Looking into the Past

MD and I have been doing a lot of searching on Ancestry.com lately.
It is a fascinating way to spend an evening but a HUGE time suck.
The barn above was taken on a piece of land that was owned by a relative that we found. I think that is the most satisfying part of the whole experience. Being in the same space as your ancestor.

What a ______!

Week! Month! April is gone and here we are in May already. It is hard to believe that it has been over a month since my last post.
Work has been busy. Turnover and review time make for a little more stress in the work place. I think my mantra is 'the only thing you can count on is change'. But I love my job and where I work so it is nothing I can't handle.
Then there is politics and international happenings. A certain terrorist was extinguished this last week. It is hard to rejoice in anyone taking a human life and I whole-heartedly agree with Martin Luther King Jr whom I will paraphrase here - Darkness isn't overcome by darkness - but by light. Violence is only going to perpetuate more violence. We must believe and realize that. So to all my readers out there not from the USA - please believe that what our media is putting in the headlines isn't what we all believe. We are not all jumping up and down about this. It is a very complicated issue.
And what about all the tornadoes in the southern United States last week and weeks prior? How can we not be afraid of what is happening to our Earth when our weather continues to become more extreme? How many more tornadoes this decade did we have than in the 1950s?  How many times has the Mississippi flooded in the past twenty years? All good questions that we need to be dealing with.

So heavy times here at the blog. Which is part of the reason why I haven't posted in a while. No since in dragging everyone down in the dumps with me. Not that I am depressed - just doing a lot of heavy thinking which isn't always fun to write about to a random audience. :)

Take care of those you love and remember that random acts of kindness go a long way.

From the other side

I made it through my birthday week with flying colors.

Annual review, child at different daycare for a week, one less hour of sleep and one more hour of sun in the evening equals kids sleep schedule totally off -- any one of these things could have been a game changer but it all went smoothly.

I ended up taking Friday off with my youngest due to some scheduling issue but it ended up being perfect. While my three year old isn't the best behaved little person, I did get a bunch of stuff done and felt relaxed too.
Note: I think it is hailing right now...  Going to check... Don't see anything but it is hitting the windows.


Anyway, it was a good week.
I hope you all had a good week as well and enjoyed St Patty's Day.

Being reminded of the old stuff I used to love

I love watching 'Glee' because of the music.
The new stuff is fun but the old stuff is the best.

Last week - Ms. Paltrow did a pretty fun version of Joan Jett's 'Do You Wanna Touch Me' and so I had to go purchase the song from iTunes that night and have been listening to it fairly regularly since.

I purchased 'True Blue' last week as well.  

I thought I would post another new favorite that I found recently as well.
Now don't read into it because I LOVE my job. :)
It is just a rockin' song and something everyone can relate to at some point in their life.


(Dad - I think your band should do a version of this...)


Sorry that this version is live - I would have preferred their video.

 

So draining

I am sitting here amazed at the amount of energy I have today.
Last week, at this time, that was not the case.
Last month that was not the case.
2011 has been the year of worry so far.


The issues were personal so I am not going to share the specifics.
Let's just say that those that know, have had the same things happen to them.
Health and aging, children, pets - they have all factored in.


I am just amazed at the amount of energy I spend on being worried.
My 2011 resolution on the last day of February is to manage those worries that I can and try to live a life that has momentum that I direct.


Happy Last Day of February!

Weekend of FUN!

We haven't seen our cousins in way too long. I think it has been since Thanksgiving and I just can't believe that!

Tonight we got together Mom's and Kid's for a MN Children's Museum outing and had lots of fun. Unfortunately the Mom's were busy chasing kids under 4 so we didn't get much chance to talk but it was still good to get together.

Here is a picture of most of us tonight.

We were singing about riding a chicken - pretty funny!

Fairy by B

B drew this fairy today.
Pretty sweet.

Saturday Night

Tonight was 'A Single Man' with headphones, laundry, and a beer, while MD watched 'Up' without headphones less than 10 feet away.
Kind of kills the mood of my movie when he is laughing over there!
But I am being dramatic.
It was probably good that he was laughing because otherwise I would have been crying over here and I know that I really DON'T need that.

I liked 'A Single Man'. Colin Firth is just about my favorite actor. The story line, while not about a couple that I can fully relate to, is about lost love which is a universal story. I think I would have liked a different ending but I don't know what would have worked.

MD just looked over and said that 'Up' was probably one of the cutest movies he has ever seen. I guess I know what I am doing for the next hour or so...

Just another Friday night

Thought I would record what is happening with the family...

Tomorrow we have the ice dam people coming to steam our roof.
Sounds like fun!

B has a VERY loose tooth. She was showing me how wiggly it is tonight.

D used the potty twice tonight! YEAH!

Hope your evening is as productive as ours was!

Vices

For some reason, I got a wild hair and I have now become serious about dropping my soda drinking down to a bare minimum.

I have dropped my consumption from a high of 2 Mtn Dews at work to less than 3 a week. I sometimes have a 7Up at night but I am trying to keep that to less than 5 a week.

Do you have a favorite beverage that you look forward to every day? I would love to make a switch but juice based drinks and coffee are really harsh on my stomach. (Can't believe soda isn't.)