You know you are tired when...

You know you are tired when you get up at the butt crack of dawn to take your daughter to the bus stop and you hear the trash truck coming , but you forgot to take the trash out the night before so you run as fast as you can down the longest driveway pushing the trash can and waving so the trash man knows you are bringing out the trash. Except for its not Friday and its not your trash man!! So back up the drive way you go pushing the trash barrell with your head hung down in embarassment. Then you back out of the garage to drive daughter to the bus stop because its raining and you smash your mirror into the side of the garage as you back out (it's a good thing its already broken). I'm nervous about the rest of the day!

The Hatfields and McCoys

Otherwise known as my hubby's family. Dan's step grandfather died on Friday night. The funeral is Wed. His grandmother left 3 of her son's names, their children and grandchildrens name completely out of the obituary. They are understandably hurt and here we are stuck in the middle. Danged if you do and danged if you don't. Dan is supposed to be a pall bearer, but he is upset with his grandma too because of what she did. If she denies that his dad exists, isn't she also denying him and our children. There is a long history to this squabble that led to them being omited and we have done are darndest to stay out of it. We feel like we need to go because it is his grandfather but the drama is horrible and we feel like we are betraying his dad and the others.

Gardening

Most people find gardening therapeutic. I am not most people... I don't like getting my hands dirty. I never have. When we lived in CA, I had maybe 3 rose bushes that I took care of, a tree that I on occasion trimmed and a lawn that I paid someone else to mow. I didn't even have 1 house plant. Well we live in the Midwest now and we have an acre of land. The people that owned the house previously definetly liked gardening. There are flower beds everywhere. Most are empty, except for the massive piles of leaves and sticks that I have been slowly cleaning up now that we have had a few days over 50 degrees. But of course there are quite a few flowerbeds full of bulbs. I have tulips, irises, crocuses and a bunch of stuff I have no clue what it is, coming up. So guess what I have been doing...gardening. No one lived in the house in the fall when all the beds should have been cleaned up, so they are full of dead stuff. I keep picking out dead stuff and uncovering more and more flowers. In the back of the field today while raking up massive piles of sticks and leaves we discovered wild strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Not just a few either... tons of them. Guess what I will be doing more of...yup...gardening. I have a dozen empty flower beds, so guess what I will be doing even more of.... yup...gardening. My daughter and husband want me to plant a pumpkin patch...so guess what I will doing even more of...yup...gardening. I guess I better figure out how to find gardening therapeutic or it might kill me!!

I'm a lazy blogger

It has been a while since I posted yet again. Part of it is laziness and the other is being busy. The time change this week is killing me. I am still having a hard time getting used to the time change from CA to IL but losing another hour this week has been brutal. It is especially hard when you have to be at the bus stop at the butt crack of dawn. I have been having to dress Madison and practically carry her there. She is getting really excited about her upcoming birthday. We ordered Little Mermaid party supplies since Ariel is her current favorite. She was also really excited to get her first bday invitation (since we moved) to a party. It will be at somewhere called "Fancy Pants"-can't wait to see what that will be. My 3 days of bliss was incredible. I had an amazing time. I love my kids but sometimes it is nice to just be Donnann and not mommy. I met some incredible people and was able to really relax. Cardinals on Cardinals CT. I probably sound ridiculous to the natives but we got really excited this week to spot Cardinals (the pretty red bird) in the bird feeder in our yard. I have never seen one before so it was exciting to me. We have a lot of wildlife here that we are enjoying watching. We have a chipmunk coming to eat out of the bird feeders too. He is so adorable.

3 Days of Pure Bliss

Tommorrow I will be leaving to Northern Wisconsin for a scrapbooking retreat with my friend Kim. I am so excited!!! I will have no kids, no animals and no house to take care of. I will be able to go to the bathroom without a dog, child or cat following me. I will be able to eat hot food without having to make sure everyone else is served and settled first. I will not have to prepare that hot food. I will be able to sleep without getting woke up repeatedly through the night by children or animals. We are driving to Minneapolis first to pick up our friend Stacy, who is flying in from Texas and to visit our friend Jenny and her husband James at the hospital. Jenny's husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had it removed today. We are all praying for him and their family.

The Darn Dog Finally Listened

Well tonight it finally happened.... Chopper finally listened to me. We returned from our errands and I let the dogs out to potty. I saw her run to the back of the yard and I saw something moving back there. I could tell it was limping and I wasn't sure what it was at first. I called the dog right away because I don't want her to catch it and get bit. She turned around and ran back to the house just as the varment raised it's unmistakable tail. Yup it was a skunk and Chopper just barely missed getting sprayed. I can't believe that when it was the most important time she actually listened. I can't believe the skunk missed her. What a relief... except of course the skunk was still out there. I called animal control because it was hurt and I don't want to worry about it being out there. They were on their way out when they called me back. The neighbor had just killed an injured skunk (I am assuming and praying it is the same one). That is one brave person.

Just Checking In

It has been a while since I posted and I thought I better sneak in and post. Dan's cousins stopped by on the way back from Florida this week and stayed overnight. We had a great visit and enjoyed having visitors. We are headed off to Dan's sisters wedding reception this Saturday in Sheboygan, WI. We will stay overnight. Madison is really looking forward to spending time with her cousin. They came last weekend and visited, Madison and Cheyenne barely left her room. They spent most of the day playing Barbies. We did get Madison's room painted. It looks kind of like an Easter Egg. It is 2 colors pink on the top and lavendar on the bottom. It looks beautiful and will look even better when I get the border put up to seperate the 2 colors. It is a really cute princess border. I just wish her bed would arrive and we could finish up her room. We are still waiting on our bedroom furniture and the formal living room furniture. Madison starts Daisy Scouts next Wed. and she is pretty excited about it. They didn't have a troop where we lived before.