Monkeys and Adam

I came into work today and this was slid underneath my door.

It was from Katie, a consultant we have at work helping us with Allscripts for the next two years.

She said she saw it on the plane and thought of me right away so she brought it in.

Reminds me of other times when people have brought in monkey things or emailed me pictures because when they saw them they thought of me.  So, I guess my legacy is that I liked monkeys and Adam Levine.....hopefully that's not the only impression I make on people.

The Maroon 5 concert is coming up on Monday, March 4th- Loriann and I have tickets and are suppose to be going with Jennie.  Problem- we have class that day in Madison.  Neither of us are looking forward to missing it so we have already started to look into ways of making it possible.  

Cross your fingers!

What did you do to my children?!

The girls slept over at Jennie's last night.

It was her idea but it worked out great for me since Karri and I went out.

Throughout the night there were pictures and videos posted to Facebook.  (I tell ya- this social media stuff is better than a nanny cam!)

But it never fails.  The heads collapse within minutes of leaving the driveway and I am serenaded by zzzzz's and snorts the whole ride home.

Wine Tasting

Karri and I went to a wine tasting today.

When I saw the deal online I immediately thought of her for two reasons.

1.  It has been way too long since we have hung out and this would 

be a fun 'something different' event.

2.  The winery that was hosting was in St Croix Falls- Karri is from that area

Neither of us have ever been to a wine tasting and we were not really sure what to expect.  A part of me thought that it would be an evening guided by a wine connoisseur that would educate us about how the wine was made and then allow us to try multiple types of wine and help us to determine the differences between merlots, pinots, reislings, ports, chardonneys, etc.
Instead we were greeted by  a server who sat us at a table and then handed us a menu containing 7 different wines from the area.  3 reds, 3 whites and one dessert.
We were instructed to choose three that we wanted to taste. 
She came back to take our orders and instructed us that she would bring one at a time and when our glass was empty she'd bring the next one over.  At the end of the tasting we could check out the wine at the winery and would have a $20 credit to use towards a purchase.
We each chose one red, one white/blush, and the dessert wine.
When our first glass was dropped off it was accompanied with a small plate of cheese, crackers, salmon, and chocolate.

That was pretty much it.

Reds:  We both liked
White/Blush:  Both of these smelled and tasted like perfume.  We had to choke them down.
Dessert:  OMG- horrible!  Can't even describe it.

Karri ended up getting a bottle of the red that she had tasted and I took my chance on a Reisling-type that wasn't on our list of wines to try but was described on their menu as the closest thing to a Reisling.

I hate to say that I was disappointed but I sort of was.  Although, we had fun.  We had gotten there a little early so before we checked in we drove around the town a little and Karri brought me by her grandma's old house and we drove around a little searching for the family goats.  Never did see them but it was sort of cold and we weren't surprised that they weren't roaming the fields.

After the tasting we decided to eat at Outback Steakhouse and then catch a movie.
We saw 'Silver Linings Playbook' it was good.

It was nice to spend time with Karri- it's been way too long.

Treat Bags

I got a text from Hannah while I was on my way home the other night.

It read "Please stop and get me some little boxes of raisins"

She had gotten the idea in her head a few days ago that she should bring a treat to Jackie's for the kids.  She thought about it for a few minutes and brainstormed a few ideas until she settled on raisin.  I am not sure where she got that idea from but I was actually glad to hear that it was something on the healthier side. 

I stopped at Target and picked up little boxes of yogurt covered raisins.  The girls sat on the couch for about an hour tying curling ribbon to each box as they talked about who they thought would want that particular one.  

There was an extra bounce in her step as she carried her bag of treats into Jackie's.

I couldn't help but feel warm inside.  I love that Hannah thinks about others and I love her generosity.  I hope she stays this way forever.

Is there a meeting for that?

Hailey can not get enough of these skirts!

She was instructed to jammie up.  I found her around the corner with her jammies on but then also trying to sneak her skirt on.

When she saw that I had caught her she stood up and showed me how good she can spin and pose with the skirt on.  

"See me can do mom!"

Me:  "Yes, honey.  I can see that you can spin good in that skirt but I don't really think that you need to wear them ALL the time.  You certainly don't need to wear your skirt to bed."

You can see in the picture below that she attempting to talk me into believing that the skirt is necessary and there were a few 'But mom...." statements in this explanation.

Walking on Razors

What in the?!

I promise I am NOT walking on razor blades.

I am not really sure how this shoe split in half but I noticed today that it started to feel funny when I walked and when I checked to see why it all made sense.

At first I was disappointed- I love these shoes and wear them everyday. 

The disappointment soon turned to anger- you mean to tell me that I spend close to $100 on a pair of shoes and within 6 months of wearing them this happens?!

Now, as luck would have it- this shoe in this pattern in my size is not available anywhere.

Can't go and buy new ones and can't order them online....great.

One of Daddy's Girls

Siting on the couch watching TV with Brian.

Hailey is in her room watching her iPad- one of her favorite things to do lately.

Hannah is sitting next to me, snuggled in, watching her iPad with her earphones on.

I look over and she this.

Melted my heart!

Never gets old

I never get sick of opening notebooks to find that one of the kids has been there before me.

I was informed that this is a drawing of our family and the reason we all have hearts on our shirts is because we all love each other.  I absolutely love the way that Hannah draws our feet.

To My Dear Friend

While at the cabin this past summer my mom came across a garbage bag full of stuff.  Most people probably would have peeked inside and when they realized that it was just a bunch of junk they hadn't seen in years- thrown it out.  Not my mom- she spend a good hour or two digging through the bag looking for treasures.  Don't judge- we all have our things.

Inside the garbage bag she found this

It doesn't have a date on it so I am not sure as to when this was filled out but it was something that I was working on for Vickey- my BFF.  (there is a copyright date inside dated 1996)

Printed on the inside of the book it reads:

Dear Friend, 

Among life's sweetest blessings lie enduring friendships such as ours.  We have been friends for a long time.  We get together, we reminisce and had we the time, we would happily uncover a lifetime-myriad of shared experiences.

Through this little book, I intend to take the time.  It will be for you, then, to enjoy.  But in the writing, I will first have the joy of taking a wonderful trip backward through the years.  And as I journey into the memories, I will be reminded again and again that knowing you has been one of God's great gifts to my life.

Forever Friends

Then the pages are dated- one for each day of the year.  Each day contains a statement or fill-in-the-blank type of question/memory.

A lot of the pages are filled out and when I started flipping through the dirty pages I couldn't help but laugh.  First of all, my writing looks like it was done by a child.  I have always hated my writing and realizing that this was written out when I was out of high school- how embarrassing!

Then as I sat outside in the yard reading some of these memories, I would find myself starting to crack up and when I looked around to find someone that could relate to me, someone else that would remember that time, no one was there.

I often get really down about how my relationships with my friends have turned out. 

Not just friends from the past but recent relationships too.

People change and friendships change.  I understand that it is inevitable as we grow up and grow apart.  It still bothers me though.  It still makes me sad.

I am not naive enough to expect that things wouldn't have changed but I think I had higher expectations.   I always imagined that the friends I grew up with would be the friends I would have forever.  I am sure that we have all felt this way at one time or another and have been disappointed when it didn't turn out.  

 I know a lot of people and I have a lot of friends.  I am truly blessed and have met so many great people in my lifetime but I miss having 'lifetime history' with people.  Years ago when we would hang out with Gretchen, Troy, Stacey, and Shane they would reminisce about the 'good 'ol days'  They have known each other since high school-ish and have spent many years together before I came along.  We have made tons of memories since then but their fondest always seem to be 'those days'.  As much as I didn't want it to, it made me feel left out.  As they would laugh and joke about those times I would think about the memories and stories that I have from those days and then feel even worse realizing that most of those people in my memories are still a major part of my life.

As I look at how my life has turned out, I can't imagine doing anything differently.  If things wouldn't have gone the way they did, I may not have met Brian and I would have never been blessed with Hannah and Hailey (the perfect combination of Brian and I- truly).  If things didn't change- they wouldn't be where they are and have the things they have so, for that I have no regrets.

But, what I do regret is thinking that it's too late.  For allowing to let so much time get in between us and not making more of an effort to connect.  I miss my friends- new and old.  Things haven't been the same in the past few years and it is starting to feel all too familiar.

I want to get better at making an effort to reconnect and even though it won't change overnight- I need to do something.  Thanks to Facebook we are able to connect with people from our past but it's not the same.

One small step will be to reconnect with these memories and friends over the course of this year in this blog.  I at the very least want to honor these friendships by recording some of my favorite memories. 

Here's one to get me started..... (straight from the book)

Vickey Novak (Greene)

Vickey and I met in preschool when we were 3 or 4 (or so I am told).  My first memory of her is driving past her house (she lived at the end of the block behind our house) and seeing her jump roping in her blue and white dress with adorable pigtail braids.  I remember asking my mom about her and mom telling me her name.  We ended up at the bus stop together and I am pretty sure that we spent almost everyday together until we were teenagers.  I remember being the only girls invited to Tyler Peterson's Birthday party and playing Fox in the Hound in his backyard.

As we grew up together our favorite thing to to was play Barbies.

Inside, outside, my house, her house, didn't matter- as long as we were together.  It felt like we had a sleepover almost every Friday or Saturday night and even though I am sure that we didn't, I would argue to this day that it was every weekend during the summer.

I remember one time when we were a little older we wanted to toilet paper someone's house so in the middle of the night we went out to the yard and TP'd her house.  Her mom figured out it was us (I am sure that was NOT hard) and made us clean it up.  I don't remember her getting mad, I seem to remember that she made fun of us instead- I miss Mary!

 We had the best neighborhood ever!  Jenny K, Tory, Miles, Tim, Jason, Jessica, Dan, Andy, Bob, Carmen, Steve, Vickey, Kari, and I.  MAN- we had a good time back then.

I'd love to organize a neighborhood reunion sometime!

L is for Lucky

It's hard to know who was the luckiest today.

All of us had lunch at Olive Garden.

 

I got to see their reaction when I told the girls they got to go hang out with their aunties today.  I got to drive to St Paul with these two girls signing from the backseat.  I got to see Grandma, Kim, Jennie, and Kristin arrive at Olive Garden and run to hug the girls.  I got to sit at lunch and listen to Hannah talk Jennie's ear off about all of the things she had to show her and all the plans she had for their afternoon.  I got to go and get a color and haircut at Rocco's and then finally take time to go and buy a new purse.  I got to pick the girls up from Jennie and fight with them because they didn't want to leave their aunts.  I got to spend the rest of the night with them listening to them tell stories about their day and see the expressions on their face as they relived them.

Hannah and Hailey got to spend the afternoon hanging out with Kristin, Jennie and Jennie's closet FULL of shoes!  They also got to pose for pictures and get their hair and nails done.

Jennie and Kristin got to sit and be entertained by these two darling little things and got them ALL to themselves.

Kim and Mom went to the casino- not sure how they did so the jury is still out on them....

Pretty sure I win this one!

Chillin'

Me: "Hey Hannah- whatcha doin?"

Hannah: "Just chillin' "

Is that????

Is that what I think it is?!

Did my little BABY write her name?!

Oh that's right- she is three.

That is her H, A, and I for sure.  I have seen her make those letters many times.

The jury is still out on the L, E. and Y however when she showed me this she told me that she wrote it.  Usually she will tell me that Jackie helped her but when I asked about this one she insisted that she did it by herself.

Nash Mail

Hannah wrote this letter for Nash.

She asked if I would mail it to him so that he would know that she still thinks about him.

Heart melt- check!

More from the life of Mini-Me

Behind this door lives a Mini-Me.

She is suppose to be in there cleaning (not because I sent her there to clean but because she had the idea to and went in there).  All I know is that since that door has been closed there has been loud music pouring out from that little crack at the bottom.

Andy Grammar and Maroon 5- this girls got great taste!

I love music and I love it loud.

Ever since I can remember I have preferred my tunes this way.

Especially when I was younger and my mom would make me clean my room.  Vickey and I would sit in my room 'cleaning' playing song after song.  She'd get to be the DJ and would sit in the middle of a pile of cassette tapes.  It wasn't as easy back then as it is now.  Tapes needed to be rewound and god forbid you wanted to hear track 3 on the cassette- fast forward, rewind, fast forward, rewind, until you would finally hit the right spot and get to listen to the song.

 But not Mini-Me- she is in her room with her Bluetooth speaker selecting songs from her iPod.

*sigh*

Didn't want to say it but I think it's required....kids these days have it so easy.

Whoop Whoop

You two.

I can't get enough of you.

You were SO excited for your new jammies and hats that I picked up on my way home from Iowa.

You both put them on right away, giggling the whole time.

It's getting easier and easier to get you guys to pose for pictures but you are still particular about when you are willing to.

I was lucky tonight that you were both in the mood- these pictures are adorable and they will forever remind me of your fun personalities.

This video will bring a smile to anyone's face!

I haven't been feeling well lately (nobody has been) and she was asking me if I was still sick.  When I said no, she got excited "Whoop whoop!"

Can't get me here

We finally got together tonight to celebrate Courtney's 9th Birthday.

Adam is not a fan of dogs.

Not really sure when this all started since they used to have two dogs in their house that never seemed to bother him.  I understood why he would be nervous (ok, really petrified) around Nash.  He was large and if you didn't know big dogs I get how they could be scary.  Angel and Simon are Jack Russells.  These are small dogs.  They used to belong to the Schreiber's until they ended up finding new homes (Simon went to Jill's and Angel is now with Grandma and Grandpa).

  Adam was sitting next to Jennifer on the couch and when she got up and moved he was all alone.  Angel was on the floor looking up at the couch.  He wasn't having it.

Holding back the tears

Kim, Kristin, Mom and I went with Jennie to the Wedding Shoppe today to start the search for the perfect dress.  It took all of 10 minutes there before the tears started to come.

I am not her mother.  I know that.  But I am so proud of my sisters and the young women that they have become that I can't help but get emotional.

The age gap between us doesn't feel so large these days but I think back to the times when my sisters were little.  They were in elementary school when I was in high school!

I am so excited for Jennie and hope that she is able to sit back and have a little fun planning her wedding.  It can be a stressful time and when your personality isn't really too fond of people telling you what to do- it can be a little much having to listen to everyone's opinions.  Not to mention the tight timeframe- that in itself stresses everyone out. 

In the end everything will work out and she will be thrilled with her day.

One thing I know for sure...she is going to be a GORGEOUS bride!

 

I'm Bored

The drive between Minneapolis and West Des Monies is pretty boring except for the few miles when you get to look at these windmills.

They are HUGE and you can see them out on the horizon as far as your eyes can see.  It's a pretty cool site but unfortunately we travel there when the rest of the ground is brown and drab.  Might need to make a summer trip someday to see how cool these things look with some green grass, bright blue sky and puffy white clouds.

Sure gets lonely without my copilot.

My January trip is always just me but the March trips down always include friends- Loriann, Lori, Jessica, and/or Molly.   The last few true road trips I have taken have been with Loriann and Molly so today was a little boring.

I guess this guy will have to keep me company

Another cool feature of this Navigation system- it shows you what side of the freeway to be on in the event that the freeway or road splits.

Annual CRUG Board Meeting

This afternoon I left for the Annual CRUG Board Meeting in West Des Moines, Iowa.

The drive there wasn't too bad- the new truck helped to pass the time ;-)

We started in the hotel board room planning the menu for the Spring Forum.

After everyone had arrived we decided to hold the rest of the meeting while out to dinner.

We went to P.F. Changs- it was delicious!

After dinner we made our way to the Blue Moon Dueling Piano Bar.

We came here last year too and this year have planned one of the evening events for the Forum to take place here.

Jeremy and Andy are awesome!  We saw them last year and ended up hanging out with them after the show and learning about how they 'got into the business'.  Andy was in the military and they talked him into playing the trumpet.  From there he taught himself how to play the piano and drums. He is so talented and it is crazy to think that he plays any song that you request and does it all by ear.

These guys are from all over and travel to bars across the US to 'book gigs'.  They don't always work together but do end up crossing paths often.  Andy lives in Ohio and Jeremy lives in Florida.  

Diana and Rochelle- gonna miss these ladies!  (and the rest of you)

It was a little sad this year.  Knowing that this will be my last solo trip in January for the annual meeting.  Within the next few weeks my time with Allscripts will be over as I get on a bus and head to Verona, WI to start the next chapter of my life- getting certified on Epic.

The (old) Boss is Out

Hannah made me this door hanger.

I was instructed to hang it on my office door so that everyone would know when I was gone and 'then they have something to look at" if I am not there.

The snowmen were made by the girls at daycare.  I love having a place to hang their artwork!