Expedia-Orbitz-Travelocity-Priceline ...Nice.

Has anyone out there ever tried to use one these websites to try to plan a trip? You have got to be kidding me. Okay, okay. So it's not really the websites that suck, but the fact that each of them get so many rooms at a hotel (I am assuming) and when they are gone, you don't really know if they are sold out or not. We bounced around on these websites for a few days, and finally last night, we needed to get our reservations made for my birthday weekend, or we would be staying in scary one star hotel hell. So we go from website to website, and there are a good amount of hotels that we are willing to stay in. But as you go from website to website, some say they are all sold out, some don't. Then when you find a hotel that has available rooms, they vary in price from website to website.

Nice.

Well, initially we were trying to get rooms at the Holiday Inn because they have a good pool for Lukin. Then when we couldn't get at least one of our rooms to guarantee that it would have two beds, we bailed on that idea. I mentioned that the weekend we stayed in Fergus Falls, we didn't use the pool, so we were okay with the fact that there wasn't necessarily a good pool. So we booked a suite (so we knew there would be sleeping area for three people) and a mystery room. I don't know what they call it on the website but you won't know what type of room it is til you check in. So, to me, that makes it a mystery.

Nice.

The main thing is that we now have enough sleeping area for the six of us. Now I just gotta get myself going so that there will be more than 3 of us out for my birthday. You like that? There will be six of us there but only three of us will go out for my birthday.

Nice.

I can't even put my best friend in charge of arranging something so friends can come because she has to work her new second job until 9 pm. So I guess I will be begging people to come to my own birthday party, and look lame and have no one show (as per my Going Away Party).

Nice. Real Nice.

Hair

So tonight I am getting my hair done. I don't really need it cut, but I am getting it highlighted and trimmed in 'honor' of my 30th birthday that is coming up next week. And in getting ready for my hair appt. I have been thinking about my best friend making fun of Lukin's bowl haircut. So I was thinking that maybe I should make an appointment to get his hair cut too. Of course, I like his little blonde head. I don't think he needs a haircut but, then again I don't want his hair to get so long that he is constantly mistaken for a girl. I don't want him to have a total ugly boy haircut either. He is too little for a buzz cut. My husband doesn't understand that, but there are kids Lukin's age that have no hair. We have to take advantage of this hair while he is basking in it. He can have the short, ugly boy haircut later on in life. And that's pretty much all I have to say about that.

Desk Adjuster

Does anyone (besides me) remember when you were in elementary school and one of the first few days of school, one of the janitors would come in and adjust the height of your desk for you? I do. I wish that person would show up here. When I spend a lot of time on the computer, my neck gets all sore because I am looking down. Now maybe it would make a difference if we had desktop computers instead of laptops, but I don't really know.

Nothing else fabulous to report. However, if you have a Facebook page, please feed my mouse, Meow. He is hungry and we have very little money left for food. What they don't come up with...

SURPRISE!!!

So this weekend, Nicole Brown turned 30 (well actually it's today but whatever). So Brenda threw her a surprise birthday party. It was fun. Everyone kind of had their part to play. For example, Nicole was under the impression that it was a condensed version of girls weekend where we (Brenda, Deb, Amanda, Nicole, Barbie, and I) were going to go out for supper to celebrate Nicole's, Deb's and my upcoming birthday. So she sent out this email asking for details about the weekend. I replied because I didn't want anyone to answer her questions and for her to get suspicious. She wanted to know a time and where we were going and if she could invite Barbie or not. I answered all her questions even though I knew all the information...from the invitation.

Well, Brenda was worried about how she was going to get Nicole to Grandma's when Nicole wanted to go to Olive Garden. So, they came up with this plan to pick up Deb who was out with Sam and one of Sam's college friends and then head to Olive Garden. They walked into the restaurant and I don't think Nicole realized at first. Deb and Sam were sitting closest to the door and you don't really look around, until we all yelled, "Surprise!" Then she was saying that she was never going to believe anything we said ever again.

I couldn't get over how many people showed up for her birthday party. I didn't count but it seemed like there was between 20 and 30. I don't think that even 6 people will show up for my birthday party. Nice.

Then I had to fly out of TRF. Are you even kidding me? I felt like I was in the middle of nowhere, and then we flew to Hibbing, and that felt even more desolate. I guess Cavalier is all the isolation I can handle. But I don't really have anything else to say about that.

A Splash of Good News

For those of you who don't really know me that well, I am a worrier. And I always seem to find something to worry about, even when there isn't really anything that I need to be worrying about. Case in point, teaching license renewal. I started worrying about this on Monday night and have been thinking about it ever since. I'm all freaked out because you have to get 125 clock hours in 4 different categories, plus 5 semester credits (which I think can count as part of your clock hours) and then some misc. amount, which I can't think of off the top of my head for my professional license. This all freaks me out because you have to go through this every five years, for your entire career.

That is, if you are not a Speech Pathologist. Yesterday, I found out that because I am a member of my professional organization and hold the National License associated with that, I am exempt from collecting the 125 clock hours. All I have to do is attend at least one workshop or seminar in each of the four areas, regardless of the hours, to accrue enough time to renew my license. That helps to make me feel better.

It seems like there is always something, doesn't it?

Dearest Stacie

I wanted to pause for a quick second and apologize to my sister who apparently was mad that I think of her as my 'little' sister. But she is my little sister. It's not that I don't think she is a grown up but that I am always going to overprotective, and I will always remember her as the little girl that I lived with. So, Stacie, if you read this, please know that I love you and that I wasn't trying to make you mad. I just have to be protective and help you because I'm your big sister and that is what what the big sister handbook says to do. :)

Give me a break Sally Field

So last night the Emmy's were on. I don't necessarily care. But I watched. I mean, I like the shows I like, and I am going to keep watching them regardless of whether or not those programs win. That being said, there were some parts that I enjoyed and some parts that sucked.

For example, I enjoy Louis Black. Therefore, I enjoyed his little rant about what we don't want while we are watching a program. He's right. I don't need to know what is debuting in two weeks. I don't care about that show, I am watching the one I care about. Etc.

The part that I hate is when someone wins and that individual goes up on stage to claim their award and give their little speech and their speeches are about the war. Look, I don't care what you think about war, "The War" or anything about how you feel politically. I am watching this show because I enjoy the shows that people are in and I want to hear them thank their family, the team on the show, God, but I don't want to hear them go off about politics. If I wanted to know about someone's skewed vision of politics, I would watch CNN or MSNBC. I don't watch those channels because I don't care what random professor from random school thinks about the war.

So last night when Sally Field, of all people, wins her award and goes up on stage to claim her award, I didn't think she was going to go off about Politics. In fact, I believe she went so off about it, that they had to fake technical difficulties so we didn't have to hear whatever she said.

I hate that. This is why I hate Bono and all those folks who think that because they are famous that they have a say in politics. I don't care how many of the 'celebrities' are flaming liberals.

All I can say is that even if Bush hadn't been elected to a second term, I don't think that the troups would have been home a month after the Democrat took office. But we have to cut the celebrities a little slack because I highly doubt that most of them are MENSA members. So they probably weren't able to come up with that conclusion on their own. Besides, they are all about being on the band wagon anyway. I guess the more controversial the bandwagon, the more you get noticed. Whatever.

My own life lacks excitement.

Therefore, I better write about the fact that my sister got engaged last weekend. I can't tell you how it happened because I don't know that she told me that. I did get to see the pictures of how his place looked when she went over to his place for their anniversary dinner. She hadn't even been gone an hour when the two of them came home to show Sonny and I. I think she was happy. She had been pretty nervous about going over to his house because she didn't know if he was going to or not. I knew, because my mom told me in the morning that he had come to ask for Dad's permission to marry her. But now she is engaged and is supposed to start planning a wedding.

I have volunteered to be her wedding planner, or at least help her out somewhat. It seems like she wants all the whistles and bells and I am not really like that. Maybe it would be fun, but all those bells and whistles cost money.

We were trying to think about what the most useless part of wedding planning is so that we could tell her and that she could consider skipping that part. For example, my husband and I skipped the unity candle. When we met with the pastor, I told him how that was the part that annoyed me at any wedding I had ever gone to. To me, it takes 30 seconds to light the thing and then we have to sit for another 4 minutes while some dolt in the family sings. Every family has someone who can sing. Do you really need to use your wedding to broadcast their ability. I hate that. The pastor totally agreed with me. He said that the lighting isn't even really part of the ceremony. It's just for show. I wasn't there to impress anyone. I was there to marry the man that I loved. I think that people planning a wedding forget that part. It's not supposed to be about all the frills. It's supposed to be about marrying the person you have chosen to marry in God's house and with the blessings that go along with that.

I really hope that she figures it out that you don't need to spend so much money that you need to take out a loan. Your wedding doesn't need to cost over $10,000. Of course, I told her the approximate amount we spent, so she would have an idea how much it costs to have a nice wedding. (I thought it was a nice wedding. I may be biased.) Of course, we didn't have a DJ or dance, we didn't have a professional photographer (well, not one we had to pay), and we didn't have to buy a dress. Those three things probably saved us quite a bit of money. I don't know what her plans are, she is probably waiting for me to help her. But that's my thoughts on the whole thing so far.

I guess if she really wants to spend a gazillion dollars on the wedding, she could have the wedding during a more 'off season' time of year. And she could wait to get married so she could make money for the wedding. Of course, I will just let her read this and not tell her to get her all mad. I mean, things like weddings cost money. And my husband and I were talking about it and we both feel that there are more important things to spend money on than to spend a lot of money on your wedding. I mean you want to spend enough to have a beautiful day, but there will be more important things in your marriage that you will want to spend money on. If you are married, you totally know what I mean.

P.S. If you want to let me know a part of a wedding you were at, or part of your own wedding that you wish you would have done differently or didn't feel it was necessary, let me know so I can pass that knowledge on to my sister.

What SHOULD we worry about?

So, anyone who has children can probably relate to the fact that, as a parent, we spend a great majority of our time worrying about what we should be doing for our children. Is he getting enough sleep? Is he getting enough to drink in a day? Does he get enough protein? Is he happy? Is he bored? Things like that. I often think to myself that I SHOULD be reading to him more. I SHOULD be singing to him more. I SHOULD be teaching him his ABCs, his body parts, his colors, animals, vehicles...etc. But then I pause, take a breath and realize he is only 1.

Turn now to my trip to Subway to grab some supper for Sonny and I last night. I come out and across the street is Redhawk Liquor. As I am walking to get in my car, I see this guy walking to go into the liquor store...and...he is carrying a small child. I shake my head as I get in my car. I think to myself, "Where are this guy's ethics?" And then I further thought, "I obviously spend too much time worrying about the things that I am doing for my son, but should be doing more. But at least, I don't think that it's okay to take him into liquor store."

If there are any parents who can relate, or that feel taking your kid to the liquor store is okay, please let me know.

In other news...

I have started my part of the lose weight by Christmas. I started the first day of teacher workshop, and as of yesterday, I have lost 4.4 pounds in 10 days. That's pretty sweet. I was pretty excited about that.

I decided that I needed to put a new picture of Lukin on here because it has been forever since I have updated the picture. That and we finally have a working printer to make some pics to send to family and friends again. It will be nice because now I have some new pictures to take to hang up at work.

Speaking of work, today is the unofficial last day of summer. School starts tomorrow and we really should be getting ourselves back into school mode, but the boys are napping and I am more content doing this than organizing other things right now.

I will hopefully be able to get on here more frequently in the next year again once I get my work computer again.

Well, better go plan the menu for the next week's worth of meals. Then after that, off to the grocery store...my favorite...