Prison Life

Is SO not for me.
But it would be kinda fun to work there.
And they do have nice folks that work there.
After an hour's wait, and 3 times through the metal detector,
I finally got to go in and get Tommy's check.

Was pretty fun if I do say so myself.
Tonight there's a baseball game (last one of the regular season) and possibly Boy Scouts in my evening. In between we may have supper...tater tot hotdish made by the boy even.

Toodles for now...more work to finish up before lunch.
Love,
TT

What Is Not To Love

Ahhh...the soothing sounds of Julian Lennon.
Yeah, I know he's so 80's.
Yeah, I know he's so passe`.
Yeah, I know he's so not hot anymore.
But it's all good.
Just kick back, relax, and enjoy the sweet, soothing sounds of the keys and his voice.
Happy Monday.

Love,
TT

Sunday's Sonnet

I'm all alone once again.
I sent Tommy packing.
Well actually I packed his bags for him.
Heh.
And sent him on his merry way to Forsythe for Police Academy.
Too bad it's not like the movie.
Although him and Steve Guttenberg have the same sense of humor.
Heh.

So, I got my schoolwork done and my closet cleaned out and all the clothes put away that were stacked on my chair...Thanks Mom for THAT habit.
Tonight I'll watch some Extreme Home Makeover (since Lynn is living it) and read my text for this next week. Time to buckle down and get it done.

We'll see how it goes this week. I may need some moments of sanity.
Don't let me forget to pick up Tommy's check on Tuesday!!
Man, I better make a list....where is Torm when I need her??

Happy Sunday!
Love,
TT

Friday's Musings

I swear...I've had this headache for a week now.
We are slowly getting over the flu around here and life as we know it is returning.
This will be a short post...the boss is here and I'm at work.
I just didn't want you to think I forgot about you, my readers.
Oh and say a prayer for a little girl named Katie today. She's at Minneapolis Children's having a brain surgery. She's also the niece of Kim Kesti and a post by Kim can be read on her blog...link to the right...over there-------->.
I know that little girl is in the best hands and they work miracles there. I know this because our family has one...Ashley.
I'll post more tomorrow.
Toodles.
Love,
TT

Back To Life....

Back to Reality!!
I get to go back to work today.
I'm probably the only one person you (the reader) knows who is looking forward to going back to work today.
All my girls are feeling better and all the kids are going back to school this morning.
We'll see how they do. For now, they are fever and vomit free. YAY!
So, Toodles.
Happy Wednesday!
Love,
TT

A Fresh Look

This is the new scraproom.
While I love the color, I'd never buy KILZ again for trailer walls.
I could peel it right off if I wanted to.
I'll take a final photo when I get everything back into it. Heh.
(I'll be weeding through some stuff and either ebaying it or giving it away.)
Natalea took this out of focus shot. Everything is better in color. LOVE it!

My Disfunctional kitchen, according to Erik.

I woke up Sunday morning to find a note from my son. This is what I read:

"I can not cook super in a disfunctional kitchen. Love Erik Trump"

(Someone please tell him that cannot is one word. What's happening to our English classes?)

He came home hungry...of course...from his 8 mile pull-cart trek on Saturday. And came home to this mess in my kitchen. Gotta love room makeovers. I'll take a photo of the dining room currently housing all my scrap stuff. Heh. That'll be tomorrow's post.

Peace out y'all.

Happy Monday!

Love,

TT

A Quick Brag

First of all, this is post #400. Go ME for keeping it up.

Second of all, my children received their report cards yesterday. Go THEM!
All of them had 80 or above, except Natalea had 1 little 75. Had she gotten an 80 or above, she would have made the Honor Roll. Erik made the "B" Honor Roll and Gabby of course made the "A". Wish learning was that easy for me...she's definitely got her daddy's learning gene.

Seeing Erik's report card, raised up some questions. If he's supposedly reading at the 4th grade level, then why is he getting 80's and 90's for grades?? We'll be making this my next mission to find out...and we ALL know what happens when the word "MISSION" is involved. I'll be calling Dr. Scurry back in MN to find an outside psychologist to test my boy. Maybe he has some colleagues here, since he's from these parts and all. Yeah, it's MISSION TIME.

I'm off to pack for my day long crop...I have photos to go through to locate all of Ashley's photos. I'll be putting these to good use REAL soon....MISSION #2.
(The Rugrats are on the tv...Megan is SO Angelica-like)
Happy Saturday!
Much Love To ALL!
TT

Too Funky

Hey, you're just too funky for me....
And I'll show you heaven if you let me.

WTH? I wish he would...hehehe.

Happy Friday, y'all.
I'll be out of commish this weekend as we tear down this room and paint it up a pretty aqua-blue-ish color to go with my red accents. We're doing it this weekend 'cause we just got the word (WOOOOORRRRDDDDD!!) that Tommy won't be heading up north until next weekend. So be it then, let's paint. You can reach me by cell or telephone though...so I'm not totally outta commish.

I won't be painting however. Tommy and the girls will be painting my room for me. It's not that big and SHOULD only take an hour. SHOULD being the key word.
I will be at a crop. Thank goodness. That reminds me, I need to pick something up for lunch. We're having sandwiches and whatever we bring. Not a bad deal for $5. All day long cropping and drinks, food, and chatter. Women time, with adults. Priceless.

I better go pack up my gear and move some of this stuff to the other room. No eating on the dining room table for the weekend.

Cheerio!
Toodles!
TTFN!
(Shout out to Lynn and Quinn...Happy Remodeling!)
Love,
TT

As Promised...

See what happens when you smoke crack??

You break your leg...and have to splint it between a book and a crib railing.

Sad, but true.

Don't smoke crack.

(My kids are warped, for REALSIES!)

Thanks mom. They get it from her.

And the firepit...homemade by Gabby and Mo. Not bad for a couple of girls, Erik said.

And they are in Marshmallow heaven...or at least Mo is. I didn't get a single one.

I think she turned into a Marshmallow Girl. Now she just needs a bunch of bananas.

After the weather was going sour, here's what the living room looked like!

Wall to Wall tents...they do have an imagination.

Mo was in the red one. Nobody in the blue one. Go figure.
And stay tuned for pics of my new haircut.

I cut it...short...chin length bob with layers.

Sorta Madonna Messy-ish.

Since the 80's are coming back.

Now I need to color it.

Just before my trip back to Minnesota.

Happy Thursday!

Love,

TT

Backyard Camping 101

Saturday the girls wanted to spend the night outside in the tent...the girls meaning Gabby and Monique. So they set the tents up, built a firepit, and roasted marshmallows. Sounds fun doesn't it? They did it all by themselves, even the firepit.
Enter the weather forecast.
I told the girls I'd have to rain on their parade as it was about to rain on their campground. Mo wanted to know if they could put the tents up in the living room. I asked if they needed staking, she said no, so I said yes.
Now each of the girls got their own tent for Christmas, so I had 2 tents up in my living room and 1 whining brother who couldn't see the t.v. as they were in the way of it. Go figure.
It all worked out anyway and Mo slept in the tent, Gabby on one couch, Peanut on the other and Natalea in between the tents.
Now I do have photos, but for whatEVER reason, blogger won't upload them, so they will be posted at a later date.

I am home today though, with a sick baby. After their camping trip, Monique decided to be sick on Sunday and into this morning. So here we are. I hate being home with sick kids...I really would rather be at work. Matter of fact, I hate missing work for ANY reason. I take pride in that perfect attendance I had at Ecker's. For the whole first year. Unless I was snowed in.
Anywho, wish her a speedy recovery today.

Meanwhile, I'll work on laundry and some other things while I continue to monitor her.
Happy Monday to you!
Love,
TT

Final Grade

Algebra....70%!!!!!!!!!
Helllllllerrrrrrrrr....how ya doin'?
I love that I passed Algebra with a 70%...remember that 60% is passing...so GO ME!!
Computer Applications....90%
Digital Illustration....88%
Bringing my average to 82%...I'll take that, thank you very much!!
Especially with the Algebra...I might have made the Dean's List if I wouldn't have had that class.
This next term, that's our goal again. We need to get back on track here.
Even if it means I have to go outside at work and do my schooling.
(I can't sit at my desk anymore, they expect me to work on my lunch then.)

This next term I'll be taking Human Relations, College Writing 2, and Image Editing.
Well hello, I already edit my photos. I'm thinking "A" there.
And I already write, right? I'm thinking maybe "A" there as well.
But that Human Relations, I don't think I'm human enough to relate...hehehehe...some of you may agree!! I'm thinkin' "A" there too!

Now for the weekend agenda...
Cleaning bedrooms, and scraprooms.
Claxton's Rattlesnake Roundup festival...with a parade at 10am on Saturday...and lots of rattlesnakes. (EWWW, but ok.)
Unless it's raining, then we stay home. And maybe paint a wall or 3. And maybe a ceiling.
Pray for rain. Kids are off from school today and Monday for some sort of break. Who are they kidding? It's no break here!

And my son reads. Go him!
Everyday in the mornings...Go Ms. Randall!
We told him he has to read at least 5th grade level books and above...no little books. And outloud for at least 5 minutes. He's like me...very uncomfortable reading aloud. He doesn't want to mess up and get teased. I can relate. We'll be working on this and getting him over that fear soon.

Happy Friday, y'all.
Happy scrapping....and Congrats to Nicole Larish for getting a $1000 grant from the McKnight Foundation for creating her art!!
Love,
TT

Another Mission Accomplished!

I have been searching for an address and phone number for this girl for at least 5 years. FINALLY...thanks to the Whapeton, ND Class of 1988 website, here's what I found:

A darling photo of her and her husband..awesome that they are still together. They got married after cosmetology school in 1991. She was the wild one of our class, her and Julie Shimpa..who is on my MySpace.

Anywho, I'll be creating a cute card to send out to her this weekend...maybe I'll even print the photo and figure out a way to use it on the card. Inspirations are abundant.

Happy Wednesday!

Love,

TT

or

PP as they called me in cosmetology school....short for Peppermint Patty...hehe.

Monday Musings (Bring Your Humor!)

My New #10. As promised. He finally got up to bat at Friday's game.
Which they lost 17-4 or something like that.
At least he got to play. Some boys didn't. Which isn't real fair either.
But that's another ranting post.
On to other things...scroll down please.
This was Tommy's first day at work.
In his new duds..er..uniform..for now.
He'll get his real uniform when he completes training.
He didn't want to smile...and therefore looks grumpy.

Here's the humor. While my children (read "girls" here) were cleaning their rooms, this is how creative and constructive they make use of their time. Mind you, 2 out of 3 of those girls have completed DARE training, so I'm not worried about them contracting any bad habits soon, but one has to wonder when they got to be so demented. I know where they get it from, but when did that happen? They are so weird. Oh and for the record, I did NOT take this photo...they staged this photo shoot behind my back. Go figure. One more thing they got from me.

Oh and I PASSED Algebra...so far I have a 64%. The instructor isn't done grading the final exam yet, so I'll find out later sometime this week. But yay I PASSED at the very least!!! And because of that class, I didn't make the Dean's List this time. But this next term...I'm back to giving it my all. I have Human Relations, College Writing, and Digital Image Editing. Can you see the A's? They are well within my grasp!!

Happy Monday to everyone.

It's a beautiful day in your neighborhoood...go check it out!

Love,

TT

Clean Up, Clean Up

Hellerrrrrr,
How ya doin'?

Remember that song from Barney?
I think the Big Comfy Couch had one too during the 45 second tidy.
You don't remember? Then your kids are too old...

Anywho, that's what's snappenin' at our house today.
Cleaning up bedrooms, scrap rooms, bathrooms, etc.
Along with study time.
And scrappy time.

Scrapsuppy.com is hosting an all day crop...from midnight to midnight.
Guess who was up at 3am? Yep, I was!
I have to wait until 6am to sign into the blog, but I can start the challenges anytime!
Watch for some pages appearing at a blog near you!

And I'm sending Tommy out for some ink and chocolate.
Gotta have plenty of both for school and coffee.

In other news...
One of my former Brownie Girl Scouts lost her mother this week in a housefire.
My heart and prayers go out to Casey Hurley and her family.
You see, Casey is set to graduate with Ashley this year, as are most of the other girls in that troop. Casey was the shy one who barely talked until about the end of the meeting. She was so sweet as well and always well behaved. She did fairly well in cookie sales and was always a joy to be around.
We are saddened and shocked to hear this news.

Give thanks for what you have and be grateful today. Especially in today's economy.
Happy Saturday.
Love,
TT

Schedule Changes

Oh man, what a day already!
Tommy didn't get home until 5:30 last night.
But he had a great day, so it's all good.

Today brings on some schedule changes though.
He has to be to work at 6:15 which means leaving here at 5:30.
Which means I get no morning peace and quiet 'cause he has to get up at 4:30.
I'll have to take my shower at 5:30 so I can get ready in peace and then get the childrens up and dressed.
I'm tired already. Heh.

Tonight we have high school orientation at 6:30. They're feeding us supper, so we don't have to worry about that tonight. Whew. Also means no scouts tonight. Erik is bummed.
He likes his scouting adventures. And the guys in the troop.

We'll see what Tommy's schedule is for the rest of the week maybe.
They may just tell him day by day.
We'll see.

Happy Tuesday!
Love,
TT

One Hour and 7 Days

In just one hour my dear husband will wake up to my world and join those of us in the daytime hours of work.
Yep.
He ACTUALLY starts his job today.
I think he's as excited as I am and a little bit nervous as well.
I actually had to tell him to turn off the tv at midnight and go to sleep.
So for the next 2 weeks he'll be on the dayshift 7am-3pm and we'll get to tuck kids in together.
Then it's off to boot camp Forsythe for more extensive training where he'll spend the week up there and be home on the weekends. For 4 weeks.
I'll be spending my time doing dishes in the wee hours of my morning.
That starts today, actually.

7 days left of Algebra.
I know you are probably sick of me talking about it, but dang it I.LOATHE.ALGEBRA.
It truly is a foreign language to me. FOR REALSIES.
Because of my stress about Algebra and my workload at work, my grades have suffered and I did not, nor will I, make the Dean's List this term.
And we'll see if I hear from my student advisor or not regarding this next term's classes, before I enroll for another term.
I really need to win that Mega Millions so I can quit working and concentrate on school.

Happy Monday!
Love,
TT