You wanna be on top?

Not like that!! You sicko! That's the first line from the theme song for America's Next Top Model, or ANTM. I'm so excited it's on again!! This is one of my favorite shows. I've seen all 7 previous cycles (that's what they call their "seasons") and have loved every minute of it! I don't know what it is about that show - it just rocks! I think it's because I always dreamed about being a model and thought that would be so fun and cool. I watched a lot of fashion oriented TV shows (House of Style and the like) when I was young and just idolized that whole lifestyle. And now look! I work at a bus company! :) I think one of the best parts of the show is that the judges do the eliminating. I'm not too hip on American Idol or anything where America votes. I think it's because a lot of people vote because someone is hot or they're from their hometown, not because they're good. Anyways, this season already looks to be great. There's a girl who is married and has a kid who thinks her shit doesn't stink, a girl that was sad she won the first competition because she didn't want everyone to hate her, and two "plus" size models. They're probably an 8 or 10, but considered plus size. The one goofy girl with hair about 2 feet tall who didn't know what anti-fur was (they did a photo shoot about different political views) was eliminated tonight.

Watch out for the killer snow tonight. The way the news people have been reporting this one, you'd think it was the end of the world.

Snow, Snow, Snow!

Friday:

Sunday:

What a difference a weekend makes!

This is outside our front door before DH snowblowed the driveway. Our poor bushes!!

Randomness

We've been super busy at work lately. I'm worried. This time last year, I was begging for more work. It's usually a dead time of year. If summer is our busy time, what is it going to be like this year? Maybe I'll have to look into Mt Dew I.V.'s to keep me going.

Baron decided he wasn't getting attention last night, so he pulled the stuffing out of the comforter in our extra bedroom. Boy, did he get attention after that!! Never let an attention-starved weimaraner out of your site!

I just picked up chinese food for dinner tonight. They forgot my cream cheese wontons. I love cream cheese wontons. I don't need them, but I wanted them!! I'm going back tomorrow to get my credit!

You know, I understand that no one likes to be wrong, let alone admit it, but could someone at work please just try for once?!?! Stop arguing for hours, demanding you're right, almost bullying everyone to shut up and just go along with you, and then, it turns out, you're WRONG! Eating crow sucks, but take it like a woman!

Dh leaves tomorrow for the weekend. We're going to get up to 12 inches of snow. He's going to have fun snowblowing when he gets home.

I can't wait until The Office and Grey's tonight!!!

The day everything changed...

One year ago on February 19, 2006, my best friend's fiance went hiking as he did so often. Karl and Karin had just gotten engaged that fall and were planning for their future. Would they get married in Norway, where Karl was from, or would it be here, where Karin was from? Where would they live? So many questions and such a promising future together. Karl went hiking that day, and never came back. Karin got a phone call the next day from Norway saying that Karl was missing. Her life was a whirlwind from that moment on. It came to be that Karl died on that hike that day. After three days of searching, his body was found. The days between when he was reported missing and when he was found were gut wrenching ones. Karin didn't know whether or not to go to Norway to search or to stay here. I wanted to stop everything and go help Karin, but it wasn't possible. I remember getting that phone call that Wednesday night late. Karl had been found, but he was gone. How do you comfort your best friend on something like that? It wasn't the normal, oh, he'll call you or don't worry about that fight, it was he was gone forever. I still to this day can't believe how strong she was and is. She was on phone with the Norwegian authorities while he was missing, she flew to Norway by herself to be with his family, all these things while grieving over the man she loves. I was here, not able to do anything. It was hard on everyone. This was also the time on Grey's Anatomy when Izzy lost Denny. I know, it's only a TV show, but watching her grieve over him made me think about Karin. The pain she was in was the same my best friend was in. Those episodes were so hard to watch. I could see the characters trying help Izzy just like we were trying to help Karin, but nothing would change the fact that he was gone.

I hope this makes some sort of sense to you. This has been really hard for me to write and I know I'm probably missing a lot or mixing things up. The point is, it is so hard to see someone you love go through so much pain. You feel helpless and are unable to really change anything. I hope that Karin knows how much I love her and how much I would love to take some of the pain for her. Sometimes, I almost felt guilty being with DH knowing that she would never be with Karl again. And I know that she would never want me to suffer just because she was. I was so happy for her. Karl was such a great guy - even DH liked him! I imagined us all getting together for dinner and great conversation, our kids playing together, and being great friends for life. All of that will still happen, just with one of the pieces missing.

Karl, we all miss you. I miss you. I know you're looking over Karin and are so proud of her. I am too. I hope you're hiking, inventing, debating with God, and still trying to out smart everyone up in heaven.

A blog was set up for Karl. If you are interested in reading it, go here.

Make new friends, but keep the old...

Sometimes we're lucky enough to get a second chance at a friendship. Thanks for giving me that second chance, Tana. Looking forward to tons of great new memories.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone is having a good day today. I was happy to at least have lunch with DH today. Since Valentine's day falls during the week and he works nights, we don't really get to celebrate. I know, I know - we could celebrate on the weekend, but then it's over and not really the same. So I have a date with the dogs and the washing machine today. Such a hot date!

Here's a picture of me and my Valentine two years ago when we were in Cancun. Yes, I'm burnt in the picture. I have the age spots to prove it! Damn the Mexican sun being so strong!

Tagged again!

Bonnie has now tagged me. I'm on free base for a couple of days after this one. No more tagging.

Here are the questions:
1. Valentines Day. Celebrate or Not? We’ll do lunch this year because DH works nights.
2. Most Romantic Gift Received? Scrapbook GC and 5 spots at crop for me and my friends! DH usually only gets me what I ask for – this was a nice surprise!
3. Worst Date? He never called me again! :(
4. If you could tell your significant other what you would really like for Valentines Day, what would you tell him/her? I’d like to replace my Circle of Life necklace that I lost
5. Complete this sentence. "Love means never having to say ________________" I love you. Actions speak louder than words. But it’s still nice to hear it!
6. Best chocolate? Hot fudge!
7. Dream Valentines' Menu? Having DH cook the same meal we had for our first date.
8. Most Romantic Movie? Sliding Doors
9. If you had a Conversation Heart that said how you were feeling right now, it would say ___________. Bored. I’m at work answering this!
10. Pink or Red? Red

Tagged!

My friend Beth recently tagged me. Since I've already done this one (see this post) I thought my dog Baron could answer this one.



A= Available? No, I already have an owner.

B= Best Friend? My brother Orion

C= Cake or pie? Whatever I can get my paws on!

D= Drink of choice - Water

E= Essential item you use everyday - my good looks

F= Favorite color: Blue

G= Girlie girl: Yes

H= Hometown - North Branch, MN

I= Indulgences - Getting belly rubs every chance I can! Hording toys from my brother.

J= January or February - Either - as long as there is snow, I love eating snow!

K= Kids and Names - No. I'm fixed.

L= Life is incomplete without...Belly rubs!!

M= Marriage date - I'm only 5!! I can't get married!

N= Number of siblings- One, my older brother Orion

O= Oranges or apples - Apples.

P= Phobias or Fears - Where to start! Thunder, Being left alone, not being included, thinking my brother is getting attention or a belly rub and I'm not, baths, getting my nails clipped, going on trips, not getting my way, when my brother has my toys, getting trapped where I can't get out, being away from my Mom, the water, swimming

Q= Favorite Quote - A dog wags his tail with his heart!

R= Reason to smile - Belly rubs!

S= Season - Winter - I love eating snow!

T= Toy - my Man! It's the toy I'm holding in my picture.

U= Unknown fact about me: I had to have a skin tag taken off of my leg a couple of years ago.

W= Worst habit - Wanting belly rubs or attention!

X= X-rays - No.

Y= Your favorite food - peanut butter!

Z= Zodiac Sign - Taurus

You May Kiss the Bride?

Every day when I go and get the mail for work, I listen to FM107. Kevyn Burger is on and she usually has entertaining and interesting discussions. Today the discussion was about the internet and questionable material being readily available for kids. This woman called in about how she and her kids had googled their names for fun and a lot of adult websites had come up. Then, the shocker came up. I assumed her kids were between the ages of 8 and 12. No, they were 17 and 19!! Doesn't that seem a little old to have so much supervision on the computer? Especially the 19 year old. Then the woman went on to say that her 17 year old daughter had an article coming out in a magazine about how she's saving herself for marriage - including KISSING! I've heard of purity, but this seems a little extreme. I was always taught to wait until marriage to have sex, not kissing. Kevyn went on to ask about this stance and the idea behind it. The mother said that it was her daughter's idea, but I'm sure that the parent's had some influence on it. She said that they had reinforced not giving yourself physically until you are married. I guess technically that would include kissing. I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't end up in some of the situations they have been in if it didn't start with a kiss. And why do we draw the line at sex? Why not kissing? I'm not regretful about anyone that I kissed and kissing only got me in trouble once. The woman's point is that men's hormones are so strong that it is hard for them to stop at kissing. Wouldn't kissing before marriage then help you with restraint and reinforce that kissing doesn't always lead to sex? Can you imagine that every morning when you gave your husband a kiss when you left for work that it would mean you had to have sex? And are men such animals that they can't control themselves? I just thought this was an interesting subject and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. If my Grandma gives me a kiss, are we going to get it on? I mean, come on! On the one hand, I'd like to give guys more credit, on the other hand, well, they're guys! Good luck to those of you raising teenagers, I don't envy you having to deal with issues like this.

Heat is on!

They got the heat back on at work around Noon. Everyone brought in space heaters and I even brought in a couple of blankets! I came home at lunch and put on a second pair of socks and some long underwear! I don't know if it's really fixed because it was only 71 in there with everyone's space heaters still going. Not too fun when it's below zero! Hopefully things will be better tomorrow!

Frozen

The heat isn't working in our office right now....Brrrrr!!

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y

Saturday was such a great day. Alli, Karin, Linda and I went shopping in Buffalo. We had a blast and picked up some really cute things. Alli even found another tortoise for Rosita! Then, We met up with Jenn, Sarah, Michelle and Suzy at Rock Bottom Brewery. It was so good to see everyone, even if it was to see Alli for the last time while she's living in Minnesota. We all made her a scrapbook page and Michelle put it into a super cute album. We then went to this crazy ice cream shop! (thanks for the idea, Karin!)

I'm having a hard time writing this post because it's all about saying goodbye to Alli. Six months ago, she mentioned to me that she might be leaving. I was hoping it was a bad dream, but now she's leaving in a week. How do you say goodbye to a good friend? Yeah, we'll talk on the phone and send emails, and even go and see one another - but things will never be the same. There's no, I'll meet you on Saturday to scrap. Those days are gone. I hope that she finds cool people to scrap with (not as cool as us, but still cool!) and makes some great friends. I also hope she knows that she's always welcome back and will always be a part of our group, even when she's so far away. Thank God I was able to have this time getting to know Alli and having her as my friend. I can honestly say that she is a great person and I'm going to miss her so much!

Now I'm off to look for a new friend with a tortoise who scrapbooks.....

Wednesday Joke

I heard this today from Jeff Foxworthy:

Why are Redneck murders so hard to solve?

















Because all of the DNA is the same and there are no dental records!

Snow-Cones

The dogs have a new favorite snack - snow-cones. They bring them in from outside and fight over who gets to eat them. Luckily, it's clean snow (not yellow!) so it only makes the carpet a little wet. They won't come in until they have a chunk of snow to chew on! It's so funny!

I am dreading this weekend though because it's going to get really cold and they won't want to go outside. It's funny, they'll act like they want to go out, but as soon as the cold air hits them, they back up and won't go out. Such babies! I guess that's a problem when they don't have much hair on their bellies!

This next picture is a paper-piecing that my friend Marni did last weekend at our scrapbook retreat. She's really creative. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a part of Jolee's new line!! Such detail!

It was just too funny not to share!!

Bus Answers

Nancy_Scraps asks: "OK...how many school buses in the twin cities (what %) are sold by the Hoglund Bus Company of Monticello MN. I was behind 3 different school buses yesterday, and they were all from Hoglund!And how does one go about purchasing a school bus. Is there a showroom? A catalog? Do I get a discount for buying 10 or more at once? "

Answer: I don't know about the Cities for percentage-wise, but I do know that we have 60% market share in MN and about 30% in IA. Those are the only two states our dealership sells in. I'd say that most major school districts in the Cities purchase from us. We do very well there and in northern MN. We sold around 300 new school buses last year. That wouldn't include any trade-ins (used) that we sold.

ETA: There are only 3 manufacturers that sell school buses.

How does one go about purchasing a bus? I was surprised at this answer when I started my job. There isn't a catalog, and you can come and check out a bus, but it's not a showroom, just in the field behind our buildings. (You can see them all on 94 to the south when you drive past Monticello) When you order a bus (which is part of my job), there is an option for everything, from the size of the bus, type of motor, type of seat - 2 leg (one side bolts to the wall) or 4 leg, number of rubrails (the black stripes on the bus - MN requires 4) to anything else you can think of. Even the driver's mirror is an option, you can get 6x30 or 10x30. There are requirements, both legally and practically - i.e. tires, School Bus Yellow paint. So, what a school does is make specs for what they want, and we create a bus to their specs. After someone is a customer for awhile and continues to purchase the same type of bus, we order "stock" buses that are the way they want them. Then the next year, they say they want a bus, and we have one for them. There's a bunch of ways to purchase a bus, but I'd rather not put everyone to sleep. There's a lot more to getting your kids to school than anyone would ever know! Even me - and I work there!!

Another Answer

Anonymous asks: "What would you do if you won the lottery? "

Answer - Well, if I won a small lotto (like $10,000), I'd buy some clothes or scrapping stuff and then finish our basement. If I won a large lotto (like $250 million dollars), there's a bigger list:

1. Quit my job
2. Buy a house with some land
3. Get an apartment in the Cities (so I could have a place to crash when I scrapped with the bitches)
4. Buy all new furniture for the new house
5. Purchase a thin body
6. Get a couple more Weims
7. Buy anything I wanted for scrapping stuff
8. Make sure my loved ones were taken care of
9. Give DH a couple bucks
10. Hire a belly-rubber for the dogs (they love getting their belly rubbed!)
11. Oh, and a dog walker too
12. Go to Europe, Australia and Hawaii
13. Probably file for bankruptcy about now

Funny this question should come up today, I got my W2 from work. It really makes me wonder why I work if that's all they pay me. So sad!!

Anyone else?

More Answers....

Linda Lou asks: "Who is tracy and why are you scrapbooking with her? What about your bitches?"

Answer - Jealous much? Tracy has been my friend since the first couple of weeks of my freshman year at UMD. She actually introduced me to DH. We lived together two different times and I was even in her wedding! I will be scrapping with her because she is fun and cool. My bitches would be more than welcome to join us.

Nancy_Scraps asks: "What do you like about Weimarainers as a breed of dog?If you couldn't have a Weimarainer or a Viszla, what kind of dogs would you have. "

Answer - We originally decided on the Weimaraner because my DH wanted a pair of beagles and I said no. We checked out a couple of different breeds (German Shorthair Pointer, Viszla) and decided on the Weim. I like that they are very personable, super smart (almost to a fault!), they LOVE being with their humans, they have short hair and they hunt (which DH likes). All of my family has Labs or Springer Spaniels. When we get together at our cabin, it's a Lab-fest. So we wanted something different so we could actually tell which one was our dog. If we were to have another type of dog - that's a good question. I'd probably only get Weims from now on, but I'd probably want a GSP or Viszla. I really like the short hair.

Keep em coming!

Answers

Tracy asks: "I want to know - When are we going to scrapbook? "

Answer - Hopefully soon. Let's try for the end of February or March. Let me know what days work for you.

Bonnie asks: "here's one.... u thinking of having kids in the future? or just your puppies?"

Answer - Probably some day. Kids are a hard thing for me. I don't know if I could handle it or if I want to give up my current lifestyle. I think about it a lot, but I don't know if that's just because of my age or if I really want them. It's a complicated question with complicated answers. But we will definitely continue to have dogs. That I do know.

Keep them coming!!

Go ahead and ask me!

I was reading Cathy Zielske's blog today and thought about not having a "this is what I had for lunch" blog. That's so what I've been doing. So, I thought that I'd let you, my glorious readers, help me out. My friend Linda did this at one time, so this is not a new idea. Ask me questions. Anything. I'll answer. This will go on until there are no more questions or until I'm bored with it. Anonymously if you must. So, go ahead and ask! I'm waiting...

Really? No one? Come on!! :)

Bath and Body Works Sale!

I had to return a couple of things to Bath and Body Works today, and I ended up hitting their Up to 75% off sale! I got everything you see here for less than $30! The soaps were all $1, so I grabbed those for dollar gifts for next Christmas. The poof and small blue lotion were 2 for $5. The best deal? Pumpkin Pie Paradise! I found this last fall and LOVED it! It smells super awesome! You almost want to take a couple of bites out of your arm when you use it! This HUGE bottle was - wait for it- $4!!!! Can't beat that! The Spicy Gingerbread smelled great too, so at that price, I had to try it out too.

Just had to share my exciting purchases!