Hallelujah

Let's all put our hands in the air and give a great big scream of  HALLELUJAH, Friday has finally arrived.  This Friday is going down in the books as extra special since I have basically reached the top of the mountain and it is all down hill from here.  Well, that is according to the boss man who says that this week should have been the last of the hell weeks in the industry I work in.  When you start checking in fifteen minutes after you wake (aka 3:45am) to work, dealing with the issues between working out, showering, dinner, in the car, and any other god forsaken place, and not seeing the light of day for like 10-11 hours each day, it makes the end so much sweeter. And let me tell you the last three weeks have been unforgiving.  We pulled it off though with no production downtime or delays...which seriously makes us superheroes.

Today's Friday Five is going to celebratory type items....cheers to

1.   Being able to make it home at a reasonable time and having more than an hour before bed to hang with the family and making it in time to have dinner with them.

2.   Not having so many things running through my mind in the evening that I can't fall or stay asleep

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3.  my bossman resting easy and not having to watch this progression go down after the announcement that someone didn't plan again and we needed this shit two hours ago

 

 

And of course my gracefulness after pulling off the damn near impossible..

 

 

4. and 5. the glass of wine I will be drinking later this evening

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With that being said, let's hear for Friday!!

 

These are a few of my favorite things - My List

 

1. Scarf from Krochet Kids - Just stumbled upon this place today.  Handmade items that benefit those who live in poverty.

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2.  Glamglow Masks - These are absolutely amazing, but pricey hence why there is no better place to put them then on a wishlist.

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3.  Labeler -  My inner organizational freak has been wanting one of these for awhile now.  to think of all the glorious things that could be labeled.

 

 

4.  Waterfall Soap Dish - Seriously I did not know that this existed and since I have been loving Lush soaps lately...I think I want one.

 

5. Kelty Mesa Tent 2 person -  Having been scoping these out for backpacking. 

 

There you have my little wish list.  Surprisingly these items were actually pretty hard for me to come up with.   Guess that could only mean one thing...I am happy with what I have...but if someone would want to send one of them my way, I won't be complaining.

 

 

Time to Breathe

And finally time to take a breathe from the weekend.  It was pure craziness of busy, busy, busy.   Both mornings I watched my littles and Ava monster. 

 

She is a black lab and I was absolutely amazed at how much she grew in just one week. And she no longer has skunk breathe for the win.

 

Oh and we have determined that a slinky could be justified as a new dog toy.

 

On Saturday prior to all the other things, I decided it would be a good idea to check out the local feed supply place for dog food.  The little bro mentioned this place and I really had no idea that it existed.  I need to go back there again because I sort of felt like I was being rude as we were slightly rushed and the person working was such a nice, helpful person.  And I seriously wanted to check out the bird supplies and had no time for that.

 

Now let's talk about the kind soul that helped us out. Dog food.  That was the numero uno reason why we decided to check the place out.  We were using a big brand dog food.  Big brand dog foods have a tendency to change things, discontinue things etc.  It was turning out to be a pain.  We stared aimlessly at the stacks of all the different brands of dog foods.  That is when we got the greatest help ever.  He went through all the information on all the dog foods they have, what people by, and where they are manufactured. 

 

And our final decision was....Fromm Dog Foods.  The link will take you to the food safety page, which is one of the reasons why we choose this brand.  In addition it is a Wisconsin based company with one of the factories within 30 miles we live.  I absolutely love that we can not only support a local store in our community, but also a Wisconsin based company.  And the pups should be happy with all the different flavors and varieties. 

 

After the morning running around it was off to get my hair done and get ready for Saturday evenings festivities.  It was the night for our Christmas present to each other, which was the Brian Setzer Orchestra Concert.

 

 

Oh yes and you would be seeing this correctly, my hair was chopped off at the hair appointment earlier in the morning. That little black number is what one would call a wiggle dress, as in you wiggle into and wiggle out.  Breathing may or may not happen as normal once you get into it. 

 

Our dinner selection was a place called The Good Company.  The food was good, they had tons of variety and the cocktail was to shabby either.   Needless to say we were to stuffed for their signature snickers dessert.  Plus, on there menu they stated there was secret passage ways and the place may be haunted.  Sadly no ghost paid us a visit.  The room where they had us dining was a New Orleans theme....and you should know how much we love New Orleans.  Someday we will definitely be venturing back there.

 

And the hubbie enjoyed the concert....especially when they did the "Stray Cat Strut".   Yep Brian Setzer was the lead singer in the Stray Cats.  Plus we were treated to a new band called "The Record Company" whose singer is from Wisconsin.  Appeared to be a very humble individual.

 

After driving home in the snow...yes snow.  I said it. It is official the first accumulating snow in Wisconsin.  That white stuff is still lingering on the grass too. I grabbed some rest before heading to watch the littles in the morning.

 

Sunday was spent catching up on the house stuff, squeezing in a quick nap....and then going to visit with my Uncle for awhile.  He had just took the next step in the world of phones and is now on a smartphone.  Watch out.  We got to check out his brand new chair which basically lifts and tilts to help he have an easier time getting out of it.  Pretty awesome and the only thing that was missing was the fact that it lacked a built in massager.  Oh and he introduced or explained the glory of the Schwanns delivery service.  Now suddenly I feel like I may have to check it out.  A way to possibly not have to frequent the grocery store, holler. 

 

After all that it was time to close the day with a quick family dinner and getting ready to start the new week....and take a deep breath.

 

 

 

Sock it to Me

Seriously thought my Friday five was not going to be happening this week.  There was absolutely nothing coming out of my brain this week.  Then inspiration hit me via L's facebook and boom the Sock it to me Friday Five.

1.   These for your inner geek...and not only do you get one cape, but two

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2.  Really....sumo wrestler socks.

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3.  Oh honey your are just the bees knees

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4.   And sometimes you just feel a little hungry...

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5.   If sushi isn't your thing how about some Cheetos...

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Goodness I had so much fun trolling the realms of the internet looking for socks.  Since everyone knows that Christmas is right around the corner this would be an absolute stellar gift idea...socks.  Everybody needs them.

 

Rock those Socks, People

Happy Friday

 

 

Run Fast

There comes those strange times when I least expect that it happens, the moment when I have the run.  The most unexpected amazing run. The run that makes me feel empowered and able to take on the world. And that glorious run has graced me with its beauty not once, but twice this week.

Both runs were different, one was a pace/tempo run and the other today was speed work, but both left me feeling exhilarated.  The tempo run was dead on.  Five miles steady with a slightly faster number six.  The speed work today netted me a new 5k PR for the treadmill, holler.  And to think the shit I shoveled in my mouth for dinner last night was two bowls of cheese popcorn.

Now my next run looks to be Friday AM and let's hope that things come in three's and I will rock the hell out of that one too.  And since I really wanted to link up with Helene today...here is what I am deeming to be the song of the week for me.

Florence and the Machine - Dogs Day are Over

Enjoy and if you run may your runs be exhilarating.

 



The weekend past...

Ah a new week. Seriously I may be one of the few people who slightly loves a Monday.  It is just a fresh start to the crazy.  Looking back at the weekend it was one of those...geez I was really busy, but wait I have so few pictures.

Friday evening was a whole lot of nothing.  Saturday morning though I went for a quick 6 mile run with L up where she lives.  I seriously cannot believe that I took no pictures while we were running.  The town where she lives in one of those that is fairly close to where I live yet I never went exploring there.  They have beautiful trails, sculptures, and some windmill house looking thing.  Now you see why I can't believe there are no pictures. Guess that is what happens when two girls are busy catching up. And we almost missed this deer crossing our path, which if we would have shut up maybe it wouldn't have heard us coming.  It was hard to believe that I hadn't talked to her much since our last race and the addition of Little Man.  I can say that it is much more fun to tell the trials of Little Man then to live them.

Saturday afternoon, I took my last adventure to the mall before Christmas.  I do not go anywhere near that place during the holidays.  I did get all my musts done.  Cell phone screen...fixed, and a new case purchased to ensure that it does not happen again.  Watch band adjusted, so excited I am able to wear my new, dream Micheal Kors watch finally.   And let's bring on the haul since it will probably be the only picture I have from my weekend.

 

Lush - Have I proclaimed my love for Lush, of course I have.  This time around it was two new soaps. Oh and sexy peel smells glorious.  It is a complete wake me the F' up type of scent. I will be trying their eye cream and also a face moisturizer.  Then I grabbed one of their shampoo bars, Seanik, which I used this morning and it was glorious.  And of course, I had to grab a staple, Mask of Magnaminty.

 

Then there was a quick stop at Ulta for a few more things, mascara, brushes, and a mask to try for the dead of winter.  I picked up a few books for the littles for Christmas.   Of course no mall trip would be complete without some Buddy Squirrel popcorn. Not to forget a side trip to the cheesecake factory to take some goodness home.

 

Saturday evening was for a quick dinner at our fave Mexican restaurant.  Which led to our normal Sunday of grocery shopping, cleaning, and putting away a few of the outside stuff that was overlooked. Experimental dinner item of the evening was spaghetti squash.  I just used butter and garlic on mine.  Now the question, it was slightly crunchy....is that how it is suppose to be?  Someone help a girl out.

 

Overall a nice weekend...and our Little Man is acclimating nicely.

 

Where to go.....

Well if it was a "normal" Friday over in blog land it would be some random sampling of five items that appear to have conveniently fit together in some sort of theme.  Clearly though it is not going to be one of those moments.  Instead it will be a teenager talk of sorts.  Kind of a you have got to be kidding what the hell did we do.

I going to associate our little problem with the fact that I am secretly a Queen of a random kingdom that is yet to be discovered and my husband is truly the king of the planet a million light years away that he hailed from.  Why you ask....because it seems like we...

 

Make it rain or at least in the eyes of our teenagers.  And that is how it all begins.  You give your children everything you can and take them wonderful places.  Then a momentary slip from them that they "expect" you to buy something or to do something that costs some cash and is clearly a want and you are like what the hell?!? 

 

Now this little what the hell moment led my curiosity to "quiz" the children on needs (cannot live without) and wants.  Sadly this "quiz" was an eye opener.  In their world here are some needs:

1. A dresser for your clothes

2. Dress Clothes to wear to Homecoming

3. Makeup

4. Backpacks

5. Computers

 

I was taken a back by this. My hubbie and myself have worked hard to establish ourselves plus worked hard when we were their age.  I babysat then waitressed.  He worked at church then the garbage dump.  We valued and worked for our money.

 

Now it is time to look at our kids and tighten up the purse strings a little bit.  No more random buys, it is time for them to earn what they "want". Plus we will be working more closely with them on budgeting and saving.  Two teens and two different stages. 

 

Teen 1: Has the job, car etc. Just needs to take some more control over his financial well being. He will be handling his own bill paying and saving. Plus I will be imposing a penalty fee for anytime the check book goes under $100 and miss car payments to the house, I take the car.

Teen 2: Just starting out on her financial adventure. She will be getting a saving/checking account established and getting into the habit of saving etc. prior to her having an official job and the responsibilities of a car.

 

We also in our world stress the importance of working hard on their school, so to help us implement some of these financial lessons have decided that we will once again be paying out for good grades.  Then as an added perk will also be posting jobs for the house that they can do to earn even more.  Now these will be outside of our normal expectations for them.

 

The biggest and hardest change will be just not buying something for them because we can.  Hopefully though all these changes and teaching them about their finances will help them as they venture into the world.....because, I love my kids, but you will not be sleeping in my basement for the rest of your lives.

 

 

Choose your Own Adventure - Food

October's adventure was food.  And hello who doesn't like food. Let's see how I did knocking out those goals.

1. Eat fish a 2x's per week - GOAL ACCOMPLISHED
2. Eat oatmeal a minimum of 3x's per week -  50% there were two weeks where I only had oatmeal twice.
3. Try one new restaurant around the area where I live - Fail. Instead of trying a new place I took my parents to the "new" restaurant I found in September.  November 1st we did get to try a new BBQ place, day late though.
4. Indulge in a caramel apple - GOAL ACCOMPLISHED - Think this may have been one of my faves  too.

Novembers adventure has the theme organize.  My goals for this month will be:
1. Try to complete the 31 Day organization challenge that A Bowl Full of Lemons presented last month.  The idea was each day your organize one thing. So this week you will see me attempt to organize the pantry, magazines, dresser drawers, toys, cleaners, makeup, shoes and my car this week.  Holy bananas, think that woman picked the hardest things for week one.
2. File Paperwork - I am just going to bury my head and not even mention how behind I am on this.
3. My desk
4. Family "command center" - Need to do some adjustments to better fit our needs aka mail duties, job help board for seasonal/monthly items to get done. Girls got a plan in that little head now to put it to work.


Wish me luck and if you would like to join in, hop over to Steph's for more details.

Wallet Watch

Drum roll please.  Let's here it for the results from the October Wallet Watch.

My Parameters were:

1. Cannot eat out more than 4 times this month - There are already too many dates of eating out on the calendar and need to keep it like that, no more.
2. No clothes, shoes, or makeup purchases
3. Stay within our planned excursions aka no last minutes and stick to my budgeted amount: Pumpkin Farm, Marathon Weekend, Birthday, and Halloween
4. If the item is not on my list when I go into the store, it is not getting bought

And now the results...

Eating out
Totally won at this one.  Did not eat out more than 4x's this month. 

Clothes infractions
* Stretchy Gloves - Even though it was an infraction, it was a must buy after running a few cold mornings especially since they double as a Kleenex. (gross I know)
* Scarf - no excuse except it was cute and on clearance (shrugging shouldera)
* Pink Argyle Compression Socks - 50% plus free shipping, that is all that should be said
* Michael Kors Watch - On clearance plus a coupon means I scored this for over 50% off, no way I was passing up a super wish watch
* Athleta Bikini - Clearance again with a $10 coupon equals an athlete bikini for $15, again no way passing that up.

So even though I spend on clothes I was rather cheap and got some huge savings for the win.

Planned Excursions
While I did have an extra outing that came up, which was a trip to Tom Dooleys apple orchard.  I am going to say it was off set by me not going to the pumpkin farm.

Not on List
* Fit Fresh Hot Bowl - Impulse buy problem, no need for it, yet had to have it, for the fail
* A Monster for my Sons car -   Come on you know everyone needs a car monster.
* Composition book - This was on clearance for $.60, no way I was passing this up.  It will now be stocked in the school cabinet.
* Skeleton Garland
* Candy
* Slow Cooker - this was $25 on clearance and completely programmable.  No way I was passing this up either.

Reflection...
Overall I don't think I did very bad.  The first week was a little rocky for me, but otherwise I did fairly well sticking to things...but you can bet your bottom dollar this girl is going to go buy some makeup she has been oogling in like one hot minute.

Until our next wallet watch...thank you Steph for the link up

October Faves

Moments:

Finishing my very first marathon is by far my favorite moment of the month.  I cannot put into words everything I felt that day and the feelings that continue to flow over.

Bullet's Birthday

Cross Country Sectionals

Gillian's Birthday

Music My jam -  Good Question this month...think I am still just enjoying some of the random older music that downloaded.
   

Beauty Product:

I picked this up at a craft fair at the end of September.  It seriously is some of the best hand cream I have used.  It smells delicious plus I do not feel like I am constantly reapplying it.

Here is the link to the website:  http://www.soapbasketg2.com/

Clothes:  The Home T.

Via

I have been rocking this T more times then I can count this month.  The material is super soft and comfortable.  Extra bonus is a portion of the proceeds go to MS.   Having an uncle that suffers from MS makes this companies charity even more special. So go grab one for your state, you will have no regrets.

Reading -  Lately I am still consumed with trying to keep up on my magazines and weekly newspaper delivery.

Watching -  Oh my goodness, I actually took the time to binge watch American Horror Story season 3.  Holler, that show is awesome!  And attempting to finish Dexter.

Food/Drink -

Acorn squash.  This is delicious.  Butter, Brown sugar and boom...yummie in the tummie.

Smelling:

 

 

Purchase:

Little Man, of course.  This also qualifies as a moment.  You can read all about his homecoming here.

Internet Random:  Check out this blog in general.  It does an amazing representation of what abuse looks like and the strong people that have survived and then thrived from an abusive relationship:
http://projectunbreakable.tumblr.com/
Next up...this one was a nice reminder of why I should be grateful I am not an only child: Benefits of Siblings

Blog Post:  My fave blog posts of the month, tow of which come from the skinny mom blog.
Life Hacks that will Save you 15 minutes:  My favorite tip was the thawing your butter with the cheese grater trick.  Hello.
Household Hacks Vicks Vaporub: House training a dog, keeping my feet soft and curing headaches, say what?!?  Now to actually see if they work.
Happy Fall Bark:  This looks so good and super easy.  A person could make this now with the extra amount of Halloween candy. Yum.

Looking Forward too in next month:   Mayfair Shopping trip, Brian Setzer Orchestra and extra long Thanksgiving weekend.

What were your faves this month?



Puppy Loving

Happy Monday.  After an exhausting weekend, I am grateful for a moment to catch my breath back at work.  Now we have some pretty huge news to share over in our little cul de sac.  One that I have been holding onto for almost a week.  Our family has been expanded, I am not prego either.  Over this weekend we have welcomed two new little additions.

First up....Little Man

The story goes like this.  Two Saturdays ago we walked into the Humane Society to look at this dog that I was completely obsessed over.  Turns out that little guy, Jeffy, had already found a forever home.  He was a little ball of energy.  We had fun taking some time to play with him. 

Then the lady mentions they have another male dog there about the same size of Jeffy.  He just arrived from Kentucky a few days ago.  She brings him in and he stuck tight to her side.  Just a shy little guy, which she warned us about.   We tried to play with him for a little bit and soon he opened up for a little while.   Seeing his shyness and knowing that this may not help him find that perfect home with someone else...we knew it had to be us.  He did warm up after a bit like she said and we played.  That sealed the deal.   Filled out the paperwork with the contingency that we would come back with Chuck, Bullet, my Forest, the nephews and my little brother later in the week.  Hey, we have a tribe and he must love everyone.

The week seemed to go forever. Goodness I was so nervous if everyone would get along.  Thursday came and we all went over.  The once shy Little Man was kind of gone.  He was playful and engaged with everyone.  Perfect...and we signed on the dotted line brought him home to our little cul de sac.

 

Thursday evening was not easy by any means.  He started to "mark" various pieces of furniture, he peed on the comforter on the bed, and was causing Chuck quite a bit of stress.  During the middle of the night, he peed on the bedroom floor (better then the bed).  Then in the morning it was chaotic. First, he pooped in the house.  After that he decided he needed to be by Forest.  He managed to sneak behind a baby gate and jump into bed with Forest. Which I was alerted to by a distressed teenager....with a "Mom" at 5:30 in the morning.  After the removal, he then proceed to tip the baby gate over to get in (we do not lock them in place, they are for dog containment only).  Removed again.  I finished up and kenneled the dogs only to receive a phone call 15 minutes from home that "it is barking and won't shut up."  Oh what morning.

 

He made it all day without an accident in the kennel.  Then had a few accidents with the hubbie. At this point, we questioned our decision.  Would things change? We cannot go thru all of these problems every day.  Chuck is stressed, pee everywhere, no sleep.  The consideration that once home he may not work out was absolutely terrible.  We decided that we need to give it a week.  Friday night we decided that pizza delivery was in order after a rough day had by all.

 

Friday night we all curled up.  Little man found his spot in the bed.  Saturday I woke to no accidents in the bedroom.  We pooped in the dining room to my dismay. I had to leave to babysit the littles so the pups had to go back with the hubbie.  And Little Man did not wake him!

 

Saturday, we had no accidents, issues or otherwise.  He just started to blend right in. Following the schedule and steps that his puppie brothers do. We brought them home new toys.  Little Man got a harness, his own kennel, bed and leash.

 

Sunday, no issues again.  He blended right in even more. We took our crazy pups out for walk on Sunday.

 

Watching our little troop march down the road, I can only imagine what people think.  Everytime Little man saw steps he had to go up them.  The walk worked so well burning out their energy, that Forest could completely move him in his sleep without him even waking.

 

This weekend confirmed he was just meant to be with us.  In our home, with our kids and our pups. 

Welcome to the clan, Little Man.

 

 

And then there is the addition of a new puppy niece for me....Ava

 

 

Little bro was going to wait, but there was one available from a great breeder in the area.  She is an adorable, skunk breathe, chewing  machine. I got to spend Saturday snuggling her.  And both days getting her used to her puppy cousins. Or her puppy cousins used to her is more like it...

 

 

Explaining to her that it is not cool to tip over Auntie Dawn's coffee even if she wanted a drink.  Disregard the fact that Auntie Dawn was the one who had her on the table to begin with.

 

 

Watching her meet her older cranky sister, the Winnie

 

 

Trying to teach her that Auntie Dawn's scarf is not a play toy or something you want to chew on.

 

 

She is an adorable little thing that hopefully will grow to be the perfect little hunting machine.  Welcome to the family our little Ava

 

 

And that is it for awesome new additions.  Now a few other snippets from the weekend...it was a beautiful day Saturday and my hubbie was ecstatic that he got to use the little bro's leaf sucker thing.  I got to spend Saturday and Sunday morning with my littles. 

 

And even tried a new restaurant in our travels on Saturday.

 

Nothing like a little BBQ.  Saturday even checked out the movie "You're Next".  Sunday got caught up on the housework, chilled, and family dinner.

 

An exhausting, lovely weekend.

 

Now to cross our fingers and hope the pups did well today.