Rocks & Garbage

gotta love technology; even if it doesn't love me

2008-04-15T20:30:00.005-05:00

Ya ya, I know, I haven't been around. I really don't share this blog with Ang. For a while, I thought I was the "co-host". I was wrong. I am the visiting host. I am that girl lying on the couch over there. I am the chick that stops by to chat and drink coffee once a month or may pop in to cover for her when she is on vacation. I am far from the host of the show. That being said, I hope you all are doing well and I just had to share this fun experience.

I get frustrated so easily when computers just go wrong. Our computer had "issues". I took it in about 6 weeks ago and they fixed whatever dreadful disease it had for only $49.95. Great deal. I brought it back home and we plugged it back in. The printer has not worked since. I don't really care much because, well, I don't print much. I have been working on it and re-installing the printer numerous times, to no avail. I now have 5 "different" printers all "online" and ready to print my needs....except none of them work.

This is not really the point of my story... I will figure out the printer soon, or I will throw it out the friggin' window and buy a new one that my computer won't recognize either. I did have this issue the last time it was unplugged and remember I had to do quite a bit of installing and uninstalling to get the printer recognized again and set up a new port for it to use, etc- blah, blah. I thought I would give one last ditch effort and start with the plug and where we hooked it all up.

Out of pure pain and frustration googled:
"where do i plug in my fucking printer to get it to print?"

The search results came back with many, many irate individuals- just like me. These were amusing to read too, but then I looked at the top where Mr. Google proceeded to clarify my question and asked:

"Did you mean: where do i plugin my fucking printer to get it to print? "

Nice. Have a good night everyone.
Said jen

What? All My Newish Posts Have Disappeared?!?

2008-03-27T22:40:00.002-05:00

OK. I lied. I haven't posted at all. I'm certain that in my absence...babies have been born, tides have turned, blood came from turnips, etc. (What was with that turnip/blood thing?)

Anyway, we went to Arkansas to visit my parents and had a splendid time. It was sunny and nice and sunny and warm and sunny. Except for when there was rain for 2 days straight. Yeah, you heard about all the flooding there, right? Well, it didn't flood by us, it just rained for 2 days. But I didn't care BECAUSE IT WASN'T FUCKING SNOW.

I am running crazy with all the things we are doing and I seriously will get back to blogging sometime soon. I mean, give me a break. I have four kids, seventeen credits in college, and we are moving on Monday.

Holy Hell.

2008-03-14T16:27:00.005-05:00

We are leaving to take the kids down by my parents for the next week. It is a >14 hour trip and should be an excursion. I am totally looking forward to more sunshine and warmer weather than here in old frosty Wisconsin...if it's not sunny there, I may have to lay down in the woods and wait for the ants to eat me.

And the blog is back together, how about that?!? I mean, there is more moving around and color and picture changes we have to make, but the BIG stuff is done. So maybe this week I will post something...or maybe I'll just be too busy converting sunlight to Vitamin D.

Either way. LOL.

OH...AND IT IS JEN'S BIRTHDAY TODAY! WOOHOO!

What Is With All That Hammering?!?

2008-02-23T06:57:00.002-06:00

Mia from The Blog Cafe is working on our new design! It's very exciting to change, but also a little nerve-wracking...this finding a different way to present yourself.

Really, I have enough change and stress going on in my life, but this one is being handled by the professionals!

So Jen and I cannot stand our naked blog and have been staying away like it is the ugly stepsister who put her skanky feet in OUR shoes. I cannot wait to see her all extreme makeover-ed. (It's a word.)

HOW COLD IS IT?

2008-02-12T08:27:00.000-06:00

It is SO cold that when I went out to start up the car on Sunday, I broke the friggin' door handle off. From the inside.

And the other door was frozen shut.

And I was stuck inside.

And my family IGNORED my frantic horn honking.
*****************************************************

Luckily, I had my cell phone in my pocket and called inside for someone to come out and let me out of the igloo of death.

So. Done. With. Winter.

Identity Crisis

2008-02-08T17:50:00.000-06:00

Good job, Ang, for filling the void and at least getting something at the top of this blog. You definately work harder at it than I do, but .....

I miss our orange chairs......

I miss them facing this way too....

That being said...

I love the funk in this

I kind of wish I looked like her...

Most days, I know I am more of her.....

But today, I think I am just an outdated, old fuzzy, orange chair

with a mix-matched ottoman and no masthead.

At least I have an ottoman...

Said Jen (I miss my said jen too)

Trying To Distract Myself From The Fact That I Don't Have A Masthead. Or Anything Else.

2008-02-06T15:37:00.000-06:00

Dear God,

I think I must quote from an embroidered pillow that I once had that CLAIMED to be a quote of Mother Theresa's:
"I know God does not give me more than I can handle, but I just wish He wouldn't trust me so much."
I'm thinking that YOU think that we can take the constant barrage of familial health scares. I hate to question you...I mean, after all you are pretty good at the 'two cells turns into a human' thing, which is quite remarkable...but please let's just stop with polyps and masses and scary dark spots on CT scans with my family. Thanks so much for this last one turning out ok, but I think that my parents, sisters and I are going to be classically conditioned to have anxiety attacks whenever the phone rings.
Thanks for listening, and while I'm at it (being all beggy and greedy), WHAT'S WITH ALL THE SNOW?

Love,
Angie

Holy hell...we got 20 inches of snow! TWENTY!

Sheesh.

2008-01-31T08:17:00.000-06:00

Wish I would have realized this earlier, but the designers who made my masthead, "said angela/jen", and banners has LEFT THE BUILDING. Well, not really -- they formed a new business and I wasn't thinking about how that would affect me. Hopefully, I can get the images back from them to support myself...but until then, please bear with me on the missing parts.

Who's that girl?

2008-01-28T19:06:00.000-06:00

Ah, so what's new?

Jen here. I have been off for a while- well, more like a year - or 18months. Is it only children's ages we can count in months? It doesn't sound as bad if I say 18 months vs a year and a half, right?

I have no real excuses, nothing that makes up for me neglecting everyone in blog-world, saying I will be back and then never showing up. Nothing that makes up for abandoning my sister and forcing her to surf and blog alone. What kind of self-serving monster am I ??? I have no valid excuse. Nothing except the one little excuse I have been using- and will continue to use for the next 6 months, at least......

...get any staples put into YOUR head lately?

Ha - couldn't help it. I wouldn't let Ang post any photos earlier, so I figured it was time for me to show off that nice lumpy head of mine- I know, you dig the bald spot. Sorry folks...it's ALL MINE. Once I figured out why blogger won't let me post I could come back here. (took me about 6 minutes, you know) I am the queen of procrastination. I am trying to break that habit. I probably will not succeed on all fronts, but I am going to give it a whirl.

Surgery went great.

I might add more about that later, but for now: life is good, my tumor is gone, it was benign, everyone was too kind during and after, and it was the best damn brain surgery I have ever had! Here is to good days and being back to visit with you all soon-

Condo #1

2008-01-22T12:26:00.000-06:00

We've decided to slow down on the 'house building' phase of our life because...well, I selfishly want to finish what I've started with my nursing degree. Of course, I never want to get TOO excited about that because I haven't been accepted into the major yet and we won't find out until March. So let's just file that worry away somewhere in the back of my brain -- in the 'forgetting' area somewhere behind the pain of childbirth, and to the left of where I stored the real estate papers.

As long as we are playing make-believe, let's also pretend that we have a buyer for our land (because we're not rich, that's why we are selling that first. der.) OK. That's settled.

Dave and I thought that instead of renting, we should buy a condo and live there for a couple of years...until I finish school and start contributing more than the johns are paying me. (I put that in there to see if my parents are paying attention.)
So the first condo we looked at had alot of pluses: three bedrooms, in a good location, pool, underground parking. Also some minuses: other residents hate children.

Yeah, we find out (literally two days before we are going to put in an offer) that as of February 4th, this building is going 55+. I called the condo board president to confirm this information and he told me in the nicest way possible that the two items they had on the condo meeting agenda last December were both passed overwhelmingly:

become only owner-occupied
keep out the screaming brats

OK, that wasn't exactly what he said, but I sure don't want to bring my WELL-BEHAVED children where they will be scorned, fingers wagging in their faces and poisoned brownies offered to them. Boy, those old people will be sorry they made us feel unwelcome. After all, I'm a student nurse. And they're old. And I would have needed to practice my blood pressure techniques and THEY ARE GOING TO MISS OUT ON THE FREEBIES. Now the only freebie I'll offer is catheter insertion.

No One-Upping.

2008-01-21T10:14:00.000-06:00

It wasn't a great weekend. Except that my little Brett turned eleven yesterday, that was wonderful. :)

We had some money realizations, some lost plans for a home, and even the freaking Packers lost their chance for the Superbowl.

Then I read this, and yes...perhaps I am in a mood but really, we are fortunate.

Listen Boy.

2008-01-18T10:16:00.000-06:00

That Christmas, I received a card from an old friend that told of a baby on it's way. I was so jealous that I cried when I read her good news. I wanted a baby then and was upset that she was able to proclaim the news before I did. Of course, the relationship between she and I was always so competitive. Little did I know, that as I stood there with that Christmas letter in my hands, you were already present. Three weeks later, your Dad and I were thrilled to find out that you were on your way.

It took over twenty-one hours from the water breaking at home to when we saw that head full of hair emerge from my body. I was exhausted. I don't think I have ever felt that level of fatigue before in my life. But when I saw you and I saw those eyes and how much you looked like the man who was holding my hand and feeding me ice chips for the twenty-one hours (again, not that I'm counting) -- I had the largest surge of energy ever. It seemed like I could stay awake forever.

Sitting in the living room, it was so quiet. Just the sound of the trees dropping their leaves in early October, and the wind helping them to fall. I never liked to turn the light on when I woke with you to nurse. I sat in the rocking chair and fed you and loved you. Loved you more than anything, I remember thinking. When you fell asleep again, filled with milk, I quietly got up to put you (and me) back to bed. And promptly fell over a stool in the room. It was one of those slow-motion-dear-god-please-don't-let-him-hit-the-ground kind of falls. When it was over, my elbows, shin, and knees were killing me, but you never touched the floor. I felt like a football player with the winning catch. And on you slept.

These are the things I am thinking about today. We are arguing more because you are thirteen now and you think you know everything so much better than I do. Maybe you do. Maybe I need to listen to you when you DON'T say things. You are trying to show me that you are growing up and need to make your own mistakes; it is just that I want to catch you as we are both falling and I don't want you to get hurt. But sometimes you need to, I suppose.

I am trying.

Good Times!

2008-01-13T20:47:00.000-06:00

The Green Bay Packers won yesterday!
The Dallas Cowboys lost today!

What a wonderful football weekend. Ahhhhh....

Facing The Music

2008-01-10T18:12:00.000-06:00

Independent Variable

2008-01-09T11:13:00.001-06:00

This is what you like about me, right? That I can go from a lovely book review in one post to animal cracker porn in the next. Right? Right? Anyone there?

Maybe I need to get back to a constant routine more than I thought...

Where Can I Find A Small Corner Of Stillness?

2008-01-08T06:43:00.000-06:00

"...that�??s where it all begins and ends. God resides in these pockets of silence. So where in your day, where in your home, where in your mind, is there some opportunity for a moment of silence? Or maybe even a few moments, during which you can start asking the questions you need to ask in order to find what you need to learn. Can you find the time to get out of your own way and try to step into your own light? As a dear friend of mine put it: �??To change your life, the important thing is not necessarily to travel; the important thing is to SHIFT."

This is from the FAQ of Elizabeth Gilbert's webpage. If you have been under a rock only reading chemistry textbooks and figuring algebra equations like me, you may not know either. The only reason I know her book Eat, Pray, Love is because my lovely sister-in-law Lora picked my name for our family Christmas exchange. When I opened this present on Christmas Eve, there was a nice fleece vest, a restaurant giftcard, and this book. I looked at the cover, but was also busy watching the children open presents and reminding them to say thank you and making sure that nobody took that last peanut butter ball THAT HAD MY NAME ON IT. So when I was thanking Lora for the gift, I was very thankful, but I wasn't sure what the book was about because...I haven't watched Oprah in a long time (approximately one school semester, for instance) and apparently Elizabeth Gilbert's book WAS on Oprah and WAS #1 on the Times bestseller list. I'm not certain which one of those events happened first, but I would venture to guess the Oprah visit?

So like I was saying, I saw this book -- and I ALWAYS judge a book by it's cover -- and this one I would never have picked up in the bookstore (or more likely the library these days as we are broke and I have seriously decided I CANNOT enter Barnes & Noble again until I'm working). The cover looked way too much like a cookbook:

Don't get me wrong, I always love a book. I've been known to read the back of the kitchen dishwashing liquid if I'm desperate enough. It's just that this cover didn't do anything for me. But I was so thrilled to be done with school for the semester (4.0 GPA thank you very much) and so thrilled to be going to San Francisco, that I took along this cute little cookbook to read on the plane. Of course, I bought a People magazine too...just in case.

I COULD NOT PUT THIS DOWN. Her humor was what reeled me in. I could bore you with sections of the book that made me snort out loud (much to the chagrin of my fellow airline passengers), but I was doing that to my husband all the way to California. Finally, I made a deal with him: if he promised to read the book after I was done, I would stop reading these hilarious passages out of context to him...and he promised to stop telling me how much (FAKE) money he was winning while playing Texas Hold'em on my iPod.

I purposely didn't check for other reviews (blogwise or professional) on the internet before I put my feelings down here for you all. Well, because I am easily swayed (perfect juror here!) and would feel like an idiot if everyone but me hated this book -- but you cannot. You cannot hate this book. It wasn't all fru-fru (how DO you spell that?) and new age, because I hate that crap. It was very down to earth and real.

Go get this book. If you are poor like me, you can get it at the library...but this one time I would suggest that you buy your own because you will want to dog-ear pages and underline sentences. Or maybe that is the college student in me. (Did I mention I had A's in all five of my classes this semester? Oh. Yeah. I did.)

I Truly DID Leave My Heart In San Francisco.

2008-01-06T16:57:00.000-06:00

I did so love it there. I cannot wait to go back and explore more of the city and the surrounding area. And drink more wine.

Even though the weather was less than perfect, it looks as though we hit it okay - considering we were there two days following the tiger attack and four days before the storms.

I Must Have Been A Good Girl

2007-12-26T11:19:00.000-06:00

Dave & I are leaving for San Francisco tomorrow morning! And I got this for Christmas!

Enjoy the plastic ties around the toys and finishing off those last cookies and I will see you all in a few days!

I Need Your Help.

2007-12-22T10:47:00.000-06:00

In order to be accepted into the nursing program at UW-Milwaukee, I have to submit (along with grades, etc) a nursing statement. I thought that since you all are a great help and OH SO SMART, you could help me with it.

First, I will post the instructions we have received, but what it all comes down to is that we have to write a short essay on "when I felt like a minority" in my life. I could have written it about being a forty-year-old going back to school with a bunch of twenty-somethings, but I figured that may be a popular topic amongst the older crowd in my class.

Second, I will post my first draft of my statement. I've already received some feedback from two different people, but I wanted to post it and see what you all thought. A person has their own style of writing and so it is difficult to see the errors, you know?

Please critique. This is not the time to be super nice to me, I want to hear what doesn't flow correctly, what sounds too sappy, or what needs to be explained better. I also need help with basic English mistakes -- I KNOW that I have poor comma usage and need to stop using contractions.

Any feedback would be great - and if you don't feel comfortable leaving it in the comments, please email me: rocksandgarbage(at)gmail(dot)com.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

**NOTE**
If you found this page with a search engine, please don't take my paper. I mean, obviously you cannot lie about your medical history and use it directly, but don't even use parts of it. Write your own, okay? Thanks much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personal Statement Instructions:

Nurses care for people from many different backgrounds and life experiences. Select an experience when you felt you were different from the majority of the people you were with. Briefly describe the experience and explain how that experience shaped your understanding of differences and how it affects your view of the world.

Your statement will be evaluated for evidence of competencies necessary for professional nursing practice, including the ability to write accurately, clearly and efficiently; and think critically, analyze, solve problems, ability to reflect and reach appropriate conclusions.

· Your statement should be typewritten and professional in appearance. Single or double spacing is acceptable.

· One to one and a half pages.

· Be specific when answering the question. It is important that your statement explain the depth of your understanding of diversity and how your experience prepares you to work with a broad range of people and situations.

· Your statement should be well written. You may use the Writing Center or other resources to review your statement. Faculty and staff in the College of Nursing are not eligible to critique your statement.

· Be accurate in writing your narrative and experience. Having another person write your statement is considered academic misconduct and you could be in danger of dismissal from UW-Milwaukee.

Evaluation of your personal statement is done by several faculty/staff on the Undergraduate Program Committee. They read the statements without having any knowledge of your name or academic record.

Admission decisions are made using the evaluation of your personal statement and your academic record.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RN Statement:

I am different from the people that I see in my day to day world in that I know what is likely in my future. What is likely in the future of my sister and my mother. What is likely in the future of my children. It is cancer. Our family has been diagnosed with a genetic mutation for Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colon Cancer (HNPCC) and while that may define us in one way, it protects us in so many others.

I will not give up. I will fight to understand the options I have in protecting myself and my family from not only colon cancer, but the other related carcinomas that threaten us genetically. I will educate people so that they will not be surprised by a disease that is essentially 90% curable if caught early. I will raise awareness so that Americans are not so embarrassed by a symptom that they will succumb to the disease. I will continue with our family�??s fundraiser so that research into colon cancer is continually supported.

Many people are fortunate to not know what it is like to have someone close to them die from cancer. I have had many instances where a friend has asked me what to do for another when they find out about a diagnosis. They tell me that they don�??t know what to say or they don�??t know what to do or they are so uncomfortable with it all that they completely back off. I tell them that because I have felt that �??avoidance�??, that palatable �??fear�?? from others, PLEASE don�??t back off. Please send a card or make a phone call to your friend. Tell them that you don�??t know what to say. Drive them to their doctor appointment. Ask if you can get a list and do their grocery shopping. Take their children to the park for them. Give them a hug. When my preschool daughter�??s schoolmate was faced with the death of her father in a car accident, or one of our patients had to go through another round of chemotherapy, I�??ve learned that I can relate. I can give them support and guidance and love. I can help them through their difficult challenge and then they can learn to help someone else through theirs.

I have learned how to be careful in understanding that not everyone comes from my experiences. I have spent my adulthood dealing with serious illness in my family and I expect to see it happen again. The biggest question has not been �??Why us?�?? but more �??What can we do with this?�??

When my younger brother Dean was diagnosed with colon cancer, I felt very alone. The only comparison that most people could make was when their grandmother died when she was eighty-three. I know that they were simply trying to sympathize, but it was a very different feeling to have Dean die when he was only twenty-nine. He had just been married and bought his first house. He played with my children and looked forward to having his own. Watching him die from a disease that only �??old people get�?? was more than we all could take. So much so, that after his death, I dealt with it the only way I knew how: education.

I spent hours searching the internet, looking for a reason that my mother got colon cancer when she was forty-four and Dean died before he was thirty. I found it in HNPCC. Because of this research and subsequent testing, we have learned that both my sister and I are positive for this particular mutation. This information is being used to screen ourselves, but also to help other families. We are not the only people out there, but it certainly can feel that way. While my friends worried about having babies that had ten fingers and ten toes, I worried that I was passing on a fatal disease to mine. The good thing about having this information is that I�??ve now been involved in research studies at both National Institutes of Health in Maryland and MD Anderson in Houston. Both have given me the power and knowledge to protect myself and my children. My genetic mutation is there for science to pick apart and learn from. Yes, I feel alone sometimes in that I have concerns and extra medical testing that not every forty-year-old woman does, but I am in charge of it. It is not in charge of me.

Stress.

2007-12-20T15:14:00.000-06:00

Studying for ANOTHER final again today.

I just had two cans of this:

and five of these cookies:

I'm ALL ABOUT staying healthy. Heading into the new year just right.

Those Spears Girls...Let's Hope This One Can Stay Off The Drugs...

2007-12-19T11:17:00.000-06:00

My favorite (note sarcasm) quote from 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears, regarding the recent announcement OF HER PREGNANCY:

"It was a shock for both of us, so unexpected," Jamie Lynn told OK!, according to the Associated Press. "I was in complete and total shock and so was he."

Now. It's been quite awhile since I've been in high school Marriage & Family class, but they are STILL teaching that SEX = PREGNANCY, right?

"so unexpected....total shock". Whatthehellever. I'll tell you pregnancy shock.

I'm Planning On Being Sarcastic Every Day This Week. Just So You Know.

2007-12-17T17:22:00.000-06:00

No loss of stomach contents during my chemistry final and I got an A!!

Algebra is next, on Wednesday.
If you need me, I'll be reviewing this:
Sn=n/2[2a1 + (n-1)d]
and this:
(n/k)=n!/k!(n-k)!

I mean, really. How crazy are these formulas when I cannot even figure out the html or computer jargon enough to post them correctly (like with exponents and subscripts and shit).

Can't Wait For Tomorrow To Be Over.

2007-12-16T21:24:00.000-06:00

Chemistry final exam at 8 a.m.

Three-fourths of it is cumulative and the remainder is organic chemistry.

I'm going to go puke now.

All In A Day's (or two) Work. If You Are A Neurosurgeon.

2007-12-06T15:20:00.000-06:00

I just realized I never shared my photo montage of the day Jen had her brain surgery! Well, don't get your tinsel in a tangle, here we go...

October 19th, 2007:

I drove up to Appleton to sit with my brother-in-law, Dale as soon as I was finished with an exam in my algebra class. Sure my sister is important. Sure she was have BRAIN SURGERY. But I can't be so bothered as to have to take an even-harder make-up exam! duh.

Jen's surgery went well and I reported on that earlier. Considering she just had her head opened up and a tumor taken out, she looked amazing. Problem is, she made me promise not to put a picture of her post-surgical look on the blog. Bitch.

So instead, here is a picture of her husband Dale and my parents visiting her in the hour just after she became tumor-less.

So. Moving right along, I would love to tell you of my night away from home. I visited with Jen for awhile and then left to go to my motel. I had decided to stay overnight and use the time to study because I was going to meet up with my high school girlfriends in the morning anyway. And since it would have been over an hour to drive back home after the surgery, then back up again to meet them at 10 am, I figured, WHAT THE HELL. I found the cheapest place to stay in Appleton - the Excel Inn. It was clean and really, that's all that mattered to me. Oh and there were no little children running around in there. All. By. Myself. hee, hee.

I tried checking in, but my debit card took a shit. Did you know if the magnetic strip doesn't work, it's like America thinks you are dead? The manager had to (this is tough, I know) manually TYPE the numbers in. Several times. It was bad, but finally all was right with the world and my card.

The first thing I did when I got in the room?

Then...

Do you know why? (Gives me the willies just thinking about it.)

Here is the expansive, expensive view outside my MOTEL window:

Jealous much?

After all that hospital waiting around and debit card fucking around, I had to go to the little girl's room. OK, really. Who wants THIS?!? Sitting on the toilet and looking in a mirror? I had to close my eyes everytime I went wee-wee.

(And geez, what is wrong with people? I uploaded that picture to Flickr and started writing this post. In the span of 15 minutes, it had already been viewed by seven different people. Toilet fetishers.)

OK. So time to go have a Snickers bar from the vending machine. A Snickers! All to myself. Hey, have you been to a motel/hotel lately where you still have a real key? It was kind of throw-back...ahh, the days of the motel where you had a key and just anyone could pick your lock, let themselves in and kill you. (Yes, I have been accused of being overly dramatic, why do you ask?)

And then I opened my purse only to discover that all my Lifesavers fell out of the cool little tin. No fair. How unlucky. I mean, isn't that the worst thing that happened that day? Wait...Jen had her head opened. Lifesavers, not so bad.

THEN THE KICKER.

I get all settled in. My books out to study, my comfy jammies on, my Snickers bar at the ready. And the room phone rings.

Front Desk: Do you own a blue Suburban?
Me: Ummm, yeah.
FD: Well it seems that this gentleman here hit it. Can you come down?
Me: (sigh) Sure.

So I go down there and the cutest man in the world and his wife are all verklempt about hitting my car. He was backing up and just didn't see it. They were the sweetest couple and all he did was apologize. I said thank you for not just taking off, and he was all, "I could never do THAT" and I was all "Well, people sometimes do, you know".

He and his wife are missionaries and he is a pastor from northern Wisconsin and he was on his way to a conference. He apologized for the tenth time and I said that since my sister had brain surgery, I was not at all concerned about a little dent in my car. And he took my hand and said a very heartfelt prayer for both my mother and my sister and I felt like we were supposed to meet. It was all very comforting.

And the cop was super nice too!

Let's see...what else happened that night. OH YEAH! I did homework!

Or not. (C'mon! Law & Order was on!)

So the next day, I went to see my girlfriends. We met up and had pedicures and then went to Hu Hot for lunch. Oh my, I love that food!

Then bid 'Adieu' and went to see my sister. Who, again, made me promise not to show her unwashed hair on the Internet. So instead...here is a picture of Dale, his sister Rhonda, and her husband Hector. (I think that my camera lens WAS NOT SMUDGED, but that is a picture of the Holy Spirit coming through the window to bless us all).

And because I promised not to show Jen's cutup head or no makeup face, here you go:
Thumb's Up = Good Brain Surgery Outcome

Virgin Sacks

2007-12-03T15:36:00.000-06:00

I bought these after much searching online for JUST THE RIGHT REUSABLE GROCERY BAG. I highly recommend them...big enough, sturdy enough, cheap enough. Those would be my three requirements of life, in every realm.

The first time I used them and I was all, this is a good thing.

And the next two times in the grocery store, I forgot them in the car. And I was too fucking lazy to go back to get them, so if when the Earth dies...it's my fault.