Halloween Recap

First of all - on Oct 30 the electric company had Christmas decorations out!!!

In years past when the boys went trick-or-treating, I would let the boys have 2 pieces a day and week by week I would throw hand fulls of candy away until it was gone. Well Jeremy forbid me to throw any candy away this year. I asked him what about the yucky candy, he informed me that he would be he judge of "yucky" candy. Well surprising this year the boys got a lot of good candy.

Cody did not dress up he just hung out with friends & did some trick-or-treating w/out costume. Brayden was a ninja. His hair lady informed him that ninjas were quiet - I think she doubted that the could fully play the part!

I guess this is the funniest adult costume.

Best adult costume.

Boy at Bray's school that is in a wheel chair was a racecar & driver.

End result.

Not So Deceptively Delicious

Thursday - Watch Jessica Seinfeld on Oprah talking about her new cookbook Deceptively Delicious. See recipes and kids eat some of the food & love the food.

Friday - Buy cook book, go through cookbook & pick out recipes to try. Jeremy informs not to make anything like this for him but I decide that I will anyway one day & be deceptive about it.

Monday - Puree and try the mac & cheese with the Lettermans. Like the taste but has a fluffy texture like mashed potatoes. Mac & cheese made with cauliflower. Kids like it but say that it's different. Not so deceptive. Somewhat delicious.

Tuesday - Try the pizzas. Pizzas made with spinach. Definitely not deceptive. But kids like it and can't even tell that there is spinach in the pizza. So definitely delicious.

Wednesday - Try mashed potatoes. Made with the cauliflower (more suited after trying mac & cheese) and sweet potatoes. Kids see that the mashed potatoes are orange. I try to tell them that it is for Halloween. Taste good. Delicious but not deceptive.

Sometime in the future - will try scrambled eggs made with cauliflower, pancakes with sweet potatoes, eggs with spinach and chicken nuggets with broccoli or spinach.

I can see clearly now

Really I can. I had LASIK last Friday. It was not the most pleasant experience of my life but I guess it was worth it. It did not help that I had to hear everyone's war stories before hand. Mostly stories of how great it was and how happy everyone is with the outcome. But I did hear from Danton how it felt like knives in his eyes. And Jeremy shared with me all the bad stories that he could think of, because if he had any more he would definitely tell me.

I was awake for the procedure but I did get a Valium. The surgeon explained that there would be a little suction feel and then I would look at the the laser for 30 seconds and done! Well the "little" suction felt like my eye was getting sucked out of my socket. The only part that hurt was the device that they use to keep your eye lids open. On the 2nd eye the Doc pinched my eye lid with the device. I squirmed and he fixed it. But the worse part was that the Valium made me VERY emotional and between the suction and the pinch, I kind of lost it. I could not stop crying. They had to pause the procedure so I could gain my composure. The doctor kept apologizing and saying how I was so little. Which really meant that I have squinty eyes but he did not say that. THEN when it was all said & done my eyes felt really heavy and sticky so I did not want to open them. So I pretty much kept them closed until I woke up 3 hours later.

On my way out the doctor informed me that I was supposed to wear these plastic lenses ALL day & every night for the next week. AND I cannot wear any eye make up of a week. Which does not sound that bad but eye make up is the most important for me - remember squinty eyes!

But the good news is that I see great now. The doctor was actually surprised about how well I could see so soon after. They thought that I was going to need an enhancement surgery. But so far I don't think that will be necessary.

I keep feeling like I need to take my contacts out, but I don't & I can see!!!

This Weekend

This weekend I went to Chicago. Last year I was going there at least once a month. And then Jeremy & I bought homes here in Missouri so we spent every weekend focusing on the homes. So I had not been to Chicago from February to August. The boys and I went there in August & I was back 3 weekends ago & last weekend. We have our homes listed with realtors now & I will be back on my schedule of going to Chicago once a month - I think.

Friday night Jeremy & I went to the Melting Pot. A place that is fun but not our favorite place to go. This is our second time there and we are starting to get the hang of it. We get this couples dinner that comes with cheese fondue, dinner and salad. We've done different dinners each time and different chesses.

With the cheese you get breads, veggies and apples.

For dinner we had duck, pork, chicken, shrimp, and steak. You can batter the food then cook it or just cook it in the oil and put different sauces on in. Jeremy liked to batter everything first.

For just the 2 of us we were there for 2 hours. It's a full night. But pretty fun. I want to go back with a group and just do cheese & chocolate. We are always too full at the end to do the chocolate.

We also went to see The Heartbreak Kid. It was pretty funny. But we did not like the end at all.

Saturday I went to Jeremy's hair lady to get a hair cut. My hair lady is retiring so I am looking anyway. This was a good time to try someone new. My hair looks really long in this photo. I just had more layers put in & she cut like 1 inch but and inch and the layers made a big difference to me but not to anyone else. So I'll spare you the picture.

Tomorrow I will tell you about our airport drama.

South Beach

The only day that we made it to the beach was our first day there. It rained most of the day but cleared up late afternoon. So Jeremy & I headed down to the beach & planned to eat dinner somewhere on South Beach. South Beach was not too impressive. Now granted that this was Monday in September, but it was dirty & kind of like being in an old Mexican village. The water was nice but too cold & windy to swim so not really easy to appreciate the ocean. But I think that this is a very nice picture of Jeremy & I :)

Most of the menus in Miami include a lot of Bass, Conch & dolphin. They don't even call it Mahi Mahi - which I don't even know if Mahi Mahi is different from dolphin but all the menus said dolphin. Anyway we went to eat at this pretty popular place called Monty's. It was pretty cool. Very big, but of course dead the night we went there. There was a pool outside right in the middle of the tables. Jeremy had oysters!

I did not. But I have had them before, for him & I don't think that I need to do it again. They had live music and this lady sang. She did a really good job. We were very impressed. The first song she did was Rehab. And I'm not sure who sings that song but she has a lower sultry voice. Well she also sang Sexy Back. And her spin on it was pretty good. Jeremy thought it sounded better coming from a woman in a sexy voice than from JT, but he's a guy so I guess he would think it's better!

So not that we didn't like Miami, it was ok. We are glad that we went there but no need to go back. Which was very disappointing for Jeremy because he had hoped to retire there someday. Now he needs to find a new place to retire to. Have you ever been to Miami? If so did you like it?

New Dos

Brayden & I both got highlights. He got his yesterday & I got mine a couple of weeks ago. Mine are red but not that red - very subtle - which is what I wanted.

Cody is not getting highlights because he is on a new money system where he is financially responsible for most of his things. Well he lost someone's trombone, so he is in a bit of a financial crunch these days.

He did get tackled pretty good last night at the football game. He had a fumble recovery & got slammed by a kid that hit him up by the shoulders & it jerked his neck. He is fine but a very brutal tackle.

Yesterday I left for an appointment in Springfield, about 45 minutes away & when I got about 20 minutes from my house on the 2 lane road that I hate, I realized that I was wearing flip flops with my dress clothes. I had to load several things in the car so I put flip flops on so I would not kill myself in heels. So I had to turn back around & change shoes. I was late to my appointment, and they could not wait. Bad morning!

Oh, I'm wearing my glasses because I am having LASIK in 2 1/2 weeks so I have to be out of contacts until then :(

Alligator Hunter

Wednesday of our trip to Miami was NOT a very fun day for me. I decided to go to the Everglade National Forrest. I drove approximately 1 hour from the hotel - got lost for about 1 hour - then drove back to the hotel area for another hour. When I found the Everglades, it was pouring down rain. So I decided to head back to the hotel and go to the mall. I ate lunch at the mall and then found something to purchase at Lady Foot Locker. When I went to pay, I realized that I left not only my debit card at the hotel in another purse but also my ID. Who needed yoga pants anyway. I was so disappointed by the day, I went back to the hotel & watched my soaps.

Wednesday night, I joined Jeremy & his co workers for dinner and after dinner drinks. We had a good time and all of his co workers were very nice.

Thursday was our departure day from Miami. And of course that was the only sunny day of our trip. So I went out the the Everglades again. And I am happy that I did. It was very hot thought - around 90. I went to this area that has a path through a swamp where wild life is just all over & there are no fences or barriers between you and the wild life. Apparently there are alligators on the road pretty regularly. The Forrest worker told me to just walk on the opposite side of the road if I saw one. I was pretty excited & scared at the same time. I did not see one on the road but I did spot this one like 5 feet from me in the water. I was on the trail by myself & I kept hearing all these animal noises and water splatters. It was starting to really freak me out, so I turned to go back & that is when I saw these eyes. I stood there for almost 15 minutes just staring at this thing & taking pictures. I kept debating if I should try to stir this thing, but I decided against it. I did move around a bit to see if it would move, but it didn't seem to interested in me.

This is the only other thing that I saw - a turtle - can't really see it in this picture. Oh, I saw lots of fish too.

The Miami Dade airport really has much to be desired. But it did have these cool fish designs on the wall.

Friday I went to see The Jane Austen Book Club. That was the first time that I have gone to see a movie by myself. Jeremy worked 1/2 day. It wasn't so bad except when I laughed I had no one to share the laugh with. But I liked the movie a lot.

Go Speed Racer

So, another thing that I don't like about this place is the 2 lane road that I have travel on regularly for 20 miles or more. Not just because it is a 2 lane road but because it is a BUSY 2 lane road. Where everyone going my direction goes 50 on a 60 and EVERYONE is going the opposite direction. Usually I go 8-10 miles over the limit and today I was able to pass 2 people going 60!! I usually do not get road rage but this road could give me road rage. Cody pointed out to me that I passed 12 people one Sunday on the way to church! Hey I was just happy that I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to pass those people.




Brayden started Cub Scouts this year & he had his first Den meeting tonight. We went on a hike. And he really enjoyed it and think that we were both a little surprised by that. I think he takes after me, he is not really too much of the "outdoors" type.


Today I was able to watch Dancing with the Stars for the first time this season. I love Marie Osmond on there. But what was really surprising was Jennie Garth from 90210. Who did not love that show? Ian was on Dancing last season (I think). Well he did a really good job and looked pretty good too. Jennie on the other hand wow! She has really aged. Her face looks thin and wrinkled but her body looks not so thin. I thought I was the only one aging!

Work is going really good. August was the best month of my career. Well September was just as good. I thought that October was going to be back down in the dumps and I was a little concerned. But today was probably one of the best days that I have had in this career. I made an appointment with someone that I have been working with for over 6 months. Then I made 2 other appointments and got about 8 referrals. It's amazing how fast things can change in this industry! I love my job!

Blog Revitalized

I came home this morning from a week trip that included 2 destinations - Miami & Chicago.

Jeremy & I went to see Into the Wild yesterday. We both LOVED the movie. I had two inspirations from that movie. First of all I am going to tell you about my trip working backward - so today's post will be from the end of my trip & I'll work to the first day. 2nd, I started to think that maybe I could journal more in my blog & be more insightful about my thoughts and feelings vs just actions of the day. But I'm not sure that I can be that honest in such an open forum and I'm not sure that the people that I blog about would like me to be that honest about them. So I am working on that idea a bit.

My bff Holly came to pick me up from the airport today. We had lunch & caught up on the week's events. And then I went to mow 3 of the houses. When I got home I realized that I left my phone charger at Jeremy's house, totally bummed about that!

The best part of the day was about 10 minutes ago when the boys came home. I missed the boys like crazy. I am so happy to be home with them. I was explaining to Holly that I love this place and hate this place all at the same time. I love it because it is home but I just want to be home with my boys where ever that might be. I do not like Missouri or this area at least & I don't like the memories or the drama that come from this place either. So I do not look forward to coming here except to be "home" with my boys and back to normalcy, which I need in my life.

I'm also very happy that my shows are back on. I'm watching Housewives today & that is the only show that I've been able to watch all week. Traveling is much more fun when it doesn't interfere with my life...

Back to so called reality

For Labor Day weekend, I went to Oklahoma City to visit. I stayed with Mr T but also had a chance to see some friends and my other cousins, Ryan & Katie.

One of the many memorable moments of the weekend was when Mr T and I went to the grocery store. All of a sudden this Asian lady walks up to our cart, looks in & picks up a bag of new Pringles. In her broken English she tries to ask what the chips are, if they are good and where in the store we got them. So I tell her that we don't know about the taste because they are new (which by the way, they are good) and we tell her where to find them. THEN she proceeds to look through our cart & tell Mr T that the bag of lettuce he bought was too expensive and there was lettuce for $1.99. So Mr T goes over to get the cheaper lettuce as this lady continues to look at EVERYTHING else in the cart!! Mr T & I just walk away laughing & the lady finally walks away herself.

Vaca - the final chapter

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this or not, but we celebrated Brayden's 7th birthday in Oregon. He wanted a cookie but I could not find a big cookie so he got a cake that he did not eat any of.

On way home the pilot let the boys in the front of the plane. Cody flipped some switches & Bray got to make an announcement on the PA system announcing that he was pilot Brayden welcoming them on flight. Very cool.

Boys on farris wheel at Navy Pier.

Once back in Chicago, we decided to hang out a couple more days. Jeremy worked, again so I took the boys to Navy Pier. We had a good time (again a lot of walking). And the boys got to experience Buffalo Joe's, yummmmmm!

Vacation Part II

I'm so behind on blogging. But I did want to share some more pictures. And there will be more to come from our vacation. Most of these pics came from my phone because I left the charger to my camera at home and the battery died before we even got to Oregon.

One of the most exciting days during our trip was Brayden's birthday. We went whale watching and saw a Grey Whale but then we went further out and saw several Hump Back Whales that were migrating either to or from Hawaii. It was very cool. They were huge & the captain of our boat was so excited that he chased them to keep seeing them. All of those pics are on a disposable camera that has not been developed yet.

Jeremy was supposed to be "helping" the boys with a sand castle, but he got pretty into it himself. This was one of the only times that he was able to build a sand castle in his life.

Doing some kite flying.

We did some walking on the beach & this was the closest full crab that we could find.

Cody is on the right getting his kite ready. He almost gave up but he & Jeremy kept working on it & finally got it going. Then Cody loved it. Brayden is on the left doing cart wheels. Just enjoying the beach.

It's hard work flying a kite. As you can see, Brayden was really working hard. He did let go of it a couple of times & I lost it once. We had to go running down the beach after the kite.

I am in OKC right now for the weekend. I'm sure I will have things to blog about next week. But here is a quick review of other things going on.

The boys started school over a week ago. Cody is in football. He has practice every day until 6:15. This is the most physical activity he has ever had to do but he is finally adjusting to it. Bray is in the 1st grade and he is anxious to start flag football. He wants to join Cub Scouts too. They are in Indiana again this weekend. And more blogging next week (I hope).

Vacation Part One

The first part of vacation, the boys and I left home and drove to Chicago. The drive there was not too bad minus the fact that I had just gotten my iPhone the night before and could not get it activated until the morning we left. So I spent the drive trying to drive and play with my phone. I had to appologize to the boys a couple of times for hitting the rumble strips and almost running someone off the road.

We spent most of the weekend in Chicago Cody got sick and threw up a couple of times. He was got dehydrated from shopping (shopping?) yeah I wore him out running around Chicago. The picture below was taken while shopping before I wore him out. We did a lot of walking.

By Sunday he felt better so we headed downtown to the Sears Tower. I learned a lot of cool info about the Sears Tower. The observation deck is on the 103 floor.

I also let the boys do some swimming in Jeremy's pool/hot tub. Jeremy had to work and do some family things during the day. We went to dinner in the evening and left for Oregon Sunday night.

Props to Katie

My friend KATIE finds the funniest stuff for you to "transform" your face into.

I haven't watched the Simpsons since I was a kid but hey I'll jump on the Simpson bandwagon. So, I've been Simpsonized. It's a stretch but what can you expect.

Star Spangled Banner

Courtesy of JibJab

iPhone

So we are back from a great vacation & I will be posting pics of vacation soon. You can see a great one of Brayden on my cousins blog: http://www.ryanandkatie.blogspot.com/

But before we went on vacation (the night before) I got a new iPhone. I love it and I hate it. Here are the reasons I love it:
1. It's cool
2. I like the touch screen
3. LOVE the internet on it
4. Like the ipod feature
5. Pictures look great on it

Here are the reasons that I don't:
1. Not navigation friendly - AT ALL
2. Can't use Bloothtooth for anything but a head set (no beaming either)
3. Was not compatible with my sim card so could not transfer numbers (can't beam them either)
4. Can't get ring tones or pictures sent to me
5. Can't buy ring tones
6. Can't copy & paste
7. Can't text message multiple people
8. When you do text message it keeps the conversation all together & you can't start a new one or keep part - you keep all or none
9. Still having a hard time typing with the touch screen
10. No speed dial, just favorites and you still have to scroll through those if you have more than 5 or so

So although the phone is cool - there are several things that I don't like about it but the things that I do out weigh the others right now. But there's some tips for those of you interested in it.

R&R

I'm off to the Oregon coast for some R&R for a week. But for now I leave you with a pic of my mom with a zucchini that I grew in my garden. More posts & pics when I return.

It's harder than it looks

So, several weeks ago I blogged about the NETI POT that was shown on Oprah.

Well, I purchased my very own Neti Pot to try out for myself. I went to the health food store & asked for one, surprisingly they had several. I asked the lady if she knew that it was on Oprah & she said yes. I asked her if they ever sold any before it was on Oprah & she responded that they sold very few & once it was on Oprah they sold so many that they could not get them in fast enough. Amazing what Oprah can do for a product.

Brayden & I both had some allergies bothering our sinuses. I did it on him first. It was fine, he did really well with it. I'm not sure how much it helped him, but he said that it helped. Then when I did it on me, I poured in one nostril & nothing came out the other side. But I started to feel all this pressure in my head & feel like I was snorting water. Still nothing came out the other side. So I removed the Neti Pot & all the water came out the same nostril. So apparently if you are too congested, it does not work.

But a couple of days later as I started to drain, I tried it again, and here is the picture (if I look like the blood it kind of running to my head it's because the blood is kind of running to my head). The lady on Oprah looked a lot better doing it! I'm not sure if it helped yet or not. I need to try it again because I can tell that my sinuses are acting up again, but I really did not notice any improvement the first try.

Another visit from the tooth fairy

Brayden lost his first front tooth. This is his 3rd tooth total, but each one is still a totally cool experience. The tooth fairy brings him a dollar & 2 quarters. The quarters are important because he has decided to save any quarter that he gets so he can see how much money that he can save - which makes this financial planning mommy very happy!

Mysteries Revealed

I guess now that The Suitor and I have been dating off and on for awhile now, he is no longer concerned about his identity being revealed. So I will now be posting pictures of The Suitor & calling him J for simplicity sake.

Two weeks ago, I went to one of my houses in Ozark & noticed that the air vent was pushed up and sitting on the floor next to it. I was a bit puzzled and thought to myself, "self, how did that happen, weird, the air must be really forceful." I popped it back in & thought nothing else of it. I sat down & called J. After being on the phone with J a couple of minutes I heard some kind of noise in the house. I immediately remembered the vent & said, "I think something is in the house!" So I looked in one room & saw that the vent was pushed up. I went to the other room & saw all was ok. I came to the bathroom, snuck around the corner to look in, saw a fluffy tail & went screaming my head off into the living room! Now J was on the phone the whole time. Long story short. I could still hear the mystery animal in the bathroom for a couple of seconds. But after sitting on the table for 30 minutes, not hearing anymore noise, calling 911, talking to the police, and then calling a critter control company I managed to go back to the bathroom & slam the door shut.

Well apparently Animal Control only takes care of dogs & they don't work on weekends. Critter Control only works during the week & charge a fortune & the police won't do anything about it.

So, I leave, but J insists that I go back & do I don't know what to this animal but make sure it does not damage the bathroom. So I take Mr.T to do it...

Mr. T preparing to enter & see what awaits him behind the bathroom door.

Mr. T checking out the bathroom & coming up with nothing but a clue...

The escape path. Thank goodness my bff's husband works for the conservation department & they handle wild animals. So the next day he went by the house to check in the crawls space to see what it was, and as he opened the door to the crawl space there stood a SKUNK!!!! How on earth had there been a skunk under the house and in the house & it never sprayed who knows & who cares. Better yet why did it not spray when it heard me screaming for my life? Who knows but thank goodness it didn't

Another agent in the area that handles skunks set some traps. He has caught 2 babies so far & he thinks that the mom got squished in the street a couple of days ago. Let's hope. I will keep you updated. Especially since he left the traps for me to "take care of" this week. But here are some pics of J searching the house again to make sure none were in there & then pics of one of the babies in the trap.

Getting cocky now! But I bugged him & bugged him to get close for a picture.

Reunion

Some of my readers are family members that do not access the family web site so I am posting some news for you here:

Many of you inquired about additional shirts. If we order more than 12 the shirts will be $8. Less than 12 the shirts will be $10-$15. Let us know if you want one & then depending on the amount of orders we will let you know the .

I have the group photos on the family web site but if you would like them another way please let me know.

Sorry for not family that have to read this.

We DO see color here

As many of you know, I am adopted. This is my 2nd cousin Mia, she is not adopted. Well this weekend was the start of our by biannual Winn Family Reunion & Mia stayed with me. Along with Edward, Mr. T and OBD. One day Cody (yes, Cody NOT Brayden - I have had to clarify this multiple times) asked Mia if she was Korean. Mia replied, "no I am Mexican." Cody says, "oh, well all I knew is that you weren't white." We had a good laugh.

More reunion news to come.

Lazy Weekend

I seriously had one of THE most lazy weekends ever. Saturday it rained a lot here, like many other days recently. So, I slept in, ate, took a nap, ate, took another nap & finally got up some where around 5 PM. 5 PM - that's crazy - I seriously could not believe it.

Then I went to Springfield to El Chico & one of the servers there had a seizure. It freaked me out. She had it in the kitchen so luckily we did not actually see it. But she screamed & I thought she either saw a rodent or cut herself. I really did not want it to be a rodent & I really did not want to see any blood. They called the EMT & they said she seemed to be ok by the time it was all said & done. Pretty crazy but thank goodness she was ok. Then I went to see Blades of Glory. Pretty goofy but better than I thought it would be.

Sunday I sat in a house all afternoon & did not have a single person visit my open house on that nice rainy afternoon.

But on a random side note, there are so many movies out that I want to see so here is a list of them: The movie with Mandy Moore & Robin Williams where he is doing the premarital counseling, Ratatouille, Transformers, and Fantastic 4 - don't know when I'll get them all in but that's my list. What good movie have you seen recently - what will be the next movie that you see?

Oh, and today I bought some fireworks from a friend that sells them wholesale - I got a TON of fireworks including a huge package of the big ones, some big cakes & other stuff for around 60% off. Most of them will be used at the family reunion next week - so the fam is in for a treat.

Update

I have not been "inspired" to post lately so here are some random things going on in my life since the last time I posted.

1. The suitor came and spent a week here a couple of weeks ago. It was nice but it rained most of the time that he was here & that stunk.
2. We had VBS this past week at church. It was good. I did hear a good joke (twice) that was funny - There was this old man that loved his money so much that as he got old, he went to the bank & took all his money out, put it in a suit case & stuck it in the attic above his bed. He said this was so he could grab it on the way up to heaven. Well one day the man died & the wife sent someone up to the attic to look for the suit case & sure enough it was still there. The wife said, "I knew it, he should have put it in the basement!" Ha, Ha - VBS was about heavenly treasure.
3. I have seen Shrek 3, Spiderman 3 & Knocked Up recently. I will see Ocean's 13 & 300 this weekend (300 is still on the cheap theater here). Knocked Up I thought was pretty funny!
4. Work is still good, a good time in the market for me.
5. Had someone almost buy one of the houses but we could not agree on price.
6. I have put a for sale by owner sign in my yard. May move to Ozark we will see what happens.
7. Putting final touches on things for the reunion.
8. Helped my cousin find a house to move here & helping them with jobs.
9. Boys are with Shannon this next week in Indiana. I've already cried missing them.
10.My veggie garden is coming along & I actually was a success in having roses this year. But not a success at getting pictures of them yet.

Are you Emo?

I had my first experience with one of my children saying a slang word that I did not know what it meant. Cody was telling me about a girl that is Emo.

I've seen kids like this at the mall. I did not know that is the name for them. I am so happy that I learned this. You learn something new every day.