my mom since she needed a new one that was compatible with Win7. We'll look at purchasing a new all-in-one that can cater to my laptop as well. I don't know about anyone else, but I hate setting up new electronics. Especially computer stuff. Now I have to learn a new printer and how to get it and my laptop to get along. Oh, and throw in our desktop as well. I'm sure it will go just fine, but it's a headache until everything is running the way it should be!
Stuart Bean has been great at keeping up with the naughty kids. Like me. It has been over a week since I worked out. And honestly, I really don't care. Don't get me wrong, I miss working out and I'm kicking myself that I'm not, but I just can't find the ambition to. When we went through the bout of no heat, I was pretty sure I was NOT going to dress down to work out only to freeze my tail off. Hell no. Then we ran into busy times and here we are. The scale isn't going up too much, but I have to quit the snacking or there's going to be trouble!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Fun! And not so fun!
For the last few days I have been faithfully stalking the UPS website, tracking the whereabouts of my new laptop. My excitement when it switched from a delivery date of 12/10 to 12/9 was like Christmas morning. One day closer to some freedom with moving about the house and yet still getting online. I can check my messages and guard my Christmas tree at the same time. Whoo-hoo! And then....
The weather. Oh my word, the weather. 6-12 inches. 30-50pmh winds. It all shut down schools and half the city on...the day my beloved new toy was expected to arrive. That meant massive drifts in our yard. No one to plow it until the guys were done for the day. How, oh how, would the UPS truck make it through? :::sigh::: Turns out that was the least of my problems...
I woke up this morning and the very first thing I did was turn off my fan. That's odd for me. I love the air circulation and the steady noise it brings (yes, I'm one of those that hears every.little.noise. our house makes and it keeps me up wondering what it is!). The thing is, I was FREEZING. I walked out into our living room walked across the frigid floor and checked the thermostat. 63 degrees. Ouch. Turns out the gas tank wasn't full like we thought it was and it picked today of all days to completely empty. DH was out plowing and we had no heat, no hot water, and no oven (gas operated) to bake mountains of cookies to warm the house. We did, however, have our fireplace so I tried my hand at making a fire and I gotta say I didn't do too bad! We closed the doors to the other rooms to contain the heat to the living room, dining room and kitchen. We dressed in layers. And I spent the majority of the day hooking up the wireless network for the laptop my awesome UPS guy delivered! While Tay was gathering wood (right outside the house, she brought it in while I started the fire), the UPS truck pulled in and Tay ran through the drifts (ahhh, to be 13 and have energy like that!) to retrieve the package so the poor guy wouldn't get stuck in our driveway.
So, after a little bit of charging, decrapifying (new favorite word) the stuff I don't need on here, and setting up my wireless router, I have been having a hell of a time doing other stuff around here, lol. Oh well, tomorrow will be warmer (in the house at least), the wind is suppose to die down, and I get to have my hair done and hopefully get a little more Christmas shopping done:)
The weather. Oh my word, the weather. 6-12 inches. 30-50pmh winds. It all shut down schools and half the city on...the day my beloved new toy was expected to arrive. That meant massive drifts in our yard. No one to plow it until the guys were done for the day. How, oh how, would the UPS truck make it through? :::sigh::: Turns out that was the least of my problems...
I woke up this morning and the very first thing I did was turn off my fan. That's odd for me. I love the air circulation and the steady noise it brings (yes, I'm one of those that hears every.little.noise. our house makes and it keeps me up wondering what it is!). The thing is, I was FREEZING. I walked out into our living room walked across the frigid floor and checked the thermostat. 63 degrees. Ouch. Turns out the gas tank wasn't full like we thought it was and it picked today of all days to completely empty. DH was out plowing and we had no heat, no hot water, and no oven (gas operated) to bake mountains of cookies to warm the house. We did, however, have our fireplace so I tried my hand at making a fire and I gotta say I didn't do too bad! We closed the doors to the other rooms to contain the heat to the living room, dining room and kitchen. We dressed in layers. And I spent the majority of the day hooking up the wireless network for the laptop my awesome UPS guy delivered! While Tay was gathering wood (right outside the house, she brought it in while I started the fire), the UPS truck pulled in and Tay ran through the drifts (ahhh, to be 13 and have energy like that!) to retrieve the package so the poor guy wouldn't get stuck in our driveway.
So, after a little bit of charging, decrapifying (new favorite word) the stuff I don't need on here, and setting up my wireless router, I have been having a hell of a time doing other stuff around here, lol. Oh well, tomorrow will be warmer (in the house at least), the wind is suppose to die down, and I get to have my hair done and hopefully get a little more Christmas shopping done:)
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Bean. Stuart Bean.
It's not the best photo, but it's hard to grab a good shot when the elf hangs out on a ceiling fan! Doesn't help that I really haven't picked up my camera for some fun shots in a while. I haven't replace my tripod either. :::hangs head in shame::: New Years resolution? Yeah, I think so!
This guy entered our family for a couple reasons this year.
- Cole is being a pain. A huge pain. It startles me because Tay was an e.a.s.y. kid. You could tell her it's wrong/naughty and she'd listen. Cole is the opposite. He's along the lines of "Oh, you don't want me to do that? Okaaayyyyy...." and before I know it the white bathroom door is covered in black permanent marker and he's hauling Tide laundry with his loaders (yep, thinking about hiding all the chairs). I'm fast, but he's faster. A LOT faster. I'm a little afraid to use the bathroom sometimes, that kid can make a lot happen in 20 seconds! Enter Stuart Bean. Cole has a little faith in this guy. I mean, he reports to the big guy in the North Pole and all. He made me read the book that came with Stuart Bean 3 or 4 times..I think he wanted to get the rules down. Find a couple of loopholes or something.
- This blog has some awesome photos and the best adventures of their own little elf, Bob. He's a little wilder than Stuart Bean;) Great entertainment and so neat to see the fun they (kids and the adults!) have with it!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Stalking the UPS man.
Or woman. Doesn't matter, as long as they bring me my fun stuff:) Lately our FedEx delivery person has been a woman and I told DH that we've become good friends with all the phone stuff (2 new ones and then accessories) being delivered to our house lately, lol.
My new blender arrived and so far so good. I do miss having the "wand" to stir stuff with as it's blending....my smoothie maker had one and it was nice. Oh well, the important thing is that it works! I also ordered a new smoothie cup, it has a lid, a straw, and it's not ginormous like other mugs with a lid and straw are. It's handy for not spilling my precious fruit:) I was kind of surprised at how hard it was to find one though. Everything "to-go" these days is for coffee or working out. They all have lids, but no straw opening. I looked everywhere and finally found one online.
My inbox is going nuts with notifications that things are being shipped to our home, or are ready for pickup at our local store (free site-to-store shipping rocks!). I didn't venture out on Black Friday, but I took advantage of a few deals online. So while I'm not done with shopping, I am a lot further ahead than I was last year and that feels nice. Not rushed or running around, doing it as it works. Same goes for decorating, a little bit each day. Slow and steady is working for me!
The most important email notification of a shipment: my laptop! While it was backordered and wasn't suppose to be shipped for a week or 2, it shipped on Thursday, 4 days after I ordered it. Every day I log on to see what city it's in, lol. I also scored a "folding" mouse for half price on Amazon. I saw them in the stores and thought they were neat, but a little too pricey. Enter Amazon and I ordered it for way cheaper. Now it's a race to see what gets here first, the mouse or the laptop! All I need now is a case for them, a wireless router and a video creation program. I have my eye on a certain one for both the router and the video program, just waiting for a sale or maybe a gift card.
My new blender arrived and so far so good. I do miss having the "wand" to stir stuff with as it's blending....my smoothie maker had one and it was nice. Oh well, the important thing is that it works! I also ordered a new smoothie cup, it has a lid, a straw, and it's not ginormous like other mugs with a lid and straw are. It's handy for not spilling my precious fruit:) I was kind of surprised at how hard it was to find one though. Everything "to-go" these days is for coffee or working out. They all have lids, but no straw opening. I looked everywhere and finally found one online.
My inbox is going nuts with notifications that things are being shipped to our home, or are ready for pickup at our local store (free site-to-store shipping rocks!). I didn't venture out on Black Friday, but I took advantage of a few deals online. So while I'm not done with shopping, I am a lot further ahead than I was last year and that feels nice. Not rushed or running around, doing it as it works. Same goes for decorating, a little bit each day. Slow and steady is working for me!
The most important email notification of a shipment: my laptop! While it was backordered and wasn't suppose to be shipped for a week or 2, it shipped on Thursday, 4 days after I ordered it. Every day I log on to see what city it's in, lol. I also scored a "folding" mouse for half price on Amazon. I saw them in the stores and thought they were neat, but a little too pricey. Enter Amazon and I ordered it for way cheaper. Now it's a race to see what gets here first, the mouse or the laptop! All I need now is a case for them, a wireless router and a video creation program. I have my eye on a certain one for both the router and the video program, just waiting for a sale or maybe a gift card.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
It's like they planned it.
My cell phone, oven, dishwasher, blender and water heater/gas.
One by one, they failed or bailed, lol.
First, my phone. After years of never really having an issue with my cell phone, this one decides to be the one to cause a problem. Darn thing turns itself off. Charged battery and all. So, I go in to get an exchange as it's under a year, new one arrived on Friday. I got my contacts switched over, but I forgot about the events I had scheduled in it. Oops. I'm upgrading in January and Tay will get this phone, she's pysched because it has a qwerty keyboard. I'll be sure to write down my events before then, lol.
Next, the blender. While making a smoothie Thanksgiving morning, the "pitcher" hopped up and shredded the gears. Super. DH was able to finagle a few screws into the gears to mash the bananas, strawberries and yogurt in there, but the thing was shot after that. Ordered a new one, arrived today. So far, so good.
Saturday afternoon, making lunch and our oven charred the french fries in less than 18 minutes. Wth? DH thinks it was a gas surge (?!!!!). Okaayyyy. Either way, the damn thing wouldn't turn off and there is NO way it was only at 425 degrees! I had to turn off the gas and my brother came over to move the stove so we could unplug it and turn off the valve to it (so we could turn the gas on for other things, like warm water and heat!). Oh, and this stuff only happens when DH is out of town!
The gas. We switched tanks and needed a new gas line (hence the oven issue). DH does it today, all is hooked up. I workout (yoga and biking, go me!), put up our tree (just lights and the star right now), and decide to shower. Freezing cold water. I try to light the pilot light, nothing. So I figure I'll start supper. I light the burner to boil water, lights up fine. Well, there must have been a hiccup of air in the line and the flame when out. ::sigh:: DH says he fixed it all now...yeah, when I'm clean from warm water and eating a meal, I'll believe him:)
The dishwasher. I have many beefs with that thing. For one it's called a "QuietPartner II". The hell if that thing is quiet! The main beef is that it doesn't wash the dishes very well, no matter what setting it's on. Hard water, soft water (which we have), doesn't matter. It's ONE job is to wash dishes and it fails miserably.
On the upside (and downside) to things, I have finally ordered my laptop! Whoo-hoo! The upside is that we finally ordered it, the downside is that we paid more than we planned as they upped the price on it. Boo to them. Either way, it means I can get my videos from the Handycam onto discs. Message people from the main floor. Maybe update this a little more often. Who knows, the possibilities are endless:)
One by one, they failed or bailed, lol.
First, my phone. After years of never really having an issue with my cell phone, this one decides to be the one to cause a problem. Darn thing turns itself off. Charged battery and all. So, I go in to get an exchange as it's under a year, new one arrived on Friday. I got my contacts switched over, but I forgot about the events I had scheduled in it. Oops. I'm upgrading in January and Tay will get this phone, she's pysched because it has a qwerty keyboard. I'll be sure to write down my events before then, lol.
Next, the blender. While making a smoothie Thanksgiving morning, the "pitcher" hopped up and shredded the gears. Super. DH was able to finagle a few screws into the gears to mash the bananas, strawberries and yogurt in there, but the thing was shot after that. Ordered a new one, arrived today. So far, so good.
Saturday afternoon, making lunch and our oven charred the french fries in less than 18 minutes. Wth? DH thinks it was a gas surge (?!!!!). Okaayyyy. Either way, the damn thing wouldn't turn off and there is NO way it was only at 425 degrees! I had to turn off the gas and my brother came over to move the stove so we could unplug it and turn off the valve to it (so we could turn the gas on for other things, like warm water and heat!). Oh, and this stuff only happens when DH is out of town!
The gas. We switched tanks and needed a new gas line (hence the oven issue). DH does it today, all is hooked up. I workout (yoga and biking, go me!), put up our tree (just lights and the star right now), and decide to shower. Freezing cold water. I try to light the pilot light, nothing. So I figure I'll start supper. I light the burner to boil water, lights up fine. Well, there must have been a hiccup of air in the line and the flame when out. ::sigh:: DH says he fixed it all now...yeah, when I'm clean from warm water and eating a meal, I'll believe him:)
The dishwasher. I have many beefs with that thing. For one it's called a "QuietPartner II". The hell if that thing is quiet! The main beef is that it doesn't wash the dishes very well, no matter what setting it's on. Hard water, soft water (which we have), doesn't matter. It's ONE job is to wash dishes and it fails miserably.
On the upside (and downside) to things, I have finally ordered my laptop! Whoo-hoo! The upside is that we finally ordered it, the downside is that we paid more than we planned as they upped the price on it. Boo to them. Either way, it means I can get my videos from the Handycam onto discs. Message people from the main floor. Maybe update this a little more often. Who knows, the possibilities are endless:)
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