Archive for the ‘Thoughts’ Category

AUGH!!!   Is it September yet?  I’m not sure about you, but I just can’t wait for the school year to start so I don’t have to listen to kids fighting or hearing those words “I’m Bored” even though both kids had two sessions of swim lessons and Kevin has been going to karate just about every night during the week.

Last night while at karate a bunch of us moms were talking about the weapons clinic that was coming up in a couple weeks and one of the moms informed us that her kids weren’t going to be there as they were going to be on vacation.  Not only any vacation, but to Outer Banks in North Carolina.  Oh how wonderful that sounds, to be laying out on a beach listening to the waves crash.  Just closing my eyes dreaming about it makes the stress of the kids fighting start going away. 

I can hear the seagulls in the distance squawking… sounds like they are coming closer, but the waves are still crashing louder than them.  Now I hear the kids laughing which makes me even happier as they are actually getting along!   Then it happens WHAM!  I look and there is a piece of bread that has landed on my stomach and that’s when the squawking really starts in and I look up in the air and here comes all 100 seagulls swooping down trying to get that one little piece of bread!  (no wonder the kids were laughing)

Ok, maybe it wouldn’t be so fun to have a family vacation there, but since our 10 year anniversary is next year, maybe Paul and I could have a second honeymoon there.   Let’s see how that would be…..   we drive there and by the time we get there it’s bedtime and we go to bed.  Wait, I get to sleep right next to my husband the whole night without a kid (or two) climbing in between us?  WOOHOO!!  We wake up and realize we actually got to sleep in!  We got a full nights sleep, so far so good!  We have breakfast and take a stroll down to the beach.  We head back to the rental and change into our swimsuits and decide to enjoy the sun and lay out.   Thankfully Paul had put suntan lotion on me so I didn’t turn into a lobster.  We then go back inside for lunch and decide to go for a ride to see what else is around.  We take some tours of lighthouses, the Wright Brother’s National memorial, Ocracoke Island, Elizabeth Gardens and the list goes on and on.   While we are enjoying our alone time, I can’t help but think of all the fun the kids would of had too and my heart starts aching for them.

Maybe the best bet would be to bring either one of the Grandparents or a niece or nephew to come with us so they could help watch the kids so I could get some relaxing time but yet they would be with us so they could also have fun and have an educational experience as well!  

After looking up Outer Banks vacation rentals I found the perfect place to go!  The Seahawk!  It’s a 5 bedroom house (so there would be room to bring either the Grandparents, niece or nephew) and not only is it a short stroll to the beach, but it also has it’s own private pool, hot tub, game room, etc!    Just check out their kitchen!   I can promise you that I would not mind making meals and doing dishes there!  Just check out that view!   Even though I would still be cooking, I can’t help but think it would be a relaxing time in the kitchen!  Just looking at the pictures it’s calling out our name!

Have you ever gone to the Outer Banks in North Carolina?  What was your favorite thing to do there?  If you were able to go, would you want to go just the two of you?  Or would you rather bring the whole family?   Even though I dread having 100 seagulls land on me I’m thinking it would be best to bring the whole family along. 

This year we ended up buying a new truck and I have a feeling once that is paid off (hopefully in a couple years) we will then start looking at buying a used camper/trailer so we can start camping!  At first we thought we would just get a truck camper so we could still haul our boat, but now we are having second thoughts about that.  (Good thing we have a couple years to figure it all out)  I also have to remind myself though that there are more expenses that comes with just buying a camper/trailer.  While we will be having camp fires and cooking that way, we also might want to look at outdoor electric grills to see if something like that might be handy.  

Do you have a camper/trailer and go camping?  If so, what is one thing that you have that you wouldn’t leave home without?

I have to laugh at how styles come and go.   Looking through magazines at the dentist office yesterday I had to giggle (inside, not out loud) at how the 80′s look is actually starting to make a come back!  I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever see people wearing clothes that looked like what I used to wear, of course in a way it shouldn’t surprise me since it’s seems like a lot of the 80′s is making a come back.     How many re-makes of 80′s tv shows or movies are happening?  (for example Karate Kid and the A Team) and watching commercials for some new movie has 80′s music on it as well.

All I’m waiting for is for people to start wall papering their kitchen’s again and more people going with the contemporary furniture look versus the country style.  (Of course according to my Mom there isn’t to much of the country style out there as they have been looking for a new love seat and want that style)

Are you kind of excited for the 80′s look and style to come back?  Or do you cringe at the sight of it?

You know the economy must be bad when your insurance agent who you used to have everything (House, 3 cars, boat) with and now you only have 1 thing with (boat) sends you letter in the mail asking if you if you know of any car, house or life insurance leads.   Even if we did have someone ask us who we have for our insurance companies I can promise you it wouldn’t of been this insurance company as their rates were at least twice the price of our current agent.  I know shouldn’t be your number one reason to switch companies, but it was and we ended up lucking out because when we ended up making a claim a couple years ago due to the water damage in our kitchen they were wonderful to work with and that’s why we are still with them.

In case you want to save some money on your insurance ask around and see who your friends and family has.  But what’s really important to also ask if is they have ever made a claim and how the insurance company handled it.  It’s not worth going somewhere cheaper if you have to fight every claim you make.

Last night had to of been one of the best dates Paul and I have ever gone on in the whole 13 years we have been together.  Last night we ended up driving down to Kalamazoo to watch a Drum Corp competition at WMU!   I had a friend who was in drum corp 17 years ago (Yikes.. has it really been that long?)  so I know what to expect, but Paul had no clue until he heard Madison Scouts bring it to the table!  He was just in awe and couldn’t wait until after intermission to hear the rest of the corps play.

While I was having the time of my life, I was never so grateful to have an intermission as while it was a beautiful day, the 85 degree weather with no clouds and very little wind, sitting in the stands made it a tad on the HOT side where I was dying to get in some shade and drink some water.   After cooling off a little I went back and sat down and while talking with Paul we felt so sorry for the corp members to be out there in the hot sun wearing their full gear, marching (even running, doing push ups, and squats).  I can’t help but think that doing that all summer long would have to be a great weight loss/ lower ab workout if I had ever seen any.

If you have never been to a DCI Competition you really have no clue what you are missing!  I know most of you have been to high school football games and you are probably thinking it’s a lot like a high school marching band, but honestly they don’t come close to being anything like a drum corp.  It’s like saying a Moped is a Harley Davidson.   There is just no comparison.  I wish I could of video taped some of it for you last night, but the rules are no video taping so I didn’t dare.  But if you YouTube DCI, you will some what get an idea of what it’s like, even though it’s 10 times better in person!   So until then, here are some more pictures from last night. I hope you enjoy them, because I sure do!

Is it or me, or does it seem like there are more and more people blogging?   I love the fact that more people have jumped on this bandwagon, but it’s not just ordinary people that have started blogging.  Companies are now blogging as well!  If you go to a business website, sometimes you will see that they have a link to their companies blog where they can keep you updated on what is going on with the company.

What also is nice when someone specializes in one thing, for example a someone who works in the insurance industry might have a  car insurance blog and they will update what’s going on with the car insurance companies.  By reading that blog, you might find out things you otherwise wouldn’t know.  For example, did you know that Wisconsin now passed a law where you have to have auto insurance and proof of coverage?  Now the only state that does NOT require it is New Hampshire.  

Do you blog at all?  If so, do you have just one thing you blog about?  Or are you like me and tend to blog a little bit about everything?  

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Do you ever look back at things you have done in the past and think wow… who would of known?   That’s how my friend & I feel regarding the “good ol’ days” when we used to go out to the bar every weekend.   While most people think going to the bar would be unhealthy as it’s a lot of drinking & smoking, my friend and I think about how it was also quite the fat burner for us.   Let me guess… you’re looking at my post with a puzzled look, but let me explain!  Most of the time my friend and I would go to the bar (99% of the time it was a country bar) we would spend a majority of the time out on the dance floor doing our line dancing.   Some of those dances were so exhausting that when we would finish the whole dance we felt like we really accomplished something.   Now that bars are smoke free, I can’t help but think how now if we would go it would be as if we were going to an exercise class since you don’t have all the smoke floating around the room.   To bad bars weren’t smoke free back then, just think  how much healthier it would of been for us!

The kids & I are watching some kind of karate movie right now and during it comes the commercials wanting you to get an auto insurance quote from the guy from the tv show The Unit.  I wonder which kind of advertising works better for getting people to call getting quotes.  Television, Radio, Billboard Ads or ads in a magazine or newspaper.    I’m sure they all do good, but for me hearing a recommendation from someone I would trust like a friend or family member means more to me.

I know I’m just dreaming, but I can’t help but think how nice it would be if people didn’t mock each other. Why is it that some people (not just kids, but adults too) think that they are so much better than other’s that they need to put someone else down?

In school it seems like kids tease each other if someone is to fat, to skinny, to smart, to “stupid”, has acne… etc. So what happens when kids get teased about those issues? While some might go on a diet, study more, or maybe do some acne treatments. Some students might go the other way and start feeling depressed and start hating themselves and lord knows will do what.

Now I know adults tease each other time to time in a fun way, but lately at my husbands work it’s getting a little personal now. The guys that have the most seniority at work are now teasing the guys with not as much seniority (15 years) because they (the higher up ones) can get all the overtime they want so no one else can and how all they have to do is sit on a high-lo and don’t have to pick orders.  (My husband works in a Food Warehouse)   Here some guys would love to get some OT now and then to help with their bills, but these guys just hog it all up (even when OT isn’t needed) as they like to just see how much money they can make.  It’s not as if they need it, they just make a game of who can make more.  Instead there are families farther down the seniority line who’s wives have lost their jobs and are desperately wishing they could work some OT, but are unable to get it.   So here they feel bad not being able to get the overtime, but then to hear the higher seniority guys mock them because they can work as much OT as they want and that they don’t have to pick and can just sit on a high-lo reading their books waiting for guys to get done picking is just making matters so much worse.   

Why do people think they need to treat other people this way?!?   Can’t these men just grow up and act like adults?

When watching TV do you ever see a commercial that actually makes you think?  I had two of them do that to me this weekend.   The first one was for life insurance and the other was for ADHD.

The Life Insurance one was showing how you could have a $50,000 life insurance policy for only $20 a month.   (I think that was the amounts)   Like they said, what’s $20 a month.. so you don’t go out to eat one night and that would be your $20 a month.  All you need to do is call and they will be more than willing to give you a life insurance quote on how much it would cost for you.  All I know is I’m thankful we already have our life insurance policy in place, it’s just a wonderful piece of mind.

The other commercial that got me thinking was a lady saying how she has a hard time concentrating and can’t stay focused and how she has ADHD.   All I could think of is how Kevin got in trouble at school and at karate for the same thing.  It makes me wonder, could he have ADHD since his Dad did when he was in school.   It got me thinking so much that I did end up writing his teacher to see what she thought as I wanted to see what she thought.  I’m just hoping that I was reading to much into things, but if I wasn’t I would rather know now and help him with it, than find out down the road.

Somehow right now I would rather watch the commercials that don’t make you think.