Wednesday Randomness

My Babies Are PO'd At Me!!

Thanksgiving was nice. We, as usual had two dinners. One around mid-day at my parent's house with all of my side of the family, then one hosted at my house with Mike's side of the family. MIL handled pretty much everything; I made the green-bean casserole (GO ME!!) but MIL did everything else. I think we had more food for the eight of us then there was for 19 at my parent's dinner. Can you say leftovers?! My fridge (which was pretty barren prior to that day) was stuffed to the gills by Thursday night. The remainder of the weekend was spent figuring how many ways you can possibly eat turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, rolls, twenty-five different types of salad, jellos and pies. By Sunday night we had dumped all of it in a huge pan together (pies, jello and salad included---um, just kidding) and cooked it all together. It was sort of shepherd pie-ish. Not too bad. At least it didn't look too bad. I wouldn't know because I didn't eat any of it. In fact, beyond Thursday and up until this very moment, I have eaten very little. Which is part of the reason my babies are PO'd at me. The other reason is because of the pure ruckus my body has caused in my stomach for the past four days or so.

Care Bear and I both came down with a hellish case of the flu on Friday. She woke up with it; it hit me sometime mid-day; shortly after I had indulged in two pieces of apple pie. MIL I still think is convinced it's because I ate two pieces of pie. I keep trying to tell her that I highly doubt that two pieces of pie could cause four days of vomiting and other stomach ailments which I will not discuss. Nor would my eating two pieces of pie cause my sweet little girl to have pretty much the same issues as me. I don't think over-indulging in pie is contagious.

So, the poor little squirts have not only had to endure earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes in their safe little haven, they have also had to endure being mal-nourished for over half a week. They are maaaaaaaddd! They are proving this to me by kicking, punching and stabbing every spare nook and cranny they can find. I can hardly blame them. This is reminiscient of the week prior to my giving birth to Care Bear when I was sick for an entire week with the stomach flu. She got so sick of it that she said, "Forget this!" and decided to come three weeks early. Recalling this, I panicked a little concerned due to the fact that if these babies got so sick of being in the chaos that is my body right now, they would try to come two and a half months early, which of course is in no way acceptable. So I called my doctor's office. When they panicked, I panicked more. They made me come in right then and even made me call inside the office when I was in the parking lot so that they could come out and sterlize me before I came in (read: sport an oh-so-cool surgical mask and slather myself with sterizing hand wash). I felt like a leper. They strapped a fetal monitor on to me to do a non-stress test, took a urine sample to make sure I don't have a bladder infection (which I think I do--those results still pending), and informed that I was probably going to be sent over to the hospital for the rest of the day to get hooked up to an IV to get rehydrated. SCORE!

Luckily, babies showed no signs of stress, heart-rates were good and instead of sending me to the hospital, they sent me on my way with instructions to drink plenty of Gatorade.

I'm on the mend. I was able to eat a cheese sandwich last night. Or rather, half of a cheese sandwich. I'm able to consume liquids again, which is also good. Care Bear as well has recovered for the most part and has been able to go to school this week. Now, if we can just get through the rest of this month with no illness, it will be the best Christmas present I could get--well, that and a new mini-van for my own personal daycare.

Baby Name Update

We thought we had names picked out. They were going to be Samantha Hope and Victoria Faith. And then the girls got involved. The big girls that is. They have very strong ideas as to what they want to name the babies. Feisty is bound and determined to name one of the babies Emma. She has not wavered from this point. I'm considering it. It's a real name (albeit quite over used right now) and it's cute. Care Bear has come up with quite an assortment of interesting names. One of her more viable options is Sierra (a friend's name at school) and her most recent choice: Janessa (also a friend from school). These are more acceptable to me than her previous suggestions such as: Olive (there is a specific reason I will not choose this name) and Guitarra (a completely made up, fabricrated name).

So, the whole baby name thing is still up in the air. I have all the suggestions everyone has given me written in a handy-dandy notebook which I refer to quite often. I love all of the suggestions. Keep them coming. It could be months still before the squirts have names. They could quite possibly go to Kindergarten without names. I think Little Squirt and Big Squirt are perfectly fine names to grow up with, don't you?!?!

Occupational Stuff

My husband is, as we speak, 3 miles west of me and about 3 hours into his new job joining the ranks of the rest of us esteemed employees of this higher education establishment. I am t-minus 22 minutes away from a meeting with my supervisors to discuss returning to part-time. Pray for us both. If you are a prayin' person. Thanks!

The Make Up Artist

And last but not least. Care Bear got a new Bratz doll this week. Don't criticize me on getting my daughter a Bratz doll. Daddy got it for her. In her mind, she's just a pretty doll. That's it. Anyhooooo.....the doll came with a little compact full of sparkly powder with which to adorn the doll's face. Adorning the doll's face, however, was not enough for Care Bear. It was turned into a full scale make-up salon. The evening was spent getting sparkly powder make-overs. Come to think of it, I probably should have double checked faces this morning to make sure any sparkly's were not left over. Oh, well.

The "salon " came complete with flowers for decoration, a keyboard for musical entertainment, a "tip jar" (I was informed right away that I must pay to receive facial treatments), cotton balls and her new winter gloves (lest she get sparkles on her fingers). The facials were done concurrently while watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Good times.

And that's it for me! Happy Wednesday.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful baby name suggestions! I have had so much fun reading all of them and have come up (thus far) with a very comprehensive list of potential names. Keep 'em comin! I'm keeping the baby name game button on my sidebar that links directly to that post, so if you think of anymore, feel free to add! (Until such time as I either go into labor, or I choose names).

Since the fear over my babies has subsided, I find myself having little or nothing to think about. That is scary. Well, not nothing....I always have something to worry about. But nothing that would be of any interest to any of you. Why on earth would anyone care to read about the fact that I am finding it increasingly difficult to find clothes to put on in the morning? Or whether or not something I choose to eat may or may not bring back the horrendous nausea and/or heart-burn that has recently subsided? Yeah. I didn't think that'd be too interesting to read about. So in the interest of not turning my blog into a "This is what I did today" hum-drum, I just leave it alone to get stale.

The doctor did call towards the end of the week (I believe Friday) to inform us that the final results of the amniocentesis came back (the results I posted a week ago Friday were the prelimary results) and that there is indeed, no presence of any chromosomal abnormalities in either baby. It's good to know that this is what the final results say. Because I wouldn't have been at all upset if the final results had differed from the prelimary results. However, they do want me to come back for my scheduled appointment on October 12 for another ultra sound just to make sure that the babies' organs are all OK. You know, because doctors hate to admit that they could have possibly been wrong about their initial diagnosis. They are still concerned about the mass on the big baby's neck (which heretofore will be referred to as Big Squirt) even though it is no longer there. So what. It was there initially, therefore they are going to be concerned. It's all good. They really just don't want me to sue them should my baby be born with one foot larger than the other or something. So I will take one final drive to Denver to lay there and have warm goo that probably costs a good $500 smeared all over my belly and have them tell me, "Well, for cryin' out loud! There really is nothing wrong with these kids!" At least I can get one more good shot at my babies in utero before they're born.


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All appears to be well on the health front with Feisty as well. We had taken her last week to get some tests done at Children's Hospital to find out if there is something horribly wrong with her that is causing her to continually get these UTIs. Surprise, surprise.....those tests came back normal as well. And while this is great and re-assuring, we still don't know why she continues to get them, and don't even know she has them until she is either burning up with fever, or curled up on the floor in a fetal position in pain.



I'm a worrier by nature and have come discover in the past five years of mother-hood that I never knew what worrying really was until I had little lives to constantly worry about. I can barely stand to watch the news anymore because every story I see makes me worry somehow about my kids. Even if it has nothing to do with kids.


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It is only in the 40s here today and pouring rain. I rather enjoy it....except when I have to walk nearly a mile across campus to my office....with no umbrella.



I have a fire log sitting at home just waiting to be used. I hope it's still cold and rainy when I get home.
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I made a recipe last night that I found over at Barb's place last month sometime. It's Chicken Divan and it is seriously the best thing I've ever made. And I am no cook. But I can't even quit eating my own cooking. Good grief. My taste buds think they've died and gone to heaven. So, thanks Barb.
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*MAJOR CONFLICT ALERT** I am presently ashamed to work where I do....particularly since where I work is responsible for recruiting and trying to get people to come here. If I had kids of college age, I would not send them to a place where the school paper publishes a larger than life editorial such as this: (obviously edited for content)

I really don't care what your political affiliation is. That's not my beef. I just think it's disgusting to print something like this about anyone in a student run newspaper. The editor says he was trying to encourage dialogue. Yeah. The dialogue you agree with, perhaps. You can only imagine the backlash this has caused. It's garnered national attention. Real cool. Free speech, blah, blah, blah. Within reason, thankyouverymuch.

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That's what's happening in my neck of the woods. And yours?

Happy Monday!

The "Baby Name Game" will continue throughout the remainder of my pregnancy (or until I decide on names, whichever comes first). Click on the button in the sidebar to add any names you think of. This is much harder than I thought!

The good news? Hubby got a job.

The bad news? I’m still full time and am now dealing with the hassle and expense of daycare for the kidlings. The job came rather quickly and unexpectedly after several months of nothing so all of a sudden I was in a mad rush to locate someone….anyone (within reason of course) who would watch my kids without breaking the bank. Forget a formal daycare setting. Every single daycare I looked into within a 30 mile radius was going to cost me almost my entire check to put them in….and that’s part time (because my mom can still watch them in the afternoons). I checked with father-in-law who is a school teacher. I thought to myself, “Self….here is a great solution. FIL can watch them until noon in the mornings since it’s summer and he should be off, then mom can pick them up on her way home. What could be better than having grandma and grandpa watching them on the same day?!” I should have known better. This is a man who so immerses himself in his students and his work during the school year that we’re lucky if we can find one single weekend out of the entire year that he can watch them or help us out. Nope. FIL teaches a summer band in the mornings. So I said to him, “Hypothetically speaking, what if my mom were able to switch her schedule to afternoons and she could watch them in the mornings, you in the afternoons?”

“Uh, well, I’m probably going to be doing some house painting in the afternoons
for some extra money so I can’t commit to anything regularly. I can look
at my schedule and help you out when
I can.”

Well, gee, thanks, but I think I need to have something more set in stone for my kids than “maybe I can help you now and then.”

I checked with a friend (Jennifer) from church who has watched them before; we exchange play dates with her kids and they have a great time together. Last week she was preparing for a wedding this past Saturday. Next week she’s going on vacation. She can possibly help some this week (that we are currently in). I check with Sandy. Who better to have watch my kids than Feisty’s best friend?! Even better, she has a son just one year younger than Anakin and they get along great. Sandy had just committed to working her other job that week and after that would be leaving on vacation.

“But what about Ginger?” she says.

“Ahhh….Ginger,” I say to myself. “Why didn’t I think of that?!” Ginger is a stay-at-home mom who has one little girl Care Bear’s age. She’s rather new to our church and gotten very involved. I call Ginger. Ginger, thankfully, can watch them last Monday and Tuesday. A little relief. That gives me a few more days to figure out what to do with the rest of the week and beyond.

First day to Ginger’s goes fine. Granted, getting the kids up at the crack of dawn was no picnic, but they were pretty good and I assured Care Bear that, “Yes, you can sleep on the way to Ginger’s house.” Feisty even did great, which I was utterly shocked at. The following day was more what I expected. Fits at what clothes to wear, who was going to sit where in the car, and screams of, “I wanna stay home with you, Mama!!”. I knew it was too good to be true.
Then came the 4th of July. A day off, but not without the stress of figuring out where they were going to go the next two days. Then it occurred to me that my cousin was in town with her two boys, Care Bear’s age and 18 months. Perfect. They can play together for awhile and it’ll be someone they can feel comfortable with and who I am comfortable leaving them with. Cousins says, “Sure I can do that!” But there was a mis-communication. I thought we had arranged for Thursday and Friday; she thought Thursday only. Crap. Back to square one. I ended up having to take the morning off on Friday.

Over the weekend I continued to stress, lose sleep, stress, have bad dreams, stress, eat midnight snacks and have some slight indigestion over what was going to become of my children over the next several weeks until school starts.

Sunday, I hit Jennifer up again. This was the week that I thought Jennifer said she would be able to help me out.

“Well, the girls have swimming lessons this week. I can probably help
Thursday and Friday because I can take them to Bible Study on Thursday and then
the weekly park playdate on Friday. I can possibly help on Tuesday and
Wednesday, but definitely not tomorrow.”

It’s about at this point in time that I’m ready to say “Screw the full time job. This is causing too much stress and will cost too much money.” I end up calling my last resort. Not last resort because I don’t think it’s something suitable for the kids, just last resort because it’s so far south of where I need to be heading, probably more $$ than I want to pay, and a completely unfamiliar environment for the kids. For Care Bear and Anakin that’s not as big an issue. But for Feisty, who has never been cared for by anyone other than Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and Sandy (and FIL once a year), this is a major, huge adjustment. But at this point I had no choice. It is more than I want to pay, and it’s too far away, and Feisty was breaking my heart when I dropped them off, but I don’t know what else to do. There is a teenager in our church who is going to college in the fall who may be an option (less expensive and can come to my home) for the rest of the summer, but she is currently on vacation. So, we’ll see.

In the meantime, I continue to have restless nights, annoying dreams and I fear I am getting an ulcer. I just wish things were the way they were before. And I thought life was complicated then. The grass isn’t always greener……
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So, this post wasn’t so random after all. But I do have one random thing to mention. Wanna know what my new, extremely weird obsession is? Picking weeds. Ever since I weeded my garden a few weeks ago, everywhere I go I see weeds and they drive me nuts. I pick weeds at work, at church, in the park….no weed is safe when within my line of vision. But it’s driving me nuts. Plus, I’m allergic to them. I should find a less “sneezy” obsession. I might as well just start picking fleas from cats hair. Not really.
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My dad took my kids on a hike this weekend. Check out the pics and then dare tell me I don’t have the cutest kids in the world!!

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And one more thing: Here’s a picture Care Bear drew quite awhile ago of herself that I’ve had hanging on my bulletin board forever. I have a scanner sitting right beside me now at my desk so chances of you seeing a lot more of Care Bear’s artwork in the future are pretty good.

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That’s it for me for now……anyone have any good, strong, indigestion medicine?!

Stuff and More Stuff

I realize that in all likelihood, very few people are reading my blog anymore. I've probably been dropped off of bloglines all over the blogosphere. But that's alright. I've gotten past the point of worrying what my sitemeter says, what blog top sites says or how many comments I get. I've decided to keep writing on my blog when I feel I have something to write about because this is how I've been keep track of things in my life. My diary. Go figure. Isn't that what blogs were originally created to be? So, when I feel like I have something to write about, I'm going to write. If you still want to read what I've written, great. If you want to comment, great. If not, that's great, too. I'm going to do this more for my own purposes now than for any other reason. That being said.....this particular post has no particular theme. It's a lot of randomness.
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This past weekend was one of the most pleasant, relaxing and fun weekends I've had in I don't know how long. We didn't do anything grand or expensive or even go anywhere, but I went back to work on Monday with the glow of the weekend. Mike bought the kids two inflatable pools on Friday night last week. One of them is a pretty large one that has an inflatable slide and an inflatable basketball hoop that goes over the pool and you can attach a hose to it so that water sprinkles down all over everything. The other one is just a typical, round wading pool (at the request of Feisty because she wasn't too sure about the other one.) The weather this past weekend was between 75-85 both days. There was not a cloud in the sky. We put up chairs in the backyard, ate our lunch out there, the neighbor girls put up their pool and the whole weekend was spent with those kids going back and forth to eachother's backyards playing in their pools. Mike and I? We sat in the chairs, watched them play, I read magazines. By the end of the weekend, my kids looked like perfectly cooked little golden turkeys. Yes, I put sunscreen on them, but they had perfect golden little tans and their hair even lightened up a little bit.

(Don't worry. I didn't have them rotating on a stick.)

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This week our church is doing VBS. It's in the evening from 6 to 8:30. It's kind of a challenge to get home from work at 5:00, get them dinner and get them to the church by 6:00. But we've been doing pretty good. The exciting thing this year is that Feisty gets to be a part of Bible School. She's 3 now and gets to go. I was a little concerned about how she was going to do because I was pretty positive that the four (4) people she feels comfortable being with weren't going to be her teacher (especially since three of those people are me, my mom and her dad and I knew we weren't her teachers). She ended up doing just fine and is having a great time. My little girl is growing up. Maybe, just maybe, this means I can attempt to take her to the church for babysitting when they do the next "Parent Freedom Night". We'll see. I'm not getting my hopes up. This year's Bible School is called "Water Works Park" and every night they learn a different Bible story that has something to do with water. It's a very high energy program and it's very difficult to get my already high energy children to settle down every night. But it's OK. As long as they are having fun and learning something.

Care Bear has always had a stage fright problem. She sings and dances and performs like no other at home, but get her in front of other people and she just freezes up. I keep hoping she's going to grow out of it soon, but I'm not sure it's going to happen quite yet. I have that feeling based on this conversation last night:

Anakin: "Kristen, Care Bear doesn't sing at Bible School. I watch
her and she doesn't sing."
Care Bear: "I have stage fright Anakin!!!"

I just assured her that it's OK and she'll sing when she's ready. Feisty, on the other hand, at this point doesn't seem to be exhibiting any of that. In the car on the way there last night, I asked them to sing a song for me from Bible School. Care Bear clammed up, but Feisty jumped right in and sang (perfectly in tune I might add): "Splish, Splash! It's a Bible bash!!"

While they are there, I have been enjoying some "quiet time" at home; watching my stupid soap opera, cleaning up around the house, etc. Last night Mike and I got the house picked up, did laundry, did dishes and it was nice to come home from picking them up to a somewhat clean house.
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My children all hit milestones at church a few weekends ago. They were all three promoted to different Sunday School classes. This has been a slight issue for my girls who are both very adverse to change. Especially Feisty. Feisty was to move from the nursery to the pre-school class; Care Bear from pre-school to Kindergarten; and Anakin from primary to middlers. Care Bear postponed her promotion until her buddy Chloe came back from vacation. That was last Sunday and she did fine once Chloe was back. Feisty on the other hand has to start out each Sunday, even if it's just for a few minutes, with her best friend Sandy before she feels comfortable crossing the hall to her appropriate class. Once she's there, she's fine. But she has to get her Sandy fix first. And Sandy is perfectly fine with that arrangement!

Anakin is now in the "middlers" class for 4th, 5th and 6th graders. After this year, Anakin has one more year in Elementary school. Pass the oxygen tank please....I'm too close to having a teenager in the house! I'm getting ahead of myself, but considering I remember his first day of kindergarten like it was yesterday and now he's in fourth grade and his baby sister is going into kindergarten.....it'll be tomorrow when I have a house full of teenagers.
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I realized today that I'm sort of a nerd. I try to be cool, but deep down I'm really just a total geek. And this is how I came to that conclusion: I took my husband's truck to work today so he could have transportation for himself and the kids. Something happened with the fuses in his truck and his radio is not working. I like my radio show in the morning, too. BJ, Howie and Jennifer start my day. So I was a little bored on my way to work and more than once found my finger reaching for the "on" button on the stereo. So, I decided to take matters into my own hand and I was my own radio show. I sang songs on the way to work to amuse myself. Now tell me that is not nerdy.
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I best get to work. Enjoy your Thursday!

Massive Amounts of Randomness

I simply can not focus on one topic today. I have had so many things rambling around in my head over the past couple of weeks to write about so I just need to get them out. So, bear with me today.
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Thanks, first of all, for all off the nice comments you guys had on my new 'do. I really like it, although it does require more maintenance. Bad hair days can no longer be solved by just throwing it up in a pony tail and calling it good. I actually have to use product. People....do you have any earthly clue how long it has been since I have used any type of product in my hair?? I can't remember the last time I purchased gel, mousse, hair spray or the like. This hairstyle requires the use of any or all of the above. And I don't own any. So I have had the pleasure of using hubby's rock solid gel and hairspray over the past few days. (Yes, my husband is high maintenance as far as his hair goes....). Oh, and a hair dryer. I have to use a hair dryer. I don't know how old my hair dryers are, but when the smell emitted from my hair dryer causes me to fear for my health, I should probably think about investing in a new one. Ya think?
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Week two of my new full time schedule is coming to an end. The adjustment from working 20 hours a week to 40 hours hasn't been as difficult as I envisioned. I miss my children terribly in the mornings when I would normally be at home with them, but we're all surviving. And the paycheck at the end of the month will help ease the pain a little. I talk to my kids multiple times a day on the phone and hearing their sweet little voices over the phone cheers me up. I have quite a bit of annual leave built up so I do intend on taking some days off this summer to take them to the pool, the park, or whatever their little hearts desire. I just play with them a lot more in the evenings now.
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Care Bear's last day of pre-school is today. The other day in the mail I received something from the Elementary school. Usually when we get something from them it is regarding Anakin. This time is said "To the parents of: Care Bear P". What?! She really is going to kindergarten in August. Where is my baby? She's not anymore. I have determined, however, that within mere days of her kindergarten teacher witnessing Care Bear's brilliance that she will be bumped up to fourth grade along side her brother. Every day she does or says something to convince me of this and last night was no different. Witness this conversation:

Care Bear: "Mommy? How many days are left in May?"
Me: "There are eight days left." (Now, keep in mind, she didn't ask what
the date was, just how many days were left in May)
Care Bear: (with no hesitation whatsoever) "That means that four days ago
it was the 19th."

What?!?!?! People...that's like basic algebra. She's four. She freaks me out. Now I'm being an obnoxious mother and I will stop. I can't help it if my child is a genius.
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American Idol. Jordin won. I knew she would. That's OK. Blake will get a record deal, too. Loved Gwen. She rocks. Her new song is awesome! (Playing in my sidebar). The other guest singers I could have done without. Where was Fantasia? Kelly, Ruben, Carrie and Taylor were all there. The silly crying girl made a goof of herself again when Sanjaya sang. Her fifteen minutes will soon end. That's all I have to say about last night. Pretty predictable. A little boring. I thought Melinda getting to sing with BeBe and CeCe Winans was pretty awesome, though.
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I really need the next Harry Potter book to come out. Like now. I think I'm going to re-read The Order of The Phoenix before the movie comes out. Just for something to do.
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And now, since I am supposed to be working, I suppose I'll go ahead and do something about it. I know I had other random tidbits but they are escaping me right now. I haven't had enough caffeine yet. Have a Happy Thursday!

Some Assorted Randomness

I was typing on my blog the other day, which I am known to do, and Care Bear came up to me and wanted to sit on my lap while I was typing. She likes to "write" letters to people on the computer. Usually they look something like this:

kjfa;lskdjfslkdfj;slkdfj;aslkdfjsdlkfj
as;ldkfjas;kdlfjkjckjl;,3m32;ljclj;aslkdfjkc
jkkvj;zpoiwer;lkd';lkcxvlk'lk

Care Bear

And then she wants to "send" them. Since she's usually typing these letters in Word, I click on a button and pretend to send them on. I also usually "interpret" the letters that she writes based on what she is saying while she is writing them.

Today while I was composing my blog post, she announced that she wanted me to make her a blog. "How cute", I thought to myself. And then I thought, "why not"? So, I set up a blog for her. There, in her own blog, she can "write" all the letters that she wants, interpreted, of course, by me, and readers out there can be treated to a four year olds interpretation of life. Her blog is called Care Bear's World. You can find it here. Be a nice blogging friend, why don't ya and go tell her "hey!"

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So, I went and got a Chipotle burrito today. Have you ever been there? Do you know how huge their burritos are? Well, usually I can eat an entire burrito, and it satisfies me for the rest of the day. Since the great stomach flu outbreak of 2007, I can only eat 3/4 of a burrito. Take a moment and mourn with me, please. (Or perhaps I am just tiring of them).

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My job consists of a lot of time on the phone and on the computer. Ever tried typing on a computer and holding an old fashioned phone with an actual cord on your ear? Not exactly ergonomically correct. Oh, we've got headsets. But every now and then you forget you have the headset on and start walking away from your desk. I know what it must feel like to be a dog on a leash. So our office purchased us a nifty new "toy" that we are told to lock up every night or risk penalty of death. Wireless headsets. It's that toothbrush looking thing you see to the right of you.

Go on. Tell me how utterly ridiculous suh-weet I'm gonna look walking around my office sportin' that bad boy! At least I have long hair. It'll cover up most of it.

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So, the worm story didn't generate too much interest. You all must either hate worms as much as me and couldn't stomach reading the thing, or something. Can't say that I blame ya.

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I decided not to do a huge AI Celebrity News Post this week. But I will make a few comments.

SANJAYA-- Good grief, the hair. Again with the hair. Do I focus too much on people's hair in this show? Perhaps. But he looked like a peacock. Or one of those old Roman soldiers with one of those goofy helmets on. Or some sort of wierd bird ready to take flight. Oh, the humanity! Who could possibly focus on his singing when we had to be subjected to that freak show?!

HALEY-- Well, Haley. I don't know. The voice was alright, but as Simon said, forgettable. I have a feeling you might be in the bottom three this week.

GINA-- It's no secret she's my favorite of the females. This week she proved herself in my opinion. Great performance. She'll stick around.

LAKISHA-- I actually didn't get to see much of her performance. So I can't really comment much about her, but I'm sure she did fine and I'm sure she'll be back.

BLAKE-- Yeah to Simon for finally saying what I knew all along: He's the top male contender. Duh! (As Feisty would say). And yeah to Paula for saying she wants him in the finale. Not like too many people take too much stock in what Paula says these days.

CHRIS S.-- Uh oh. I have a bad feeling about him this week. Wasn't good much. I think he'll be in the bottom this week. Bummer.

JORDIN-- So she was trying to kiss Miss Stefani's hiney by singing one of her songs. It was too low for her in my opinion. And I thought the outfit was ridiculous. But I'm sure she'll be back. Still like her, though.

PHIL-- Loved it. Of course, anyone who can sing that classic Police song and pull it off is OK in my book. Yeah Phil! You'll be back.

CHRIS R--Liking this guy less and less every week. I didn't like this week at all even though the judges mushed and gushed all over him. Last week he was in the bottom two. Curious to see what happens this week.

MELINDA-- I don't really have anything different to say about her than I have every other week. She's talented and deserves to keep going, but she needs to start acting like she knows she's good. I guess that's part of her appeal.

My guess for the bottom three:

Sanjaya, Chris S., and Haley. It'd be nice if I was ever right.

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So, that's it. Adios.

Charley Girls Birthday Party and Assorted Randomness

Oh, yes, we partied hard at the Golden Arches and beyond this weekend for Brooke's baby girl Charlie who turned two. The last time I went to a birthday party at McDonald's was for my brother's birthday when I was about five years old. I didn't even know McDonald's did kids' birthdays anymore. I threw up after my brother's birthday party. Good memories.



The birthday girl looking at me thinking to herself, "Ummm...I think I know you. You look vaguely familiar. I seem to recall seeing you at various family holidays, but I don't remember your name." Trust me. That's what she said.

"Who are you??"

"NO, who are YOU?"
"Wanna play?"
"Uhh, OK."

"Quit licking the candles off of my cake Oliver! Whose birthday party is this?? Hey! Do I look diva-licious in these glasses or what??"

"Right on! A Dora doll! Next present, please!

"Do I have to wear this hat? Really?""Duh, Feisty. Of course you do. Besides, it's a rad hat! But can we go party at Oliver and Charley's house now?? Puuhhllleeezzz?"

"Rad train-set Oliver. I really like the word Rad. Do you like the word Rad? RAD!"

Hey Oliver! Throw some of that pizza over here! Charley and I are hungry!

And now we must roll around on the floor, cuz we're cool like that! Hey! Grab my mom's camera. Self-portrait time!

Oh.My.Word. Mom, you are soooo not rad!

Hey, Brooke! Can you toss me my Diet. Dr. Pepper, please? I need some caffeine and quick. Or maybe I just need my bed.

Sadly, though, through the 1.5 hour drive home, my girls did not fall asleep. An hour after we got home, they were still wide awake! As I have said before, my girls are the ultimate party girls. Give them some cake, some lollipops and a good dose of caffeine and they'll party all night long. Hour and a half drive or not!

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And let the Randomness commence..
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I hate my hair. No. I hate my bangs. Why, oh why did I get bangs? I hate them every time they get them. Maybe because when I decided to get my hair cut with the gift card my mom got me I felt like I needed something to show for the haircut since I refused to get it cut short like she wanted me to. But I.Hate.My.Bangs. Time to break out the barrettes until they grow out again. Bleh.
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I'm doing an overhaul of my closet and my kids' closets to make room for all the clothes we have. Currently, all of the clean laundry is folded in piles on the floor. Clothes that no longer fit or are being un-worn are occupying closets and drawers. In doing this, I discovered that out of about 12 pairs of jeans, I currently have three pairs that don't have holes in the knees or in the rear. My rear is too bony I guess. I can't exist on three pairs of jeans. Time to go shopping I guess.
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I can see my grass! I can see my grass! I can see my grass! The snow is GONE. For now. Let the rummage sale begin.
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Wanna see my band? Wanna see my band? Here we are. Yesterday before we performed in all our glory. It's kind of dark. Sorry. (And yes, *shocker*, I wore jeans to church yesterday. Hey, I have to dress up every day for work. We play for the "contemporary" service. I wore jeans. )

Anakin enjoyed watching us play as he made a rare appearance at Church yesterday. His mother unexpectedly dropped him off at my mom's house while we were still in Denver partying so that SHE could go out partying for St. Patty's Day. Oh, yeah. I'm nominating her for Mother Of The Year.

And I think I'm done. This post has worn me out more than the birthday party! Crappy Happy Monday!

A Stinky Week...But There's a Poll

So, this has been a stinky week. Stinkier, even than the feet on the bus (but not by much). A few other crapa-licious things have happened this week besides my freakin' car breaking down but I have no desire to re-hash them. So, instead, I'm going to try to focus on a few cool things happening this week.

• I'm taking my kids to Monsters, Inc. on Ice tonight. They have been counting the days for about a month and a half now and it's finally here! To say that they are giddy is an understatement.
• Tomorrow night (as long as they are feeling better), my brother Kevin and his wife Sema are taking my kids to our local ice skating/swimming pool center for ice skating and swimming. They want to take them. By themselves. Without us. I love them. They rule.
• The top 12 on American Idol are being revealed tonight. As long as my favorites stay in, then this will be a "cool" part of this week. If any of my favorites leave, it will just add to the stink-ocity.
• My car is in the shop as we speak getting fixed. Which means no more bus (until the next time my car breaks down). --as a side note here: I do hope everyone realizes that I was joking about the "Save Kristen's Car and Sanity" relief fund. No one really send me money please. That would only make me feel more pathetic.
• I now have buns, abs and thighs of steel thanks to all the walking and pushing of approximately 85 lbs (double stroller and 65 lbs of kids). Who needs a gym?!?!

And now, for fun, I thought I'd throw a little poll in here. One of the remaining female American Idol contestants (as of last night...not counting tonights results) shares Care Bear's first name. Which contestant is it? (You are not allowed to vote in this poll if you already know her name...Sorry! But how fair would that be?!) :-)

Which Remaining Female AI Contestant Shares Her First Name With Care Bear?
	Antonella
	Gina
	Lakisha
	Melinda
	Stephanie
	Haley
	Sabrina
	Jordin
pollcode.com free polls

Happy Voting!!

The One That's #200!

Before I commence with the nonesenseness that will be my 200th post, I wanted to thank everyone who may have thought of me or prayed for me or crossed their fingers for me this morning when I made my big solo debut. Although I probably looked like something akin to a deer caught in the headlights and felt like I was in a bubble shielding myself from any tomatoes that may have flown my way, I guess it went pretty well. When someone who typically doesn't care to give me the time of day went out of her way to tell me she enjoyed my song, I guess it wasn't a total failure.

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This is my 200th post. In about two weeks, it's my blogaversary. Big stuff happenin' here. I'm not going to do 200 things about me, or ask for 200 comments, or even try to use my brain today to come up with something clever. I'm clevered out right now, not to mention tired, so I'm going to post some complete and utter nonsense that has run through my head or happened to me within the last couple of weeks or so that I've been saving up for a random post. Let the randomness begin.

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My mom got me a gift card to Cost Cutters for Christmas. It was her not so subtle way of forcing my hand to cut my hair to her liking again. I will admit; I needed something done to my hair. It had been quite awhile since I even had a trim. But after a lot of thought, I decided I was unwilling to part with my luscious, long locks. OK...maybe not luscious....but for sure long. On my lunch break one day last week, I went and got it cut: alittlebit.

This is what she was hoping I'd come

home with.

And this is what I actually came home with. Except with bangs. Sorry, Mom. I know you're disappointed. Maybe when I'm 40 I'll cut my hair short again. Or when I finally get sick of my hair ending up with toothpaste spit and food all over it. That gets kinda gross.

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What do you do when your four year old daughter approaches you with her latest "masterpiece" after practicing her pre-school like culinary skills? I was approached by Care Bear yesterday afternoon to try a sample of her deliciousness. What I saw in the bowl looked like something the neighbors cat might have puked up. I smiled and took a pretend bite. "Mmmmm....delicious.", I said. "No mommy. Take a real bite." "Uhhhh....What's in it Care Bear?" "Smooshed up Teddy Grahams, apple juice and string cheese." Ohhh....so that's what those chunks are. "Umm...sorry, Care Bear. I'm really not hungry right now. Maybe I'll try it later." She was disappointed, but I was grateful to her that she didn't push the issue. I'm hoping I didn't end up squashing the future Rachel Ray. Next thing you know, I'll see Care Bear's exact recipe in Good Housekeeping.

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Last week, I went to Chipotle for lunch. What am I talking about? I always go to Chipotle for lunch. All the employees know me there. Except last week there was a new girl running the cash register. She didn't know me. I was sporting my ultra cool Broncos jacket with my name embroidered on it compliments of my dear MIL.

"Are you a Broncos cheerleader?!" she said.

"Why, yes, actually, I am". I said. But not really. I told her no, I'm not. She thought my jacket looked "official" therefore thought I was a cheerleader.

I love her. She got a tip. And a recommendation from me for a raise. She's my new favorite person.

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Care Bear likes pillow talk. Well, truth be told, the kid likes to talk whenever about whatever at all times of the day. But after night-night prayers, she really likes to talk. Last night her talk was revolved around how much she loves me. And then she told me a secret. "Mommy, I love you so much I'm going to ess-plode!" Take note: According to Care Bear, the correct pronunciation for the word is not "explode" or "eggs-plode" but "ess-plode". See, some people say it "egg-splode", but that is wrong. It doesn't really matter how you say the first part of the word, but when you hear Care Bear say it, it will always be "ess-plode". Just so you know.

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I start my new work schedule tomorrow. My boss came into my work area yesterday (you know; my third work area in three months) and told me, "OK. How about you move back over to where you were last week when you start your new schedule."

WhatEVER. I'm getting dizzy and confused from so much moving. I keep going to the wrong desk after lunch and in the morning because I can't remember from one day to the next where I'm sitting. And it's not over. OH NO. Big changes and stuff happening in the office. The head honcho wants our area when the change occurs. Us peons will be moving. That makes the tally by the time it's all over : 5 moves for Kristen in as many months. But I'm not complaining. I'm not bitter. Color me happy.

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And that's all the randomness floating through my brain for now. Enjoy your Monday (tomorrow that is. Today is Sunday).

Oh, Yes...I Am The Queen!

No dis-respect intended to the Queen of all things, my lovely cousin Queen Beth of course. However, I definitely crowned myself Queen of my home this weekend.

I am bestowing myself this honor due to everything I accomplished this weekend. Most of what I accomplished had nothing to do with housework, or anything as un-interesting as that. Let's go down the list:

1.) Friday evening after work was "carve pumpkins night" for our kids. Care Bear already had her pumpkin from a field trip she took with her preschool to a pumpkin patch. She had the distinction of picking out the largest pumpkin of anyone in her class; most of the other kids were able to fit their pumpkins in their cubby holes, but Care Bear's had to sit along side the cubbies because as she proudly announced, "It's 20 pounds!!" Feisty informed me she wanted a "little pumpkin just my size" and Anakin was more than miffed that Care Bear had the largest pumpkin of the three.

Our children refuse to do your ordinary run-of-the-mill triangle eyes and nose and toothy smile jack-o-lanterns. They have to do those fancy schmanzy pumpkins that require some sort of artistic ability, of which I have none....or at least I thought I had none. Usually hubby does the carving of the pumpkins because I've never felt that I had the patience or ability to do the kind of carving that our children desire. However, this time, hubby just wasn't getting it together. He was pre-occupied with making mixed CDs and it was already getting late, so I took it upon myself to get the carving going. I ended up carving the girls' pumpkins and hubby attempted Anakin's pumpkin, but it got severely screwed up. So, here is a picture of the girls' pumpkins courtesy of their mama: (they don't look as good as they did at first because they're sagging a little and they decided to get a little creative and color all over them before I was able to get a picture).

2.) Feisty and Care Bear were both in desperate need of haircuts. Feisty, although she is 2.5 years old has never had a haircut. (Don't judge me, please.) Feisty doesn't have a plush head of hair and I kept putting it off because I just wanted it to get long and feared by cutting it that she would look bald again. But this weekend, it was just time. So, while I was at praise band practice with hubby, I had Grandma take them to get their hair cut. (I know that this isn't really something I personally accomplished so it doesn't fit in with the theme of this post, but I had to post the pics of Feisty's first cut that my mom took since I couldn't be there). Presenting Feisty at her first hair cut: (she did wonderfully).

3.) Grandma P (hubby's mom) was in town this weekend from a far off northern state for her bi-yearly visit. Whenever Grandma P comes, she comes bearing ridiculous amounts of gifts for my children, and while this is nice for the children, it is a huge pain for me trying to find space for all their new toys and space in their closet for all their new clothes. Every time she comes, I feel the need to go through their toy boxes and their closets and weed out things to make room for their new stuff, but I never get around to it, so it all just accumulates. In addition, most of the toys she brings include the disclaimer: "adult assembly required" and tiny, tiny little pieces that inevitably get lost within minutes of getting opened.

Anyway, I don't know what got into me this weekend, but instead of leaving it up to hubby to assemble all their new things, I decided to do it myself. Knowing hubby, those new things would sit around for days, maybe even weeks before they got put together, so once again, I took it upon myself. The girls each got a "My Scene" toy: Care Bear got a make-up shop, and Feisty got a coffee shop. Here they are after their assembly (minus most of the tiny parts which I quickly grabbed and bagged up in their little purses before they got lost; they know where they are when they want to play with them):

4.) Anakin got a mega-blocks ship model to assemble which included over 560 itty bitty lego pieces to put together. He wanted it put together right away yesterday and when I told him he should probably wait for daddy to get home to help him he asked me, "Well, can't you help me?" Now, I'm thinking to myself, "Pumpkins I can do; little girly toys I can do; but a LEGO SHIP model with over 560 pieces?! That may be stretching it." But he was so eager and daddy wasn't home yet, so I sat down at the kitchen table, pulled out the instructions and got to work. I finally put it down at 1:00 a.m. for the night, and as I was taking it upstairs to hide from Anakin so I could surprise him the next day with my progress, I ran into the baby gate, dropped it and it fell apart! If I was a cusser, I would have cussed; instead I cried. I was able to salvage most of it this morning and worked on it before work, and here it is: (still got a little left to do, but most of it is done...and I'm bummed this picture is so dark)

5.) Grandma P also got them each flags to attach to their bikes. Care Bear wanted me to put it on yesterday, but I told her to wait for Daddy to get home. However, while she was at pre-school yesterday afternoon, I thought to myself, "What the hey....I've done so many other things this weekend; I might as well give it a shot." And I got it on. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture because while I was taking pictures of all these things, Care Bear was off somewhere on her bike showing off her new flag.

6.) Feisty wanted me to put her flag on her tricycle. However, there was no way to attach it to her tricycle, so instead I asked her if she wanted me to help her learn how to ride her tricycle. So we rode up and down our street, over and over, and she finally got it! She's not a "perfect" rider yet; she still needs my help on hills and over bumps, but she's got the idea now! Here she is on her tricycle, and very proud.

Phew. That was my weekend. In addition, Saturday and Sunday night, I had 12 people over at my house for dinner (pizza one night; KFC the next courtesy of Grandma P). Suffice it to say, I am tired!

So, how was everyone else's weekend? ;-)

Friday Randomness

It's been awhile since I did a Friday Randomness post. So, lucky you, today you get to be subjected to the many random thoughts going through my head on this Friday morning!
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First things first: Thanks so much for the great compliments on my new blog design. I love it and it's nice to have something new to look at when I come here every day. However, while I would love to take credit for the graphic and the design itself, I can't. I didn't create it, I just implemented the design into my template. So, no, I'm not the fabulous artist who created that cute design that now sits on my blog. The credit for that belongs to Zoot and her link is listed at the bottom of my sidebar. The other day at work, I was bored. Not that I didn't have stuff to do for my job, but I was bored of my blog; bored of the look, and wanting a change. I came across several websites that do free templates for blogger, aside from the boring ones that you can actually find on the blogger website. I browsed through, found one I liked and muddled through figuring out how to install it in my template. Now, before you take all your nice compliments away from me, it did take work to make it work. For those of you who asked me if I could help you with your blog, take a look at Zoot's free design page (that I linked to above), and if you find one you like and would like and if you want me to help you install it on your blog, I can help with that. Just click on the "Write to Me" link in my sidebar and I'll help you out. :-)

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Last night was a strange night. I'm always complaining that I never have any quiet time; never have time for myself to process a single thought of my own; never a chance to just sit. Well, last night I got that. And I almost didn't know what to do with myself.

Hubby came home from work at his usual time of about 4:00 yesterday afternoon. He was complaining of being tired and feeling like his glands were swollen. At about 4:30 he asked me if I would mind if he lied down "for a little bit". Well, that "little bit" turned into 14 hours. He didn't get up until 6:30 this morning, and was still acting like he was tired.

Anakin went with his mom last night at 7:00 and my girls were in bed by 8:00. As I tucked the last child into bed, I looked around my house and didn't know quite what to do. There were no children running in and out of my house at fever pitch pace; no one asking me for something to eat or drink; no one demanding anything of me. The CD player and CD burner looked vacant and lonely sitting there in the entertainment center without its owner (my hubby) standing at it burning his 1,345,690th CD.

"What should I do?" I thought to myself. So I did some laundry. I pondered doing the dishes, but that makes too much noise for a house full of sleeping people. And then I sat down. It felt un-natural and wrong. I have gotten so used to the hustle and bustle of my daily life that just the act of sitting down feels lazy and boring. I realized last night as I sat there watching last seasons episodes of "The Office" and "ER" (which by the way was one of the most heart breaking episodes I've ever seen...), that even when I do have a chance to actually watch a TV show I enjoy that I'm usually doing something else while I'm watching TV.

I considered going to bed, but it seemed like such a waste to go to bed so early when I actually had the opportunity to have a couple of hours to myself, which I'm always so desperately wishing for.

Eventually, I just sat in the huge comfy recliner, covered up with a blanket and settled into watch some TV....by myself. It felt weird. My legs started to twitch. I think I have restless leg syndrome. At about 10:30, I turned off the TV and tried to go to sleep. But it was too quiet.

I guess I've gotten so used to chaos that I don't know how to act when it's quiet. I need a hobby. I really need a hobby.

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And in super, sad news, my little Care Bear's brand new bike is missing. I'm sick. It's not at our house, not at Grandma Dawn's house, not at the neighbor's house. Some mean child who wanted a bike probably took it and now my baby is missing her brand new bike. It may seem silly to pray for something like a bike, but please do, if you are so inclined. I'm so sad for her.
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As always, a hectic and busy weekend commences promptly at 4:45 this evening when I leave work. I hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend. Weather forecast here calls for a high of 62 degrees all weekend. Now, that's what I'm talking 'bout!

An Award and Other Stuff

Well, guess what folks? I have created a banner for the "I HELPED KRISTEN COOK" award. If you are a past winner and are interested in the code for the banner to put on your blog, just shoot me an email and I'll send you the code. The award looks like this:

I know, it's absolutely nothing special, but it's a form of recognition for all of you amazing people who have truly helped turn dinner time around at my house and I appreciate it immensely! Speaking of.....send some more recipes my way. I'm getting low and if I don't get more soon, I'll run out! I can not under any circumstances let that happen! So, here is your call for recipes. Click on the "Write to Me" link and send 'em my way! With that said, let's get to today's award.

It was a fantastic recipe that was extremely easy, extremely inexpensive, and extremely delicious. AND, it can be eaten in a variety of ways. There's not many more fantastic feelings in the world than when your husband genuinely compliments you on what you made for dinner; especially when you have a husband like mine, who is an extremely picky eater! The winner this week is:

Rachelle from:

Teacher, Mom, Mad Woman!

And here is her recipe:

Taco Soup
1 can diced tomatoes (I prefer ones with green chiles)
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 lb cooked ground beef
1 package taco seasoning

Don’t drain any cans. Just dump all in a pan, stir together, and heat until warm. Serve in a bowl with cheese on top and tortilla chips. You can also add sour cream if desired.

So, thanks Rachelle for the wonderful food!! If you want the banner on your site, just let me know!

MY FIELD TRIP TO SEE ACE!

First and foremost, let me say that it wasn't quite all it was cracked up to be. The hubster and I left (yes, my husband went with me to see Ace....is that a supportive hubby or what?!) at around 5:00 thinking we'd hit Denver around 6:30, get a good spot and just hang out for a couple of hours until the show started at 9:00. WRONG. The doors didn't even open until 9:00. Luckily, downtown Denver is a pretty fun spot to hang out in, so we just got ourselves some grub and relaxed for awhile until we headed back over to the spot where the show was. At about 8:45 we headed back and got in line. Hubby was very relieved to find that he wasn't the only male there. In fact, there were quite a few men looking begrudgingly at eachother, obviously also coerced by their better female half to accompany them. But at least he wasn't alone! As the line proceeded, we were thrilled to find out that we, as general seat holders (i.e. those who did not win VIP passes from the radio station), got to get in the shorter line and go in first. Whooppeee! Yeah. We also found out that if we wanted VIP passes even though we didn't win them, we could pay a mere $40 for the chance of a lifetime to interact with Ace behind the curtain and get a picture with him!! Ummm....sorry but $40 is a little pricey if you ask me just to get a picture of the 6th runner up of American Idol. So we settled with just hanging out in the club with the other commoners and hoping to get a good spot by the stage when Ace did finally make his appearance.....that long waited appearance did not occur until 12:30 a.m.!! Long before that I was about ready to scrap the whole thing, but we had come this far.....so we stayed. We stayed to listen to Ace sing three songs and then tell us "Thanks for coming" and that he was going to go back stage now again and hang out in the VIP area for awhile longer. Wow. Thanks, Ace, for gracing us with your presence for an entire 20 minutes. YOU RULE DUDE! However, even with the frustration of the evening, it was fun to see him up close and personal. At one point, he pointed right at me....see, I did get a good spot by the stage. Unfortunately, most of the pics I took didn't turn out so great, but here are the ones I did get.

Hubby....on the road.
A very unattractive picture of me while we were eating.
A pic of the brush I bought at a Walgreen's there because I forgot to bring one and my hair was a rat's nest after driving 65 miles with the windows open at 75 miles per hour!
A picture of the "carpet" in the club by the bathrooms. I took this to demonstrate "bad design". People, even someone who isn't taking Interior Design courses should immediately be able to recognize that this is not good design!!

And, the Ace-Man....singin' his heart out.....



So, there you have it. My BIG trip to see Ace. Huh.

I still haven't decided what to do with my hair. I'm thinkin' I'm going to keep it long awhile longer because I'm picturing seeing the hair fall to the floor and it's not makin' me happy. Maybe later.

I think I have to go take a test now! Wish me luck!!