when it rains...

I couldn't sleep last night, all bothered and worried about anything and everything. We realized last night that while we thought nothing had been stolen out of our car, they had taken Troy's laptop. He didn't think about it until getting things ready for work last night. So that falls under homeowner's insurance but with our deductible we can't claim that either. So the broken window and laptop will all come out of our pocket. Why does this crap happen?

Speaking of 'crap'... the seal around our toilet is leaking so we need to pull that out and replace the new tiles we laid on Sunday.

What next?

I'm trying hard to remember what didn't happen over the weekend. We weren't hit with any storm damage. Our family is all safe and alive. Is this stupid stuff like broken windows and toilets what God helps us through? I mean, I'd rather use him for the really tough stuff, but I still hear me asking Him "Why?"

Despite all of that the weekend was nice. We attended a lovely wedding reception Friday night. Got flowers planted and porches painted on Saturday. Lucy has been sleeping through the night with no middle-of-the-night waking up and crying for about a week now. Got the bathroom nearly finished on Sunday. Yesterday we were invited to grill out over at friends for lunch. Got a nice nap in and had a great lasagna dinner over at Chef Paul's. The start of my 2-week work break is in 10 days (a week up at the cabin and then a week in Vegas for an HP convention). Amidst all of that I will be turning 34. What the heck kind of number is that?! I should still be in my 20's!

And they call it puppy love - Memorial Wknd 2008

It's only half-way thru this Memorial Weekend but a lot has happened and some cute pictures needed to be uploaded!

On a very windy Friday morning, Lucy and I made our first wagon ride down to the park. She got the wagon from grandma and grandpa Hill for her birthday and it's a pretty sweet ride!

Friday evening brought us to St. Paul to the Town & Country Club for high school girlfriend Emma's wedding reception. She married Barry Travis on the St. Thomas virgin island back in February. It was a beautiful reception. I love getting back to St. Paul and the country club overlooked the river. All the high school girlfriends and their spouses shared a big round table, drank lots of wine and laughed and danced the night away to the Rockin' Hollywoods.

Until 10 o'clock. When the band announced, "does anyone here have a new Toyota in the parking lot?" Yep! Emma's dad walked us out with the manager to see that someone/something had smashed in our rear window. Glass everywhere, nothing stolen. Nothing TO steal. So why? Because it's a new car? Because Troy's jacket was in there and you thought maybe a wallet too? Who knows, but what a hassle! Nothing we could do though so we went back in to enjoy the rest of the evening. Then a very cold ride home!

Today Troy and Vicky worked in the yard, planting all the annuals. I got the porch railings painted and kept Lucy busy. Finally around 1:30 we all crashed for a nice afternoon nap.

The rest of the weekend we'll be working on the master bathroom flooring and house cleaning. It's a gorgeous night out tonight but I'm hearing forecasts of rain, which I guess would be fine if we're going to be working indoors anyway.

Corn!

Walkin n Payin

Just a couple quick updates. We've got a walker on our hands now. There are still the times where she'll crawl to get someplace faster, but otherwise it's all about walking now. And her vocabulary is "Abby", "puppy" and when she gets in her high chair she folds her hands and tells us to "pay" (pray).

Last night I watched Abigail and Lucy was enthralled watching an older kid. They took a bath together and sang row your boat and then danced in the basement.

I think the molars are coming in although I'm unable to put a finger in her mouth. The only sign I have is diapers!

Mom's Day

We had a nice sunny Sunday for Mother's Day. It started out with mom taking a nice bath and getting served breakfast. Lucy and Troy got me some Crocs sandals and a new spring dress coat. We went to church where our new activity is anything but paying attention to the service. Lucy has no desire to nap or sit on our laps anymore, but instead walk up and down the pew and flirt with the neighbors. Sunday afternoon I went shopping with Jessica to look for a dress for an upcoming wedding. Easier said than done, neither of us found a dress after trying on about 100. I got to drive the new car (we bought a 2009 Toyota Camry on Saturday, Troy's car) shopping. What's cool about it for me is it has an iPod connector in the glove box and then I can manage it from the steering wheel (helloooo technology!).

These are pictures of Lucy and I before church. Note my double chin, do I always look like that?!

Later in the day daddy took Lucy out on the lawn where she walks. She really doesn't like the feel of grass, notice when she plops down the hands are held up delicately because she's not so sure about it. Still not walking on her own and I know she has the skills to do so.

Also yesterday was her 13 month birthday so we attempted some sheep pictures, but she's done with that.

We're doing more signing. She has mastered "more" and "all done" in her own versions (more is hand clapping and all done is hands up in the air. Now that we have Netflix we've been renting some baby sign dvd's too. Practice practice! She loves to read which is great. She could sit there with a hundred books and go thru each one turning the pages and reading them aloud and never get bored.

Troy is very busy with his new job. Lots of shmoozing to be done in the sales field that he didn't expect - various monthly get-togethers with other salesmen in different businesses to network and share business cards for referrals. Tonight he has another one of those kind of gatherings down in Rochester so he will be spending the night down there. I suppose once the business gets established and he gets more customers that kind of hob-nobbing might slow down a bit.

No house showings. We continue to live here as if we're staying here (planting the garden, maintaining the up-keep of the home). I still find things I'd like to do to the house (painting the office, putting down new tiles in the bathroom, etc) but it's like, do you do it knowing you'll be moving anyway? We'll see. Paint and peel-and-stick tiles are not a huge investment so it could still happen. I still have trouble envisioning us in Rochester, but that's just a comfort level. It took me a couple years to truly get used to living in Baldwin from the Cities but it happened!

I hope all you moms had a wonderful mother's day and felt appreciated for all that you are as much as I did!

All better

The weather has been beautiful this week and so have Lucy's spirits! We've been able to enjoy lots of outdoor time and smiles since the Great Flu and Ear Infection of 2008. Here are some pictures of her in Nana's garden today.

This week included some more traveling for Troy, to Chicago for "some sales thing". Now I could be more interested in what he does for a living and inquire about what happens at these sales things, but the same applies for him and it's not like I'm going to spend my nights telling him about how I coded an .asp report at work today by creating an SQL view... Suffice it to say I think we're getting along just fine not knowing much about each other's mysterious jobs :)

While Troy was in Chicago, Lucy and I had lots of time together to go on walks and to the park and just hanging out. Her personality made a complete turn from the sick girl of last week, she's such a happy little girl. She spent last evening with Grandma and Grandpa Hill and cousin Jamie while I got out to do some clothes shopping in Woodbury.

Tomorrow night is "Girls Night Out" in the town of Northfield where friend Nicole has her now TWO shops (they just opened an expansion store on the other side of the building from Sweet Pea's Loft that sells nostalgic toys and treats!). So Jessica and I are heading out there for some shopping and to see the new shop.

Have a great weekend!

Woe

Lucy is sick. She's sad, mommy's sad, and there isn't anything to do but wait a couple days :(

It started almost 2 weeks ago with a runny nose and low grade fever, which I attributed to teething. Then came the slight case of the pink eye and a week of drops. Still a runny nose and every couple days a fever. I figured maybe it's the dreaded molars coming in, I've heard they're bad. Plus the diapers were showing it too. Then this Tuesday afternoon I checked her temp (which I'm going to have to take out a loan and buy the ear thermometer because then I won't feel like I'm torturing my child when I have to do it the "other way") and it was 104. So that's it, I called and set up an appointment with the pediatrician for the morning. Until then she was up all night crabby and hot. She threw up on me, then on Troy, then we took a bath and she pooped in the tub (oh she's going to love reading this when she's older!), just a sad pathetic little girl but we finally got her to bed.

At the doctor's we found out there's been the stomach flu going around but more importantly she's got a double ear infection. Egads, no wonder she's not a happy camper! So we're on Amoxicicillin and Tylenol/Motrin. It did nothing for her yesterday and she was as miserable as ever. With dad being out of town for the night it was a bit stressful on mom. But we made it and hopefully the amoxicicillin is kicking in today and we'll have a better night. It breaks your heart when your kids don't feel good, especially this little, because you can't do much about it and they don't understand what's going on.

We are having a garage sale this Saturday. Hopefully the weather is decent as we have a lot of things to get rid of! Still no action on the house. I am wondering what we can do to just get it sold. With the price of gas so high and food prices going up and the housing market in a slump it's just not a good time. But the commute to Rochester and all the training travel is already taking a toll on us and it's only been a month, so time to speed up this house selling process!

No pictures to post today. If I did, they would be of a sad little rosy-cheeked girl :(