The start of a new era-- of combs, that is!

I have a bitter sweet task to complete today sometime.
I have to throw away my hair pick and buy a new one. Don't laugh.
Most of the tips have broken off, so they're sharp edges scratching my scalp as I comb my hair. I don't appreciate it, and I don't think my hair does, either.
This comb has been with me for YEARS! I think since about sixth grade. We've travelled together, gone to school together. There's only been a handful of days we've been apart, and that's only when I've forgotten to pack it.
So, if I got the comb when I was about 11 years old, then I've had it for 18 years. Geez! That doesn't seem possible, but I know it's been that long. Crazy! I wish I was at home and could photograph it and pay some tribute, but I'll have to do that when I get home tonight and memorialize it before I throw it away. I haven't bought a new comb yet, and I hope it's not difficult. How hard could it be, right?!

Bub-bye comb!

Dear God.... Please upate our life plan!

I only wish that His idea of our life plan matched mine!
Mine would have had our house sold three years ago when we first tried selling it, and we'd be out away from neighbors with lots of land, a big yard and an awesome house for parties and entertaining.
Present day: our house is STILL for sale and has been for the better part of three years, give or take a few months here and there. I hate it! It's really not that bad of a house, only it has train tracks in the backyard and no basement. Otherwise, nothing needs replacing and it's certainly not sucking any of our money for fixes.
The reason this is forward in my mind-- well, more than usually, is that we have a showing tomorrow. We haven't had one for 3 months. So, there's a slight glimmer of hope that the right person will be walking through our front door tomorrow and will make us an offer that we can financially accept.
I want God to change the plan He has mapped for us and have a buyer walk through tomorrow and make us an offer! But, I'm not holding my breath.
I really have nothing to complain about because our house payments are good and we've been able to put aside money for other things, but my drive to and from work is pretty much wearing me down. I HATE driving by Friday and when I get home, all I want to do is hibernate and get things done around the house. I hate the thought of driving to the cities or anywhere far over the weekend, and I'm sure my car also hates the thought. I do trade my car for the Malibu once in a while, but both cars are racking up the miles pretty  fast. My car is close to 70,000 miles!!!! I bought it 18 months ago with 30,000 miles. And, that's not even driving it every day!
I also feel like I'm losing my mind sometimes, seriously. I feel like I'm never home, and when I'm home I'm scrambling to help others with projects or working on my own things that need to get done, all housework aside. I forget to pay bills, and that's what make me the most mad. They're reoccurring monthly, have the same due date, but I fail to remember that, and I get reminders in the mail or late fees. UGH! It's happened a few times in the last few months. Granted, summer is extremely busy, but that's no excuse. I blame it on not wanting to sit down at the computer once I get home for the night. I blame it on me having Alzheimer's. I also blame it on the mail carrier for not delivering my mail to me. Sad, I know. I'm kidding about the Alzheimer's thing-- maybe. I'm getting a HORRIBLE memory. It's strange. I used to be able to remember the littlest, insignificant things, and now I forget almost anything I need to remember. I've gotten so far off track, it's hard to recover, or maybe I should say I've forgotten why I started writing! haha! I need a personal assistant.
Anyway, I just wanted to jot down a reminder to God that my and Mike's life plan needs a little tweaking. I'm not getting any younger, after all.

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!