back into the swing of things

We're back. :(
Vacation was AWESOME! The weather was perfect, and we had tons of fun. I love my family! This year we had a new family join us-- my aunt and uncles neighbors and their 3 kids. The fit right in, and we'll gladly welcome them back next year. More on vacation in a future blog- hopefully.
Now we're home and have unpacking to do, 6 piles of laundry, catch up on sleep and get back into the groove for work tomorrow. I wish I could win the lottery without actually playing it. I SO don't want to go back to work tomorrow. The driving is tiring me out and I feel like I'm never home and can't ever get projects complete. Speaking of projects-- I have my sister's wedding video to get completed in less than two weeks, ideally by next weekend, so I'm starting to get nervous about that. Next weekend is the bachelorette party and all of the last minute preparations for the wedding at my parents house. I meant to stain the deck for them (it was actually my fathers day present to my dad), but it's been rainy every weekend or I don't have time to get it done. AHHHH! I need more time in the day. Mike and I need to do shopping for his clothes too. He and my brother should wear the same shirt, or alteast the same color, but I don't think we're going to have time to get shopping together. I might just have to trust Mike to get something on his way home from work one night. Scary.
Plus, I have the vacation video to get done, and I'd like to get that finished before the wedding so I can give it out to everyone, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. Last year I made a video of photos from our vacation and gave one to each family. It was a hit and I loved making it, so this year will be the same.
I have so much more I could write about, and so little time to do it. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on that in the coming weeks and post some pics. Right now, the wedding takes priority.

VACTION IN 24 HOURS!!!

I cannot wait to get away and go on vacation! I haven't been this excited to get away from work and home EVER! It's been a crazy last few weeks, and  I want nothing more than to sit at the edge of the lake with a cocktail and stare. I want to be on the water fishing and to go golfing and to stay up late and then get up really early to watch the sun rise through the foggy air. I can't wait!!!!
Here's a peak at the weather for the week, and I'm happy with it. Last year it was pretty cloudy and not all that warm, so we're due for some heat and sunshine!
Saturday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 71. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 59.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80.
Monday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58.
Tuesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 82.
Tuesday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy, with a high near 78.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 54.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 76.
Birch Lake-- here we come!!!!

An impromptu trip to southern MN

I've always considered my favorite location (besides home, of course!) in Minnesota to be the North Shore, or all of northeastern Minnesota, for that matter. The lakes and rocks are always calling my name.
Yesterday, Mike and I made a very unscheduled trip to southern Minnesota, Mountain Lake, to be exact. It's about an hour southwest of Mankato, so about a four hour drive for us. YUCK! I've never been to that area of southern MN, I've only been to Winona and the Amish country of Harmony and Lanesboro. They're all beautiful, but I didn't know that the Mankato area and surrounding countryside was just as beautiful. We drove along 169 along the river and through all of farm country. Farm fields, bluffs, rolling hills, and giant grain bins dotted the countryside. Kinda pretty.
Back to the reason we took a road trip: we FINALLY decided on a truck! Actually, I shouldn't say "decided." We've been looking for about a month now on the weekends and an occasional weeknight, but haven't been able to find a Yukon, Tahoe or Suburban (or anything else suitable) in our price range, with the options we want, and with the mileage we are looking for-- until Thursday night. I was perusing CarSoup and found a white Yukon Denali. BINGO! That was exactly what  we, or maybe I should say "I", have been looking for! We got home too late last night for me to take a photo in the day light, so I plan on posting a pic tonight or our new Yukon. But, it was with a private party in Mountain Lake, MN, so Mike and I contacted the seller and we met with him Sunday and ended up buying it. We now have our vehicle to tow the boat with again. I'm soooo happy!

Little Falls Golf Tourney

Yesterday we played golf in the rain-- all for a good cause, of course. We played in Little Falls in the Broadway Sports Bar & Arnies Army "Take a Shot at Prostate Cancer" tournament. It rained steadily through all of the front 9 and then just sprinkled for the back 9. So, we got wet right away and never had a chance to dry out. We had a ton of fun, though, and will definitely play again. This was Mike and my third year playing in this tournament. We played with Sue and Jake. Aaron, Jamie, Aric and Brian made up the other team. Here are a few pics from the day.

Backyard projects

I DO NOT recommend waiting two years to stain a new cedar fence-- do it right away! We finally bought stain and a sprayer to stain the fence, all $580 of stain, I will add.  That was a painful transaction! :(

I thought I'd just clean the thing off first cause it must be a little dirty, right?! WRONG-- it was A LOT dirty! Oh my gosh! I sprayed it with the pressure washer and it made a little difference, then we used some deck cleaner and sprayed that on and then used the pressure washer. The difference was night and day- it is amazing how different the fence looks even right now. It looks brand new! Boy, it it ever a pain in the butt to do the cleaning, though. We wanted to do a good job, so we sprayed the cleaner on, let it sit, and still scrubbed a little with a brush before spraying it with the pressure washer, but the result is well worth it. It's not stained yet because it rained off and on all weekend so we didn't dare try staining it. That's a project for a night this week, hopefully!

the best of: little surprises

I texted Mike today and told him that I wanted to take a nap. (It's such a dreary day, who doesn't, right??!)  I also mentioned how the day was just dragging on, and all I wanted to do was come home. I never got a reply, so I guessed he was busy at work. I didn't talk to him on my way home like we usually do, so I still thought he was busy working.
I walked in the door when I got home (and after being ambushed by a hyper, barking, super-excited dog) Mike hugged me and took everything from my hands and took my jacket off for me and grabbed my hand and told me that I had to hurry. "Hurry for what!?" I asked. He stopped me outside the laundry room door and grabbed some of my clothes from the dryer. Now, let me step back some-- when I get home at night, I'm pretty much beat, so I throw on a t-shirt, a sweatshirt when it's cold, and some yoga-type pants. The last thing I think about when I get home is impressing someone with my clothing. All I want to be is comfortable! So, Mike put my favorite clothes in the dryer and turned it on to warm them! Ahhhhhhh! He still manages to surprise me! :) He also made supper, which always tastes better when someone else makes it. Oh-- I didn't mention that he also bought me flowers. That deserves another :)!

I want a pity party

There’s not a new boat in my future anymore- at least not when we planned.

Waiting for me in the mail tonight when I got home was about $1,100 in clinic/hospital bills. And, I'm sure that’s just the start. My heart sank, my jaw dropped, and I now feel totally defeated. What the heck is the point of insurance when they only pay a couple hundred dollars of these bills?

Let me start from the beginning, and I’m going to be very brief for the sake of time. I’ve had headaches a few times a week for the past eight months or so. I can’t concentrate, am usually tired, have trouble remembering things and just don’t feel like myself. I finally had to go to the clinic one day a couple of weeks ago because I was so dizzy and nauseated because of a headache that I didn’t want to move or do anything. I was at work and functioning, but my mind wasn’t focusing and no medications would work. I hated my drive and hating the movement. This lasted for two days before I finally gave in and went to urgent care. What a waste of time that ended up being!

I was questioned up and down, poked and prodded, and came out of there with nothing—not even general advice to take Advil. Nothing! I was soooo annoyed. The doctor I saw said it’s some kind of anomaly. Really?! You couldn’t have dug a little deeper to figure something out. I had blood tests done, but I had breakfast two hours before that, so I think the results are scewed. The doctor told me the results were all normal, and I waited three weeks to get the numbers and exactly what tests they took in the mail—but it never happened. I just called the other day to talk to a nurse and she gave me my results and the normal ranges for the tests. The only blood test that was out of the normal range was my glucose, which was "slightly elevated." What does that mean??? Am I supposed to come in for another test? What should I be doing/not doing? No one has told me anything.  I also had a CT scan done on my head—good news, no brain tumor! Bad news—no answers.

So, now I’ve got at least $1,100 in medical bills to pay. OMG! Now I’m really going to have anxiety. We planned to buy a new truck and boat this summer, but now I first have to pay off a doctor visit that didn't give me any answers. Now I will be taking the advice of pretty much everyone I’ve talked with and finding a new doctor! And, maybe even have my insurance checked over.