Before and after...

So, we got back from vacation on Saturday & arrived to our house not completely done. :( Our contractor had called and said he needed to come back on Sunday at 11am & would be done within 4 hours. Well, he arrived around 11:10 & didn't get done with everything until 6pm & said he needed to come back Monday (thankfully I knew this was a possibility & had already cleared it with my boss on Friday). He got all the flooring down on Sunday & just needed to come back to fill holes in the quarter round & finish the patch work on our walls. So, he said he would be at our house at 10am on Monday, about 9am I got a call from Erik that said he wouldn't be here until 1pm because he forgot he had a funeral service to go to Monday morning. Well, then I called Erik at 1:30 to see if he had talked to Jim (our contractor) & he said I was beeping in while he was getting ready to hang up with him. That's when he said that Jim would NOT be coming. Not a big deal, I understand with funerals that you don't know what all will be entailed with the actual service. But, the problem is he wasn't the most 'reliable' last week to show up when he said he would be there (he showed up every day, just not at the time he said he would). Well, he completely finished tonight within a half hour. I've attached some before and after pictures of our living room, if you want to see the 'whole' transformation let me know & I'll send you pictures.

So, we had a great vacation! It was nice to be off work for a week. Although, we definitely spent a LOT of time in the car. On Monday we went to visit Erik's Aunt Louise, who will turn 90 in July & was rough housing with Luke. Between Luke & Aunt Louise I got tired with all their energy. :) It was definitely great to finally meet her & she looks just like Erik's grandma. Erik & his dad went into NYC on Tuesday & Luke & I stayed at the hotel & swam, relaxed & napped. Wednesday Erik, Luke & I went into NYC... I had plans to take Luke to Central Park, but we didn't quite get there, he was having a really hard time & broke down 3 times within 2 hours, so it got to the point where we just called it 'quits' in NYC. We did however get to see Ground Zero & Times Square. Wednesday night we met up with the rest of the family that we went to see, that was fun, because his cousin has three kids that are 14, 10 & 9 & they had a great time with Luke & Luke with them. Thursday was Erik's birthday & we headed to Pottsville to tour Yuengling Brewery & then it was off to Philadelphia to try out the different cheesesteaks & determined that Geno's was the best. We then headed towards Cleveland & stopped in Harrisburg. We got up Friday & headed to Cleveland where we toured Great Lakes Brewery. We had a relaxing night & headed home on Saturday.

It was a great trip & today was my first day back at work. It's good to get back in the swing of things, but I feel like I need a week to sleep. :) Hope you all had a great week! Until tomorrow...

We made it...

Well, we made it to our destination (at least for the next 3 days)... Fairfield, NJ. We left Saturday & made a great stop at our friends in Columbus, OH for the night. It was great to see them since it's been 2 years since we've seen each other. Then we headed out for New Jersey a little later than what we had planned, but oh well. We made it here last night around 9pm... 9 hours in the car. Luke was a trooper! We made a few pit stops & at those he would run & run... it was a great way to blow off some pent up energy. Last night when we reached New Jersey Erik informed Luke that we won't be in the car as much today & Luke said, "Thank you daddy!" He was definitely ready to be done with the car. We've already had some New York style pizza - so yummy!! I'm sure it's not going to be the last one we eat!

This morning we're going to go down to the swimming pool. I chose this hotel because it has an indoor pool. I knew that Perry & Erik were making their trip into NYC for their walk (one that Luke is not ready for yet) & Luke & I needed something to do while they did that, so we're going to be using the pool a lot in the 3 days we're here. After we get ready (after swimming) we're going to go visit Erik's great Aunt Louise & go to Liberty Park so Luke can see the Statue of Liberty. Not sure when Perry & Erik are going to NYC, but we plan on taking Luke into the city to Central Park & other sites around the city.

Well, everyone is finally waking up, so I'm going to get off of here so we can go get breakfast & then go swimming. Hope you all had a great weekend! Until tomorrow...

Long Day...

So, I had Microsoft Access training again this afternoon from 1-5pm, but luckily we got out around 4pm. Otherwise I would have been at work longer than 6pm tonight. I love going on vacation, but yet it stresses me out too, because I have to get so much stuff ready to be gone for a week. Being out of the office all day yesterday & this afternoon really put a damper on getting things done at a decent pace. Plus, my boss gave me two projects to be finished before I leave, plus I have about 3 projects on my list that I need to get done. Fun fun! I had a productive day today even though I only worked a little over a half day. I would much rather of stayed at work later today than tomorrow!

So, I got my bookshelves cleared off, there are a couple things left to pack up, but it's looking pretty good. I might clear out my end table tonight, but then I might not. I still have to cut Luke's invitations. My mom has convinced me to just take them with me & work on them on vacation.

Well, not much else is going on. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Exhausting day with a short post

Today drained me totally from doing anything productive tonight. I have a seminar to go to this morning from 8:30 - 11:00am, then I had Microsoft Access training from 1-5pm. So, I wasn't in my office at all today except for maybe a half hour. So, I fought the urge not to work out tonight. I have so much to get done before we leave on Saturday for our vacation, but had no motivation at all to do tonight. But, I did come home & exercise, so I was really proud of myself. Of course, I was hoping that it would give me the motivation I need to work on stuff around the house, but it didn't. :(

Here's my to do list for the week: clear off my bookshelves in our room (I say my bookshelf because all the books & stuff on them are mine); clean out my dresser & the top of my dresser; clear out my end table; make Luke's birthday invitations & get them in the mail; do laundry at the end of the week; take the dogs to the kennel on Friday; & pack for Luke & myself (this includes toys, etc for Luke). Phew... I'm exhausted. But, I guess I better get off here & maybe clean out my end table.

Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Final Decision

So, today was a good day & surprisingly enough it's a Monday. Of course, it could be that it's my last Monday before vacation. :) But, not only that, today I met with my counselor. I had some concerns & questions that I needed some answers before I made my final decision about graduate school. So, drum roll please... I am starting school in the fall! I'm pretty excited. Erik made me sing the Adam Sandler song from his movie, Billy Madison, tonight at dinner. I decided that I should go for it & this way I'm not regretting it 5-10 years down the road. So, every Tuesday from 4:30 - 9:45 I will be sitting in a classroom & hopefully loving it.

Other than that, not much else happened today. My shows are starting to pick back up, so I'm happy about that. I told Erik that we're going to have to get another dvr since I'll be having to tape all my t.v. programs while I'm in school & watch them on the weekends.

I have to make a correction from yesterday's post... Friday is Missy's birthday, not Saturday. Sorry Missy! It's going to be a short post tonight because there isn't too much else to say. So, I hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

4:55

I meant to post this blog last Wednesday, but I was busy last week every night. So, why the title of 4:55 you ask? This is the time that Luke got up from nap last Tuesday. Let me just state, he starts his nap at about 1:30 & usually wakes up around 3 - 3:30. I was shocked! The teacher said she tried waking him up around 2:30 to go potty, but he didn't wake. So, he went 3 1/2 hours at nap with NO accident!! We were so proud. :)

So, you ask why I was busy every night last week. Well, I was going to clean my house last weekend, but got pre-occupied by other things (of course they were more fun than cleaning). So, I did a little bit each night & was too tired to sit down to think of some things to write. The great thing was I didn't have too much to clean this weekend before I had some friends over on Saturday. Plus, a bonus is that I don't have much to clean for next week when we're on vacation & getting our new flooring.

So, I had some friends over on Saturday. A group of us get together every few months to hang out at one of our house, no husbands, no kids, just a chance to really catch up. We usually go out to eat, come back, put our pj's on & have a few drinks while chatting & playing some games. It was my first time to host the slumber party. We also celebrated Missy's birthday (which is next Saturday) at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Los Rancheros. Very yummy food & enough that I have lunch for tomorrow. :) We usually get together for each others birthday.

My parents had Luke for the weekend. They enjoyed it & I know he did too. He likes going to mama & papa's house because they usually spoil him. :) They were kind enough to bring him back for us today. So, I made dinner for them, my sister, & Papa Choo-Choo (my grandfather).

So, tonight Erik & I are catching up on some shows that we taped on our dvr, Luke fell asleep around 6:30 & seems to be out for the night. I'm in the process of doing laundry for the week. We have another big week as we prepare to leave for our road trip vacation next Saturday. Since we are getting new carpet laid in our bedroom, we have to clear off all surfaces & the floor of our closet. Needless to say it shouldn't take too long, but it will take time enough. I'm taking Friday off to get things ready to leave. We're kennelling the dogs in Delphi to save some money for the week. The nice thing about where we kennel them in Delphi is everything we pay for extra at our 'normal' kennel is free, extra attention & bath at the end of the week. I'm so looking forward to vacation. :)

Well, hopefully I will be better at posting this week. Hope you all had a great day & week! Until tomorrow...

I can live with that...

So, tonight I had to pick Luke up from day care because Erik had a meeting. Of course I had to go to the grocery store too, so I went to Kroger (by Luke's day care) & kept Luke at day care. Needless to say by the time I got to my car I was sweating because it was about 6:20 & I had to pick Luke up by 6:30. Got there at 6:25, so that was really good. I felt bad, but it was a lot easier to go shopping without Luke, but it was a different store & I didn't know the lay out of the store. Well, we got home & Luke wanted PB&J, banana & applesauce. Easy enough & healthy too (bonus)! Well he ate pretty much all his dinner & when he was done I asked him if he wanted to watch cartoons while I cleaned up the dishes. His response was, "I can live with that." I about came unglued, it was the funniest thing to hear coming out of a 3-year-olds mouth.

We had a big weekend! Erik's coworker came over to help Erik complete his kegerator (which, if you check out Erik's blog you'll see the finished project) & he brought his 6-year-old son. So, Luke had fun playing with him & I got a little bit of cleaning done. Not nearly as much as I wanted to, but I figured I can do a little each night & have it done by the weekend. Then, on Sunday we headed over to our friends, the Baker's. Erik & Mitch stayed at their house & played video games while Missy & I took the boys to Castleton for lunch & to let them play for an hour. Then we took them to go see a movie. After we got back to the Baker's we let the boys play some more (Luke was dying to go back to Kaiden's house so he could play with his toys). We ordered some pizza for dinner & then it was time for us to head home to get ready for today. About 10 minutes after we left Luke crashed in the car. He got enough of a power nap that he was wide awake by the time I got his pj's on. So, I let him stay up for a little bit & then it was time for bed.

Not much else is going on here. I need to get pictures off my camera & sent out. People have been asking for latest pictures of Luke. So, I'm going to get off here for the night. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Don't forget my toy!

So, I left work about 15 minutes early tonight because I had to get Luke picked up & meet our contractor, along with the carpet guy, before 5:30. Got stuck by a stop light on my way to daycare for 20 minutes, so I was running late! Went in to get Luke & he kind of threw a fit about leaving, but finally gave in. Of course he wanted me to carry him (which I didn't mind because I was running late) & when he got in his car seat I could tell something was wrong. He broke down in tears & was saying how these two boys in his class didn't like him because they were running away from him when they played outside. Well, I called Erik to see if he was going to get home in time to see Luke before his bedtime, he said he would, & that's when he informed me that our contractor was running 45 minutes behind. I'm VERY thankful for this because I was running at least 10 minutes behind & I desperately needed gas. Well, with Luke having a bad day realizing the hard life that not everyone is going to like us all the time, I decided tonight he needed a special treat, so I got him McDonald's for dinner. Needless to say he was excited! So, we get to the speaker where you order & I order him his Happy Meal & as we're pulling away from the speaker, Luke screams to the guy taking our order, "and don't forget my toy!" It was funny. When we got home I was asking him what happened at day care & he said that Dylan & Darrell kept running away from him outside & they wouldn't play with him, but when they were inside they would play with him. I was trying to teach him that if people can't be his friend all the time then they weren't really his friends, but that was ok because he had plenty of other friends that were his friends all the time. It's a hard lesson & unfortunately they learn it too quickly. It just broke my heart to see him break down like that because these boys were being mean to him.

So, we get home & I had plenty of time to do some things before our contractor came & brought the carpet guy. We are going to have a whole new house by the time we get home from vacation!! We are getting 2 holes in our walls patched up, carpet in our kitchen/dining/ living/hallway replaced with laminant, & carpet in our bedroom replaced. Seriously, a whole new house (or at least it will feel like one)! It was cute because before our contractor left Luke said, "We're getting all new flooring done for my birthday?" Which ok, we're not getting it done because it's his birthday, but it will be done in time for his birthday! :)

Not much else is going on. Didn't get to work out tonight, which I really needed to, but I figured by 8:30 (when I actually could work out) that dinner was more important. :) Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...