Much Deserved

Today my friends, I have a special announcement. I have an entire day off! I was able to sleep in the bed past seven in the morning. I am still in my pajamas while typing my blog on a Friday. I am having a yummy cup of Pumpkin Spice coffee. I get to go to my son's Halloween party at school. I get to have a pedicure today, maybe even a massage. BUT, enough about me....How are all of you doing on this fine, glorious, sunny morning?
As one can see from the lack of posts, my week has either been crazy hectic or uneventful. Let me say......a little of both. I worked a little extra so I could have this day off and I am so glad I did since three day weekends have become few and far between. Poor me, I know. We were finally able to settle the kids down last night and have some quiet for a movie viewing. We watched Gran Torino and may I say <<<>>>. This movie is wonderful and keeps your eyes glued to the screen. Ol' Clint is actually funny in a few parts which makes the movie even better since it is a drama and not a comedy. If you have not viewed this flick....get it and tell them I sent ya! Have a wonderful Halloween weekend.

1. It was a dark and stormy night, and the kids were glued to my side!

2. She had so many books to take to the sale so I offered to take the books myself.

3. Rushing out, I accidentally left the kids at home.

4. The hair stood up on the back of my neck...I think I heard a howl!

5. Shhhh... did you hear that?

6. Trick or treat, smell my feet give me something good to eat!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to ending my relaxing day off, tomorrow my plans include a soccer game (if it doesn't get rained out) and a little thing we call Trick or Treating and Sunday, I want to enjoy my extra hour!

Just A Quickie

Although the weekend was a little more exciting than what I am posting.....as usual....I am running short on time and need to post a few pictures of Michael for the kid's YMCA Hero Half Marathon before heading out the door for work. Michael ran with a group from his school. Think of it as an unofficial track club for elementary aged children. Well, I realize that excitement does not actual abound in this post but here are the picture anyway. The other young man in the pictures is one of Michael's best friends, Landon. He is a constant comedian!

Holy Cow!

Has anyone seen Superman lately? I am just wondering if he has been flying around the world with the rotation of the earth instead of against it in order to speed up time. Don't get me wrong, I am super duper pleased Friday is here but......HOLY COW......it arrived quick! This weekend is going to be a little crazy therefore I am bracing myself. Michael will be participating in the Kid's Hero Half Marathon TTU tomorrow afternoon. I am so proud that he has taken such an interest in running and I hope it will serve him well. I will post how he does, of course, in a weekend update. Saturday at 11:30 we have a soccer game and hopefully we can relax for the remainder of the weekend once that is over. I still have a boat load of pictures to go through for Cougar Run but I have deleted mucho pictoros and have 302 left to go through. That means half of what I have left need to meet the chopping block! AAARRGGHH! What an arduous task to review over 300 pics to figure out which child has multiple cameos. I don't want to upset any parents! I placed voting ballots in the teacher's boxes for the 4th graders to pick their top three picks for the background music for the picture DVD. I am dying with anticipation as to what music they will pick. I did not give them any options so they have carte blanche! I will share what they pick once everything is tallied....should be interesting.

1. The crickets sing and the bats fly quietly over my house.

2. Take advantage of laughter wherever you are.

3. I want to get far away from the rat race at times.

4. The cures for all childhood diseases had been discovered; this was a dream.

5. But as for me...I will just sit back and watch the show.

6. Where I just was is where I come (came) from.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching Michael participate in the kid's half marathon at TTU, tomorrow my plans include soccer and Sunday, I want to go to my dad's house for their 6th annual Harvest Party.

Warp Speed

Wow, Sunday already....really?......How can that be?
My weekend turned out to be a little different than anticipated. Marshall decided to display his stridor cough first thing Friday morning which warranted a trip to the doctor. Luckily, no strep or flu but he did have an ear infection. I still wanted to have game night since he wasn't acting sick and chose Wii instead of Candyland. We bowled, ate pizza and it was a blast. What I don't understand is how someone in decent shape, i.e. me...can be sore the next day from Wii bolwing. It is quite disturbing and pathetic all rolled up in a tortilla!
On Saturday, Mom came up to visit and I felt it was in Marshall's best interest to forgo any outdoor plans for obvious reasons. We all went to Cracker Barrel to eat breakfast and hung out at the house for the rest of the day. We had another couple over later that evening for a chili chowdown and a few rounds of billiards. Not all too exciting but sometimes that is a good thing.
Sunday morning was a mad dash to get both of the kids and myself ready for church. Mike took the boat out for a while for a much deserved break/fishing trip so it was up to me to get the crew out the door. As usual, the three Bregenzer's slide into church late. Oh well, that tends to be my MO as of late therefore I will embrace it instead of chastise myself for it.
Marshall is currently at the end of his third hour of nap time and I have been able to get some things accomplished. I was able to watch the Vikings game which ended in a nail biter plus a little of the Titan's game. I was also able to compile the 500 pictures from Cougar Run and start pilfering through what to keep and what to delete. There were a couple of pics of me prancing around like some kind of dork so I thought I would include those, a really cute one of Marshall and one of Michael in action. Hopefully I can get this DVD finished this week with the music accompaniment and have that rather large albatross off my back. He keeps pecking at me ear!

Friday Fill Ins

Hello everyone.....it is Friday once again. One of my three assistants has been out this week on vacation so to say I have been busy would be an extreme understatement. I hate it when I actually have to earn my money!! GNO was fun last night even though a couple of girls bailed because of the weather (go figure). Lot of hot topic/political debate with the table being split right down the middle of liberal and conservative. I am so fortunate to have surrounded myself with a group of women who can talk about things (even if we don't always agree) other than breaking a nail or catching up on the latest gossip. Well I guess I should get my little self (ha ha) to work. The sooner I get started, the sooner I get to come home.

1. So are we going to officially stop talking or what?

2. The definite unknown is what's up ahead.

3. I love to do just about anything except get up in the morning.

4. I need to shop and get work clothes of some sort.

5. I walk a fine line of contemplation and contentment.

6. Being able to laugh at yourself and make others laugh is the true elixir of life!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to eating pizza and playing Candyland, tomorrow my plans include going to Muddy Pond or Amazing Acres, I haven't decided yet, and Sunday, I want to work on my Cougar Run DVD. Here I am facing a 2 week deadline and I haven't even started. WTH!

Black Hole Sun

I know this is a strange post but I wanted to show you guys a glimpse into my eldest child's imagination. He took Coke bottle caps and started to make a design. "Look Mom, I made a black hole". Isn't that the coolest?

I Am So Ready

I have absolutely nothing to say but this......I am sooooo excited about my little Girl's Night Out tomorrow. It has been way too long since we have had some down time and what better week to do it then Fall Break. Look out Crawdaddy's, the girls are back in town!

Pumpkin Heads

Just thought I would post a picture of the pumpkin heads which are now perched atop their little wire bodies. Mike drew one picture and Michael drew the other. I think they are hilarious but I guess I am a little partial. My little ghost trio did not turn out the way I was hoping. I could not find a "cloth" drop cloth and the part plastic/part cloth one I had would not drape right over the tomato cages. PLUS, once I had two and half cages strung with lights......half of one strand went out. Forget it! I have too much to do for this time wasting session! See ya!

The House Touch Ups

Bare with me through all the pictures over the next couple of months of the house. I am on a touch up and redecorating frenzy that can no longer be controlled. Last week I conquered the boy's bathroom. I repainted the entire room (including the pooper room...if you know what I mean), took out the plate glass looking mirror thing and replaced it with individual ones, and then used spackle to repair all the trim divots/dents and repainted all of it. Guess what, I repainted the entire bathroom and the trim WITHOUT PAINTER'S TAPE and I must say.....did a darn good job! Again, this is a brief look into my 'everything must be just so' in my home. Well, I want to involve you guys into my craziness and will post pictures of the rooms as I am finished. This type of post will be few and far between as I am working on other projects concurrently and must prioritize. Here are a couple of the boy's freshly painted bathroom.

Friday Fill Ins

My goodness I have a few things I would like to talk about today but I just do not have the time this morning to write. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

1. Sweet dreams are something I did not have last night in my fit of insomnia. I finally fell asleep at 3:30 only to get up at 6:00. I am a little cranky to say the least.

2. Trying to make new friends in a room full of strangers is hard especially for me.

3. Silliness is the best way to get through life's little (and big) speed bumps.

4. I plan on dressing up and going to the zoo again this Halloween.

5. Outstanding or not our Nobel Peace Prize winner has been announced.

6. An extremely long vacation without my children (I know that sounds awful) is what I need right now.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I am looking forward to hangin' with the family, tomorrow my plans include soccer and having to clean my own house...travesty, and Sunday I want to go to church to talk politics (strange, huh) and start on the Cougar Run DVD.

This Is Why I Pay Someone To Do This

As most of you know.....I am a crazy OCD house cleaner. If I were to clean my own home, it would literally take me greater than eight hours every time. This is not due to the size of my home but the fact that I cannot let anything go. It starts off small and snowballs into a frenzy no one could ever understand unless they witnessed it....What is that on the floor? Are those Cheetos fingerprints on the wall? Could the dust on the sills and baseboards be any thicker? What in the world is that muck behind the faucet? Where the hell are the toothpicks? (I clean with them a lot and Q-tips...they can get where other things cannot)
This is my suffering! Well the absolute worst thing that could happen in my life has happened, not really I am just using that statement for a great dramatic lead in.....My housekeeper moved to Florida!!! OYE VEY!!
I am well aware this is not the end of the world but it opens a door and allows my sickness to come in. Seriously! So, today I had a light day at work and was home by twelve. It took me 2 hours to clean three bathrooms and trust me......the toothpicks and Q-tips made their appearance. So did the toothbrush. Hello old friends!
This is why I pay someone to do this. Not only am I paying them for their services......I am paying for my sanity!

4 Days Late

I feel so bad! I was four days late decorating the house for my second favorite holiday. How dare I rob such a thing from my children? Don't worry I have not lost it but I was a little disappointed in myself for getting started on Sunday instead of the first day of the new month. We bought our pumpkins and mums yesterday after church and I was able to spray paint two of them white so we can draw faces and place them on their metal body! It is more ghoulish that way! I will take a picture so that will make more sense. I did control myself this time with the pumpkin buying. I only bought 4. I usually buy 10 but with the recession and all....we had to cut back!
All I have left to do is put together our ghost threesome. I still need to go to Walmart to buy everything (cloth drop cloth and rope lights) to make our ghostly trio! It is an extremely easy way to decorate for the season. Take metal tomato cages, turn them upside down, wrap white lights around the cage, cut a drop cloth to drape them, and draw on a face! How simple and the kids will love it! I think our ghosts are going to be playing ring around the birchie (rosies) but connected by a makeshift chain since they cant hold hands.....they don't have any! Of course I will post some pictures if it when I am finished and you all will look at them and LIKE IT!

Friday Fill Ins

Once again, Friday has finally rolled into town. I have been looking forward to the visit. One of my 56 year old patients succumbed to her cancer this week and it has been a bitter pill to swallow. Also, the wife of a good friend of mine found out the aneurysm in her brain was bigger than expected and is located at a 'fork' in the artery. This makes it extremely dangerous to repair and they will have to perform a craniotomy in an attempt to fix it. She is only 34 with three boys under 11. Please pray for her. Man I am so glad this week is over. Well, here we go with Fill Ins and I am off to work.

1. I have a history of loving to talk but being a great confidant.

2. How many bugs I have consumed in my life is something I wish I knew.

3. I'm eating (or recently ate) beer can chicken off the grill last night.

4. I have fits of rage on the road.

5. So that's it, that's said and done.

6. A little bit of something is better than nothing!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to painting the boy's bathroom, tomorrow my plans include soccer games and visiting with my mom and Sunday, I want to watch my boys sing at church....eat BBQ at the choir club fundraiser and then meet some college buddies at Cool Springs to do a little eating and a little shopping.