Minnesota "Nice", Down and Dirty

Hi!

I'm just going to pretend that I haven't had a significan hiatus again, and just get to it!

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So, what the heck is wrong with that brother-in-law of Jennifer Hudson??  I know, I know, "innocent until proven guilty", but seriously...this guy's story has so many holes in it, it looks like swiss cheese!  Or, rather, the bodies of the people he riddled with bullets.  Friggen jerk. 

Here's what I know about it: 

*JH's brother, mom and nephew are all dead.

*He's (Balfour) the main suspect.

*Balfour's also the husband of the mother of the boy killed.  And, the son-in-law and brother-in-law of the other two. 

*His MOTHER proclaims his innocence, because he "has alibis that night". He was with 2 of his 3 girlfriends at various times that night.  Yes. His mother is keenly aware of his wife and THREE girlfriends.  And knew that this was where he was that night. 

*Today, I read that Balfour apparently killed in a (oh, get this...) JEALOUS RAGE, because he thought his wife was seeing another man.  WHAT in THE HELL??  Dude, you have 3 girlfriends. 

And, then, why would you kill an innocent child, and two other completely uninvolved people?  Not that you should shoot your wife either, but at least that would make more sense! 

Seriously, you just have to read the article to feel my rage towards this complete moron.  http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/03/hudson.bail/index.html

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Onto happier topics!  I am now an official Facebook junkie.  After having "found" several old, and many times missing, friends, I'm just having a blast catching back up with them!  FB is so easy to do that on too, because you don't have to be too clever or wordy, like on here.  Okay, fine...I'm rarely clever, but always wordy on here! 

One friend I "found" is Niki! You know...Niki!  No, you don't know Niki, because I hadn't seen her in, oh...27 years or something cwazy like that.  Nor had my parents talked to hers, since the advent of the internet had not yet arrived when they lost touch. 

Anyhoo, the Nikster was one of my very first friends in the world.  When I was born, I lived in Stillwater, Minnesota, and it was there that my dad (gosh, I sure miss my dad *sniff*) and Niki's dad were in Barbershoppers together.  She was only 4 months younger than me, and one of her brothers, Jamie, was 3 months younger than my brother.  So, needless to say, we really liked hanging out with them.  Plus, they had cool toys to play with.  So, Niki was my very first BFF! 

Poor Niki was yanked from my beloved, warm and noodly arms at age 6, when she moved to California, or some crap like that.  Then *I* was yanked from, well, nobody I guess, and we moved to Iowa (methinks she got the long end of the stick on that one!).  We visited them once when they moved BACK to MN a couple years later, and they visited us once in Iowa.  After that, which I believe was in maybe 1981, nada. Nothing.  Maybe Christmas cards with my mom, but since my mom hasn't done that in years, that probably also stopped sometime in the late 80's.

Over the years I've often wondered about them, and even tried the internet stalking route a few times over the years.  The closest I ever came, was once I found a newsletter or something that either said that her parents *donated* to some cause, or what it seemed more likely to me, someone donated IN THEIR HONOR!! In other words, that they had both died.  So, I was all sad, and even tried to reach out to the business that had posted the newsletter, but nobody got back to me.

I was in total shock when I found Niki's name on FB, and was just hope hope hoping that it was the same one!  I wrote to her, thinking maybe she would think I was nuts.  But, knowing her as well as I did at age 6, I just knew she'd be happy to find me too. I WAS RIGHT!  YEA!! 

So, now we have caught up, and now we're buddies.  And, now I really want to be real-life buddies with her.  But, alas, she lives in Rhode Island with her hubby and 4 (FOUR? Who would do that??) homeschooled kids.  And, I was SO happy to hear that her parents are very much alive and well!!!  And, living just a town over from Nik.  They have even called and talked to my mom, which my mom was really thrilled about too.  I only wish my dad and Joel could have had an encore Barbershop performance, if only on the phone. *sniff* again. :-(

Oh, how much I love this thing we call technology!  I know it can be a pain in the butt, but man...you can just really enrich your life so much if you use it well.  And, no, I'm not talking about internet porn!  Sheesh!

I think my next post will be on who I have found on FB.  It's just been a miracle of sorts! 

Happy day, all.

I Thought This Was Cute!

Dear Tech Support,

I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 un-installed many other valuable programs, such as
- Romance 95 and
- Personal Attention 6.5

and then installed undesirable programs such as
- NHL 4.1, NFL 3.0 and MLB 5.0.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind,
- Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while
- Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.HTML and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.

If that application works as designed, Husband1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. However, remember, overuse of the above applications can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.

Please note that Beer 6. 1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck!

Tech Support

Blast from the Past!

So, today I have been rummaging through a bunch of pictures, getting ready for a garage sale.  And, I found a TON of pictures from my past!  I would be happy to post ones of other people too (classic Stan and Mike pictures, for sure), but only had a moment to post these.  You see, I am very self deprecating.  Anything for a good laugh!  My kids LOVED these.

(Age 7...my grandma was making me get my picture taken, and I was never one to want to do what my grandma wanted!)

(Age 8 1/2...THE Brownie outfit that got peed on in the back of Mrs. O'Donnell's truck!)

(4th Grade: We had to dress up to go to Living History Farms. This was my best friend, Kim and me...we were SO excited!  It was very hot that day though, and I passed out in the blacksmith shop. FUN!)

(Summer of 1981...almost 9 years old. Those pants fit GREAT, and look even better with the rollerskates!  I was HIP!)

(1981--Our whole Yankee team. Not everyone was talented enough to play with rollerskates on!) ;-)

(This picture, from 6th grade band, is just too priceless for words!  There's Kim right next to me, and a plethora of degenerate band members, who belonged there just as much as I did!)

(This is the absolute worst Christmas "gift" I was ever given.  And, my mom wouldn't let me tell my grandma that I hated it.  And she *made me wear it*.  I was never the same again... 1982)

THE END! All for now!

Who's Your Susie?

I got this from my friend, Stacy.  No, she's not my Susie.  But, she's a good friend! 

WET PANTS

Come with me to a third grade classroom..... There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened.  It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.

The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, 'Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat.'

He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap.

The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie.

She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You've done enough, you klutz!'

Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, 'You did that on purpose, didn't you?' Susie whispers back, 'I wet my pants once too.'
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Okay, the only reason I posted this was to tell you about my own pants-wetting experience.  I mean, with all this political and financial junk going on, we need a little comic-relief, right?  Some of you have heard this many times before.  It's a great story.

Late Spring. 1980. 2nd grade. Norwalk, Iowa:

Little Susie (that would be me), was on a little outing with her Brownie troop.  They went to the *very famous* (at least for that age bracket, and in that region) after-school TV show, "The Floppy Show" at WHO-TV 13 in Des Moines.  Downtown Des Moines is only about a 20 minute drive from Norwalk, so it was a pretty easy commute.  Imagine 7 or 8, 7-and 8-year-old girls sitting in the bed of a pick-up truck in their poop brown Brownie costumes, singing "There's something in my pocket that belongs across my face" for the entire 20-minute drive there.  Something like that, anyway!

We were SO excited, and had no idea what was in store for us!  We only knew that we MUST have a joke prepared to tell Floppy, if indeed we had the guts to go up in front of the camera (and inevitably all school-aged children in the WORLD--we thought) and tell said joke to Floppy.  I don't think everyone had the guts from my Brownie troop, but I did (surprise, surprise).  In fact, I could barely sleep the night before, in the anticipation of being SO dynamic in my joke-telling, that I would soon be discovered and have my own show!  And, I didn't even do the ever-popular "Why did the man put the car in the oven" joke.  I asked my (very mature) older brother for joke advice.  "Why did the old man drink Coke? Because 'Coke adds life!'"  Bwah-hahaha!  Okay, you don't remember that slogan from 1980?  That's your problem then. It was a damn good joke.  My dreams of becoming famous after that momentous occasion was not realized, however, but there is still time for me.

Anyhoo, I digress. After the (amazing, spectacular, life-altering) show, we were afforded a bevy of treats!  I don't remember exactly what we got, other than the bottle of Mountain Dew.  Remember, back in "the day" when soda was packaged in those tall, glass bottles?  Yep, we each got one of those.  We were so cool. Soon after guzzling down my entire bottle of 'Dew, we were shuffled back to the truck, and herded into the back like cattle, once again.  I think everyone else still had their bottle of Dew, at least partially full, but hey. I was thirsty.  Mine was waaay gone by then. 

Our troop leader was Mrs. O'Donnell, who was not only our last pick as Brownie leader (nobody else's  mom wanted the glorious job, I guess?), but also very obese and very selfish in her obesity.  About 10 minutes into the 20 minute ride home, she decided that she (yes, only SHE) needed something from DQ.  At that moment, I realized that if I insisted on downing the entire bottle of Dew, that I probably should have visited the 'little girl's room' before hopping into the truck.  Of course, I probably didn't have time, as Mrs. O. was likely already on a DQ mission and forcing us into the back of the truck with a cattle prod. 

That being said, I knew I could make it home...but, alas!  I could just go in at the DQ!  As we sit in the (very long, very slow) line, I knocked at the back window.  Ignore.  I knocked at it again...I *really* had to go.  Finally, Mrs. O. slid open the window angrily (she must have been desperate for that Peanut Buster Parfait, and she's had to wait SO long!), and snipped at me to stop knocking.  I said, "Can I please hop out of the truck and use the bathroom?  I REALLY have to go!".  "No. We'll be back soon. You can wait!".

I crossed my legs.  I stuck my foot into my crotch to keep the pee in.  I squirmed.  And finally...I couldn't wait any longer.  During our little Brownie conversation (thankfully NOT about how much I had to pee), I had to just let it go.  And go.  And go.  Just then, the truck started back towards Norwalk.  When we turned corners, pee went to the side of the truck, eliciting squeals of "Ewwww!!!", and again when we'd go uphill.  Or downhill. Then, my "Susie", my bff Kim, said, "Sue, didn't you just spill your Mountain Dew?", trying to save my *ss from ridicule. It was so sweet of her!

But, alas, I was too honest, and MAD, that I said, "NO, I PEED, BECAUSE STUPID MRS O'DONNELL WOULDN'T LET ME USE THE BATHROOM AT DQ!!".  Nobody ever made fun of me, and nobody ever forgave Mrs. O.  It could have been any one of us, we knew that. We were 7 or 8, and not too far away from having been potty-trained.  Mrs. O. hadn't seen the last of us!

Needless to say, I easily recovered from the incident, and even laugh about it, mostly because of the pee sliding all over the back of the pickup truck!  That was pretty funny.  And, seriously...Mrs. O. never "led" our troop again, after that year.  All our moms were so mad at her, that it was over for Mrs. O., the queen-sized Dairy Queen lover. 

I kinda hope she choked on a ham sandwich.

Dumb Quiz, That We All Love to Read, but Not Do

My 1st baby:

A different kind of survey for a change - it's all about you and your first baby.

1. Were you married at the time?  Yes

2. What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant?  A bit shocked.  I was way young, and newly married...and on the pill (for the most part, but I'd forgotten a few, I guess!).

3. How old were you?   24

4. How did you find out you were pregnant? Went to the doctor, because I wasn't feeling well...for a few weeks.  Thought I had a stomach bug.

5. Who did you tell first? Tim (my hubby at the time) I didn't tell anyone else til I was so sick that I had to take off work.

6. Did you want to find out the sex?  yes

7. Due date?  August 5th

8. Did you deliver early or late?   Early...she was born June 20 (6 1/2 wks early)

9. Did you have morning sickness  Horrible all-day...was on IVs and had a pump in my leg for anti-nausea meds.  Awful, awful, awful.  Lost 25 pounds in the first 10 weeks.

10. What did you crave?  Not puking is what I craved!  Then, once I could eat, it was marshmallow Peeps!

11. Who irritated you the most?  Nobody, really. Maybe my MIL and SIL at the time, because of their unsolicited advice

12. What was your first child's Sex?  Girl

13. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy?  Zero, but I gained most of that lost 25 pounds back by the time I had her

14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? .Yep, hyperemesis gravidarum (AKA constant puking, til it nearly kills you), and then had major bleeding mid-way through (some kind of hemotoma...benign), and finally pre-term labor.

15. Where did you give birth?  Fairview Southdale (Edina, MN)

16. How many hours were you in labor? Do you count the pre-term part?  If so, 3 weeks.  If not, 4 hours

17. Who drove you to the hospital?  My dad dropped Tim and I off.  They happened to be up celebrating Father's Day and my birthday (which was in a few days), so it worked out great!

18. Who watched?  Tim, and the medical staff

19. Was it natural or c-section? Natural (and you know the real question is "vaginal"

20. Did you take medicine to ease the pain?  I didn't want to, but they made me, JUST before Sam was born, because her heart rate had risen pretty high.  50/50 hindsight, I should have refused it, because she would have been fine. Argh.

21. How much did your child weigh?  5 pounds 14 oz

22. What did you name him/her? Samantha Kimberly

23. How old is your first born today? 11!

I Absolutely Got Tears In My Eyes

So, today I was blessed by the good lord god almighty, himself. Or herself.  Whatever.  Anyway, I was on my way to a brain MRI (that isn't the good part--keep reading!), and GUESS WHAT I HEARD ON THE RADIO as I was pulling in?? 

My. Man. Simon. Is. Being. Resurrected. As. Someone. Else. 

YIPPEEEEEEE!

This was confirmed in an email this morning. 

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SimonDelivers to reopen as CobornsDelivers in October

New ownership combines 2008 Grocer of The Year with best grocery delivery service.

We're thrilled to announce that St. Cloud-based grocery retailer, Coborn's Incorporated, has acquired and will reopen SimonDelivers as CobornsDelivers beginning in October. This means that the Twin Cities' best grocery delivery service will soon be back in business and better than ever, combining SimonDelivers' unbeatable service with Coborn's reputation for outstanding freshness and value. The Minnesota Grocers Association last month named Coborn's Minnesota's 2008 Grocer of the Year.

As a former SimonDelivers customer, you will be able to easily reactivate your account and access your past order history. You can expect the same flexible, convenient delivery service, and the same fast, easy online shopping experience with CobornsDelivers.

Better prices. Better selection. Same exceptional service.

"With rising gas and grocery prices, shoppers can save a lot of time and money by using CobornsDelivers," said Coborn's president and CEO, Chris Coborn. "We're bringing our grocery store right to your door. It's a tremendous value for the growing number of customers demanding the convenience and savings of one-click shopping."

Coborn added, "Our goal is to provide Twin Cities area customers with the best online grocery experience in the country. That means exceptional customer service, top quality groceries, and lower prices."

About Coborn's

Coborn's Inc. owns and operates 34 Coborn's and Cash Wise Foods grocery stores in the upper Midwest. Coborn's, Inc. is employee owned, has been in business for 87 years, and currently employs 6,000 workers in six states.

Coborn's attributes its remarkable success to four guiding principles: customer service, freshness, value and community involvement. In addition to recognition as Minnesota's 2008 Grocer of The Year, the company has earned a reputation for outstanding community caring, donating more than $2 million and thousands of volunteer hours each year to the communities it serves.

Watch your email for more news about our reopening!

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Do I even need to tell you how freakin' excited I am??  I'm sure not.  But, to illustrate the point, the inside of my refrigerator is nearly bare.  There is a little milk, and some yogurt and cheese, and that's about it.  Oh yeah, and soda.  I've pretty much refused to grocery shop.  The kids can siphen crumbs off the floor until Coborns is up and running.  I'm not kidding. It's only October. They'll survive!

Okay, So Again, Not From Me So Much, But...

My mom has the problem of sending me a bunch of crap via email.  Sorry, mom, but you really do (and you know it!).  I do not care about angels, how to save gas fumes for charity, or how many hugs I can get virtually.  Most of what she shares with me (unsolicited, mind you) are the things that Snopes always dispels, once I look into it further.  She obviously never does this ahead of time, prior to sending to everybody in her address book.  Naughty mommy.

HOWEVER...today, she actually sent me something worthwhile, and timely.  Here ya go.

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WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago. Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote. The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive.

Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.' (Lucy Burns) They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. (Dora Lewis) They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. (Alice Paul) When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because- -why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining? Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder. All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.' HBO released the movie on video and DVD .

I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'

Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote. History is being made.

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So, rather than send this to all of you via email and possibly annoy the hell out of you, I figured I would post it here so you can just ignore it if you want, and I'll save a blade server's hard drive from working over-time.

And, I was totally grossed out by the worms in the food.  I. hate. worms.

My Psychosis--A Birthday Treat!

I am so pathetic.  I am sitting here munching on potato chips and french onion dip, lovin' life.  There is plenty of GOOD food, just footsteps away, begging to be eaten.  But, Kevin is out of town for the day, so my brain says, "Hey, eat the good junk before Dad gets home!".  Not because Kevin gets on me about what I eat, but I suppose I have it engrained in me that I can only eat whatever I want when my parents aren't home (or in this case, if anyone isn't home!).  HA!  Isn't that so dumb?? 

Well, that isn't the only thing.  I also still feel like I'm totally doing something wrong when I have a drink!  I suppose I spent too many years as a minor, drinking with my friends, that I also became adept at keeping my eyes out for "the fuzz", or anyone's parents who might turn us in if they found us.  As if I even still have to sneak off somewhere, or put lime vodka and Mountain Dew in a squirt bottle while we walk around the mall.  I mean, we have a bar in our HOUSE now, for crying out loud!  We have a keg on TAP!  Oh yeah, and by the way...

I'm THIRTY-FREAKIN'-SIX!  And, I do believe it has been well documented that I even look thirty-freakin'-six now, certainly not the 21 that we all hold on to for sooooo long!  Yes, another day, another dollar.  Another year, another birthday.  I *still* love my birthday!  I love to feel good on "my day". I love to be showered with emails, cards and yes, flowers, cake and gifts. I like to be taken out and pampered.  I like to be told not to do the dishes or cook, and have my hubby iron my pants for me. 

The day started out kinda shaky, with Tyler's daycare lady "firing" him, since he is apparently not easy money like the preschool aged children.  Don't even get me started on it.  The child I deem as one of the easiest children I have ever dealt with, has apparently had his first experience being kicked out as the "bad boy".  Not the child who bit him twice, mind you.  Nope.  Whatever, apparently I will have to tell Tyler to bite the other kid back a few times for good measure before he is done there.  I wish it were that easy to convince a 13-month-old!

The day did improve later on, once I had gotten over the shock and disappointment.  Then, I happily said buh-bye to the kids and the sitter, and headed off on the Harley with Kevin, wearing my absolute sluttiest Harley top.  It was a bit chilly though in the threads I was wearing, and I ended up having to put another shirt and 2 jackets over it! ha ha!!  Ah well.  We ended up being pretty spontaneous, riding about an hour away to Red Wing, and stopping off at the casino there.  We had a lot of fun!  It's nice doing that every once in a while! 

I am, however, still awaiting my birthday gift.  He is not getting off the hook on this one! Heck, I'd even take an eyelash curler at this point, as long as he meant it!  (My birthday was Monday). ;-)  Here's *HIS* birthday gift, so he'd better buck up!

My new contact information! Urgent!

Okay, so I have started a new job AND moved, all in the last 30 days or so.  I know I'm opening myself up to all sorts of crazy people sending me things, but perhaps my spam filter will do me well if I post my new work email address.

If you send me an email, I will send you my new physical address as well as my new mobile number.  My office number and home number remain the same, as does my Yahoo email address. 

susan.petterson@gartner.com

It is important that I hear from a few of you, as I have some important information to get you, and I don't have your contact info either (because it was on my old PC or Blackberry, which I had to send back, and the hard drive I used to store it on is in a box somewhere!).

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So, yeah, it's been a bit crazy!  I started my new job on March 31st, and have been doing a bunch of training, including last week in Florida, and 3 weeks ago in Las Vegas.  Then, we moved into our new house on the weekend of April 18th.  Not much time for blogging, but oh, so much material!  I really need to get back on that horse and ride, let me tell you.

For example, as we sift through our budget list and timeline (complete with prioritizing), and Kevin somehow figures out a way to finagle a #4 (out of 5) and something not even on the list up to a #2 (and they arrive on Wednesday).  Somehow, my frequent trips to Bed Bath & Beyond and Target now seem to be acceptable!  I highly recommend this whole tit-for-tat method for others.  I still think he's more tit and  I'm leaning more towards tat, but a few more trips for accessorizing our new abode and I might just be caught up.  Or, maybe I just get that sweet Margaritaville frozen concoction maker and call it even!  Naw, even that won't equal up to Kevin's new toys. 

Three guesses as to what those two toys are!  Let's get re-engaged on this blog thing...

Not Much Goin' On

So, here I sit, at Damon's wrestling practice. Does he have a wrestling aptitude? Yep. Except for the part where he gets distracted when they demonstrate a new move. He has fun though. Next up: track and baseball. I was a little surprised that he has decided that he "wants to play every sport ever made", and I must say that's cool since Sam has little interest. She's more the singer, dancer, band girl. Kierstyn is into gymnastics. Fine with me! I like that they are all into different stuff!
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Speaking of Kierstyn, things are finally settling down as far as the custody thing goes. Looks like she won't be going to school here, with her siblings, but we DO get her for 75 percent of all her free/fun time. Great news as far as bonding and keeping up awesome relationships with all of us. My greatest hope, however, is that her mom chooses to move here eventually, so it can be a much more shared situation. My older two have benefited hugely from Tim's and my shared arrangement, and I know it would be best for Kierstyn too. The custody team certainly believes so. Anyway, just a little update there. I'm anxious for this to be settled, at least for a while!!
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We've been searching high and low to find either a house or a lot to build our dream house. Man, what a hard task! We're pretty happy with one in particular, so I'm hoping it all works out there. I love the location, and we'd be building something uber-cool. Keep your fingers crossed!!
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So, I got a new job!!! It's just such a tremendous opportunity. It came at a great time, and will be a great career move for me. I start in a few weeks, as I gave my beloved current company a month to transition all my accounts rather warmly. Man, I can't wait though! I think my first learning experience will be at the Gartner symposium in Las Vegas in April, so if anyone will be there, I'd love to hook up!
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Why do some people have like 50 antennas on their vehicle?? "Crazy antenna man" is what I call the men I see in such vehicles (it's never women, for some reason). You've seen them though, right? What on earth could they be for? Tracking tornadoes (in the middle of a big city??)? Or, merely to get people to look at them in wonder. These are the former band geek wannabes. Not the actual band geeks, but the ones who really wanted to be a band geek, but just couldn't quite cut the muster. Poor guy, now has a collection of antennas, and probably is married to the crazy cat lady (dang, their house *stinks*!), and their kids are ruthlessly teased about their mom-sheared bowl-cuts, hand-stitched clothing, their collection of doilies, and Tupperware lunch boxes (had one!). Poor kids never even had a chance. Except for brother Benji, who was born with unusually large biceps, and is captain of the football team. His father's pride and joy. Oh, and his dad is a travelling salesman, and often is out of town during his high school football games, and thus...
Needs all those antennas on his truck to catch each and every game.

Mystery solved!