Friday, February 26, 2010

My 100 Acre Woods


These pictures break my heart.
These two kitties are hobos. They live on the street.
I do believe one of my neighbors on our street
feeds them, since they have been around a long time.
They still come over and eat the bread that I
put out for the birds though. So, I also believe
they don't get fed enough.
I can't even think about where they might sleep.
I just hope they have a warm shed
somewhere to curl up in at night.
If I ever hit the lottery I am going to buy
100 acres and create my own
100 Acre Woods.
(You need to know Pooh Bear to get that one.)
Not only will it provide a healthy living environment
for all the furry hobos for miles around,
it will also provide jobs for several people.
Even a vet.
(I'll need a little help with my 100 Acres.)
Landon would be in 7th heaven.
That does it. I'm going to the store tonight
and buy a lottery ticket.
Wish me luck!


Wednesday, February 24, 2010

My Baby Boy Is 8


Today my sweet baby boy Landon is 8.
This is the story of how Landon came to be.
Tim and I had been living in sin (happily!) for about
three years. He did not have any children, nor did I.
I had never felt that urge to have children.
My arms never ached to hold a baby.
I was content and happy and felt like
that was the way it was suppose to be.
Then, one day (when I was 34) I was shopping at Pamida
with my mother-in-law, Cleone. She was looking
for a baby gift, so we were in the baby department.
As I was looking at all the little pink and blue booties,
my heart (biological clock) suddenly began to pound.
 I felt a STRONG URGE to have a baby. BIG TIME!
I went home and told Tim that he needed to sit down.
I had something to tell him.
When I told him that I wanted to have a baby,
he started to stutter...literally.
He said we should think about getting married
and maybe selling my house and getting a bigger one.
I said no way. I didn't want any of that.
 I had already been married once before
and didn't believe in all the marriage hype.
(Like Oprah, I still am not sure it's totally neccesary.)
He finally agreed with me. (Gave in and let me have my way.)
The very next month I told him he needed to sit down.
I had something to tell him.
When I told him we were knocked up,
we both burst into tears and held on to each other for dear life.
Landon's due date was April 7th.
On Valentine's day, Feb. 14th I woke up thinking
I had wet the bed. I woke Tim up and told him.
He called our Dr. in Wahpeton and she said to come
to the hospital right away. My water was leaking.
I had to go to the Innovis hospital in Fargo.
They gave me an ultrasound and said that
                                                 Landon was a little girl. I knew that wasn't so.
Tim believed them though. He went out and bought
a little pre-mie Easter dress. It was so cute.
But, of course he had to take it back.
I knew Landon was a boy and had the name
Landon Paul picked out right from the get go.
Girl names were harder. We couldn't decide between
Sarah Rose or Savannah Rose. Luckily we didn't have to.
Then they decided I needed to be on bed rest.
The only room available, was a HUGE, room with a QUEEN size bed
 and HUGE T.V.!! Sweet, or suite rather.
Tim was able to stay with me most nights
 and commuted back and forth to work.
I loved it!
 For a day.
 The thought of being in bed for a long period of time
to just sleep and rest and read and watch t.v.
is usually just a fantasy for most of us.
It was my reality and I couldn't even enjoy it.
I was worried and uncomfortably pregnant.
The high light of the day was taking a spin in the
wheelchair up and down the hallways. Not fun.
After ten days of this, I woke up at 7:00 A.M. with labor pains.
They told me they were false pains. They felt real to me!
I told Tim, "We are having this baby today!"
At 7:00 P.M. I was sitting on the edge of the bed
pushing on Tim's shoulders trying to get past the pain.
The Dr. came in and said "Oh crap. There goes my weekend."
(He was the BEST surgeon in the hospital, even ended
up being the hospital administrator,
 but his bedside manner SUCKED!)
I begged him for an epidural which he gave me.
 It promptly knocked me out.
I woke up around midnight only to be told to PUSH!!
After two hours of that nonsense, they decided to do a C-Section.
During the C-Section, the Dr. asked me if I had ever had
major surgery. I said no, I had not. Later he came into my
room and told me that I only had one ovary. (I later found out
I only have one kidney too!) Because of this and my age, (I was 35)
we should consider Landon our miracle baby.
(He was right.)
The first time I saw Landon, he was yellow,
had a pointy head and a black eye.
 He looked like a plucked chicken.
I kept whispering to Tim that I wasn't sure
that he was our baby. Did he get switched?
But, after a few days he started to look better
and I fell in love. I wanted to take him home. NOW.
Landon had to spend 10 days in the hospital for observation.
(Landon was born 6 weeks early
and only weighed 4 pounds 14 oz)
Finally, the day came. We were taking him home.
On the way home I sat in the back seat with Landon,
Tim was up front driving. We kept giving each other
panicked looks in the mirror and saying over and over...
 "OMG! What are we going to do?
What are we going to do???"
Eight years later, we are still saying that.
But, we wouldn't trade a thing.
He's all ours.
He's our pride and joy.


*For the record.....We did end up selling my house and
buying a bigger one. We also got married shortly after Landon
was born. Now we are living together married,
(Happily most days. lol)
and sharing our home with not only Landon,
 but four cats, a dog
 and an occasional black bird. 
(The black bird is another post for another day.) 









Sunday, February 21, 2010

My Furry Babies


This is the one and only picture I have ever
taken of ALL my furry babies together!!
I just took it this weekend too!
They all curled up and took a cat nap together.
The first time ever.


ROSIE
Rosie is my oldest baby. She is 12 years old.
 When I moved here from Florida 11 years ago,
I rented a huge U-haul with a flat bed for my car.
Rosie made the 36 hour straight
 drive here with me, my dad, and Roll-O.
Car sick.
(Roll-O was another one of my furry babies
who has since passed away)
Rosie has also been with me for many, many of
the not only special, happy moments in my life,
but also the not so happy ones.
She is going blind and deaf.
She is also getting crabby.
But, there is nothing wrong with her heart.
She has been there for me all of her life.
I will be there for her's.


CHLOE
Chloe is 9. She came from the pet store in Alex.
Something I swore I would never do. Support a pet store.
But, when Roll-O passed away,
(He got out of the house on Halloween and
was hit by a teenage driver. I cried for weeks.)
Rosie was very sad and lonely.
Since no one had any kittens available,
off to the pet store I went.
Rosie loves her.
 (Funny thing, because she doesn't get along
 with the boy kitties at all!)
Chloe sleeps by my side every night.
All night long.
When the alarm goes off, if I do not get up
within five minutes, she gets me up.
By pulling my hair with her teeth!
She is my snooze button.

CLYDE
Clyde is also 9.
He came along two weeks after we got Chloe.
One of my former bosses,
 called me one morning freaking out because
 there was a CAT in her garage.
 She is afraid of cats.
I went into her garage and called,
"Here kitty, kitty...."
Out came this tiny little bundle of fur.
His right leg was twisted and bent.
Even though, he jumped right into my arms.
He looked exactly like Roll-O.
Of course I took him home with me.
After I took him to the vet.
They put a little purple cast on him,
and $200.00 later when the cast came off,
his arm was still bent.
They said "Oh, guess he was just born that way."
It doesn't slow him down one bit.
He is also the most hugable, loveable kitty ever!
He curls up next to all the DC kids and let's them
hug and love all over him.
 His purrs can be heard in another room.
I should have named him Lover Boy.


LUCKY
There is no other name for Lucky.
He is 2.
He also has six toes!
He is lucky he caught me at a weak moment.
Landon was starting 1st grade and I was
feeling a little blue. I had taken a break from
doing DC and had an empty house.
Landon and I were talking to a friend of ours in her yard
and Lucky (who was just a kitten at the time)
happen to wander into the yard to use
her kid's sandbox as a litter box.
Our friend made a comment about how
if her husband ever caught him,
 that would be the end of that.
Boy did my heart strings pound!
I told Landon to grab the kitty we were taking it home.
I didn't have to tell him twice.
Lucky thinks he is a puppy.
He runs and jumps on everything!
He also chews on everything and picks up
 anything he can with his mouth
and drags it all over the house.
Nothing is safe.
But luckily, Lucky is very, very loveable!
Just like Clyde. The DC kids love him.
Lucky sleeps with Landon every night.
He's Landon's furry brother.



Thursday, February 18, 2010

Say What???

I was in Wal-Mart the other day. My favorite store on earth. (My, how times have changed.)  As I was pushing my cart along, my eye caught something that made me stop in my tracks and burst out "What???" right out loud. After my brain had a couple of seconds to process what I saw, it kind of made me laugh. But seriously, those first few seconds were horrifying. Want to know what I saw? Here it is. A huge jumbo size 24 pack of toilet paper. On the front of the package towards the bottom it said..... Recycled.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Thought For The Day

Here is my favorite Email of the day. My good friend, Jackie sent it to me.

Thought For The Day:


Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly ..... on a broomstick...
We are flexible....

Mall Rats


I spent 36 hours in the mall last weekend. (Is your mouth hanging open?) No, I wasn't shopping, I was working! Hard. I decided to take my bags to the Burnsville Mall for a show to see how it would go. It went great, but man oh man....the loooooong hours! I had to be there at 7:00 A.M. for the "Mall Walkers" and couldn't leave until the mall closed at 9:00 P.M.! For three days.... Ugh. Now, I can put it on my "Been There, Done That" list. On the plus side the women really liked my bags and business was good. I sold a lot of bags. But, they sure made me work for it. I talked until my jaw was sore. I entertained men, (with my good sense of humor) so the women could shop in peace. I laughed at all the jokes and comments, even the lame ones that were told. I played with the kids who were driving their mom's insane, and held babies and drinks. One of my favorite moments was an african american woman who came to my booth. She was so funny and just "up." I really liked her. She was at my booth for over 30 minutes just shopping and laughing. As she was checking out, she handed me her credit card. Her name was LaVonne Thompson. I told her that before I was married to Tim, my last name used to be Thompson. She looked at me, grabbed me in a bear hug and then screamed, "OMG! We could be long lost twins!!" I laughed so hard I thought I was gonna pee my pants. That was a good moment.

The mall walkers were a treat too. My favorite were the three moms who were pushing their babies in their strollers. The mall was a three story mall. They were on the third floor with me, and around and around that floor they went. The babies were so quiet the first round. Then the second round they started chatting, the third they started squeeling and clapping their hands. The fourth they started whining. The fifth round they were outright screaming, and by the sixth, they were sleeping. All three days. Then there was the older couple. The woman who held her husband's arm while he walked with a cane. It took them almost an hour to make it around once. Slowly, step by step. But, they did it. Together. Now that's love.

Now, I have to say something about those girl teeny boppers! What the heck??? Since I don't have a girl, I am out of the loop. When I was a teen, we used to walk with a cute little "wiggle" to attract the boys. These days, that cute little wiggle is more like BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! I kept thinking "Geez Louise! Your gonna throw out a hip, chickie!" But, of course trailing behind them were the boy teeny boppers. Tongues dragging on the ground, leaving a pool of drool behind them. Somethings never change after all.

Now, on to the big girls. (25 to 85) I would say at least 75% of those gals were wearing high heel shoes and high heeled boots. Not just an inch or two. We're talking three to four inch spikes! They were also hobbling and stopping to "rest" and had horrible pinched faces. All that to look good while shopping. (The pinched faces kinda ruined the effect) Don't get me wrong. I LOVE HIGH HEELS! But, not for shopping! Shopping is a serious sport. Shopping is a pleasure. There is no room for pain in shopping. Now that I am older, I am getting smarter all the time! I could care less how good I look shopping. Just get out of my way and no one will get hurt.

How about those men? Why do the women even bother to bring them along? They look so miserable. They are either standing there exhaling heavy sighs, or sitting in a chair sleeping. The worst ones are whining like little kids! "Are you doooone yeeeet? Can we gooooo noooow?" And on and on it goes. I say suck it up or stay home dude! Do we go fishing with you? Do you hear us whining about the worms? Not.

I was also blessed with having the spot directly above the children's play area. I swear I have whip lash from whipping my head around the 2,348,777 times whenever I heard "MMMOOOOMMMMMM!" Unbelievable. You would think after the first dozen times, I would have remembered I was child-free that weekend. You can take the mom out of the house, but you ....o.k. that doesn't even make sense.

There was also a very, very talented man there who drew pictures of children and pets with angel wings and then colored them in with just his finger and colored powder. He only charges $20 for a huge print and will even create it at home and mail it to you. All you have to do is email him a picture. Here is his site:
http://www.tomhalverson.com/. He's amazing.

The best part of the weekend was the fact that I didn't have to cook for 9 meals!!! The downside is I think I gained about 1,222 pounds... But, there's always Monday. (That's the day I start my diet. Wednesday is the day I fall off the wagon.) The hardest part of the weekend, was being in the mall for 36 hours and not being able to shop! Tim would watch my booth for me so I could take a ladies room break, but he wasn't really comfortable about it. (He did sell a bag though!) So, I only got to do flash window shopping on my way to the ladies room and back. I am really proud of myself and the only thing I splurged on was a new pair of crocs. Cotton candy pink. I love them!!! So, I did manage to come home with my profits. For those of you who are non-shoppers, I compare being in a mall for 36 hours and not being able to shop, with an alcoholic being in a liquor store with no money. It's really close.

 One bizzare thing did happen that I'll share with you. If you are easily offended by "sexual topics," you might want to skip this next part. (Yeah right. You know you're gonna keep on reading...) Anyway, since we had to stay three nights, to save money, we stayed at an economy hotel. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was clean and cheap and pretty good. The only thing was, the walls were also pretty thin. So, one night we got (had) to listen to the couple staying in the room above us getting to know each other. Really well. Ugh.... That night we watched t.v. really loud. I know you thought I was going to say, "Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. (Yeah, you know you did.) It was actually kind of funny.

So, while we had quite the weekend, I can honestly say we won't be doing anymore 36 hour weekend mall shows. Compared to that, my 50 hour a week Day Care job is just a little...well.....walk in the mall!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Boy Genius!

Landon had a friend spend the night last weekend.
His friend had a coat that had gloves that were attached
so he wouldn't lose them. Landon really wanted a coat like that.
But, since it is the summer season,
(Well, the stores seem to think it is!)
those coats are long gone and the only thing available right now are
bathing suits! What are those stores thinkin'??? O.k. getting back
to the coat...Yesterday Landon came home from school and asked
me for a threaded needle, a sissor and some yarn. I asked him
what he was going to do with it and he told me it was a surprise.
I thought he was working on a Valentine so I gave it to him.
He went into the other room and told me "No peeking!"
When he was done, he showed me his "New" coat!!
He had taken the hat and sewed it to his coat. 
He threaded the yarn through the loops
on his gloves and the back of his coat.
That's our boy!
Boy Genius!!

Happy Valentines!


Valentine's Boxes!
Every year at Landon's school, the kids make
Valentine's Boxes for their Valentines.
 Last year Landon and Tim made a pirate ship. It was super cool.
This year Landon wanted a robot.
 Can you tell which one Landon made and which one Tim made???

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Sugar Baby!

I have a sweet tooth the size of King Kong. I also have a salty tooth, carb tooth, fat tooth....But, this post isn't about that. It's about SUGAR. I have been DVR-ing (It's like Tivo) Oprah and Dr. Oz and watching them late at night. Now if you are going to watch something about your health, late at night is not the time to do it! Everything seems ten times worse than it is and you are absolutely, positively sure you have all the symptoms and signs of whatever horrible disease they are talking about. So anyway, Dr. Oz was explaining to Oprah and me about how diabetes can be a sneaky, nasty disease. You feel perfectly fine and then... Bam! They have to cut your feet off. Since both of my grandfathers had it and I have such a sweet tooth, I am now going to be tested on Monday. If I am borerline or have it and have to give up sugar, I'll just die! (Now isn't that ironic?) Of course, I feel fine and don't think I have it, but who does? So I am doing the adult thing (which is never any fun) and getting tested. Thinkin' I might have to finish up the ice cream before Monday...

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

GRRRR!!!

I was looking back on my blog today, and I noticed a few words here and there underlined in green. At first I thought I had spelled them wrong, but then when I put my arrow on the word, an advertisement box popped up!!! I did not do this and do not know how to remove them. I am working on it though. So, please disregard any green underlined words and try not to put your arrow on them. I feel invaded. Grrrrr.....

So Sad...


I am so sad. Landon had to have a tooth pulled yesterday.
(That's not why I am sad, but I'll get back to that later.)
Monday night he woke up with a horrible toothache.
So, Tuesday morning off to the dentist he went.
His permanent tooth was coming in and pushing on
his baby tooth, causing all the pain. So, they had to pull it.
It was a baby tooth, but one of the big ones from the back.
He came home really upset and crying.
I think he was more upset because
 it was scary that they had to pull it,
 then he was because it hurt.
They had him numbed up pretty good.
But the reason I am sad,
is because not once did he ever mention...
THE TOOTH FAIRY!
All his other teeth, he could hardly wait for night to come
so he could leave it out for the tooth fairy. Granted, it
has been a long time since he has lost any teeth, but still....
My baby boy is growing up!
I know if I ask him about it, he will say something like:
"Just give me the money mom..."
and break my heart.
I still believe in the tooth fairy.
Don't you?

Monday, February 8, 2010

Winter Wonderland


Walking in a Winter Wonderland....
O.k. Seriously.
Enough of this crap already!
Bring on Spring!!!!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Fun With The Freng's!


I have three friends.
 Tons of acquaintances, but only three friends.
You know, the kind who you can call at three in the morning and say:
 "I just killed my husband. I need you to help me bury the body."
They won't ask questions.
They will just show up in five minutes with a shovel.
Jo is one of those friends. I love her.
I can also now officially say,
 that I have had a cherry bomb and survived.
Thanks Jo!!!
(And thanks for all the laughs last night! I needed that.)

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Happy Day!

Happy Birthday to me. :)

Thursday, February 4, 2010

It's My Life.

I've got a birthday coming up. Yep, another one. Funny how when you are a child, it seems to take forever for your birthday to come. You can't wait for 4 because then you can start school like the big kids do. Then you wait for 5 so you can go to school every day! Yes! Every day, yippee! Then you wait for 13 because then you will be a teenager, and there's nothing better than being able to say the word "teen" after your number. Then you wait for 15 so you can take your drivers test and terrorize your parents. Then you wait for 18 so you can graduate from high school. Yes! Can't wait to get out of the house! Then you wait for 21 so you can "legally" drink, even though you've probably been doing that since your teens. Then you wait for 22 or 23 so you can graduate from college. You can't wait to be done with going to school every day! But, once you hit 30 then the brakes come on. The birthdays just start flying by! I swear it was just a week ago that I was at the movies and the Rusty with the girls on my birthday. Turns out it was a year ago. How does that happen??? When I hit 35 I decided I wasn't going to celebrate birthdays anymore. I hated adding a number to my age every year. I was always 29 and holding. I didn't want to talk about it. I just didn't like getting older. There were so many things I hadn't done that I thought I would have accomplished by that age. My check list wasn't very checked. Life was flying by too fast. Then last year I took a good look at life. My life. I've had a crazy, happy, sad, disturbing, exciting, wonderful and great life up to this point. I have earned every wrinkle and grey hair. Now the only thing on my check list is to live to be a 100! (With my grandma's genes, I believe I can do it too!) I can work on that check list anytime. This is my new attitude! My life is nothing like the way I planned it, but I've got it pretty darn good. It can only get better from here. Now I am going to welcome each birthday as they come. Not exactly jumping up and down welcoming, but accepting. When someone asks me how old I am, I am going to say I am ONLY 42.
I've got a lot of livin' left to do.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Happy Birthday Tim!

Happy Birthday Tim! You will always be my favorite ground hog.
Love you bunches!
Desiree
XOXOX

Happy Birthday Dad!
I love you too.
Landon
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Monday, February 1, 2010

I Love To Read!


Landon's teacher, Mrs. Lanter
 sent me this picture of
Tim and Landon reading in the library this morning.
That was so sweet!!!

I Love To Read Month


February is I LOVE TO READ month at school.
Landon decided to design his own T-shirt this morning.
The little squares are books.
A job well done!