stickyfeathers

thoughts for thursday: late edition.

so, all day i thought about what my 'thoughts for thursday' could be.  i came up with nothing.  there was nothing that i thought was worth my time to write about.  nothing.  i'm still drawing a blank. 

tonight i got home and matt had made chicken taco's.  yum!  i love that hubby of mine!  oh, hey, there's something.  love! 

i know valentine's day is a couple weeks away, but let's throw this out there for all you a little early.  what is the most special thing your hubby/boyfriend/whoever has done for you on valentine's day?  what was the best gift that person gave you?  do you like getting flowers better or chocolates?  do you dry the flowers and save them and hang them forever to be a crusty reminder of that day (hahaha - can you tell i don't like dried flowers)?  what is your most memorable valentine's day?  what is the most special thing you have done for your loved one on this day?  lay it all out there people.  i'm wondering what i'm going to do for matt on valentine's day this year.  i want him to know how much i appreciate what he does around the house and all that jazz.  i can only hope he does the same in return - right?  :)

so to answer my own questions here we go:  matt has never been big on gifts.  i'm the kind of person that is particular about what the like.  matt usually adds a few holidays together and gets me something or whatnot or does spontaneous nice things, but only a few times have i got flowers and i've never got chocolates.  however, i prefer chocolate to flowers.  my ass would say flowers, my mouth says chocolate.  mouth always wins that one.  anyways - my most memorable valentine's day was my senior year in high school.  matt had come to my house after hockey practice.  he came down to my room and had his hands behind his back.  he then said some mushy things or whatever and pulled out one red rose...and...a little naked troll doll.  yes, you read right.  the naked troll doll had his hands open wide with a sign in one had that read 'i love you this much' and a little red heart in the other hand.  ahh, it was so dorky it was cute.  that's the thing: matt, he can be dorky like that.  but he's my dork and it made me smile.  i always will get him a little something - some type of gift.  i used to love, love, love getting valentine's day cards in my special box when i was in gradeschool.  that was so dang cool.  i can't wait until tucker is doing that kind of stuff - if they even do that anymore in school!  one more thing - i am SO not into dried flowers.  they just get all old and crusty and dry and dusty and well, i'm just not into that.  sorry if you are - it's just not my style.  so, now it's your turn. 

show me some love people!  show me some love!    

never have i ever...

so normally, 'never have i ever...' is a drinking game.  and boy, it can sure be an interesting drinking game.  any of you remember that one new years when we played it (with some 'rents in the room)?  whoa.  anyways, this is just for fun, but if you want to take a shot for every thing on my list that you have done - feel free!  if you are at work though, i strongly discourage it. 

so, i'll go first.  never have i ever...

• done a jagbomb.  this is a shot of jagermeister and red bull.  all my friends love 'em.  i can't bring myself to try one.  i'm sure things would get hairy.
• broken a bone.  i've even fell down a flight of stairs in heels and came out with only black and blue marks.  knock on wood people, knock on wood.
• won at a game of totally 80's.  i'm so bummed but those boys we play against are too good!
• smoked a cigarette - or anything for that matter.  i always though it smelled like ass and figured i would look like a retard if i even tried it. 
• watched csi, law & order, or that stupid talent show where david hasselhoff was a judge.  did anyone watch that?  i seen the previews - are you kidding?  how do you compare someone singing against someone doing magic tricks.  give me a break.  even star search had catagories for crying out loud.  okay, sorry, got that off my chest.
• used a fake id.  i never tried to go anywhere i would need it before i was 21 i guess.  lameo.
• gone streaking.  i have no idea why i would want to lose friends like that.  :)

okay, your turn!  how do you play?
first, claim one of my 'nevers' that you have done...
and then answer this: 'never have i ever...'

if i have done what you write, i will admit to it in the comments. 
this sounds like fun this week.

cold as ice.

i am at home today.  the northland was covered in a layer of ice this morning so i decided to stay home.  the added bonus was that my mom still made it up to my house.  that means i get to hang out with her today too!  the roads were not great and they were advising no travel, so i took a personal day.  heck, all the schools are even closed today.  looks like a lot of us got the day off!

this morning i have already cleaned the bathroom top to bottom, did laundry like a fool (washing bedding and whatnot), cleaned my bedroom up, put away some dishes, and took my printer back out to print some shots of the little dude.  i need to frame a few new shots of him - he is growing too fast! 

well, i'm hoping to post a virtual tour of the house at some point since that seems fun.  then you can all give me wonderful ideas on what i should do with this place.  i need them!

a little flummery.

all i have tonight is complete flummery. 

i want to start with tucker.  i am so proud of him.  not only is he saying his abc's, but he can count to 10, sing 'twinkle, twinkle, little star', and draw a circle (when you ask him to, not just by chance).  i have no idea when he should be learning these things, but it just makes me feel awesome watching him learn.  tonight he counted to ten for me twice, then he counted to ten again when my dad, keri and natalie came over to visit.  it was too cute!  this kid is growing up so fast! 

today we had a spring teaser.  it was about 35 degrees out and it felt like spring.  however, tomorrow we are supposed to get hit with freezing rain and snow.  super.  i really am getting sick of the cold.  not so much the snow, but the below zero temps get old - real quick.

i want to thank all of you who commented on my last 'thoughts for thursday'.  not only did i do it for me, but i know so many of us know what it's like to be in that rut.  sometimes matt thinks that because we chose to have kids, that's just what our life is.  he also loves to hang out with our friends.  i guess maybe i just tend to think a little differently than him sometimes.  it's all good though.  i'm looking forward to more 'us' time and some of your ideas and thoughts helped.

i am having major issues with slumberland right now.  we ordered furniture back in november.  our two chairs came in during the beginning of december and they said that our couch would be in during the first week in january.  actually, they gave us a date of sunday, january 6.  well, i called a few days before then and asked if our couch was still going to be in.  the dude told me that a sunday date means that it won't be in then, but it should be in 'around that time' and 'close to that date'.  really?  well, then i get a call from our salesman the next day and he tells me that our couch won't be in until march as the fabric company is running slow or something on this new fabric.  huh?  i wasn't aware that padded microfiber was something NEW to this world.  so, then he told me that there was this other couch that was the same color and only six inches longer that was very similar to ours - that would be in this week (this was like two weeks ago).  he said it was a little more but they would give it to us for the same price as the one we ordered.  we said not to change our order until we could get to the store to actually SIT on the other couch.  obviously we are not doing a furniture deal like this on the phone.  comfort is key!  i am so pissed about this whole situation.  now i'm having get together's at our house and i have no couch.  i don't know if i should call the manager of slumberland and complain about the situation or what.  if we do get down to the store anytime soon we are going to stop and see the other couch to see if we like it, but we are not making a special trip just to go sit on it.  eh.  i feel like we should be getting some kind of deal or something for all this waiting - or is it just my deal?  TICKS ME OFF.  i want a couch...like two months ago.

on saturday matt might go ice fishing with his buddy.  i plan to dig into this house a bit more and clean.  i mean, really clean.  scrub the floors kind of clean.  we might have some people over to watch the superbowl, but then again, since we have no COUCH, it might be interesting as far as seating goes.  sitting on the wood floor kind of makes your tush hurt after a while.  nonetheless, i'm looking forward to watching the commercials game.

my mom is coming up to watch tucker tomorrow.  i love when she comes up to spend the day with him. 

well, time to read some books to tucker and send him to the land of nod. 

a busy weekend.

this past weekend we went to bemidji.  there, we got to hang with matt's family.  it was our nephew's first birthday, so there was cake, presents, kids hopped up on sugar, and xbox bowling.  i'll explain it all later (and share some pictures) when i have time to edit the shots.  tucker had an awesome time with his cousins.  we were all sad to leave.  i can't wait until we see them again!

i'll leave you with two quick shots of my favorite kid on earth.  one was taken sunday morning.  the other was taken while he played with the girl's kitchen set.  i have no idea why he had this expression on his face - maybe it is because i'm always yelling at him for playing with our stove knobs - and this time i just wanted a picture!  he is such a goofball! 

now, i have to get going - there are lots of blogs to catch up on! 

new blog alert.

guess what?  another friend of mine, jessica, has started her own blog!  she also has a photography business.  she does an awesome job!  so go check out her blog and give her a little love! 

thoughts for thursday.

seriously i need to carve out some time for not only myself in this life, but for my husband as well. 

it seems like we get in the same old rut and we are like robots.  okay, not cool like the jetson's, but more programmed like R2D2 - or um, something like that.  i'm not saying i hate what we do, but i really want to change things up a bit.  maybe this is coming from it being the third month of coldness where we have been prisoners of the tundra, i don't know.  nonetheless, i want to get your input.

typical day -

430am - matt goes to work.
630am - i get up, get ready.  tucker is sleeping. 
730am - my sitter gets to the house and i'm out the door.
800am - i'm at work.  super.
300pm - matt gets off work - sitter goes home.
430pm - i'm done with work!  matt usually has dinner started.
500pm - i get home.  we eat (on days when matt cooks - normally he cooks).
530pm - cleanup dinner.  clean floor!  put away dishes.  then the chores start.
600pm - doing laundry, throwing tucker in the bath, picking up toys or whatnot - blogging, taking pictures, company over?  this is when anything can be tossed in the mix of things.
700pm - getting tucker in his pj's.  reading books.  watching the boob tube.  more laundry.
900pm - attempting to get tucker to sleep.  key word: attempting.
1000pm - i'm shot.  i want to go to sleep but spend a final round picking up things before we start it all over again in the morning.  eh.

see, i really haven't made my hubby and i a priority.  moms - you know how hard it is to even make yourself a priority right?  i know that you can't have a date night every night, but seriously, when we go out, it is usually with friends who we normally don't see during the week.  i don't want to cut them out, but i think that being out with friends doesn't really qualify as 'us' time.  eh, why do we all pack so much into the day? 

i just want us to be matt and jenny.  not daddy and mommy, not the maid, not the storyteller, not the cook (hahaha), not the entertainer, not the disciplinarian (aka big meanies).  but the thing is - when you have a schedule like ours - i feel bad when i try to cut out a night for us each week - i barely see tucker as it is!  maybe three to four hours a night and on weekends.  i guess that is the way life is now for a lot of us.  i probably shouldn't be complaining!

okay, don't get me wrong about any of this.  i love being a mommy.  i love tucker.  but, the kids get older.  they grow up.  they leave home and are embarrassed their parents still call them 'honeybuns'.  kids become adults and we have to let go.  when that happens, i want my marriage to be going strong.  i don't want to look at my hubby and wonder where all the sparks went and how we got into a rut.  it is scary how quickly things can slide in a relationship if you don't look after it.  so, that's kind of why i'm posting this today.  i don't want to be the one in twenty years going - what happened to us?  why didn't we make 'us' a priority?

so, what do you and your husband do to get away?  do you wish you had more time with just the two of you?  when you want to fly solo for a bit, what do you do?  how much time do you take for yourself during the week?  i'm just looking to see what others do.  i know everyone is different, but i'm curious!

other tft bloggers this week: kristi, denise, and heather.

glued to my seat.

seriously, 430 could not come soon enough for this girl today.  as much as i hate talking about work, i have to tell you how exciting my day was.  i was at my desk, in my chair - all. day. long.  i even ordered lunch and had it delivered so i could keep working!  yeah, it was super duper.  i was under the impression i had a deadline by the end of the day, and it turns out, it is getting pushed out a bit.  it is um, kind of an important project.  i'm working on a grant that would help homeowners pay for the installation of sprinkler systems on their properties.  the grant is for nearly $3 million.  yeah.  i wanted to make sure i got it done by the deadline.  oh well, i'm glad that i'm done - before the deadline!  oh and to top my day off, i have the loudest radiator in my office!  it squeeks and squeels and bangs all day long!  damn thing gives me a headache.  okay, enough complaining here.  i could go on forever.

okay, i'm not one that gets super emotional about celeb's dying or whatnot, but holy crap - heath ledger?  i loved him in so many of his movies!  yes, i even loved brokeback mountain.  okay...onto other things.

tomorrow after work i'm getting my hair chopped up a bit.  lord knows i need it.  i'm glad i'll be able to get in before the weekend. 

matt is bowling.  tucker is playing with all of my pots/pans/bowls/spoons/spatula's.  i was about to update the photoblog but i'm being lazy.  i think i might go paint my nails instead.  they need a fresh coat.  i'm thinking about going for a springy pinkish color.  i hope i have one. 

sorry the post is so random, but these days, it's all my brain can handle.   

my favorite things.

i'm super blogger today.  leah had posted about her favorite things, so i thought i could share a few too.  my husband is sleeping, tucker is playing, and i'm blogging my little heart away.  okay, here we go.

• the neutrogena wave.  this thing makes your face feel so refreshed!  i love using it.  it is small so it doesn't take up a lot of space.  i got it and it came with a buttload of the cleansing pads so i had a stock for a while. 
• jaime introduced me to the l'oreal sublime bronze towelettes.  they work great and i don't have any streaks when i'm done. 
• my camera.  i love taking pictures!  i'm trying to get better at it, but this camera is making it possible to take a shot without.     the.     delay.  it was so worth the investment.
• tucker loves to draw, and i love crayola twistables!  if you have kids and don't have these, you need them.  that way, the kid (or the mom) isn't breaking them when they color, chewing on them, or ripping off the paper into a million shreds.  my little sister had these and i had to get tucker some.  he loves them!
• target.  i love this store, as i know many of you do.  my favorite target brand baby products have to be their wipes (in the resealable packaging) and their bedtime lotion.  i buy almost all that kind of stuff in the target brand.  cheaper and smells just as good and does the same job!  okay, here is the weird thing - i couldn't find target brand anything on their website.  they don't sell their own brand online?  dang.
• i love fun socks.  i don't like wearing socks, but if i do (hello winter), then they have to be cute!  i just got this pair and this pair.  love them.

so, i gave you a few of my favorites, now please - share yours!  i always like hearing what other people love! 

think different.

i was tagged by mary for this meme.  i am supposed to think differently about something.  eh.  this is actually pretty hard to do considering i like the way i think. 

this might seem silly, but i'm going to think different about my house.  matt and i bought this house in 2002.  we looked at a dozen or so houses around town that were for sale at the time, and i loved this one.  matt liked it too (probably because out of all of them it had the biggest garage).  the house had an odd layout and was covered top to bottom in nasty flowery wallpaper and shag carpeting.  in one of the bedrooms, there were mirrored tiles with blue swirls painted on them covering an entire wall.  i have pictures of this that i will scan someday and show you all how bad it really was.  so, the first thing we did when we moved in was start tearing the place apart.  we tore out a wall to make a bigger living room/dining room, moved a door, took out a built-in hutch (that happened the first night we owned this place), along with a ton of other things.  our parents didn't even mind that we left most of our belongings at home while we did this.  how nice.  but like every project, it snowballs and pretty soon, i felt like my life consisted of sheetrocking, sanding, and 2x4's.  we had a lot of help from familiy and friends and soon, we stopped sleeping on an air matress in our living room, and actually moved our bed here.  good times.

over the years, we haven't stopped doing work.  while i was pregnant with tucker, we ripped out a wood burning fireplace and boxed in our 'computer/sitting room' to be tucker's bedroom.  i had tucker early - so they ended up finishing the room in the two weeks tucker was in nicu.  we've lined our closets with pine and cedar, we've made two bathrooms and a laundry room into one nice bathroom with laundry, we've put in new fixtures, and this summer put in new windows and put on new siding.  currently, we have no trim in any of our rooms, we need to put in a new ladder to our attic, our kitchen looks like a bunch of pieces of different puzzles put together, we need new closet doors, and our hallway closet needs an organizer.  there are seriously way more projects than that, but i need to wrap this up sometime.

for the most part, matt is the one who's got to do most of these projects.  i am not handy like that.  i wish i was, but i'm not.  i'm going to focus on making this house great no matter what stage of 'remodeling' we are in.  i am going to be thankful just to have the home we do.  i'm going to be thankful that we don't have a mortgage that is through the roof.  i'm going to work on making this place the best it can be.  then i'm going to try to secretly encourage matt to finish all these things.  hahaha!  no, but really, i'm going to stop looking at this house like a project and begin to look at it as our home. 

there you have it.  i'm going to relax and love this place no matter what.  however, that won't stop me from looking at 'real estate weekly' in case you know, i find something else that i could call home (that is, after all these projects are done).

so, does this qualify as thinking differently?  oh, and i'm supposed to tag some other bloggers to do this.  sorry guys - i apologize in advance: mel, mom, and lisa.