Girl's Day Fun

Earlier this week my sister Ranna told me that she was planning to take our niece Anna downtown to try on a shirt she wanted to get for her for her upcoming birthday. She works at the Gateway JCrew and had the shirt on hold. I started thinking. Steve was going to be working on Friday night, which meant he would be sleeping all day. I could go too. AND, my niece Jade could come down and go with because Anna has been asking me when we could get together with Jade.

A little background side note there. Anna is my brothers "step-daughter" (this is a technicality). Jade is Steve's brothers "step-daughter". They are a year apart in age and a few years ago I thought it would be fun for them to both have a sleepover at my house and meet. They hit it off very quickly and get along very well. They actually have a lot in common, including having two dads. So occasionally I arrange for them to hang out.

Back to the story. We decided we wouldn't let Anna know that Jade and I were coming too. So Jade came down Friday night for a sleepover with me while Steve was at work and Ranna picked us up on Saturday morning to go surprise Anna. A few minutes before we left, we learned that Anna didn't even know that Ranna was coming. Her mom, Sarina, had kept it a surprise. Even better! We showed up and it took her a minute to realize really what was going on. And, it seemed that she really was most excited to see Jade, she got a much more enthusiastic "hi" than Ranna and I did.

We decided to take Trax because it was snowing and we didn't know how ugly it would get throughout the day. To do this, we had to stop at the bank for some cash. So we found an ATM and then stopped for drinks to break the $20s because the machine for Trax won't take anything larger than a $10. This was probably a sad site. We each had our own money and bought our own drinks. Anna and Jade bought the same thing. Sadly, Ranna and I matched each other as well. What a site, the "big girls" with one drink and the "little girls" with another.

We got the Trax station in very good timing. We only waited for about 5 minutes. It was a great way to travel downtown. It's easy and actually pretty fun. Plus, you can actually talk instead of stressing about driving. Our stop put us not far from the store, which was very good since it had started snowing harder while we were on the train and got pretty cold. We went in, Anna tried on the shirt and she loved it. Ranna let us use the staff bathrooms in the back and this is what the girls did...





Guarding the hangers

Playing cupid

They were having fun in Ranna's workspace and being quite imaginative. We finished up at JCrew and wandered around Gateway making a few stops, including Lane Bryant, a picture booth and finally Jason's Deli for lunch. By this time it was 1:30 and we decided to head back to the car, but not before some fun before getting on Trax.

Enjoying an after lunch airhead in the cold

A cool sculpture at the Trax station we hopped on to head home.

After reaching the car, we headed to Hobby Lobby. I had some yarn to pick up to finish a project and Ranna had a gift card she still needed to use. She hadn't ever been. Hobby Lobby is a very fun store and you can find almost anything there for crafts or for decor. Ranna and I both found what we needed/wanted and we even found a frog for my mom's garden that was 50% off and the last one available. We couldn't pass it up because it just fit so well.

Jade had some money left from what her dad gave her to spend and she and Anna decided they wanted something that matched from their day together (other than the pictures we already did). After searching the store, they decided on some Valentine's Day stuffed puppies (40% off is a beautiful thing). The cashier was very good with Jade as she paid for their gifts and she got on her eye level as she counted out her change. Ranna and I were very impressed, especially considering the lines were getting longer and crazier by the minute.

After leaving Hobby Lobby, we stopped at my parent's house to deliver the frog and borrow some sprinkles to make Valentine's Day sugar cookies. My mom agreed that it fit too well and was excited (I really should have taken a picture because it was so darn cute). And we headed to my house. Since it was after 4:00 I wasn't worried too much if we woke up Steve since he had been able to sleep uninterrupted all day. He still didn't wake up until after 5:00 because the girls did a great job of being quiet while they played on the X-box and helped with the cookies where they could/wanted to.
Later, when Jade's parents came to pick her up, I had a cookie thief.

He was quite sneaky...


















I think he had two whole cookies by himself.










Overall, our day was just a lot of fun.

Flashback Friday - Fun pics

We have someone at work who is retiring this month and part of my job is "party-planner". I have a bunch of pictures from past events and so I was assigned to look through my pictures to find some of her for a scrapbook. During the course of my search I found some of family members who have come to different fun events we have had at work.

Fall Festival 2006

Family Fun Night 2007

Nasty Nose

Warning! Rambling post that may not be interesting to anyone at all. Read at your own risk of TMI!

Growing up I never really had many issues with getting sick, except for tonsillitis, which I got frequently. I frequently had 100% attendance in school and HATED missing school. I know, I know, let me do this for you...GEEK!!! Please don't misunderstand, I didn't like school, I just hated missing it. There was this thing with my family, good grades were important.

Tangent alert!

Back to the story at hand. The last few years I have really had some issues with sinus infections, among other issues (my immune system is not what it once was). I remember Britta having a lot of sinus problems as we were teenagers and her having surgery to fix those problems, but never really thought much about it past that. I didn't really understand them and was in my own world since I was graduating high school and going off to college. Sheesh, how insensitive could I be? Now however, I almost always have some sort of nasal issue. What was that called? Karma?

The past week I have struggled with "the cold of death" and I'm pretty sure it was at least a borderline sinus infection but I didn't want to go to the doctor for antibiotics. With my immune system so shot I need every chance I can get for my body to re-train itself to fight. Antibiotics won't give it that chance. So, I've been doing what I can to get rid of it naturally. Last year one of my chiropractors mentioned getting a neti pot. I hadn't ever heard of them but decided to give it a try.

If you haven't heard of a neti pot, look it up. You will find a lot about it. But the important part is, pick one up. It is amazing! Yes, it feels weird. Yes, it is gross. No, you will not find a medicine that clears out more than this will and as quickly (although guifenesin does really help). This week I have reminded myself how much of a difference it makes. I haven't been using it on a regular basis and I really need to. Doing so may prevent sinus infections from ever creeping in and help me avoid surgery (we all know I don't need another one of those). Not to mention saving money and time. Salt and water are much cheaper than a doctor visit and a perscription.

And there you have it folks. The mindless, late night ramblings of me. Isn't your life now complete? Maybe now I can have the energy to save the world. Too much? Fine. Have it your way. I'll just go to bed now.

Killjoy.

Long Time Coming

It has been a long time since I have posted. For this, I apologize. It's been a rough few months, to be honest. For those of you who have known me for a while, you know that I struggle in the winter and I am much more prone to depression. I wish I could say this winter was different...

Regardless, there were a few events I could have (and should have) posted, such as:

• My sister Amanda had her baby and we now have baby Lexi in our family. She was born early on Thanksgiving morning. This was also Ruthann's birthday, which made her very happy. This past Sunday she was blessed.

• Christmas came and went with little to report. Since Steve was not working we didn't have a lot of money. But we did spend some good time with family. The more time goes on the more I realize how much they really mean to me.

• My baby brother Joel (yes, I said baby) got married a few weeks ago. Ruthann is now officially part of the family and our total is now up to 25. It will be 26 later this spring, and Britta will again round out the grandkids making it an even five boys and five girls. Here are a few pictures from the wedding and reception.