Not Mine!

A little meme while I wait for my pot roast to cook. This is borrowed from Dawn. She's my Florida friend and Disney connection.


1. When did you last sleep in a bed outside your home?
the second week of November for 5 nights at my work retreat. I had to change rooms mid trip due to lack of heat in my first hotel room. Brrrr.

2. When did you last drive someone else’s car?
See answer #1. I drove a black Pontiac G6, courtesy of Enterprise. I actually drive rental cars often for work.

3. When did you last cook in someone else’s kitchen?
A week ago. My sister, Mom, and I had a Christmas treat extravaganza at Mom's.

4. When did you last care for children who aren’t yours?
My nephew, Riley, spent the night last Friday. I saw therapy kids on this past Friday morning.

5. When did you last do someone else’s job?
About three weeks ago, my friend and coworker, Christy, was home with a sick baby, so I drove over an hour to do a training she had scheduled. It did not go well. She owes me big. :)

I'ts Christmastime!

And time for another blog post. I really have no idea why my blogging mojo has become so sporadic in the last year. I read tons of other people's blogs every single day, yet completely abandon my own. Weird. I'm not even going to promise more regular posts, so you can be surprised and delighted if I get back into the swing of blogging.

First, the updates:

Greg really likes his job and his boss, which is a huge relief. What a difference to actually be told he's doing a great job and to be appreciated by his boss. Working outside in winter isn't so great, but getting to work from our house and set his own schedule is pretty nice. He's much happier in this position.

Carson is doing well in kindergarten and had a fantastic check-up at the eye doctor in Springfield 4 weeks ago. His eye movement has improved by 30%, which is a huge change. We love Dr. Pierce! Carson informed us at dinner last week that his job in Heaven will be to pack a lunch for Jesus each day, then guard his garden from monkeys, walruses, and penguins. Jesus does not eat out.

I am still scrapbooking, playing Bunco, working at SEMO, and saving the world, one dysfunctional family situation at a time. I love my work, and boy does it give me some stories to tell!

I've already attended 4 Christmas parties and have 6 to go. Have a great Friday and a Merry Weekend!

Mum's the Word

I had the strangest experience today. I decided to stop by the university greenhouse and pick up some mums as decorations for Carson's party next weekend. I took my time perusing the long aisles of brightly colored mums, thinking someone would be out to help me transport the giant pots to my van and write a ticket for me to pay inside. After nearly giving up and preparing to go inside to get someone to help me, I came across a woman, kneeling on the weed mat, working with a hose. I was still several feet away from her, when I asked if she would mind helping me with some flowers. She looked at me, put her head down, and continued her work. I tried again, asking if there was someone else who could help me. She again made eye contact, and said, "I water," then returned to her work. I decided to try one last time and asked her, "Is anyone else here?" She jumped up from her work, marched over to me and shouted, "I water! You yourself!" At this point I realized that she was an Asian student and determined that something was obviously getting lost in translation. I turned and quickly walked away, loaded my flowers, and went inside to find another worker. When I walked back outside, a lady with a thick Southern accent had arrived and was speaking to the Asian girl in a thick drawl, saying, " Sugar, could you fetch me some chrysanthemums?" The Asian girl hopped up, said, "Sure, " and fetched the woman's flowers. Weird. Even weirder is that tomorrow I'm going to work with a child who speaks only Chinese. Guess I'll turn on the Southern charm and hope for the best. Have a great Tuesday, Sugar.

Happy Birthday....on the road

The last two weeks have been an absolute blur. With Greg working out of town and me having a St.Louis doctor's appointment, a meeting in Jefferson City, and a trip to take Carson to see Greg overnight, I am exhausted. We'll start the process over on Monday morning. Carson is being farmed out to various relatives after school and often overnight while I work. He came stumbling into the living room half asleep one night last week, rubbing his eyes, to ask me where he was going the next morning and who he should look for to pick him up. Poor guy. On the bright side, Greg is officially half way through his training and will be home for good in two more weeks.

Because of this crazy scheduling, Carson is set to have the longest birthday celebration in history. We started off with an ice cream party for his class on Thursday, since school was out on Friday, his actual birthday. I picked him up after school and we drove to St. Charles to stay with Greg for the night. We visited Chuck E Cheese for dinner. I had never noticed before how much Chuck E's is like a little kiddie casino. It was packed with very overstimulated kids who had very little supervision. Definitely a once a year place for us. Friday morning, Carson opened his presents over breakfast in the hotel dining room, then he and I met my friend, Katie, at the St Louis Zoo for a beautiful day of visiting the animals. We drove home in time for dinner, and Carson chose to eat at Golden Gate, our favorite Chinese place in Jackson. On Saturday, he and Greg spent the afternoon launching Carson's new rocket, then we went to yet another birthday dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Penny. Tonight we'll be celebrating with Greg's parents, who returned from their cruise to Nova Scotia last night. We'll finish the celebrating with a hayride party next Sunday, where Carson will finally get to blow out some candles!

I am hoping to get to take some vacation days to stay with Greg and scrapbook in the hotel this week. I really want to get at least this year completed in an album and attempt to stay more on track with my scrapping. I may never get caught up on years past, but I would like to stay current from now on. (I'm probably dreaming!)

Have a fantastic week and enjoy the lovely weather if you're local!

Life Sucketh No More

Hello! I apologize for the very long delay in new posts. Frankly, life had been really sucking for me and my family for what felt like a very long time, and I really didn't feel like immortalizing all the crap on my blog. To those of you who have had the pleasure of hearing my tales of woe in person for the last several months, thanks for not telling me to suck it up and continuing to tolerate my whining.

First of all, the absolutely wonderful news that as of today, my mom is in remission! She had a scan this morning and what little bit of tumor is still there is expected to dissolve within 6 months. Her hair is growing back and she's feeling much better!

Second, Greg is working! He got a job working for SM&P Utility Resources as a technician. His job involves locating and marking utility lines. He is currently in training in St Louis during the week and will be home for good near the end of October.

We're starting to feel like life is back on track. Next week we'll be celebrating Carson's birthday on Friday with a trip to St Louis to visit Greg and a visit to either the Magic House or the zoo. The following week we'll celebrate with a hayride and birthday party at MeMaw and PawPaw Franklin's house.

Thanks for checking back in! Look for more frequent updates in the near future. Have a fantastic weekend!

A Short Update

So, we're still alive. Carson fell on our laptop and shattered the screen several weeks ago, hence no updates for many weeks. The new screen is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Yay! I am making due with our ancient desktop computer, which does not allow for picture uploads and has a screen that is so dark, I can barely make out what is on it. Greg is still job hunting, but he had an interview on Wednesday and has another one tomorrow. We don't get too excited about interviews anymore, but we're hopeful that one of these opportunities will work out. This economy sucks. Carson started kindergarten at South Elementary two weeks ago, and has a completely awesome teacher. Things are going so much better than this time last year. I'll have a full report as soon as the new laptop screen arrives. Have a great Labor Day weekend!

What's Up, Buttercup?

We're still chugging along here at the Franklin house. Greg has fallen into the duties of Mr. Mom nicely. He has developed a new penchant for housecleaning and laundry that I am loving, although it is freaking me out a little bit to have the clothes I wore yesterday clean and hanging in my closet by the next morning. He also gets really cranky when I leave clothes in the hallway outside the bathroom. This role reversal has been quite the learning experience for us both.

Hopefully, this situation will be coming to an end soon, since Greg got two calls for interviews today. We'll be going to St Louis on Sunday for his interview Monday morning with a company he is really interested in. We're not moving. The job will be based in Cape. Please say a prayer for us that things will move quickly if this is the job he is meant to have.

Cason is begging me to take him to garage sales tomorrow, but I think it's going to be way too hot. I have scrapbooking tomorrow night and we have a bowling birthday party to go to on Saturday.

Carson had a great day today. He finished his last swimming lesson, then went to St. Mary with MeMaw and PawPaw. While there he got to drive the big tractor with Great Uncle Floyd and plant corn, then when he got out, the train was going by the farm and blew it's whistle at him. Trains and tractors in one day makes for such a great time when you're six.

Have a great Friday and a cool weekend.

You Say You Want a Revolution

Such interesting times. No explanations tonight. Just a note to myself to stay strong in my beliefs and honor my faith.

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
-Romans 12:9-21 (NRSV)

Firecrackers and Birthday Candles

My vacation has flown by! I'm back to work tomorrow. I'm ready to get back into a routine and back in the habit of exercising more regularly. Being on vacation was bad for the walking routine.

We celebrated the 4th at Marcia and Steve's house, as always. Marcia has been my mom's friend since junior high school, so our families have always celebrated together throughout the years. They put on a fantastic fireworks display and have tons of yummy food. (This may be a problem at my weigh-in tomorrow, but it was all soooo good!) I made a new recipe that was quite the hit. I decided to use some of the blueberries we picked a few weeks ago. Here it is:

Blueberry Pretzel Salad

2 cups of crushed roughly crushed pretzel crumbs

3/4 cup melted butter

3 Tbs sugar

Mix together and press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Cool completely.

In a large pot, place:

4 cups blueberries

1/4 cup water

Bring to a boil and add:

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbs cornstarch

Boil, stirring frequently until sugar is dissolved and mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat and cool completely.

In a mixing bowl mix:

8oz softened cream cheese

1 cup sugar

8 oz carton of Cool Whip

When crust and blueberries are completely cool, top crust with with cream cheese mixture , then blueberries. Chill until served.

On Saturday we took my Grandma out to eat for her birthday at lunch, then went to Greg's parents' for a BBQ with his brother and nephew. Carson and Andrew had a blast soaking each other and everything in their path with water balloons.

Today we went to church, then hung out at home. Carson played in the pool and sprinkler with the girls next door and outside most of the day. Greg mowed and I did some laundry and watched some TV.

Here are some pictures from our weekend. This week we actually don't have anything on the calendar, other than my usual Weight Watchers and aerobics. Next weekend we have a family wedding shower on Saturday and a Campaign '08 houseparty at some friends' house on Sunday. Should be another fun weekend!

Be Careful What You Wish For....

'Cause you just might get it all, and then some you don't want.

I wished for weight loss this week.....I got the stomach flu. Really bad. I'm getting better, but my abs are screaming from all of the wretching.

I wished for Greg to not have to work so much overtime....and he lost his job on Monday. He is applying everywhere, and we are optimistic that he'll be working again soon, but this is not good for the budget.

Enough of my woes. Everything is temporary and I'm faithful that things will be better soon.

In happy news, I am absolutely astounded at how well Carson is doing at swimming lessons. He started Monday, but today was my first day to take him. He wants to swim under water the entire time. He still has trouble getting his arms and legs to work at the same time, but he is doing so much better than I had imagined. His new swim teacher is awesome. The lessons are at her house, which is gorgeous, and she is the most patient, loving teacher I have seen.

I lost another 2.5 pounds this week. This was due in great part to the stomach flu, but I'll still take it! I'm shrinking every day.

I'm off to suspension aerobics in a few minutes. This is the class where we are in the deep end the whole time, so we don't touch the bottom for the entire class. It should be interesting given how sore my abs are right now.

Have a good Thursday. We have plans to go to swim lessons, and not much else. Sounds like a good day to me!

All You Need is Love

We are feelin' the love at the Franklin house. Here's a list of things our family is loving right now!

10 new old love songs recently downloaded to Amy's Ipod:
1. Your Love Amazes Me-John Berry
2. When You Say Nothing at All-Keith Whitley
3. How Do You Fall in Love-Alabama
4. When You Love Someone-Bryan Adams
5. At Last-Etta James
6. Our Love is Here to Stay-Natalie Cole
7. I Get a Kick Out of You-Frank Sinatra
8. Come Rain or Come Shine- Sarah Vaughn
9. Chapel of Love-The Dixie Cups
10. Me and You-Kenny Chesney (Our First Dance Song)

Nine Things We Loved About Last Week:
1. Science Camp-Carson had such a great time! See the slideshow for pictures. FYI-He will be leaving for Mars soon, so make sure to tell him goodbye the next time you see him. :)
2. Great conversation and companionship with my St Louis coworkers on our Jefferson City trip.
3. The absolutely sinful Chicken Wellington and Ceasar salad I had at the Capital City Steakhouse. Yum-o-rama.
4. The fact that I lost 5.4 pounds!!! I even went to the Jefferson City Weight Watchers meeting while I was out of town. Yay, me!
5. Carson is doing so well at speech. We are so proud of him.
6. Carson crawled up on my lap and had charming conversations with me two nights last week.
7. My pants were slightly looser.
8. I made it through suspension aerobics without puking.
9. Greg got to be off all day with Carson and me on Friday.
10. Carson has made friends with the little girl next door and they had a great time splashing in his new pool.

Eight Things I Would Love to Get Done This Week:
1. Complete our Florida vacation scrapbook.
2. Get started on our 2008 scrapbook.
3. Finish "The Innocent Man" and get started on "The Other Boelyn Girl."
4. Perfect the BBQ chicken as featured on "Down Home with the Neely's" on Food Network
5. Go see "Wall-E" (Is that how you spell it? Hmmm..)
6. Swim at Shelly's
7. Go to water aerobics Monday and Wednesday
8. Take several walks

Seven Things I Would Love to Cook This Week:
1. Another yummy bluberry buckle
2. Blueberry corn muffins
3. Chicken and Dumplings
4. Honey Pecan Pancakes
5. Chicken Tortilla Casserole
6. Strawberry Salad
7. Blueberry Pretzel Salad

Six Things that I Would Love to See Happen this Week:
1. More weight loss
2. A clean house...that stays that way all week
3. Carson have fun and learn a lot at swimming lessons
4. Me not get overwhelmed by all I want to accomplish on my time off
5. Me cooking dinners out of our pantry..there's a lot of food in there
6. Lots of crockpot and grilled dinners

Five Things I Would Still Love to do this Summer:
1. Go to Elephant Rocks
2. Go to the Miner's baseball game
3. Go to The Magic House
4. Go to lunch at Giant City park
5. Visit Katie and go to The Incredible Pizza Company

Four Things that Always Make Me Feel the Love
1. Weddings-Mom and I went to another one this weekend. Mae-Cie and Jason had a lovely pink and chocolate brown ceremony and a fun reception with great music and lots of family and friends. See the slideshow
2. When Carson says, "Thank you, Momma!" when I do something small and routine for him.
3. Old love songs...hence all the new downloads.
4. When Greg calls me just to see what I'm doing during the day.

Three Options for Celebrating our Tenth Wedding Anniversary next May:
1. A party, with lots of friends, family, and love songs, of course!
2. A trip to somewhere sandy and sunny.
3. With a new anniversary band.

Two Shows I am Loving Right Now:
1. The Tudors (whew! steamy!)
2. Deadliest Catch-we've been addicted for a few years now

And Finally, to the ONE I Love:
I love you, Greg! Thanks for being such a great Dad and Husband!

I hope all of you are feeling the love and having a great weekend. Have a lovely week!

Father's Day, Berries, Workouts, and More!

I just typed a fabulous post and Blogger ate it. This laptop is really frosting my butt right now. I think it needs a trip to the repair shop. Anyway, here are the highlights of the disappearing post.

Father's day was spent at our house this year. Mom, Dad, Grandma Pat, Juli, and PawPaw joined us for a low key BBQ. After the meal, Juli and I researched cruises for our Operation Lose to Cruise reward. We are almost positive we want to go to the Bahamas on Royal Caribbean out of Miami. Any advice or comments from those who have cruised this route will be appreciated.

Last week I went to water aerobics twice and walked once. I really struggled with my walk and wanted to quit on lap two. I stuck it out, but I realized I am very out of shape and this is going to take some time before I enjoy working out again. It didn't help that I had a 5 day headache that finally ended today.

Friday was spent scrapbooking with friends. Saturday I went to Iller's Berry Farm and picked fresh blueberries with a few friends. I was home by 11:00 and went straight to work making a blueberry buckle. It's like a cobbler, but better. I froze the rest of the berries to enjoy all summer. I'm going to try making blueberry cornmeal muffins sometime this week.

We spent the rest of the weekend at home. Greg and Carson spent the day outside today. Carson has found a new friend in the neighbor next door. He and Erica are close to the same age and want to spend every waking moment outside together. I did 10 loads of laundry and finished a few scrapbook pages this afternoon.

I'm of to Jefferson City in the morning to spend the night and attend a training on Tuesday. Carson is going to science camp this week and starts swimming lessons next week. I'll be going to water aerobics and getting some walking in this week. Gotta love a fun filled summer! Have a great week!

Lazy Day

Carson and I had a lazy day today. We stayed home and played and I surfed the net for a few hours. I researched cruises for my trip with Juli, caught up on blogs, and read the message boards at twopeasinabucket.

Tonight the guys went to church band practice and I had Bunco. We had a fun time, as always! I love my Bunco buddies. I won a box of sugar free Tic Tacs, a perfect prize since I'm in the Weight Watchers wagon again.

Last night I met Juli and Leah at the pool for suspension aerobics. We wore float belts and were suspended in 13 feet of water for the entire class. It was challenging, but fun. I was pretty sore this morning.

This is the weekend of weddings for us. We have two ceremonies and one reception to atend on Saturday. Sunday we're BBQing at our house for Father's Day. Have a great weekend!

When the sun goes down...

I'll be swimming! Juli and her friend, Leah, joined me at the pool tonight for our first water aerobics class of the summer. It was great! There were a few times I felt like my arms were on fire, but just when I thought I'd have to quit, the instructor would switch exercises. There were ladies of all ages and sizes and everypne was so nice. Tomorrow we'll have our deep water strengthening class. Carson and Greg went along to swim while we had class, then we went for Hawaiian shaved ice after the pool closed. It was a good night!

I'm working tomorrow, then I'm off for 4 days. I am loving summer hours and getting to use comp time for some extra days off. I'm home all next week, then have an overnight trip to Jefferson City the following week with two of my crazy coworkers from St Louis. I always have a blast with these two ladies, so I'm looking forward to it.

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

It's Summertime!

Summer has arrived. It's the season for sunshine, sunscreen, sweat, and swimming. We're off to a great start with out summer activities and have plans for lots more fun summer activities in the coming weeks!

Last weekend we went to the first annual Franklin Family Fishing tournament at the Franklin family farm in St. Mary. Carson caught the biggest fish in his age category, a bass weighing in at 1lb13oz, just 2 oz less than Carson weighed when he was born! He reeled it in with some help from Uncle Jim and lots of cheering from me. Carson had a great time playing with all of his cousins. Greg had several bites, but didn't manage to hook any fish. I planted my butt in a lawn chair and kept watch for spiders, snakes, ticks, frogs, bugs, and all of the other icky things that I cannot stand and truly fear. The sacrifices I have to make for family. I am so not an outdoorsy girl.

On Monday I left for a three day trip to St. Louis as part of my volunteer work as a validator for the Missouri Child Care Accreditation group. I took three coworkers with me and we had a great time. The work days were very long, but we were able to sneak in a trip to Chesterfield mall and dinners at the Cheesecake Factory and PF Changs. It was a nice break.

On my to pick up a rental car for the trip on Monday, I was the ninth caller on a local radio station and won 4 tickets to see Mamma Mia at the Fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis on Saturday. I took my mom, sister, and mother-in-law. It was terrific! We had lunch at Mama Caprese's on The Hill, then went to the matinee performance. I think I may have to download some ABBA to my ipod! Juli and I will be adding "Dancing Queen" to our karaoke repertoire.

Today we headed back to St Louis (my third trip in 6 days!) to the St Louis Zoo. We piled in my van with my mom, Grandma Pat, and Juli. We met Juli's friend, Josh, at the zoo and caught up our friend, Brittni, who is doing a summer internship in the Great Ape Habitat this summer as part of her pre vet studies. It was hot, but we had a good time visiting the animals, having a picnic lunch, and riding the zoo train, where Carson got to say, "All Aboard!" on the loudspeaker.

This week is slow at work. On Friday we'll be attending a rehearsal dinner for a wedding we're helping with on Saturday. Sunday's plan is still open for now.

In other news, Juli and I have decided that we are each going to lose 50 pounds and take a girls-only cruise in January as a reward for our hard work. We are both attending Weight Watchers and will be starting water aerobics tomorrow night. She's already ahead of me by 10 pounds, so I have to get my butt in gear. I'll be packing my lunch much more often.

I have a decent list of summer activities we're planning to do so far. If you want details on any of them, just let me know. Here they are:

trip to Farmington water park
trip to Land Between the Lakes in KY
attend a Southern Illinois Miners baseball game in Marion, IL
have lunch at Giant City Park and browse the funky little shops in Makanda, IL
attend the DuQuoin State Fair in late August
visit and stay with my friend, Katie, and go to the Incredible Pizza Company and other fun St Louis stuff with her
trip to the City Museum in St Louis
trip to Grant's Farm in St Louis
2 weeks of swim lessons for Carson
1 week of space camp at the university for Carson
hanging out at the camp ground with my aunt and uncle
trip to Elephant Rocks park in Iron County
attend a St Louis Cardinal game
Municipal band concerts in the city park on Thursday nights
attend a show at The Muny in Forrest Park
other activities as we have time!

I have a lot of things to schedule! I'll be working on that this week. Have a great week!

Lots of updates again!

First, my mom's tumors have shrunk by 50%. This is very good news! She is 2/3 of the way finished with chemo and we hope that the tumors will continue to shrink. Please keep her in your prayers as she goes through the next two months of chemo and nears the finish line!

I ended up not having to make it through my last day of work before vacation. Instead of going to work, I ended up staying in bed most of Thursday with a horrible migraine. I hadn't had one that bad in almost a year. Between mom's chemo, a stressful extended family situation, and the everyday stress that is my life, my body decided to revolt. It was not a fun day.

Thursday also happened to be our 9th anniversary. Needless to say, we did not celebrate that day. We'll be having a date night soon in honor of the occasion. It's very hard to believe that we've been married for nine years and together for twelve. We have seriously been through some very hard times together and made it through! I love you, Greggie!
On Friday, I let Carson decide how he would like to spend his day with me. He chose for us to go to garage sales in the morning. He hit the mother load of toys and now has a completely restocked play area downstairs for less than $20. He got a four story parking garage with elevator, a Rescue Heroes aircraft carrier and command center, and lots of Rescue Heroes figures to staff them both. He's been playing with them nonstop since we got home on Friday. He chose for us to have lunch at Target, which was an interesting, but very cheap, choice.

Yesterday we completely cleaned out our basement to get things together for a garage sale on Friday. I get so mad at myself when I see how much junk we accumulate in a year, but it feels so good to purge everything and start fresh. My scrapbook area looks great and makes me want to get all the other things on my vacation list finished so I can sit and scrap the rest of the week.

Today we went to church, then out to eat. When we got home Greg mowed while I tackled pricing all of the stuff in our storage shed for the garage sale. About halfway through, I remembered why I said I was never having another yard sale. I was hot and very tired of looking for more 50 cent price tags. Everything not sold on Friday is going to be donated!

Tomorrow I will be cleaning out our closets and finishing up the pricing. I cannot wait to be finished. Hopefully it won't take too long and I'll get to start scrapping!

Have a relaxed and enjoyable Memorial Day!

For One More Day

I have to make it through one more day until my 10 days of freedom! I am so excited to have 10 days with no real plan or commitment. I will be cleaning and organizing the house and getting ready for a garage sale, but I hope to get that done early in the week.

I spent yesterday in the office and it just about killed me not to be outside in the beautiful weather.

Today I worked in Perryville, then went to Sikeston to evaluate a child after work. It was a tough eval. I hate ending the day by having to break bad news to parents. It's by far the most difficult work I have to do.

Juli came over tonight and scrapbooked with me. She made a cute little chipboard album all by herself. I will soon have her completely crossed over into my crafting cult. :)

Greg is liking his new job so far. He's very sunburned and has been falling asleep on the couch by 9:30 due to all of the physical labor and sunshine he's getting. we may have to invest in some energy bars.

My mom will get the results of her CAT scan tomorrow. We are praying for good news that her tumor has shrunk. She is more than halfway through her treatments now. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

Have a great Thursday! I'll be counting down the minutes until my vacation!!!

Shindigs, Showers, and Scrappers

Friday night was Crazy Croppers. We had a fantastic time, as always!

Saturday we went to my dad's company picnic. My dad is a carpenter at the same university where I work. My mom works there too. The picnic was held at St. Joseph's Catholic Church grounds near Apple Creek. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun. There was great food, fun games, and several of my friends were there. Hi Dana and Sherri! See the slide show for pictures of our fun day.

Today I helped give a bridal shower for my sister's friend, Marge. I was in charge of the chicken salad. (Thanks to my Utah friend, Shar, for the recipe! It has become a must-have at all of our wedding and baby showers!) Juli is going to be the Matron of Honor and I will be a server at the wedding on June 14th, a.k.a. Flag Day. Marge has a patriotic theme going on, which should be fun. There are pics from the shower in the slide show also.

Tomorrow Greg starts his new job. I am working in Marquand, MO at one of my favorite child care centers to visit. I'll be in the infant room, which has a tendency to bring on Baby Fever for me. Could be dangerous. I'm in Poplar Bluff on Tuesday and Perryville on Wednesday. Thursday is my office day, then starting Friday I am on vacation for 10 Days!!!! I cannot wait!! I plan to clean and organize the house and get ready for a garage sale. Hopefully, I'll get all of my cleaning and organizing done early in the week and have lots of time to scrapbook!!!

I have decided that since we won't be going on vacation this year, I am going to make a list of cheap places to visit close to home. If you know of anything, leave me a comment. I'll compile a master list and post it for everyone to get ideas.

Have a good week and enjoy the beautiful weather! It's going to start feeling like summer here in Missouri!

My Personality Profile

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have high extroversion. You are outgoing and engaging, with both strangers and friends. You truly enjoy being with people and bring energy into any situation. Enthusiastic and fun, you're the first to say "let's go!" Conscientiousness: You have high conscientiousness. Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life. Most things in your life are organized and planned well. But you borderline on being a total perfectionist. Agreeableness: You have medium agreeableness. You're generally a friendly and trusting person. But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism. You get along well with others, as long as they play fair. Neuroticism: You have low neuroticism. You are very emotionally stable and mentally together. Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly. Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is high. In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas. You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits. A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Lots to share!

Hello Blog Readers! I have lots of updates to report.

Carson now has glasses. I'd show you a picture, but he's not home for me to take one right now. He looks very cute and he seems to have increased depth perception while wearing them. We went to see a new eye doctor in Springfield, MO who we are very impressed with. He prescribed the glasses and gave us a set of exercises to try for 6 months when we have our next appointment. We spent the weekend before the appointment in Springfield. We visited the Bass Pro Shop, The Discovery Center, Lambert's Cafe, and of course the only scrapbook store in town. There are a few pics of the trip in the slide show.

The following weekend I spent in Paducah, KY at Cropical Paradise with some of my best girls. We had lots of fun and got lots of pages done. During the weekend I made my first visit to the self-serve ice hut while not wearing any shoes, (thanks for the help Shelly!), a couple of beds got short sheeted, some sleep was lost and we had a blast. Pics are above.

Mother's Day was interesting. My baby nephew was supposed to be christened in church, but that didn't happen. Long story. If you see me, ask and I'll explain. My sister, Juli, and I were scheduled to sing a song after the ceremony, so we went ahead and sang it. Luckily, it worked for Mother's Day. We enjoyed a BBQ at Mom and Dad's house with lots of family. Carson got me the ipod docking station and speakers that I had been eyeing and made me a lovely noodle necklace. I'm wearing it with my dress suit in the picture above. :)

Now for the big news: Greg will be starting a new job on Monday. He will begin his plumbing apprenticeship at Dutch Enterprises bright and early Monday morning. He's excited to begin a job where he can work outside frequently and learn a new career. The bad news is that he won't get to take vacation until next May, so we will not be going to Disney World in December. I'm bummed, but I realize this is a much better opportunity than his last job. Looks like we'll be staying home for a year. Good thing we have lots of projects that need to be completed around the house. Maybe I'll get that scrapbook caught up! (yeah, right!)

We're all home tomorrow, then I have Crazy Croppers tomorrow night. Saturday I have to work at our Provider Appreciation Brunch, then we're going to my dad's big work picnic. On Sunday I'll be helping my sister with a bridal shower for her friend. Busy times, as always! Have a wonderful weekend!