I thought I'd get the call about my prize details, but didn't. They said "about a week" last Saturday. Hopefully soon!
I bought three new bras. Why does the color of bras get more boring as size goes up? The A and B cups...cute colors. C and D cups? Not so much. I ended up with a beige, brown and a black one. This problem is compouded by the fact that I hate lined bras. The extra padding just doesn't make me feel as "secure" and they take up too much room in storage. And measuring you for bra size is ridiculous, because all bras fit so differently. I tried on the same size bras from the same manufacturers, just different styles. Only one fit. The other two I needed in TWO different sizes. Grr.
I was hoping to get some projects done yesterday around the house. I did get mums planted, but otherwise it was just "keeping up" stuff. I baked blueberry muffins, watered my very dry flower beds and lawn, swept floors, washed rugs, did dishes and laundry. We did watch a movie (Couples Retreat), too, so perhaps that's why I didn't get what I wanted done.
This weekend we have Friday and Monday off work. Thursday night we are going to MIL's and coming back Saturday late afternoon. Sunday in the afternoon we have a party 1.5 hours away at a friend's house. I haven't seen her in years, so I'm making the time to go. Monday is my project day. I WILL get above my kitchen cabinets dusted/degreased/decat-fured.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
More good news and Italy
More good news! Our bathroom estimate came in at MUCH less than we thought. I was a little depressed that we'd have to spend almost $3000 of our winnings on it. It came in at $1200 plus the cost of tile. Woohoo!
We've just extended our Italy trip by a few days. The tentative plan is to do two nights in Siena, three nights in Lucca (countryside, on a winery in rustic lodging...maybe this one), then hit the coastal five hillside cities in Cinque Terre for a few days. After that, it's off to my preconference in Prato and then down to Rome for the actual conference for a week. When we are in Prato we'll visit Florence. Not sure if We'll hit the other major tourist cities such as Venice and Pisa. Don't want to cram too much in and make it stressful.
I've never been to Europe, so this is exciting!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
We won $10,000. No really, we did.
For those of you on FB, or those of you who want a little more info, here it is.
So we did this Cannon Run thing this summer for the first time. http://www.cannonrunroute66.com/ Kind of this poker run thing. I talked about what a great summer it's been, traveling around Wisconsin (and a little of Illinois) in this blog previously. Well, it all paid off. Today was the "end of season" party where all the winners are drawn. We sat through two hours of cash drawings and other stuff (trophies for best campsite, best bike, etc.). At the start of the two hours, they drew four tickets, and held those as the four grand prize winners (two first grand prize, two second grand prize). So they announced the two first grand prize winners, and we packed up our camp chairs. It was almost time to go. Two numbers left.
XXXX.
Chris nodded along as they called the number. They called my name. Holy.sh!t.
We won $10,000 towards a motorcycle purchase OR $8,000 cash with $2,000 donated to a charity of our choice. No sh!t.
I ran along the crowd, getting high fives as I went up to the stage. Had Chris and our friend not been in shock, we might have photos. But, thanks to the new camera, you have an after shot.
We just got back from our local bar, where we bought everyone a round. We have about $5K in a home repair to do (see last few posts) and Chris's ticket to Italy to buy. Woot! This is amazing.
We have a week to sort out all the details. I'm hoping to donate the $2,000 to a worthy Susan G. Komen 3 Day walker who needs it (*coughbreezyorhersistercough*) but I'm not entirely sure how it works out. Stay tuned until next week for that.
In other news, perhaps I need a crotch purse, as pictured here:
Now, dance with me. Seriously, we've never won anything between the two of us worth mentioning. This feels amazing.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Camera
After deciding we didn't need to buy a new dishwasher (although we haven't actually installed the new handle yet. Worst case scenario, we call the Maytag store to send help and pay for an hour of labor), we took the new camera plunge.
We had a really old Sony Cybershot that was ok quality for the time, but technology quickly advanced. I can borrow the nice work camera for fancier stuff, if needed, so we needed a new pocket sized point and shoot. We have no brand loyalty, just wanted good photo quality in enlarged photos, ability to zoom in as much as possible, long battery life, etc. I liked the idea of supporting a U.S. company, though wasn't 100% committed to that.
We ended up with the Kodak M580. Kind of cool "easyshare" features that will let you skip a few steps to upload directly to Facebook, etc. Should arrive tomorrow or Saturday, so my bloggy and FB friends will be regaled with many photos in the near future.
We had a really old Sony Cybershot that was ok quality for the time, but technology quickly advanced. I can borrow the nice work camera for fancier stuff, if needed, so we needed a new pocket sized point and shoot. We have no brand loyalty, just wanted good photo quality in enlarged photos, ability to zoom in as much as possible, long battery life, etc. I liked the idea of supporting a U.S. company, though wasn't 100% committed to that.
We ended up with the Kodak M580. Kind of cool "easyshare" features that will let you skip a few steps to upload directly to Facebook, etc. Should arrive tomorrow or Saturday, so my bloggy and FB friends will be regaled with many photos in the near future.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Things that suck
- Spending money on home repairs
- Sugarland's remake of "Life in a Northern Town"
- Having to work when there's so much to do at home that's more fun
- Getting a $100 ticket for running a red light during our visit to Chicago for the 3 Day (came in the mail...apparently I did not notice the "no right turn on red" sign at the intersection and it was caught on camera. Guess I missed that as I was trying to navigate an unknown area of Chicago during rush hour. Grr.)
- Husband's that know you asked a question, but for whatever reason, don't answer you.
What sucks in your life right now?
Friday, August 13, 2010
3 Day
What a great 3 Day! It was the best weather yet! Doing it with great friends who had just survived breast cancer in the last 12 months was emotional. It was August, 2009 she was officially diagnosed.
Thursday: Crew Day
Mark and Chris had to attend Crew Day to train for their crew jobs, so we went to Chicago on Thursday. Melanie and I did exciting things like buy her a water bottle, sit at Panera and eat snacks (I was good and had a low fat muffie), and found a LUSH at the mall. Woohoo! We filled up on a few goodies for Monday pampering. She is one of those people I've turned into a LUSH cult member.
We tried to go to Lou Malnatti's for pizza, but didn't realize the locations nearest the hotel were only carryout. Boo! Wish their GPS location name would've been labeled "Lou Malnatti's Carryout." Ended up just swinging into a bbq joint that was very average.
Friday: Day 1 (22 miles)
The boys had to be out the hotel door at 4 a.m. at the latest to set up hydration for opening ceremonies. We arrived around 5:30 a.m. We got our picture taken with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, all dressed in pink, and wrote our "hopes for the weekend" on a wall. Manning the wall was our Komen pit stop Staffer from Boston in 2008. We said our hellos. I saw a few other familiar crew members from past Chicago walks, including the lady that made us mad last year by giving us wrong luggage drop instructions. :-)
The boys got to stand with us at opening ceremony. I think it was pretty emotional for everyone. The walk route was great-same as last year (and MUCH better than the first year with Boo-that route sucked). It was fun knowing what to expect.
Mr. January, one of the 60 mile men http://www.60milemen.org/ (and the guy who runs the calender), had lunch with us. He's from Michigan and had done some training walks with Breezy's group. We also walked a bit together and it was nice to hear his experiences walking different cities and doing the calendar.
We were able to tell the boys when we expected to clock in at the day's finish line via phone. They were waiting to cheer us in. That was very cool! They had our tents and bedding set up, which is such a treat, if you've ever walked 20ish miles then had to set up camp (*looks at Breezy and Boo).
Melanie and I had matching side-0f-heel blisters on day one. We ate our dinner of steak, potatoes, salad, rolls and apple pie, showered (new shower trucks which at least had a private changing area this time!), dressed our blisters and listened to 3 Day idol. Breezy-the "Wanted dead or alive" soldier guy was there again and did it! He was great. He has a song online that is being sold on iTunes to raise money for the 3 Day: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/soldier-in-pink-single/id354879325. You can also find him on You Tube doing a performance at 3 Day camp (I think we missed this last year, Breezy!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbQYLkRLGXA
Saturday: Day 2 (20 miles)
My favorite day of the Chicago 3 Day! We walk through some great communities, but Mount Prospect takes the cake. It's the one where officers wear pink shirts, they have extra officers out for photo ops, the Fire Dept. is in pink welcoming us, community members sit in the yard and have "3 Day parties" (one had a sno cone machine for us this year!), they raise money, have a squad car with pink letters, and then travel into Chicago to "surprise" us at the end of a pedestrian tunnel on Day 3! The even come to camp and visit with us Saturday night. The hot officer did a tent rolling demo and it was nice. :-)
A few new blisters on Saturday, but they were pretty minor. We both had our heel blisters drained in medical at lunch (you can barf now) and Melanie was sad she didn't get a picture to scrapbook of that event.
That afternoon we got to see Frodis and co.! They got to the cheering station right when we did. Perfecto! The kiddos are growing! We dined on fruit and sat for a bit. Lauren sang Lady Antebellum for me (*snort*) and Jeff inhaled grapes. I said to Melanie after we left, "See, my online friends aren't weirdos." She completely agreed and said Fro was "very normal." LOL! Good thing she didn't meet Carey first, huh? :-) Thank you so much for coming out and bringing treats, Fro!!!
We called the boys and asked them to bring our flip flops to the "finish line" for Day 2. The tents are a long ways away. We were about .5 miles from the finish and we see them driving along the road in their Mule (like a gator utility vehicle), delivering water to route safety. Great-flip flops early! Not for me, though. Chris couldn't find mine that he'd stuck in the Mule earlier! We feared they'd fallen out. Boohiss!
That night we relaxed around camp more. Some Candy Coburn singer (official "spokescelebrity" for Susan G. Komen) performed that night and then there was a dance party. We opted to hang with the boys for a bit and go to bed.
Sunday: Day 3 (18 miles)
We were lucky to have cloud cover all morning, because the temps were soaring towards the 90s. Breezy-everyone was talking about how hot that part of the route was last year! Right before lunch it started to rain. We had a wet lunch and I developed two new pinky toe blisters (I think I was compensating for my heel blisters by putting weight more on my toes). This meant I'd be hobbling the second half of the day. It was still rainy and windy after lunch, but with about six miles to go, it cleared up and got SUPER HOT!
We listened to Lollapalooza in the background that afternoon and headed to the finish line again at Soldier Field, where lots of family and "3 Day alumni" were there cheering us on. Our boys, along with hundreds of crew and walkers were cheering people into the holding area, and my tears started. It was emotional. I think a few trickled also when we cheered the last walkers in. Melanie opted NOT to walk into closing with the survivors. She a) didn't want to put on the pink long sleeved tshirt and b) didn't want to be the center of attention and c) wanted to be by me. It was still very emotional.
If you want a peak at what a 3 Day closing looks like from above, here's a clip from last year (Breezy and I are somewhere to the middle left in that part!): http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=6956095
The boys had an amazing time crewing. If the 3 Day comes to a city near you-CREW! It costs you only the registration fee of $90 (let me know if you want a half off discount code...I'll let you know when I get one in my email) and you'll have an amazing weekend! You'll run low on sleep, but you can get assignments that match your desired activity level (e.g., can't lift? You might check people in and out, man the "info" table, etc.). Can't do the three days? You can be a volunteer! They are often done in shorter stints (e.g., Volunteers take over crew duties at noon on Sunday, so the crew can fully be part of closing ceremonies). Can't do any of those things? Get out to a cheering station...Frodis will tell you what a rewarding experience that can be from the spectator standpoint.
Thanks for all the support through the years. You all are so special. Now go give yourself a self-exam and if applicable, make sure you are current on your mammogram schedule!
Thursday: Crew Day
Mark and Chris had to attend Crew Day to train for their crew jobs, so we went to Chicago on Thursday. Melanie and I did exciting things like buy her a water bottle, sit at Panera and eat snacks (I was good and had a low fat muffie), and found a LUSH at the mall. Woohoo! We filled up on a few goodies for Monday pampering. She is one of those people I've turned into a LUSH cult member.
We tried to go to Lou Malnatti's for pizza, but didn't realize the locations nearest the hotel were only carryout. Boo! Wish their GPS location name would've been labeled "Lou Malnatti's Carryout." Ended up just swinging into a bbq joint that was very average.
Friday: Day 1 (22 miles)
The boys had to be out the hotel door at 4 a.m. at the latest to set up hydration for opening ceremonies. We arrived around 5:30 a.m. We got our picture taken with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, all dressed in pink, and wrote our "hopes for the weekend" on a wall. Manning the wall was our Komen pit stop Staffer from Boston in 2008. We said our hellos. I saw a few other familiar crew members from past Chicago walks, including the lady that made us mad last year by giving us wrong luggage drop instructions. :-)
The boys got to stand with us at opening ceremony. I think it was pretty emotional for everyone. The walk route was great-same as last year (and MUCH better than the first year with Boo-that route sucked). It was fun knowing what to expect.
Mr. January, one of the 60 mile men http://www.60milemen.org/ (and the guy who runs the calender), had lunch with us. He's from Michigan and had done some training walks with Breezy's group. We also walked a bit together and it was nice to hear his experiences walking different cities and doing the calendar.
We were able to tell the boys when we expected to clock in at the day's finish line via phone. They were waiting to cheer us in. That was very cool! They had our tents and bedding set up, which is such a treat, if you've ever walked 20ish miles then had to set up camp (*looks at Breezy and Boo).
Melanie and I had matching side-0f-heel blisters on day one. We ate our dinner of steak, potatoes, salad, rolls and apple pie, showered (new shower trucks which at least had a private changing area this time!), dressed our blisters and listened to 3 Day idol. Breezy-the "Wanted dead or alive" soldier guy was there again and did it! He was great. He has a song online that is being sold on iTunes to raise money for the 3 Day: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/soldier-in-pink-single/id354879325. You can also find him on You Tube doing a performance at 3 Day camp (I think we missed this last year, Breezy!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbQYLkRLGXA
Saturday: Day 2 (20 miles)
My favorite day of the Chicago 3 Day! We walk through some great communities, but Mount Prospect takes the cake. It's the one where officers wear pink shirts, they have extra officers out for photo ops, the Fire Dept. is in pink welcoming us, community members sit in the yard and have "3 Day parties" (one had a sno cone machine for us this year!), they raise money, have a squad car with pink letters, and then travel into Chicago to "surprise" us at the end of a pedestrian tunnel on Day 3! The even come to camp and visit with us Saturday night. The hot officer did a tent rolling demo and it was nice. :-)
A few new blisters on Saturday, but they were pretty minor. We both had our heel blisters drained in medical at lunch (you can barf now) and Melanie was sad she didn't get a picture to scrapbook of that event.
That afternoon we got to see Frodis and co.! They got to the cheering station right when we did. Perfecto! The kiddos are growing! We dined on fruit and sat for a bit. Lauren sang Lady Antebellum for me (*snort*) and Jeff inhaled grapes. I said to Melanie after we left, "See, my online friends aren't weirdos." She completely agreed and said Fro was "very normal." LOL! Good thing she didn't meet Carey first, huh? :-) Thank you so much for coming out and bringing treats, Fro!!!
We called the boys and asked them to bring our flip flops to the "finish line" for Day 2. The tents are a long ways away. We were about .5 miles from the finish and we see them driving along the road in their Mule (like a gator utility vehicle), delivering water to route safety. Great-flip flops early! Not for me, though. Chris couldn't find mine that he'd stuck in the Mule earlier! We feared they'd fallen out. Boohiss!
That night we relaxed around camp more. Some Candy Coburn singer (official "spokescelebrity" for Susan G. Komen) performed that night and then there was a dance party. We opted to hang with the boys for a bit and go to bed.
Sunday: Day 3 (18 miles)
We were lucky to have cloud cover all morning, because the temps were soaring towards the 90s. Breezy-everyone was talking about how hot that part of the route was last year! Right before lunch it started to rain. We had a wet lunch and I developed two new pinky toe blisters (I think I was compensating for my heel blisters by putting weight more on my toes). This meant I'd be hobbling the second half of the day. It was still rainy and windy after lunch, but with about six miles to go, it cleared up and got SUPER HOT!
We listened to Lollapalooza in the background that afternoon and headed to the finish line again at Soldier Field, where lots of family and "3 Day alumni" were there cheering us on. Our boys, along with hundreds of crew and walkers were cheering people into the holding area, and my tears started. It was emotional. I think a few trickled also when we cheered the last walkers in. Melanie opted NOT to walk into closing with the survivors. She a) didn't want to put on the pink long sleeved tshirt and b) didn't want to be the center of attention and c) wanted to be by me. It was still very emotional.
If you want a peak at what a 3 Day closing looks like from above, here's a clip from last year (Breezy and I are somewhere to the middle left in that part!): http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=6956095
The boys had an amazing time crewing. If the 3 Day comes to a city near you-CREW! It costs you only the registration fee of $90 (let me know if you want a half off discount code...I'll let you know when I get one in my email) and you'll have an amazing weekend! You'll run low on sleep, but you can get assignments that match your desired activity level (e.g., can't lift? You might check people in and out, man the "info" table, etc.). Can't do the three days? You can be a volunteer! They are often done in shorter stints (e.g., Volunteers take over crew duties at noon on Sunday, so the crew can fully be part of closing ceremonies). Can't do any of those things? Get out to a cheering station...Frodis will tell you what a rewarding experience that can be from the spectator standpoint.
Thanks for all the support through the years. You all are so special. Now go give yourself a self-exam and if applicable, make sure you are current on your mammogram schedule!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
OTCC
Hm. I have three options for OTCC for Sept. 10th:
-Grilled chicken with homemade balsamic bbq sauce
-Cold orzo pasta salad with grilled veggies (vegetarian dish)
-Grilled chicken or pork sate
What sounds best to YOU? Which one would you want to make?
-Grilled chicken with homemade balsamic bbq sauce
-Cold orzo pasta salad with grilled veggies (vegetarian dish)
-Grilled chicken or pork sate
What sounds best to YOU? Which one would you want to make?
Monday, August 02, 2010
The busy weekend that wasn't so busy
We had two invitations for the weekend: my 15 year class reunion and a group camping trip. We chose neither.
Looking at the photos on Facebook of my class reunion, can't say I have any regrets. There are some people I'd enjoy seeing, but I couldn't rationalize a whole day of small talk with those I don't really care to spend time with. The "event" was a family picnic. Me not being a big kid person, wasn't too excited about that. In the evening, there was an informal gathering at a local bar. Haven't heard how that went.
Instead, we took Friday off (a furlough day for Chris) and went to Galena, IL. It was a nice little road trip. Lots of cute stores. A "charming" little town. Their new brewpub, which wasn't supposed to be open yet, had just opened the day before. It's like they KNEW we were coming. Unfortunately they only had two beers on tap and they weren't that good.
Saturday we went boating with Chris's brother and had a really good time. It was perfect weather.
Sunday we had lots to do at home. I made some refrigerator pickles (even though I dislike pickles, generally), froze carrots, made Karchita's OTCC recipe, did lots of laundry, did the weed trimming, swept the patio and packed for the 3 Day. Oh, we also watched Madagascar 2. Made me giggle.
So, I guess it was busy, but there was also a lot of relaxing.
Looking at the photos on Facebook of my class reunion, can't say I have any regrets. There are some people I'd enjoy seeing, but I couldn't rationalize a whole day of small talk with those I don't really care to spend time with. The "event" was a family picnic. Me not being a big kid person, wasn't too excited about that. In the evening, there was an informal gathering at a local bar. Haven't heard how that went.
Instead, we took Friday off (a furlough day for Chris) and went to Galena, IL. It was a nice little road trip. Lots of cute stores. A "charming" little town. Their new brewpub, which wasn't supposed to be open yet, had just opened the day before. It's like they KNEW we were coming. Unfortunately they only had two beers on tap and they weren't that good.
Saturday we went boating with Chris's brother and had a really good time. It was perfect weather.
Sunday we had lots to do at home. I made some refrigerator pickles (even though I dislike pickles, generally), froze carrots, made Karchita's OTCC recipe, did lots of laundry, did the weed trimming, swept the patio and packed for the 3 Day. Oh, we also watched Madagascar 2. Made me giggle.
So, I guess it was busy, but there was also a lot of relaxing.
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