Sharing some new paintings I have done

Turquoise Trees

My Puppy Tullah Bea

3 Generations, Me & My Sister, My Mom, and My Grandma

Turquoise Forest

Lady in Blue

Random things about me

Do you still talk to the person you lost your virginity to? Yes, everyday.
Are you Irish in any way? Nope, not in the least.
Have you ever drank Jack Daniels? Yes, but I didn't like it.
What are you wearing on your feet? The slippers I got for Christmas
Favorite carnival food? Cheese Curds
What were you doing at 9:59 PM on Friday night? I can't remember, but on Saturday I was at Dave and Busters
Is your bedroom window open? Nope, it's frickin cold outside
Do you remember the person you first kissed? Yes
Ever kissed someone younger than you? Yes, everyday
Do you regret your last kiss? NopeWhat time did you get up today? 7:30am
What are you listening to currently? My dogs barking at eachother
How old will you be in 3 birthdays?36
Will you be married by then? I'.m married already. I better be married then
If you could be anywhere, where would it be? On some new adventure with my husband.
Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed? On the left side if you are standing at the foot of the bed.
Ever stolen a street sign?ummm... nope, but I watched some one take one
Do you know how to drive a stick shift? I did it once.
Do you wear any jewelry 24/7? My wedding rings
Who is the funniest person you know? My nephew Naz
Do you still have clothes from when you were little? Nope
What are you mad about right now? My back has been aching for days
What are you allergic to? Just a bunch of medicines
What did you dress up as for Halloween? Mother Nature
What is your favorite salad dressing? Peppercorn Ranch or Italian
Are your parents still together? No, they've been divorced almost my whole life.
Is your current hair color your natural hair color? yep
Who was the last friend in your house? Natalie, Jeremy, and Aaron Fischer
Has anyone ever mistaken you for someone else? No, not really
Next vacation you're going on? Chicago in June
Where will you be in an hour? Post office probably
What happened at 10:00 am today? Nothing
What's your favorite Gatorade flavor? berry
Who was the last person you rode in a car with? Jerry
Do you trust people easily? Yes
What do you look forward to in the next 3 months? Starting the matching process to adopt children.

Tuesday

When Jerry got home on Tuesday night he loved the new storage on the garage landing and agrees that we should add another long 4 tier basket. I like when things work out that way and we both agree on things like that.

We got a sad call yesterday from Jer's mom. Jer's aunt Judy was being taken off her life support in the evening. She had been in an induced coma because she was having problems with her transplanted heart. Her anti-rejection drugs weren't working and she developed pnemonia. Anyway, she was doing better and they were trying to wake her up from the coma, but she was too weak. There was nothing else to be done, so her son and granddaughter decided to pull the plug on the life support. I feel really bad for my Mother-in-law, because she and Aunt Judy were close. They were sisters-in-law. I do think it's amazing that she lived as long as she did. She has always had a weak heart, but was able to have a transplant 7 years ago. What a miracle that she lived so much longer then was expected.

Other then those events yesterday, I can't say that I have too much more going on in my world.

It's Time To Organize

Today I organized the cupboard above my stove. Yay! It was getting really full and everytime I opened it something fell out at me. You see the cabinet above my stove is where I keep all my spices and baking goods. In the past I tried to keep spices on one side and baking stuff on the other, but it's been getting pretty mixed up.To get the organization started I put the two racks on the doors.

This is the spice side.

This is the baking and bottle side.

I am very pleased with the finished project.

Next, this is the view looking into my garage. Now that we have a Sam's Club membership there's lots of extra cans and boxes of things, so I got this 4 tiered shelf and it works great. I am thinking that I might need another one with deeper shelves to hold TP and paper towel overflow.

Not having a job has turned me into the happy homemaker. I cook for the hubbins ever night, and even bake cookies and breads, and things that I have never made before. I also clip coupons, and make shopping lists. It's quite the transformation. I'm sure it will go back to normal again once I rejoin the world of the employed.

What our Kids would look like

On Saturday night we went to Dave and Busters with some friends. In the arcade section there's a photo booth that will take 2 photos and figure out what your kids would look like, so Jerry and I did a boy and a girl. Here's little Charles and Marissa. These are the names our children would have if we had some of our own. I don't really see any resemblance to us, but they take facial demensions etc, so I think it's gotta be somewhat close. Although, both Jerry and I have blue eyes and neither of these kiddos do.

Notice little mans popped collar. What a cool guy our son would be.
Little missy her has nice skin, that must come from me since mine is so fair. There's something about those teeth that bother me though. Then again mine were pretty aweful at that age.

Drip, Drip, Drip

My head had felt stuffy for days, but last night, my nose began to drip like crazy. I have been blowing my nose every 5 minutes.

Jerry and I were talking last night and we have now made about 1000.00 selling things on e-bay and we are going to get new carpet for the lower level and the stairs, and I am really excited about that. We really need to get our room remodeled in the basement so we can get our extra room ready for kidlets.

I got an interesting e-mail yesterday from our social worker who was supposed to be starting her new job this week. Now that I am unemployed that needs to be added to our homestudy. She said that it won't affect us because Jerry makes enough money that we can still support children without my income. However, she didn't say she was done with our homestudy. It almost sounded like she hadn't finished it. How can that be? She's had months to work on it.

Still Employed

Jerry called me this morning at 10:30 with some great news! He's still employed. They are doing mandatory layoffs today, but he's safe and still has a job! This is such a relief, now we don't have to be so careful with our money. We have been trying to save every penny that we have, but now, it will be okay to buy some things that we have been putting off. Maybe now we can start the remodelling of the master bedroom and we can get regain the space that we currently aren't using because we didn't want to spend the money needed for sheetrock and carpet.

This morning I spent a few hours redoing my resume and posting it on Monster.com. I haven't changed the format of it in 8 years, so I felt like I would try and freshen it up to see if it would help me get more people to look at it. In an hour or so, I will be heading off to the post office for my daily visit. Then I'm going over to the grocery store to get a few essentials. I'm thinking about making stuffed pork chops for dinner. I have to his www.myrecipe.com to find a good recipe first.

Hair Cut

I finally went to get my hair cut today. It's needed it for a week or two, but since I had the money I decided to go. I went at 3:30 and only had to wait a few minutes to get in. I got a girl that I have had before and was excited because I was pretty happy with the cut she gave me last time.

Tomorrow Jerry will find out if he is going to be laid off in a month. I am really hopping that he won't. First, we really need one of us to be working and I need to have the insurance for my arthritis treatments. Second, he's planning to take a week off if he doesn't get his notice and that means that we will be able to have a week off together, but I am sure he will take it off during March Madness like he does every year.

Babies and Siblings

My sister-in-law and her boyfriend, the dad to all 3 of SIL's kids don't like photos of their kids on the internet, so I am posting one where you don't really see the baby. But, let me assure you he's perfect in every way. He's the spitting image of his 3 year old brother Naz. I wonder where that saying comes from "spitting image". Anyway, he weighted 8lbs 15oz, and was 21 inches long. He's got black hair and brown eyes, and the cutes little fingers and toes. Oh, I can show you those too, no faces in those pics.

The larger hand in the photo above is my niece, his big sister.

Well, once we got to the hospital SIL decided that she would like us to take the kids overnight and bring them home on Sunday when they got home with the baby. They looked just beat and drained and I knew that they needed to get some good rest, mom and dad and kids included. So, Jerry and I took Naz and Tekaija to get some lunch then back to our house to relax for the night. They both fell asleep on the way home, but neither took a nap when we got there, although I could tell that they needed it.

Naz aged 3 seemed more interested in playing with us and having a good time while he was with us, but Tekaija aged 9 was really sad to have to leave the baby and couldn't wait to get back home. I know how she feels. I felt the same way when my brother Jay and sister Kirstie were born.

Anyway, it was a bonus for us that we got to spend some time with Naz and TK this weekend as well as meeting baby Izryel. Notice they have added an "e" to the official spelling of his name. They decided that 2 minutes before filling out the birth certificate.

Baby Izryl is here!

I am so excited. My sister-in-law gave birth last night to a healthy little boy. I didn't take the call, so I'm a little bumbed because the hubs didn't get any specifics like weight, measurements, or even ask if he looks like her other 2 kids. He did get her phone number at the hospital, but I don't feel right calling until at least 9 am. I can't wait to see the little miracle. I don't know if I explained her situation or not, and I am too lazy to dig through old posts, so if you've hear this before just ignore what I'm about to write.
My sister-in-law never planned to have children, she didn't want any, but "accidently" got pregnant when she was 18. Personally, I don't know how you can decided when your a teenager that you don't want kids, but that's my opinion. At that age you really don't know what you want. Anyway, she wanted to get her tubes tied at that point, but MN law says you got to wait until you are 21, so she didn't. Well, Six years after having her first, she "accidently" got pregnant again and this time had her tubes tied. Unfortunatly for her, she's the 1 in 10,000 that it didn't work for, and she got pregnant with this little miracle 9 months ago.
It's just goes to show that God has a bigger plan for us that even we can't change. It helps me when I try and understand why I am not able to have children of my own. I am ment for a different purpose. I am ment to be a forever mom to children who needs me.

Looking Forward to Lunch with My sister

On Fridays my sister gets off work at 12:00, and we have planned to have lunch. Now that she lives about 35-40 minutes away we don't see much of eachother anymore. She's also moved in with her boyfriend, and that keeps her pretty busy too, not to mention my mom lives 20 minutes away from her and they are pretty close. Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing her today because we usually have a lot of fun together. Hopefully, she will agree to go to the Olympia Cafe so I can have the Gyros I have been craving for days, but if not that's alright by me to.
Melanie and I are 2 years apart in age. When we were younger we didn't get along so well. We had to share a room and since we were so close in age we could share clothes and even had the same friends. It was really tough because being the oldest, I didn't want to have to share things like friends with her. I wanted to break away and have my own life.
Now, it's totally different. I love that we know all of the same people and we have so many things in common. It's really just comforting. I feel bad that all my other brothers and sisters are so much younger, and I don't feel that tight bond with them that I do with Melanie. It's more of a motherly bond since I was old enough to be their mothers when they were all born. I feel protective and nurturing with them. For crying out loud, I changed their diapers, and held them when they cried.
So, needless to say, I plan on having a good laugh with my sister today. I need it with all the stress of looking for a job, and the lack of response form our SW.

Look What I made

Last week I bought a knitting pattern book for making stuffe toys. Look at the little Turtle that I just made. I do still have to put some eyes on it, but I will need to go buy the buttons first. I'm really proud. It's not just another teddy bear. It's another animal with pretty green and brown yarn.

What do you think?

Adoption Update:

I called and left a message with our SW yesterday morning to nail everything down before her last day on Friday. I didn't get a call back, or an e-mail. I guess I really didn't expect that I would. Hopefully, I will hear from her today. If not, I'm going to have to call her supervisor and find out what's going on with our paperwork etc.

Kids and Cameras

When Naz and Tekaija are around I always have my camera handy, and they almost always want to take pictures with it. I usually let them. They are both very careful, and always remember to put the strap around their necks. The photo above was taken by my nephew Naz of my husband. I think he did really well. Maybe we have a budding photographer on our hands. I really feel a kindred spirit with little Naz. I love Tekaija, Michael, and Brice, but little Naz and I have a special bond because we like the same kinds of things.

Here's the photo that Naz took of me. Boy, I can see my crows feet and my double chin. Although, the picture is technically in focus and he did a good job. I don't like it because I can see the parts of me that I don't like. I dunno how I let myself gain back all that weight that I lost. It's really a downer. I have all this time on my hands now that I am home all day, you would think that I would hop on the treadmill for a 1/2 each day. However, I never seem to get up the motivation to do that.

Well, It's hump day, right? Only two more days until the weekend. You gotta love that.

It's been raining here since yesterday afternoon and my backyard looks like soup. The good thing about the rain is that it melted a lot of the snow in my front yard and I can now see the grass. It's also melting the ice at the bottom of our driveway that we have been chopping away at for months.
I'm pretty frustrated that there's been something going on with the cable since yesterday. When I try to change the channel it goes back to 1 and I have to go up to the channel I want station by station instead of using the guide.
Since Valentines day is Saturday, I went to Michaels yesterday and got some candy melts to make lollipops for Naz, Tekaija, Jerry, and a few other people. I can't afford to do much, but I still feel like celebrating a bit. Besides, it will give me something to do since my days seem to drag on an on since I don't have work to go to anymore.
Today, I will give my Social Worker a call so that I can see where she's at and what we should expect to happen next. I need to find out who our new worker will be for the matching process etc. It feels to go to be true that we are finally in the homestretch of the pre-process.

Friday came and went with no update from our social worker. I will be giving her a call today. My waiting period is over for unemployment, so I will finally be getting a check this week. On the job front I have sent out like 100 resumes and I have heard nothing from any of them. Damn economy. I have never had this much trouble getting calls on my resume before when I sent them out.

This weekend was great. On Saturday morning Jerry took me to see the movie Push. It was pretty good. After that we went and picked up our niece and nephew to have them over to play and spend the night. They are so easy to have over and they are no troube at all. We painted pictures, made cupcakes which they decorated with redhots and spinkles, danced, took pictures, and made blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes on Sunday morning. I always try to have some project for them to do and I alway let them help me bake. They don't get to do much of it at home. Naz, my nephew especially loves to help me cook. Maybe he'll be a chef someday. That or a professional dancer. He sure does have the moves for it.

My sister-in-law still hasn't had the baby yet and she just looks misserable. Her belly is so big, but it's all baby and I am sure that her belly will be back to normal in no time after she delivers.

Today, the plan is to just hang out, send resume's and hit the post office. We sold 12 more things on e-bay over the weekend. If I found a wholesaler or vendor with some good stuff, I could make that a good living selling things on e-bay.

New Member

Sam's Club - Ideal Post-Zombie Apocalypse Headquarters, originally uploaded by arcanamundi.

Well, Jerry and I are now members of Sam's Club!!! Can you believe I went in there board and hungry and didn't come out with anything I didn't need? I would call that great will power and determination.

There were people in there with overflowing carts and I couldn't help but wonder, where the heck do these people live that they have enough space to put that stuff in their house? I don't have the luxury of having a big pantry, so there's now way I could buy the amount of stuff that these people were buying.

It will be nice when we finally are able to build our new house and have a great big pantry to buy all the things I don't need in BULK.

Ugh...

Well, today was a pretty blah day. I had a doctor's appointment so I had a chance to get out of the house somewhere other then the post office, which these days seems to be my home away from home. My doctor knows that we are in the process of adoption through fostercare. However, she always forgets that she has already told me that she has done it as well. Her experience wasn't really great, but she says it's because she chose the toughest kid.

I am not great still, so I was afraid to be too far away from home in case I got sick. My tummy still has gurgelly sound effects and that's a bit unnerving, but so far I have had no side effects from the noise. So, keeping that in mind I just went to the doc, the post office and back home. Now I am just hanging with my animals waiting for my husband to get home.

Feeling a bit Dizzy

I think I might have caught a bug. I have been feeling a bit dizzy today. I hope that it goes away before 7:00pm. Jerry and I are supposed to go to a movie screening tonight for Slumdog Millionaire at Southdale for Best Buy. I'm worried that I will be able to make it to the post office at this point.
You know, one of the best things about being able to stay home all day is all the old movies on cable that I wouldn't be able to see if I had to work all day. Today, I was able to watch First Night, Forever Young, and yesterday I watched Big Momma's house.
I talked to Sunni today after she got home from the doc. Turns out that she's dialated to 1cm, and they stripped her membranes again today! Hopefully, that means that things will get moving in the next few days. This is all too exciting.
On the adoption front I haven't heard anything new from our Social Worker, but she's still got a couple of days left until the end of the week. I'm still holding out hope that she'll come through.

Visitors

I was amazed to see how many visitors I had to my blog yesterday after mentioning it on my facebook page. It's kind of fun to see the spike in readers on my dashboard. For all the people that came over from facebook, feel free to leave comments on my posts if you want. For everyone reading my blog, if there's something that you wanna hear about, just ask and I will answer your questions. I am running out of things to talk about now that my days are all the same. Who would have thought that not having a job would make life so boring. It's not that I don't like all the free time, it's just not fun stuff to talk about. At least I don't think it is.

Shower in Review

I was in charge of Decorations and Games. Here's what our tables looked like. Notice the cupcakes. I also made the centerpieces for the tables. All the stuff came from the dollar store. Now that I am jobless, the more money I can save the better.

Then, there's the candy pacifiers that I made from jelly beans, royal icing, and peppermint life savers. These were a real hit with the kids. I have seen these made before at a shower 4 years ago and I couldn't wait to try them out.

The rest of the food was amazing. My mother-in-law just outdid herself with crab cakes, two kinds of meatballs, mini quishes, three kinds of chicken wings, mini sandwhiches, pasta salads and much more. Needless to say we all got to take home leftovers.

My sister-in-law Sunni holding the bear that I made for baby Izryl. With all the gifts that she recieved I know that she has the things that she needs to welcome her little bundle home. I know that she was worried that he would be born before the shower, but lucky for her and those of us giving the shower, he stayed put, and now has plenty of clothes, bottles, and diapers when he comes home.

I always get pretty emotional at showers. I tried not to think about myself most of the day, but once Sunni opened handmade sweaters and blankets from her grandma and mother, I began to get sad. It's not that I don't think they will knit or crochet for my kids, or even that they won't have a shower for me, because they said they will. It's just the grieving for the baby I will never carry. When will that feeling go away? I suppose it never will.

Enough wining. I am on pins and needles waiting for the phone call from the SW this week telling us that everything is done and we are set to go on matching!