Lazy Saturday...

I was so ready to sleep in today. I'd had 10 ladies over last night for a Tastefully Simple party and fell straight to sleep so I expected a lot of extra sleep this morning. Yeah right - somehow I just can't seem to sleep past 8am anymore. So what to do on a Saturday? Clean, of course! Bedroom and Bathroom cleaned, okay, now it's 9am... :)

I ended up watching two movies today - Away We Go and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Both worth watching, I ended up with tears for both movies amazingly enough. Away We Go was something I didn't expect I'd want to see - not a huge Maya Rudolph fan and the story seemed weird. But the movie was a pleasant surprise. Ghosts was a funny candy movie with a good lesson to players ;)

For Christmas this year Andy gave me gift cards (my favorite, remember) to both Target and Kohls.  I went shopping with him the very next day (as we had Christmas on New Years Eve b/c of the storm) and couldn't find a thing.  UGH!  It took me a day to think of it, but I went to Target and used my gift card to get the new Gone With the Wind collectors edition.  I haven't yet watched the movie using the new DVDs but am looking forward to it.  The bonus features are pretty cool - a book with filming photos, copies of letters from the director, cool velvet box to store it all in (I'm thinking it'll be a huge dust collector, but whatever...).  :)

In the past month I've finished watching the third season of It's Always Sunny...and I like the show - but it gets a little old watching all the time; the humor and stories pretty juvenile :)  We all need a little mindless humor now and again tho, no?  I've watched District 9 (looking forward to the sequel), Paper Heart (cute), Extract (don't waste your time), Coraline (couldn't finish it - too creepy), Flywheel (good show), The Propsal (super cute), Julie & Julia (okay), and Bedtime Stories (adorable).  I'm working my way through Entertainment Weekly's 25 Movies to Watch Before the Oscars - here's the list.

Up In the Air
Up (have it, love it)
The Hurt Locker
Precious
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
An Education
Avatar (watched it twice - once in 2D then in 3D)
A Serious Man
The Messenger
Julie & Julia (watched it - meh)
A Single Man
Crazy Heart
The Blind Side
The Last Station
Nine
Star Trek
District 9 (liked it - FX were stunning)
Fantastic Mr Fox
The Lovely Bones (loved the book - hope the movie does it justice)
(500) Days of Summer (seriously? oscar contender?  neh)
It's Complicated (cute flick -love the older actor love scenes - whoda thunk it?)
The Young Victoria
Bright Star
The Informant!

So I've only watched six of them - I have to get my butt in gear.  But first I need a paycheck!  So - if Andy isn't able to come up next weekend I'm going to get in a few movies...so far, The Blind Side, Invictus, The Lovely Bones and Up In the Air is playing here...A Serious Man was playing last week and I missed it - that was silly of me.  I went to see It's Complicated two weeks ago and they had a huge ad for the second Sex and the City movie coming out in May.  That should be interesting...not Oscar contender of course! ;)

 

That gives me an idea for a new blog - I could go to every single movie that's out in theatres for a year and blog away...omigosh talk about not living in reality, eh?  Hmmmm...that'd mean I'd have to watch the stupid teenybopper movies...the horror flicks...the bad kid movies.  Oh dear...I don't know if I have the stomach for that...

 

Anyway - Andy's calling, gotta run (he's trying to talk me into "letting" him have a dog)

THIS IS FAH-REAKING HI-LARIOUS

You may have to open this puppy up separately, but check out the bottom right hand corner film - and WHY I might enjoy it. :)

Christmas!

I love Christmas. Not just because it's the day we celebrate Jesus' birth, not just for all the family time and fun, but also because of the SHOPPING! Omigosh I love to shop. If not for shopping, I think I'd be a couch potato. Give me a gift card for any occasion, you've just given me the BEST GIFT EVER! Most of the time I find myself buying things for other people when I get a gift card, but that's the best part of it. I love giving gifts. I love the look on the recipients face, I love the "omigosh, this is perfect" look as well as the "what the hell were you thinking?" look. They're equally fabulous to me.

Friday I set out to finish my shopping. Woke up ready to check my checking account to be sure my paycheck was deposited and I was out the door by 9. I tried a bit of a scientific approach this year - I used a list. Ha ha ha...yes, I just had to - I found I was buying too much for one person (Andy) and not enough for others (Gramma). I hit Kohls, Walmart, Fashion Bug, Target, Hobby Lobby, Subway, MC Sports, Decker Sports, Younkers, Granny's Cupboard, The Olive Branch (two local stores in Mason City) and omigosh did I have fun. I found way more stuff for Mom and Dad, finished the boys' shopping. Found even more stuff for Andy and even found great things for Gramma. I finished my shopping officially at 3pm that day. Of course that didn't stop me from doing more shopping on Saturday nor today. (I'm headed up to Duluth after work - bound to find a few more fun things, as well as take back a few things that I decided were excessive.)

Did I mention I found three sweaters and two necklaces for myself? Oh, that reminds me! The cardigan I got from Fashion Bug - I need to get a shell for under it. Add it to the list for tonight silly!

Andy and I finished watching the second season of "The Big Bang Theory" - absolutely worth watching that show. Bazinga...intelligent humor is the best.

Let's see - what else has gone on? Project Runway - good job to Irina - she did a nice job. ANTM - loved Nicole all the way through. Have you all watched "Glee" on Fox? Omigoodness is that a fun show. High school musical constantly! the music is fun - I love the broadway-esqueness of the show! Funny, yet stupid, plot line that keeps me hooked. I look forward to every Wednesday now! PR starts back up in January, right about the time American Idol does - poor Andy - he'll never catch me without a show I think.

As for Andy - he rocks. I love that man. He makes me smile all the time. We spent the week together last week just hanging out and I don't remember when I laughed so much. We focused more on hanging out than working on the house - although we did have heated discussions about how things should wind up looking. His parents came up for lunch on Saturday so we got to experience Bonanza (good food - crap atmosphere - dirty bathrooms). He sat through Love, Actually, and he may never actually admit it, but he liked it. Once he figured out that you had to pay attention to characters, that is! :)

Movies and books since I last posted? They include (thanks to Netflix lists) Up, Sunshine Cleaning, Northern Exposure (seasons one and two), Adventureland, Cold Comfort Farm (stupid), Miss Austen Regrets (weird), Freedom Writers, American Son (awesome), Faith Like Potatoes (couldn't get into it), Apocalypto, Wives & Daughters, Lust, Caution, Then She Found Me, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Dangerous Beauty, and I've started watching "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" - omigosh is that a funny show.

Well - I'm off to more shopping! Family Christmas is Saturday and Andy's coming up here (for the second weekend in three). Jennifer will be up from Texas and David will be home from MNTC for the afternoon, so all the cousins will be together for the first time in about three years. All the family is healthy, there's two new babies (Odin and Elias) and so we'll have five kids under age 5!

Merry Christmas!

Ahhhh summertime!

Oh it's been a great summer! Cool weather, a few fun thunderstorms, no excessive heat. I'm a happy camper! I just looked back and realized the last time I blogged was the Monday after an Appleseed shoot and here it is another Monday after an Appleseed shoot. Today's post, however, will be a completely different story about Appleseed than the first.

I've been looking forward to another shoot for three months. Even tho WonderBrother and Andy-rama couldn't come with, I was determined to go anyway. Friday turned out to be quite the day here at work - the nurse called in sick and we had no other nurse who could work for us, so I pinch hit...no, I didn't draw labs or take BPs or anything, just got the patients in a room and started for the doc. I didn't get out of here until 5.45 and seeing a minimum 4 hour drive ahead of me, I head south (to LaCrosse).

South of Rush City through to Forest Lake (no joke) was bumper to bumper traffic headed north - and they were driving about 15 mph...ugh. It was just before I saw this traffic that I started thinking, "what are you doing? why are you headed down there? are you kidding? you're tired, you need a break and what are you doing, driving to shoot all weekend." Then I saw the traffic headed north and said no way Jose...I'm not turning around. Besides, I said to myself, you do this all the time - stress out before the event and then when you get there you have a great time. Ok - driving south....

I'm cruising along...took 52 south, haven't been through Rochester in a while, fun to see the improvements/changes...

...I-90 now...cruising well with traffic - construction on the other side, hee hee, not me! woohoo! Call Andy and BAM....whooosh...oh thank goodness there's a rest stop RIGHT HERE. I pull off to the rest stop, find the brightest street light and park under it. Get out of the car and sure enough - flat tire. Damn

So - empty out the trunk. My bags, my guns (all three of them), my shooting mat, the umbrella, the reusable shopping bags, the emergency kit, the bug-out bag, my sleeping bag, ...ah! finally! the floor of the trunk! Ok - so take off the carpet, then the hard cover, oooo - look! a donut tire! ok - so that comes out, then the pack of tools...wierd Korean things...and then the jack...ok, the jack. the jack. the jack! damn jack get off of your pegs...it took me 15 MINUTES to get that f&$(#@^ thing off the sidewall of the trunkwell! By this time no less than 6 cars have come and gone from the rest stop, not a single one of them even giving me an encouraging "I'm sorry I know nothing about cars and can't help you but I'll hope for the best for you" smile. One female even had the cajones to say to her boyfriend "...you're supposed to stay in your car if that happens"...omigosh, I was ready to drop kick her ass across the parking lot.

So finally I pry the jack off the trunk wall and start to take lug nuts off the tire...well try to take lugnuts off...now's about the time I call home. I just can't handle this. Talk to dad and realize after it's nearly too late that I've told him the wrong tire and I'm cranking the wrench the wrong way. This left-loose, right-tight thing is tricky cuz the wrench handle is going left but the wrench itself is going right so I was doing the wrong thing...anywho...just as I figure out I'm doing it wrong a kind man offers to help. Now let me tell you about this kind man...he walked waaaaaayyyy around me and made sure I saw him first before asking if I could use some help. What a guy! By this time I think I'm gonna be ok but just in case I swallowed my pride and said "sure." I managed to get the lug nuts loose and then AJ (nice guy's name) just took over and did the rest of it for me. Although I did put the jack under myself and jacked the tire off the ground BY MYSELF! ;) I watched him work the rest of the time and when I missed seeing him tighten a lugnut on the donut he was super gracious and showed me again that it was on tightly. I thanked him profusely and immediately got back on the phone with mom as I finished packing the car back up and headed back on the road (at 6o mph - ugh). Thank goodness that misadventure is over.

...then I checked into my hotel in LaCrosse...

that was the nastiest, smelliest most out-dated Days Inn I've ever been in my entire life. I had a clue as I walked into their add-on glass airlock entry, and the know-it-all at the front desk who said only "they close at 9" when I asked if the BP fixed tires didn't really make me any more impressed with the place, but the kicker was walking into a room that had the nastiest old house smell I've ever smelled. The decor was so outdated I think it would fit in Andy's house...and there were DOUBLE sized beds, not even queen. Okay, okay, I knew they'd be double, but I didn't think they'd be double! Oh dear...what I do for an inexpensive rate on a hotel. There went my plans for a relaxing saturday after a shoot. That's it, I'm going home as soon as this tire is fixed.

...the helpful desk attendant suggested the Farm and Fleet for tires, so i called to be sure of their hours and set my alarm for 7.30am.

I slept well after I turned up the AC so I couldn't hear the I-90 traffic directly outside my window and awoke at 8.30.

Blains (Farm & Fleet) was very kind - good to work with, great people. I asked to have the tire repaired and they said it'd be 30 minutes before I could get in...so...found a Perkin's half a block a way and sat down to figure out what to have for breakfast. Phone rings - it's Blain's - your tire has a hole in the sidewall, we'll need to get a new tire and we need you to sign an ok on it. "I'll be right there." "Server, I'll be back - I need to go back to Blain's" "no problem!" DRive back to Blain's with my car, leave the car, and my spare key; walk back to perkins. Settle in, order a Diet Coke and the phone rings. "Do you have your key fob?" "yes" "your car won't let me unlock it with the spare key" "I'll be right there" ...and there's my Diet Coke just arrived. I walk to Blain's, unlock the car and go back to Perkins (keep in mind I'm walking back and forth and it's 10am and it's humid as all heck). My omlette comes, I read a chapter or two of a book, I'm half done and PHONE RINGS. It's Blain's...your car is done but the car has locked itself again. "I'm just finishing breakfast, I'll be there in 5 minutes" Walk back to Blain's and the gal takes my keys..."Wait a minute, I thought the car was done." No...the TIRE is done...the car was locked and they couldn't put it on. Ugh...So I wait another 10 minutes, read a few more chapters and then repack the trunk of the car.

What a day! $120 more for a new tire - did I mention the broken one had only 700 miles on it - and I'm headed home without having fired a single shot.

The day redeemed itself with a few shopping stops I must mention.
--Cannon Falls. Has an antique place that I love stopping by, but in the parking lot is a new crafts store. GREAT PLACE! I found all my Christmas ornament gifts there. Excellent. At the antique place I found an advertising postcard for
--Nellie's Barn Sale. Totally worth stopping by. They have a bunch of vendors who bring things in four times a year and they have a weekend sale. It's just west of Hastings on 190th/205th st. I found an awesome fireplace screen, a lead pot, a wooden basket, two magnets, a schmitty's patch (don't tell Gabe - it's his Christmas present), a 49 Ford advert, raspberry jam, salsa, and rhubarb peach jam all for $43!

I got home around 5pm and have never been so grateful for home ever...and then I realized I hadn't even been gone for 24 hours...

Appleseed Winona, MN 2009

Woohoo! I can shoot good! I've not talked about my new love of shooting. I grew up around guns - Dad always had a .22 and a shotgun of some type around - but I never shot them. I was "scared" of them...maybe was just trying to be too girly? I don't know. Anyway - didn't shoot anything until I dated James. Once I found out he was a shooter I asked WonderBrother to let me shoot his "big" gun. What fun! To be able to tell a new bf that you'd shot an AR and he hadn't ever had the opportunity! Wow! James took me trap shooting and I fell in love with it. He loaned me a 12 gauge shotgun and I averaged about 14-17 each 25...very cool!

WonderBrother owed me some money so I told him if he bought me a handgun, we'd be even. Excellente! Gun #1 - a .40 Springfield XDM - rock on! Looooove it! I suck at target shooting but I'm getting better. WB is a great teacher - I couldn't shoot until I could take it apart, clean it, and put it back together again. Too bad .40 ammo is so daggum expensive nowadays! Can't even buy my $29.96 100 round white box from Walmart anymore -they're out!

BodyBrother also owed me some cashola, so same deal for him - buy me a gun and we're even. This time I asked for a 12 gauge. Got it! A Mossberg 835 - a little long for me so the stock'll have to be cut down but it's friggin awesome. I just have to get my shooting shoulder in gear and I'll be a trap shootin' fool!

Gun #3 is my Ruger 10-22. Perfect little plinker gun for me. We're going to put peep sights on it cuz we discovered this weekend that the open sights aren't so cool and look into an adjustable stock as well.

So - this past weekend, WB and I spent Saturday and Sunday at the Winona Sportsmens Club. We were a part of Appleseed. What a great way to learn about our history as well as to gain invaluable skills with rifles! I can't say enough about how much this program has taught me and encouraged me as a self proclaimed gun nut. Right now WB and I are trying to find a place to have an Appleseed shoot closer to us as the nearest is still Elk River.

The whole crew on Saturday evening - we had a beautiful day - hit 85 degrees at one point during the day - ALL of us were sunburned by the time this photo was taken!

Prone shooting - our Shoot Boss, Thor, is in the green hat, and our IITs (Instructors in Training) are in the orange hats - analyzing our form and offering assistance as needed.

"Shooters, you may proceed down range and mark and score your targets"
Jesse, Jody and Mandy counting, hoping to hit that magic number, 210, that'll make them officially, a Rifleman! Sunday afternoon action, the REALLY dedicated were shooting by 4.45 on Sunday afternoon! (Yes, I admit, I ducked out of ONE AQT - but only one!)
RIFLEMAN! Way to go WonderBrother!!!


What an awesome weekend!

For the record - I never scored my AQTs...but I checked them over last night here at home. I didn't break 100...my goal is that by next Appleseed I'll be consistently hitting 150-180. I'd love to make Rifleman by then, but I'll shoot for the 180s first!

Book and Movie catch up time

Ok - Movies since we last talked include: Music Within: worth watching; Australia: good for a laugh or two but could have been done in at least two places before it was actually finished; Run Fat Boy Run: hysterical!!!!! Must watch!!!!!

Books: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls - her memoir of life with crazy parents, well worth the read and it was a quick read by the way. And I had a little candy with Debbie Macomber's The Manning Grooms - cute one. I finished the Septimus Heap books (Magyk, Physyk, Flyte & Queste). Good books, a little more difficult to get into than others.

and, I was happy to introduce Jamie and Claire to Doreen Warner this week. She called me the day after I'd given it to her husband to pass along to her and she was already in need of the next book!!! And those are BIIIIIGGGG books! Always happy to help create more Diana Gabaldon fans!

Mason City

My weekend in Mason City! It was awesome. I drove down after work and had the joy of driving through an hours worth of fog, from just north of Owatonna to just north of Mason...yag. I hate fog, it's worse than snow! Snow and ice, you just drive really slow, but fog...well. It was not good. I made it to mason and it was clear and beautiful - got to see where Andy works all day - not quite a cubbie, not quite a palace. We headed to Fort Dodge on Saturday after we'd finally woken up (felt good to sleep in a bit) and took the scenic route through Webster City - what a cute town! Gonna have to drive that one when it's not raining sometime cuz there's some shopping that must be done there. Fort Dodge has a Fazoli's!!!!!!! and Andy let me pick where we ate late lunch!!!!! woohoo!!!!!!!

I got to see the babies in Fort Dodge...I decided I can't determine my favorite of the babies until I've had a ride in each one. I'll have to fill you in on that sometime later (the babies are cars, of course).

Went to a cool little bar with good food called Lefti's for supper with his parents. Good fish and chips, excellent loaded nachos. We didn't get home until 9 or so as we "had" to go to Target after dinner and then ended up sleeping too late for church. Whoops! Ended up with a bit of an ice shower so didn't head back north to MC until about 3, but then had a fun meandering drive north. Andy's gonna be once fantastic road trip partner!

The weekend was a great eating weekend with anything from subway to Lefti's to Chef's Kitchen and a fun one to get to know Andy's parents and Sam, his dog. Fort Dodge is a neat little town, just like Mason City!