Nonsense From Wonderland

Happy Turkey Day!!!!

Oh how I’ve neglected you, dear, poor blog!  I guess between Twitter and Facebook, I just never think to come over here!  So what’s been going on with the Millers since I last posted in July!?  In short–school, work, school, work, life, life, life!  Peyton seems to be enjoying 6th grade this year.  The whole class went on a trip to Jackson, to the Teton Science School.  It was a great experience for all the kids, and for many, the first time they’d been away from home (not for Peyton).  He seemed to be a little nervous though, when it came time to leave, and I think it was because he didn’t have any family going with him.  Once he got there, all was okay, and he was able to call me and check in.  Peyton did flag football at the beginning of the year, and will most likely do basketball.  Breck’s flying along in 2nd grade.  He was in fall soccer, and won’t do anything else until spring soccer.   Brecken lost his 3rd tooth the other day–first front one on the top!  Peyton lost 2 last week!  He’ s so good about getting them out fast, whereas Breck is nervous about it, and takes his time.  I have actually pulled his teeth for him.  Gave him the option to do this one the other night, but he didn’t like the way it felt, and said he wanted me to get it!  The other top front tooth is loose, so maybe I can get him to do it!  I’m enjoying work, but it took me a while to get back in the groove after having summer off and sleeping in.  I was so exhausted for that first month, I could barely function after work!  I still hate mornings–just never been a morning person–but at least I’m not falling asleep in the chair every time I get home!  Jason’s been busy working out.  His arms and legs feel so nice!  I’m proud of his commitment to getting healthy.  I’ve been trying to work out on the Wii and treadmill, but it’s hard for me to fit it in, because I can’t force myself out of bed early enough, and usually have 100 things to do after work.  I will get there someday though!

I am amazed at how fast this school year has gone.  Can hardly believe it’s Thanksgiving week!  We’re heading up to Buffalo, which I am really looking forward to.  I think it’s been 3 years since we last went for Turkey Day.  Looking forward to just hanging with the family, relaxing in the hot tub, going to the mountains, seeing my friend that I haven’t seen for well over a year!

Paige will be coming down the first week of December.  Her main reason for coming is the AFI concert in Denver!!  I am sooooo beyond excited for the show!  I absolutely love their new album.  The day before the concert is the craft show we do every year, so it’ll be nice to have her here for that as well.  That same week, Jason and I are headed to Stephen Lynch in Denver.  This will be our 3rd time seeing him.  The show was actually in Oct., I think, but he had to reschedule for family reasons.

Jason and I got a good chunk of our Xmas shopping done.  I wanted to be done w/it early, to avoid crowds.  I will finish up most of it online.  I love the holiday season, but not the crazy shoppers.  My plan is to get the tree and most of the deco up next Sunday.

I’ve been reading like crazy.  Really enjoying Darren Shan’s Demonata and Cirque du Freak series.  We saw the Cirque movie and enjoyed it.  Friday night, the boys and I went to New Moon.  I LOVED it!  Can’t wait to see it again, and am hoping to after Tgiving.  I really want to read all the books again.  Just not enough hours in the day.  I always thought it’d be fun if the adults at school could have a silent reading time, just like the kids : ).

I guess that’s us in a nutshell for now.  Hopefully the next update won’t be 4 mos. from now!

The Indy Monster, Feb. '09

We had a pretty good, productive weekend I think!  The boys were both at sleepovers last night, so Jason and I went to the Chinese buffet, then over to the mall to see Taken.  We both liked it.  After we got home we watched Eagle Eye, which I had from Netflix, and we liked that also.  I always enjoy Shia.  We slept in a tiny bit this morning, then Jason decided we should get the bikes out and ride to breakfast at the Luxury Diner.  I wasn’t so sure my bike would start, after not running since about October I think, but she fired up and went!  It felt so good to be out again, even if I was a bit cold.  Hopefully we’ll be looking at some warmer days, where I could ride to work.  After breakfast we headed to Barnes and Noble.  I’ve been on a book buying spree lately.  Today I bought 4 books by Neil Gaiman, the guy who wrote Coraline and Stardust.  I ended up getting Stardust, The Graveyard Book,  Neverwhere and Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders.  Can’t wait to start on them.  I really need to get serious w/my reading.  I had planned to finish Breaking Dawn this weekend, and I did read both days, but didn’t finish : (.  When Breck came back from his sleepover, his friend came w/him and hung out for a couple hours.  Jason got them McD’s for lunch, while I was busy scraping old caulking off the kitchen counters.  I was only going to do right behind the sink, but kept going and decided I’d do the entire counter on that side of the room.  It looks so nice and fresh w/the new caulking.  We also redid the caulking in our shower, and put new stuff around our vanity.  I rearranged the stuff on the kitchen counter, got dishes put away, and did some laundry.  We also finally hung Jason’s new Bengal thermometer mom and dad got him for Xmas.  It looks nice, and I’ll be able to see it w/out my glasses.  We had a digital one that came w/the house when we bought it, but I couldn’t see it unless I had my glasses on, and even then, the numbers were tiny.  We were going to replace some pieces of lattice on the bottom of the deck, as the dog has been going under there, but we couldn’t find just the strips, so will probably end up doing the whole piece.  While at Lowe’s, we browsed the sinks, faucets, stoves, and carpet.  It would be so great to carpet both living rooms and the basement in one swoop, but that stands to be very pricey.  Might actually have to have someone from Lowe’s or Home Depot come and measure, so we can get an idea.  The basement definitely needs carpet first, since it’s in a semi-unfinished state.  I told Jason today we need to make a list of what’s a priority, because we’d like to have a lot of new things (couch, dining set, sink, stove/micro, carpet). 

Tonight we watched Stardust.  I bought the DVD last night before dinner.  The boys and I had seen it, and since I’m on a Neil Gaiman kick, I just had to have it.  Plus, it has a small appearance by one of my favorite people–Ricky Gervais.  The boys stayed up late to watch it, so hopefully morning isn’t a pain.  I showered tonight, in hopes of making my morning go faster.  This week I have class on Tuesday, and the kids have their school carnival Friday.  It’ll be the first time Jason gets to go, since he no longer bowls on Fridays.  Peyton’s done w/basketball, and will have a pizza party at school Thursday, to turn in his uniform.

I guess it’s about time to hit the hay.  I need to take some laundry out and throw in another load before I go up.  Looks like we’ll have some decent temps this week, which I am hoping really is true, since I have bus all week!

My pretties

Hope everyone enjoyed a nice day with their loved ones and/or family!  I got a wonderful surprise at work yesterday after I got back from lunch….the gorgeous boquet pictured above!  They smell so good, and the color is so vibrant.  VERY sweet card w/them as well.  This morning I came down to some nice cards from Jason and the boys, as well as a box of all dark chocolates!  I LOVE dark.  It’s my favorite kind of chocolate.  It was just a very nice day spent together, and of course we got a lot of Little Big Planet play time in.  Jason finally got us past this evil level that had us stuck for the last week. 

This afternoon I spent my Barnes and Noble card that I got for my birthday from my co-workers, and picked up a new Twilight bookmark w/Bella and Edward (I have one w/my favorite Edward pic too), Coraline, a comic version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and What the Dickens.  I just love shopping in the kids’ section.  Seriously, they have the best books, and I am the kind of person who immediately gets drawn in by cool cover art.  I have often thought about getting a Kindle (my friend has one and loves it), but I just don’t know about giving up the real book feel.  I also check out a lot of books from the library, and rarely buy a book that I will plan to give away some day.  I told Jason I’d like to get some nice bookshelves for the living room.  I have books tucked away all over the place it seems. 

We are all on the mend, although Jason’s still feeling a little blah today.  Peyton’s stomach was bothering him too, but hopefully it wasn’t flu related.  I went back to work yesterday, and Jason stayed home.  Luckily it wasn’t too rough of a day, and the girls were looking out for me, not letting me be outside for my bus duty.  It’s great to work w/such caring people : ).  I did go to Kerri’s Tastefully Simple party last night, but I didn’t eat a bunch, because I was worried about my stomach.  She had the choclatinis I wanted to try too, but didn’t, dang it : (.

We have Monday off, of course, so I will really be enjoying the next 2 days.  I would like to get some reading done.  I’m trying to make some kind of plan about which book I want to read next when I finish Breaking Dawn, but I am so all over the place w/my books, it’s hard for me to stick to any one thing.  I just want to read everything, and I want to do it NOW!  After watching Harry Potter 5 with Peyton the other night when he was ill, I really had a strong urge to reread the whole series.  It’s been a while, and of coure I’ve forgotten a lot of those little details.  One thing that I am thankful for, is that I will never have a shortage of things to read.

I suppose I should get up to bed.  We watched Madagascar 2 tonight.  Mom got it for the boys for V-day.  I dozed off, so will have to rewatch, but what I saw was so funny!  I want to go see Coraline at the theater, but am wondering if I could read the book before we go see it.  It looks like a really short, fast read.

I used to have a “100 Things About Me” list on one of the many old versions of my site, and after seeing my SIL Deb do it, I figured I would resurrect and freshen it up a bit here in a post.  I am hoping I have the old version saved somewhere, so I don’t have to retype it all! 

We did get to see Inkheart on Sunday, and loved it.  I have to finish the book!  I’ve been trying to read it for 2 years, but as usual, I put one book down to read 3 others!  I bought Inkspell tonight, and will get Inkdeath when it comes out in paperback.  I also got the second Fablehaven book, although I’ve yet to read the first.  Again, I started it and got a chapter or two in, then moved on to other things.  I almost bought the Southern Vamp boxed set, but decided not to right now.  It’s $20 cheaper online, so I think will get it off there.  I’ve read them all, and really want to own them and reread them again.  I do love my vampire books!!  My wonderful co-workers gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble for my bday, and I had one from Xmas.  I LOVE shopping there!  I could spend all day if I had the time.  It’s usually the boys going shopping w/gift cards, so it was nice for it to be me for a change.  However, I did fork over $$ to buy them each a book.  Brecken got something like Froggy Loves Soccer, and Peyton got the new book in the Wimpy Kid series.  Those books are a huge hit w/kids at our school, so I would like to read them myself.  I bought the first two for Peyton at our book fair last year.  I LOVE book fair time at school!  I’m a sucker for books w/cool covers, which is how I ended up with Fablehaven and Horns & Wrinkles.  I think our book fair happens in April.  The kids are able to shop during school, as well as before and after.  We usually have a family night, where the kids come to shop and play math games in their classrooms. 

Peyton had his first basketball game tonight, and did pretty well.  It was amazing to see him hustle.  I wish he would do that around here!  LOL   He’s still got some learning to do, but it looks like he is enjoying himself .  I was able to get off early to see him.  We’ve been having crappy weather this week, so the rural busses didn’t run two days, and we’ve been inside a lot for recess.  Due to the weather, my Skills for Success class was cancelled last night and rescheduled for next week.  It’s a class about dealing w/people of all personality types, dealing w/stress, etc.  I have a class tomorrow, for the primary math program we use.  I am pretty familiar w/it, as I use it w/some of my kids, and have seen it w/my own boys, but it’s nice to find out the reasons why we use these things.  Math is taught in such a different way than I remember it!  We always seemed to just have to “know” the stuff, whereas now it’s all about the strategies. 

So I never did post what I got for my bday.  Jason went crazy and got me a Bose Sound Dock for my iPod.   I LOVE that thing!  It’s got such amazing sound, and I’m hearing things in songs that I didn’t really hear before.  I was so surprised.  Really had no clue what he was getting me, but he was very excited about it, and so was I when I opened it!  I saw the box and said, “Is that really what it is?”  LOL   My sis gave me a gorgeous H shaped jewelry box that helps silver to not tarnish.  Inside was a really pretty necklace that has two circles on it, etched w/the boys’ names.  My parents gave me a Twilight puzzle, Twilight magnets, Twilight hoodie (w/the Cullen crest on it-WOOHOO!), brown Skechers, a new hand mixer and $ in my card.  I used the money to go towards Little Big Planet for the PS3.  That game is so freaking cute and addictive.  We laugh a lot playing it!  I felt very spoiled this year!

Breck and I went to the dentist this week, and he has more cavities…sigh.  The hygenist said he brushes very well, but for whatever reason, he’s getting cavities.  Peyton, on the other hand, has not always been the best about brushing, but hasn’t a single cavity (KNOCK ON WOOD!).  Next week Breck will get one filled for sure, and we’ll see about the others.  Our dentist needs to check the records from the peds dentist.  I am having our regular dentist do the filling this time instead of the peds.  I’d just prefer to be at our dentist, as there is no reason for Breck to have sedative anymore, which is the only reason we went to the peds in the first place.  Last time we went I asked them to do it without, because I hate the way it makes him get–very loopy, and he can’t walk after.  It’s a lot more expensive to get fillings at the peds too!

Well, I suppose that is enough blabbering for tonight.  We’re catching up on The Mentalist.  I am anxious to get into Lost.  I really have no TV time lately.  We did get done with Sons of Anarchy, which we loved!  Can’t wait for season 2.

So I know this layout is a little weird in the middle, but I do like the snow. Not sure why it gets all goofy though. I shopped for 7 hours today, and am beat. Did not plan on being out that long, or spending the amount of $ I did! Oh well, it’s been fun being able to buy stuff for everyone! I’ve got to get to bed. I had a goal to finish Breaking Dawn before the end of the month, and I’m not sure if it will happen. Think I have 200 pages left. Maybe I can get some reading done between football games tomorrow. I am in the Superbowl for our fantasy league, for the first time ever! I’m so freaking excited!! I’m playing Butch, who has consistently been the worst team in the league, until this year. Send me winning vibes!!

I was looking so forward to sleeping in this weekend, however, I had to get up early to let Boomer out, then the boys decided to be loud and crazy.  I laid in bed and read for a bit before getting up the 2nd time.  Trying to finish Vampire Loves so I can take it back to the library this afternoon.  I made a “butter braid” for breakfast.  I bought it from one of our teacher’s sons for a fundraiser, and it was yummy!  Had blueberry and cream cheese filling, w/frosting drizzled on top.  Dinner is going to be Mexican beef & dumplings.  We’ve had it once before and I remember it being pretty good.  Just stumbled across the recipe as I was looking for my orangey snack mix recipe.  I am making that stuff for my lounge duty Monday.  Igor is at the dollar theater downtown, so I believe we are going to the matinee for it.  I hadn’t even heard of it until a couple weeks ago, and it looks like the kind of cartoon I would love.  Would like to go to the store for a few things, and maybe the mall.  Just not sure if I’ll have time.  Last night we were going to watch The Princess Bride, but Jason and the boys got sidetracked downloading game demos on the PS3 and their PSPs.  Hopefully tonight we’ll get to watch it.  I just love that movie, and I don’t think the boys have ever seen it.  I remember when it first came out how much of a crush I had on Wesley ; ).  There are just so many great lines from that movie…

Just for the heck of it, here is a picture of me from Wednesday.  My mom bought me this sweater dress, and of course I wore it on the coldest day this week!  I didn’t have any outside duties, so thought I would be okay.  For the first time in 10 years, I wore nylons, and I HATED every minute of it.  I much prefer none.  The darn things would not stay up, so I had to figure out how to discreetly pull them up every 5 minutes!  The boots are one of my favorite footwear, and the only kind of heels I have ever owned.

10-22-08

…and it feels like it.  The wind has really whipped up.  We had rain earlier today.  My throat has started to hurt a little, so I hope this doesn’t mean I am getting sick again!!  I drank an Emergen-C, and having some hot chai now.  This morning was our blood borne pathogen/sexual harassment training.  When you are a new employee you have to attend the class, but every year after that you just do the review class online.  Starting next month I will have 2 different classes.  One is just 3 nights, spread out from Nov. to March, and the other is 5 nights from Nov.-March.  I am also taking another class that starts in Jan. I believe.  They are all staff development type classes, and I’m looking forward to them.  I’m also doing a writing workshop next month, on one of our early release/planning days. 

The boys and I got Taco John’s for dinner, watched an episode of Edgar and Ellen, ate some dessert, and we’re now going to read.  I’ve decided not to watch tv tonight, even though I have a bunch to catch up on, so that I can get a good chunk of reading done.  Hopefully my eyes cooperate.  I could have dozed off while watching Edgar and Ellen.  I’m really liking Breaking Dawn right now, at 100 pages in, so we’ll see how I feel after the next 100.  I’ve not read a ton of reviews, for fear of spoilers, but those I know who have read it were kind of mixed. 

We have to be at school early, as Peyton has his Jessup Sounds practice.  I’m just thankful I don’t have any outdoor duties tomorrow, since the high is only 37.  I think we’ll do some grocery shopping after work, and just have pasta for dinner, as we have a couple jars of sauce leftover from our roll up the other night.

So we just got home a bit ago from seeing Quarantine, and I guess we are kind of mixed on it.  The handheld camera view was waaaaay worse than it was in Cloverfield.  It gets kind of irritating when you can’t really see what’s going on because it’s so blurry.  The story overall was a pretty interesting idea, but of course the movie just–BAM–ends, and you are left to decipher the few clues you saw.  The really sucky thing is that they actually show the exact ending scene in the trailer.  Why would they do that?  You are watching this movie, knowing you haven’t seen that scene yet, and that the movie is almost over.  I’m going to do some surfing around to see what else I can find out about it.  We did not know until the credits rolled that this was a remake of a Spanish movie called [REC].  I am not a fan of Jennifer Carpenter (who plays Debra Morgan on Dexter), and she got highly annoying by the end of the movie.  They did have the newest Twilight trailer, which was awesome!!  I just cannot wait to see it!  Dana and I are going for sure, and I’m trying to talk Jason into it.  It’d be nice if I could finish Breaking Dawn before that, just so I can be done w/the series.  I got a good chunk read in The Looking Glass Wars last night, and I’m loving it!  Very cool twist on my beloved Alice!!

So chilly here today and tonight.  Right now it’s 32 w/a windchill of 24.  Snow is supposedly on its way…ugh.  Not sure if we are going to be able to do the toy run.  I don’t have any gear for cold weather riding, and I’m certainly not riding in the snow.  Peyton is going to a sleepover for his friend’s birthday (which was last week).  We have a four day weekend, for teacher planning.  I’m going to enjoy it, and will relish the sleeping in!

I’ve got 70 pages left in Eclipse, and WILL have it finished before the weekend is over, damn it!  It’s not that I haven’t enjoyed it; it’s just taking me forever to get through.  Tonight we watched The Happening.  It wasn’t too bad-kind of disturbing, but I sort of had an idea what it would be about.  Last night the boys and I watched Stardust, which I LOVED!  Such a cute story.  I got it for Ricky Gervais, but his part was very small.  He was his usual funny self though.  I still want to see Ghost Town w/RG.  Jason wants to see Quarantine, so that might have to be a date night for us next week.  I just watched the pilot of Kath and Kim.  Not sure if I liked it.  I know they are supposed to be kind of dumb, but they are almost too dumb for it to be funny.  We are so far behind on the DVR.  Hopefully with my 2 days off I’ll get caught up on my stuff. 

I’m just rambling, so I’m taking my freezing bod to get snuggled into my bed.  I’m currently wearing sleep socks, sleep pants, and TWO sweatshirts, and I’m still cold.  I put the blanket back on the bed tonight.  This weekend we have to get our filter changed in the furnace, because we may need it!

EVERY time I try to insert a pic into a post, I have errors.  It drives me up the wall.  I think it has something to do w/this computer, because last time I added a pic I did it on one of the other computers, and had no trouble.  I don’t get it at all.  So, because I am too tired to mess w/it tonight, it will have to wait until tomorrow.  I have a cute pic of Breck’s new Halloween costume, which we just picked up tonight.  It’s a tad bit early, but I wanted to get it before they were picked over, and as it was, there were only 2 sizes left in this one.  We did some shopping at Target, after I got off work, then headed to Jackson’s for dinner .  For the first time in my life I ordered fish and chips, and it was really yummy.  However, I think I ate too much junk today (darn the treats in the teachers’ lounge–I can’t stay away!), so am feeling liked a beached whale.  After dinner we went to Barnes and Noble to look around.  I was going to buy the boys each a book, but Peyton was trying to go for books that aren’t necessarily story books, and certainly not AR books.  AR books are books they can take quizzes on through this program at school.  They have goals set for the # of points they are going to reach each quarter, and have a certain level of books they are supposed to be reading at.  At the beginning of the year they are tested to find out their level, and Peyton tells me his is up to an 8.6!  This means he is reading at an 8th grade, 6th month level!!!  Anyway, because Peyton decided to pout that I wasn’t going to buy him this book, which I’m sure he all ready owns anyway, he opted not to get one at all.  Brecken picked out a Magic Treehouse book, and even though he is in 1st grade, he is actually starting to read chapter books! I’m waiting to get confirmation on his level, but it’s possible he is reading at a 3rd grade level! Once we got home, Peyton gave Breck all his old Magic Treehouse and A-Z Mystery books. I got myself an awesome looking book! It’s “The Looking Glass Wars”, by Frank Beddor. I cannot wait to read it! I just happend to be browsing the teen section, because they have so many cool books, and the title just jumped out at me. I wondered if it would actually be something Alice related, and it was! I am trying to make myself finish Eclipse before I start another book!

Jason got home at a decent hour from bowling, and watched the end of the Cubs game. Needless to say, he was not happy with the results. I hope for his sake, the Cubs kick it into high gear for the next game. Tomorrow night we’ll finally watch Iron Man. We’ve got the last soccer game Saturday, and I guess Jason will be busy blowing out our sprinklers, and 3 other people’s. Hopefully that doesn’t take all day. Breck has a birthday party late afternoon.

Guess that’s all my rambling for now. I will attempt to post pics tomorrow. I have one of the mantis that turned okay, considering I was taking it in low light through a plastic aquarium!