ups and downs

Up: Had an awesome night Friday! Yes, it's true...I'm crazy. I went to see NKOTB again...but we are saying it's because my Mom really wanted to see them and didn't go to the other shows with us (my Mom took us 20 years ago to our first New Kids concert!) This one was the best one so far. I know everyone is thinking, OMG, Whacko!! But seriously...we had pretty good seats, but the best part was they set up 5 stages in the walkway one row ahead of us, and the boys performed there for a bit!! We were FEET away! My sister almost had a heart attack. I should've taken a picture of her. I swear, I wish I could go to a concert like that every week. To sing along to songs you know and loved 20 years ago, remembering the dances, and just listening to my sister and cousin reminisce is so much fun. I just can't get enough of it. It makes me so happy! I know this picture is a little fuzzy, but I didn't zoom in at all; they got this close to where we were sitting!!!

Down: Got home around 2:30am, tired, headache, and had to work the next day. I still feel icky.
Up: Went to the campground to see Mike and the kids yesterday. Maddie had a blast! Mike really wishes he would've taken her along all weekend.
Down: I got super sunburned, and I don't even know how. I don't swim, I had a towel over my legs, and wasn't outside for all that long. I am usually a stickler for sunscreen, but maybe in my exhausted state, it slipped my mind. My arms and portions of my legs are now the color of lobsters. Ouch.

Up: I have a new niece (Mike's brother and wife had #3 over the weekend).
Down: They didn't tell the name till she was born...the name was on my top 3 (has been since we had Maddie) : ( Mike says who cares, because ours is going to be a boy. 3 days till we find out!!! Honestly, if it's a boy, I think he will remain nameless forever.

So that journal I am keeping...it really is not a journal. More of a one-liner kind of thing. Just things I hear or randomly remember and I don't want to forget. One I wrote down today: Maddie singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" in her own way..."Girls just wanna have fun at the park" (she really thinks those are the words!!)

murky water

So last summer I had won a pool in a raffle. One of those pools that have a filter, a cover, a ladder, but you take down at the end of summer. I had no idea what a pain in the butt it would be to have a pool. We went back and forth about whether or not to bother putting it up--for one, wherever we'd put it would destroy a chunk of our lovely green grass; for two, I fear the neighbor kid jumping in at his leisure. Anyhow, we put it up over the weekend. I bought every chemical possible for it. Even though our little test kit says everything is A-OK, the water is brown. Yuck. We have well water, and the iron concentration is very high (the water in the house goes through a powerful recirculation/filtering system in the basement, so in the house the water is fine, water coming from hose does not go through the basement system). Hence, the brown/orange water. This stinks!! The perfect week for swimming and we are stuck staring at the pool, hoping for it to clear up. Mike went to the pool store with sample in hand, and purchased something to help clear it up. While now you can at least see the bottom of the pool now, it is still very yucky looking. Poo. We're not sure what we'll do if it doesn't clear up. Lots of people out here have pools, but we found out several of them (inground pools) get theirs filled by a service. Guess I shoulda just sold the pool on ebay or something!!!

follow up to comments

Okay, so maybe there is a better way to do this, but I don't know. I wish that as follow comments were posted on blogger it sent an email to let you know. I mean, I would love to respond to comments, but where do I do it?? Just email each person?? I'm not sure. So, I thought I'd make a few comments on my own after reading some recent comments on my blog. Maybe there is a better way to do it, but I don't know about it.

So, yeah...sometimes I wonder if I'll make it through a day. So thinking about ten years from now...hmmm. That was a very aspiring and "feeling motivated" kind of day. After working my tail off cutting grass and cleaning the garage yesterday literally all day, I wondered if I would make it till this morning!! There's so much I want to do, but wonder if I'll ever have the time to do it all...

Minnesota would be a great place for a little place on a lake!! Land of 10,000 lakes, right?? : )

Camp Phillip is through the Wisconsin Lutheran Synod. They even offer scrapbooking retreats now!

I do really love the name Grayson. And besides, it's so cool that it's my Great-Grandma's maiden name. I totally think Lola is adorable!!! It seems like Ava is getting kinda popular, but we have an Ava on Mike's side of the family, too. I suppose with Mike's big family it might be hard not to have a name double up somehow at some point! On his Dad's side between Mike's siblings, his Dad's sisters and brothers, their kids, and grandkids, there are 30 kids under 16. Several of the names are in the top 10 for most popular, so I don't really worry about that, since we likely wouldn't use them since they are so popular in the first place. But there are a few names in the family we do like, probably wouldn't use...Mike's one cousin has 4 kids, all named after presidents. I like all the names, too. McKinley, Grant, Harrison, and Madison. Mike's cousin is Lynsey, and we've always loved that name. Anyhow, Christina, I really got a kick out of Brock Lee...did Rich really not think about the green veggie? : )

When we get to painting the porch , I found out we are going to actually remove the sections of posts and spray them with paint instead of undergoing the tedious task of hand painting it all. I have a slight feeling I still would maybe finish it faster if I hand painted it instead of waiting for someone to take off the sections and spray them...

As for cleaning...I am by no means sloppy (yikes, right now I am a cleaning machine and that never happens); if you come over, my house will probably appear pretty clean at most times--esp. the kitchen because that's my favorite room in the house (okay, clean other than the kid stuff all over the place). Just don't open closets or miscellaneous drawers : ) I save way too much, don't want to part with it, just don't know where to go with it all (mostly papers 'n stuff like that).

Okay, just thought I'd add my two cents to everything : )

Off to bed, way too late. My back feels like someone punched me. Guess I worked too hard yesterday.

cutting grass...and cable...

I am pleased to announce I cut grass for the first time in my life yesterday!! We have a riding lawn mower, so that made it a piece of cake. I really enjoyed it. Until I ran over the cable line that was never buried. Oops. Goodbye internet and cable!! Mike has the wireless internet rigged somehow right outside the window (usually it goes through our basement). We'll fix it eventually, I'm sure. So much for me cutting grass, I guess, at least until the line is fixed and buried!!

I am exhausted today!! I can hardly stand up! After cutting the grass yesterday (which took probably 1 1/2 hours to do the back yard, which turned out to look like a lovely zig zag/curly-Q pattern) I cleaned half of the garage. Friday I cleaned our bathroom from top to bottom. This "nesting" stuff has really struck, I think! I better keep with it while I feel like doing anything!!

Ten year plan...

While I have been more deep in thought about this than Mike, we did talk about it. We both agree our location is perfect, especially for him to go to work (it takes him less than 30 minutes, and rarely is there traffic). But we both are in agreeance that our neighbor situation, quite honestly, sucks. I have my reasons, and he has his; but we see eye to eye on that. He is much more willing to live with it than I am!! My issue generally lies with the naughty neighbor kid, and the grumpy Grandpa. But we recently found out from the neighbor on the other side of us (a REALLY nice guy. Older, but always looking out for people, a bit nosy perhaps, but really nice) told Mike that Grumpy Grandpa dude has been complaining to neighbors that since we built our "monstrosity" next to him, he has alot more water in his basement. Okay, before we built he told us he had some problems. Mind you, since Grumpy found out we were building a 2 story house, he was irate anyhow. He told us we were taking away their sun (uh, the houses are far enough apart, our house never shades them at any given time). How frustrating. Mike is worried this guy will take it to the Town Board or whomever, and then people would come out and force us to hire engineers (again) and change the grading of our lot ($$$$). That's all pretty hypothetical, and possibly unlikely. So Mike told me we all have to be extra nice to Grumpy dude and his goofy grandson just in case. Ugh.

So on that note, Mike and I were discussing the possibility of moving. This obviously isn't a sure thing, and we just threw it out there knowing we are both okay with it, at the moment anyhow. We've heard many people who have built houses within the first year talk about building again (oddly), maybe that notion will wear off for us, too. BUT, so--to my 10 year plan. If we did move, we think it would be in about 10 years. Cal would be in college, the girls in high school, and little one would be 5th grade or so (okay, that's all very scary!!). We absolutely love North Prairie (Cal plays sports out there). It's another 18 miles NW from where we are, but it is even more "country", WAY more land/bigger lots, and added bonus--it is the same high school district as our current one. Or stay in our town, just get more property & not in a subdivision. So anyways, like I said, this is all hypothetical, but of course it's on my mind. Another piece to the 10 year puzzle is me becoming a pharmacist. It could be done, though it may be tough. If that happens, we could move, and we'd hire alot more out if we did build again (which I can't imagine moving into a house you didn't design, after having already done so)instead of Mike working on it so much (though there are some things he would not give up doing because he enjoys it). Or maybe instead we'll buy a boat & a little getaway cabin on some lake somewhere. Ten years is really a long way off, I know. Big dreams. But that's okay : )