My baby brother is getting married tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow's the big day!!!! My baby brother is getting married (I'm sure he appreciates that term, ha!). I'm very excited for him and Katie!!! And, I can't wait to spend the whole weekend with my family!

Made it through Danville alright today, had a huge headache when I got home. Plus, woke up this morning with KILLER cramps :( But, the day is done and that's what counts!!!

Roy and I are just hanging out watching "The Apprentice" and I'm waiting for some clothes to finish washing. Still gotta pack tonight and we're leaving in the morning!!! I'm sure I'll blog this weekend from Mom and Dad's. Not much else to write about tonight so I'm going to sign off. Hope everyone's having a great night!

BTW, tomorrow is April 1st and I can OFFICIALLY say that "I'M GOING TO VEGAS THIS MONTH!!!!" Little excited ;) Nighty night!!!

Interesting weather today, spring is on with a vengence!!! We got up to the 70's today, then had some very cool storms late this afternoon and early this evening. Our power blinked a few times, but other than that nothing too life shattering came out of it.

All in all I had a very productive day at work. No appointments but I got a lot of crap work done. Pam and I ate lunch at Chevy's, awesome as always! Hadn't seen Pam in a couple weeks so we were able to catch up. Off to Spice to print and fax (Dawn, our fabulous billing specialist is now writing "superfly" on everything she puts in my box). Came home and got some stuff ready for my Danville (eh!) run tomorrow. Roy and I went to Wal-Mart, dodging hail on our way out to the car! I swear, Wal-Mart looked like move-in day at the university! As if Wal-Mart's parking lot isn't enough of a nightmare trying to manuver around, today we had the added bonus of people parking on and beside the front of the store, blocking traffic. Not to drop people off at the front, but to totally load their groceries or use as a parking space. I don't like frolicking through rain to get groceries either, but I haven't melted yet and neither will they! Plus, not one person was elderly, disabled or had small children. Most looked to be about my age and healthy as can be. Ridiculous!!!

Roy and I have been renting the first season of "Smallville". Last night we watched the final episode, and it was a freakin' two part cliffhanger, which I won't get closure on until we get the next season in the mail from blockbuster :( Watched it right before bed too, made me dream that I had superpowers ;)

Alrighty, time to stop babbling and get to bed. Have a great night all!!!

Brand spankin' new!!!!!!

Yep, I'm FINALLY blogging on our new computer! Anxiously waited on the UPS man all day today (luckily, I didn't have any appointments until this evening). He finally arrived around three. I was on my way out the door and Roy was sleeping so I didn't bother messing with it, but when I got home from work around seven he was scurrying around the living room getting 'er set up. Very excited!!!

Talked to Mom and Dad awhile tonight. We're all getting really excited about Shawn's wedding this weekend! I can safely say that I'm going to be bawling like a little girl (always so much funnier when a guy says that!). When my other brother was married two years ago I did okay until I saw him standing at the alter with his beautiful wife walking down the aisle. Started crying like a maniac!!! AND, I had to go up and read scripture right after the procession, still half bawling. I'm so happy for them and I'm excited for this weekend.

Gorgeous out today! I spent most of my time making phone calls to families and therapists, setting up meeting times, and pacing waiting on UPS. Had an appointment at six, ran to SPICE for awhile to print and fax, and had an interesting incident with the word "superfly" and the billing specialist. Only two more days of work this week which makes me happier than I can express in words!

Alrighty, time to hit it to bed. Hope everyone's having a great night!!!

Gorgeous out today!!!! I wasn't betting money on the weather this week since the weather people were dirty LIARS last week, but they were right today!!! Beautiful!!!

Still patiently waiting for our computer to arrive. It should be here tomorrow, luckily I don't have any visits until about 5:30 so I'll be able to wait on it all day. Very anxious, Roy especially ;)

I feel like a bad momma. Tatum is so excited that its nice out and she's dying to play outside. She's been going to the door constantly, and she's finding places where the sun shines through the window and just sitting, looking sad. But, when I let her play in our front yard she starts barking immediately, and our neighbors are less than three feet away. And, I'd love to take her on more walks but our neighborhood isn't the greatest so I don't like walking around with her by myself. Constitution trail is a short drive from our house but I'm usually too beat when I get home from work to deal with it. :( Poor deprived Tatum. I'm pretty sure she'll survive, but I still feel bad. Our next place has to have a fenced in yard a decent distance away from neighbors so she can bark her little head off all day without bothering anyone!

Fairly uneventful Monday, very excited that there are only three more work days left this week!!! Love short weeks! Gotta go find something for dinner now so I'll sign off! Take care and have a great night all!

Happy Easter!!!!!

Happy Easter everyone!!!! Hope everyone had a great day! I was too tired to write in detail last night but we had a good time at Brian's parents. We got there around noon and Gloria was making a big dinner of ham, potato salad, cheese dip, veggies and rolls. We ate ourselves stupid, then Gloria, Julie and I ran off to Old Navy. I found a shirt and sandals for me on sale, and some boxers for Roy. We came back to find the guys in the exact same position as we left them ;) We played cards,watched the end of the Illini game, and watched the kids dying eggs. Had a great time but it really made me miss my own family. I talked to them today and it sounded like they were having a good time together. I'm anxious to see them all next weekend!

Slept in today for the first time in a couple weeks! Woke up and wandered around, nibbling on leftover ham and potato salad. After talking to Mom I got a phone call from Al! She was driving through Bloomington on her way home and wanted to stop by to visit! Had a good time catching up with her, its been AGES since I've seen her. Randy and a couple of random film students from ISU stopped by for a few minutes too. Since they left just been vegging on the couch. Our new computer is supposed to be here early this week. Good thing too, 'cause ours has been messing up big time today! It basically all but crashed, Roy has spent most of the day trying to get everything re-installed. He got it though (he can fix about anything! If it were left to me it would've been through the window).

Sad to have to go back to work tomorrow, but its a short week at least. Well, gotta go finish some laundry! I hope everyone had a great Easter!!!

Just got back from Peoria, had an early Easter dinner with Julie, Brian and kids at Brian's parent's house. Great time, but now very tired :) Will write more tomorrow, hope everyone has a happy Easter Sunday! Take care and God bless!

Happy Birthday Chandler!!!

Finally Friday! Woo hoo!!!!! And next week is a shortie as I'm taking Friday off for Shawn's wedding. Shawn's wedding, sounds so weird! I can't believe my baby brother is getting married! I'm excited for him and Katie is a sweetheart! Should be a fun weekend!

Went to Karla's today to give Chandler his birthday present. Was able to stay and chat with Karla and Mark for awhile. They're anxious for the new baby! Can't wait! Had an appointment, made my Easter Seals and Spice run, and came on home. Warmed up some Stouffers chicken enchiladas for supper and now we're just vegging! Julie and Brian are meeting us here tomorrow morning and we're going over to Brian's parents for Easter. Should be fun. Wanted to go to Arthur, but since we're going next weekend we decided not to make the extra trip. I'm anxious for next weekend though, we're staying the whole weekend and it should be a blast!

Anyhoo, time to curl up on the couch. Hope everyone's having a great Good Friday!!!

Rainy outside, can actually enjoy it since I'm in for the night :-) I got a lot of work done today although I didn't get as many phone calls made as I should have. I had an appointment and then I situated myself, my laptop and a stack of files over at Spice and hit the paperwork. I feel like a freakin' vagabond, since our home office is in Danville I have to mooch off of a little square corner of Spice to print and fax. They are wonderful about letting us use their equipment, I just constantly feel like I'm moving with my big 'ole suitcase 'o files!

Was feeling a little puny at the end of the day so I didn't make it over to Jeremy's :-( I'm disappointed 'cause I really wanted to see everybody, but I just wasn't up for it. Tomorrow if I"m feeling better I'm going to stop by Karla's to give Chandler his birthday present. Talked to her for awhile tonight, so anxious for their baby to be born!!! Very exciting!

Speaking of exciting, to answer Grandma's question we're getting a Dell dimension 3000. Very excited! Our computer we have now was given to us from Mom and Dad when they purchased a new one. I'm so thankful for it, but its time to get something new.

Tatum has been driving us NUTS lately with the constant barking outside! If we didn't have neighbors close by it wouldn't be such an issue, but I don't want her to annoy anybody and she starts the minute we put her out. We priced a shock collar (I know, it sounds mean....but seriously, hang out with her for 5 minutes ;-), but we're going to wait awhile. She gets really anxious with the nice weather, once it stops being so cold at night I'll start walking her again because she really does love the outdoors.

Well, my croutons are almost done baking so I'm going to sign off. Hope everyone's having a great night and CONGRATULATIONS KRISTI ON YOUR TEST!!!!!!

Over the hump! Tomorrow is Thursday, inching closer to Friday ;-) Shawn and Katie are coming up to Jeremy's tomorrow so I'll head over to see them for a bit. Jeremy stopped by for awhile tonight, I'm anxious to see my little niece and nephew tomorrow too! Jeremy was telling us how Matthew snuck into some cookies :-) I can't believe he's almost two. They all need to slow it down a notch!

Work was pretty busy today, tomorrow shouldn't be as bad. I've been getting SLAMMED with new referrals lately :( Made some chili dogs for supper, and haven't been doing too much since. Roy ordered us a new computer today!!! Our old one isn't supporting the dvd burner 'cause we don't have enough space. We can burn dvd's that have already been burned, but even that takes awhile. Its just time for a new one anyway. Should be here by the weekend! That'll keep my husband occupied ;).

Well, my tylenol pm's are going to be hitting me here shortly so I'll sign off. Hope everyone's having a great night!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Crabby. Its snowing out, not lovin' that. AND, I'm getting an abcess on one side of my mouth. It's getting swollen and starting to ache :(. Hopefully it'll stay under control until I can get to the dentist. I've heard horror stories about how much pain they can cause and I'm not all about dealing with it. Plus, I can't afford to be down, I can barely keep up on my work as it is! Alrighty, 'nuff whining for today.

Went to Danville today after an appointment in Towanda. Pretty uneventful, just tried to cram as much work into the few hours I was there. I passed the drive time on the phone, talked to Rachel on the way down and Julie on the way up :-) Makes the time go by faster. I need to go out and get Chandler a present, I think I'll have some time tomorrow. I can't believe he's going to be five!!! Well, short one tonight, I gotta go clean up dinner stuff and watch some Arrested Development. Have a good night!

Hee Hee!!!!

Played a joke on my hubby today! I went to get my hair (or as I like to call it, my mullet!) cut. The damage from my last cut was getting on my last nerve so I went to take care of the problem. They cut off some of my length (flinch!!!) to help even it out. It was the only option, now it can grow out evenly. Now, my husband loves my normally long hair. So, I called him on my way home (using my best acting skills to sound on the verge of tears), and told him that they had to cut my hair chin length to make it look right. He got very quiet on the phone, not sounding thrilled but trying to sound supportive. I came home and he was on the edge of the couch waiting to see. HAHA! Had to give him a little scare :-) It is much shorter than I'm used to, I like having long hair so I'll just have to wait for it to grow back out. Proud of myself, I didn't cry when they cut it off ;-)

Well, Monday is over with. Grandma and Grandpa were in town yesterday visiting Karla and Mark, but when they called I had my phone off and charging, so I missed them :(. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at Shawn's wedding (Kristi, ditto! Don't let me forget to bring your movies either!). Well, Roy's wanting to get back on to play with the dvd burner so I'd better go. Have a great night and, CONGRATULATIONS AL ON YOUR NEW JOB!!!!!!

Y'ello! Not much to write about today! We've pretty much stayed in the whole day watching tv. So far, we've watched the first disc of season one of The Shield, and Friday Night Lights. Ordered some gyros from Boo boo's for lunch, should probably make a Wal-Mart run but we'll put that off till tomorrow :-)

Little nippy today, Tatum has been hiding under the blankets hibernating (same thing Roy and I have been doing!). Apparantly my brain is closed for the weekend as I can't seem to find anything else to write about :) Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Finally Friday! Today seemed really long, couldn't wait to shut my work phone off at the end of the day! We just ate supper and we're watching "Ladder 49", which is awesome so far by the way! Supposed to be really nice this weekend, feels like its going to rain tonight (my favorite weather!). Talked to Mom last night and it sounds like Shawn and Katie's wedding plans are coming along well. Can't believe its two weeks from today!

Julie called last night, they just got a doberman puppy. Very excited to see him! I think we're planning on going down to visit the weekend after my Vegas extravaganza. Should be pretty warm!

Random thought: I hate it when you're hungry but nothing sounds good. All day I've been craving something and I can't put my finger on what! Had some beef stew for supper, that didn't do it. Neither did the chips or thin mints. Hmmm......must figure out something before I go to bed ;-) Better get back to this movie, have a good night!

Tomorrow is Friday! Woo hoo!!!! No plans for this weekend except a bunch of tv watchin' and vegging. Roy is considering getting a dvd burner, if so that'll occupy much of the weekend!

Had three appointments today, one with twins. Made it home around six and have just been cleaning the much neglected kitchen and warming up a tv dinner. So gorgeous out today!!! I need to go get some Vegas clothes since its supposed to be really nice while we're down. Probably will try to go sometime in the next couple of weeks (need a new swimsuit too....bleh).

I like my new template but the comment section is being screwy. I tried to look at them earlier and it wouldn't pop up! It did later, but took its sweet time. Oh well, I fiddle with it later. I need something sweet to eat so I'm going to sign off. Kristi, I hope you're feeling better :-) Night all!

Playing with templates

I've decided to mess around with my template 'cause the previous one is a little hard for me and my ninety-year olders vision to read (God bless contacts!). Hope it turned out okay! We'll see when I publish this!

Danville day today.........good Lord! The most frustrating aspect of my job is that I'm NEVER caught up. Its not from lack of trying, rather a combination of a constant stream of referrals on top of my caseload that's already in the sixties (that I have to make contact with within two days, see them in seven and have all the paperwork, evaluations, and IFSP meeting completed in thirty. Loads of fun trying to schedule five people to meet!), the auths to the therapists that I have to get EXACTLY right or they don't get paid (a very high priority to me, I'd be a little po'd if I didn't get paid just 'cause someone didn't do their job), meeting notes to doctor, families and therapists, script request to doctors, setting up diagnostic evaluations, adding services, ending services, getting to be the person to tell parents how much they have to pay for services then bugging them for proof of income, transitioning to the school district......my brain is going to quit on me and I'll be living in the hospital with my family deciding whether or not to pull the plug (will someone volunteer to watch Tatum while all that is going on?). Alright, that's my drama queen rant for the week! Sorry, sure that's fun reading for all ;-) Had to vent a tad.

Anyhoo, last night Jeremy and I went to keroake (I think I spell that differently every time!) and had a blast as usual! No one was singing at first though, the dj was trying to bribe people with beer and they still weren't volunteering! I tried to get Jeremy to sing "King Tut" but he wouldn't do it :-) He's going to practice so he can sing it on a night when Rachel can come out with us. When people did start singing there were quite a few for us to make fun of! Had a great time (thanks Jeremy!).

Roy had dinner waiting for me when I got home tonight, such a sweetie! He made baked steak with au jus sauce, mushrooms and onions. Sooo good! Whenever he cooks dinner its always awesome! Very nice to be married to an ex-cook :-) Well, I believe that its time to get back to vegging, hope everyone's having a great night!

I DO like Miami Vice!

Oh yes, my husband bought the first season of Miami Vice! We were wandering around the store, itching to buy a series (we watch them ALL the time!). Nothing was out that we want or don't already have. He has been dying to get it since it came out. At first I was....eh, buy Miami Vice, but you owe me. We got home and he couldn't wait to watch one. I reluctantly got settled on the couch with my trusty blanket and pillows, planning to start some laundry, clean the kitchen, paint my nails.....then I discovered.....I am now hooked on Miami Vice! Love it! We watched several episodes on Sunday, we'll probably watch a large portion of the rest this weekend. Learn something new everyday! ;)

We just ate supper (some Red Baron deep dish pizza.....tasty treats!). I'm meeting Jeremy out for kareoke at Shooters pretty soon. Haven't been out there in forever, should be fun! Danville tomorrow.....eh. The weather was a lot nicer today, should make driving more tolerable tomorrow. Anyhoo, gotta finish the last load of laundry (finally caught up!) and get ready to go out. Have a great night!

Weekends are too short!!!!!!!!!

This whole weekend has flown by! We drove down to Arthur on Saturday to visit with Mom and Dad. We had a lot of fun, they made some Italian beef and we mostly hung out watching the Illini game. Mom, Katie and I went up to Granny Pat's (I had never been there before, it looks so cute!) to set up an appointment for Katie to pick out a wedding cake. I can't believe their wedding is coming up so soon! Sounds like everything is coming along nicely for it. After we ate Roy wasn't feeling very well so we ended up spending the night. I was glad to as always!
We woke up early this morning and headed home. I had a great time with Mom and Dad and it was very relaxing. It was also nice to spend some more time with Katie and Shawn since they're usually working when we're down. On our way home we stopped in Champaign in search of Garcia's pizza. They used to have one here in town but it hasn't been around for a few years, and we were craving it! Unfortunately, they weren't OPEN yet! We debated on whether or not to hang around Champaign until they opened, but we were anxious to get home so we drove on :( We settled for McRibs :-) Haven't been doing too much since we've been home, just enjoying a few last minutes of relaxation before the work week starts again. Almost forgot that "The Contender" was on tonight, remembered just in time (and it was a really good one!).
Just read Grandma's blog and they made it home safely! Sounds like they had a good time! I'm going to sign off for now and go eat some thin mints! Good night!

Not a whole lot going on this week so far. Been kind of a big blur. I heard through the fam that Grandma and Grandpa made it to Florida safely and I hope they're having a wonderful time!

Had lunch with Annie today after completing some paperwork, then trotted on over to spice to print and fax. After I was done there I ran to Wal-Mart to pick up some food for Tatum and a thank you card for Annie's Mom. The thank-you card selection leaves much to be desired :-) Most of them are so personal, I would only give them to family or in the instance that someone saved my life or something. Since I had just met Annie's mom one time I didn't want to get a really gooey emotional card. Finally found a plain thank you card and just wrote a note to her in it.

I got a call from my old co-worker Mendy today. The group of teen girls that I had worked with at the young mom's support group are having their graduation from the group this Friday. So excited to go! One of the girls graduating I have worked with since I started there, she is also the one who lost her mom and brother a few months ago so I'm very anxious to see her. I really miss the girls I worked with at my old job, I see some around town every now in then. Its very hard for me to go from a job where I had such deep connections with these people to one where I don't have that at all and I miss it badly sometimes. A new teen group is starting pretty soon so I'm going to help out with that again, I think its on Monday nights. Hopefully, some of my other clients will come to that one!

Not much on tv tonight and they didn't show "Scrubs" so we've been watching our King of Queens season on dvd. Love it! Hope everyone is having a good night!

Lazy Sunday! My day started with Tatum giving us a heart attack! Roy woke up before I did and was puttering around the kitchen and Tatum was following him around as usual. I heard her start to puke and wandered out of bed ready to clean up a mess. Roy beat me to it, then she started going at it again. Its not uncommon for her to throw up twice in a row, she's done that a couple times before, but when she was done she laid on the kitchen floor and would not move! Her eyes were really glossy and she wouldn't get up. Now, typically when she's sick she runs up on my lap and snuggles 'cause I baby her. She wouldn't come to me, at one point she tried to stand up then fell right down! I made Roy call his Mom because she also has a wiener dog and sometimes the quirky little things Tatum does, Marsha's dog does as well. While he was calling his Mom I picked her up and cradled her on the couch. She started slowly perking up after about 20 minutes and was back to her old self quickly. Scared me to death though! I haven't let her out of my sight all day! She seems to be doing alright, but if this happens again we're going straight to the animal ER!

Haven't done much else today. I talked to Mom and Dad for awhile and I think we're going to visit them next weekend. Grandma and Grandpa are leaving for Florida tomorrow so everyone please keep them in your prayers! Well, the couch is calling me back so everyone have a great night!

I gots a dress!

Actually find a dress! AND it didn't take as long as I thought it would. I met the girls this morning and we rode off to Peoria where we met Annie's Mom. The bridal store was insane with women, but we managed to get in quickly since Annie had called ahead for an appointment. We pulled the two dresses she had narrowed it down to and she tried them both on. They both were beautiful, but the second one was absolutely stunning on her and she chose that one. After we looked through tierras, veils and jewelry, had her chose which she wanted, and set them aside to purchase, Kelly and I started tearing through the bridesmaid racks. We both tried on a couple of dresses, but since we didn't want a full-length heavy one (September in Vegas......sounds warm to me!) there weren't a lot of shorter once to choose from. So, we started trying on the two piece sets. We ended up getting the same skirt, tea length with a little bit of layers. Started trying on tops to go with it, Kelly chose a halter top with a lot of beading on it, I chose a spaghetti strap corset-fit one. And we made our final decision in less than a half an hour! Very exciting!

While we were trying on shoes Annie's Mom informed us that she will be buying our dresses for us! We were so shocked (and grateful!)! With the two trips to Vegas involved in this wedding, this will help out tremendously! She also proceeded to buy us our shoes and (although we weren't planning on getting any) purses to match our dresses. So nice! We thanked her profusely and then she headed home as did we. I got home around four and Roy and I have been relaxing ever since with some Monical's and tv! Roy woke up with a migraine this morning, but he's feeling much better now. Poor baby :( Those are the worst. I hope everyone is having a good weekend and enjoying the weather! Kristi and Ken, I hope you guys are feeling better! Have a good night!

LOL Kristi! I take mine back, your shirt captures the week better :-) The philly cheesesteak's were some brand from wal-mart, comes in a box with the bread, cheese, onion and meat. Pretty tasty!
Oh, and here is my (actually Mom's!) Italian beef recipe:
Put a rump roast in the crock pot with chopped onions and green peppers
Pour a packet (I use two if its a big roast) of onion soup mix on top, also throw on garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper.
Fill the crock pot with water till it covers about half of the roast.
Cook until it starts to fall apart
When it starts to get tender, drain some of the water from the pot and add a jar of peppericinis with the juice (again I use two jars if its a big roast, like it spicy!).
Cook until its completely tender!

Now I want some :-) I hope everyone has had a good Friday. We're not doing to much. I'm in a Pamprin haze and Roy is already in bed. We just got back from watching "Be Cool". We were a little disappointed 'cause its not as good as "Get Shorty", but its not bad. Time to get a snack and watch some tv! Have a good night everyone!

We all need t-shirts made!

Do you ever feel like you should have a big shirt on that says "I'm on my period"? That's how I felt today in Wal-Mart standing in the express line with my pamprin and tampons ;-)

So much nicer out today! The air even seems to smell better when we get a couple of warmer days. Just finished some philly cheesesteak sandwiches, getting ready to relax in front of the tv. Nothing else much to write about so I'll sign off. Have a good night everyone!!!

Like a scene out of a horror movie!!!

Sometimes I really wish I had a webcam :-) Tatum is curled up inside the sweatshirt I'm wearing and she keeps moving to get her spoiled self comfortable. It looks like something's trying to crawl through my stomach!!! She has to be right on us all the time, like she wants to crawl inside of us. Freakshow!!! I love 'er anyway :-)

Danville is done!!! Woo hoo!!! The week is flying by (with some very interesting thong blog reading I might add :-). Not much planned this weekend other than going to Peoria to help Annie make the final decision for her dress and..........bridesmaid dress shopping. I'm excited 'cause we had fun last time we went, but shopping for clothes always stresses me out. Especially dresses, I don't so much have the girls to support them ;-) Guess I'll have to go strapless, push-up, please make me look like I have boobs bra shopping. She's picked out a really pretty deep red color for Kelly and I to wear. Hopefully we'll find something without too much stress!!! Her Mom is coming too and it'll be nice to meet her.

Anyhoo, I'd better go search for dinner! Take care & good night!

Not quite done with work yet today, still have an appointment at 6:30 :/. Going to Danville tomorrow and not a lot planned for the next couple of days so hopefully I'll be able to catch up and the week will fly by quickly!

The hair color turned out fine! I believe this is the first time I've dyed my hair and it doesn't look like I'm going to a rave for the first couple of days. I picked out a "normal" color, light brown. It evened out the color and took a little of the red away. Usually, I've done red and over the summer I tried black (very scary looking!). Guess its nice to be normal for a change :)

Can't believe how freakin' cold it is!!! It has slightly snowed almost the entire day here. Not really sticking so much, but the wind takes your breath away when going outside. Can't wait till spring!

Anyhoo, better get ready for this appointment, not a lot of excitement to talk about anyway. Hope everyone has a great night!