It Was A Long Ride Home

Sigh.

Yesterday was a tough day. Not only was the temperature at 1 degree, the Packers' performance was dismal at best, Todd had caught Tommy's achy vomit bug, and I had the worst cramps of my life (my first period in almost two years decided to show up yesterday-TMI, I know, but oh well) beat out only by child birth.

Still we were determined to have a good time. We were lucky enough to find prime seats in a little restaurant in the atrium at the stadium and watched the Patriots/Chargers game before the Packers game started. It was warm and cozy, and everyone was in a good mood. That was probably the best we felt for the rest of the day.

I won't bore with all the sad details of the game. Either you watched it and saw how flat the Packers played, or you didn't, and you lucked out. But I will tell you that I am still very proud of my Packers for making it this far. They had a bad game yesterday, and that is all there is to it. We were outplayed by the Giants who obviously wanted it more. The Giants fans were respectful and friendly, and I will definitely be rooting for them when they take on the Patriots and that annoying Tom Brady in the Superbowl. Go Giants!

********************************************************************

Without further ado, I give you the nominations for the Best Packer Fan of the Year!

The first nominee is Kathryn. Anyone who endures a 1 degree temperature with horrible cramps and hot flashes deserves a slight nod. She sweat through the majority of the game until late in the third quarter when she realized she couldn't feel her toes. Add to that the fact that later that night when she got home she threw up because the crampy pain was so bad and you can see she is a devoted fan.

The second nominee is Todd. Even though he was holding back his vomit, his back felt achy and broken, and he had the chills on top of the plummeting temps, he managed to smile and cheer for his team. Well, except for in this pic.

The third nominee is Florida Girl. She and her boyfriend made the long trip all the way from Florida to see their beloved team. However, she was so cold she could barely look up from her scarf most of the time. No one even saw her face except for when she was able to squeak out, "Everyone tells you how cold it is. They tried to warn us. But nothing can prepare you for this. This is crazy."
The fourth and final nominee is Packer Elvis. He has been at every Packer game since, I don't know, Elvis? Just walking through the parking lot he was swamped by Packer fans (including our first nominee) who wanted a pic with him. He was gracious enough to take photos and then had his bodyguards turn people away.

So my dear readers, who shall it be? Who wins the coveted award? Go to the poll on the side of my blog and cast your vote.

The nominations are in participation with Monday Missions, sponsored by Painted Maypole.

Lambeau, Here We Come!

So much for college

The boys can get scholarships.

We're off to Lambeau!

********

Going into debt

So we can see the big game.

Great fans or just dumb?

********

I'm going to freeze!

With temps in the negative

It is soooo worth it.

********

Just to watch Brett Favre

Take on those pesky Giants

Will warm me right up!

Ok. So the tickets weren't that bad. The hubby found a deal on ebay too good to refuse from a guy in our area. Todd has never been to a game this big (me either) and didn't want to have any regrets. When is the next time we will be able to go to a game like this? Ya just never know. I'm just kind of a cheap-o, and always have trouble spending money. But, don't worry, our boys college fund is safe. Once we start saving for it. Ha!

This is us from the last playoff game we went to in January of 2004. It was just the Wildcard game, but it was still very exciting. See how bundled we are in the photo? It was only about 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and my toes still got icy. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle the negative temperatures on Sunday. I was thinking that in addition to my 8 layers of clothing I will also bring Todd's brand new Wiggy's sleeping bag (that we won from Made in America, thankyouverymuch!), stuff myself inside, and just peek my head out. Might not be a bad idea.

I'd tell you to keep an eye out for me, since we have fabulous seats, but I will be so bundled up only my eyes will be showing. Guess I won't paint my face like I did in the above pic. And no need for those cute little cheese wedge earrings my mother-in-law lent me last time. And no, I do not own a cheesehead. Although, I do think they are kinda funny.

Okay, now let me hear it all you Packer backers...

Go Pack, Go!

All In A Days Work

It is not even noon and already I've had a full day. Never mind all the cleaning, serving of meals, playing, and general tidying I normally do. Today I was also comforter, teacher, and audience. So far today has been about...

Comforting my little goldenbear as he fights off a nasty vomit bug. He has puked 11 times (but whose counting?) since last night, and is still feeling achy and yucky. Sometimes it amazes me that I am the grown-up now. I am the comforter, not the comforted. How did that happen? Am I really old enough to be doing this? Oh yeah, I'm 31. Huh. Why do I still feel like I did when I was just out of high school?

The real mommy moment came when I was cutting up a banana and adding it to a bowl with milk and sugar for my little sickie (just like my mom used to do for me when I was sick). I'm still blown away by the fact that I am a mom sometimes. And three boys? Wow.

This is how Tommy started the day out. He didn't want to do much of anything. Poor babes.Then he told me he was hungry. Surely, a good sign! Here he is happily munching on his bananas and milk. Please note the puke bowl near by. And yes. We used it again later to get rid of said bananas. After that, we were back to looking like this.

All the while little Ben tries to get my attention too. One of his favorite activities is watching the birds come up to our window to eat their birdseed. He is constantly asking me, ever so politely, to pick him up so he can see them.

Um, mama, can you pick me up? "No Benny, I'm trying to get Joey his lunch."

Mama, you're so mean! I just wanna see for a minute!!!

"Fine, just for a minute!" says the mean lady. Guess he is not always so polite.
"You see, Benny? That is a sparrow. One lonely, little sparrow. It is kind of like a rat with wings, daddy says. I kind of like them. Although I like Chickadees better." And so concluded our birdy lesson for the day. He was happy on the floor for about 3 minutes until he wanted to see the birds again.

Then there is Joey. Also competing for my attention by showing me his many different silly faces.

Ya gonna make me beg, woman?

Ok, Joey, you've got my attention. He starts telling me about a book daddy is reading to him. He says, "Mom, tonight we are gonna read chapter 4. And in chapter 4 it gets really scary. Cuz in chapter 4 there is a VOLCANO!" So I say, "Well, maybe daddy shouldn't read that part if it is so scary." And he responds, "Well, it's not scary to me. I mean, I AM 4 years old!" Well, shoot, he's practically a man already!

Duh, mom! I'm 4 years old!

Which brings you up to date. The boys are off to sleep (hopefully) in their beds for (hopefully) at least two hours. I am off to eat some lunch and clean up any remaining vomit I may have missed from before.

Ahhhh. The glamorous life. Ya gotta love it. And, I do.

Wordless Wednesday- Best Buds

Wake Me When January Is Over

I really don't like January. It seems to be one of those "what for"s. I wish we could just skip over the entire month. Is there anything good about this month? Just yuck. It is cold, and long, and coming off of the holiday highs just makes it that much more blah. Everyday seems to be dreary and sad. It just makes me depressed.

Although the sun is actually shining today I still feel slow and sluggish. I haven't been feeling well lately, either. I have a fever, and my body is achy and cold. My stomach is crampy, my head is poundy, and I just want to curl up under my covers and come out when it is spring.

Luckily, when the hubby came home for lunch he watched our screaming banshees while I took an extra long shower. Nothing like a hot shower to pull you back from the dead. I felt somewhat normal again. I walked into the living room after my shower and the hubby says, "A package came for you.". Huh? For me? A package for me? Weeeeeehooooo!!! I felt like a little kid. It was from Jen at Get In The Car! She had a giveaway at her site, and I had won. She sent me two books and some tea. What a lovely, lovely lady. It sounds silly, but her kind gesture really did help to turn my mood around. Thank you so much, Jen!

Also, I took my daily click on over to read what Kellan had to say at On The Upside, and found out that she had given me an award. Yeah! It is the "A Roar For Powerful Words!" award. This award means so much to me coming from Kellan because I really love the way she writes. If you haven't already visited her today you must click on over because her post is both scary and hilarious all at the same time. She is awesome!

I would like to pass this award on to the Painted Maypole as her posts always give us so much to think about. She writes with a conscience and with passion. I always love reading her blog.
Alright, my head is starting to get foggy and sloshy again. Now that the boys are down for their naps I think I'd better seize this opportunity, grab one of my new books, a nice hot cup of tea, and get in my pampering time.

Oh yeah, and one more thing...

Go Packers!!!!!

The First of Scrolling Saturday

Melissa and Coleen have created a brand new meme called Scrolling Saturday. The idea is to take an old post that you wrote when you first started blogging (and you were the only one reading your posts) and repost it so it can get it's much deserved props. I decided that I would repost my dad's birthday tribute seeing how I just had a huge post about my mom. I started out writing this as a simple birthday message, and it just kept getting longer and longer. It was originally written and posted on November 15, 2007. Hope you like it!

*****************************************************************

Yesterday was my Dad's 76th birthday. I went to the store and stood for quite a while trying to pick out the perfect cards. One card would be from the boys, and one from the hubby and I. As I looked, my eyes fell on a card with a picture of a little girl sitting on her daddy's lap. I read it, and I started to cry. It was so true to my Dad and I. It said that Daddy was the first man to ever place a whiskery kiss on her cheek. The first pal she ever had. The first man she ever loved. The first man ever to believe in her. I just sat there reading, and crying, wondering if Daddy could appreciate this card.

My Dad has always been a very sensitive person. Full of emotion. But these days, it is hard to know what he will be feeling at any given moment. More so, it is difficult to know what he will be able to understand.

Daddy has Alzheimer's. He has had it for at least the last seven years, but has gotten much worse over the last two. Watching him slowly loose memory and ability has been enormously painful, to say the least. But even worse, seeing my Dad's personality slowly disappear. Words can not express the sorrow.

My Dad has always been a caretaker, a romantic, a joker, the life of the party. He could do anything. He could build anything. He was a sportsman. He played semi-professional football. He could sing like an angel. He had leads in numerous musicals. He was a fabulous dancer and every one watched my Dad in awe as he swept me across the floor to Frank Sinatra's "The Way You Look Tonight" when we danced the father/daughter dance at my wedding. He sang in the church choir and people would come to midnight mass every Christmas Eve to hear Dad sing "O Holy Night". He was a storyteller. A joker. He was a hard worker. The "go-to guy". You could always depend on Dad. He stood up for what he believed in. He ALWAYS took care of those who could not take care of themselves.

My favorite story is about my Dad when he was in third grade. Dad had heard that a group of fourth grade boys were following one of their classmates out of school and beating him up because he was Jewish. Dad (who is Catholic) told the Jewish boy that he would walk him home from now on, and when they left that day the fourth grade boys followed them. They told Dad to get lost because they wanted to "take care" of the Jewish boy. Dad stood directly in front of the boy and told the fourth graders, "If you want to get to him, you've got to get through me first!" He took them all on, and won. The fourth graders never bothered the boy again.

That's my Dad. It still is, really. I can still see him in there sometimes. Some days he is the Dad I know. Other days he is lost inside himself somewhere. The disease has eaten away at his personality making him vulnerable and unsure of himself. My Mom takes wonderful care of him (which is a miracle in itself as she is also fighting terminal cancer), but recently we have been wondering if it is getting to the point where he should be in an assisted living facility. More than once he has wandered off. Thankfully, he still knew enough to stop at a gas station and tell them he is lost.

So, for his birthday this year I was questioning what kind of card I could get him. What would he understand? I know he still understands some jokes, so a happy card might be a good idea. But when I saw this card, I just had to get it. Maybe more for myself, than for him. I walked out of the store with three cards. One from the boys, one from hubby and me, and one from just me.

Mom brought Dad over to my house yesterday before they were to go on their daily walk. I greeted them at the door and told Dad "Happy Birthday" right away. "It's my birthday? Oh, that's nice."  Dad said. He happily came in. He was in a good mood. A birthday gift in itself. He sat down on the couch and played with the boys. Although he sometimes forgets who my Mom is, who I am, who my siblings are, he always seems to know the boys.

I brought in his presents (his favorite chocolate covered raisins and chocolate turtles) and his cards. He managed to open one of the envelopes, but got confused with the rest. My Mom opened them for him, and the boys happily opened his presents for him. I watched his face as my Mom read the cards to him, searching for a clue of understanding. He smiled and said how nice they were.

Then she got to my card. As she read it her eyes welled up with tears, as did mine. Dad listened, and began to laugh at us, confused as to why we were crying. He didn't get it. And it was ok. Mom and I gave each other knowing looks, and moved on.

We played with the boys and Ben showed Grandma and Grandpa how he can stand up by himself. We talked about the beautiful day outside. I showed them my new blinds.

I noticed Dad had been holding something in his hand the whole time. It was my card. He kept looking at it. Reading it again and again, trying to catch it's meaning. The other cards sat next to him. This one he held.
As my parents got up to go on their walk I noticed my card still in his hand. And I don't know, maybe I am telling myself this in some false hope, but I really think he got it. I think he felt the love in that card. I think it was another birthday gift, this time from God, and not just to Dad but to me as well.

Bathroom Bliss

The bathroom is done

I can finally shower

While standing upright

Three long and torturous months and it is finally done. A wall was knocked down, the floor was ripped up, and all new pipes (we're up to code now!) were put in. This bathroom is in our basement underneath the stairs, so we didn't have a ton of room to work with. Hence, the knocking down of one wall which managed to give us an extra two feet of space. Our shower is now 5 feet by 3 1/2 feet of pure bliss. We even have one of those brand new Kohler rain shower plates in the ceiling of our shower. It is a dream come true for my hubby. I think my favorite part is the heater. I love that I don't have to freeze every time I step out of the shower. Aaaaahhh.

It may not look like a whole lot, but it is pure heaven for us. I wish I had before pictures to show you. I forgot to take any before the carpenter started ripping everything out. The previous bathroom looked like a moldy, nasty, dark, ugly cave. I was actually thinking of submitting it into TLC's "Ugliest Bathroom in America" contest. The shower wasn't even a plastic unit, it was four plastic walls and a plastic base that you kind of "stick" together. It was heinous and small. You could barely turn around to get the shampoo without knocking your elbows on the wall. So bad.

These pictures don't really do my new, lovely bathroom justice. It is much bigger than it looks in these pics. And yes, we have a toilet. I just thought I didn't need to post a pic of the toilet since we all know what they look like. Ours is purple with big, orange polka dots and a fuzzy, red tassle trim. Ya know, your typical toilet.

Anyway, I talked about this bathroom on my blog so many times I figured I should post a few pictures. Do you feel the love? Aaaahhh.