Brace Yourself

How we will be "stimulating the economy"!:

Prayers Please

From MN Kelly:

"I have another prayer request for you,
Katie will be going under general anesthesia for xrays, 8 crowns, two root canals, (plus whatever they find on the xrays) on friday!
Thank You!
P.S., she enjoyed the song with her name in it!
kelly"

Hiccup

Your Slogan Should Be

Laura the crazy mama. Champagne for the Brain.

The Slogan Generator

Tat Hip: AmyC

First Visit to the Greats

Today all the stars were aligned (finally!) for Thomas' first visit to my grandma and grandpa's house. My Grandma Mary and Grandpa Bud are my mother's parents. They are such sweet people. They've had a hard year this year. Grandma broke her hip and has always struggled with back and heart problems. Grandpa had a stroke and has just come home after a long stretch of rehab. They moved from the apartment they lived in for many years into an assisted living. Grandma and Grandpa were always so independent, it's been a difficult transition. They had five children (who are helping them when they can) and I have lots of cousins, but they are all spread to the wind. They really love and value their grands and great-grands and it's hard for them to be so far away from all of us. Grandma's had some bad days and we've had colds and such this spring so I didn't want to visit on an "off" day.

Here are some pictures of Thomas' first meeting with his great-grandparents:




In the past year, they've gotten 6, new great-grandchildren! One of my cousins had triplets! I got to see new pictures of the babies while we were visiting. The triplets were born in November but because they were so small at birth, Thomas is the same size as they are right now!
Don't you just love my grandpa's sense of style?! He has an incredible collection of ties, tie pins, shirts, baseball caps, and canes. I love the combinations he comes up with. Word was, that he actually wore sweats at therapy but I've NEVER seen him wear casual clothes! It's not visible in these pictures, but he is sooooo emotional around the kids/babies. He cried when he visited the hospital when Trina was born (his first great-grandchild). I remember remarking to mom about it. I'd never seen him cry but she told me that he had a tender heart and was always like that. I love that.

Near the town that Grandma and Grandpa live, there is an amazingly cool playground/park reserve so we stopped there because the day was so warm and beautiful.






Mari found an awesome pair of sunglasses. Trina found a worm that was alive (unlike the billions that were crunchy and dead on the path under our feet on the way to the playground).
I found out that Gabby (who was with us today because she stayed overnight) is getting super big and grown-up and I hate it.

Doing My Part

Yay! It's "Earth Day"! I always wondered how come if there was a "Mother's Day" and a "Father's Day", then how come there weren't any "Kid's Day"s? I'll bet YOU wondered that too, right?

I vote we change "Earth Day" to the "Kid's Day" we always thought we deserved ("EVERY day is kid's day" your parents would say, right?). It could be celebrated by giving to your local food shelf, donating money or baby things to a crisis pregnancy center, celebrating adoptions all over the world, or starting the process for adoption, OR...you could celebrate it by, you know, having a date with your hubs. I happen to think that babies (you know, PEOPLE?) deserve just a teensy more attention than some made up "awareness holiday" drummed up by people that are hell bent on making your life as miserable as possible so you end up depending on them for everything. This is a high, holy feast day for the religion of "green" we've been hearing so much about lately. It's just a teeny bit out of control. I think we could use a little perspective. Even Lewis Black (a huge lib) has this to say about Earth Day antics by celebrities:


Lewis Black on Daily Show Earth Day from http://jdwusami.vox.com/

Deadliest Tuesday

This is probably unlike anything I've ever posted before:

I LOVE "Deadliest Catch"! The fourth season premiers on Tuesday night. YES! What's your favorite boat? Who is your favorite captain? Mine are the Northwestern and Sig Hansen. I just think they are really great fishermen, and have the best, most natural sense of humor. They don't seem to "ham it up" for the cameras and I love how they act toward their families. I'm sure their lives aren't EXACTLY as portrayed on the documentary, but I still think that over all the boats and crews, I would want to be on theirs the most...even though I'd be a greenhorn and be mercilessly teased, mocked, and given all the sh** jobs (like cutting bait, yuck). Also, they haven't lost any fishermen on that boat, ever. It seems like they run the tightest ship and have the prettiest, most loved boat.

Heehee, that paragraph reads like a "theme" a 1950's teacher would have assigned to her 4th grade students or something. I don't care, I'm a HUGE fan of this show and of these rough, sometimes crude, toothless, stubborn, strong, bullheaded, and BRAVE (or maybe a little stupid) men who fish for crab.

I found this on Wikipedia, and it makes me like the Hansen brothers even more...

"Non-Alaskan Seafood
The Hansen brothers, owners/operators of the Northwestern, have endorsed a brand of Russian King Crab being sold at discount chains such as Walmart. The decision to put the Northwestern name and colors on a non-Alaskan product has caused some controversy in the Alaskan fishing community, which the Hansens addressed in a November 2007 press release[6]. In the press release, the Hansens note that 50-70% of Alaskan King Crab is purchased by Japan and never reaches U.S. stores or restaurants; by bringing Russian King Crab to the American market, the Hansens hope that the increased demand for King Crab will benefit the Alaskan fishing fleet by raising the price of King Crab overall. According to the Hansens, the fact that, for the 2007 King Crab season, the price for King Crab went up $0.60 per pound indicates that the strategy of raising wholesale prices by increasing overall demand for King Crab appears to be working."

BREAKING NEWS!

GO HEREAND HERE
AND HERE

Truth and Beauty

*Sorry, that video was unavailable. To see it, click here, and scroll to the bottom of the page to view different videos (the first one is the one I linked to.)
H/T Kimberly

Mari Thinks...

...That Matthew is much too slow to finish his geography assignment...

...and that he has obviously forgotten that one of the most important aspects of the lovely state of Idaho is it's population of pink-headed face people...

...and that she has yet to hear a "thank you" for her time and effort in finishing it for him!

How To Tell If You're A Child Of The Seventies (press pause on the music box and watch this video)

You are if this makes you tear up a bit!

Hat tip to Danielle Bean

Lodging Woes

Hey, Minnesota people! I was wondering if I could ask a favor? Do you know any non-psycho, non-axmurdering, non-druggie people that I could stay with during the Grandma's Marathon at the end of June (that live in or around Duluth)? I think I waited too long (sorry, this is my first big race) and now I might have to go up there that morning which would not be ideal (I'd have to leave around 2am!). Most of the places only have rooms for 2 nights and I'd just like to do the race and go home (because of the baby and I can't afford for the whole family to go).

All I need is a couch, floor, or even just a driveway to park the van (Hey, that thing is so huge I could totally sleep in it!).

Email me if you know of any possibilities!

laura7550atyahoodotcom

April Comes In Like A Lion/ Global "warming"?...Uh Huh

I call this photo (taken last week):
"Weazy's Wishful Footwear"

That snow pile (the last in the shaded part of the yard) finally disappeared last weekend.

More snow in the forecast.

I need green grass. NOW.

I'm "Participating In A Trend"

(I heard it said like that one time on "What Not To Wear" and I liked it.)

I've resisted posting any kind of music before because it would always annoy me when I visited other blogs, and my speakers would be turned up, and I'd be blasted out of my seat (and maybe it would wake someone upstairs).

SO.

I've decided to try it out for a while since it seems to be "the thing", and I really like the music I've chosen. The theme for this playlist (if you haven't figured it out) is "places". Every song has a place name in it. If it's annoying you, please tell me.

I absolutely LOVE the artists and had albums, tapes, or CDs of them all at one time. My favorites of all time are Don Williams, Vern Gosdin, Gordon Lightfoot, Alison Krauss, and for all you people who don't know Minnesota...
I have a special treat.

Check out "Minnesota Redneck"
(If you have questions about any of the references in the song, just contact me. I may not be a true "MN Redneck", but I'm related to a LOT of them.)
Heeeheeheehee!

Crazy Urges Meme

I've always had some pretty wild daydreams (you should SEE my NIGHT DREAMS!). I remember in school, sitting in my desk, daydreaming about "what would happen if I..." and I would fill in the blank with goofy things like:
...ran over to (fill in name of cute boy here)'s desk and kissed him in front of the whole class!?
...walked calmly out of the classroom and didn't tell anyone where I was going?
...pretended to faint?
...ran to the window and screamed and pointed and fainted at nothing?
...started singing the national anthem at the top of my voice?

Sometimes, I would answer smartass answers to the teacher's questions in my head and then wonder if I thought the thought "loud" enough, if anyone could "hear" it. Sometimes, I would make myself laugh at how funny I thought I was in my own head...then I would have to cover my laugh with a cough and the teacher would look at me funny. I was a very unfocused, weirdly imaginative child, I think. Also, I read way too many books.

Now that I'm all grown up and mature? I still do this sort of thing. So, here's my list of things I have a hankerin' for. It's mostly a list of strange urges I've had. If they were at all possible, I would make it a list of "things to do before I die".
1. Pet the pope's nice, white hair.
2. Sing some bluegrass songs as loud as I can in the empty church (NOBODY else can be there, just me and Jesus!).
3. Cut my hair super short and dye it blond.
4. Be a spy or a private detective.
5. Learn to speak Russian.
6. Meet Don Williams and have him sing me a song while I lay my head on his chest.
7. Go to Butch's work and swing from the end of the crane (don't worry, I'd wear a hardhat!)
8. Meet Zahi Hawass and go on a dig with him.
9. Learn how to be a mortician.
10. Invent a home ultra-sound machine.

See, weird, huh? Okay, now I tag Michelle, Amy Caroline, My goofy sisters, Missie, Regina
Alls ya hafta do is list some weird urges you've had over the years. Only if yew want ter.

Feeling Feisty

19

I think the count gets higher the less compunction you feel about using one five year old as a weapon against the others.

H/T Regina and Michelle

Baberty

I really dislike this "awkward" stage that infants go through. You know, the crabbiness, the irritability, the baby acne, the excessive weight gain, the stinky creases. I understand. I went through this too and it must be very uncomfortable, but I just can't wait until he outgrows it all.

It's so nice to have friends who are crafty and generous.


It made me so happy to get these things in the mail. To know they were crafted by the very hands of my friend made me almost cry. It's so very lovely to touch the things that she spent time to get just right so they would look cute for Thomas. A lot of care went into these things, I can tell.

Thomas is kind of pouty and petulant right now that he's going through baberty, but if he could, I'm sure he'd say "thank you so much" to our beautiful friend, Amy Caroline!

Who Got Into the Reward Stickers Today?

Hmmmmm, I have my suspicions but...

I'm thinking that the suspect may have had an accomplice...

What do YOU think?

She's Baaaaaaack...

...and better than ever!

Check it out (her blog address is at the bottom of the "articles").